Ghost Mother Bodhisattva pressed her palms together.
"I shall obey."
With that, she looked up at the sky.
Not at the struggling Blood Moon, but farther away, at the moon in space.
Her brow furrowed slightly. Then she spoke.
"The Heavenly Demon itself?"
"...Can you handle it?"
"Not in my newly awakened state. But according to you, Venerable One, there's an artifact here that can counter it..."
Ghost Mother Bodhisattva did not know what a rocket was, but she had a rough idea of what was happening. Her hands flew through a series of seals, and one pure white lotus after another began to bloom in the night sky.
Zhou You watched, then suddenly asked,
"You called that the Heavenly Demon itself... Is it the thing that destroyed Spirit Mountain back then?"
Ghost Mother Bodhisattva answered quietly. "No. There are many kinds of Heavenly Demons, unrelated to one another. It's probably of one particular lineage, though I can't identify it for certain right now."
Zhou You could not help at the moment, and this was a rare chance to ask questions, so he continued.
"Then how strong is this thing compared to that Heavenly Demon?"
"Far weaker... No, that isn't quite right."
Ghost Mother Bodhisattva answered instinctively, then immediately corrected herself.
"They aren't the same kind of thing. The Heavenly Demon that destroyed Spirit Mountain and the Heavenly Court was much smaller, about the size of a person. Its abilities weren't particularly formidable; any Buddha from Spirit Mountain could have killed it. And yet..."
Ghost Mother Bodhisattva drew a deep breath.
"Its true strength was never its own power, but its ability to corrupt. Unlike this one, its corruption seeped in silently. At first, you noticed nothing. Then, before long, you found everything defying what you knew to be true...