### Chapter 335: Living Loli Ghost Gate
The whole process was super simple, with basically nothing difficult about it. Bai Yu was about to end the whole thing without even putting in much effort; the one being redeemed had practically completed the redemption mission all by themselves. Good news: this still counted as mission accomplished.
Actually, for many redemption missions, it’s not so much about the process as it is about the result. This made her wonder more than once, “What even is ‘redemption’?”
But hey, if you can’t figure it out, just don’t think about it! Since the sc*m Game considered this a redemption, we might as well roll with it.
No clue how this result felt for the Dragon Lady, though.
She had consumed her other half’s soul, wrapped up a longstanding worry, avenged a huge grudge, gained a fair amount of strength, recovered some memories, and severed ties with her past.
The most crucial part was that, after all this, when the Dragon Lady went to spill all the tea to Zhao Mingyue, it wouldn’t be too early. The timing would be just right, and Zhao Mingyue might actually be able to accept this reality.
For the Dragon Lady, this was fantastic; for Zhao Mingyue, equally so, at least she got her sister back—even if her sister’s transformation was a bit extreme. And for herself, completing the redemption mission also gave her a lottery chance to prepare for the showdown with the Dark Moon God.
Even Li Qingtang, who had been watching the drama unfold below, came out ahead. She didn’t have to tussle with the bl**d God or take on any risks, and she fulfilled her master’s wishes.
The only loser here was the bl**d God.
One has to wonder what she’s thinking at this moment.
Bai Yu felt she might be overthinking it a bit.
Suddenly, she recalled something—her identity as a redemption executor seemed to have a perk!
After completing a certain number of redemptions, she would unlock her own redemption.
She still couldn’t wrap her head around what her redemption would look like, but it was definitely related to the Dark Moon God.
Up ahead, the Dragon Lady was munching on the last bits of the bl**d God, who was no longer struggling—probably too weak to even put up a fight. All she could do was watch helplessly as the Dragon Lady nibbled away at her body bit by bit.
Throughout this process, the bl**d God stayed silent, not responding to the Dragon Lady’s words until her last flicker of will faded away. To her, she hadn’t done anything wrong; the Dragon Lady was the one at fault.
The surroundings fell completely silent. The Dragon Lady stood on the steps formed from Bai Yu’s bl**d Threads, eyes closed, feeling out the changes in her body and accepting the things that were taken along with the fragment of her split soul.
Some memories that had vanished, along with the enhancements and sensations brought about by repairing her soul.
Because it was a violent absorption, she couldn’t s*ck the soul in 100%.
If perfect soul fusion was a hundred, her way maxed out at around ninety.
But hey, that’s still pretty good—better than she had imagined! The losses were negligible.
She had been missing part of her soul for so many years that she had long since gotten used to it.
So now, even if she hadn’t fully recovered, she was quite satisfied. The feeling of her soul no longer being a void was pretty great.
Every second ticked by, and the Dragon Lady opened her eyes and stretched her body.
Her physical strength had increased quite a bit; unfortunately, she still couldn’t fully transform into a dragon.
By the time Bai Yu went toe-to-toe with the Dark Moon God, she probably wouldn’t be able to help much—at most, she could lend a hand while Bai Yu fought the Nightmare.
No choice—both Bai Yu and the Dark Moon God were too OP. Especially Bai Yu; her recent growth rate was practically on rocket fuel. In just a few days, her power skyrocketed several times. It was downright unreasonable!
She even thought that during the battle with the Nightmare, she might not be able to do anything. The Nightmare certainly wouldn’t expect Bai Yu to grow at such a ridiculous speed and might just get one-shotted!
As she pondered, it actually felt quite possible.
If the Nightmare didn’t step up its game soon, it really risked getting taken down by Bai Yu!
Who knows, though? After all, when it came to scheming, the Nightmare was a pro. This was the same guy whose most significant plot almost blew the whole world up. It was only thanks to the sc*m Game that the crisis was averted in the end.
Yet, not only did the Nightmare escape punishment, it also walked away with a pretty sweet reward.
“How do you feel?” Bai Yu asked, seeing the Dragon Lady move with a spring in her step, signaling a successful absorption.
“Feeling great! This sensation of being filled up is just so~awesome~!”
The Dragon Lady darted to give Bai Yu a big hug, only to have her abruptly deflected down the steps Bai Yu had conjured.
In mid-air, the Dragon Lady flapped her wings to steady her landing. “You’re so mean! How am I supposed to be a redemption executor like this?!”
Bai Yu ignored her and walked down the steps one by one, generating them beneath her feet as she went.
“Since you’ve recovered, let’s leave.”
“Of course! I don’t wanna spend the night here! Aren’t you gonna ask how much my power has increased?”
Bai Yu glanced at her wordlessly and continued on her way.
The Dragon Lady shrugged and joined Zhao Mingyue. “This girl’s temper is still the same deadpan! If it were you asking her, she wouldn’t have reacted like this; I bring it up, and off she goes!”
Zhao Mingyue couldn’t help chuckling. “Nah, sometimes she treats me like that, too.”
“Sure it’s not wishful thinking? Speaking of which, your house is gone. Aren’t you gonna go look for her trouble? Perfect timing! My power’s up too! How about we team up and see if we can pin her to the bed?”
The Dragon Lady was sporting a somewhat mischievous grin.
“The house is gone? So what? It wasn’t exactly a paradise. From today onward, I doubt I’ll ever come back to this place. Besides, my parents’ grave isn’t even here; it’s in the front village. Even if there’s a holiday, I can just go visit there.”
Zhao Mingyue didn’t join the Dragon Lady’s wild rambling. She turned to gaze at the ruins and sighed softly, “Honestly, I hope this back village stays lost to history forever, never to have anyone walk here again.”
“This place is no good.”
The Dragon Lady didn’t continue. Instead, she simply said, “Then let’s go. If we’re not coming back, we’re not. What matters isn’t the place but the people who once lived here together.”
With eyes slightly widening, Zhao Mingyue looked up, only to meet the Dragon Lady’s gaze. Before she could say anything, the Dragon Lady nodded gently and followed Bai Yu in step, heading outside.
Seeing this, Zhao Mingyue hesitated. She thought the Dragon Lady might want to share something earlier—like the whole redemption thing.
She sighed inwardly and waved goodbye to Li Qingtang. “Sister Li, this matter is resolved. There won’t be any more Evil Gods in this village. I believe your master can rest in peace now. If you don’t mind, you can come back with us.”
“Hmm… Actually, Manager Li really misses you. He always keeps your photo tucked away and often looks at it when he’s alone in the shop.”
“And, the manager has really been working hard for your daughter.”
As a staff member with decent pay and who generally had a good relationship with Li Tianan, Zhao Mingyue felt it was necessary to say a few good words for him at this moment.
Li Qingtang, lost in thought while gazing at the direction where the bl**d God had perished, took a few seconds to collect herself. “Thank you, Little Girl. I really haven’t been back in many years. There are some things I do want to clarify with that guy.”
“Sure! Let’s head back together!”
As they walked toward the front village, the Dragon Lady and Bai Yu led the way with their low conversation, their voices cut off by Bai Yu’s curse power, deliberately avoiding Zhao Mingyue’s ears.
Zhao Mingyue didn’t catch this detail and chatted away with Li Qingtang as they followed behind.
Mostly, Li Qingtang spoke while Zhao Mingyue listened.
“Our master picked up both me and Li Tianan. I was only ten when some accident led to my parents’ d*ath. None of the relatives wanted to take me in, so I was out there begging on the streets.”
“In those days, it was tough. The Ghost Gate had appeared and caused some trouble; for a time, Evil Ghosts were harming people, and ten lives were lost in just one week. My master happened to pass by, saw me all alone and miserable, and took me in.”
“At that time, Li Tianan was already over twenty. He treated me really well; he was my big brother. After my master died, he basically became like a father to me.”
“When I married him, it was my master’s wish. Looking back, we probably just misunderstood each other, but it doesn’t really matter, because during that time, I genuinely liked Li Tianan—a lot. To me, he was my whole world. With him around, I always felt safe; that feeling of home was anytime he was near me.”
“That lasted until I had our daughter.”
“During that time, we had some conflicts due to the Ghost Gate and the Gatekeepers. He wanted to join the Gatekeepers to find a way into the world behind the Ghost Gate.”
“After our daughter was born, she was cursed. It was actually my fault for being careless; I didn’t realize I was pregnant, which meant I didn’t fall under the curse—my child took the hit instead.”
“When she was born, she was different from others—let’s be blunt; she had an ‘in-between’ body and was naturally frail. Not only was she easy to get sick, but she also attracted ghosts. If it were just that, it wouldn’t have been a huge deal; we could have trained her to handle it. But she was born with only half a soul.”
“If it had happened to an adult, losing half a soul wouldn’t be a big deal—but she was an infant. If this continued, she wouldn’t survive to adulthood.”
Zhao Mingyue’s heart sank; she had never heard Li Tianan mention these things. Whenever their daughter came up, he would deftly change the subject, only saying she remained in a coma and that it was the work of the Ghost Domain.
“Because of this, Li Tianan and I had a massive fallout. He insisted he should go behind the Ghost Gate to retrieve our daughter’s soul, while I thought it was far too dangerous. If he went in, there was only a 10% chance of survival—being blunt, it was walking the line of d*ath.”
“Our child was already so pitiful; she was so little; she couldn’t be without her father.”
“I thought, if we couldn’t find the soul, then I could go to the Ghost Domain and collaborate with them to give half of my soul to my daughter. This way, she could be saved, and I wouldn’t suffer too much.”
“But nothing is ever that simple. Once Li Tianan joined the Gatekeepers, their leader came right after, and upon seeing our daughter, claimed he had a way to fix it. The catch? Our daughter would become a vessel, cohabiting with an Evil Spirit.”
“That j*rk Li Tianan secretly agreed to this without telling me! He even tricked me into believing he found a foolproof method that just needed a few years of preparation.”
“Then, on our daughter’s tenth birthday, the ritual began.”
“After the ritual, that fool Li Tianan realized he had been duped: the Gatekeepers weren’t turning our daughter into a vessel for an Evil Spirit, they intended her to become part of the Ghost Gate.”
At this point, Li Qingtang clenched her fists tightly, the bitterness nearly splintering her silver teeth as she poured out her hatred through nearly gritted teeth.
“You heard that right: those freaks disguised as humans turned my daughter into a living Ghost Gate!”
“Their plan was that from the outset! They told Li Tianan there had been unforeseen issues with the plan.”
“Why they did this, I don’t know. There must be some conspiracy here. All I know is their plan failed.”
“They wanted to turn my daughter into a Ghost Gate, but they didn’t expect her will to be far firmer than they thought, continuously resisting, preventing the Ghost Gate from opening.”
“But at a cost—like a vegetative state, her body remains alive, but her consciousness is forever trapped in a dream she can never wake from.”
“This has gone on for six years.”
“She’s so young; her consciousness is stuck in that dark world, unable to escape, with no light, no sound, and nothing but a Ghost Gate that could open at any moment.”
“And you…?” Zhao Mingyue’s hand gripped her clothing, feeling the weight in her heart.
“So, ever since that day, I completely severed ties with Li Tianan. I only returned to help fulfill my master’s wish; my second purpose was to find a way to wake my daughter up.”
“I believe your daughter will be fine!”
Zhao Mingyue could only say this at that moment. She didn’t mention leaving it to her or Bai Yu because she couldn’t guarantee that they would succeed. It’s a basic principle not to make promises without assurances.
If one day she did become a powerful figure in the Ghost Gate like Bai Yu said, then helping resolve this issue wouldn’t be a problem.
But right now, they were just starting out—who could predict what would happen next?
“I have some leads for my return. I hope they’re useful.”
What Li Qingtang and Zhao Mingyue didn’t know was that Li Tianan was the one most tormented by this matter and wanted to find a way to fix it more than anyone.
Coincidentally, he had recently run into a person who could indeed help him wake his daughter.
That person’s code name was Nightmare.
