Ha, Karma! – Chapter 1

The woman who once hurt her has finally appeared!

At exactly eleven at night, Wuchang Mountain stood shrouded in dense forest and eerie mist.

The forest became particularly sinister at night, with trees resembling menacing monsters, like a horror movie scene. Nobody dared to come here normally, and thus the secrets hidden here remained unknown.

Suddenly, rustling footsteps echoed through the forest.

A woman in a white long coat slowly stepped into the dense forest.

She was beautiful.

Tall and graceful, with glossy black hair neatly tied back with a wooden hairpin in a simple yet elegant style.

Her phoenix eyes were both beautiful and spirited, with pupils bright as candlelight.

In her hands, she held a white porcelain purification vessel [jìng píng, ritual container].

She walked composedly into the depths of the forest, reaching the area where the fog was thickest.

Slender branches lurked in the mist, appearing and disappearing, while distant animal cries echoed, creating an extremely eerie atmosphere.

Chu Zhaoqiu remained expressionless as she extended the white vessel forward. The vessel immediately levitated, emanating an ominous black energy.

She raised two fingers like a blade and lightly cut her right fingertip.

Blood seeped from the wound, and she calmly marked her forehead with it, creating a crimson dot as red as cinnabar [zhūshā, mineral used in traditional Chinese practices].

She pressed her palms together, closed her eyes to recite incantations, while swiftly forming hand seals.

The next moment, her eyes opened, and her hands swept outward. The blood mark on her forehead suddenly emitted red light, and countless thin red lines flowed through her limbs, floating around her fair wrists and fingers before rising into the air, rapidly crisscrossing.

In an instant, the entire forest was filled with taut, intersecting red lines.

The white vessel floated motionlessly among them.

Just then, bell sounds echoed through the silent forest.

“Ding-ling-ling—

“Ding-ling-ling—”

It was deeply unsettling.

After the bells rang, the red lines before Chu Zhaoqiu instantly transformed into red mist.

A crimson gate materialized within the red mist, standing tall in the fog.

Behind the gate was still forest, but two figures—one black, one white—were faintly visible.

Beside the gate stood a stone tablet with blood-red characters that read: Path to the Yellow Springs [the road to the Chinese underworld].

The white purification vessel suddenly began to tremble.

Chu Zhaoqiu, unfazed by the unusual sight, raised her hand and waved gently: “Go on, I can only escort you this far.”

The black energy from the vessel was instantly drawn into the gate, leaving not even a shadow behind.

The corners of Chu Zhaoqiu’s lips curved slightly.

The lost ghost soul had finally found its way home; hopefully, it would have a good next life.

The bell sounds rang again from within the gate.

Chu Zhaoqiu made a respectful bow toward the Yellow Springs Gate, then retrieved the purification vessel and turned to leave without lingering.

Behind her, the Yellow Springs Gate gradually blurred and completely vanished with the last crisp ring of the bell.

The mountain forest returned to silence.

Chu Zhaoqiu walked down the mountain, pulling out a bandage from her pocket and calmly covering her cut fingertip. She tucked the wrapper back into her pocket to dispose of later.

The Black and White Impermanence [supernatural beings who guide souls] didn’t like people littering here.

She didn’t like it either.

It was truly unhygienic.

A white car was parked at the dark mountain base.

Chu Zhaoqiu dusted herself off, opened the back door, sat down, and placed the trash in a bag the driver handed her.

The driver was a tall, ordinary-looking man named A Li, a cultivator of the Chu family.

The Chu family was a renowned demon-hunting clan with many disciples under their guidance.

Chu Zhaoqiu was the eldest young lady of the Chu family and its future leader.

After disposing of the trash, she slowly wiped away the faded blood mark from her brow with a wet wipe from the car.

Then she cleaned the purification vessel and put it away.

Finally, she meticulously cleaned her fingers before leaning back tiredly against the seat.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

The car started, its headlights cutting through the darkness like sharp swords, carving out a brightly lit path.

Chu Zhaoqiu leaned against the seat, watching the mountain scenery illuminated by the headlights.

The trees at the mountain’s base grew wildly, overgrown with weeds, blocking the mountain path, making it unremarkable.

Ordinary people wouldn’t come here for mountain climbing on a whim.

Only demon hunters acknowledged by the Black and White Impermanence would.

Demon hunters must be acknowledged by the Black and White Impermanence to guide lost souls back to the Yellow Springs; otherwise, they wouldn’t see the Yellow Springs Gate even if they bled themselves dry on the mountain.

However, there was one drawback to soul-guiding: exhaustion.

Demon hunters were humans with heavenly affinity [supernatural potential] for cultivation, but they were still mortal beings. When facing the deathly Yellow Springs path and netherworld officials, they would inevitably be affected by the yin qi [negative spiritual energy], experiencing physical reactions like hunger or fatigue.

But these effects would diminish as the cultivator’s spiritual prowess [level of cultivation] increased, until finally disappearing completely.

When the effects vanished, it marked the moment cultivators anticipated most—ascending to godhood.

Immortals and netherworld officials didn’t worry about being affected when meeting.

Therefore, soul-guiding became a method for capable cultivators to measure their abilities.

Like taking an exam, they would return home after guiding souls to see how their bodies scored.

Chu Zhaoqiu lowered her head, covering her mouth as she yawned, feeling sleepy.

But this was already much better than her first soul-guiding experience.

After her first time, she had fallen seriously ill upon returning home, bedridden for several days before recovering.

Now she was just sleepy, and her spiritual consciousness no longer scattered.

“Wake me when we get home.”

A Li agreed.

Then his phone rang.

Chu Zhaoqiu opened her eyes, then closed them again, her expression unchanging.

She heard A Li speak briefly on the phone before calling out: “Young Miss.”

Chu Zhaoqiu opened her eyes again.

A Li: “It’s the Family Head.”

Chu Zhaoqiu’s brow twitched slightly.

The Chu family head was her grandmother.

“What does Grandmother want?”

“She wants us to pick up Third Young Miss on our way back.”

“Sining? Where is she?”

“At a concert.”

“…” Chu Zhaoqiu asked, “Did she go alone?”

“No, the Family Head had my sister accompany her.

“It’s Fu Lianxue’s concert. Young Miss, you should know who Fu Lianxue is—it’s at the open-air stadium, should be ending soon.”

Chu Zhaoqiu said nothing more, leaning her head back and closing her eyes to rest.

The car fell into silence again.

After a while—

“Who is Fu Lianxue?”

A Li: “…?”

Young Miss really doesn’t follow any entertainment news at all…

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The car stopped.

Chu Zhaoqiu, who had dozed briefly, slowly opened her eyes. Zhou City’s largest open-air stadium stood imposingly outside the car.

Crowds holding purple light sticks were slowly walking out, dispersing in all directions, their faces showing lingering excitement.

Behind them, the stadium blazed with brilliant lights, bright everywhere.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how energetic and enjoyable the concert had been.

Chu Zhaoqiu watched the jubilant crowd, her lips unconsciously curving slightly, a faint smile appearing in her eyes, before looking at the brightly lit stadium, her gaze returning to its usual calmness.

She had no interest in entertainment celebrities.

Her sister Chu Sining was completely different.

Chu Sining was a fan of many stars, loving them indiscriminately—today this one, tomorrow that one. Among the countless celebrities in the entertainment world, all the attractive ones were her treasures.

Chu Zhaoqiu didn’t understand this mindset, though she said nothing about it.

To her, even the most beautiful people were just mortal vessels, no different from her or the countless other living beings.

Therefore, she could remain completely unmoved and composed when facing even the most beautiful people.

She yawned again and closed her eyes.

“Call Sining and tell her and Buyu to come over, it’s time to go home.”

A Li took out his phone and called Chu Sining: “Third Young Miss isn’t answering.”

“Then call Buyu.”

A Li did so, then put down his phone: “My sister isn’t answering either.”

Chu Zhaoqiu immediately opened her eyes and turned to look at the stadium.

A Li said: “You rest, I’ll go look for them.”

He started searching for something his sister had left in the car.

He pulled out a small notebook his sister had left in his car a few days ago, preparing to use the tracking technique with two fingers.

As long as one had a possession of the target, the scent tracking technique could create a silver thread from the object’s aura to track the target, like a keen-nosed police dog.

Once the silver thread tracked its target, it would merge with them, leaving a momentary cold sensation on their body, making it unsuitable for covert tracking.

It wouldn’t work now either.

“There are too many people, the silver thread would be seen.”

Chu Zhaoqiu calmly sat up and opened the car door.

“Sining likes to wander off. I’ll go with you to find them.”

As soon as they entered the stadium, they received a call back from Buyu.

A Li put down his phone and turned to look at the Young Miss.

“She says they’re backstage.”

“Doing what?”

“Waiting for Fu Lianxue’s autograph.”

“…”

“And Third Young Miss says we can come join them to get Fu Lianxue’s autograph too.”

“…”

Did she look like someone who would be interested in such things?

Then she saw A Li asking carefully yet hopefully: “Can we?”

Chu Zhaoqiu: “…”

—So it was you.

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Fu Lianxue was changing clothes in a private dressing room.

A pristine full-length mirror hung on the wall, reflecting her appearance.

Her features seemed meticulously carved, flawless, with a tear-shaped mole [beauty mark] at the corner of her left eye adding to her striking, alluring appearance.

Her black hair fell softly, making her skin appear even fairer.

After removing her performance outfit, the mirror clearly reflected her rose tattoo.

Fu Lianxue saw herself and the tattoo in the mirror.

She raised her hand, fingertips lightly touching the tattoo, her eyes calm.

The rose tattoo was positioned above her heart, vivid and beautiful.

This spot had once been a hideous scar.

She withdrew her gaze and continued changing clothes calmly.

She put on a short-sleeved shirt and arranged her long hair in one smooth motion.

She refused to waste time here remembering those unpleasant memories.

After changing, Fu Lianxue sat in the room fixing her hair, drinking water, and preparing to leave.

Just then, her manager Cheng Hanxi sent her a message.

It said that family members of a former major investor had come to her concert and wanted her autograph; they were waiting now.

She replied “yes” without hesitation.

She was always good to her fans.

Because they liked her, really really liked her.

She loved these emotions the most—they were fragrant, like flowers.

Soon, a short-haired woman led people into the room after knocking.

Cheng Hanxi walked in front, followed by four people—three women and one man, with a beautiful but cold-faced woman at the end.

Yes, Chu Zhaoqiu had come after all.

Mainly because she worried her sister might wander off.

She just wanted to get her sister home safely so she could rest.

Cheng Hanxi gently closed the door and walked to Fu Lianxue, preparing to make introductions.

Chu Sining stood at the front, her pretty face showing barely contained excitement and undisguised joy.

Although her second sister had offered to get the autograph for her, how could that compare to getting it in person!

But soon she noticed Fu Lianxue’s serious expression, her gaze fixed on something behind her.

She looked back and realized Fu Lianxue was staring at her sister Chu Zhaoqiu.

She: “…?”

Chu Zhaoqiu and Fu Lianxue locked eyes, neither speaking.

In that instant, the air seemed to freeze, time suspended in this moment.

Chu Zhaoqiu stared motionlessly at that striking face before her.

She sensed a strange familiarity, as if they had met before.

She also sensed another extremely intense emotion.

Suddenly, there was a surging, intense… palpitation.

Her long-tranquil heart stirred with ripples, and within those circles, a seed of love unexpectedly began to sprout.

She stood frozen, as did Fu Lianxue.

The same eyebrows and eyes, the same features.

That face, indelible through countless years, finally appeared again, piercing her heart with pain.

The next moment, before anyone could react, powerful demon energy suddenly burst from her, its invisible pressure sweeping through the entire room, making everyone’s bodies sink, nearly forcing them to their knees!

Chu Zhaoqiu’s eyes widened instantly.

—So she was a demon!

Fu Lianxue swept past Cheng Hanxi like a violent wind, her slender fingers curved into claws, striking directly at Chu Zhaoqiu’s throat!

Chu Zhaoqiu quickly stepped back and raised her hand, preparing to cast a spell.

But when she looked at the approaching Fu Lianxue, her heart suddenly trembled, finding this scene vaguely overlapping with some similar yet blurry image.

This unexpected development made her lose focus momentarily, and the spell gathering in her hand dispersed before fully forming.

In that brief moment, Fu Lianxue was already before her.

“Pak!”

Fu Lianxue’s slender fingers gripped the vulnerable throat.

Then “Bang!” Chu Zhaoqiu was slammed hard against the wall.

Chu Zhaoqiu’s back hit the wall, letting out a pained grunt.

She looked up at the woman before her, brows furrowed, that strange familiarity somehow preventing her from striking back.

Fu Lianxue was surrounded by powerful demon energy, her eyes glowing with an eerie purple light, filled with intense killing intent, and… boundless hatred toward her.

“It’s you… it’s actually you!”

The woman who had once hurt her had finally appeared!

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LP: This novel has won the votes! Well, it was tied with another novel but I didn’t know the other one is actually being translated actively at the moment~

Since I’ve dropped 《Escape from the Thriller World》, I’m still looking for another one~ I hope I won’t disappoint! (゜-゜)

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