Chapter 313: The Old Jinx
Not taking action for too long, the biggest issue remained the lack of benefits. Killing the Black Sun Godmother was all risk—if successful, the most they would gain back was the Ghost Gate that had been snatched away, but these gates originally belonged to the Tianfa Sect!
But they had no choice. If the Black Sun God wasn’t dealt with, everyone would be in danger. Losing the Ghost Gate was like losing their livelihood—how could they compete with the Gatekeepers then?
“So just letting the Black Sun God grow unchecked benefits no one. She’s obviously recruiting believers right now. The Evil Gods you folks deal with have way more believers than we in the Tianfa Sect, so you can’t be clueless about what that means.”
The tea house was elegantly decorated and at the top of its luxury game. Today, however, it was devoid of customers, with only two people sitting across from each other on the best view third floor.
“Chairman Chen should know how many Ghost Gates there are in Hejiang City and the number of Evil Ghosts lurking within. The Black Sun Godmother has a clear goal—to develop these Evil Ghosts into believers. From the looks of it, her appetite is huge; she won’t stop at just a tiny place like Hejiang City.”
“But fortunately, we at the Tianfa Sect still have some power. We may not be as deep-rooted as your side, but we can still offer a bit of help.”
As Zhou Shan spoke, his chubby face broke into a friendly grin, mostly due to his jolly appearance resembling a Maitreya Buddha.
As the current leader of the Tianfa Sect, he had once lived in a temple, where his looks and size were exploited as a money-making tool. After some incident, he joined the Tianfa Sect and successfully became its leader.
Opposite him, Chairman Chen squinted his eyes.
This old fox was just shy of outright stating it.
What he really meant was quite simple: even if their tiny corner was lost completely, it didn’t matter. But if the Black Sun God grew, Hejiang City would only be the starting point, and it would be the Gatekeepers who’d end up regretting it.
Rather than dealing with a stronger Black Sun God later, it was better to make a move now while she wasn’t that powerful, especially since they could act alongside the Tianfa Sect—it might save some effort.
Taking the hit now was unavoidable.
The people from the Tianfa Sect were like a bunch of deadbeats, subtly threatening you with both words and actions.
What was even more annoying was that according to their typical style, they wouldn’t just pull off this stunt; they might even cooperate with the Black Sun God to shift the blame away from her.
For the Black Sun God, it didn’t really matter where she went; she only needed believers.
In the past, he would’ve just accepted this misfortune and extracted whatever benefits he could from it. Now though, he really had to think twice. Recently, he had been bruised by Gluttony, and the Gatekeepers were in a precarious state, especially around Tianchang City, which had spiraled completely out of control. All their Ghost Gates were occupied by that bunch of female madmen.
“You want to solve this matter, huh? That’s not impossible.” Chairman Chen lifted his teacup, took a sip, paused, and continued, “Let’s get straight to the point—you just don’t want to do the hard work and eat this loss yourself; you want to drag the Gatekeepers down with you to minimize your own losses.”
“There’s no need to beat around the bush with me.”
“You threaten me with the Black Sun God? That’s quite the joke. Since we’re going to strike anyway, why can’t I wait until you guys can’t take it anymore to make my move?”
“That way, the cost we’ll have to pay will indeed be higher, but at least there’s a benefit, right? Once the Black Sun God is dead, everything she swallowed will be spat out.”
“If I help you now, I’ve spent energy and manpower, and is the reward really just to dispel the potential crisis?”
“I can’t just directly say this to my brothers, can I? How will they see me as the chairman if they think my head isn’t working right?”
“k*ll the Black Sun God, and there are ten Ghost Gates within Hejiang City.”
Putting down his teacup, Chairman Chen stood up.
“I have a few things to handle, so I’ll take my leave.”
Standing over two meters tall, Chairman Chen had a massive build that gave the impression he could probably “drive away ghosts” with sheer fists.
Seated, Zhou Shan’s smile vanished, leaving a blank expression. In reality, he was on the verge of crushing the teacup in his hand.
It was his first time encountering such a situation; previously, he had never talked with Chairman Chen directly. Interactions between their two factions were usually handled by the vice-chairman, An Que, and as long as the money was good, everything was smooth.
However, this Chairman Chen was entirely different. He used every tactic under the sun when he visited—sweet talk and subtle hints were useless; the old fox was tough to budge. Who would’ve thought that threats would fall flat too?
Simply put, An Que was more focused on personal gain, while Chairman Chen valued the overall interests of the Gatekeepers.
The former was easily satisfied, being just one person, but the latter was a large organization.
Honestly, ten Ghost Gates wasn’t much, at least not for the Gatekeepers.
But how many Ghost Gates were there in Hejiang City? Counting the Ghost Gates in surrounding counties, there weren’t even forty. Losing a third was like a lion opening its mouth wide.
Refuse? If you don’t, you’ll deal with the Black Sun God solo, and the losses will be greater.
They had clearly communicated well in the past; his proposed conditions were accepted, and they even promised him aid.
And it was genuine aid—he had just seen it earlier; a girl no older than ten could easily take on three Red Clothes without breaking a sweat.
She was nicknamed “Dragon Lady.”
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“Is this okay?” Outside the tea house, Chairman Chen helplessly watched the Dragon Lady not far away.
He had no idea why she suddenly chose to come along and participate in this matter in Hejiang City. According to her, she was very interested in the Black Sun God and even said she wanted to capture her and make her a wife.
That sounded like a joke; considering her power, he had no choice but to go along with it.
As long as it didn’t affect the interests of the Gatekeepers, he could still attempt to make some contact.
“Alright then, thanks for the trouble, Chairman Chen. I’ll get in touch later.” The Dragon Lady waved her hand and turned to leave.
Chairman Chen still didn’t know her real identity.
When she killed An Que back then, Bai Yu indeed used her body, but at that time she was in Dragon form, which was very different from her current appearance.
“Never thought these two silent creeps would come such a long way together. Are they on a honeymoon or what?”
“So rude, they didn’t even invite me!”
Standing in this strange city, the Dragon Lady looked around, pulled out her phone, and sent Zhao Mingyue a shared address, adding a message to say she had arrived.
Zhao Mingyue quickly replied, telling her to find a place to wait a bit; she’d be there soon.
The Dragon Lady checked the map, and the closest small park was only over five hundred meters away.
Pulling up the zipper of her beige coat all the way, her long collar covered the lower half of her face, especially when she was looking down. She then pulled out a newsboy cap and sunglasses from her backpack, effectively hiding her face.
Walking to the park, she casually found a bench to sit on. Leaning back, the Dragon Lady suddenly felt a bit nostalgic. Maybe living in a city where no one recognized her wouldn’t be so bad as long as she had someone with her.
If Zhao Mingyue and Bai Yu settled here, she’d probably move in too. If not together, she’d definitely want to live nearby.
She had already been pondering about this world for some time, and after chatting with Nightmare, her feelings grew even more complex. She once thought she was special, but looking at it now, wasn’t she just like the others? Even Bai Yu and Nightmare didn’t want to leave.
These two appeared fierce on the surface, but behind the scenes, one was more obsessed with sisterhood than the other.
“They came pretty fast.” The Dragon Lady glanced at the message Zhao Mingyue had sent.
Before long, she heard Zhao Mingyue’s voice very nearby, just behind her.
Feigning to look at her phone, the Dragon Lady bet that Zhao Mingyue wouldn’t notice her; knowing her, she was probably more focused on the trees or bushes beside her.
“Hey, didn’t you say she already arrived? She must be hiding again, just like the last few times. Bai Yu, can you find her? Let’s sneak around and scare her from behind.”
Zhao Mingyue’s soft voice reached her ears as she intentionally spoke quietly.
The Dragon Lady watched as Zhao Mingyue walked past her, looking around, glancing here and there, and completely missing her in her field of vision.
Today, Zhao Mingyue’s outfit was quite eye-catching—she wore a flowing blue and white Hanfu. With her stunning looks and her penchant for fashion, she not only loved dressing herself up but also enjoyed styling those around her.
This was largely tied to her childhood experiences, like growing up poor and starving; once she got rich, she developed an obsession with food that others found hard to understand.
“I see you! Come out!” Zhao Mingyue playfully called without even realizing who she was speaking to.
“If you don’t come out, Bai Yu and I are leaving!”
After Zhao Mingyue’s shout, the Dragon Lady put down her phone and casually removed her sunglasses.
“I say, you little brat, do you think I’m invisible or what? Is this how you treat your lifesaver? Look, even Bai Yu doesn’t want to remind you; she must think you’re too silly. Alternatively, how about this—you can let Bai Yu go to me, or we can share one girl on odd and even days, and we can all sleep together on Sundays.”
With one hand resting on the bench’s backrest, the Dragon Lady crossed her legs and grinned mischievously.
Zhao Mingyue turned to glare at her, “Darling!”
