### Chapter 340: The Secret of the Ghost Gate
Tonight, Zhao Mingyue had another bizarre dream. Once again, she found herself in front of that gigantic Ghost Gate. This time, however, a gap had opened, and something was calling her from within, seeming eager to share a secret.
Unlike last time, this voice was incredibly fuzzy—totally incomprehensible.
Drawing from her previous encounter, Zhao Mingyue decided to be smart this time. She firmly planted herself in place, resolutely refusing to touch the Ghost Gate.
It looked imposing and heavy, but in reality, it was as if it were greased with oil. A gentle nudge could push it open. Thank goodness she hadn’t put much effort into it last time; who knows what chaos might have unfolded otherwise!
With her eyes closed, she practiced some meditation techniques White Feather had taught her.
This meditation thing really worked—once she entered a meditative state, the voice behind the Ghost Gate became much clearer.
“Is someone there? Can you hear me?”
“Oh, I’m Li Xuener. If you can hear me, please let me finish!”
“Whatever you do, don’t touch that door in front of you. It will lead you to misfortune and disaster.”
“Don’t think about anything, don’t do anything, just stay there, and you’ll be out soon.”
“Hold firm in your heart! No matter who tells you to push that door, don’t agree. Trust me!”
Zhao Mingyue opened her eyes, shock written all over her face as she stared at the gap in the Ghost Gate.
Someone was on the other side!
Last time, she hadn’t encountered this situation. The voice whispering in her ear then was definitely not the same as the one she just heard.
“Did she just say her name is Li Xuener?”
Zhao Mingyue furrowed her brow, sitting cross-legged and contemplating. Suddenly, a wild hypothesis struck her like a lightning bolt.
Yesterday, she had chatted with Li Qingtang for quite a while and learned about her story with Li Tianan. It involved her daughter being tricked by the Gatekeeper, turning her into a living Ghost Gate. The catch was, her daughter’s will was so strong that she kept this Ghost Gate firmly shut, never opening it.
And what do you know? Another Li, tangled up with the Ghost Gate, and here they were—inside a dream!
Could the Li Xuener who just spoke really be the Store Manager’s daughter?
“Can you hear me, Li Xuener? I have a question: Is your father Li Tianan, and your mother Li Qingtang? If you can hear me, just repeat what you want to say; I might not catch it otherwise.” Zhao Mingyue called out, unsure if Li Xuener could hear her.
After finishing, she quickly focused again to enter a meditative state. To her surprise, she heard Li Xuener’s voice once more.
“I… yes. How did you know my father’s name?”
“Here’s the thing, Xuener: you need to hold on. I know your parents; they’re trying to find a way to rescue you. Hang in there; they’ll succeed soon!”
Zhao Mingyue was quite anxious. This ghostly place was shady! She had to meditate to hear Xuener, but whenever she spoke, it broke her focus.
So, to chat with Li Xuener, she needed her to keep repeating herself; otherwise, she’d miss crucial bits. And she certainly couldn’t meditate like White Feather, jumping into it in less than a minute!
The last time she had entered this state, Li Xuener said something like this:
“It’s useless, sister. If you manage to get out, please tell my parents to give up on me. I don’t want to burden them.”
Time was running short for them to communicate again.
Suddenly, Zhao Mingyue jolted awake from the dream, looking around wildly.
It was six ten in the morning, and White Feather was still sound asleep, blissfully unaware of all the ghostly drama.
“Huff.” Zhao Mingyue exhaled deeply, completely awake now.
She got out of bed and took a hot shower. When she returned, White Feather was already awake, leaning against the headboard, silently watching her.
“Another nightmare?”
“Yup, how’d you know?” Zhao Mingyue dried her damp hair and sat beside White Feather. “I dreamt about the Ghost Gate again, and this time, there was a person—she’s the Store Manager’s daughter.”
“Everything Li Qingtang told me was true—her daughter is really trapped in the world of dreams. It appears she’s guarding that Ghost Gate, preventing it from opening.”
“Last time, I couldn’t meet her, probably because the Ghost Gate wasn’t fully opened. This time, I did encounter her because I nudged the gate a little, but real communication is still elusive. I need to meditate to hear her, but she can hear me just fine for some reason!”
“When I was waking up, I told her to hang in there, but she said it was pointless. White Feather, this Ghost Gate I pushed open in my dream—surely it can’t impact anything in reality, right?”
White Feather pondered for a moment, “There’s a possibility. I suspect that the Ghost Gate in your dream is the Ghost Gate Essence, meaning it could directly influence both reality and the Ghost World.”
“If it’s truly the Ghost Gate Essence, then how did those Gatekeepers manage to implant a real Ghost Gate into Li Xuener? They don’t seem capable enough for that!”
“No, I doubt the Gatekeepers anticipated this outcome. Moreover, this Ghost Gate is likely just a projection of the Essence, but that projection can still have an impact—especially on you.”
White Feather comforted her softly, “Your situation and Li Xuener’s are different due to identity issues.”
“Fine.” Zhao Mingyue sighed.
The morning passed pleasantly watching movies at home. It was nearly noon when the Dragon Lady’s car pulled up to the villa’s driveway.
“Are my two lovely ladies ready to feed me?”
“Of course!” Zhao Mingyue jumped to her feet.
This time, the Dragon Lady brought groceries—everything Zhao Mingyue loved! But as cooking was still left to White Feather, the two sisters were basically culinary disasters, and even Zhao Mingyue’s cooking barely qualified as “edible.”
White Feather didn’t expect anything of the sort from them. After acquiring her new body, she began relishing life immensely, and her standards for food were sky-high. Only her cooking met her satisfaction.
Post-lunch, Zhao Mingyue dragged out her online-purchased gaming console, and the three of them took turns playing. Surprisingly, they collectively had the gaming talents of a rubber chicken!
“Ah, a phone call!”
Zhao Mingyue rummaged through her pocket and discovered it was an unknown number.
Once connected, Li Qingtang’s voice came through.
“Mingyue, can you reach Li Tianan? He seems to be missing.”
“What!?”
“I’ve been searching for him all over. I visited his house, but he’s nowhere to be found. The housekeeper said he hasn’t returned for three days, and his phone is off. I checked his convenience store; it’s been shut down for ten days! I’ve contacted everyone who might know him; there’s no trace.”
“Hold on, let me check!”
After hanging up, Zhao Mingyue tried calling Li Tianan—sure enough, it was turned off.
All other contact methods were futile; no one picked up.
Confirming she couldn’t reach him, Zhao Mingyue redialed Li Qingtang, “Sister Li, I tried contacting the Store Manager, but I couldn’t reach him either.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll think of another way.” Li Qingtang sounded fatigued. “The key issue is that Li Tianan brought my daughter with him and left no information whatsoever.”
“I wish I could pry open Li Tianan’s brain to see what’s going on in there.”
“Given that his daughter is in such a state, he still… sigh. Anyway, thank you.”
“No problem at all; just let me know if you need anything else.” Zhao Mingyue frowned.
Recently, Li Tianan had been acting mysteriously, and it had been a while since she last contacted him. The last time he mentioned he had something critical to take care of.
Could it be related to his daughter? If so, had he found a way to tackle this Ghost Gate issue? Then why did Li Xuener say it was all in vain?
“Let’s not rush into this just yet. We’ll talk in a few days.” The Dragon Lady and White Feather exchanged glances and continued, “In a couple of days, White Feather might have an important matter to attend to; once that’s taken care of, we can focus on other things.”
“In two days?” Zhao Mingyue tilted her head in confusion.
“Lu Liangting has been kidnapped.” White Feather stated flatly. “Someone has requested me to help rescue him.”
“And the one who kidnapped Lu Liangting is quite a troublesome character. If we just take them out, things will become much easier.”
“Is it dangerous?” Zhao Mingyue was mostly concerned about that.
“There’s a risk, but I’m confident I can take them down.”
“Okay…”
Zhao Mingyue realized she couldn’t change White Feather’s mind, and all she could do was support her. Besides, she didn’t know much; suggesting random ideas would only complicate matters.
“It’s interesting, the Nightmare doesn’t seem afraid to take on so many of us at once. This also indicates her strength must be formidable; if she’s daring enough to act so recklessly, she must be confident.”
Propping her chin up and popping a piece of fruit in her mouth, the Dragon Lady spoke softly, “I just wonder what kind of tricks that demon has up her sleeve.”
“Dark Moon.” White Feather’s gaze dropped.
Those two words instantly caught the Dragon Lady’s attention. She straightened up, her expression serious, “Are you certain?”
“The only thing that comes to mind right now is that. I’ve uncovered that after the Nightmare took command, the Ghost Domain organization has been aggressively acquiring soul potions. This potion serves two purposes in her hands: one, to strengthen her own soul and fortify her body enough to endure the Dark Moon God’s gifts.”
“Two, to restore the Dark Moon God’s power. The faster the Dark Moon God regains her strength, the more benefits she reaps.”
In the past, the Nightmare might not have collaborated with the Dark Moon God, let alone worship her. No matter how strong she was, she wouldn’t have lowered herself to such a position.
However, in this world, the Dark Moon God was a trump card.
So, the Nightmare’s devotion made complete sense; all she desired was power.
“Now that you mention it, there could be such a possibility. It seems only the Dark Moon God could provide the Nightmare with that much strength all at once.”
With one Dark Moon God, the natural flow of the world had been completely disrupted.
The Dragon Lady certainly hoped that in their final battle, White Feather would emerge victorious.
Only if White Feather won could everything return to normal; they could pursue Lu Liangting or complete their tasks.
If they ultimately couldn’t pursue Lu Liangting? Well, they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.
At worst, they could stop everyone and let this task stall indefinitely.
—
For three days straight, aside from the Lu family frantically gaining power to search for Lu Liangting, everything else was eerily quiet. White Feather stayed home to accompany Zhao Mingyue, as her growth didn’t require frequent outings. The Dragon Lady was similar; though she didn’t live there, she popped over nearly every day to steal meals.
“After getting used to White Feather’s cooking, I can’t eat outside food anymore—it tastes like chewing wax!” she’d say, complaining about the culinary options elsewhere.
Those crazy ladies had also been unusually quiet. Rather than investigate Lu Liangting, they were looking into the Nightmare’s identity.
As for White Feather, she couldn’t be bothered, letting them conduct their little investigation—so long as they didn’t get caught by the Nightmare and end up as ghost chow.
Those girls were her future “clients,” depending entirely on their redemption missions.
She figured she’d need eleven redemption tasks, but who knew how many she really required?
What if it was more?
Once the redemption tasks were done, those girls could do whatever; living or dying was irrelevant—didn’t matter where it happened.
Fast forward to the third day. It wasn’t until the afternoon that news from Shen Shuyun finally came through.
“Boss, we have some info! I’ll send you Lu Liangting’s location; it’s by a Ghost Gate. We’ve had people scout it. Lu Liangting’s situation is complicated—technically, we didn’t see the Nightmare herself, just Li Tianan.”
“Li Tianan, the owner of Mingyue’s convenience store, also happens to be a Gatekeeper.”
“This dude feels off; he’s been leading half the Gatekeepers, rallying them to oust the current leader.”
“He scheduled negotiations with two other Gatekeepers for tonight—at the same Ghost Gate where Lu Liangting is being held.”
“Following your orders, we refrained from making any rash moves.”
“Also, we’ve uncovered the Nightmare’s true identity: her name is Jiang Qingzhou, and she lives in the Tianfu Garden community. Our people are poised to capture her family, which might help a bit.”
“It’s all on you tonight, Boss! We’ve gathered the eleven redemptions you wanted; we won’t waste your time!”
Upon seeing the last few messages, the Dragon Lady’s expression changed.
“Why are they aiming to capture the Nightmare’s family?”
