Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When Ning Zhu thought about the scenes she had seen in the [Premonition], she couldn’t help trembling all over.

Her father and mother both died.

Killed by someone!

“You… saw it again…” Miao Yun asked in a terrified voice.

Before Ning Zhu could speak, Miao Yun suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace and said to the driver in the front seat, “Xiao Li, park the car for now. I’ll take Ning Zhu for a walk in the residential area.”

Driver Li looked back through the rearview mirror with concern. “Should we go to the hospital?”

Miao Yun immediately said, “No!”

As soon as Driver Li parked the car, Miao Yun got out with Ning Zhu.

The greenery in Blue City Manor was excellent. Right at the entrance was a clean lawn, with a small pavilion in traditional style on it, and beside it an artificial lake filled with rockeries.

Miao Yun brought Ning Zhu into the pavilion.

There was no one inside, and the surroundings were wide open—no one would be able to overhear them.

“What’s going on? Didn’t you already throw that thing away!”

“It left.”

“Then how did you—”

Ning Zhu had no mood to explain. She said urgently, “Mom! We’re in danger. Someone is going to kill us!”

Miao Yun shouted sharply, “This is a society ruled by law! As long as we don’t touch those messy things, no one will… will…”

“But I saw it! They corroded the security door, they burned Dad to death, they even had guns… they’re going to kill us!”

Miao Yun’s face went deathly pale as she listened. Sitting on the hard stone bench, she murmured in a daze, “Why… why won’t they let us go…”

Seeing her mother like this, Ning Zhu felt heartbroken. She softened her tone and said, “Mom, don’t be afraid. I’ve already seen it—I can… yes, I can use [Causal Reversal]. Last time I used it to help Dad avoid the car accident!”

Hearing the four words “Causal Reversal,” Miao Yun trembled again.

She didn’t know what it was, but just hearing it filled her with fear.

Ning Zhu slowly calmed down and softly called, “Bai Ze, are you there?”

A chill flowed from her pocket. She felt the icy smooth surface of the white card, and at the same time, a faint mist flickered as a fluffy white cat appeared floating in midair.

Bai Ze stared at her silently.

Ning Zhu opened her mouth, then after a long pause said, “I thought you were gone.”

Bai Ze said coldly, “I wish I could leave, but I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because this is a Star God Card. Do you think it’s some stray cat you can summon and dismiss whenever you want? Once it recognizes a master, it is bound for life. Unless you die, you will always be its card master.”

Ning Zhu froze, then asked, “Then… what about these past half month?”

Bai Ze said, “You drove me away. I didn’t want to see you!”

Ning Zhu felt a little guilty. “Sorry.”

Bai Ze: “……”

As soon as she apologized, it softened.

Every previous Star God Card master had been extremely proud. Someone like her, who repeatedly apologized to a card spirit, was unprecedented.

Bai Ze lifted its chin uncomfortably. “I forgive you, but you’re not allowed to drive me away again.”

Ning Zhu promised, “I won’t. I just didn’t know you couldn’t leave before…”

Bai Ze snapped back, “A Star God Card master as clueless as you is truly one of a kind.” And yet you triggered two divine skills in a row—no one with that talent has appeared in a hundred years.

Seeing that Bai Ze had calmed down, Ning Zhu quickly asked, “That [Premonition], you saw it too, right?”

Bai Ze said, “Of course.”

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know.” Bai Ze thought for a moment and said, “I’ve been asleep for a hundred years, I don’t know the current situation. However… since ancient times, whenever a Star God Card appears, it’s always accompanied by bloodshed and chaos.”

Bai Ze paused, then looked at Ning Zhu seriously and said, “You humans have a saying…”

Ning Zhu knew what it was going to say. “An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure.”

—

Miao Yun couldn’t see Bai Ze, nor could she hear what it was saying.

All she could see was Ning Zhu talking to herself, and that only amplified the fear in her heart.

“Xiao Zhu…” she called softly.

Ning Zhu looked at her mother, her expression growing more and more resolute. “Mom, I can’t listen to you this time.”

She had promised her mother she would never touch those cards again, nor try to understand anything about them.

She had also promised to live an ordinary life, go to school normally, grow up normally—so long as the family stayed together, that would be enough.

But she already possessed the Star God Card. There was no turning back.

Tears burst out of Miao Yun’s eyes. “Why?”

Ning Zhu relayed Bai Ze’s words word for word. “To break the bond, unless I die…”

Miao Yun shrieked and interrupted her. “Don’t say something like that!”

Ning Zhu said, “I’m already bound to it. Even if I don’t use it, those who covet the Star God Card won’t let us go!”

Miao Yun knew Ning Zhu was right.

But she was terrified of those people. She knew how utterly insane they were!

They disregarded law and order, they treated human lives like grass, they weren’t even human at all!

Miao Yun broke down. She had already lost her father and her younger brother because of these things—why were they now clinging to her daughter as well?

She couldn’t help but cry out in collapse, “Why did you pick it up, why did you bind with it, why didn’t you stay far away from this thing…”

“Mom!” Ning Zhu interrupted her, her voice firm. “If I had another chance, I would still bind with it!”

Miao Yun stared at her, as if seeing her daughter for the first time.

Ning Zhu met her gaze and said in a low voice, “If it weren’t for the Star God Card, Dad would already be dead!”

Miao Yun felt as if struck by lightning.

Ning Zhu never regretted picking up the Star God Card, nor did she regret binding with it.

If not for this card, she would never have been able to foresee her father’s car accident, let alone prevent it.

Because of the Star God Card, she was able to save her father.

If the current danger was the price, she was willing to bear it.

If she could save once, she could save a second time.

Having already looked directly at the worst possible future, she could face whatever came next with calm acceptance.

“…I’m sorry…”

Miao Yun finally regained her clarity. Only then did she realize what she had just said.

She had actually lashed out at her daughter in her panic.

Ning Zhu hadn’t done anything wrong.

She was nothing like Miao Feng.

She had used this card to save her father.

Ning Zhu saw that her mother had finally calmed down a little, and only then did she breathe out slightly. “Mom, I know you have a knot in your heart, but it’s already happened. We can only face it. I’ve seen the [Premonition] again. Next, we’ll go home. Dad has cooked a full table of dishes, and when we’re eating, they will suddenly attack us. Their abilities are terrifying—we won’t even have a chance to escape!”

Miao Yun sat there with her head lowered. Her throat bobbed as if she had made a huge decision. “I know how to contact them.”

Ning Zhu was surprised. “Them?”

Miao Yun said, “The Special Affairs Bureau. They are responsible for handling these kinds of special incidents.”

Ning Zhu’s eyes lit up immediately. “How do we contact them? Call them? What’s the number?”

At that moment, Bai Ze suddenly spoke up. “Don’t rush. You haven’t activated [Causal Reversal] yet.”

Ning Zhu looked at Bai Ze and asked in confusion, “If we can contact card practitioners, they’ll come protect us. Isn’t that already changing the ‘outcome’?”

Bai Ze explained something it hadn’t said last time. “If it were that easy to change, would it still be called the ‘future’?”

“I don’t understand.”

“You triggered [Premonition], and that vision is based on a future that is certain to happen. If you try to change it too easily after seeing it, then your prediction becomes a paradox.

“To prevent a paradox from forming, no matter what you do in advance, everything will be forcibly steered back toward that future. Even if you contact the Special Affairs Bureau now, they won’t be able to arrive in time.”

Ning Zhu still didn’t understand.

Bai Ze gave an analogy. “For example, there’s an apple ahead of you. You see it from far away. The fact that you saw it means that apple is destined to exist. If it didn’t exist, your seeing it would become a paradox. Understand?”

It was too convoluted. Ning Zhu took a while before she somewhat understood. “So you’re saying… this [Premonition] actually makes the future something that is destined to happen?”

Bai Ze paused. “You can interpret it that way.”

Ning Zhu said, “Then isn’t [Premonition of the Future] a very bad ability!”

Bai Ze said seriously, “Any supernatural ability is very bad.”

Ning Zhu’s head was buzzing. She had no time to sort through it and only asked, “So [Premonition] can’t change the future, but [Causal Reversal] can, right?”

Bai Ze said, “Correct. That’s why you must first activate [Causal Reversal], so you won’t be trapped in the infinite loop of [Premonition].”

Ning Zhu exhaled slightly and began to recite the short incantation. “The thread of cause and effect, shattered…”

Before she could finish, Bai Ze immediately interrupted, “Wait!”

Ning Zhu looked at it.

Bai Ze said, “Your spiritual energy isn’t enough right now.”

“But last time I…”

“It’s different. This time the causal threads are much more complex, especially since they involve card practitioners. If you force it with your current state, it will cause irreversible backlash… you might even lose an arm or something.”

Ning Zhu made a decisive call. “We don’t have time to care about that anymore. If we delay any longer, we’ll lose our lives!”

Miao Yun noticed Ning Zhu’s words and asked, “What’s going on?”

She couldn’t hear Bai Ze, so she could only ask Ning Zhu, “Don’t act recklessly. Tell Mom what it said!”

Ning Zhu: “……”

Bai Ze was still speaking. “It’s not difficult. You just need a spiritual energy card. This kind of card is easy to make—I can teach you… ah, but you don’t have the materials.”

Miao Yun urgently asked, “Tell me what it said!”

Ning Zhu knew it wouldn’t help even if she explained, but she still relayed Bai Ze’s words.

She wasn’t used to hiding things from her parents, just as her parents never hid anything from her.

Unexpectedly, Miao Yun immediately said, “We have them!”

Ning Zhu froze. “Mom, you know what card-making materials are?”

Miao Yun’s lips trembled as she gritted her teeth. “I don’t know, but Miao Feng’s things… I… I never threw them away. They’re all in the basement.”

Bai Ze let out an “ah” and said, “Your uncle is a card practitioner! He might even have a ready-made spiritual energy card!”

Ning Zhu stood up. “Let’s go, we’re going home!”

Time was tight. She had to quickly find a spiritual energy card, use [Causal Reversal], and only then contact the Special Affairs Bureau to change the future!

—

Yang Huai Zhou received a reply from Li Jin.

“Principal, I am at Blue City Manor.” The speaker’s voice was excellent, carrying a steadiness and composure that did not belong to someone of his age.

Yang Huai Zhou asked, “Can you get closer?”

Li Jin replied with precision, “I tried three times—using the elevator, the stairs, and a flight card—but I cannot get close to the 26th floor.”

They had already pinpointed the exact location of the Star God Card holder, down to the floor and room number. Yet that area was shrouded in a strange force, forming a powerful field that prevented anyone from approaching.

This was the price of [Premonition of the Future].

Once it was seen, it would inevitably happen.

Unless another divine skill interfered to twist it—such as [Causal Reversal].

Yang Huai Zhou said, “I’m on my way!”

The Ling Card Academy did not possess [Causal Reversal], but they did have [Fate Conversion], which could also alter a predetermined destiny.