Chapter 1 The Back Garden of the Koi Deity

Chapter 1: The Koi Deity's Back Garden

The day was bright and beautiful, the sky a pristine blue.

The vast, azure sea stretched to the horizon, its white-capped waves lazily lapping the shore like listless fish, never breaching the damp line of the coast.

A girl in a soaking-wet nightgown stood barefoot on the sand, her eyes wide as saucers, fixed on the ocean. Her delicate, pale face cycled through expressions of shock, then struggle, then pure ecstasy...

She babbled excitedly, "I don't have to be unlucky anymore? Really? I can truly turn my luck around?..."

Overcome with emotion, her ten fair toes dug into the sand, rapidly carving out two deep holes.

And who could blame her? The news she had just received was simply too, too exhilarating!

She, Hua Diao, was a woman cursed with perpetual misfortune!

Ever since her third birthday, when she released a koi fish into the sea, her luck had plummeted. She'd choke on cold water, gag on food, get fish bones stuck in her throat, chip teeth on candy, find instant noodles without seasoning packets, and even walking down the street would lead to falling objects or inconsiderate drivers splashing her with muddy puddles, leaving her drenched.

As she grew older, her situation worsened. At eighteen, she entered the entertainment industry, initially gaining some traction with her exquisite, almost ethereal beauty. But once on set, she'd inevitably cause some mishap—either landing herself in the hospital or sending the director, crew, or fellow actors there.

In short, no production she joined ever finished filming safely. After several such incidents, she didn't gain fame, but the moniker "Walking Human Jinx" became her notorious "reputation" in the industry. Even the industry bigwigs who once showed interest in her grew wary, fearing her bad luck would rub off on them, and no longer dared to approach her with illicit propositions.

Thus, her budding career, a tender shoot just emerging, was cruelly nipped in the bud before it could blossom. If not for her misfortunes occasionally trending online and providing public amusement, she might have vanished from the industry long ago.

Eventually, a naive director took notice, but only to cast her as a jinx. Hua Diao, fearing that playing the role might actually seal her fate, initially refused. But her agent, tired of her idleness, forcefully accepted the part for her.

As it turned out, Hua Diao's instincts were right. She truly did get "sent off" during that production.

The incident began when a two-faced supporting actress, jealous of Hua Diao's beauty, pushed her from behind while she was choking on a fishball. Caught off guard, Hua Diao tumbled down the stairs. The wooden skewer from the fishball, by cruel chance, pointed directly at her neck and, in her fall, pierced her carotid artery.

Good heavens! She bled out on the spot, losing too much blood. She didn't even get a chance to say her last words before she was gone.

After death, "ghost" Hua Diao floated expressionlessly in mid-air, watching the two-faced actress wet herself in terror, watching her own body being carried away, and watching the crew gather, gossiping with knowing looks, "Now she's truly a bona fide jinx..."

Hua Diao: (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

This was beyond infuriating! A vibrant, ambitious young woman like her had her miserable life ended in such a ridiculous, almost farcical manner!

MMMP... Every time misfortune struck, she'd secretly grumble, suspecting it was the koi fish's revenge for releasing it—a freshwater fish—into the ocean.

Only now, after learning the full story, did she realize she had wrongly blamed the fish.

That koi had indeed intended to repay her kindness. The vivid red fish-scale birthmark near her eye was a gift from the Koi Deity. However, activating this gift required a certain amount of luck as energy, which was why her luck had been drained, leading to continuous misfortune since she was three.

Originally, she was meant to endure this luck-draining until she turned thirty, at which point the gift—this island space, one of the Koi Deity's back gardens—would finally activate. Once activated, her luck would begin to replenish, transforming her from a jinx into a super lucky person who could win the lottery with any random ticket.

But the problem was, her luck was so abysmal that she didn't even make it to her thirtieth birthday. At twenty-three, she died. The gift had no choice but to take emergency measures, consuming the rare treasures within the space to activate prematurely, whisking her soul away to another world and finding a compatible body for her to inhabit.

Now, Hua Diao had entered the Koi Deity's island space in this borrowed body from another world. It was here, from the lingering consciousness left by the Koi Deity, that she learned the complete truth behind her years of misfortune.

Hua Diao no longer had the patience to listen to the other details. She only grasped one crucial point: she, a lifelong jinx, was finally getting her luck back! She could finally turn her fortune around!

Overjoyed, Hua Diao burst into tears of happiness. She could finally escape her unlucky fate and embrace good fortune.

Then, unable to contain herself, she flopped onto the warm sand like a silly dog, rolling around several times, scattering sand everywhere and sending crabs scuttling away in a panic.

Who cared if the island's rare treasures were gone, leaving only barren rocks and muddy ground? She certainly didn't lack for food or drink.

Hua Diao shook the sand from her body, then, with a bright smile, sprang up from the beach. Humming a little tune, she strolled barefoot along the shore, hands clasped behind her back, like a retired old man inspecting his domain.

She mused that if she ever wanted a vacation, she wouldn't need to bother with flights. She could just set up a shelter on this beach, put out a lounge chair, add some fruit juice and drinks, and enjoy a comfortable holiday. The empty island could also host a small villa and some beautiful flowers and plants.

Having her own private island, decorated entirely to her liking—wouldn't that be wonderfully fulfilling?

However, she was thinking too optimistically!

After visually surveying her barren island from the beach, Hua Diao contentedly exited the space and returned to the outside world.

She found herself in a luxurious bathroom. A gleaming, brand-new vanity, a diamond-studded mirror, and an oversized circular bathtub large enough for four or five people.

The only discordant detail was the water in the bathtub, which was a startling, bloody crimson.

Clearly, the original owner of this body had slit her wrists here. If Hua Diao's soul hadn't taken over in time, and if both she and the body hadn't been pulled into the Koi Deity's island space and nourished by its spiritual energy, this body would have been stone cold.

Hua Diao lowered her gaze to the scabbed wound on her right wrist and sighed. Well, she was grateful for the original owner's "generosity" in providing her with a body!

Then, she cheerfully approached the large bathtub, drained the bloody water, and refilled it with warm water. First, she rinsed off the sand from her body under the showerhead, then she slowly lowered her fair, graceful legs into the tub, settling in for a wonderfully relaxing bath.