“I’ll handle stalling the Cloud Whale! Qian Moyu, your task is to pinpoint the location of the Spirit Master, while Jasmine and Qingzhu, you two will be responsible for maintaining stability on the front lines at the entrance.”
“As for you, little witch.” Motong paused, a glint in her eyes. “I have an incredibly arduous task for you! A mission only you can accomplish!”
“What incredibly arduous task?” Hearing Motong’s words, Bai Zhiqiu instantly bristled with excitement. A mission only she could accomplish!
Didn’t that just prove her immense strength?
Pondering this, Bai Zhiqiu cast a triumphant glance at Yan Qingzhu, as if proclaiming her unparalleled power.
“That would be – stalling Poppy!” Motong’s words, once spoken, instantly sent a wave of panic through Bai Zhiqiu, her earlier air of smugness vanishing without a trace.
“You want me to stall Poppy? How is that even possible? Even Master couldn’t manage something like that, could they?”
After all, Master frequently regaled her with tales of Gu Nian’s formidable power. Asking her to stall Poppy? How would she even begin? Become a plush toy for her to toy with?
Upon hearing Motong’s assignment, Bai Zhiqiu recoiled in astonishment, inadvertently bumping Yan Qingzhu’s chin.
The pain brought a shimmer of tears to Bai Zhiqiu’s eyes.
“That’s precisely why this task falls to you! None of us here, acting alone, could possibly defeat her.” Motong’s words were blunt. “But you possess a unique advantage. Qian Moyu told me that you are very important to her.”
‘How could I not be important… I’m the Witch’s princess, after all…’
Bai Zhiqiu chirped softly.
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll just abduct me directly to the Witch’s headquarters?” Facing Motong’s plan, Bai Zhiqiu voiced her concern.
The plan’s effectiveness hinged on Gu Nian’s willingness to linger for her. What if Gu Nian simply knocked her out and stuffed her into a sack? Then her stalling efforts would be utterly in vain.
“Don’t worry, Zhiqiu! Gu Nian shouldn’t abduct you right now. After all, if she truly wanted to take you, you wouldn’t even last until I arrived.”
Qian Moyu’s voice rang out then. After speaking, she glanced at Jasmine and Yan Qingzhu, then continued.
“But regardless, assigning Zhiqiu this task is still far too dangerous!”
Catching Qian Moyu’s gaze, Jasmine and Yan Qingzhu exchanged an awkward look. While it had been the best option at the time, it was undeniably rather inhumane.
“Here!” Motong produced a pale blue card. It resembled a game character card, yet it was intricately engraved with a dense array of runes.
“This is one of my recovery cards! It can probably exert power at the intermediate Sun Wheel level, and using it can instantly break through the Sun Wheel barrier. If Poppy truly intends to take you, simply activate this card. It will teleport you directly back here. I’ll also be able to sense the card’s fluctuations, allowing me to determine our next course of action.”
Bai Zhiqiu raised her hand and took the card. Its material felt somewhat like crystal, cool and smooth in her grasp.
“If there are no further questions, go back and rest for now! Motong and I have some matters to discuss.”
Once the three had left the conference room, Motong retrieved two boxes from her spatial storage. One of them was the very box Jasmine had acquired from the general store.
Motong placed the general store’s box on the table and opened it, revealing the mysterious key. Then, she opened the other box, which surprisingly contained an identical key, differing only slightly at its tip.
Upon closer inspection, Qian Moyu’s key bore the number ‘three’ at its end, while Motong’s key was marked with ‘six’.
“This key must be carefully guarded. Do not, under any circumstances, allow her to reopen the Cloud Heaven…”
“I will keep the keys separately.”
“I hope this time we can avert tragedy…”
****
“You just hit me so hard, it hurts!” No sooner had they exited the conference room than Bai Zhiqiu eagerly turned on Yan Qingzhu.
“You clearly bumped into me yourself, didn’t you?!”
Yan Qingzhu took the key from Jasmine’s hand and led Bai Zhiqiu towards the bedroom.
“It was definitely you! You saw me lean back and didn’t even try to dodge!”
Bai Zhiqiu remained stubbornly insistent.
Seeing Bai Zhiqiu resorting to childish antics, Yan Qingzhu could only apologize.
“Alright, alright! It was my fault! But don’t you always say you’re a big, strong man? Do big, strong men cry so much?”
Hearing Yan Qingzhu’s teasing, Bai Zhiqiu stuck out her tongue at her, then marched directly into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
“Why did you close the door? Aren’t you going to consider sleeping together tonight?” Yan Qingzhu’s voice echoed from outside the door, but Bai Zhiqiu completely ignored it.
Knowing the little one in the room was ignoring her, Yan Qingzhu shook her head and then walked to her own room, looking forward to a rare night of rest.
Bai Zhiqiu was eager to end her interaction with Yan Qingzhu because she had just realized something terrifying.
She was becoming more and more like a girl…
Not physically, due to her transformation, because that could be undone… but mentally…
She noticed that lately, she had grown increasingly fond of acting cute and childish, and had become quite adept at it. Previously, she had been highly resistant to such behavior; she had barely even acted spoiled with Qian Moyu.
But recently, it had become frequent, an unconscious habit whether it was with Yan Qingzhu, Gu Nian, or even Jasmine and Motong today.
‘I seem to be becoming more and more like a real girl…’
‘When did this start?’
‘After meeting Yan Qingzhu? No, no, it happened before that too, but it’s been so frequent these past two days!’
As she delved into her past experiences, recalling and pondering, she finally pinpointed an approximate timeframe: three months ago! Right after absorbing Yin’s demonic core!
“Yin! Yin! Yin! I know you can hear me! Come out right now!” With that, Bai Zhiqiu tugged at her cowlick again.
“What do you want?! I was in the middle of a wonderful nap!”
Yin appeared beside Bai Zhiqiu, fluttering her tiny wings as she floated in mid-air, still dressed in her pajamas.
Seeing Yin’s sleepy, dazed expression, Bai Zhiqiu decided to help her wake up.
Grabbing Yin, before Yin could even register what was happening, Bai Zhiqiu began shaking her frantically with both hands.
“St-stop… stop… shaking… I’m getting dizzy…”
Bai Zhiqiu ignored her, continuing until two minutes later, when she confirmed Yin was fully awake. Only then did she place Yin on the table.
Yin lay sprawled on the table, feeling as if stars were swirling before her eyes. After spitting out a few mouthfuls of non-existent sour bile, she looked at Bai Zhiqiu with a bewildered expression.
“Bai Zhiqiu! What in the world is wrong with you?!”
“It’s Siemens’! Yin, confess honestly!” Bai Zhiqiu looked down at Yin imperiously.
Under Bai Zhiqiu’s stern gaze, Yin felt a sudden flush of embarrassment.
‘Confess what? Did the secret about me secretly eating the Twilight Giant’s demonic core get out? No, that can’t be it, she wouldn’t understand such things…’
‘Could it be about me secretly looking at her childhood memories and recording her embarrassing past? But I haven’t mentioned that either…’
Yin reviewed everything she had ever done, finding nothing overtly problematic. And anything truly problematic, Bai Zhiqiu certainly wouldn’t know about.
“What did I do? You just attacked me like that! Have I been spoiling you too much lately?!” Having figured everything out, Yin decisively hissed at Bai Zhiqiu.
“Then how do you explain my current situation?!” Bai Zhiqiu gritted her teeth.
“You’re perfectly fine right now; what ‘situation’ are you talking about?!”
“But I feel like I’m becoming more and more like a girl…”
Upon hearing Bai Zhiqiu’s reasoning, Yin’s mouth twitched involuntarily. She genuinely didn’t know how to explain it to her. Even though she had lost most of her memories, that didn’t mean she was muddled!
“Bai Zhiqiu, use your brain, will you?! Even I don’t know if my demonic core could turn you into this. You were already like this when I woke up. If the demonic core were to exert its power, it shouldn’t be *after* I woke up! Look at your fusion rate with the demonic core before! I’m almost embarrassed for you!”
Seeing Yin’s confident demeanor, Bai Zhiqiu felt a pang of guilt. Had she really wronged Yin?
Just as Bai Zhiqiu stood bewildered, a single sentence from Yin enlightened her.
“Try talking to Gu Nian or Qian Moyu! You’re all witches; they should know about these things!”