Ha, Karma! – Chapter 105

【Extra Chapter · Ancient IF Timeline】

The Bright Moon of Bygone Years (7)

Fu Lianxue sat on a large rock, watching Ye Zhaoqiu cast a spell, sending a golden light towards the sky.

The golden light “whooshed” and flew far away, disappearing from sight.

Fu Lianxue cupped her cheek, her gaze returning to Ye Zhaoqiu. “What are you going to do next?”

“Look for Young Master Liao.”

“So many days have passed. Do you think you can still find him?”

Who could guarantee that Liao Muchen’s soul was still in this world?

Perhaps he had already been destroyed by the murderer; perhaps, not knowing how to hide, he had long since been eroded by the harsh sun; or perhaps he had already been taken back to the Underworld by Ox-Head and Horse-Face¹.

Ye Zhaoqiu turned to look at the boundless mountain forest before her.

She was silent for a long time, the image of Liao Yueting eagerly hoping for her brother’s return flashing through her mind. A look of pity filled her eyes.

“We have to try to know if it’s possible or not.”

With that, she started walking along the river.

Seeing this, Fu Lianxue shrugged lightly, hopped off the rock, and followed her.

The two of them searched as they walked.

Ye Zhaoqiu used some spells to search for traces of ghosts, but the search range was limited. They could only search slowly, area by area.

Fu Lianxue followed behind her, looking around.

East Mountain was rich in spiritual energy. The trees grew well, and there were many birds and beasts.

One moment they saw squirrels leaping among the branches, the next they saw wild rabbits darting into the bushes. They even saw slender snakes coiled on branches, flicking their tongues and basking in the sun.

A squirrel stopped on a branch, looking at them.

Fu Lianxue happened to meet its gaze.

Ye Zhaoqiu suddenly heard Fu Lianxue ask, “Little squirrel, have you seen the ghost of a man in this mountain? Or, is there anyone hiding in this mountain causing trouble?”

The little squirrel’s nose twitched, but it gave no response.

Ye Zhaoqiu couldn’t help but turn to look at Fu Lianxue and asked, “What are you doing?”

Fu Lianxue spread her hands and said reasonably, “This place is rich in spiritual energy. It wouldn’t be surprising if it nurtured some sentient spirits². What if this squirrel is one? Then it could help us look, couldn’t it?”

After she finished speaking, the two of them looked at the squirrel in unison.

The squirrel turned its head, hopped to another branch, ignored them, and went on its way.

The two of them: “…”

Ye Zhaoqiu: “Looks like it’s not.”

Fu Lianxue shook her head regretfully—in such an auspicious place³, this little squirrel really didn’t know how to seize an opportunity.

They searched East Mountain until high noon, but found nothing.

They had covered more than half the mountain. There was no ghost of Liao Muchen, no cultivator hiding in the mountains, not even a single yaoguai popping out to cause trouble.

The human and the yao stopped in front of a lotus pond.

Fu Lianxue was tired and plopped down by the edge of the pond.

Ye Zhaoqiu held up two fingers, still trying hard to search for traces of ghosts nearby.

After a moment, she helplessly lowered her hand.

—Nothing here either.

Could it be that Liao Muchen’s soul was really no longer in the mortal world…

“Huh? What’s that?”

Fu Lianxue’s surprised voice broke the silence, drawing Ye Zhaoqiu’s attention.

Hidden beneath the fully bloomed lotus flowers in the pond was a pink lotus bud, ready to bloom.

The lotus emitted a faint glow, looking holy and elegant, quite out of the ordinary.

Curious, Fu Lianxue reached out and gently touched it.

As a result, the pink lotus broke off.

Then it fell into her hand, continuing to emit a faint glow.

She was shocked. “Hey, hey!”

She looked at Ye Zhaoqiu, bewildered and helpless. “I didn’t break it! I didn’t even use any force. How did it, how did it break off on its own?!”

As she spoke, she tried to put the flower back, but it couldn’t be restored no matter what.

What the heck, she had never seen such a proactive flower in her entire life!

Ye Zhaoqiu suddenly seemed to understand something and said, “You should take it.”

Fu Lianxue looked at her, her eyes wide.

She said, “It doesn’t look like an ordinary thing. Perhaps it fell into your hand on its own because you have an affinity with it.”

Fu Lianxue blinked, a sudden realization dawning on her.

She knew about this.

Many rare treasures in this world awaited their destined person⁴.

She just hadn’t expected to become one herself.

In the past, it was always Ye Zhaoqiu she saw as the destined person.

Since the flower couldn’t be put back, she had no choice but to accept it and take it with her.

As she carefully placed the flower into her treasure pouch⁵, she asked Ye Zhaoqiu, “So, what can I do with it?”

It was her first time being a destined person; she didn’t have much experience.

“Can I use it to ask someone to make lotus flower pastries?”

Lotus flower pastries made from a rare treasure—she couldn’t imagine how delicious and tempting they would be. This was making something good even better!

Ye Zhaoqiu: “…”

She really loved lotus flower pastries…

“You can try.”

Since it was a treasure destined for Fu Lianxue, how to deal with it was her decision. Even if it was made into lotus flower pastries and eaten… that was fine too. It would be useful one way or another.

Having unexpectedly received a treasure, Fu Lianxue’s mood brightened. She put her palms together and bowed piously towards the sky and the lotus pond. “Thank you, Heaven, for this gift!

“From now on, I will continue to be a good yao, eat well, drink well, and sleep well!”

Ye Zhaoqiu: “…?”

Redefining “good yao.”

With this happy event, Fu Lianxue perked up and asked enthusiastically, “What are we going to do next!”

Seeing her cheerful face, Ye Zhaoqiu felt as if she was infected by it and couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.

Actually, when she smiled, it had a strange way of making others feel good too.

Just as Ye Zhaoqiu was about to answer, a golden light suddenly flew across the sky.

Sensing a familiar aura, she proactively reached out her hand to catch the golden light. Once the light landed in her palm, it instantly became like a stone sinking into the sea, with water droplets splashing. From within, lines of small golden characters slowly emerged.

This was an Echoing Letter⁶.

It was a reply from her master, Elder Tianxuan, answering one of her questions—a question about Lin Lan.

Fu Lianxue only saw a faint golden glow emerge from her palm and couldn’t see the content of the reply, so she asked curiously, “Did your master reply to you?”

Ye Zhaoqiu nodded.

Fu Lianxue couldn’t help but say, “That was really fast…”

Earlier today, when Ye Zhaoqiu helped Lin Lan put on his eye covering, she had felt both surprised and that there was more to it, especially when Ye Zhaoqiu clumsily touched Lin Lan’s glabella.

It looked like it was intentional.

Because she knew Ye Zhaoqiu wasn’t such a careless person.

Sure enough, after Ye Zhaoqiu cast a spell and touched Lin Lan’s glabella, they saw a faint red pattern appear there.

It was very light, very faint, and small, like a fire pattern.

Fu Lianxue didn’t understand what it meant, but clearly Ye Zhaoqiu did.

She knew but couldn’t be sure, so she asked her master, Elder Tianxuan, for help.

Combining clues, investigating, and gathering evidence was also a learning process.

Fu Lianxue watched her curiously as she put away the Echoing Letter and asked, “What did your master say?”

Ye Zhaoqiu opened her lips, about to speak.

Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from the tree behind them.

The two of them immediately stopped talking, went on alert, and focused their attention on the source of the sound.

The next moment, a small squirrel darted out.

The two of them: “…”

The small squirrel stood on a branch, looking at them with its black, bright eyes.

Fu Lianxue met its gaze for a moment and couldn’t help frowning.

“Why do I feel like it looks like the one we met today?”

Ye Zhaoqiu couldn’t be sure.

The squirrels here all looked pretty much the same, with brown, bushy tails. At first glance, there didn’t seem to be much difference.

“I can’t tell. Perhaps it’s its companion?”

Fu Lianxue wasn’t too concerned about it.

Whether it was the same or not, as long as it wasn’t a yaoguai that would attack them, it was fine.

Then, they saw the small squirrel suddenly run back, disappearing into the dense layers of leaves.

Few people came to East Mountain. This squirrel probably found them novel, so it came to take a look, and left after seeing them.

The two of them looked away.

Immediately after, the rustling sound of leaves rubbing against branches came from the treetop again.

That squirrel, right in front of them, actually darted out again.

It came out, stood on a branch, looked at them for a couple of seconds, then darted back in, and then came out again, remaining still.

It was as if… it wanted them to follow it.

The two of them exchanged a look, understanding this unspoken message.

“Let’s go!”

After Ye Zhaoqiu spoke, she pulled Fu Lianxue along to follow the squirrel.

Sunlight filtered down leisurely through the gaps in the trees.

They followed the nimble squirrel through beams of light, traversing the depths of East Mountain’s dense forest.

The sound of rustling footsteps echoed in their ears—hurried, full of expectation, then gradually slowing down as the light also slowly faded.

They stopped in front of a cave.

It was very dark inside the cave. The sunlight only reached the entrance and couldn’t penetrate further, as if afraid to disturb the tranquility of this darkness.

The small squirrel that had been running ahead of them had already jumped into the cave, merging with the darkness.

This meant that what it wanted them to see was inside, and they had to go in.

They looked at each other.

Ye Zhaoqiu put two fingers together, slowly raising them, and softly chanted a spell. An invisible circle quickly swept out in all directions with her at the center.

In an instant, she sensed it.

“There are traces of a ghost in here.”

Fu Lianxue looked again at the pitch-black cave entrance.

“Then… shall we go in and take a look?”

Before she could finish, Ye Zhaoqiu had already materialized her longsword, formed an illumination seal⁷, and with a serious expression, stepped inside.

They had investigated this far. No matter what was inside, she had to go in and see.

Fu Lianxue had been a little hesitant, but seeing Ye Zhaoqiu walk in without looking back, she immediately followed, as if by conditioned reflex.

The firelight from the illumination seal lit up the gloomy cave.

From time to time, the sound of dripping water echoed, and the wind whistled in, chilling them to the bone.

They lightened their steps and walked forward cautiously until they saw the small squirrel again.

It stopped beside a cave wall.

A man was sitting there, his back to them.

He was dressed in fine silks, looking like a young master from a wealthy family, but his form was faint, like ethereal smoke that would scatter with a gust of wind.

Ye Zhaoqiu and Fu Lianxue stopped where they were; neither moved forward.

They saw the man, sensing the squirrel’s approach, tentatively reach out his hand and ask very softly, “Is that you, little squirrel?”

The small squirrel took two steps forward and proactively nuzzled his palm.

A hint of a smile entered the man’s voice. “It is you.”

“You’re here. Is it dark outside? Can I go out?”

—He couldn’t see.

Fu Lianxue and Ye Zhaoqiu looked at each other in surprise.

Could he be Liao Muchen?!

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