Chapter 138: If You Are Not Unlucky, Then Who Is?

"I'm talking to you. What are you staring at? Why don't you come over and take me to the hospital? Do you want a slap?"

The man pointed at Xu Lin and barked threats. Even though he was the one asking for help, he didn't show the slightest bit of humility.

"No, I don't." Xu Lin tapped one foot on the ground, fixing the man with a mocking smile, completely unfazed. "Since you've become this unlucky, aren't you curious about why? Especially since it happened so suddenly?"

The man was taken aback. His eyes flickered, but they quickly turned ferocious again. "What do you know? Did you do this to me?"

"Pfft." Xu Lin held up her middle finger. "A brain is a terrible thing to waste; I hope you actually have one."

Xu Lin pushed off with her toes, ready to ride away on her bicycle, but she stopped after a few feet. "Let me give you a piece of friendly advice: before you started having this streak of bad luck, did someone ask you if you could share some of your good fortune with them? Think carefully about how you answered."

The man was stunned. Just as he was about to press her for more, he saw that Xu Lin had already mounted her bike. He quickly shouted, "Wait! Don't go! Explain yourself!"

He tried to scramble to his feet to chase after her, but as soon as he stood up and took a step, his legs gave out and he collapsed again. The fall drew a scream of agony from him. The pain in his ankle made it impossible to stand, leaving him to shout helplessly, "Stop! Tell me clearly, why did I end up like this?"

Xu Lin paused, thinking for a moment before stopping her bike again. "Well? Did you hear that request to share your luck, and how did you reply?"

The man stopped struggling. He lay half-propped on the ground, thought for a moment, and nodded. "Yes... yes, I did. She said she’d been having a run of bad luck lately and asked if I could share some of mine since I seemed so fortunate."

As he spoke, his face turned even paler, as if he had just recalled his exact response. Xu Lin tilted her head, watching him, waiting for him to continue.

"I didn't think much of it at the time, so I said... I said, 'You've been so good to me, I'm willing to give you all my good luck.'"

"How was she good to you?" Xu Lin asked, genuinely curious about the extent of the woman's influence that he would be willing to give away his entire fortune.

Besides, this method of "borrowing luck" wasn't exactly easy. It required a contract to be sealed, and the consent of the victim. It was cumbersome, but it kept one under the radar of the Heavenly Dao.

Of course, if the method was broken and the luck reclaimed, the perpetrator would suffer a backlash. At best, they would face a period of misfortune; at worst, it could cost them their life.

Perhaps it was the directness of Xu Lin's gaze that made the man feel even worse. Could it really have something to do with that joke? It couldn't be—that was just a flippant remark. How could it possibly steal his fortune?

But if it wasn't real, how did he end up like this? The man broke into a cold sweat. Faced with Xu Lin's curious eyes, he decided not to hide anything. He would tell her everything; if she could see the problem, perhaps she could help him recover what he had lost.

"You met at the black market. You tried to rob her, she knocked you flat, and then you became acquaintances through the fight."

Xu Lin’s peach-blossom eyes widened in surprise. Why did that sound so familiar? Wait—wasn't the first half exactly what she had seen of Qin Fang's history? Everyone who had chased Qin Fang ended up beaten into submission, eventually becoming her lackeys to run errands for her. Good grief, Xu Lin hadn't expected the follow-up to be this dramatic. She should have followed Qin Fang that day.

"I'm telling the truth! Today, she seduced me. She said I looked like her first love, and then..." The man blushed, his eyes darting away. "She kissed me, and I..."

"And then you were love-struck, felt like you’d met your true love, and when she asked you to share some luck, you generously gave her all of it?" Xu Lin laughed as she improvised the rest; it sounded like a fairy tale.

To her surprise, the "unlucky man" nodded in agreement.

"It really was that cliché?" Xu Lin's eyes went even wider, filled with disbelief.

The man shifted uncomfortably. He realized he hadn't been very bright. At the time, he felt noble and sincere, willing to offer everything for the sake of true love. Looking back now, he thought, *What the hell? Who was that idiot?*

"Forget it. You brought this on yourself. Instead of living like a decent person, you chose to be a robber. If you aren't the one to be unlucky, who is?"

With that, Xu Lin pushed off the ground and mounted her bike. The man screamed in alarm, "Wait, wait! Don't go! You haven't told me what to do yet!"

"If you want to take your luck back, you'll need to find a powerful master to help you. Ordinary people can't do a thing for you."

Xu Lin’s voice drifted back from ahead. The bicycle sped away, turned a corner, and vanished from the man's sight.

"That damn woman!" The man pounded the ground in anger, only to fracture his wrist. The pain made him howl again. Good heavens, the level of his misfortune was enough to make him want to die. He had to find a master to perform a ritual and get his luck back. And as for that woman—he would find her and kill her!

As Xu Lin pedaled, she pondered the situation. For Qin Fang to steal his luck, she first had to establish a contract. A contract required the victim's birth data and their essence-blood—neither of which were easy to obtain. Yet, she had succeeded. From the man's account, it sounded like he couldn't control his own tongue when he was around her. He couldn't control his heartbeat, he felt compelled to offer her his favor, and he was ready to give her the world. Forget birth data or blood; he would have probably cut his own head off to present to her if she asked.

That was definitely not normal.

Based on Xu Lin’s experience, Qin Fang must have traded for some kind of charm or card from her system. But she didn't have any points. Last time she used her telepathy, Qin Fang's system had complained that she was too slow at completing tasks and hadn't saved up any points. It had only been a day—where would she get the points?

Suddenly, a realization flashed through Xu Lin's mind. She remembered her own system mentioning that some "wild" systems would steal a host's lifespan and luck through a trade.

Could it be?

*Oh, boy.* Xu Lin slapped her thigh, nearly bursting into laughter. If Qin Fang had really dared to use a trade like that, Xu Lin would actually have to admire her. Trading away luck was one thing—at best, you’d just be unlucky and break your teeth on cold water. But trading away one's own lifespan? That was handing your life over to the system, cutting your own fate short.

Qin Fang was practically courting death.

*Tsk.* It was a pity that her own strength wasn't enough to take down the system yet, otherwise, she wouldn't let it run wild like this.