"Whether you seek karma or wait for karma..." Su Hua's divine sense sighed sorrowfully. "Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is."
The other consciousness responded, "If you seek karma, it means you do not accept your fate. But if I wait for karma, it means I have already accepted the arrangement of fate."
"Fate?
Heh..." Su Hua's consciousness seemed to be filled with a deep helplessness toward karma and fate. "The matter of karma was predestined long ago. Since it is predestined, it becomes fate. Even if I do not accept it, what can I do?"
"Karma is karma, fate is fate. Predestined karma is fate. However, if karma has not yet been predestined, then it is not fate. Especially for people like us, our karma is already cursed, filled with unknowns. How can we speak of it being predestined?"
A curse upon karma...
Su Hua was not unaware. Even before she had reincarnated, she had already known her karma was cursed. It wasn't just her—anyone whose karma was connected to the Mysterious Era had been cursed.
"Since you say our karma is not yet predestined, then why do you say you have accepted the arrangement of fate?"
"I'm tired...
I no longer wish to sink deeper on this path of karma. I'll leave it to heaven's will. That's all I can do."
That divine sense, which resembled mist, rain, and wind, sighed. "All these years, for the sake of karma, I have been wounded all over. Several times, I nearly lost myself... I'm afraid.
And truly tired. Severing ordinary karma is already harder than reaching heaven, let alone our cursed karma."
"'A timeless calamity births heaven and earth; three cycles of reincarnation reveal the ages; past and present lives meet through karma; whose fate belongs to whom depends on heaven.' Will this prophecy come true?"
"I don't know. No one knows..."
The two did not converse for long. After Su Hua left that place, she returned to her own cave abode.
Her cave abode was named Langya Cottage.
Inside, an azure sea stretched beneath a clear sky, with lofty mountains and flowing streams. Birds sang amidst fragrant flowers. Above, the sky was filled with colorful, auspicious clouds. A majestic mountain seemed to pierce through heaven and earth. A rainbow-colored galaxy flowed from the clouds, while immortal cranes danced in the air around the mountain. On the grassy plains stretched an endless sea of flowers, where Xiao Jinr chased after fluttering butterflies.
Su Hua stood by the shore, gazing at the deep blue sea. A gentle breeze brushed past, lifting a few strands of hair that danced lightly across her peerless, nation-toppling visage.
Ever since her reincarnation, she had been seeking karma. Yet, despite all her searching, she had made no progress whatsoever.
From being utterly certain at the beginning that Monarch Chixiao was still alive, she had now begun to doubt whether Monarch Chixiao had truly been annihilated, completely extinguished...
Otherwise, why had there been not a single trace of news after all this time?
Could he truly be completely dead?
She didn't know.
Nor dared to think too deeply.
If Monarch Chixiao were truly dead, then her own karma would not merely be a source of confusion—she would begin to doubt everything.
Su Hua was well aware that those who shared her cursed karma had long since begun making their own arrangements. They severed what they could, reconnected what couldn't be severed, grafted where reconnection failed, and if grafting was impossible, they made the karma even more chaotic—the more chaotic, the better.
The reason for this was simple: to avoid karma becoming predestined, to avoid predestined karma becoming fate, and thus to prepare for the prophecy: 'past and present lives meet through karma; whose fate belongs to whom depends on heaven.'
No one wanted their karma to be predestined. No one wanted their fate to be arranged.
Similarly, Su Hua did not want this either.
Yet, what made her feel helpless was that she couldn't find Monarch Chixiao at all.
What should she do if she couldn't find him?
Sever the karma?
With what?
With whom?
Make the karma more chaotic?
How?
Now, she didn't even know whether Monarch Chixiao, the one with whom she shared karma, was alive or dead. Even if she wished to sever the karma or make it chaotic, she had no place to start.
"Sigh!"
Su Hua shook her head slightly and let out a soft sigh. Turning around, she suddenly noticed that Xiao Jinr, who had been chasing butterflies in the flower beds, was now sitting on the steps, looking utterly listless.
"Jin'er, why aren't you playing anymore?"
Three years had passed. Xiao Jinr had grown from that clever and mischievous little girl into a sweet, lovely, and beautiful young maiden.
Her deep blue hair fell neatly around her shoulders. Dressed in a green silk gown, paired with her delicate, moving face, she was absolutely adorable. Yet, sitting on the steps now, her spiritless appearance was enough to evoke pity.
"Sister Hua, Jin'er misses Big Brother! Let's go find Big Brother together, please!"
Xiao Jinr stood up, clinging to Su Hua's arm as she begged.
Hearing 'Big Brother,' Su Hua's willow-like eyebrows involuntarily arched.
Back then, when Gu Qingfeng had inexplicably turned to ashes at the Taixuan Stele, Xiao Jinr had also been present.
What made Su Hua helpless, however, was that Xiao Jinr refused to believe Gu Qingfeng was dead. Even having witnessed it with her own eyes, she would not believe it. Not only that, she firmly insisted that Gu Qingfeng was not dead and insisted on waiting for him at the Taixuan Stele. No matter how Su Hua tried to persuade her, Jin'er remained convinced that Gu Qingfeng was alive, stubbornly waiting. In the end, Su Hua had no choice but to accompany Xiao Jinr there for over a year.
To spare Xiao Jinr's heartache and to prevent her from waiting any longer, Su Hua had coaxed and tricked her into finally coming back with her.
She had thought that with the passage of time, Xiao Jinr would gradually forget about this 'Big Brother' Gu Qingfeng. However, to Su Hua's surprise, Jin'er had not forgotten. Over the past two-plus years, she would beg Su Hua to go find Gu Qingfeng almost every so often, especially recently—Xiao Jinr brought it up every single day.
This left Su Hua at a loss. She had said everything she could, and even things she shouldn't have said, yet Jin'er simply wouldn't listen, steadfastly believing that Gu Qingfeng was still alive.
Looking at Jin'er's hopeful eyes, Su Hua felt a deep pang in her heart. If it were possible, she would gladly take Jin'er to find Gu Qingfeng. But...
Where could one find a dead man?
At the same time, she was also puzzled. From what she remembered, Xiao Jinr and Gu Qingfeng had only met a handful of times. How had the little girl become so infatuated? Every time Gu Qingfeng was mentioned, Jin'er's eyes would fill with boundless infatuation and longing.
"Sister Hua, please?"
"Jin'er, Sister also wishes she could take you to find your Big Brother, but..." Just as Su Hua was speaking, Jin'er, as if knowing what she was about to say, covered her ears and cried out, "I won't listen! I won't listen!"
"Jin'er, listen to me..." "Sister Hua, Jin'er knows what you want to say. But Big Brother really isn't dead!
Why won't you believe it? Sister Hua, you've also said that sometimes, seeing something with your own eyes doesn't necessarily mean it's true."
Jin'er said very seriously, "Moreover, Big Brother said that as long as he doesn't want to die, no one in heaven or earth can kill him. Not even the Heavenly King himself, not even the Old Man of Heaven!"