“I’ll handle holding back the Cloud Whale! Qian Moyu will locate the Spirit Controller, while Jasmine and Qingzhu will stabilize the Xuan Guan front line.
“As for you, little witch.” Motong paused, then continued, “I have an incredibly challenging mission for you! Only you can complete this task!”
“An incredibly challenging mission, you say?” Bai Zhiqiu’s excitement surged upon hearing Motong’s words. A task only she could accomplish!
Didn’t that just prove her immense power?
With that thought, Bai Zhiqiu shot Yan Qingzhu a triumphant glance, as if proclaiming her unparalleled strength.
“That is—to hold back Poppy!” Motong’s declaration instantly sent a wave of panic through Bai Zhiqiu, her earlier smugness vanishing without a trace.
“Make me hold back Poppy? How is that even possible? Even Master couldn’t do something like that, could she?”
After all, her Master often recounted Gu Nian’s formidable power. Asking her to hold back Poppy? How was she supposed to do that? Become a stress ball for Poppy to crush?
Hearing Motong’s arrangement, Bai Zhiqiu recoiled in surprise, accidentally bumping into Yan Qingzhu’s chin.
The pain brought a sheen of tears to Bai Zhiqiu’s eyes.
“That’s precisely why this mission falls to you! None of us here could defeat her in a direct confrontation,” Motong stated plainly. “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 Princess, after all…’
Bai Zhiqiu mumbled under her breath.
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll just abduct me directly to the Witches’ headquarters?” Bai Zhiqiu challenged Motong’s plan with her own 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 Bai Zhiqiu would have stalled for nothing.
“Don’t worry, Zhiqiu! Gu Nian shouldn’t abduct you for now. If she truly wanted to take you, you wouldn’t even last until I arrived.”
Qian Moyu’s voice rang out, and after speaking, she glanced at Jasmine and Yan Qingzhu before continuing.
“But no matter what, having Zhiqiu undertake this mission is still too dangerous!”
Under Qian Moyu’s gaze, Jasmine and Yan Qingzhu felt immensely awkward. While it had been the best solution at the time, it was undeniably inhumane.
“Here!” Motong produced a pale blue card. It resembled a game character card, yet it was intricately etched with countless runes.
“This is one of my recovery cards! It can unleash power roughly equivalent to a mid-tier Sunwheel-tier, allowing you to instantly break through a Sunwheel-tier barrier. If Poppy genuinely tries to take you, use this card directly. It will teleport you straight back here. I’ll also be able to sense the card’s fluctuations to determine our next course of action.”
Bai Zhiqiu reached out and took the card. Its material felt somewhat like crystal, cool and smooth in her hand.
“If there are no more questions, you should all return to rest for now! Motong and I have some matters to discuss.”
Once the three had left the conference room, Motong retrieved two boxes from a spatial rift. One of them was the exact box Jasmine had brought from the general store.
Motong placed the general store’s box on the table and opened it, revealing the mysterious key. Then, they opened the other box, which surprisingly contained an identical key, save for a slight difference at its tip.
Upon closer inspection, Qian Moyu’s key bore the character for ‘three’ at its end, while Motong’s key was marked with ‘six’.
“This key must be carefully guarded. We absolutely cannot allow her to reopen Cloud Heaven…”
“I will keep the keys separately.”
“Let’s hope this time we can avert tragedy…”
****
“You just hurt me so much!” The moment they exited the conference room, Bai Zhiqiu eagerly confronted Yan Qingzhu.
“You clearly bumped into me yourself!”
Yan Qingzhu took the key from Jasmine’s hand and led Bai Zhiqiu towards the bedroom.
“It was definitely you! You didn’t even try to dodge when I recoiled!”
Bai Zhiqiu remained stubbornly defiant.
Seeing Bai Zhiqiu resort to childish antics, Yan Qingzhu could only apologize.
“Alright, alright! It’s my fault! But don’t you always say you’re a big, strong man? Do big, strong men cry so easily?”
Hearing Yan Qingzhu’s taunt, Bai Zhiqiu made a face at her, then walked straight 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 sounded from outside the door, but Bai Zhiqiu completely ignored it.
Knowing the little one inside wasn’t speaking to her, Yan Qingzhu shook her head. She 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. Just moments ago, a terrifying realization had struck her.
‘She was becoming more and more like a girl…’
‘It wasn’t the physical change from her transformation, as that could be reversed. No, this was a mental shift…’
‘She had noticed that lately, she enjoyed acting cute and pampered, and she was becoming quite skilled at it. Previously, she had been extremely resistant to such behaviors, rarely even acting spoiled with Qian Moyu.’
‘Yet recently, it had become frequent and subconscious, whether with Yan Qingzhu, Gu Nian, or even Jasmine and Motong today.’
‘It seemed she was truly 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 recalled and pondered her past experiences, she finally pinpointed an approximate time: three months ago! Right after absorbing Yin’s demon core!
“Yin! Yin! Yin! I know you can hear me! Come out right now!” With that, Bai Zhiqiu tugged at her own antenna-like hair.
“What is it? I was sleeping so soundly!”
Yin materialized beside Bai Zhiqiu, fluttering her small wings in mid-air, still clad in pajamas.
Seeing Yin’s groggy, sleep-filled eyes, Bai Zhiqiu decided to help her wake up.
Grabbing Yin firmly, Bai Zhiqiu began shaking her frantically with both hands before Yin could even comprehend what was happening.
“Stop… stop… shaking… I’m getting dizzy…”
Bai Zhiqiu ignored her. Only after two minutes, once she was certain Yin was fully awake, did Bai Zhiqiu place her on the table.
Yin lay sprawled on the table, feeling stars spin before her eyes. After spitting out a few nonexistent mouthfuls of sour liquid, she looked at Bai Zhiqiu with a puzzled expression.
“Bai Zhiqiu! What in the world are you raging about?”
“What kind of crazy, you ask? The Siemens kind! Yin, you’d better confess honestly!” Bai Zhiqiu loomed over Yin.
Under Bai Zhiqiu’s stern gaze, Yin felt a moment of intense embarrassment.
‘Confess what? Had the secret of eating the Twilight Giant’s demon core been exposed? No, that couldn’t be it; she wouldn’t understand such things…’
‘Perhaps it was about secretly peeking at her childhood memories and recording her embarrassing past? But that hadn’t been mentioned either…’
Yin mentally reviewed everything she had ever done, finding no real issues. Anything 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, demanding.
“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…”
Hearing Bai Zhiqiu’s reasoning, Yin’s mouth twitched. She truly didn’t know how to explain it to her. Even though most of her memories were gone, it didn’t mean she was senile!
“Bai Zhiqiu, use your brain for once! I don’t even know what my demon core is, let alone if it could turn you into this. You were already like this when I woke up. If the demon core were acting up, it wouldn’t have waited until after I awoke! Look at your fusion rate with the demon core before! I’m almost ashamed to mention it!”
Seeing Yin’s confident demeanor, Bai Zhiqiu felt a pang of guilt. Could she have truly misjudged Yin?
Just as Bai Zhiqiu was at a loss, 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!”