As her memories gradually returned, Mo Qingwu naturally recognized who the female ghost was.
But so what?
The two of them had already split into different sentient entities. Even if they shared the same roots, they could not be considered a single being until they were completely fused.
What’s more…
Her crow-feather-colored eyelashes trembled, concealing the profound meaning in her eyes. Mo Qingwu withdrew her gaze from the female ghost and turned to the bewildered and uncomprehending Youyou.
“Be good. I’ll explain later.”
As for now, Mo Qingwu cast a meaningful glance at the strange woman who had turned pale the moment the female ghost appeared, a murderous intent gradually rising in her heart.
“You.”
Her nerves, which had become exceptionally sharp after undergoing Marrow Cleansing and Bone Tempering[mfn]”Marrow Cleansing and Bone Tempering” is a trope referring to a process that purifies the body, removing impurities and strengthening it, usually resulting in heightened senses.[/mfn] and cultivating her techniques, were all stretched taut in this moment. Shui Sisi stared at Mo Qingwu in inexplicable horror, truly unable to believe that in this Dharma-Ending Age[mfn]The “Dharma-Ending Age” is a concept borrowed from Buddhism, referring to a period where spiritual practices are difficult and few people have the ability to cultivate or perceive supernatural phenomena[/mfn], someone else could see the ring spirit.
She had thought she was the most special, the most unique one!
“Who… who on earth are you?”
Locked onto by the woman’s murderous aura, Shui Sisi felt an instinctual fear.
Mo Qingwu’s lips curled into a mocking smile as she said in an ice-cold tone.
“What do you think?”
Judging by the female ghost’s weakened state, this woman must have used something from the ring. The look between her brows grew colder and colder. Mo Qingwu held Youyou tightly, forcibly suppressing the violent aura that was gradually surging up within her.
Understanding that now was not the time to dwell on these things, Mo Qingwu suddenly buried her head in Youyou’s neck, hiding her ferocious expression.
“Youyou.”
Because her soul was fragmented, Mo Qingwu’s true nature was extremely violent and short-tempered. However, Mo Qingwu had always possessed a strong sense of pride. Ever since she was young, from the moment she became aware of her own character flaws, she had always kept herself in check.
Quietly inhaling the girl’s natural scent, Mo Qingwu completely ignored the female ghost’s threatening gestures. This only made the already furious female ghost even more agitated.
She desperately wanted to wrap her hands around Mo Qingwu’s neck, but it was no use.
Her illusory, incorporeal body simply couldn’t touch the woman.
“Damn it.”
Her devastatingly beautiful face was twisted into a distorted mask. The female ghost glared venomously at the two people clinging to each other. When she looked back at Shui Sisi, her eyes were utterly frigid.
This woman…
…truly deserved to die.
Thinking of how this woman had recently been using the carrot and stick method, like taming a beast, in an attempt to subdue and domesticate her, the female ghost curled her lip in disdain. She just thought this person was truly insane. Yes, she had amnesia and didn’t remember anything, but she wasn’t an idiot. This person thought she had hidden her intentions well, but how could the ghost not see through them?
After all, in her eyes, this woman’s methods were simply foolish and laughable. Shuddering to her very core under the ring spirit’s gaze, Shui Sisi lowered her head in utter discomposure, biting her lip without a word. She knew the ring spirit disliked her. If she weren’t the master of the ancient ring and thus able to restrain it, the spirit would have probably abandoned her—or even killed her—long ago.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the elevator was incredibly bizarre. Youyou, dazed and confused, let Mo Qingwu hold her. Only after the female lead had exited the elevator did she mutter to herself.
“How strange.”
Though she didn’t understand what had just happened, Youyou still knew that female leads weren’t supposed to interact like that.
“Tsk, what’s so strange about it?”
The elevator stopped on the sixty-ninth floor. Mo Qingwu chuckled softly and led Youyou out with an arm around her. Amidst the utterly surprised gazes of the Bai Corporation’s employees, they walked toward the CEO’s office where Bai Youjun, dressed in a black suit, was waiting for them with a dark expression.
“I believe you owe me an explanation for yesterday, CEO Mo.”
The moment he saw Youyou, Bai Youjun, like a mother bear protecting her cub, snatched her to his side. He anxiously looked Youyou up and down, and when he confirmed that his little sister was indeed unharmed, he let out a genuine sigh of relief.
Heaven knows how worried he had been when he received his sister’s text yesterday.
When he called back, her phone was off. When he went to the Mo residence to find her, he was stopped by bodyguards. If Mo Qingwu hadn’t finally sent someone to tell him that Youyou would be brought back today, Bai Youjun definitely would have resorted to violent means.
Taking a deep breath, Bai Youjun shielded his sister behind him, his gaze wary and his expression deeply unfriendly as he looked at Mo Qingwu.
“About that…”
Her expression unreadable, Mo Qingwu glanced at the cluelessly innocent little girl behind Bai Youjun. A faint smile touched her lips as she explained in a light, indifferent tone.
“I just happened to run into Miss Bai on the street, so I invited her over to my home for a bit. …However, I didn’t realize she was such a deep sleeper. …I was afraid of disturbing her, and that’s why…”
Even though Mo Qingwu didn’t finish, Bai Youjun understood what she was implying.
But while he understood her implication, Bai Youjun didn’t believe a single word of it.
Turning to his little sister, Bai Youjun softened his voice and asked gently, “Little Youyou, did she bully you?”
“Don’t be afraid, your big brother is right here. If she bullied you, just tell me. I’ll make it right for you and won’t let you be wronged.”
Youyou: ……
Blinking her clear, black-and-white eyes, Youyou really wanted to say yes, but at Xixi’s insistence, she had to go against her heart and change her answer.
“No, big brother. The Grea— I mean, Mo Qingwu, was very nice to me.”
The girl’s voice was soft and sweet, just like cotton candy. Bai Youjun ruffled Youyou’s hair and said with a smile.
“Alright, I understand.”
The sight was jarring, yet Mo Qingwu had to endure it. She silently repeated to herself, they’re siblings, they’re siblings. For a moment, she found herself envying the fragmented soul next to her, who could rage as much as it wanted without anyone seeing.
A dozen or so minutes later, Mo Qingwu finally had Youyou to herself.
In the clean breakroom, Mo Qingwu smiled faintly as she looked at the girl sandwiched between her and the fragmented soul, and asked softly.
“Youyou, do you want to know who I was talking to in the elevator?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, do you want to know that there’s a ghost right next to you?” Leaning in, she kissed Youyou’s cheek, her eyes soft. The touch was fleeting. “That ghost is right beside you this very moment. A beauty in ancient clothing.”
Youyou: ……
“Hehe, don’t be afraid, Youyou. She won’t hurt you, I promise.”
Seeing the girl’s body go rigid, her face turning a little pale, Mo Qingwu’s eyes curved into crescents as she sighed leisurely.
“It seems Youyou is still afraid of ghosts, as always, hmm?”
Ignoring the fragmented soul, who was glaring daggers at her, Mo Qingwu took Youyou’s right hand, lacing their fingers together. The aura around her was gentle and warm, a stark contrast to her usual self.
Faced with this version of Mo Qingwu, Youyou couldn’t help but shrink back against the sofa. She tried to pull her hand away, but Mo Qingwu’s grip was surprisingly strong. The tips of her ears flushed red as Youyou hesitantly asked Xixi for confirmation.
‘Xixi, is the Great Demon King telling the truth?’
Is there really a ghost next to me? And it won’t hurt me?
[Yes, Host. That female ghost is the ring spirit from the plot, which is also Mo Qingwu’s fragmented soul, and one of the female lead Shui Sisi’s golden fingers.]
After a pause, Xixi decided to explain the identities of the female ghost and Mo Qingwu in more detail, but in a way that its host could understand: [Host, you know that your memories from your previous worlds are still sealed, right? This female ghost is someone from a world you’ve been to before. For some unknown reason, she was split in two and ended up in this world.]
[Moreover, in that previous world, you and the female ghost were in love with each other. So, neither this fragmented soul nor Mo Qingwu will harm you.]
[The completion of this world’s mission is now within reach.]
[Host, you need to get them to fuse as soon as possible.]
[The female ghost will be very powerful after they fuse.]
Youyou: ……
Word by word, sentence by sentence, it took Youyou a long time to process everything Xixi had said. During this time, both the fragmented soul and Mo Qingwu waited in silence.
Mo Qingwu knew that Youyou was surely talking with that mysterious thing again, while the fragmented soul was simply drawn in by Youyou’s aura.
Opening her arms, she ethereally wrapped them around the young girl. The fragmented soul buried her face in Youyou’s collarbone, sniffing contentedly. In a faint, listless voice, she spoke to Mo Qingwu.
“I… am you, right?”
Mo Qingwu remained silent, but the fragmented soul didn’t seem to care.
She had always been an indifferent person; the fragmented soul knew herself well.
Airily, she left one kiss after another on the young girl’s skin. The fragmented soul’s red eyes flickered, as if she were about to cry tears of blood.
“My mind was a muddle, and I only became truly clear-headed after meeting her. Though I’ve only recalled tiny fragments, I know that she is very, very important to me.”
“I can feel that you are stronger than me. I am you. That woman has been getting more and more restless lately. On top of that, the unformed ring spirit has taken the initiative to protect its master, helping her suppress me and weaken my power. Perhaps it won’t be long now.”
She paused, then said in a hoarse, muted voice.
“Rather than be suppressed by that woman, I would sooner be devoured by you. At least that way, I could still borrow your body to hold her.”
Hold her.
It was as if a raw nerve had been touched.
Mo Qingwu suddenly asked a seemingly random question.
“The red bed, the mandarin duck quilt, and the pillows inside the ring… has she touched them?”
That… was the one she used to sleep on, wasn’t it? The fragmented soul shook her head and admitted frankly, “The ring is filled with so many treasures—spirit springs, spiritual medicines, all sorts of rare and precious things. Why would she ever be interested in such mundane objects?”
Mo Qingwu nodded, her expression softening slightly. As for the problem the fragmented soul was worried about, Mo Qingwu paid it no mind.
After all, the fragmented soul was only constrained by that ring—which had accidentally gained sentience—and that woman because she had no memories and no physical body.
But Mo Qingwu, who in her past life had been a Saintess of the Divine Temple with immense spiritual power, who had suppressed hundreds of thousands of souls in the Holy City with a curse after her death, and who now possessed power and influence, could easily kill both the ring spirit and that woman.
As time passed, the fragmented soul was once again forced to return to the ring to recuperate her spiritual form. Before leaving, she kissed Youyou’s lips and reached her hand into Youyou’s chest, toward her heart. Mo Qingwu’s fingertips twitched, but she restrained herself from swatting the hand away.
“We…”
A sudden, soft and sweet voice echoed in the quiet breakroom. Mo Qingwu smiled and looked over to see Youyou, her face bright red, looking at her with a mixture of awkwardness and amazement. “We… were we really in love with each other?”
This was truly unbelievable, wasn’t it?
She actually fell for the Great Demon King?
Guess who passed their exams?
C’est moi, my darlings ^0^
I’m also super excited to be back (i’ve missed y’all T^T)
(just started on the next arc and lololol, i’m interested to see how it goes)
If you’re interested in advance chapters, please consider supporting me by buying me a kofi or becoming a patron <3
