Chapter 314: The Dark Side of the Dragon Lady
Seeing the Dragon Lady sitting there so nonchalantly, Zhao Mingyue felt a bit awkward. She thought the Dragon Lady would be hiding like a ninja, but here she was, sitting in plain sight. Zhao had even taken a few sneaky glances at her, even thinking to herself that this person looked a bit like the Dragon Lady.
Good thing she didn’t say that out loud; that would’ve been a colossal blunder!
No wonder Bai Yu hadn’t told her where the Dragon Lady was earlier.
Bai Yu materialized next to the Dragon Lady, appearing as if she had just finished playing a game of “now you see me, now you don’t.” “Sorry, I can’t leave just yet; I still have things to wrap up here.”
“Let me think… I believe this is the first time you’ve said ‘sorry’ to me, right?” The Dragon Lady rummaged through her bag and pulled out a box of pastries, specifically cream puffs that Zhao Mingyue adored.
“Here, it’s for you.” The Dragon Lady opened the box, pinched one off, took a tiny bite, and then handed the rest over to Zhao Mingyue.
“But no worries, I haven’t had much to do lately. That Nightmare girl is still waiting for a response from me, and I can’t exactly go over to tutor her sister right now.”
“And it didn’t even cost me anything to come here; it was a ride arranged by the Gatekeeper Association. I’ve been collaborating a bit with that old guy lately. This way, I can avoid Nightmare’s prying eyes. It makes it harder for her to catch on.”
“I initially wanted to track her down and give her a good smack, but then I thought, what if I lost? That would just create more trouble for you, right?”
With her arms crossed, Bai Yu chimed in, “How much do you think what Nightmare said is true?”
She was still unfamiliar with Nightmare; her previous encounters had been limited. On the other hand, the Dragon Lady had spent enough time at her house to have picked up a few clues.
“I’d say about 90% true and 10% false,” the Dragon Lady said, her gaze a bit conflicted. “What I know for sure is that this girl has a serious sister complex. Her feelings for her family aren’t fake, so I get where she’s coming from.”
“After all, we’re all sister fans here—you, me, and her.”
“Remember what I said before? I think she’s harboring those kinds of thoughts.”
Just then, Zhao Mingyue, looking clueless, piped up, “You have a sister? How come I’ve never heard you mention her? You should bring her out to play sometime!”
The Dragon Lady shot a glance at the not-so-bright, cream-covered girl next to her. Hearing Zhao Mingyue’s words made her hesitate, the inner turmoil bubble up, and she thought, “Really? My own sister is asking if I have a sister, and wants to take her out to have fun?”
“Uh, yes, I do have a sister. But when she was a kid, she once rode our pet pig and took a tumble, so her brain is a bit… slow. She’s pretty much always making silly faces.” The Dragon Lady forced a smile, even reaching out to tousle Zhao Mingyue’s hair, but Zhao quickly turned away.
Seeing that overly concerned expression felt confusing to Zhao Mingyue. “Even if she’s not that bright, she can still come out to play! It’s not good to keep her cooped up at home.”
“No, she’s gone to a far, far away place.”
As soon as those words left the Dragon Lady’s mouth, Zhao Mingyue’s eyes widened with realization. “Sorry.”
“Pfft.” The Dragon Lady quickly turned her head, trying not to laugh.
Bai Yu stood by, utterly uninterested in stopping the comedic moment. These sisters were really something. She imagined the look on Zhao Mingyue’s face when she eventually discovered the Dragon Lady was her long-lost sister.
Accepting that reality shouldn’t be too tough; their relationship wasn’t terrible. The only hitch was that the Dragon Lady looked more like a sister than Zhao Mingyue did!
“Well, Ms. Mingyue, would you mind stepping away for a moment? Bai Yu and I have something we want to discuss. Don’t worry; we won’t take advantage of this opportunity to get all handsy with Bai Yu.”
The Dragon Lady’s smile vanished, and her expression turned serious. “This is a really important matter. What you hear won’t benefit you. Didn’t you say you love movies? There’s a great line in one: some things are better left unknown.”
“Even if you don’t trust me, you have to trust Bai Yu, right? Do you really think she’d sneak behind your back and ‘cheat’ on you?”
Zhao Mingyue looked between the Dragon Lady and Bai Yu, and upon seeing Bai Yu nod slightly, she huffed, hugging the remaining cream puff, and walked toward the nearby lake.
Once she was far enough but still in sight, Bai Yu spoke up. “This world really aligns with Nightmare’s words: ultimately, only one person can remain.”
“The main quest hinges on Lu Liangting, so typically, there can only be one survivor.”
“Lu Liangting is a rather devoted individual, so he’s the focal point here.”
“I’m wondering, if no one completes the main quest, how much time will the sc*m Game give us?”
The Dragon Lady nodded in thought. “That’s the crux of the issue. I suspect Nightmare’s plan revolves around Lu Liangting. She mentioned that to stay, she needs to eliminate everyone else. I imagine she wants to manipulate this BUG.”
“What if the main quest only has her remaining? Without a time limit, she could stick around forever.”
“No wonder they say this is a dreamlike world; I doubt many would want to leave.”
“That’s not our focus for now. Once we deal with Nightmare, we’ll know what we need to know.”
“Honestly, Bai Yu, if it weren’t for the fact that our relationship is getting really solid, I might have just teamed up with Nightmare. Her offer was quite tempting.”
“One is my dear sister, and the other is a woman I can’t have. I’d definitely pick the former.”
“Another reason is Zhao Mingyue here. Just think about it! If one day she learns that I joined forces with Nightmare to take you out, she’d be devastated! She might even disown me as a sister!”
Just as the Dragon Lady finished her sentence, she noticed Bai Yu staring at her.
“That worry of yours is unnecessary,” Bai Yu replied calmly.
“Uh, why’s that?”
“Because, the two of you can’t beat me.”
Cough cough cough. The Dragon Lady spluttered a bit, almost choking on thin air.
That sounded too cocky! But she seriously couldn’t come up with a comeback.
If the sc*m Game world had any chance, who knew about this one?
Bai Yu could just run off to her sister in the Ghost Gate! She could crush both her and Nightmare like a bug.
“You’re something else…”
Before the Dragon Lady finished her sentence, Bai Yu raised a hand, and a black tentacle emerged from her palm, radiating strands of dark red light.
“This is what I’ve been working on lately. I have the curse of the Evil God and I’m currently developing believers to provide me with faith power. Faith is the purest form of spiritual energy and is the perfect supplement for Evil Ghosts, greatly enhancing their strength.”
“I’ve completely purged the malevolent thoughts in my body, and my power has surged tremendously.”
As she crushed the tentacle and absorbed it, Bai Yu released the aura she now possessed. Sitting beside her, the Dragon Lady’s eyes widened in disbelief. The boost was unreal. If Bai Yu’s strength before she left was at fifty, now it was definitely eighty-five and climbing!
In just a few days? That was rocket-speed!
If this continued, Bai Yu wouldn’t even need a physical body; she could take them both down merely with her essence!
In terms of physical confrontation, the Dragon Lady couldn’t compete with Bai Yu, and in terms of spiritual power, Nightmare wouldn’t stand a chance either. How could she possibly win?
“Alright then, it turns out the clown is me after all. But how did you level up so fast?”
“Five hundred and thirteen Evil Ghosts are all rabid believers. Under this condition, their lifespan is only a month.”
In just that brief moment, the Dragon Lady completely understood why Bai Yu leveled up so fast.
So, she hadn’t been human! Instead, she had been squeezing the life out of hundreds of Evil Ghosts without feeding them!
For average people, leveling up this quickly isn’t necessarily a blessing; it’s like building a house on sand—eventually, it will collapse.
But that wasn’t the case for Bai Yu; her foundation was so deep it was unfathomable. She didn’t need to worry about her rapid growth not keeping up with other aspects.
Plus, she was a total glutton; absorbing that much spiritual energy was nothing for her.
“That’s why they say my choice was wise.” The Dragon Lady’s grin returned. “But enough of this, since you’ve stepped up your game, I’m a bit more at ease now; let’s talk about something else.”
“Another reason I haven’t been bugging Nightmare lately is that I’ve been searching for my other half of the soul.”
“What I can confirm is that my other half must be either a ghost or an Evil God, but I can’t pinpoint where they are right now.”
“My thought is to find her and then eliminate her.” The Dragon Lady looked Bai Yu straight in the eyes. “This world only needs one Zhao Yi, and Mingyue only needs one sister.”
“Killing her could restore some of my soul. It’ll make me feel more complete, but even then, it will still be a bit fragmented, perhaps enough to exploit that BUG.”
“In Nightmare’s words, in a fragmented state, I’m only half a person; by using another’s body or soul, I could masquerade as the same individual.”
“Then it could be a backup plan. If you’re secure on your end, we could let another person stay too. I believe there will be many interested in that spot.”
The Dragon Lady had never spoken about her dark side before. Initially, she thought to find her other half and merge them.
But now her perspective had shifted—why merge when she could just eliminate her?
This world doesn’t need a second Dragon Lady, nor does it need a second Zhao Yi.
She is the Dragon Lady, and she is Zhao Yi; having herself is more than enough.
Bai Yu fell silent but eventually nodded in agreement.
As for the Dragon Lady’s matters, she’d handle them herself.
