Ha, Karma! – Chapter 19

What’s in there… something I’m not allowed to see?

Chen Hong had finished breakfast.

It was exactly nine o’clock, and he was preparing to go out to find Lin Yun.

Lin Yun was already awake. She had been badly frightened yesterday, so she would really need him right now.

Need his gentle comfort, need his companionship, need him as a person.

He couldn’t miss this opportunity – his “love” for her needed to be all-encompassing to keep a firm grip on her.

He sent Lin Yun a message, letting her know he was coming over to be with her.

Unexpectedly, just as he sent the message and reached the door, he saw Lin Yun’s reply: [Don’t come over, wait for me at home, I’m already on my way]

Between the lines was an eagerness to see him as soon as possible.

Chen Hong looked at this message, his lips curling into a smirk of success.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

After all this effort, wasn’t his goal to make Lin Yun think and care only about him, to make her completely dependent on him alone from now on?

Now, he had achieved it.

His inflated confidence kept him from thinking too deeply. He replied with a simple “okay” and, maintaining his caring persona, added “be careful on the way,” then went to quickly clean up the dining table.

There wasn’t much else to tidy up – everything was in its place, not messy at all.

Lin Yun had been to his home before and hadn’t mentioned finding anything disagreeable.

Suddenly, he thought of the metal box containing the necklace.

He turned and walked to the cabinet in the living room, reaching out to open it.

Clean and tidy, with no signs of being moved.

The metal box on the top shelf remained quietly in place, as if it had never been opened.

Seeing this, Chen Hong closed the cabinet with relief and waited for his girlfriend to arrive.

Before long, the doorbell rang.

Chen Hong immediately got up to open the door, welcoming what he believed would be his perfect day.

Lin Yun stood alone outside the door.

Her expression was normal, showing nothing unusual.

Chen Hong held her hand as usual, gently leading her inside: “You’re here. I saw your message. As long as you slept well last night, that’s what matters.”

“Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen from now on.”

Following him inside, Lin Yun asked: “How do you know nothing bad will happen?”

Chen Hong calmly embraced her shoulders: “Didn’t you say that spiritual expert your parents invited was truly capable? With her around, the female ghost haunting you definitely won’t escape.”

Hearing this, Lin Yun nodded gently: “You’re right.”

Then she affectionately hugged his arm: “Being with you is best. When I’m with you, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Chen Hong returned a smile, tenderly kissing her forehead.

“Have you had breakfast?”

“Not yet.”

“Why didn’t you eat first when you got up? Should I take you downstairs for breakfast?”

“No.”

Lin Yun suddenly acted coquettishly while holding his arm: “I don’t want to walk. Go buy something for me, I’ll wait for you at home.”

Chen Hong chuckled, playfully pinching her nose: “You lazy thing.”

Then he went to the door to put on his shoes: “What would you like to eat?”

“I don’t know, get whatever you want, but not too much. I don’t have much appetite.”

“Alright.”

“Come back quickly, okay?”

“Okay~ I know, be good and wait for me at home.”

Chen Hong’s tone grew increasingly doting with each word.

To Lin Yun, it felt as sweet as being immersed in honey, but the sweeter it became, the more complex her feelings grew.

After Chen Hong left, she turned toward the only cabinet in the living room…

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Chen Hong bought a box of xiaolongbao [小籠包 | xiǎo lóng bāo | steamed soup dumplings] and a bottle of milk.

He always remembered that Lin Yun liked drinking milk in the morning.

As someone intent on catering to her preferences to make her desperately in love with him, he naturally had to master all her likes and dislikes, without missing a single one.

He climbed the stairs proudly, imagining Lin Yun’s happy expression upon seeing the milk.

Step by step, floor by floor, getting higher and higher, just like his future.

Once he married Lin Yun, he would instantly ascend to success and smoothly enter the upper class!

And that female ghost had been sealed away by him.

His secrets would remain sealed along with the ghost, forever trapped in that tattered necklace, and the Lin family would never know the truth.

Everything was going so smoothly!

Chen Hong opened his door with great confidence: “I’m back.”

But then he saw Lin Yun standing in front of the living room cabinet, holding that metal box.

His expression instantly changed: “What are you doing!”

Lin Yun was startled by his tone, watching wide-eyed as he hurriedly came over and snatched away the locked box.

Chen Hong was about to put the box back when he noticed it felt very empty – there was no sound of the necklace moving inside.

He turned to glare at Lin Yun: “Did you open this box?!”

Lin Yun was shocked by his reaction.

This was the first time he had ever been so harsh with her…

Coming back to her senses, she replied: “No, I just saw this metal box and was curious, so I took it down to look at it.”

She fixed her eyes on his: “What’s wrong? Is there… something in there I’m not supposed to see?”

Hearing this, Chen Hong suddenly calmed down.

The lock on the box was still intact – how could Lin Yun possibly have opened it?

He had been too rash, and even harsh with her, nearly giving himself away.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Lin Yun pressed, “Are you going to keep secrets from me even after we’re married?”

—Marriage.

This word precisely struck Chen Hong’s greed, instantly softening his expression back to its usual spring-like warmth.

“No, it’s just my mother’s keepsake. It’s nothing important to look at.”

“Why did you suddenly take down this box?”

Lin Yun wasn’t the type to rummage through things – she had never reached for the top shelf during her previous visits.

Besides, she always liked pretty things and wouldn’t be interested in this kind of shabby box, which was why he had dared to put it up there.

He never expected things would go wrong today.

Lin Yun replied calmly: “I was just looking around while waiting for you.”

Then she clung to his arm coquettishly: “We’re going to get married, so what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is yours. This is my home too, isn’t it? Can’t I look around my own home?”

“I let you drive my car all the time…”

She sounded increasingly wronged as she spoke.

Chen Hong hurriedly consoled her: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I won’t be like this again.”

“It’s my mother’s keepsake, so I’m just a bit sensitive about it. I’m sorry, baby.”

Lin Yun looked at the box, then at him, and said: “Then open it and show me.”

Chen Hong froze.

Lin Yun continued: “When we’re married, we’ll be family. Your mother will be my mother too. It’s not too much to ask for a daughter-in-law to see what’s inside, right?”

Chen Hong fell silent.

Lin Yun’s reasoning was sound, but she couldn’t look inside.

The box was full of his prepared yellow talismans – whose mother would leave talismans as keepsakes?!

But he couldn’t let Lin Yun be unhappy either…

“Of course you can,” Chen Hong put the box back in its place and led her to sit on the sofa, “After we’re married, I’ll show you. You can look at it as long as you want then.”

He finished by smiling and stroking Lin Yun’s face.

Not married means not family, not family means no looking.

Lin Yun: “…”

His logic was sound and irrefutable.

It seemed she wouldn’t be able to see what was in that metal box, which meant—

Her boyfriend truly had something ghostly to hide.

Before coming, Chu Zhaoqiu had told her that the necklace imprisoning the little water ghost was kept in the metal box on top of the living room cabinet.

Besides the necklace, the box contained many prepared yellow talismans.

How could an ordinary person possess so many cultivator’s items?

If she could see inside, she would know whether the little water ghost’s words were true or false.

Initially, she hadn’t believed it.

How could her beloved scheme against her like this?

But from Chen Hong’s fury when she took the box, to his stammering refusal to show her… she might have placed her trust in the wrong person.

She had one final test.

“Alright then, I’ll wait until that time to look. There’s no rush, we have plenty of time,” she said compromisingly.

The smile on Chen Hong’s face became much more genuine.

He handed her the breakfast.

“Be good, eat your breakfast first, don’t go hungry.”

While coaxing her to eat, Chen Hong was preoccupied, wanting to slip away for a moment.

He wanted to check if the necklace was still in the metal box.

Strange – he hadn’t opened the box since putting it in yesterday, but just now he hadn’t felt the necklace moving inside…

He glanced at Lin Yun, who was obediently eating her breakfast.

With Lin Yun here, he couldn’t open the box…

As he was struggling with this dilemma, he saw Lin Yun suddenly put down her breakfast and speak up: “Oh right, I found a necklace on the stairs when I was coming up.”

The sensitive word pierced his ears, making his heart leap into his throat.

After thinking about it, he decided it couldn’t be possible.

He had locked the necklace away, it shouldn’t have gotten lost.

Even if it had, the necklace was wrapped so tightly, how could anyone tell it was a necklace?

Besides, that necklace was old and tattered – Lin Yun wouldn’t like it.

—In short, such a coincidence was impossible!

Then he saw Lin Yun pull out the very necklace that should have been lying in the metal box, securely sealed.

Chen Hong: “?”

Then he heard Lin Yun continue: “This necklace looks quite old, it might be someone’s important possession that they dropped.”

“Why don’t we put up a lost and found notice downstairs? The owner will contact us if they see it.”

Chen Hong: “…”

No, this wouldn’t do!

He couldn’t let this necklace stay in Lin Yun’s hands for even a minute, or that water ghost would start writing on the walls again, making Lin Yun wary of him!

He hurriedly said: “That’s my necklace.”

Lin Yun stared at him, her clear eyes unmoving.

He calmly told his lie: “It’s my mother’s keepsake. I’ve been carrying it with me these past few days. I must have dropped it when I came back last night. Thank you, Xiaoyun, thank you for finding it…”

As he spoke, he reached out to touch the necklace.

But Lin Yun’s hand remained on the chain, showing no intention of letting go.

“Are you sure this is your mother’s keepsake?”

“Positive, I couldn’t mistake it.”

“Really?”

“Really, Xiaoyun, why would I lie to you?”

After he finished speaking, Lin Yun remained silent for a long time.

After quite a while, she finally spoke again, her tone carrying a hint of self-mockery: “Is that so?”

“Then what about her?”

This sudden question left Chen Hong completely bewildered.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of water in the living room.

Then, Lin Yun jerked her chin toward something behind him, gesturing for him to turn around.

He slowly turned his head, instinctively looking behind him—

There stood the female ghost who should have been trapped in the necklace, now at his bedroom doorway staring at him, completely unharmed.

Then, Lin Yun’s voice drifted eerily to his ears:

“Is she your mother’s keepsake too?”

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