To love someone so deeply—why would that make someone suspect they’d been cursed?
Jiang Luo’s curiosity was piqued. “Miss Bai, why do you think that?”
Terror welled up in Bai Qiu’s eyes. Her fingers clawed at her bag nervously, leaving scratch marks on the fine leather. “This isn’t something I would ever do.”
“That man is my manager,” Bai Qiu said. “He’s been by my side for eight years. I knew he liked me, but I never had feelings for him. I’ve always been very clear about my preferences, and my manager is nothing like what I would go for.”
As she spoke, her teeth started chattering. She spiraled deeper into self-doubt. “I’ve always had big ambitions. To be honest, I entered this industry to become famous, to make loads of money. I haven’t even won Best Actress yet. The movie I spent a year filming hasn’t even premiered… Why would I want to quit now?”
“It’s like I’ve been cursed or brainwashed,” she cried, covering her face as sobs spilled from between her fingers. “Why the h*ll would I even think of quitting the industry? Why the h*ll would I act like such a pathetic simp?!”
Jiang Luo: “…”
If you really were cursed, you’re surprisingly lucid.
Senior Brother Qiao murmured, “When did you start falling in love with him?”
Bai Qiu wiped away her tears. “Two months ago.”
Senior Brother Qiao turned to Jiang Luo. “Junior Brother, are you busy this morning?”
“If not, why don’t you come with me to Miss Bai’s home and take a look?” he invited. “It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Since Senior Brother Qiao said so, and Jiang Luo was curious too, he agreed readily. “Sure.”
Bai Qiu had driven herself there. They got in her car, and she took them to her residence.
As a top-tier celebrity, Bai Qiu of course owned more than one property. Her current residence was in a secluded location with tight security. The car parked in a private garage, and they took the elevator up.
Unlocking the door, Bai Qiu said wearily, “I’ve been living here with him for the past two months… He’s out at a meeting today and won’t be back until the afternoon.”
First stop was the kitchen and bathroom. Jiang Luo walked around the apartment but didn’t see anything amiss in the feng shui layout.
The apartment was clearly lived-in. The dishes came in pairs, and there was a vase of bright, red baby’s breath-like flowers on the coffee table, vibrant and rose-like.
Bai Qiu poured them water. As she glanced at the half-open magazine on the table, her expression softened. She gently closed the magazine and lovingly placed it back on the shelf. “This guy always leaves things lying around.”
Then she picked up a rag and started wiping the table. But as she was almost done, her movements froze. Realizing what she was doing, her face turned ashen and she flung the rag away. “I would never have done something like this before…”
The feeling of losing control, watching herself turn into someone she didn’t recognize, was terrifying. The clearer it was to her that this wasn’t like her, the deeper her panic ran.
Seeing this, Jiang Luo did feel a faint sense of wrongness. He asked, “Have you ever shared your birth date and time with anyone?”
Bai Qiu answered distractedly, “My manager has always known it.”
Jiang Luo’s gaze drifted to a framed photo in the living room.
It was of a man and a woman in a close embrace, like a sweet couple. The woman was Bai Qiu. She was smiling with happiness, her eyes full of affection, her beauty enhanced by her joy.
But the man next to her looked very plain. While Senior Brother Qiao’s looks were merely average, he at least had a decent figure and some presence. This manager, however, was an entirely unremarkable middle-aged man. He had his arm around Bai Qiu’s waist, his smile fatty and oily. Anyone looking at the photo would feel like a flower had been stuck in a pile of dung.
Such a beautiful woman—how did she fall for that guy?
Jiang Luo leaned back and sank into the armchair of the sofa, his peripheral vision sweeping over the small items scattered throughout the room.
His long legs were crossed, slender and straight calves lightly dangling above the floor. Atop the leather armchair was a pure white decorative crown-like piece, triangular and ornate, poking up above his head and making him look as if he were seated on a king’s throne—radiant and majestic.
It made one willingly wish to be the knight at his feet. Even a fleeting, lazy glance of blame from him carried a shiver-inducing pleasure.
Senior Brother Qiao’s eyes flickered slightly, and he too leaned back on the sofa, humbly asking, “Junior Brother, did you notice anything?”
“This sofa’s pretty comfortable,” Jiang Luo patted the cushion. “Miss Bai, this sofa must’ve cost over a hundred thousand?”
“…,” Bai Qiu replied, “A bit more than that.”
Jiang Luo reached under the cushion, feeling around. He found a seam and slid his fingers in, rubbing slightly, but found nothing.
As expected. Jiang Luo pulled his hand out, wiped his fingers with a tissue, and refocused on the double photo frame.
Senior Brother Qiao was explaining to Bai Qiu with care: “Miss Bai, have you heard of a Harmony Talisman?”
“Harmony Talisman?” Bai Qiu was taken aback.
“Harmony Talisman is a dark charm that forces a man and a woman to fall in love,” Senior Brother Qiao said. “Whoever’s hit with it will fall in love with the caster—irrationally and without reason. Even if the caster is a pig, the victim would love them to the point of madness.”
“Of course, it’s not the only method. The Miao Clan’s Love Gu does the same thing,” he added with a smile. “Miss Bai, these flowers are quite lovely.”
Bai Qiu’s face turned pale, her gaze locking on the bouquet on the coffee table. “This thing is also…”
“Looks like Lover’s Flower,” Senior Brother Qiao’s gaze stayed fixed on the bouquet, his smile deepening. “It’s one of the ingredients used to make a Love Gu.”
Bai Qiu felt like she could barely breathe. She stared at the blooming bouquet as if looking at a terrifying monster. She took a deep breath, hands trembling, and locked the flowers in a cabinet.
Jiang Luo stood and walked to the couple’s photo frame.
At first glance, the photo seemed perfectly ordinary. But on closer inspection, its placement was odd—directly facing the bedroom door, ensuring that it was the first thing one saw upon exiting the room.
A person’s mind is hazy right after waking—easily influenced. If there was something in this photo, day after day, it could have caused Bai Qiu to sink deeper.
Jiang Luo took the picture down from the wall. At his height of 1.8 meters, it was an easy task. Someone came up behind him—Senior Brother Qiao asked, “Junior Brother, is there something inside the frame?”
“I’m checking,” Jiang Luo replied, beginning to dismantle the frame.
It was sealed tight. Jiang Luo forced it open. A yellow charm paper fluttered out and landed on the floor.
Senior Brother Qiao picked it up and confirmed, “It really is a Harmony Talisman.”
Bai Qiu, pale and frightened, didn’t dare approach. She stared in horror at the talisman in Senior Brother Qiao’s hand. “Master, is there a way to break it?”
“Just burn it using gold and silver foil paper,” Senior Brother Qiao said easily, “Miss Bai, you can keep the ashes. Dissolve them in water and have your manager drink it.”
His smile turned chilling, subtly out of place. “That way, you’ll repay harm with harm. Whoever hurt you will eventually suffer their own consequences.”
Jiang Luo suddenly paused, eyes subtly glancing toward him.
Bai Qiu hesitated, gaze shifting between the charm and the others.
But she still held affection for her manager and couldn’t bring herself to harm him. She pinched herself, trying to stay rational. “Master, please help me break the charm first.”
Senior Brother Qiao nodded. Bai Qiu had gold and silver foil paper at home, and she went to another room to fetch it. Senior Brother Qiao looked up and noticed Jiang Luo staring at him intently.
The black-haired youth stood with arms crossed, eyes sharp, scrutinizing Senior Brother Qiao from head to toe.
Senior Brother Qiao smiled innocently. “Junior Brother, why are you looking at me like that?”
The subtle sense of unease from before… vanished.
So quickly it felt like Jiang Luo had imagined it.
At the Heavenly Master Residence, Jiang Luo hadn’t been too guarded—thanks to Feng Li. Feng Li was far more powerful than him, having driven away Chi You with a single word and even gaining the upper hand in their battle. Since Feng Li hadn’t reacted to anything, Jiang Luo had assumed Chi You couldn’t have possessed or manipulated anyone within the sect.
But now, he couldn’t ignore what he had just sensed.
He was far too sensitive to Chi You. No one could predict when that evil ghost would suddenly show up or screw him over.
Jiang Luo reviewed Senior Brother Qiao’s earlier behavior in his mind. His suspicion deepened.
Casually, he asked, “Senior Brother Qiao, when did you join the Heavenly Master Residence?”
Senior Brother Qiao thought for a moment. “Eight years ago.”
“Eight years? You must’ve been pretty young then?” Jiang Luo clasped his hands behind his back, gently rotating the Yin-Yang Hoop on his right hand.
“I was in my teens—not that young,” Senior Brother Qiao replied, eyeing him curiously. “Junior Brother, didn’t you know?”
He countered, “Most of the Heavenly Master Residence disciples are brought in during their teens. You must’ve been about that age when Senior Uncle Chen took you in, right?”
Jiang Luo laughed along but had already turned the Yin-Yang hoop three times. He looked at his wrist—no reaction. The ring detected no ghostly presence.
But his frown didn’t ease.
Was he just being overly sensitive? Or could the Yin-Yang hoop also fail to detect Chi You’s puppets?
Jiang Luo suddenly reached out. “Senior Brother Qiao, let me take a closer look at the talisman.”
Senior Brother Qiao handed it over. Jiang Luo took the opportunity to feel his wrist—warm skin, steady pulse. Human.
So the Yin-Yang hoop’s failure made sense.
Still, Jiang Luo trusted his instincts more. The more he looked at Senior Brother Qiao, the more suspicious he became. Pretending to study the talisman, he said, “Senior Brother Qiao, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Go ahead,” Senior Brother Qiao said warmly. “I can handle things here.”
Inside, Jiang Luo pulled out three copper coins. Though his divination skills weren’t strong, he could manage a rough reading.
“Will Senior Brother Qiao bring me good fortune?”
He clutched the coins and tossed them six times—heads for yin, tails for yang—to derive a hexagram from the 64 possible.
When Jiang Luo saw the result, his expression turned odd.
Wuwang gua.
It was a bad omen—signifying unpredictability, irrational trouble, absurd misfortune brought by the person in question.
He couldn’t believe he’d drawn such a cursed result so easily. Not trusting his own luck, he spun the Yin-Yang hoop again to activate “Second Movement to judge fortune or misfortune.”
Normally, Jiang Luo didn’t want to rely on the hoop. But this time was different.
Golden runes swiftly converged into two characters before his eyes:
Utter Misfortune.
Jiang Luo: “…”
Sometimes, you just have to accept your fate.
He consoled himself: at least now he could be sure that Senior Brother Qiao wasn’t really Senior Brother Qiao.
Why else would he bring such harm?
Most likely, Senior Brother Qiao had been taken over by Chi You. Whether Chi You had entered the sect eight years ago or seized the chance to possess Senior Brother Qiao during the battle with Feng Li remained unknown.
Outside the bathroom, Bai Qiu’s anxious voice called out: “Master, I found the foil paper!”
Jiang Luo adjusted his expression and walked out calmly.
Last time, he’d exposed Chi You immediately—after Chi You had toyed with him using a puppet body. This time, though, he decided to play along, watch from the shadows, and figure out what Chi You was really planning.
Since there was no fire basin in Bai Qiu’s home, she brought out an unused porcelain bowl. Senior Brother Qiao placed the foil paper inside, lit it, and then threw in the Harmony Talisman.
Bai Qiu stared unblinking at the talisman. Only after it had burned to ash and floated away like dust did she finally feel a crushing weight lift from her chest.
She glanced tentatively at the photo of her and her manager—but the love in her heart had vanished. In its place surged disgust and hatred, contorting her face.
“He Meng…” Bai Qiu cried out the manager’s name, her voice soaked with sorrow and fury.
Senior Brother Qiao brushed the ashes to the side of the basin with the back of his hand, then drew a circle at the center of where the talisman had burned. The ash swirled together on its own, and he collected it in a clean white sheet of paper.
He said slowly, “This is the ash of the Harmony Talisman. If the person who cast the charm drinks it, it will have quite the unexpected effect.”
Bai Qiu stared at the ash with hatred. Jiang Luo could even hear her grinding her teeth. Several minutes later, she calmed herself. “Thank you, Master, but I won’t be using this.”
She looked away from the ash in disgust, her expression hardening. “I’ll deal with him myself. He’ll learn what it means to face the consequences.”
But soon, she suppressed the fury and turned to thank Jiang Luo and Senior Brother Qiao, asking for their bank account numbers so she could send them money.
Senior Brother Qiao smiled. “It was a small matter, Miss Bai. No need for that.”
Jiang Luo smiled too. “No worries. You can just send both shares to my account.”
Bai Qiu laughed through her tears and nodded readily. Then she looked at them seriously. “If you ever need my help in the future, just say the word. I’ll do everything I can.”
She glanced at Jiang Luo again and couldn’t help asking, “Master, have you ever thought about joining the entertainment industry?”
The more she looked at him, the more she felt he was born for it. She couldn’t stop herself from pitching the idea: “With that face of yours under a spotlight, even as just a pretty face, people would throw money at you. But you’re not just a pretty face—you could take on a mystic persona too, which is really popular now. Do you want to sign with my studio? There’s a new talent show being filmed soon—I can get you a spot.”
Jiang Luo calmly replied, “No need. But thank you.”
Bai Qiu regretfully saw them to the door.
It was nearly noon. Senior Brother Qiao offered to treat Jiang Luo to lunch, so the two went to a restaurant and booked a private room with no disturbances.
Before the food came, Jiang Luo went out to wash his hands, leaving Senior Brother Qiao alone in the room.
Senior Brother Qiao leisurely poured himself a cup of tea.
He took out a tightly wrapped sheet of white paper from his robe, unfolded it elegantly to reveal the gray ash of the Harmony Talisman inside.
Picking up a chopstick, he gently tapped the edge of the teacup—ding—then poured in one-third of the ash.
He repeated this process three times, each time tapping the cup before adding more ash. When done, he took out a vivid red flower resembling gypsophila.
It was taken from Bai Qiu’s bouquet—the lover’s flower used in making love Gu.
Senior Brother Qiao’s lips curved into a languid, composed smile. He ground the red flower into powder and poured it into the cup as well.
Using the chopstick, he stirred the mixture. The substances began to dissolve, vanishing completely into the water.
Eyes lowered, he pushed the cup across the table to Jiang Luo’s seat.
This Harmony Talisman was bought by someone else and tailored with someone else’s birth data. Even if he used it on Jiang Luo, its effects wouldn’t last more than a day.
But with the addition of the lover’s flower, even a single day would be overwhelmingly potent—and accompanied by curses that, while not deadly, would make one wish they were dead.
Since Jiang Luo spoke so affectionately and acted so devoted, it would be poor form to betray such sincerity.
Since he said it, he might as well make it come true for him.
As for the little punishment hidden within…
Well, that’s what he gets for never listening to his teacher.
Senior Brother Qiao sighed.
But the corners of the evil ghost’s mouth were already lifted high, filled with unmasked malice.
Half a minute later, Jiang Luo returned.
He brought back a silver electronic cigarette, casually waved it, and said, “It’s mint-flavored. If Senior Brother Qiao minds, I’ll step outside to smoke.”
Senior Brother Qiao smiled and shook his head. “Have a seat, the food’s coming soon.”
Jiang Luo sat down carelessly beside him, leaned back, and began to smoke in a relaxed posture.
He was wearing a white shirt with a high-collared coat over it. Now that it was warmer, he had taken off the coat and draped it over the back of the chair. His black hair was slightly tousled between the shirt and coat, but he didn’t care. He pushed his hair back and slouched slightly as he enjoyed the flavor of the smoke.
The red mole on the back of his hand, paired with the silver-white e-cigarette, looked like a decadent crimson blossom blooming from the mud.
Senior Brother Qiao’s gaze lazily drifted from that red mole to his lips. Only after Jiang Luo exhaled a puff of white smoke did he say, “Junior Brother, remember to drink some tea after you finish smoking to moisten your lips before eating.”
Jiang Luo, always on edge, keenly picked up on the word “tea.”
He nodded nonchalantly and glanced down at the cup in front of him.
It had been filled with care—barley tea, clear and golden, looking clean and ordinary.
But he couldn’t help thinking of the divination he performed that morning at Bai Qiu’s house.
The Wuwang gua.
An absurd, unreasonable, and unexpected misfortune.
Jiang Luo’s brow twitched. Call it paranoia or caution, but he had no intention of drinking this cup of tea.
Still, he didn’t want to expose the puppet of Chi You just yet.
He pursed his lips and glanced at the tea in front of Senior Brother Qiao out of the corner of his eye. His eyes flashed with a plan.
He slowly put down his e-cigarette, picked up his cup, and just as the rim was about to touch his lips, he frowned and set it down again, catching his falling hair.
“Senior Brother Qiao, can you check if I’ve tied up my hair properly?”
Senior Brother Qiao looked at the mess of loose strands. “You haven’t.”
Jiang Luo deliberately removed the hair tie, rested his chin on his arm, and looked up at him. “Then I’ll trouble Senior Brother Qiao to fix it for me.”
He looked like a pampered cat waiting to be groomed—beautiful eyes drowsy, soft red lips framed by a stray lock of snowy-white hair, and the minty smoke curling between them. No one could refuse such a request.
Senior Brother Qiao stared at him for a few seconds before smiling. “Sure.”
Jiang Luo leaned over, his silky black hair spilling out in front of Senior Brother Qiao. Calmly and unhurriedly, Senior Brother Qiao began to fix his hair, cold fingers threading through the strands, brushing past Jiang Luo’s scalp several times.
Jiang Luo sat upright, perfectly blocking Senior Brother Qiao’s line of sight.
Once every strand was in place, Senior Brother Qiao tied it back loosely, the long hair falling softly over Jiang Luo’s shoulders, giving him an even gentler air.
Jiang Luo stood up crisply, hiding the smile on his lips. “Thanks, Senior Brother Qiao.”
He returned to his seat, swiftly picked up his cup, and pretended to take a sip. As he “drank,” his eyes crinkled briefly behind the cover of the cup—then the expression vanished.
He had switched his and Chi You’s cups.
If nothing happened, all the better. If something did, then Chi You had only himself to blame.
Seeing Jiang Luo drink, Senior Brother Qiao also smiled and took half a cup himself. Both were putting on an act, keeping up appearances. Once the food arrived, Jiang Luo only had a few bites before noticing that Senior Brother Qiao’s movements with his chopsticks were slowing down.
Jiang Luo looked over in confusion—
—only to meet Senior Brother Qiao’s unblinking, intense gaze.
That gaze was disturbingly sticky and obsessive, like a bone-scraping knife peeling skin, making Jiang Luo’s flesh crawl. Alarms went off in his mind. Without hesitation, he stood up and apologized, “Sorry, Senior Brother Qiao, I need to use the restroom again.”
Senior Brother Qiao smiled gently, seemingly unfazed. “Go ahead.”
Jiang Luo left immediately.
Of course, he didn’t go to the restroom—he headed straight for the restaurant entrance, planning to call a cab back to the school.
His instincts screamed that if he didn’t leave now, that unexpected trouble was about to catch up with him.
His temples throbbed with a dull ache, but as he passed an empty private room, a cloud of black mist suddenly surged out, engulfed him entirely, and retreated swiftly into the room.
Bang—
The door slammed shut.
A server bringing food heard the noise and rushed over but saw nothing unusual and left, confused.
The hallway fell silent once more.
Author’s Note:
Shou: I let my guard down…
Wuwang Gua: ╮(╯▽╰)╭
