Chapter Thirty-Six Kasu
When Kasu blinked, she was on the ground and Lady Camellia towered over her.
Her body felt like it was on fire. The elixir was eating up her qi – she could feel her life force burning up at an alarming rate, her fingertips turning transparent as her body began to lose its physical form.
It was all she could do to lie on her side and focus on breathing as white-hot pain continued to storm through her.
She was going to die. Kasu’s rage and despair echoed deep inside her, fuelling the fire.
For a moment, her mind drifted to Hanyu – the ghost at Camellia House who had turned feral.
The ghost Lady Camellia ate. She couldn’t remember if Camellia had enjoyed the taste of him or not, but it didn’t seem like Kasu would be sliding down the demon’s gullet any time soon.
Instead, her body would probably fade away into nothingness.
“Kasu!” A blur of black. Ruo ran towards her, only for Lady Camellia to seize the cat by the scruff of their neck and lift them from the ground. Ruo squirmed and scratched at the demon’s fingers, but their voice sounded strangely distorted. “Kasu, get up and punch that lousy demon in the face!”
Kasu almost laughed. If she could move, she just might, regardless of what the Heavenly Principles said. Her eyes slid over Ruo, taking in the scattering of golden irises inside their eyes, and their twisting body that looked more like shadow than fur.
Most curses disappeared as soon as their target died, but on a rare occasion some would linger on.
Kasu had always wondered why Ruo wanted to remain, why they had chosen Camellia House of all places to stay, why they had attached themself to her the moment they met.
Now she knew. Kasu had created Ruo. From her empty fury, from her hatred and despair, she had used the last of her mortal life to make a curse.
She doubted Ruo knew. It was probably just instinct that had drawn them together. Kasu wished she could thank the cat for staying by her side even after her death.
The elixir continued to burn through her.
She could feel the anguish eating at her heart.
She hated her mother, who had abandoned them.
She even hated her sister, who had probably been reborn and was living a happy, oblivious life somewhere in the mortal realm while Kasu was stuck down here.
It wasn’t fair. Why did she have to be the one to give up her soul?
Why was she the only one still suffering?
It wasn’t fair that her mother and her sister got to reincarnate as if nothing had happened, while Kasu was still tormented.
What about the villagers who used to pinch Kasu’s cheeks?
It must have been obvious to everyone that her family was poor and suffering.
Why had no one helped them? Why had so many people turned them away when they begged on the streets?
Kasu wished Ruo had killed them too. She wished she could make them suffer.
She was drowning in a sea of her own hate.
“Kasu!” Arun’s voice called to her from somewhere far away. “Kasu, listen to me. Listen!”
If she’d had the strength, Kasu would have cursed Arun too. She didn’t want to listen. She just wanted to curse him and die.
“There’s a small house on the edge of an apple orchard. The trees are in full bloom and the smell of blossom perfumes the air,” said Arun, as though he were reciting something he had learned by heart. “When the wind blows, the petals fall like snow.”
Her dream. Yes, that was her dream for when she was reborn. If she died here, it would never come true. She had worked so hard. She was so very tired.
“There’s someone waiting for you on the porch of your house.” Arun’s voice dropped like a hammer through fine china. “They’re waiting for you to come home.”
Kasu’s throat clicked. She took one heaving breath after another until the rise and fall of her chest reached a normal rhythm. A bone-weary exhaustion filled her core, but the fire – the fire had died down to a gentle smoulder. After a few deep breaths, it went out completely.
She pushed herself onto her feet, her frail legs trembling like a newborn foal’s.
Lady Camellia shook her head.
“Oh, Kasu, you always did exceed expectations.”