The female ghost was silent for a moment and didn't speak. She glanced at the two of them and said, "If there's nothing else, leave. I need to receive the next guest."
Obviously, this female ghost still retained her consciousness and could even control the Black Mirror Vortex—doing the same thing General Ji had done before.
"But your Black Mirror Vortex is too large. Do you know the commercial street? You've enveloped the entire area," Mu Anqi couldn't help saying, thinking of Bai Yulai's newly opened bookstore. If this one planned to manipulate the plot and play through several rounds with the vortex still active—it didn't seem very good. "And the Black Mirror Vortex might be contaminated."
The female ghost glanced at Mu Anqi, and the next second a prompt popped up in Mu Anqi's mind.
[Game cleared: The Drama of Fate. Rating in progress——]
[Rating: S (The Drama Master is very satisfied with your performance and hopes you leave immediately)]
[Passive triggered! You have earned 2500 clearance points]
[Drawing official player clearance reward item——]
[Congratulations, player, you have obtained the item: Figurine Doll]
[Figurine Doll]: An ordinary figurine doll that appears unremarkable. It holds up the sky with both hands, as if resisting the unknown.
Before the next prompt could appear, Mu Anqi clicked "No." It was her first time realizing… that the Black Mirror Vortex didn't have to disappear completely for the game to be cleared. Was this the special feature of a completely controlled Black Mirror Vortex?
"Although I once did the same thing as you," Ji Huaichu raised her long blade and looked expressionlessly at the female ghost, "I was able to freely control the Black Mirror Vortex and prevent those people from dispersing it early because I had the strength to do so—and could keep the contamination and emotions from spreading. What do you have?"
Female ghost: "…"
"You are the first batch of guests," the female ghost said. "This play hasn't even had one complete performance yet."
Ji Huaichu: "What does that have to do with me?"
"A clumsy play that only knows how to keep resetting and forcing people to follow the script again and again. Since it's called Drama of Fate, its greatest highlight lies in resistance and defiance. You should embrace more possibilities."
The cold and rigid criticism made the female ghost's expression stiff and ugly. "You people have strange skills, and… you're too powerful!"
"As for that, you could just raise the NPCs' combat power and give them special traits or abilities! Since you can manipulate the plot, it would be fine to do that within the rules, right? You could also design some puzzles so players can clear the game using their intelligence. It'd be best to set up life and death gates, obvious taboos and hidden taboos—players who touch the taboos would die. That kind of drama would be more interesting, and in that case, resistance and defiance would become even more valuable."
Mu Anqi thought the female ghost probably hadn't known what a "game" or a "novel" was when she was alive. She believed the ghost could easily create a much stronger script. "See, if you just restrict people's abilities and keep resetting things so they have to follow the plot, it loses a lot of originality. Even if players fail, what they'll feel most is frustration. A good game should always have a way to clear it."
The female ghost didn't respond. She stayed silent for a long while before muttering gloomily, "After you go up the mountain, you'll encounter those evil spirits."
"At that point, there will be no more resets."
"You can kill the evil spirits to clear the game."
There was resentment and anger in her voice, but she hadn't lost control. When she created all this, she truly wanted people to break free from fate—and also wanted to see how others would act if they were in her situation. The words of persuasion, the main plot, and the villagers' reactions were all her lingering grievances and obsessions, but as for clearing the game—she had never intended to make it a dead end.
Kill the evil spirits. No restrictions.
Anyone who entered this drama could clear it as long as they killed the evil spirits.
The female ghost's mood sank for a moment, but she quickly gathered herself again. She looked at Mu Anqi and brushed aside the hair covering her face. The ghostly aura around her receded—perhaps she had "tidied herself up" a little—and instead of appearing as a terrifying specter, she now showed the delicate, graceful face she had when she was alive. "But what you said interests me very much—if I were to leave here, would I still possess the power to construct dramas?"
"As long as you're strong enough to afford the energy and balance required to create a copy, you can," Ji Huaichu said expressionlessly, stepping forward stiffly to block Mu Anqi from the female ghost's gaze. "Of course, it's fine if you want to leave. But you might need decades of recovery before you can construct another drama."
Though she didn't say it outright, the meaning was clear: 'If you don't leave, I'll destroy the Black Mirror Vortex and drag you out myself. When that happens, you'll be severely weakened and gain nothing. You'd better cooperate now.'
The female ghost asked, "Are all people from your world… like you?"
"You pulled my future wife away to marry her off to a 'mountain god.' I'm already being very polite to you," Ji Huaichu said impatiently, flicking the long blade in her hand. "Are you leaving or not?"
"…Do you have people over there who handle Black Mirror Vortex transfers?" The female ghost's expression grew complicated. "I mean… you wouldn't be the one in charge of me, would you?"
Seeing General Ji's expression growing darker, Mu Anqi hurried to explain before she could get angry: "Your Black Mirror Vortex appeared within the boundaries of the Mingdu. We live in Taiyin—you'll understand all that once you're out. Don't worry. We just happened to run into this while we were out on a date."
The female ghost sighed sadly and resigned herself to leaving with them.
Mu Anqi put herself in her shoes and could completely understand her feelings. Those plastic people from the deadly contaminated Black Mirror Vortex had thought themselves gods capable of creating nations after gaining power—yet this female ghost could actually use her abilities to control Ji Huaichu, which clearly made her far stronger than those plastic people. And yet, before her "drama" could even reach its finale, it was cut off midway; just as she began to dream of her own power, Ji Huaichu mercilessly shattered it. Ah, for the female ghost to be merely sad right now—her ability to cope was already impressive.
With that kind of mental state… she would surely be able to adapt quickly to life in the Mingdu.
——Wait, hold on, she's a ghost.
This female ghost… seems like she's going to live in Taiyin?
Mu Anqi suddenly realized a blind spot, but by then the female ghost had already withdrawn all her power. The scenery within the Black Mirror Vortex vanished completely, and as everything shattered, Ji Huaichu held her hand and brought her back to the commercial street surrounded by warning tape.
"As expected of General Ji, thank you for clearing the Black Mirror Vortex for us in time!" The demon king, whose true form couldn't be discerned, stepped forward and spoke politely in gratitude. He glanced at the female ghost who appeared behind them, briefly assessing her power. Her yin energy was quite strong, though she didn't yet have a clear purpose… she was still in the stage of breaking through barriers. "Since you've brought her out, please take her to Taiyin for placement as well."
Female ghost: "???"
Ji Huaichu gave a brief reply, "Xia Fenghua will come to handle it."
After saying this, she added, "I'll send you the details and full account of what happened inside the Black Mirror Vortex later. My little girlfriend is tired—I want to give her a perfect date."
"Understood. Then I won't disturb you. Until Ms. Xia Fenghua arrives, I'll look after this female ghost for you."
After tossing the female ghost to little Xia Fenghua, who had to rush over and work overtime to take over the case, Ji Huaichu didn't even look at the relieved ghost. She simply took Mu Anqi's hand and walked straight into the bookstore.
Bai Yulai, the fox spirit, was sprawled lazily across a large sofa, a storybook in hand. The entire fox exuded an air of idleness. When she saw Ji Huaichu and the others come in, she lifted her eyes slightly, hugging her fluffy tail to her chest. "It's already settled?"
The time flow between the Black Mirror Vortex and the Shattered Mirror Continent was different. Mu Anqi nodded. "Mm, that female ghost's still outside. Her ability is pretty interesting—if she gets the chance, she might even create a player instance in the future." Mu Anqi thought to herself, though since she had already experienced one of the ghost's Black Mirror Vortexes, she probably wouldn't be randomly drawn into any future copies the ghost created.
"She's quite the diligent ghost then," Bai Yulai paused for a moment, then continued, "Since she wants to create an instance, that means she's got ideas, right? Well, she did come out of a Black Mirror Vortex after all. In a new place where she knows no one… she must be short on money, huh?"
"Uh…?"
"I'll go take a look later. If she can create some brilliant fox stories, that would be great," Bai Yulai said, stroking her fluffy tail with a sigh. "I've been in the mood for some powerful-fox wish-fulfillment stories lately."
——The monsters and ghosts on the Shattered Mirror Continent sure have strong personalities.
Ji Huaichu didn't stay long this time. After briefly explaining to Bai Yulai what had happened inside the Black Mirror Vortex and how they cleared it, she handed over the task of organizing the vortex's intel to the white fox spirit, telling her to finish compiling it and send it directly to the Underworld Demon King.
To prevent any mishaps, Ji Huaichu simply took Mu Anqi's hand right there in the bookstore and teleported them back to the city. Before the teleportation activated, Mu Anqi noticed the white fox demon king's expression—it seemed full of reluctance, yet she didn't dare to refuse.
Back at the city gates, Mu Anqi thought over that expression. It looked like, "I have to hire people to write novels for me when I want to read something, but when you ask me to write a Black Mirror Vortex report, you act all high and mighty about freeloading!? Why? Just because you're stronger and I can't beat you? —Oh wait, that's exactly why."
Mu Anqi couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"What is it?"
"N-no, I just thought of something happy…" Mu Anqi waved her hand with a smile, cracking another little joke. But Ji Huaichu clearly didn't get it and simply accepted the explanation calmly. Mu Anqi stopped laughing, and as she followed the general back to the mansion, she asked, "Is it really okay to treat the white fox demon king like that? Won't she get angry?"
"She won't," Ji Huaichu said. "When she needs something from me, she's just as unapologetic."
That put Mu Anqi at ease.
As soon as she stepped into the general's mansion, the little black dog came bounding over excitedly, barking and wagging its tail. It still didn't dare jump on people, just circled Mu Anqi over and over, looking utterly delighted. But after a couple of turns, it seemed to catch another scent on them. The little black dog stopped in front of Mu Anqi, tilted its head up at her, and let out a soft "woof?"—as if genuinely confused about something.
Mu Anqi felt a pang of guilt, then noticed the dog staring fixedly at her clothes. She looked down—and saw her outfit covered in fox fur. When the general had been talking to Bai Yulai about the Black Mirror Vortex, she'd taken the chance to play with the little foxes for quite a while.
"Uh, Little Black, you know… some social interactions just can't be avoided," Mu Anqi said smoothly, keeping a straight face.