The aura of the Evil God was slowly emerging. Compared to ghostly monsters, it possessed a more intense and aggressive pressure—an aura that inspired the same fear as Fierce Ghosts, but with an added layer of spiritual oppression upon that foundation: the so-called “divinity.”
Zhao Mingyue was wiping Feng’er’s body with a hot towel when she saw Bai Yu stand up and suddenly grab her wrist.
“Bai Yu?” Zhao Mingyue was startled, her eyes filled with suspicion.
Her voice drew the gazes of Feng’er and Lu Liangting, who looked at Bai Yu in confusion, not understanding what was happening.
Bai Yu remained silent, still gripping Zhao Mingyue’s hand tightly.
The Resentment and chill carried by the fierce ghosts themselves had only a slight effect. The aura rising within Zhao Mingyue’s body barely slowed by less than ten percent.
Bai Yu frowned. She placed her other hand on Zhao Mingyue’s shoulder, but it was still of little use.
“Stand up!” Bai Yu glanced quickly at Huang Fengxi. She seemed to vaguely understand where the problem lay. “Slowly walk towards me.”
Detecting a hint of urgency in Bai Yu’s tone, Zhao Mingyue didn’t think twice. She quickly put down the hot towel and stood up, step by step, following Bai Yu towards the eaves in the direction of the Mourning Hall. Her movements were indeed very slow.
“Bai Yu, what’s going on?”
“Don’t ask for now. Something has happened.”
Huang Fengxi’s constitution had stimulated the thing inside Zhao Mingyue’s body. Whether it was the influence of blood or aura, Bai Yu wasn’t sure.
Why hadn’t she been affected when she herself had contact with Feng’er? Even wrapping her completely in blood threads hadn’t triggered any reaction.
The further Zhao Mingyue moved away from Huang Fengxi, the more restless the aura within her body became, as if something had been snatched from it.
Finally, on the third step, Zhao Mingyue’s expression changed. She felt something stirring inside her body. Her heart rate skyrocketed in a very short time. She struggled to breathe, pressing her hand against her chest. It wasn’t just that her heart felt like it would leap out of her throat—it felt like it was about to burst.
Zhao Mingyue’s body temperature was also rapidly rising. Bai Yu could clearly feel it through her grip on her wrist.
Her pretty face flushed red and hot. The whites of her eyes were slowly being overtaken by a blackness—a second pupil!
“Hmph.” Bai Yu snorted coldly. With one hand, she yanked Zhao Mingyue’s arm, abruptly pulling her delicate body towards her. Zhao Mingyue let out a “Ah!” as she was pulled into Bai Yu’s embrace. Physically, it looked like a younger sister hugging an older sister, and it wasn’t out of place at all.
Her cheeks were already fiercely red. Her heart wasn’t just a single deer running wild, but a whole herd. Startled by Bai Yu’s sudden action, Zhao Mingyue’s eyes grew dazed.
Bai Yu possessed Zhao Mingyue’s body, contesting with the thing inside her for control.
She understood now. The reason this Evil God had remained dormant all along wasn’t because it wanted to, but because its injuries were too severe, forcing it into a state of deep slumber. Both the Evil Spirit’s corpse and Feng’er were like tonics to it, helping it recover from its wounds. Naturally, upon contact, it would begin to stir uncontrollably.
As Bai Yu possessed her, Zhao Mingyue’s heart rate gradually returned to normal. Her soaring body temperature subsided, her face no longer red and hot, and her consciousness cleared.
Once her body was completely stable, Bai Yu exited.
“What exactly happened just now?” Eyes met. Zhao Mingyue patted her chest and let out a long breath. “For just a moment there, I felt like my body wasn’t under my own control.”
Bai Yu was silent, her expression grave.
She hadn’t told Zhao Mingyue about the Evil God yet. She had planned to resolve it along with the Back Village matter, so Zhao Mingyue wouldn’t have to necessarily learn about it.
But now, it seemed impossible to keep it a secret any longer.
“I’ll tell you when we get back.”
“Mm.”
Zhao Mingyue could see Bai Yu was preoccupied with heavy thoughts. Tactfully, she didn’t press further. She trusted Bai Yu one hundred percent. When Bai Yu wanted to tell her, she would.
The courtyard fell into silence once more. Apart from the sound of the downpour, there was nothing. The bodies inside and outside the courtyard took a full two hours to clean up. Everyone in the Huang Family was dead, except for the mentally deranged Huang Tianhua.
“I’ll handle things here,” Lu Liangting volunteered. He was experienced in dealing with such matters. This was also a chance for him to play a useful role, rather than just watching from the sidelines the entire time.
After putting the female ghost away in his phone, Lu Liangting checked the time. He wanted to wait until the rain stopped before leaving. But considering it was still early, everyone was soaked, and Huang Fengxi needed to see a doctor for her body, he ultimately decided to grit his teeth and drive home.
Drenched by the rain and assaulted by the Red-Clothed Fierce Ghost, he felt that he was now completely wide awake.
No one spoke during the journey home. The atmosphere was oppressive.
The Huang Family incident was like a sledgehammer, slamming into the hearts of Zhao Mingyue and Lu Liangting, showing them what a true human tragedy was.
They returned home smoothly. Lu Liangting was fortunate not to encounter any traffic police.
“As for Feng’er, I’ll take her to the hospital first. I have friends there I know, which will save some trouble. We can visit her at the hospital tomorrow or another time. Once she’s discharged, I’ll arrange a place for her to stay,” Lu Liangting said.
“Alright, we’ll trouble you with that.”
“It’s no trouble. Her injuries are serious. She needs treatment as soon as possible without delay. You’re soaked through, too. You need to take care of yourself. It’s also getting late. You and Bai Yu should head back first. One night’s wait won’t make a difference.”
“Mm, you too. Go back and rest well.”
After speaking, Zhao Mingyue opened the car door and got out. Blood threads extended from the back of her head, forming a small, oddly shaped umbrella above her. She only dismissed them once she entered the corridor.
Finally back home, Zhao Mingyue didn’t collapse onto the sofa. She found a change of clothes from the bedroom and dragged Bai Yu into the bathroom.
Soon, hot water filled the bathtub, and the bathroom filled with steam.
This time, the bathing arrangement wasn’t with Zhao Mingyue holding Bai Yu from behind, Bai Yu leaning back against her. Instead, the human and ghost sat facing each other. Fortunately, the bathtub was large enough, and both Bai Yu and Zhao Mingyue had petite figures, so they fit just fine sitting with bent legs.
“Ah, finally comfortable. The feeling of wet clothes sticking to your body is awful, even my hair is soaked.” Hugging her knees, Zhao Mingyue spoke, then leaned back, lifting her pale, water-softened feet out of the water.
“My shoes are full of water, too. Socks and shoes, all soaked. Even my feet look like this.”
As she spoke, she put her feet back in and suddenly reached out to grab Bai Yu’s feet, pulling them into her embrace, rubbing and kneading them. A perverted grin spread across her face. “Hehehe, Bai Yu is the best—small and fragrant~”
Bai Yu was utterly speechless and very much wanted to kick this girl.
The Evil God inside you is staging a coup, and you’re worrying about your feet? Is your life less important than a pair of feet?
“Bai Yu, what exactly happened today? Why did you seem so nervous!”
Holding Bai Yu’s two small feet in her arms, Zhao Mingyue remembered the important matter.
She didn’t know why, but after her body suddenly went out of control in the Huang Family courtyard, she had constantly felt a sense of comfort whenever she held Bai Yu since regaining control.
Before, holding Bai Yu only felt icy cold. “Comfortable” was completely out of the question.
What had happened to cause such a drastic change in such a short time?
“It’s related to Pingshan Village.” Bai Yu attempted to pull her feet back. Just as she exerted force, her expression changed. Zhao Mingyue had loosened her grip, causing one of Bai Yu’s feet to land squarely in the center of Zhao Mingyue’s chest.
One couldn’t say it was stuck. More like it was enveloped on both sides.
Resigned, Bai Yu avoided looking and let Zhao Mingyue do as she pleased. “Eternal Life Village has four Evil Gods. We’ve only encountered two of them so far, and we’ve had contact with the circumstances of a third—the one representing the eyes. And the Evil God we haven’t learned anything about yet, the strongest one…”
“Is inside your body.”
Zhao Mingyue, who had been kneading Bai Yu’s feet with both hands, froze upon hearing this.
“What do you mean, ‘inside my body’?”
“Simply put, the ritual with you as the Divine Maiden was successful. This last Evil God entered your body. You never sensed its presence because it was severely wounded and fell into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, this Evil God is now awakening.”
Bai Yu tried to make her tone as serious and grave as possible, hoping Zhao Mingyue would grasp the severity of the matter. She always felt that since getting Bai Yu’s help, Zhao Mingyue had slowly started to let loose and lose her sense of danger.
Other things didn’t require fear or worry, but this matter absolutely could not be treated lightly.
“This Evil God has its sights set on your body. When it fully awakens, it will seize your soul. At that point, you will no longer be you. You’ll become like the villagers of Pingshan Village.”
“Then is there a way to resolve this?”
“Yes.” Bai Yu hesitated, wondering if she should reveal the solution to Zhao Mingyue.
“What is the solution?”
“Go to the Back Village of Eternal Life Village. In the meantime… you and I need to have more physical contact.”
“More physical contact? Elaborate!”
Zhao Mingyue’s expression did indeed become serious and grave, but Bai Yu felt something was off.
She briefly recounted the method of alleviation from the beginning. The principle was simple enough. The biggest problem was that this method only addressed the symptoms, not the root cause. But buying time was all that was needed.
As expected, upon hearing this method, the gravity on Zhao Mingyue’s face completely vanished. Water splashed as she stood up from the bathtub and pounced onto Bai Yu.
Cheek to cheek, Zhao Mingyue embraced Bai Yu.
“Aiya, I feel the Evil God inside me acting up again!”
“Little Sister Yu, in what little life I have left, promise me one thing, okay?”
“Tonight, sleep with me!”
“I’ve wanted to for a long time—cough, I mean, I’ve sensed it for a long time!”
Bai Yu: “…”
