Huaguo, a remote mountainous region.
“Look, Xie Jinwen is heading into the mountains again. She keeps a cold face every day—who is she even trying to show that to?”
“In a few days it’ll be the village girls’ eighteenth coming-of-age ceremony. I’ll bet no family would ever want her.”
“Exactly. Whoever marries her is asking for trouble.”
“The neighbor next door, Uncle Li, was actually decent to her. She said he’d break his leg while going up the mountain to chop wood—and he really did fall and break it. Now he curses her every day, calling her a calamity star, saying she cursed him.”
“A calamity star is a calamity star. Born with bad fate. We should stay away from her, don’t get any bad luck on us.”
The wind in Laowo Village always carried the damp chill of the mountain streams. It swept past the old pagoda tree at the village entrance, curling up a few dried yellow leaves that landed on Xie Jinwen’s shoulder.
Harsh words drifted along with the wind as well—several women were resting at the village entrance, gossiping in hushed voices.
Outside the mountains, the new society was rapidly developing, changing with each passing day, its economy booming. Inside the mountains, however, it remained isolated and undeveloped. Electronic devices were scarce, and people’s main pastime was still gathering to spread gossip.
Xie Jinwen seemed not to hear them at all. She lowered her gaze to the faint strand of white light swirling at her fingertips—that was her innate ability.
She could comprehend mystic arts, perceive the karmic threads of the world, and foresee impending disasters.
When she was young, she had been as innocent and lively as any other child. Once, she saw a red aura of fire gathering near Aunt Wang’s stove and kindly warned her. In return, she was scolded as a “little wretch cursing people.”
That very night, Aunt Wang’s house really caught fire and burned half the kitchen. Instead of being grateful, she led a group of people to Xie Jinwen’s door, crying and cursing her as a calamity star and a jinx, demanding compensation.
Her grandmother, kind-hearted, compensated them with some grain. But Aunt Wang was not satisfied. She led people to ransack the kitchen and took everything, not even leaving a pair of chopsticks behind.
Everyone could see it clearly—this was just the Wang family taking advantage of the elderly and helpless Xie family to rob them.
Her grandmother had no children of her own, only Xie Jinwen, an abandoned infant picked up from the mountains. There was no one to support them, so they could only watch helplessly as their belongings were taken.
Xie Jinwen was so angry her fists clenched, but her grandmother held her and said, “As long as no one is hurt, it’s fine. Don’t argue with them.”
After that, Xie Jinwen learned her lesson. She stopped kindly warning others of impending disasters—because it would instead rebound onto her.
Despite taking the stolen goods, Aunt Wang still spread malicious words. The rumor that “Xie Jinwen is a calamity star” took root in Laowo Village.
At first, only the Wang family called her that. Gradually, others followed.
But Xie Jinwen was not someone who suffered in silence. As she grew older and understood karmic causality better, she learned to control it.
Every cause had its consequence—and she could influence that outcome slightly.
For example, Aunt Zhang, who often cursed her, loved taking advantage of small bargains and accepted money from strangers. Originally, she would only lose half her fortune to fraud—but after cursing Xie Jinwen, she lost everything instead.
Over time, people realized something: anyone who cursed Xie Jinwen would suffer misfortune. So they stopped doing it openly and only whispered behind her back.
Xie Jinwen was not cruel. If she did not hear it, she would ignore it. But if she did hear it—then sorry, your retribution would arrive.
“Ah!”
“A snake!”
The women who had just been gossiping screamed and ran in panic. The ones who had been the most enthusiastic in cursing her each received a bite, as if the punishment had been evenly distributed.
Xie Jinwen smiled faintly and continued walking out of the village with her bamboo basket on her back.
She usually went into the mountains to gather herbs. Her mystic arts required nourishment from medicinal plants. After her grandmother passed away, this was the only place she could still find peace.
Wild mountains and plants, spiritual herbs and medicinal fragrance—far more soothing than ignorant people.
If she could, she still wanted to leave Laowo Village and see the outside world.
But heaven did not allow it.
Everyone is born with a destined fate, and Xie Jinwen was no exception.
She had to wait in Laowo Village for her “chosen person.” If she tried to escape, some uncontrollable force would always bring her back.
Once she reached the mountain, she walked directly into a forest and sat beneath a tree after glancing around.
Soon, something abnormal appeared in the sky.
A silver fighter jet lost control and crashed. Its wings were broken, smoke billowed from its body. The pilot was thrown out by the impact, hurtling straight toward Xie Jinwen’s location.
“Boom!”
The aircraft slammed into the opposite mountain, erupting into a deafening explosion. Black smoke rose into the sky, breaking the village’s usual calm.
In front of Xie Jinwen, the ejected man hung from a large tree across the slope. His military uniform was soaked in blood, and he was barely conscious.
Above him lingered a dense aura of death. If he was not taken to medical care within half an hour, he would surely die.
What Xie Jinwen focused on was not the death aura, but the thread of causality binding him to her—clearly and unmistakably.
Saving him was her calamity… and her destiny.
“Thanks to heaven for assigning me a man.”
She said it gratefully, while mentally cursing every ancestor she could think of.
No wonder she was not allowed to leave Laowo Village. Heaven was afraid her “destined person” would die before meeting her.
Xie Jinwen formed a hand seal. Using her technique—“all vegetation becomes soldiers”—the tree received her command, lowering its branches and gently placing the man on the ground before returning to normal.
The man’s chest was pierced by wreckage metal. His face was pale as paper, but his presence still carried a firm and righteous aura.
She crouched down, checking his pulse. It was weak but still present. Left alone, he would die soon.
“Just how much did I owe you in my past life?”
Sighing, she cut open his bloodied uniform with a small knife. The metal shard had pierced deep into flesh, almost reaching the heart—terrifyingly close.
Frowning, she took herbs from her basket. A faint white glow passed through her fingers, and the herbs instantly turned into fine medicinal paste, releasing a light fragrance.
She applied it carefully over the wound and bandaged it with clean strips of cloth. Her movements were steady, precise, and without hesitation.
Then she placed her palm over his chest and sent a faint strand of white light into his body, stabilizing his collapsing life force.
This was another technique—life extension—using her own vitality as a medium to heal and sustain life, at a cost to herself.
After finishing, she sat directly on the man’s discarded clothes, slightly dizzy from the depletion of energy.
Fortunately, it was not wasted. She could see the black aura around the wound slowly dissipating under the combined effect of medicine and technique. His breathing stabilized, and his life force gradually recovered.
“This world is fair in its own way. I have abilities others don’t—but I’m bound to a stranger. Whether it’s fortune or disaster is hard to say.”
Xie Jinwen could clearly see others’ karmic fate, but not her own with certainty.
Five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—mutually generate and restrain each other. That was all there was to it.
Still, this man was quite good-looking.
She reached out and casually touched his abs, nodding in satisfaction. “Not bad. Good feel.”
As night fell, the man still had not awakened. Xie Jinwen had no choice but to carry him down the mountain.
On the mountain, she could use vines and trees to transport him. But once they reached the village below, she had to carry him herself to avoid being seen.