Ha, Karma! – Chapter 3

Ha, Karma!

Fu Lianxue stood alone on the balcony for a long time after returning home.

The night wind swept across the broad river surface, passing through the bright moonlight before rushing against her face.

Moonlight poured down from the horizon, illuminating a pair of eyes heavy with thoughts.

Chu Zhaoqiu’s appearance made her recall the events of years past, remembering that merciless sword thrust.

Thousands of years ago, many cultivation [or immortality seeking] sects existed openly in the mortal realm, unlike today’s demon hunters who keep a low profile, preferring to remain unknown whenever possible.

Back then, Chu Zhaoqiu was also a disciple of the Xuanmen [mystical sect].

She came from a prestigious family, was intelligent and gifted, learning everything faster than others – a rare talent indeed.

Everyone believed that as long as she practiced diligently, she would eventually achieve enlightenment, ascend to immortality, and join the ranks of celestial beings.

Meanwhile, Fu Lianxue was just a young charm demon [or fox spirit] at that time.

Her magical powers were shallow, far from being as strong as they are today.

But she was very bold then, bold enough to want to learn from her charm demon elders about corrupting cultivators’ dao hearts [spiritual resolve], wanting to see if these weak mortals could resist temptation and maintain their unwavering cultivation hearts.

Temptation, destruction, and testing – these were entertaining matters for most charm demon.

However, she was still too young and weak then, only capable of clumsy seduction attempts.

The Xuanmen disciple Zhaoqiu became her target.

Humans and demons were natural opposites, and she admitted she wasn’t a good spirit.

She didn’t care whether Chu Zhaoqiu was willing or not, as long as she herself was happy.

She righteously thought: she was a demon, a trial on this junior disciple’s path of cultivation – if she couldn’t pass this test, how could she talk about cultivation?

Yet this wicked spirit had a foolishly naive side.

Later, she actually came to believe she and this Xuanmen disciple could be considered friends.

Then she was stabbed by this “friend.”

She clearly remembered that night, when Chu Zhaoqiu gripped the sword piercing her body, expression vicious, eyes frighteningly fierce.

Chu Zhaoqiu said: “…Leave.”

The tone full of dismissal.

Chu Zhaoqiu didn’t want to see her again.

Humans and demons were destined to walk separate paths after all.

She dragged her severely wounded body away, and from then on, they never met again.

After being stabbed, she couldn’t help but feel angry.

Especially since she had never caused any real harm to this person.

Sure, she had tried to tempt Chu Zhaoqiu, but she hadn’t taken the bait – still meditating and cultivating daily, unmovable like a stone, steadfast as ever.

Moved her heart?

Not a chance.

As if Chu Zhaoqiu would ever be moved by a damn thing.

She didn’t even have a heart!

And now today, they met again.

That woman who owed her a sword wound finally appeared again.

Instead of achieving enlightenment and ascending, she reincarnated as a human, forgetting everything from the past, so carefree!

At this moment, Fu Lianxue felt something furry rubbing against her feet.

She came back to her senses in the moonlight, looking down.

It was her cat.

A cream-colored Munchkin [dwarf cat breed], with eyes like amber, very beautiful, named Baobao [meaning: precious], her little darling.

Baobao had a lovely personality, clingy and loved to act coquettish with people.

Seeing the adorable cat, Fu Lianxue’s mood brightened considerably.

She bent down to pick up Baobao, stroking its fur while walking inside, closing the balcony door behind her.

“This is our new home, Baobao needs to get familiar with it. When mama’s not home, good Baobao can’t run outside, okay?”

This was the house she bought at the beginning of the year, having just moved in recently, still unfamiliar with this city.

Baobao meowed twice, licking its paws, seeming to understand.

Fu Lianxue patted its head, smiling as she went to get some cat treats, but thought of Chu Zhaoqiu again when she looked up.

It didn’t matter, Chu Zhaoqiu would remember eventually.

She definitely would.

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As soon as Chu Zhaoqiu and her companions entered the Chu family home, they saw someone standing at the main gate.

She had white hair, an elderly but kind face, yet her back was perfectly straight without any sign of a stoop.

Her mere presence made people feel reliable and worry-free.

This was the Chu family head, Chu Zhaohua.

Upon seeing her grandmother, Chu Sining’s expression turned pitiful, running and crying as she rushed over to hug her arm: “Grandmother— wuwuwuwu Ningning almost never saw you again—”

Chu Zhaohua tapped her nose: “Hey, don’t talk nonsense, our Ningning is meant to live to be a hundred years old.”

Chu Zhaoqiu also walked up to her grandmother, softly calling out: “Grandmother.”

Chu Zhaohua looked at her, reaching out to lift her chin, examining her neck.

There were no wounds, just some redness.

She patted her granddaughter’s head.

“It’s good that you’re alright.”

Chu Zhaoqiu absently responded with an “mm.”

Seeing this, Chu Zhaohua said: “You’re tired, go back to your room and rest. Whatever needs to be discussed can wait until after you’ve rested.”

Chu Zhaoqiu was indeed tired.

Tonight’s events, whether it was guiding the ghost or having Fu Lianxue, whom she’d never met, reveal her identity and rage at her, left her feeling utterly exhausted.

She needed some quiet time alone to rest properly.

But thinking of Fu Lianxue, she frowned hesitantly and said: “Grandmother, about Fu Lianxue…”

It was an undeniable fact that Fu Lianxue wanted to kill her, and demon hunters never let harmful demons go free.

But she didn’t want to see the Chu family and Fu Lianxue come to blows.

There must be unresolved matters between her and Fu Lianxue… this was between the two of them.

Chu Zhaohua nodded gently.

Without need for words, she already knew what her granddaughter was thinking.

“Go rest first, whatever it is can wait until you come see me tomorrow.”

Her tone was gentle yet impossible to refuse.

Chu Zhaoqiu nodded and went to her room to rest.

A Li and Wu Yu watched her leave, then turned to look seriously at the family head.

[LP: I’m not sure if it’s me, but in this chapter, it’s ‘Wu Yu’ and not ‘Bu Yu’, so just to make sure, I’ll keep it as ‘Wu Yu’ for now]

A Li said: “Family Head, we can’t let this demon run wild outside. It would be terrible if someone got hurt!”

Wu Yu asked: “Should we investigate her background first, see what kind of demon she is?”

Chu Sining also looked toward her grandmother.

But Chu Zhaohua just smiled faintly.

“That won’t be necessary.

“If you’re worried she might harm someone else, then send people to watch her, but don’t act rashly.”

She turned to look at Chu Zhaoqiu’s room, her expression meaningful.

“We’ll discuss the rest after Zhaoqiu has rested.”

The three – Chu Sining, A Li, and Wu Yu – didn’t quite understand.

But Chu Zhaohua was the pillar of the Chu family, and she was learned and knowledgeable, with good judgment. Following her words was rarely wrong.

If the Family Head made such a decision, she must have her reasons.

Thinking this way, A Li and Wu Yu obediently agreed without objection.

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Chu Zhaoqiu returned to her room, closed the door, put away the things she’d brought back, changed into loungewear, then took down a book called 《Records of Heaven and Earth’s Spirits》  from the bookshelf.

This was a book compiled by demon hunters themselves, recording various rare treasures and herbs, ghosts and demons – essentially an encyclopedia of their trade.

She would browse through it when she had nothing else to do.

Chu Zhaoqiu sat down on her bed with the book, turning page by page.

There must be information about Fu Lianxue in here, though she couldn’t be certain yet.

She felt exhausted, and also felt she’d become strange, not knowing why she suddenly cared so much about Fu Lianxue’s matters.

They had just met today after all…

And during their first meeting, she had wanted to kill her…

But she couldn’t ignore everything that had happened since meeting Fu Lianxue.

The overlapping hazy images, the momentary heart tremors, and…

Chu Zhaoqiu’s page-turning hand paused, lightly pressing against her chest.

—And that nameless excitement in her heart.

It was strange.

How could she develop such mysterious feelings for an unfamiliar demon for no reason, to the point where she wouldn’t even fight back?

Then to care so much about her affairs, searching for information about her like a headless fly bouncing around everywhere.

She wasn’t this kind of person.

At least she hadn’t been before.

Chu Zhaoqiu lowered her eyes to look at the book in her hands.

She had no clues, and following a yawn, weariness came rushing in.

Never mind, better to rest well first, regain her energy, and deal with it tomorrow.

She placed the book on the bed beside her, lay down, and quickly fell asleep after closing her eyes.

Tonight, she sank into distant dreamland.

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The next day, nine in the morning.

Brilliant sunlight illuminated the window frame’s outline.

Chu Zhaohua stood with her hands behind her back, silently standing before the window, face upturned and eyes closed, feeling the peace of each passing moment.

She was waiting for someone.

A few minutes later, there was a gentle knock at the door.

Chu Zhaoqiu’s voice came from outside.

Chu Zhaohua answered: “Come in.”

The door opened in response, and Chu Zhaoqiu walked in, raising her eyes to meet her grandmother’s gaze.

Chu Zhaohua looked her granddaughter up and down, her gaze finally resting on those exceptionally clear eyes.

She curved her eyes in a smile, looking particularly kind.

“You’re awake.”

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Fu Lianxue stood in the living room holding her cat, looking outside.

Sometimes she looked at the clouds in the sky, sometimes at the vast river flow, quite leisurely.

She had the day off and didn’t need to go out, but some people couldn’t rest.

Like those cultivators who came to watch her yesterday.

They had been watching until now without leaving.

They were being very discreet, quite diligent.

But unfortunately, as the saying goes ‘for every foot the dao rises, the demon rises ten’, she still discovered them.

She had already investigated Zhaoqiu’s current identity – turns out she was the young lady of the Chu family, a demon-hunting clan.

No wonder she was being watched after choking their young lady’s neck last night.

But she didn’t care.

This was what Chu Zhaoqiu owed her; Chu Zhaoqiu deserved to be choked, and she’d dare to do it again!

She carried her cat back to her room, and shortly after she returned, those Chu family cultivators secretly watching her suddenly withdrew one after another, leaving only A Li and Wu Yu siblings outside the residential complex, nervously watching her home’s location.

A few minutes later, her doorbell rang.

Fu Lianxue walked out of her room and stood at the door for a moment.

Strange, who could it be at this hour?

No one had told her they were coming to visit.

She walked toward the video intercom with a doubtful expression.

Baobao, attracted by the doorbell, had already run to sit on the small chair in the entryway before her, wagging its tail while looking up at the video intercom.

The screen switched, showing the community security guard on the other end.

Fu Lianxue had met him a few times and recognized his face.

The guard said: “Miss Fu, someone wants to visit you. I’m here to confirm if you know them.”

“Who is it?”

“A woman, she says her name is Chu Zhaoqiu.”

“…?”

“Let her up.”

Fu Lianxue hung up after speaking and turned toward the kitchen.

Chu Zhaoqiu took the elevator up, arriving alone at Fu Lianxue’s door.

Without hesitation, she pressed the doorbell directly.

The door opened quickly, almost instantly, as if the other person had been waiting.

There stood Fu Lianxue in the entryway, holding a fruit knife: “You’re still so bold, daring to come find me alone.”

After speaking, she smiled, her expression quite sinister.

But Chu Zhaoqiu showed no sign of retreat upon seeing this.

If she were afraid, she wouldn’t have come at all.

She stood calmly at the door, looking at Fu Lianxue with composure: “You won’t kill me.

“At least not now.”

Fu Lianxue was much calmer compared to yesterday, as she still had the mood to ask: “Is that so? Why?”

Chu Zhaoqiu pointed at the fruit knife in her hand: “If you wanted to kill me, you would have rushed at me already.”

If it were yesterday’s Fu Lianxue, the knife’s tip would already be pointed at her heart.

After she finished speaking, Fu Lianxue clicked her tongue, showing a moment of displeasure at being seen through, but quickly accepted it. The hand she had been hiding behind her back emerged, holding an apple.

She began peeling it leisurely, saying in a flat tone: “Being too clever is also quite annoying.”

“But I don’t plan to kill you for now.”

She was quite frank.

“Oh? Why?”

Chu Zhaoqiu asked straightforwardly when she didn’t understand.

Fu Lianxue’s hands paused, glancing up at her.

“Because you can’t remember anything, and that irritates me.”

Her forgetting made her like an innocent bystander, making Fu Lianxue’s rage feel like hitting cotton when directed at her – soft and yielding, which only made her angrier.

She wanted the Chu Zhaoqiu who remembered the past. What was the point in killing someone with an empty mind?

Chu Zhaoqiu should die under her rage with full understanding – that would be true repayment.

“The day you remember will be the day I take my revenge.”

She could definitely wait for that day.

Because mortal cultivators would reincarnate with their memories after death.

However, these memories were sealed away.

Perhaps during a cultivator’s childhood, or when their hair turned white – whenever the right moment came, the seal would break, letting them remember everything from before and continue their cultivation.

People needed destiny bones [innate spiritual potential for cultivation] first, then they could become cultivators.

But achieving enlightenment and ascending was difficult, and human life was so short. Even becoming a cultivator and practicing diligently only added two hundred years of life.

Those who could achieve godhood in one lifetime were called geniuses, but how many geniuses could there be in this world?

Therefore, merciful Heaven allowed cultivators to reincarnate with their memories, to protect the weak and pursue the endless dao.

But They seemed to think this wasn’t quite fair to others, so They added a random lock to these sealed memories.

So Chu Zhaoqiu remembering the past was just a matter of time.

After hearing her words, Chu Zhaoqiu was silent for a moment, then asked: “Are you really going to wait like this? What if I don’t remember until I’m old and near death?”

Fu Lianxue sneered at these words, completely unconcerned.

She had waited thousands of years, what was a little longer?

“That would be even better,” Fu Lianxue said, “I can keep you barely alive, torture you slowly, let your aged body better understand what it means to ‘wish for death sooner.'”

“…”

Chu Zhaoqiu said softly: “You really are angry with me.”

Then asked: “Aren’t you afraid I might deceive you?”

If she didn’t tell her she remembered, how would she know?

“You won’t.”

Fu Lianxue was very certain.

“There’s no need for you to lie about this.”

The former Chu Zhaoqiu wasn’t someone who feared death, much less would stoop to lying to a demon.

The current Chu Zhaoqiu was the same, otherwise how would she dare come find her alone?

Moreover, if it were the former Chu Zhaoqiu, she would already be raising her sword to continue vanquishing demons.

Chu Zhaoqiu was rendered speechless by these words.

She spoke with such certainty, as if she were the person who knew her best in the world.

“People can change,” Chu Zhaoqiu said.

A person who has lived through hundreds of lives, seen thousands of mountains and rivers, four seasons of scenery, countless human experiences, might not necessarily remain unchanged.

After speaking, she noticed Fu Lianxue wasn’t even listening.

Fu Lianxue’s nose twitched, as if smelling something.

It was a scent that greatly interested Fu Lianxue, a very strong floral fragrance.

This fragrance could be converted into spiritual power for her use, something she greatly liked.

This floral scent was also present in yesterday’s dressing room, but she had been too busy being angry to investigate its source.

She never expected to smell it again here, and it had been lingering around her – from when Chu Zhaoqiu appeared until now.

She followed the fragrance to Chu Zhaoqiu’s front, moving directly close.

Warm breath brushed across Chu Zhaoqiu’s delicate white neck, bold and direct.

The usually calm Chu Zhaoqiu suddenly became rigid and flustered at this suddenly shortened distance.

Then she met Fu Lianxue’s eyes.

Beautiful and captivating eyes with bright pupils.

“Do you know I’m a charm demon?” Fu Lianxue asked directly.

This question made Chu Zhaoqiu pause before responding.

“…I know now.”

“Do you know we feed on human emotions and desires, and that when humans are attracted to us, they give off a fragrance?”

“I know.”

“Then do you know that right now you smell irresistible?”

“…?”

Chu Zhaoqiu was stunned.

Fu Lianxue stepped back from the fragrance.

This was the strongest floral scent she had ever smelled, even more intense than the attraction her fans gave off when they saw her.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this person liked her more than anyone else in the world.

Fu Lianxue’s expression instantly became very complex.

Astonishment, hesitation, unexpected surprise, finally slowly turning into schadenfreude [pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune].

A demon hunter falling for a demon.

Chu Zhaoqiu falling for her.

This was truly—

“Ha, karma!”

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