Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation

227. The Red String of Fate

“A death flag!” Jin Shu muttered as he snapped out of his cultivation state.“Which death flag?” Jiao asked, peering at Jin Shu from mere inches away.

Jin Shu pushed him back with a finger to the forehead and explained, “I just realized I planted one—the marriage flag. Arguably the worst kind.”

Jiao nodded seriously. “So you agree to marry my mom?”

“No. Before I left on this journey, I told three different women I’d marry them when I got back. That’s basically begging for something to go wrong.”

“Ooh… yeah, you’re not supposed to do that,” Jiao agreed after a moment’s thought. “I bet marrying my mom would offset it, though.”

That did it. Jin Shu flicked the kid’s forehead.

“Ow!”

“Go! Shoo!” Jin Shu waved him away.

“Mom! Dad’s hitting me!”

Jiao ran back toward the tent with an aggrieved cry.

It wasn’t just one death flag, Jin Shu thought grimly, but three at the same time…

He dragged a hand through his hair, wondering how he could’ve made such a rookie mistake.

“How does that kid even know about death flags?” Gold asked.

“Maybe the concept exists here too?” Shuang shrugged. “It’s possible we aren’t the first reincarnators. After all, there was that girl back in the sect who drew manga.”

“I was actually looking forward to seeing the scroll she mentioned,” Jin Shu said, finally recovering from his brief mental breakdown. “Too bad someone had already taken it from the library. Do you think people might’ve come to this world through the portals Xiang Mu mentioned? That could explain how it ended up there in the first place.”

“It’s possible,” Shuang said. “But it’s just as likely someone from this world independently developed a similar art style. Either way, it’s not worth worrying about now. We should focus on our next steps.”

Jin Shu nodded. They were drawing dangerously close to the Demon Cult’s territory—something made obvious by the demonic worshipper they’d just encountered. Fortunately, he’d been weak. Had it been a stronger one, they would’ve been lucky to escape at all, let alone kill him.

There would be no goddess appearing to save him this time.

After a brief planning session—one that could be summed up as avoid danger at all costs, but if danger finds us first, shoot first and ask questions later—they broke camp and headed toward the nearest city.

Jiao chattered the entire journey through the forest, asking endless questions and never once giving up on his attempts to push Jin Shu and his mother together.

Jin Shu tried to ignore him, but the incessant yapping never stopped—eventually reaching the point of driving him mad.

“Stop!” he shouted. “Just be quiet for a minute. Just one minute.”

Jiao smirked, then fell silent… for exactly one minute.

“Let me tell you,” he began the instant it ended, “I was born with an amazing ability. I can see the luck of individuals, and I can spend my own luck to acquire powerful items and skills. Isn’t that awesome?”

That actually intrigued Jin Shu. It sounded suspiciously like the cheat systems from the novels of Gold’s world.

“Should you even be telling me this?” Jin Shu asked. “Isn’t that supposed to be your deepest, darkest secret?”

Jiao shrugged. “Nothing else I did was getting your attention, so…”

“So it's my fault?”

“Basically.”

Jin Shu scoffed. “Fine. Then what about this ability? You said my luck was good. How does it compare to others you’ve met?”

“Luck shows up as words above people’s heads for me,” Jiao explained. “Some have ‘Bad’ or ‘Misfortune.’ Others have ‘Good’ or ‘Great Fortune.’ Stuff like that.” He gazed up toward Jin Shu’s head. “Yours isn’t words, though. It’s a halo of pure light. My instincts say it’s called the Chosen’s Halo—the highest possible luck value.”

Jin Shu tilted his head. “So I’m the chosen one? I thought you were Zhujiao, the protagonist.”

He couldn’t bring himself to dismiss the kid’s words outright. His life did fit the bill—multiple reincarnations, one of them as an azure dragon that had meddled with time and forces he never should have touched. Since then, his path had been unnervingly smooth, with only minor setbacks.

But if he truly was the chosen one…

That meant the real trials were still waiting for him.

“Here, let me show you,” Jiao said, taking advantage of Jin Shu’s distraction.

He reached out, and his hand vanished into thin air. Jiao glanced over his shoulder to make sure his mother couldn’t see—despite being blind—then pulled it back out.

A ball of red yarn rested in his palm.

“I just spent all my luck on this,” he said proudly.

Jin Shu rolled his eyes. He’d actually believed the kid for a moment.

“That’s it? A ball of yarn? Really?”

“This isn’t just any yarn,” Jiao said. “Here—watch this.”

He looped a strand of red string around Jin Shu’s little finger. Jin Shu figured it was harmless.

Lan did not.

Her expression drained of color the instant she sensed what was happening.

“NO!” she screamed.

“Hahaha!” Jiao laughed triumphantly. “Now you’re caught!”

The red string shot outward, wrapping around Lan’s pinky before she could even attempt to evade it.

“Son…” Her voice trembled. “What have you done?”

Lan suddenly lurched forward and spat a mouthful of blood. Her body crumpled to the ground, sending Jin Shu and Jiao into a panic.

“Mom!”

Jiao rushed toward her—but before he could reach her, a flash of white light engulfed her body, swallowing her whole.

“Wang Jiao!!” an enraged voice shouted from within the light.

The brilliance faded, revealing a woman identical to Lan—except for her vivid violet pupils.

“You little shit!” she roared. “What did you do?! I didn’t give you access to the vault so you could pull this kind of nonsense!”

“Uh…” Jiao froze. “Mom?”

“What ‘mom’?” she snapped. “I’m your sister, idiot!”

Jiao blinked, utterly confused. Jin Shu wasn’t doing much better.

“Huh…? What…? I have a sister? Since when?”

The woman clicked her tongue. “Here. This should jog your memory.”

She smacked the back of his head.

“Ow! Sis, why’d you hit me?” Jiao clutched his skull. Then his eyes widened. “Wait… Sis? What are you doing here?”

He glanced around, blinking rapidly. “Where…? I was undergoing a tribulation trial with mom when I—”

His face went pale.

“Um… Sis… I can explain, I swear!”

“Would someone like to tell me what’s going on?” Jin Shu said flatly.

The violet-eyed woman looked him over with a sour expression. “You. You’re not qualified to be our father. Forget our mother ever existed.”

Jiao coughed awkwardly. “Well… I still think he is. You know my ability, Sis. His luck is literally out of this world.”

Jin Shu rubbed his temple. “I am deeply lost right now.”

“Big bro… uh…” Jiao scratched his cheek. “I guess I’m actually older than you. Anyway—we’re from the higher planes mortals collectively call the Immortal Realm. We descended here to practice a special cultivation technique, which required wiping most of our memories.”

He winced. “Long story short, I used an item I absolutely shouldn’t have. It’s called the Red String of Fate. It binds two souls together permanently.”

“Because of his idiocy,” his sister added coldly, “our mother lost control of her cultivation and suffered backlash from this world’s Heavenly Will. If I hadn’t noticed in time, she would already be dead.”

“Hey! Mom wouldn’t die from something like that…” Jiao hesitated. “Probably.”

“She would have if she tried to forcibly sever the string,” his sister snapped. “Luckily, she only suppressed it. I sent her back to our plane, so it won’t activate again—as long as he never ascends.”

Her violet eyes flared with killing intent.

“Sis! You can’t kill him!” Jiao stepped in front of Jin Shu.

She glanced at the still-visible red thread, her expression twisting.

“If you die,” Jiao said quickly, “our mom will suffer irreversible soul damage. Her cultivation—and soul—would be crippled forever.”

“Okay,” Jin Shu said, holding up a hand. “Let me make sure I understand this. You and your mother are immortals. You used a fate-binding artifact on me and her. Now if I die, she becomes permanently crippled. Correct?”

Jiao nodded.

“Which soul did it bind?”

Both siblings froze.

“Which one?” the woman asked slowly. “You have multiple souls?”

“Yeah. Three.”

She smiled.

Jiao’s face went white.

Jin Shu immediately realized his mistake, wishing he could turn back time and smack himself. 

“No!” Jiao lunged at his sister—but she was far faster. She vanished and reappeared before Jin Shu, her palm slamming against his forehead.

Before he could resist, his consciousness was ripped free.

Jin Shu found himself standing within his soul space.

The violet-eyed woman surveyed the area with interest, her gaze lingering briefly on the elemental constructs in the distance before settling on the three souls before her.

“Three souls,” she mused. “That’s rare—even in the higher planes.”

Thoughts flashed rapidly between Jin Shu and the others, forming a single unspoken decision.

“Don’t bother resisting,” she said calmly. “My soul is unrestricted here. Just give me one soul. I’ll seal it—harmlessly—for eternity.”

They answered her with action.

Gold summoned an illusory assault rifle.

Shuang drew upon their elemental affinities fused with his specialized martial arts.

Jin Shu called forth Long Xue Ling, the dragon spirit coiled above his head as its roar thundered through the soul space.

The woman blinked—then smiled.

“Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

A terrifying aura exploded outward.

It tore through the soul space like a Category Five hurricane.

The pressure alone nearly snuffed them out.