Bai Yu knew Dragon Girl far too well. In past missions, they had hunted each other down in countless battles, each gathering intelligence on the other to exploit their weaknesses.
Based on her understanding, Dragon Girl’s usual tactic back at the Ancestral Hall wouldn’t have been to run first. She would have waited to ambush her opponent, like a hunter hidden in the darkness. Take Zhao Mingyue, for example. If she didn’t want to kill Zhao Mingyue, she would have tried to seriously injure her and send her packing instead.
Situations that could make her actively flee were incredibly rare.
Normal reasoning simply couldn’t be applied to Dragon Girl. For instance, wanting to hide her identity—an ordinary person might flee quickly for that reason. Dragon Girl, however, would definitely kill the other party to eliminate any future trouble.
Or take encountering a dangerous situation. An ordinary person would seize the chance to escape. Dragon Girl would seize the chance to launch a surprise attack and fight to the death.
It was precisely because Bai Yu understood Dragon Girl so well that she now couldn’t figure out why that woman had run.
She had to admit, she genuinely hadn’t noticed Dragon Girl hiding on the rooftop earlier. Thinking back now, it sent a chill down her spine. She was confident she could keep Zhao Mingyue alive, but she had no guarantee she could protect Zhao Mingyue from even a scratch.
At the foot of the mountain, a figure darted swiftly through the tangled dead grass.
She was small and slender, looking shorter than even one and a half meters, with a physique even more loli-like than Bai Yu’s.
Yet her speed was astonishing. Even in such complex terrain, she moved with a swift, sure-footed grace, like a phantom. The slightest lapse in attention, and she would disappear completely. Her footwork was illusory, making her intentions difficult to fathom, let alone predict her next move.
Faced with this, Bai Yu’s solution was simple: Ghost Wall Maze.
Ghost Wall Maze was a technique that caused hallucinations by disrupting the magnetic field. It was low-level and easily broken, but at critical moments, it was truly effective.
She extended blood threads into the air, using resentment to entangle the fleeing figure from a distance. Just as expected, the figure slowed, making a half-circle before starting to run in circles.
Seeing this, Bai Yu was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected a ghost’s ability to be so useful.
Truth be told, although she was a ghost, she almost never used ghostly abilities. In her view, these abilities weren’t practical. They were fine against ordinary people, but against anyone with some strength, they were useless. And if it was just ordinary people, why waste the effort?
A single slash to decapitate—simple and direct. All this fancy stuff was a waste of time.
Now, through Dragon Girl, she realized she had underestimated the power of a ghost’s abilities.
Other aspects aside, Ghost Wall Maze’s weakness is easy to spot. But for that to happen, you have to first realize you’re under its effect, right?
Ghost Wall Maze isn’t a hard-constraint skill. If you’re caught off guard, you’ll often run a distance before realizing something’s wrong. By then, even if you try to break it, it’s too late. Those few seconds of delay can be fatal.
That was exactly Dragon Girl’s situation. She only realized the problem after running two circles. With a sharp cry, her petite frame, not even one and a half meters tall, rapidly grew to about one meter sixty in the blink of an eye, as if she had donned a layer of biological exoskeleton armor. Behind her, a long tail covered in scales dragged.
Seeing this, Bai Yu was now a hundred percent certain of her identity.
When she had been running earlier, the glimpse had been too fleeting. She had only judged Dragon Girl’s identity based on her movements and posture.
Gripping her blade, Bai Yu crossed the distance in several swift strides, blocking Dragon Girl’s path.
The moment Dragon Girl transformed, she easily shattered the Ghost Wall Maze. By the time she reacted, a graceful figure had already appeared before her, barring her way.
Fine, silver-white scales covered her entire body. Her figure was somewhat more robust but still appeared delicate and slender. She also wore a white mask, but unlike Zhao Mingyue’s, Dragon Girl’s mask was formed from scales. It had no facial features, revealing only her icy-blue vertical pupils.
Her thick tail lashed impatiently, her sharp claws glinting with cold light.
Bai Yu watched Dragon Girl assume her combat stance, remaining silent.
Dragon Girl’s eyes sized up Zhao Mingyue. Her gaze was deep, unreadable, revealing nothing of her inner thoughts.
“Is it you, Bai Yu? How did you turn into a ghost?”
From beneath the scale-covered mask, Dragon Girl’s voice was childish, with a bit of an electronic sound effect quality to it.
“What, now that you see me, you won’t even show your true form?”
“I know your situation. It’s laughable. But if it’s you, I don’t dislike it. You know I like you. It’s never been about your appearance, but your soul.”
“Cooperate.” Zhao Mingyue stepped back several paces. Bai Yu emerged from her body, standing three meters before Dragon Girl, incidentally blocking her view of Zhao Mingyue.
“Dragon Girl, I know what this place means to you.”
“The Back Village is dangerous. If you go alone, you will die.”
Hearing this, Dragon Girl retracted her claws. A silvery, bell-like laugh came from beneath the mask. “Giggle giggle, am I hearing things? Bai Yu, you want to help me?”
“Ah, let me think. We’ve known each other for three years, six months, and three days. During that time, you’ve aimed your blade at my throat two hundred and thirty-eight times, told me to get lost one hundred and eighty-two times, tried to reason with me five times, and left without a word eighty-nine times.”
“And this is the first time you’ve ever offered to help me.”
It was clear Dragon Girl was delighted. Her eyes curved into crescents, her smile as beautiful as a flower in bloom, though the hidden killing intent remained.
Her laughter subsided, replaced by a sigh.
“Why couldn’t you have said this sooner…”
“I know what I have to do. Don’t try to stop me. If I die, I hope you’ll collect my body.”
“No, you must collect my body. Otherwise, even as a ghost, I’ll keep haunting you.”
“Don’t follow me. If you dare to follow me, I’ll strangle your new flame to death!”
With that, Dragon Girl turned and left. Her tail swept the dead grass on both sides of the path. After a few steps, she paused and glanced back. “Oh, by the way, you look beautiful right now. Much better than before. I like it very much.”
Dragon Girl left, still heading in the direction of the Back Mountain.
Bai Yu didn’t pursue.
The Redemption Task could fail for all she cared. She had no desire to work with Dragon Girl. Given the chance, she’d rather kill that woman.
To be precise, she didn’t even want to kill her. If Dragon Girl could just stay far away and stop coming around, that would be better than anything.
Her desire to kill Dragon Girl stemmed purely from the fact that she was a nuisance.
“Are we just leaving like this? Not chasing after her?” Zhao Mingyue blinked.
“No. We’re going back.”
“Okay, okay. Bai Yu, who was that person? She knows your name, and seemed pretty close to you… Does she like you?”
Stealing a glance at Bai Yu’s eyes, Zhao Mingyue felt a bit helpless.
Great, another rival for her affections.
