Ha, Karma! – Chapter 39

But she still came too late.

Remembering Cen Zhu and her white bones and military flag fallen before her, Qu Xinru unconsciously choked up.

That remained her most fearful day.

The General was gone, home was gone, everything was gone.

At this moment, a hand fell on her shoulder, gently patting it, followed by a piece of paper being handed over.

She looked up—it was Chu Zhaoqiu.

She suddenly remembered the past and couldn’t help but sigh: “You used to comfort me the same way, exactly the same, how remarkable!”

Chu Zhaoqiu’s expression was gentle, offering no response.

Fu Lianxue became interested, poking Qu Xinru’s arm, gesturing her to continue: “We’ve finished our part, it’s time for your two’s part.”

She was truly curious how Chu Zhaoqiu and Qu Xinru knew each other.

According to the timeline, it should have been Chu Zhaoqiu’s new life, and in that life, what was her occupation, name, and personality?

She was curious about all of this.

Qu Xinru wiped her tears with the paper and said: “Um… actually, my part with my lady isn’t finished yet.”

Fu Lianxue didn’t care: “No need to continue, let’s get to the main point about you two.”

Chu Zhaoqiu held the opposite opinion: “Let’s hear it, I want to know.”

Fu Lianxue leaned back, looking past Qu Xinru at Chu Zhaoqiu.

Chu Zhaoqiu calmly met her gaze, speaking gently: “I want to know everything about you.”

Past, present, future—every moment with Fu Lianxue, she didn’t want to miss.

Fu Lianxue: “…”

She crossed her arms, straightened her posture, and stopped looking at Chu Zhaoqiu.

This was unbearable, couldn’t she see there was someone else present…

Qu Xinru, caught in the middle, had a strange yet subtle feeling.

She said in a daze: “So you two have such a good relationship…”

“Nonsense,” Fu Lianxue was the first to object, “Who has a good relationship with her? Good and evil cannot coexist since ancient times, understand?”

Qu Xinru asked in confusion: “Who’s evil?”

Fu Lianxue: “Me.”

Qu Xinru: “…”

It was her first time seeing someone so readily admit to being on the “evil” side.

Chu Zhaoqiu’s lips curved into a smile, still offering no response.

However, Qu Xinru was actually quite fortunate.

Thankfully she had sought Fu Lianxue’s help before coming, otherwise she might have died here tonight.

After briefly collecting her emotions, she continued telling their story—

She brought Cen Zhu back to her homeland, buried her in the most scenic place, and then sat before her grave, lost in confusion.

She didn’t know what to do with her future…

At that time, Fu Lianxue was behind her, lazily lying in the tree, basking leisurely in the moonlight.

She saw through her confusion and casually remarked: “People don’t live just one lifetime.”

She raised her head, looking at the powerful demon.

The demon smiled at her from the tree, exuding an evil aura, with unmatched beauty: “You can go find her.”

She was stunned for a moment.

The demon said: “Go find your General, meet her one more time.”

She used flowers to restore her three hun and seven po [三魂七魄 | sān hún qī pò | traditional Chinese concept of the soul’s components], allowing her to become a ghost that could freely move through the world.

But these flowers couldn’t guarantee she could live in this form forever.

The flower she gave her was a rare treasure in the world, when one petal was plucked, another would grow.

The day when the flower petal fully grew would be the day her soul scattered.

But the flower needed much time to grow, and much spiritual power to carefully nurture.

This time was very long, possibly reaching a thousand years or even longer, though some grew faster—specific situations required specific analysis.

Therefore, until the flower she fed her grew back, she wouldn’t disappear.

She still had much time, could do many things, including continuing to search for her General.

However, that wasn’t an easy task.

“But finding someone isn’t easy at all, it’s very hard, very very hard, much harder than finding your General before you died.”

Fu Lianxue looked at her.

“Because back then, at least you knew where she was, knew where you needed to go.”

Fu Lianxue’s voice carried a faint trace of melancholy, as if speaking from personal experience.

She listened in a daze, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

“Or,” Fu Lianxue spoke again, the melancholy completely vanishing, “you could directly go for reincarnation.”

“Drink a bowl of soup on the Bridge of Helplessness [奈何橋 | nài hé qiáo | mythological bridge souls cross after death], forget all these past matters and pain completely, have a brand new life.”

It was these few sentences that made her choose the first path without hesitation.

“I don’t want to forget the General,” she said, “I haven’t repaid her kindness yet.”

Whether it’s kindness or grudges, no matter how many lifetimes of reincarnation, what should be given and repaid cannot remain as debt.

Fu Lianxue strongly agreed with this principle.

Whether it’s kindness or grudges, nothing that should be given can be missing—why should everything be written off just because of reincarnation?

To others, it might be karma from hundreds of lifetimes ago, but to her, it was the entanglement of this lifetime…

“My lady.”

She called out thus to Fu Lianxue in the tree.

At that time, Fu Lianxue hadn’t told her name, only saying it wasn’t necessary, so she called her this way, continuing until now.

She looked at Fu Lianxue and asked: “Are you also looking for someone?”

Why else would one go to a mass burial ground?

Why else would one be willing to follow her all the way to the border, saying they wanted to see who they might meet along the way?

If one’s heart wasn’t set on something, how could they hold expectations for every person they might meet in the future?

Fu Lianxue was quite frank.

“Yes, I’m looking for someone.”

She asked: “What kind of person?

“Tell me, I’ll help you think, perhaps I’ve met them before.”

Fu Lianxue silently looked at her for a while.

The moon at the horizon’s edge fell behind Fu Lianxue, and in her flowing purple robes, she couldn’t tell which was more pure and noble—the moon in the sky or the demon before her.

The wind blew gently.

After a moment, she saw Fu Lianxue slowly part her lips: “That person is—”

At this point in the story, Qu Xinru was suddenly silenced by Fu Lianxue’s hand over her mouth, only able to make muffled “wuwu” sounds.

She was telling it so well, why suddenly cover her mouth?!

Fu Lianxue warned her with her eyes: “This part doesn’t need to be told in such detail, skip it.”

Chu Zhaoqiu turned to look at Fu Lianxue.

Fu Lianxue raised her chin, putting on an arrogant expression: “What are you looking at?”

Chu Zhaoqiu asked: “Why can’t it be told?”

Fu Lianxue: “None of your business, I’m the one involved so I decide!”

Chu Zhaoqiu thought of something, smiled and shook her head, not pursuing the matter further.

Qu Xinru felt confused but still obediently complied, not letting Chu Zhaoqiu know what Fu Lianxue was searching for.

But she still clearly remembered what Fu Lianxue said that day.

Fu Lianxue was looking for a woman.

She was a sword-wielding cultivator skilled in slaying demons and eliminating evil.

Not only that, she was also very beautiful, striking at first glance, and loved cleanliness—always being the one with the cleanest clothes.

When asked about the name, Fu Lianxue shook her head.

“I don’t know what she’s called now,” Fu Lianxue said thus.

Later on, Fu Lianxue had to leave.

They each had their own goals, following different paths to begin with.

She was used to traveling alone, and had never thought of keeping a ghost by her side.

She didn’t even want her to repay the kindness.

She said she didn’t care about this bit of kindness, nor did she need this debt of gratitude.

Qu Xinru knew she couldn’t keep Fu Lianxue, so she could only bid a reluctant farewell.

At parting, she asked Fu Lianxue why she suddenly changed her mind to help her back then.

The other person laughed gracefully.

“Jiejie was in a good mood, so I did whatever I wanted~”

Then she left just like that, disappearing from her world.

After Fu Lianxue left, she became less at ease.

She was a ghost, without a physical body, and couldn’t always float around naked, as it would easily frighten people to death.

To avoid demon hunters, she had to hide everywhere, living a difficult life.

When Fu Lianxue was around, she could hide her with just a finger movement, without any of these worries.

Most importantly, Fu Lianxue was very powerful, completely unafraid of those demon hunters.

But she didn’t know how to cultivate, didn’t know how to absorb spiritual energy for her own use—Fu Lianxue hadn’t taught her any of this.

Or rather, Fu Lianxue had no obligation to teach her.

That she could save her, help her find the General, and successfully bring the General home—this was already her greatest kindness.

She had no right to ask anything more of her.

After Fu Lianxue left, she became lonely once again.

She carried this loneliness with her on her journey, beginning her aimless search for Cen Zhu’s next life.

As Fu Lianxue said, this was indeed a very difficult task.

She didn’t know where Cen Zhu had reincarnated, or even if Cen Zhu had reincarnated at all.

But she still never thought of giving up.

Just thinking that there was still a chance to see her General made her feel the future was full of hope.

It was because she didn’t know how to hide herself that concealment was so difficult.

Until later, when she met a kind tianshi [天師 | tiān shī | Daoist master].

This tianshi was benevolent and clear about right and wrong, and after hearing her story, chose to believe her, even teaching her spirit possession techniques hand in hand, letting her learn to possess all spirits, such as flowers, grass, and trees.

Thus, she no longer had to struggle, searching everywhere for nooks and crannies to hide, nor worry about her soul being constantly exposed to sunlight—prolonged exposure would harm the soul.

This tianshi was about the same age as when she died, a beautiful and formidable cultivator.

Moreover, she dressed immaculately, without a speck of dust.

She remembered, there was also the character “qiu” [秋 | qiū | autumn] in her name.

Her appearance was exactly like Chu Zhaoqiu sitting beside her now.

The only pity was that this Qiu tianshi didn’t use a sword.

This alone meant she wasn’t the human woman Fu Lianxue was looking for.

But there was one coincidence: she was also looking for someone.

Strictly speaking, she was looking for a demon.

She asked the tianshi what kind of demon it was, saying perhaps she had seen it before?

The tianshi replied without hesitation: “She’s a beautiful female demon.

“She’s eloquent, sometimes unreasonable, but also knows how to be coquettish.”

She clearly remembered, when Qiu tianshi spoke of that demon, her eyes were filled with gentle smiles.

Qiu tianshi seemed to have a very good impression of that demon.

She asked: “Is that demon powerful?”

This question gave Qiu tianshi pause.

After a moment of silence, Qiu tianshi said softly: “When I met her, she was still a small demon, not powerful at all.”

Her magic skills weren’t refined, sometimes clever, sometimes not so bright.

“Oh, then I don’t think I’ve met such a demon…”

She searched through her memories thoroughly, but found no demon matching these conditions.

Fu Lianxue was even less likely.

In her mind, Fu Lianxue was already so powerful that these descriptions didn’t fit her at all.

At that time, Qiu tianshi heard her words, smiled faintly, and said nothing.

Later, the tianshi also left.

She needed to continue searching for her demon, until she found her.

Before leaving, the tianshi taught her to do good deeds and accumulate merit.

She took this to heart.

When possessing trees, she would provide shade for people; when possessing umbrellas, she would help shield more rain.

She didn’t know if she really should be doing these things, but she was willing to follow the tianshi’s words.

The kind little tianshi wouldn’t harm her.

Perhaps it was because of accumulating virtue and doing good deeds that she really found Cen Zhu’s reincarnation—in an era of raging warfare.

When she saw Cen Zhu, she was a student pursuing her studies, at an age full of vigor and promise.

But she was a ghost, how could she rashly appear before her?

So she used the spirit possession technique Chu Zhaoqiu taught her to become objects around Cen Zhu.

Cen Zhu’s books, the lamp on Cen Zhu’s desk, or the photo album by Cen Zhu’s hand.

She saw her General’s childhood appearance in the photo album.

So cute, so innocent—truly worthy of being her General, so beautiful even as a child!

But she still came too late.

Cen Zhu lost her life once again amid the flames of war.

The fate of the previous life seemed to never let go of her General, nor of her.

They parted again, this time she didn’t even get to say a single word to her.

She wouldn’t give up, and continued searching.

She had endured through such long years already, what was one more time of endurance?

People of the General’s household never easily admit defeat!

With this tenacity, she once again set out on the path to find Cen Zhu.

This time she would definitely find her earlier, and protect her well!

“Then, I met this life’s version of her.”

Qu Xinru spoke and smiled, smiling very happily, very contentedly, as if she had won against heaven itself.

“I really found her early, I found her when she was very young.”

She heard Chu Zhaoqiu say: “Sorry, I thought you meant to harm them earlier, so I acted against you.”

Chu Zhaoqiu apologized quickly.

Qu Xinru waved her hands repeatedly, saying it was fine.

“You were also protecting them, you did nothing wrong!”

After she finished speaking, somehow her expression became troubled.

Then she suddenly shifted position, sitting beside Fu Lianxue, fearfully holding onto Fu Lianxue’s arm.

She carefully glanced at Chu Zhaoqiu, and after much hesitation, honestly revealed one thing—

“So actually… I’m not the real Qu Xinru.”

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