Karma Never Lies (Part Two)

Despite her busy schedule, Xu Ya increasingly felt like she had forgotten something.

She found herself zoning out more and more often.

After A Xi recovered, she clung to Xu Ya like a stubborn leech, constantly irritating Shi Yuzhen.

In the past, Xu Ya would always smooth things over between the two of them. But now, she simply stared blankly at the distant sky, resting her chin in her hands.

Shi Yuzhen observed Xu Ya’s odd behavior closely. Strangely enough, he no longer felt that heart-wrenching panic, that sense of imminent loss he used to have.

Growing up in a shallow and indifferent world, Shi Yuzhen had never had anyone with whom he could truly connect.

Most of the time, he relied on his own instincts and judgment.

Xu Ya spacing out occasionally didn’t really bother him. He simply kept a closer eye on her.

That intense gaze of his always gave Zhan Zhengzhen goosebumps whenever he caught sight of it. As for Cai Wenle, he would just watch the scene unfold like a spectator at a play, his smile unreadable.

After the Giant Rooster incident, Xu Ya’s fried chicken stall finally gained a solid foothold across the land and became well-known.

She later developed a fried chicken combo suited for ordinary mortals.

However, the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh was remote and isolated. While immortal cultivators could come and go with ease, mortals might spend their entire lives without ever finding a path to it. So Xu Ya, along with A Xi and Shi Yuzhen, discussed the idea of traveling more often, bringing the fried chicken combo to people in other places.

Shi Yuzhen had no objections to traveling. But bringing A Xi along? He was firmly against it.

In the end, Xu Ya played dumb and pestered him endlessly until she managed to drag A Xi along.

Shi Yuzhen was helpless and annoyed, but ultimately gave in with indulgent affection.

That day, the three of them each carried a bundle on their backs, heading down the mountain like ordinary travelers. As usual, they were on their way to a village in the northwest to sell fried chicken combos. They had taken this path down the mountain many times before.

It was a crisp autumn day, the late-season wind rustling the branches and leaves wildly.

Suddenly, a tattered book lay conspicuously on the dirt road ahead.

It wasn’t anything remarkable—probably just something someone had dropped while passing through.

But Xu Ya came to a sudden halt, as if sensing something. She hesitated, then took a step forward and picked up the half-ruined book.

As if under a spell, she opened it. The writing inside… felt incredibly familiar. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall why.

Shi Yuzhen noticed her subtle change in demeanor. Her action of picking up the book struck him as odd, so he asked, “What’s strange about this book?”

“I can’t read the words on it,” Xu Ya replied simply.

Shi Yuzhen took the book from her hands. The pages were covered in square, blocky symbols—clearly some kind of regional script. Even though he had read extensively in the Immortal Marsh, he couldn’t recognize a single one of them.

But he could tell that Xu Ya had once understood these symbols.

Suddenly, tears welled up in Xu Ya’s eyes and spilled over uncontrollably.

A tremor passed through Shi Yuzhen’s chest. He understood her sorrow. Awkwardly, like a clumsy youth, he wrapped his arms around the weeping Xu Ya.

Xu Ya hadn’t meant to cry. But the moment she picked up that ruined book, a wave of grief surged through her chest and forced the tears out of her.

Shi Yuzhen’s warm, broad arms held her close. Xu Ya, unaware, quietly leaned into his embrace.

A Xi already found Shi Yuzhen incredibly annoying. But everyone in the Immortal Marsh knew the two of them were cultivation partners. It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do. Whenever Xu Ya and Shi Yuzhen walked ahead, A Xi would trail far behind, unwilling to make a fool of himself.

Bored out of his mind, A Xi walked with his chin in his hand, constantly sneaking glances at Xu Ya. He saw her crouch down to pick something up, then watched as Shi Yuzhen approached and said something to her. Next thing he knew, Xu Ya was wiping her face with the back of her hand.

Fury surged in A Xi’s chest. He stormed forward, determined to confront Shi Yuzhen.

After a noisy argument between the two, the book was left behind on the road.

A breeze swept by again, flipping a few more pages, revealing those strange yet familiar symbols inside.

**

Night fell. In a rented apartment, a phone screen flickered.

A girl stirred as if just waking from a dream. The blanket shifted slightly, and a slender hand reached out, fumbling across the bed until it found the phone.

She opened a message from a coworker: “Xiao Ya, feeling better? Are you still taking tomorrow off?”

“I’ve been discharged. Should be back tomorrow.”

After replying, Xu Ya noticed the contact name: Ta-o-ting – Xiao Zhan. Her thoughts began to drift.

She lay flat on the bed for a while, then shook her head in frustration and rubbed her temples. It was clear she couldn’t keep working that part-time job at Ta-o-ting anymore… What kind of dream had she just had?

Xu Ya felt like Ta-o-ting was cursed for her. The first time she accepted the manager’s kind offer to take home some leftover ingredients from the night shift, she ended up with food poisoning and acute gastroenteritis after just one bite. She had to call emergency services in the middle of the night just to survive.

Her entire half-month’s wages were wiped out in a single night. On top of that, she had to take several days off to recover at home, leaving her with no income for the month.

Poor Xiao Zhan had to run the store alone, struggling to keep up. It wasn’t the first time he’d subtly urged her to come back and help. If she quit now, Xiao Zhan’s expression would definitely be… something.

Xu Ya chuckled at her own wild thoughts, then couldn’t help but recall the vivid and slightly bizarre scenes from her dream. She shivered under the covers.

Was it really that ridiculous? Dreaming about the novel she had read before bed? She could probably write a spin-off herself. Might even ruin the book’s reputation with her nonsense.

Thinking of that novel, Xu Ya swiped her phone and opened the Little Green River Literature City app. She refreshed the recent reads. It was time for an update, but there was nothing new. She put the phone down again.

Just thinking about the scenes from the dream made her cheeks burn. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing.

In the dream, she had become a minor cannon fodder character with the same name as her in that novel. While delivering food to the male lead, a system suddenly descended from the sky… and gave her a Ta-o-ting combo punch golden finger? Her spiritual pouch was full of fried chicken?? And the plot just kept getting weirder.

Only in dreams could something that absurd happen.

Xu Ya had a very common name. When her coworkers teased her about sharing a name with the cannon fodder in that novel, she just smiled awkwardly on the surface.

But in private, she’d angrily opened the novel and binge-read it overnight. Not only did she get hooked, she fell asleep reading it—and ended up dreaming up her own ridiculous sequel…

Her phone buzzed again with a short vibration. A notification from Little Green River: The novel you’re reading, *Cannon Fodder, But the Wife of Long Aotian*, has been updated.

Xu Ya picked up her phone again and eagerly opened the app. She was dying to know which cannon fodder was actually Long Aotian’s wife.

— Translator’s Notes —

– Xiao Ya: A familiar form of address. ‘Xiao’ (小) means ‘little’ and is prefixed to a name or surname to express familiarity and affection.

– Xiao Zhan: Similar to ‘Xiao Ya’, this is a familiar form of address using ‘Xiao’ (小) prefixed to a surname.