Ha, Karma! – Chapter 30
by Little PandaClassmate Cen, you have a ghost~
Cen Zhu stopped her steps on the second floor, looking around left and right.
Both sides had corridors, with various guide signs directly across from the staircase, including the place she wanted to go—the right turn, third room.
As the little girl said, she would see it as soon as she came up.
Being located in a bustling area, it seemed unlikely that anything major would happen.
With this thought, Cen Zhu lifted her foot to head toward the right-side corridor.
She stopped at the door of the third room, where a slightly crooked “Supernatural Research Institute” sign was posted.
The name seemed official, but the sign was hung very haphazardly.
Cen Zhu was silent for a moment, then raised her hand to knock on the door.
After a few seconds, someone came to open it.
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man, with sparse hair, a small and thin frame, wearing a loose practice uniform, and a mysterious pair of small, dark sunglasses on his face.
He looked like a shaman [神棍 | shén gùn | meaning: a charlatan or trickster pretending to have supernatural powers].
Cen Zhu peered inside through the gap.
The room wasn’t big, with several tables and chairs arranged in the living room, along with a writing board, resembling a small classroom.
There were other people inside, both men and women, but without exception, all were older—at least none younger than her.
Cen Zhu: “…”
She felt as if she had arrived at a middle-aged and elderly leisure center.
At this moment, an old gentleman sitting inside called out to the man: “Master Chu, please come back and continue your lecture, we haven’t had enough yet!”
The others chimed in, subtly expressing dissatisfaction that Cen Zhu’s arrival had interrupted their session.
The man referred to as Master Chu quickly turned back to appease them.
He then turned around and gave Cen Zhu a once-over: “Are you here for a consultation?”
Recalling what the old gentleman had shouted, Cen Zhu nodded lightly: “Mm.”
She thought she might actually hear something enlightening here.
Master Chu looked her over again and asked: “You look young, are you still a student?”
Cen Zhu didn’t respond.
The next second, Master Chu opened the door wide, very generously: “Alright, come in, listen this time for free.”
Cen Zhu stepped in and casually found a seat.
Master Chu returned to his position and continued his discourse.
He talked about cultivation, about how the ancients cultivated, about immortality.
He said there are always people beyond people, mountains beyond mountains, and that outside this world, there is another world, speaking in a very mysterious manner.
But the elderly ladies and gentlemen listened with great longing.
Cen Zhu sat silently at the back of the crowd, quietly listening to this master’s speech.
Other university students wouldn’t believe such words.
But Cen Zhu was different; the things she encountered couldn’t be explained by science.
Because of this, she had long since had to believe.
She thought: This man probably does have something.
A class soon ended, and Master Chu was parched from speaking.
He took a couple of sips of water, his eyes turning to the only young person in the room.
He proactively walked over, gesturing for Cen Zhu to speak with him privately.
“Little girl,” he began, “you’ve listened to my lecture, do you have anything you want to ask?”
Cen Zhu kept a certain distance from him, her expression unchanged as she asked: “Do you really believe there’s another world beyond this one?”
Master Chu responded without hesitation: “Of course, otherwise why would I be here telling you these things about immortality and cultivation? If I didn’t believe, saying all this would make me crazy!”
“However,” he said mysteriously, pointing upward, “to go to that world, you need fate.”
“And this fate can be obtained through effort~”
“Oh?” Cen Zhu raised an eyebrow, “Really?”
“Of course it’s true. I wouldn’t dare open a class if I couldn’t guarantee it’s true!”
Once again, he leaned in mysteriously, lowering his voice: “Little one, let uncle tell you, don’t underestimate this world, many things aren’t just in TV dramas.”
Cen Zhu suddenly fell silent.
Indeed, many things aren’t just in TV dramas.
Seeing her silence, Master Chu’s lips curved into a smile, and he turned to get her a small booklet.
The cover was a simple dark blue, and the paper quality was rough.
“Here, take this home to read, follow and learn, then come find me again!”
Holding the booklet, Cen Zhu blinked in confusion.
They even had books prepared…
Master Chu continued to emphasize: “You must come, this can’t be given up halfway, otherwise, if your heart isn’t sincere, you’ll miss the chance for fate, and the opportunity for immortality will be gone!”
Cen Zhu: “…”
She lowered her gaze to the roughly printed pamphlet in her hands.
Silent, lost in thought.
After the school anniversary and a day off, Zhou University returned to its usual routine.
Chu Sining obediently returned to school for classes.
Though she played during her free time, she still had to attend classes diligently, not letting her studies fall behind.
Besides, the information from home was too overwhelming, so it was just as well for her to return to school to take a breather and slowly digest it.
She had two classes in the morning, sitting together with Cen Zhu.
The two sat by the window, with Cen Zhu on the outside and Chu Sining on the inside.
After class began, Chu Sining started taking notes along with the teacher’s lecture.
Once her notes were finished, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander, her thoughts consumed by matters at home—mainly about her jiejie, Chu Zhaoqiu.
Her aversion to Fu Lianxue stemmed from Fu Lianxue’s hostility toward her jiejie.
But as her jiejie said, although Fu Lianxue claimed to hate and wanted to kill her, there hadn’t been any actual harmful actions.
She wasn’t clear on what Fu Lianxue was truly thinking, but she knew her own jiejie wasn’t a muddle-headed person.
At the same time, she was very worried about her jiejie.
Worried that her jiejie’s efforts would be in vain, worried that her jiejie’s sincere feelings would be misplaced, and worried that her jiejie would be pointed at and criticized.
For the young master of a demon hunter family to fall for a demon, wasn’t this development too dramatic? How would others perceive her jiejie?!
But her jiejie didn’t seem to care much about it.
Neither did her nainai.
Indeed, their nainai had said that people who care too much about others’ opinions can’t live well in this life.
Thinking this, she still scratched her head in frustration.
Even after going through it once, she still found the adult world so complex, and her jiejie’s love story came so suddenly!
She decided not to dwell on it, turning her attention to what the people around her were doing.
The classmate to her right was secretly playing on their phone, while to her left, Cen Zhu was… reading a book.
She saw Cen Zhu with her right hand under the book, left hand pressing down, reading with intense concentration.
This only made Chu Sining more curious.
If it weren’t for the fact that there was another book tucked inside, Chu Sining might have believed she was genuinely studying!
It was a small booklet, about the size of a comic, and fit quite well when tucked into a textbook.
Inside, it was black text on white paper, without a single picture, very dry.
Chu Sining inadvertently glanced over and saw phrases like “sit cross-legged in meditation, close your eyes to nourish your spirit,” “remain unhurried to cultivate a calm spiritual bone”…
This was the first time she’d seen Cen Zhu reading an extracurricular book during class.
Well, let her read, it’s not her business to meddle in others’ affairs.
Thinking this, she withdrew her gaze, then paused in realization.
Wait a minute.
What did she just glimpse in that book?
Remain unhurried to cultivate a calm spiritual bone… wasn’t that from the cultivator’s introductory manual?!
As someone born into a demon hunter family and possessing a spiritual bone, she had read the cultivator’s introductory manual when she was very young.
Cultivating the spiritual bone, nurturing a tranquil heart, those were the core contents.
Beyond that were basic theories, teaching one to discern if they had a spiritual bone, and then how a cultivator could awaken spiritual power.
Only those with a spiritual bone could become cultivators, and only cultivators with spiritual power could wield magic, advancing step by step.
Although she was a cultivator who just wanted to idle away her time rather than work hard on cultivation day and night, she still remembered these contents quite clearly.
Therefore, she was now very surprised.
Why was Cen Zhu reading such a thing?
Where did she get it from?
Could it be that she was also a cultivator and had cultivators around her for guidance?!
But she had never heard her mention these things, so could it be that she picked it up on the road, found it interesting, and brought it back to read casually?
Chu Sining’s expression was conflicted, alternating her gaze between the blackboard and Cen Zhu, wanting to say something but holding back.
Then Cen Zhu moved.
As if sensing the gaze beside her, she suddenly turned to look at her.
Their eyes met, and the air froze for a moment.
Chu Sining caught sight of Cen Zhu slowly closing the book, as if afraid of being seen.
She looked up again at Cen Zhu’s unflustered eyes.
Neither of them spoke, each internally conflicted, cautiously treating the other as if they knew nothing, never revealing anything voluntarily.
At that moment, the class bell rang.
The teacher announced the end of the class, and the classroom immediately became lively again.
Simultaneously, as if unlocking a seal, Chu Sining also spoke: “What are you reading?”
Cen Zhu said: “Nothing.”
She said: “Just some random extracurricular book.”
Chu Sining: “Then why did you put it away so quickly? Can’t you let me have a look?
“Classmate, you have a ghost [有鬼 | yǒu guǐ | meaning: suspicious or something shady]~”
Cen Zhu still didn’t lay the book out for her, using an excuse to brush it off casually: “I borrowed it from a friend, she doesn’t like others showing her books without permission, so I can’t let you see it.”
Seeing that she really didn’t want to say, Chu Sining didn’t press further, only cautioning: “Alright, whatever you’re reading, make sure to stay alert, don’t be deceived and lose money!”
After hearing this, Cen Zhu knew what she’d seen, but since she didn’t ask thoroughly, there was no need to explain further.
After all, talking about this would really sound like feudal superstition…
So she agreed with a “got it,” indicating she remembered.
“OK, excuse me, I’m going to the restroom.” Chu Sining said.
She also took her phone with her.
She needed to tell her jiejie about this matter!
If Cen Zhu really had a spiritual bone, she might be able to help the Chu family recruit talent.
If Cen Zhu wasn’t a fellow cultivator and had encountered a scammer, she couldn’t just stand by.
There really were too many scammers these days, especially those using feudal superstition to carry out fraud, cropping up endlessly. She couldn’t just watch her classmate get tricked!
She needed to find her jiejie, to ask her how to handle this matter!
Cen Zhu watched as Chu Sining hurriedly ran out of the classroom, not thinking much of it.
She withdrew her gaze and reopened the small booklet.
In this book, it subtly mentioned one thing:
Cultivators can achieve immortality.
Just like what that Master Chu said.
Cen Zhu looked at the rough cover, momentarily filled with curiosity.
Can humans really achieve immortality…
The author has something to say:
In this chapter, there are no Xiaochu and Xiaofu.
But we do have our Xiaochu’s surname (just kidding ).
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