Ha, Karma! – Chapter 106

【Extra Chapter · Ancient IF Timeline】

The Bright Moon of Bygone Years (8)

A chilling cave, a mysterious ghost, a man who couldn’t see.

Ye Zhaoqiu and Fu Lianxue looked at each other, their expressions serious.

Then, Fu Lianxue turned towards that gloomy silhouette—

“Liao Muchen.”

The ghostly figure startled at the sound, turning around as if by reflex.

He had no eyes in his sockets, only two empty, terrifyingly shaped holes. His face was mangled beyond recognition.

A hint of vigilance appeared on this face.

“Who’s there?”

Ye Zhaoqiu had a good idea now, but she still spoke up to confirm: “Are you Young Master Liao Muchen?”

After hearing her voice, the ghost across from them, clutching a small squirrel, suddenly seemed at a loss. “How come there are two of you… Are you… are you Ox-Head and Horse-Face?”

Fu Lianxue said, “You’re quite the guesser.”

Ye Zhaoqiu got straight to the point: “We’re not netherworld bailiffs. We’re cultivators hired by Miss Liao.”

Hearing the familiar name, the ghost’s expression softened, visibly moved. “Xiao Yue…?”

He immediately stood up from the ground. “How’s my little sister? Is she okay?”

—It was Liao Muchen, no doubt about it.

The heavens were merciful!¹ Thankfully, his soul was still in the mortal world!

Ye Zhaoqiu reassured him, “Don’t worry, Proprietor Liao is fine.”

Liao Muchen asked again, “Then what about Lin Lan? Where is he now?”

Ye Zhaoqiu and Fu Lianxue exchanged a glance.

He’s still thinking about Lin Lan at a time like this. Could it be that this matter really has nothing to do with Lin Lan?

“He’s still in Yunshui Town, living in the courtyard you prepared for him,” Ye Zhaoqiu replied.

But then they heard Liao Muchen shout, “Go back quickly!”

The two of them frowned.

Liao Muchen said urgently, “Quick, go back and tell Xiao Yue to be careful of Lin Lan! He knows magic!”

Their eyes suddenly widened. It all became clear.

It really was Lin Lan!

Ye Zhaoqiu said, “There’s no time to lose! Let’s go back now!”

Although they didn’t know Lin Lan’s motive, now that they knew who the culprit was, they couldn’t let him stay with the victim’s sister.

Who could say if Liao Yueting wouldn’t be his next target?

Ye Zhaoqiu looked at Liao Muchen’s soul. “Young Master Liao, you’re a ghost now. If you go out rashly, the harsh sun will burn you. Please bear with staying in my magical artifact for a while. I’ll let you out when we reach the Liao Manor.”

Hearing this, Liao Muchen involuntarily took a step towards them, then suddenly stopped, his fingertips hovering helplessly before his empty, terrifying eye sockets.

He abruptly turned his face away. “No… I can’t go back with you.”

“Why?”

Fu Lianxue couldn’t understand.

Wasn’t it a good thing for someone who died unexpectedly to be able to see their family again? Moreover, he and his sister were so close; they must have so much bitterness to pour out to each other. Why was he unwilling?

Liao Muchen hesitated. “Because my sister… is afraid of ghosts.”

When he was little, he would occasionally tease his sister.

For example, he’d say not to open an umbrella indoors because it would attract ghosts.

Liao Yueting would get scared every time, hitting him in anger and fear, saying she didn’t want him as a brother anymore.

Then he would admit he was wrong, coax her, and promise that if a real ghost came, he would definitely protect her.

But now, he was to return to her looking like this. How could he even talk about protecting her?

Not to mention his eyes…

“I must look terrifying right now…” he said uneasily, his expression panicked. He shifted slightly, shrinking back into the darkness. “My sister will definitely be scared if she sees me. You two must be too.”

He had his eyes gouged out by a tree yao while he was alive.

A face with torn skin and exposed flesh, how could it look good?

Just imagining this appearance, one knew how horrifying it was. If he could still see, he’d probably be scared of himself, let alone his sister who was already more easily scared than him.

Then he heard Fu Lianxue say, “We’ve been looking at you for quite a while now.”

Liao Muchen: “…”

Liao Muchen looked admiring. “As expected of cultivators.”

They didn’t even scream. Impressive!

Ye Zhaoqiu could understand his thoughts, but she didn’t think Liao Yueting would be afraid.

“This appearance of yours, Proprietor Liao must have already seen it when she received your body. But she still wants to find you, to bring you home. Do you think she’ll still be afraid?”

If he looked so tragic after death, how much better could he have looked before he died?

Compared to a brother with a terrifying face, Liao Yueting was clearly more afraid of her brother dying unjustly, afraid of her brother being alone and lost outside, unable to even see him one last time.

Their bond as siblings had long overcome all fear.

“Young Master Liao, come with us,” Ye Zhaoqiu extended her hand. “Your sister is waiting for you to come home.”

Liao Muchen was silent for a moment, then finally took that step towards them and carefully made a request:

“Could I trouble you to burn a piece of cloth for me?”

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The sunlight was very bright. Liao Yueting paced in front of the Liao Manor, eagerly hoping to see those two graceful figures.

She hoped their trip to East Mountain would be safe, and also hoped they could bring back some good news about her brother…

As she waited eagerly, a figure slowly walked into her line of sight—Lin Lan.

Lin Lan, leaning on a blind man’s staff, walked step by step in this direction, seemingly looking for their Liao Manor.

Liao Yueting felt confused, but then thought that he was her brother’s beloved, so she should be polite to him. She walked down the steps to meet him and asked, “Young Master Lin, what brings you here?”

Lin Lan stopped when he heard her voice and faced her, as if looking at her through a gauze over his eyes.

He said, “Proprietor Liao, I have something to discuss with you.”

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After Ye Zhaoqiu and Fu Lianxue hurried back to the Liao Manor, they learned from the steward that Liao Yueting had left with Lin Lan.

“Ah?” Fu Lianxue said in surprise. “Where did they go?”

The steward pointed ahead. “It seems they were going to sit by the river. Young Master Lin said he wanted to talk to our young miss alone.”

Ye Zhaoqiu’s expression immediately turned serious. “Proprietor Liao went with him alone?”

The steward said, “Not exactly. The young miss took her personal maid with her.”

The human and the yao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Thankfully, Proprietor Liao was careful and brought an extra person!

Just as they finished sighing in relief, they had to hurry in the direction the steward had indicated.

Even if Liao Yueting had someone with her, they couldn’t relax.

Two ordinary people against someone who knew magic, was good at disguising himself, and had blood on his hands—this was too dangerous. It was hard not to worry.

On the way back just now, Liao Muchen had already told them what happened that day.

The beginning of the story was similar to Lin Lan’s version.

They were going to pass through East Mountain to visit another small town, but they were suddenly attacked by a tree yao, and Liao Muchen was entangled.

Knowing he had no hope of escape, Liao Muchen, in his desperation, told Lin Lan to flee for his life first.

He wasn’t thinking much at the time.

He just hoped it would be good if at least one of them could survive, so he told Lin Lan to run, to run far away and never come back.

Then, his eyes were gouged out by the tree yao. The pain was excruciating, and blood flowed like a torrent.

He had lived an innocent life and never wronged anyone. He never dreamed he would suffer such a calamity and meet such an end!

He thought he was definitely going to die.

And he did die, but his soul miraculously remained.

Or rather, it didn’t just remain; somehow, it was sucked into the body of a passing squirrel, and he briefly became a squirrel.

So, he could see his own body, like a broken puppet, thrown to the ground by the tree yao, covered in blood.

So, he could see the person he liked the most appear before him again.

Ridiculously, he thought at the time that Lin Lan had come back for him, wanting to live or die together with him, and he even wanted to rush out to stop him.

Just as he moved his feet, he saw the frenzied tree yao suddenly become gentle.

Then, he saw Lin Lan slowly raise his hand.

And then, his pair of eyes landed in Lin Lan’s hand, bloody, as if still alive.

At this point, everything became clear.

He stayed where he was, feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cellar².

It turned out that the person he had treated with such devotion had not only deceived him but also wanted his eyes, even resorting to such vicious methods…

He didn’t quite understand what happened after that.

He saw Lin Lan injure himself, then pick up his body and use magic to clear a path, seemingly heading back to Yunshui Town.

Although Lin Lan knew magic, being unable to see still made it inconvenient for him to walk.

He couldn’t understand why Lin Lan was doing this and wanted to follow him to find out.

But just then, he was forced out of the squirrel’s body, exposed directly to the sunlight, and nearly had his soul scattered by the harsh sun.

He couldn’t see anymore.

He couldn’t leave East Mountain; he couldn’t go back…

Until today, when his sister asked people to find him, and the squirrel led them.

It was also only today that he learned Lin Lan had been lying.

The one who suggested going to East Mountain wasn’t him; it was Lin Lan.

And he had spoiled Lin Lan too much, trusted Lin Lan too much.

Lin Lan said the air in East Mountain was fresh and he wanted to take a stroll. Lin Lan also said he had an heirloom magical artifact, so even ordinary people like them didn’t need to fear yao.

He believed him. He naively believed him.

And so, he lost his life and a pair of eyes.

Now, he couldn’t help but start to fear that he would get his sister into trouble.

No one knew what Lin Lan really wanted to do.

Did he gouge out his eyes to use them for himself?

If that was the case, why look for his sister?

What on earth did he want to do? Why was he so cruel, so inhuman?!

In a tense atmosphere all the way, Ye Zhaoqiu and Fu Lianxue finally found Liao Yueting.

She and her personal maid, Xiao Tao³, were standing in a pavilion, looking in a certain direction.

The two of them looked very calm, as if no dispute had occurred.

“Proprietor Liao!” Ye Zhaoqiu called out.

Liao Yueting heard the voice and turned to look at them, seemingly clutching a letter in her hand.

Seeing Ye Zhaqiu and Fu Lianxue safe and sound, she breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great, you’re back safely.”

“This trip to East Mountain, what did you find?”

Ye Zhaqiu didn’t answer, instead asking, “Where’s Lin Lan?”

Liao Yueting said, “He left not long ago.”

Fu Lianxue asked, “Where did he go?”

Liao Yueting shook her head, indicating she didn’t know, then handed over the letter in her hand. “He said a few things to me here, mourned my brother with me, and then left me this letter, telling me to open it after a shichen.”⁴

Ye Zhaqiu frowned and said without thinking, “Open it now.”

Liao Yueting was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted.

She quickly tore open the envelope, took out the letter, and scanned through it, reading ten lines at a glance.

“What does the letter say?” Fu Lianxue asked.

Liao Yueting put down the letter, her expression serious. “The letter says… he wants to be with my brother… in life and death.”

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The author has something to say:

Seeing readers say they quite enjoy the ancient arc is really encouraging.

The number of comments on the extras has dropped sharply, and I was also worried that I started a plotline that hadn’t yet reached the protagonists’ “if” storyline points, making it not great to read, and that everyone wasn’t enjoying it.

So seeing this comment made me really⁵ happy. Thank you to those who still like it, thank you for being willing to accompany me for such a long time, wuwu QAQ…

I will try my best to finish this story before next Thursday 【Bows】

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LP: I kind of understand the other readers. I was expecting plotless sugar

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