### Chapter 331: The Mysterious Young Girl
The guy in the Ghost Gate hadn’t shown up yet. She was waiting for the Dragon Lady to return, so she could take over her body, using it as an embryo for rebirth and continue living as “Zhao Yi.” Of course, at that point, she’d just be an Evil God named Zhao Yi.
For this Evil God, the Dragon Lady’s body was the best pick.
It’s like having a yin and yang—once the yin side uses the yang’s body to awaken, it’s guaranteed to be more potent. It’s like when the Dragon Lady devours the other side to become stronger, only the boost for the yin side after success would be way more significant.
To put it simply, it’s all about having your “exclusive” tools—get the one that fits you best, and the enhancement is natural.
So it’s no wonder this guy was getting jittery.
Two key players were in the same place: a tool for revival and the dear little sister she had been longing for.
After waiting all these years, finally getting a chance, if she didn’t make a move now, who knew when the next opportunity would come?
“Definitely! Even if we don’t go looking for her, she’ll come seeking us. The last time, there were two Evil Gods in Eternal Life Village, and she didn’t show her face. This time she probably has no worries. With just the three of us here, she likely doesn’t think we’re a threat,” the Dragon Lady shrugged, gazing toward home, already aware of where the Ghost Gate was.
When her soul had been half snatched away, it had happened right in her yard.
The Ghost Gate might have opened back then, just lying low ever since.
“This path…” Zhao Mingyue pondered, feeling it was somewhat familiar.
They were walking along a little trail behind the village, a path Zhao Mingyue remembered taking as a kid when her sister would sneak her out to play. It wasn’t really a path at all—nobody used it. They took it back then because it was secluded and led right to their back door.
Zhao Mingyue didn’t think much of it. After all, they had just come down from the back mountain temple, and next to it was this path. Maybe it was just a coincidence.
What Zhao Mingyue didn’t expect was that this trail really did lead to her back door.
The Dragon Lady and Bai Yu stopped here; Bai Yu closed her eyes, sensing the air, then pointed to the door. “It’s right in there, in this yard.”
The Dragon Lady kept her cool, pretending to know nothing.
Now that they were here, she suddenly thought about something.
Her body had been swapped, but what about her soul?
If her soul was still the same as before, wouldn’t that reveal everything?
If Zhao Mingyue saw, it’d be tough to explain. Even if the girl wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, she’d figure out what was going on.
Locking eyes with Bai Yu, just a glance was enough for Bai Yu to read the Dragon Lady’s thoughts. She shook her head and proactively pushed the back door of the yard open.
In reality, she shouldn’t have worried about exposing her identity; the reason the Dragon Lady hadn’t communicated this with Zhao Mingyue was simply that she hadn’t figured out how to confront it. After all, there was a yin side involved, and turning into a substitute would be awkward.
There was another reason: she didn’t know how to tell Zhao Mingyue about eliminating the yin side since, for Zhao Mingyue, it meant killing half of Zhao Yi. That could hit her pretty hard.
White Yu figured that the first issue had to be addressed eventually. Once they dealt with the yin side, the concerns about the encounter would disappear, and it wouldn’t matter when they revealed it.
As for the latter, she believed Zhao Mingyue wouldn’t get mad.
Essentially, the Dragon Lady swallowing the yin side just meant becoming whole again, merging into one, so in Zhao Mingyue’s eyes, she would look like the “complete” Zhao Yi.
The yard smelled awful—it was a mix of rotting wood and something decaying, not quite like a corpse but rather like a house that hadn’t been lived in for ages. The mountain weather, with its erratic rain, made the wooden items rot away.
Living in the mountains, most of the tools and furniture were wooden, so it was no surprise it stank.
Zhao Mingyue’s home wasn’t like the others in the village; instead of a courtyard, it was a two-story house with a kitchen and a yard.
The house and yard were built of adobe bricks, and the corners were almost overrun with moss and countless bugs. To be exact, it was a mini ecosystem for snakes, insects, and rodents—a little nature reserve right there.
In the small yard, weeds ran wild, and Bai Yu spotted a greenish snake slither into a crack in the wall.
If an ordinary person stumbled in here without being taken out by a ghost, they could easily get bitten by one of these things. Focusing solely on ghosts would make one forget about what was on the ground. In a place like this, even snakes were deadlier than usual; getting bitten would likely mean a quick ticket to the afterlife.
bl**d Threads wrapped around Zhao Mingyue’s feet, preventing her from being bitten.
Seeing this, the Dragon Lady chuckled, snapped her fingers, and without any visible magic, all the little creatures in the yard scurried away like they were fleeing a predator.
“I’m a dragon, you know! Dragon people are dragons too. It’s called bloodline suppression!”
Bai Yu used the bl**d Threads to clear out the weeds and stepped in front of the two-story house. She noticed that the lock on the front door was surprisingly new—at least compared to the yard that looked like it had aged a hundred years. This lock had no rust at all.
Interestingly, while clearing the weeds, she had observed that someone had cleaned a path near the front gate, which was subtly done, less visible near the wall.
“Someone has been here,” Bai Yu said, still in Zhao Mingyue’s body.
She reached out, gripping the iron lock and inspecting it closely. With a sudden burst of strength, she crushed the outer shell, revealing that it was packed full of red talismans, probably made of cinnabar.
Releasing her hand, Bai Yu glimpsed her palm—the bl**d Threads that had covered it were burned clean through. If she had used Zhao Mingyue’s hand, it would have suffered serious burns.
“That’s some powerful talisman,” the Dragon Lady snapped the iron lock like it was tofu in her hands.
“I remember that the Gatekeeper and those Tianfa Sect folks’ stuff didn’t affect you much, did they?”
Just a touch burned through the enhanced bl**d Threads, showing just how potent this thing was.
“Definitely something; looks like some kind of bl**d…”
“Who on earth came here? Was it some do-gooder thinking Eternal Life Village needed saving, and when they came to exorcise ghosts, they found everything dead except for this one Ghost Gate?”
As the Dragon Lady spoke, she punched the front door open, and sure enough, there were talismans plastered all over the back of the door.
“Good grief, who’s this bold? Coming here to post their little ads?”
Honestly, the Dragon Lady was a bit irritated—this was her home, and now a stranger had barged in, writing all sorts of nonsense on her door.
If that was all, it wouldn’t have been too bad. The problem was the inside was in complete ruin. When they left, the house had been spotless; things that couldn’t be taken were arranged neatly. Fast forward years later—the place should have just gathered dust or decayed, but it looked just as chaotic as before.
Inside, it was already filled with dust, cobwebs, and moss, and all the furniture that was once there was pretty much wrecked. The evident signs of a struggle on the floor showed someone had been there, with chaotic footprints scattered everywhere.
There were scorch marks too, with parts of the walls blackened.
If it weren’t for her need to keep her identity hidden, the Dragon Lady would certainly let a few words fly.
“Not in a hurry, let’s just wait here,” Bai Yu walked inside, glancing upward. The Ghost Gate was in a room on the second floor.
It was still light out; it was once night fell that the real challenge would begin.
“Um, Bai Yu,” Zhao Mingyue’s voice rang in her head, “Actually, I wanted to say earlier, this is my house.”
“Your house?” Bai Yu feigned ignorance.
“Yep, my house! I wanted to say something when I saw you talking to the Dragon Lady.” Zhao Mingyue’s tone was a bit complex—she had no time to ponder how they ended up here, nor why the Ghost Gate appeared, just marveling at the fact that she could return one day.
“I lived here as a child before moving out, and those years really left a deep shadow on me.”
“Ah, looking back, I really need to thank my sister. Without her, I probably wouldn’t have survived this long with those Evil Gods around. I had no idea Eternal Life Village was so terrifying; before, I just thought it was a cult’s base!”
“Too bad I could never find her.”
Just as she was reminiscing, Zhao Mingyue suddenly remembered something.
“Hey, Bai Yu, are you sure the Ghost Gate is here?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why? How could the Ghost Gate be in my house?”
“I don’t know either, but I’ll sort it out for you.”
Stepping out of Zhao Mingyue’s body, Bai Yu checked the second floor as the afternoon rolled on. This was where the Dragon Lady had originally been subjected to the ritual, so it was where the Ghost Gate had opened.
The ceremony was pretty simple, a preparatory part and also the most vital; the rest happened at the altar, but the crucial part was already complete here.
The Ghost Gate was wide open and strong, yet no ghosts were lurking around—it seemed all had been scattered away by the Dragon Lady’s yin side.
As dusk approached, the sky darkened.
While they waited for the yin side to come, they heard a girl’s commanding voice from outside the house.
“Who’s in there!”
