### Chapter 297: The Journey to Godhood
In the empty villa, cold winds whispered, and the flickering bulbs overhead hinted at something amiss. Zhao Mingyue stood in the living room, her eyes squinting at the wall where wisps of black mist seeped out. It turned out this ghost was quite a vengeful spirit, with a grudge that could rival her own desire to binge-watch soap operas.
According to Lu Liangting, this ghost was a far-off relative who had accrued quite the gambling debt and decided it was time to mooch off Lu’s family for some cash. Naturally, Lu Liangting’s family didn’t play that game; they didn’t even let him step foot inside their house!
Somehow, the ghost found out about this villa and tried to work his charms by calling in threats, but when that didn’t pay off, he decided to go with the dramatic route and took a permanent exit right there.
Zhao Mingyue shrugged; she was too tired to care. All she wanted was to soak in that massive bathtub upstairs—preferably with Bai Yu.
Adjusting to this huge and luxurious new house felt surreal, almost like living in a cartoon. Seriously, if it were just her alone, it would feel like a ghost town—much more cramped in a shoebox apartment.
Thank goodness she had Bai Yu, Bai Hu, and a little black cat by her side. Still, in some twisted sense, she was the only human on this haunted property.
So much space, and she was the only living soul—Bai Yu was a ghost, Bai Hu was a fox, and the little black cat was just… a cat.
“Eh, whatever. I’ll deal with that ghost later. Bai Yu, if you’re bored, why not join me for a bath? This bathtub is so big, we could fit two!”
“No thanks, I have some business with that ghost.”
“Alright, alright.” Zhao Mingyue didn’t push it; she had learned when to take a hint.
She headed upstairs to grab some clothes from her suitcase. Glancing at her reflection, and confirming Bai Yu was indeed out of sight, she muttered a prayer for the ghost and stepped into the bathroom.
Before long, the bathroom was foggy, and the sound of water sloshing around filled the air.
The house’s temperature began to drop ever so slightly, and just like that, the lights went out.
A gust of chill swept through as the ghostly figure appeared in the living room below. He glanced at the bathroom door, his pale, ghastly face cracking into a sinister smile.
“Well, well, it’s been years, and there’s still someone living here. And not just anyone—a pretty little young girl.”
He pondered the logistics of haunting again; he wasn’t sure if his ghostly self could still perform certain… activities, but there was no harm in trying, right?
As he floated toward the bathroom, his feet suddenly felt trapped. He looked down and saw a black tentacle coiling around his feet.
No matter how hard he struggled, the tentacle wouldn’t budge.
In the darkness, the male ghost raised his head, just in time to see a young girl standing in the doorway, with a bl**d-red symbol of the sun glowing ominously behind her.
His face paled—the moment that symbol emitted its dark crimson light, he couldn’t help but buckle to his knees, staring dazedly at the figure before him, his brain giving up control.
The living room lights flickered back on, and Bai Yu looked down at the ghost now groveling on the floor.
From the moment that ghost was illuminated by the black sun’s glow to complete control, it took less than thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds! If she wanted to, she could’ve taken that ghost down dozens of times in that span.
But in the realm of the Evil God’s curse power, thirty seconds was quite a number.
Cursing power worked like this: no matter how powerful you were—even someone as grand as the Burning Heart Goddess—instant control over a vexatious ghost wasn’t going to happen.
There’s always a process, making it stable, and typically the target can’t escape.
Her current curse power might not be as strong as the seasoned evil gods, but knocking out a ghost’s brain in thirty seconds was a testament to the Black Sun Godmother’s might.
Bai Yu intensified her grip, funneling all of the ghost’s awareness into “faith.”
Testing the limits of how long she could squeeze a ghost was her plan. Would it withstand the pressure, or crumble?
Faith power wouldn’t fluctuate based on the state of the believer; it solely depended on the believer’s inner sincerity.
It was a given that such intense faith would obliterate consciousness—human or ghost.
Generally, ghosts had a better shot at enduring this pressure. People had to consider their physical state; skip a few meals and they might just shuffle off this mortal coil.
Going overboard could snap a mind like a twig, and they’d be left a drooling shell of their former self.
For ghosts, they might just dissipate completely.
Under the black sun’s glow, the ghost felt increasingly deranged, muttering frantically. If you listened closely, you might catch the words “Praise the Black Sun” slipping from his lips.
It seemed more like an attempt to encourage himself, echoing the phrase out loud to stir up his own faith, which was definitely more effective than just keeping quiet.
Bai Yu pondered this strategy; it certainly had its benefits. It was the difference between over-harvesting and sustainable harvesting.
With a wave of her hand, she made the ghost vanish into thin air and stood at the doorway, hands behind her back.
If she wanted to take out the Dark Moon God, her quickest route was through the power of faith.
Time was of the essence. While the Dark Moon God was still reeling, she had to seize the opportunity to strike.
There was another route—complete redemption tasks in bulk and use her lucky draws to get her weapon, “Night Bright.”
Once she wielded Night Bright, her power would skyrocket.
The lucky draws from redemption tasks could be fused together, improving the odds of snagging top-notch equipment. That’s why she hadn’t touched a single lucky draw despite completing so many redemption quests.
Half an hour later, Zhao Mingyue emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, vigorously rubbing her wet hair with a dry towel.
She spotted Bai Yu lounging on the sofa, glued to the TV, and scanned the room.
“Bai Yu, did you take care of that ghost already?”
“Oh, he’s turned into a zealot. I want to test how long he can hold out before he dies and what kind of faith power I can s*ck out of him.”
“Wow, that’s… sad.” Zhao Mingyue’s face palmed at the thought; that ghost’s situation was beyond pitiful.
Not wanting to dwell on that ghost anymore, she realized haunting was a delightful treat for Bai Yu back in the day, but now, it was free faith fodder.
Letting Bai Yu control her evil god embryo body to catch some Z’s, Zhao Mingyue tidied up and headed to the absurdly large bedroom upstairs.
The bedroom was warm and cozy, bathed in a welcoming amber light. And there was Bai Yu already ensconced in the blankets, deep into reading a book that made her look all the more adorable.
If Bai Yu’s original form was like having a younger sister to dote on, now she felt like a daughter following Bai Yu’s transformation into an evil god embryo—though in reality, it was Zhao Mingyue who had been relying on her.
Diving under the covers, Zhao Mingyue snatched Bai Yu into a hug, her cheek pressed against Bai Yu’s. “What are you reading, little Yu?”
“A fairy tale,” Bai Yu replied, showing Zhao Mingyue the cover. And, lo and behold, it was indeed a fairy tale!
“Fairy tales, huh? I didn’t know you were into those.”
“It was just a random pick.”
“Got it.” Zhao Mingyue nodded, snuggling up beside Bai Yu for a brief moment before blurting, “Bai Yu, if we k*ll off the Dark Moon God and manage to rescue Bai Sisi, bringing her back to her old self so we can all live happily ever after, wouldn’t that be like a fairy tale?”
“If we take down the Dark Moon God, we’d be super powerful by then, and no one could threaten our lives. We won’t have to worry about ghost gates, ghost domains, or all sorts of crazy tasks.”
“And time wouldn’t weigh heavily on us either. Worst case, if I kick the bucket, I’ll just be a ghost! I’ve never heard of ghosts aging and dying.”
At that point, she hesitated a moment before whispering, “Well, at least for me, it would be a fairy tale come true.”
“Same here,” Bai Yu said, closing her book and placing it on the bedside table, casually turning off the bedroom lights.
Cuddled up in the blanket, Zhao Mingyue held on to her like a sloth.
·
·
A week flew by in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Nightmare seemed to have taken a break, leaving her in peace. Lu Liangting had been as elusive as a rare Pokémon since his sister came back to life—it was like he had turned into a different person!
Meanwhile, his sister remained at the new house, training and practicing swordplay alongside Zhao Mingyue.
Seven days wasn’t enough for real fundamentals, but luckily, the two girls had enough talent. Especially that little Feng Xi—she picked things up quicker than anyone, her only downside being she was all too frail.
In this week, Bai Yu absorbed quite a bit of strength from Feng Xi, converting it into faith power at a pace that blew past her dozen or so faith believers.
“I wonder when they’ll be back,” Zhao Mingyue mused as she perched by the window, staring out at the passing scenery from the train’s window.
This trip didn’t have Lu Liangting as the chauffeur, and she and Bai Yu left Tianchang City without a soul knowing they were gone. With Bai Yu around, she could be pretty sure she wasn’t being stalked, slipping away without leaving a trace.
Using the online lingo, she was pulling a “silent getaway,” and by the time Bai Yu got back, she might just be the “Black Sun Goddess”—the perfect yin to the Dark Moon God’s yang, even their names were opposites.
Oh, and she had packed a massive suitcase along with two large travel bags, stuffed mostly with clothes for Bai Yu.
“Estimated time is about a month,” the rabbit plush toy in her arms blinked, and Bai Yu’s voice echoed in Zhao Mingyue’s mind.
“Perfect! I can finally focus on doing some tasks. There are way too many variables in Tianchang City. Ugh, let’s hope this place doesn’t have a ghost domain working undercover.”
In this chaotic world, Zhao Mingyue felt that the only true madness could be found back in Tianchang City.
