Ha, Karma! – Chapter 31

Sining, I believe in you.

Cen Zhu studied by herself with the booklet for two days, and it actually showed some results.

On the weekend, she once again came alone to that stairwell.

The child handing out flyers was still downstairs.

This time, she had switched to a red stool, holding an ice cream cone, still familiar in her routine of eating while distributing flyers.

Cen Zhu bent down to greet her before heading upstairs.

Not far behind her, on the signboard, a butterfly gently landed.

The butterfly faced the stairway direction, leisurely flapping its wings, taking in everything and transmitting it to a place in Zhou City – the Chu family residence.

Chu Sining sat in her room, two fingers pressed against her temple, observing everything through the butterfly.

Times had advanced, and the demon hunters’ techniques had progressed too – they no longer stalked people like paparazzi.

They specially cultivated small animals they could control as their surveillance and tracking devices.

Any animal would do, the smaller the better, which is why they were collectively called “Little Sky Eyes”.

“Little Sky Eyes” differed from tracking spells, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Tracking spells were fast, unbreakable, and required no manual control, but would ultimately alert the target.

Little Sky Eyes needed manual direction to move, serving as a surveillance device when stationary.

If one wanted to track someone’s movements for a long time without being discovered, Little Sky Eyes were essential.

This butterfly was raised by their Chu family.

She rarely used it.

This time, she was using it mainly because she was worried about her classmate being deceived.

Since Cen Zhu wouldn’t tell her, she couldn’t force her to speak.

So she could only use Little Sky Eyes.

Her Little Sky Eyes had been waiting since last night, and finally caught Cen Zhu leaving.

She dared to do this because she had her sister’s approval.

“There are indeed many scammers nowadays. To prevent your friend from being deceived, we need to understand this situation clearly.

“Since she’s your friend, I’ll leave this matter to you.

“However, don’t act rashly before we have definitive answers, understood?”

That’s what Chu Zhaoqiu had said.

So now Chu Sining sat here, working hard to control the Little Sky Eye.

She watched and watched, seeing Cen Zhu go upstairs.

Curiosity arose, and with a flutter of butterfly wings, she followed.

She didn’t miss the little girl.

She remembered Cen Zhu greeting this little girl.

The Little Sky Eye perched high up, looking down at the little girl and the flyers on her lap.

Chu Sining took in every clear word on them, and alarm bells rang in her mind.

The words on these flyers didn’t look like they were from any legitimate organization!

Besides, what cultivator would brazenly talk about immortality everywhere nowadays!

This wasn’t right, very wrong indeed!

Chu Sining quickly changed clothes and headed out.

Before leaving, she happened to run into Bu Yu and Ah Li returning, and without a word, she ran up to grab their arms, pulling them outside.

“It’s urgent, my classmate might have walked into a scam den. I’m worried there might be many people there, so please come with me!”

Thus, the siblings who had barely stepped through the door were dragged away again.

The butterfly remained at the small stairwell entrance.

It watched the child finish her ice cream, saw her hand out flyer after flyer, and then saw three people approach her, with the girl in the middle crouching down to look at her.

Chu Sining extended her hand.

“Little one, can you give jiejie a flyer?”

The little girl didn’t hesitate, immediately grabbing one to give her.

After receiving the flyer, Chu Sining immediately double-checked it, then suddenly stood up, pulling Bu Yu and Ah Li aside, pointing at the promotional text for them to see: “Look, isn’t this strange? It’s obviously not legitimate!”

The siblings frowned deeply, sharing her sentiment.

But they still couldn’t jump to conclusions.

Ah Li grasped the key point: “You said in the car that the content in that booklet she saw was similar to basic cultivator instruction.”

Bu Yu continued: “So, the person guiding your classmate might actually be a cultivator.”

Chu Sining listened to their words, stroking her chin in thought.

After a moment—

“Or it could be someone knowledgeable running a scam?”

Bu Yu and Ah Li exchanged glances, saying in unison: “That’s possible too.”

Chu Sining furrowed her brow, then waved her hand: “Ah, there’s no use guessing here, let’s go up and see what’s going on!”

If they’re still handing out flyers, it means the door is still open.

Whether true or false, the three of them could go up and find out!

But as she turned around, she crashed right into Cen Zhu, who was coming down from upstairs.

“Sining?”

“Why are you here?”

Chu Sining held the flyer, instantly feeling too embarrassed to face anyone.

How could it be such a coincidence, why such a coincidence!

But then Cen Zhu’s gaze shifted downward, seeing the flyer in her hand, and stepped forward to pull her away.

As she was being led away with a puzzled expression, she heard Cen Zhu ask: “Were you going to the address written on this flyer?”

Afraid that Cen Zhu would discover she was being followed, Chu Sining hesitantly mumbled an “mm,” accepting the assumption.

Upon hearing this, Cen Zhu immediately shook her head: “Don’t go.

“They’re scammers.”

Chu Sining: “?”

The Bu Yu siblings following closely behind: “?”

They never expected that before they could even go up, the person involved had already seen through the scam…

“There are too many people here, let’s go somewhere else to talk,” Chu Sining said.

Cen Zhu sat in the chair, looking around.

The room was elegantly designed, decorated with folding screens and flowers, with floor-to-ceiling windows on the right side showing people coming and going below.

Her gaze settled on Chu Sining across from her: “Do we really need to rent a private room in a teahouse just to talk…”

Chu Sining nodded while ordering juice: “Yes, yes we do.”

Cen Zhu looked at Bu Yu and Ah Li on either side: “These two are…”

Chu Sining didn’t even look up: “Oh, my cousins.”

She was used to saying this outside, it came naturally.

“The three of us were out together today, didn’t expect to run into you.”

Bu Yu and Ah Li nodded in greeting to Cen Zhu.

Cen Zhu calmly nodded back.

After ordering juice for everyone and waiting for it to arrive, Chu Sining brought the topic back to the matter at hand: “You just said they’re scammers, how did you know?”

Cen Zhu: “Doesn’t their flyer look obviously like one?”

Chu Sining: “…Then why did you still go upstairs?”

Cen Zhu: “…”

Chu Sining: “?”

Cen Zhu maintained a composed expression: “Because he tried to sell me classes.”

Chu Sining had a moment of realization: “Oh~”

When Cen Zhu arrived at that room, the man called Master Chu was still there.

He was still teaching in the makeshift classroom in the living room, with the same group of middle-aged and elderly students who lacked vigilance.

Master Chu was very pleased to see her return.

He let the students study on their own, then eagerly welcomed her, pulling her outside to stand in the empty hallway and ask: “Well, have you decided to seize this opportunity?”

He coaxed persuasively: “You must trust me, I can help you become a cultivator, and as a cultivator, you’ll have a chance at immortality.”

Hearing this, she asked: “Does cultivation lead to immortality?”

“Of course, becoming a cultivator means your lifespan will definitely be longer than ordinary people.”

“Why?”

“What a question! As long as you cultivate diligently, your body and bones will undergo great changes, this is called ‘Transformation of Flesh and Bones’. By then, you’ll naturally transcend ordinary people.”

“Oh, so how can ordinary people seize this opportunity?”

A shrewd light flashed in Master Chu’s eyes: “That requires effort in many aspects.

“I would naturally be your shifu [師父 | shī fu | master], you’d need to come here weekly and follow my instructions.

“And indispensably, there’s also this.”

He rubbed his fingers together.

Cen Zhu raised an eyebrow: “You want money?”

Master Chu made no attempt to hide it: “Of course!

“I’ll need to develop different teaching methods based on your specific situation. It takes time and effort, so charging tuition is only reasonable!”

Cen Zhu raised her eyebrow again, suddenly understanding.

—Got it, he’s selling courses, just waiting here for her.

Seeing her silence, Master Chu immediately dropped a big name: “Shimei, don’t doubt my abilities. Just my surname alone shows I’m no ordinary person.

“In our field, there’s a renowned Chu family, they’re the foremost demon hunting family, with numerous disciples. Even the smallest bits of skill that slip through their fingers are enough for ordinary people to study for a lifetime!

“If you don’t believe me, go ask around, then you’ll know I’m not lying.”

It sounded mysterious and intimidating.

But Cen Zhu left immediately.

Because hearing this made him sound even more like a scammer.

“Wait,” Chu Sining immediately furrowed her brow after hearing this, grasping the key point, “he said he was connected to which family?”

Cen Zhu: “The Chu family.”

She paused, suddenly realizing.

Her friend happened to share the same surname…

Then she saw Chu Sining exchange a look with her cousins, after which the two stood up fiercely and left the private room.

Cen Zhu looked confused: “Where are they going?”

Chu Sining stirred her juice: “To investigate someone.”

She tossed aside her straw, her sharp eyes scanning outside the window: “I want to see who’s using the Chu family name to run scams!”

The Chu family never gave private lessons outside, much less brazenly distribute flyers to lure people in, so this person must be a scammer!

Anyone daring to use their Chu family name to deceive people better be prepared to pay the price!

This was the first time Cen Zhu had seen Chu Sining like this.

Serious and formidable, she had almost forgotten that her friend was also a young lady from a major consortium.

Seeing how seriously she took this matter…

“Sining,” Cen Zhu got straight to the point, “this Chu family… is it your family?”

Chu Sining: “…”

She recalled every word she had just said.

…Was it too late to deny it now?

Just as she was about to struggle with an excuse, she heard Cen Zhu say: “Sining, I believe you.”

She: “?”

Then she watched as Cen Zhu raised her hand and made the cup float in mid-air.

Chu Sining: “???”

She looked at Cen Zhu in astonishment, then at the cup: “You- you really!”

Seeing this reaction, Cen Zhu found her answer.

What Master Chu said was indeed half-truth and half-lie—there really were things in this world that science couldn’t explain, and there really was a “demon hunting family” as he mentioned, like the Chu family.

“Sining, I can tell you’re like me, and you know even more.”

Cen Zhu brought this matter into the open, leaving neither side room to evade.

“I just want to know one thing.”

“—Can becoming a cultivator really help one live longer?”

Chu Sining: “…?”

Someone who usually seemed so calm, who would have thought she was secretly pursuing immortality??

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The author has something to say:

Today’s chapter still doesn’t have Xiaochu and Xiaofu.

Ah, while writing, I worry that readers might be anxious to see the main CP, but I still decided to write it this way.

For episodic stories, each has its own supporting characters, and these supporting characters have their own lives. We can’t skip writing about them, and focusing only on the main CP’s interactions would weaken the supporting characters’ stories.

But rest assured, the main CP won’t be offline for too long.

In this story, our Xiaofu’s existence is very, very important – we can’t do without her.

So please bear with me, thank you very much~

Also, this story isn’t a trending topic, and my writing is clumsy. Sometimes I feel lost and doubt myself, so I’m really grateful that you don’t mind and have accompanied me this far. Love you all, muah!

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