Chapter 300: The Emerging Divinity
Hejiang City is much larger than Tianchang City; it even has three more Ghost Gates than Tianchang City! Tianchang City has a total of seventeen Ghost Gates, while Hejiang City boasts a mighty twenty. As Li Tianan would say, that’s just what’s known; there are likely unknown Ghost Gates hiding out there, too.
Ghost Gates don’t stick around in one place forever; their numbers aren’t fixed in every location either.
But let’s not sweat the unknown Ghost Gates for now; all we need is to track down the known ones.
These Ghost Gates aren’t all within the city; many are scattered around nearby counties, with some being as far as a hundred kilometers away in a straight line.
“If we keep going at this rate, catching all the ghosts from these twenty Ghost Gates should almost wrap up our task,” Zhao Mingyue said while perched cross-legged on the hotel bed, cradling her tablet and studying a map of various Ghost Gate locations, plotting a straightforward plan.
“We’ve captured forty-one believers this time, but not every Ghost Gate has that many. Plus, these believers might get picked off by local forces, so if we think about it, we might end up needing all twenty Ghost Gates and then some by the time we’re done.”
Zhao Mingyue murmured to herself before suddenly looking up. With a simple glance exchanged, Bai Yu immediately understood what was on this girl’s mind.
She definitely wants to strike first against the local forces.
Sure enough, a moment later, Zhao Mingyue leaned in closer, “Bai Yu, do you think we could just take them out? Clean up those forces breeding the ghosts? That would save us a lot of hassle!”
Before Bai Yu could respond, Zhao Mingyue pulled back again.
“Wait, that might actually complicate things. Instead of hunting them down, if we can find a way to gather them up and nab them all at once, we could seize a whole bunch of Ghost Gates.”
“Hey, Bai Yu, say something!”
Bai Yu, just about to meditate by closing her eyes, opened them again out of sheer exasperation, “Focus on the Ghost Gates; they’ll come to us.”
“What if they go after your believers first?”
“Then we won’t give them a chance to react.”
Zhao Mingyue nodded, appeared to get it, but then snatched Bai Yu into her embrace, “Alright, let’s call it a night. We’ll tackle this tomorrow.”
Bai Yu didn’t resist; instead, she quietly got out of bed when Zhao Mingyue was fast asleep and settled in a nearby chair to meditate and feel the changes in her body.
Counting the believers from Tianchang City, she now has sixty in total. Although the faith they brought isn’t huge, she can already feel the change, a stark contrast from the almost undetectable shifts she experienced earlier.
More faith is growing within her, although the actual power of that faith hasn’t increased.
This power has three effects on her body: first, it eliminates the negative thoughts within her, which consumes the most faith. Second, it bolsters her cursing strength to ease her upcoming plans. Lastly, it enhances her physical capabilities across the board.
The power of faith is a form of mental energy, and given that the bodies of evil ghosts, in essence, also operate on mental strength, it boosts her power overall, albeit incredibly slowly. However, once the faith accumulates, the growth in power will be terrifying.
So, whether it’s a human body or a ghostly one, you can’t definitively say which is superior; they each have their pros and cons. It’s just that the potential for human bodies is much higher and more balanced.
If she wants to obtain the strength to confront the Dark Moon God before it fully recovers, then the power of faith is the fastest shortcut. Naturally, the more believers, the better. Currently, her target of five hundred evil ghosts isn’t nearly enough; five hundred fervent believers would be okay, but ordinary ones wouldn’t cut it.
While the world was still dark, Bai Yu sealed the hotel room’s windows and door with bl**d Threads and set out for the next Ghost Gate.
She had already scouted the hotel’s surroundings while Zhao Mingyue was asleep during the first half of the night; it was clear this place was completely safe.
After all, it wasn’t Tianchang City. There was no madman named Nightmare, nor other players in the game. Even if there were groups similar to the Ghost Domain here, they didn’t faze her at all.
In Tianchang City, she wouldn’t leave Zhao Mingyue’s side; but here, she could go solo so long as the environment remained safe.
She wouldn’t wander too far, as her connection with Zhao Mingyue still allowed her to sense her current condition.
She considered whether she was maybe being too protective of Zhao Mingyue.
With her around, Zhao Mingyue’s growth could only ever be limited; she’d never reach that self-breaking state.
However, this choice came after thoughtful deliberation.
Rather than forcing Zhao Mingyue to push herself, she’d prefer to see her live well.
At three in the morning, the streets were nearly deserted. Bai Yu darted through the faint glow of the streetlights and slipped into a KTV establishment.
The colorful lights inside seemed oblivious to the late hour, as raucous laughter and noise spilled from private rooms. Bai Yu took a quick look around, then phased through the walls to the hallway, heading down to the basement.
On the first basement level, the door was locked tighter than a drum.
And yet, she, alone, completely bypassed the lock, slipping through the door like a ghost.
Whether it was luck or misfortune, as soon as she entered the area, she spotted a few individuals squatting on the floor, gossiping while setting up something. They were wearing loose Taoist robes and holding a variety of bizarre ritualistic items.
“This batch of ghosts can chill for a bit once they’re integrated. Man, I’m about to d*e down here! No women, not even a glimpse of sunlight!”
The dimly lit room smelled burnt, shrouded in a shadowy haze like an Instagram filter gone wrong. The only light source was a lamp flickering on the wall, just enough to make out the rough layout of the place.
It looked like a dormitory; likely employees’ quarters that had been long deserted, with dusty beds piled up in the corner.
Scattered on the floor were items used by women and painfully thin outfits, indicating this was where the unique staff lived.
Just a door away, Bai Yu could sense the evil ghosts lurking in the depths.
The Ghost Gate lay even further back; in the sealed room where this group huddled, there were at least twenty evil ghosts.
“Man, who doesn’t agree?” The middle-aged man in the Taoist robe stood up and stretched. “And in a place like this! I can still hear the women above us!”
As he spoke, he unconsciously glanced at the door. The moment he spotted Bai Yu quietly standing there, he blinked twice to ensure he wasn’t imagining things.
He tugged at the nearest guy’s robe and pointed in her direction.
The others halted their activities and turned to look at Bai Yu.
“Wow, where did this little ghost come from?”
“Must be heaven sending us a treat since it knows we’re lonely down here!”
Their eyes gleamed with hunger; to them, the biggest difference between a female ghost and a human was the coldness of her body, and, most had downright ugly appearances.
But if a female ghost was pretty enough, that icy body became a “special flavor.”
What they didn’t realize was that the incomplete formation behind them was being unraveled by bl**d Threads, and the locked door was yanked open by tentacles.
By the time they caught on, nearly thirty evil ghosts surged out of the room like a tidal wave of grievances, plunging the dim space into darkness as the wall lamp flickered out.
“Who opened the door?!”
“I don’t know! Aren’t you in charge of the formation?!”
“Cut the chatter! Get out!”
Now it was their turn to panic, yelling as they frantically drew their weapons to keep the ghosts at bay.
“Hey! Why are you pushing me?!”
“Let’s just get out of here! There’s a ghost at the entrance—move it!”
Four guys were in total chaos, but at least their brains were still functioning, knowing they needed to run toward Bai Yu.
Whether the ghosts would let them escape wasn’t even on their mind; survival came first!
Suddenly, before their eyes, an eerie dark red light began to glow.
Against the backdrop of complete darkness, the red hue from Bai Yu’s Black Sun was unmistakable.
They froze, because they could see the glow was emanating from Bai Yu herself, and the most unsettling part? That aura felt so familiar.
“Evil, evil god?” One of them stammered, and the three words made their hearts sink into despair.
“No way! This can’t be real!?”
What stood at the door wasn’t a cute little ghost but a regular-looking female ghost with no significant aura—at least that’s what they thought!
However, reality was right before them; they had to accept that this little ghost they deemed harmless radiated the powerful curse energy only an evil god could wield.
Talk about a “horror movie” moment.
Behind them was a throng of nearly thirty evil ghosts, while ahead stood a godmother.
In their brief daze, when they noticed all the evil ghosts behind them had kowtowed to the ground, the answer became crystal clear.
Slowly lowering their items, they locked eyes with Bai Yu and gradually knelt in submission, daring not to make a sound.
They could feel their will and bodies being infiltrated by that indescribable curse power, but it was the only chance they had at living.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Bai Yu didn’t say a word. Once nearly all the evil ghosts were effectively brainwashed, the wall lamp brightened back to life.
The four of them knelt there, watching Bai Yu stride toward them step by step, looking down at them with icy eyes, as if pondering how to deal with them.
They didn’t harbor even a flicker of resistance: aside from the curse energy, the faint but potent aura she exuded made their bodies tremble subtly.
Perhaps because of the curse energy sinking into their systems, they gazed at Bai Yu’s face and the name floated into their minds.
“Black Sun God.”
