The Demon Cult Leader’s Path to Chasing His Wife [Ancient to Modern] - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Climbing a Tree to Catch a Fish (Part 1)

The two women seemed to be discussing something. The one standing in the back wore a black formal suit; the tailored design was perfectly fitted, and her legs, perched on high heels, were straight and slender.

She wore light makeup, her eyelashes long and curled. Her serious and professional expression gave her a powerful aura that complemented her business attire. However, the corners of her eyes tilted upward slightly, inadvertently tracing a hint of shimmering coldness.

Yet for some reason, the woman appeared slightly constrained, her movements very formulaic. A shallow smile hovered on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

As for the other person?

Excuse me, who is she?

The Cult Leader came with her own N-fold beauty filter; the lens auto-focused. She couldn’t see anyone else at all—in her eyes, there was only her wife.

The surprise came too suddenly. Zhang Kuang rushed over in two or three steps and, under the astonished gazes of the onlookers, pulled her wife into a tight embrace.

Zhang Kuang held the other firmly, yet carefully, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

“That’s great, Little Peach… I’m so glad you’re okay… I thought I’d never find you again.”

Her voice trembled slightly with excitement. Every word carried a joy that couldn’t be hidden—a joy that was about to overflow at finding what was once lost.

Ever since she had traveled through time, she had felt empty.

It was as if she had returned to her old self from long ago, opening a jar of aged brew alone under a hibiscus tree, toasting the cold moonlight amidst the night breeze and falling petals.

But now that she had seen this person, she felt filled up. Her eyes and heart were full of her. All her expectations, hopes, and profound joy were for this one person alone.

The other woman opened her eyes in surprise, watching the two people hugging. Her hand, resting on the car door, didn’t know whether to open it or not.

The woman froze for three seconds before suddenly pushing Zhang Kuang away with force.

Zhang Kuang was shoved back by her, stumbling two or three steps.

Her arms were still held in the position of a hug. Her mouth opened and closed, but she seemed mute, unable to speak, her eyes filled with helplessness.

“Who are you?”

The woman questioned, her tone seeping with bone-chilling coldness, stabbing into Zhang Kuang like a series of knives.

“I—”

Zhang Kuang tried desperately to explain, but the moment she saw the other person’s face full of resistance—with even the corners of her eyes turning slightly red from anger—she had no idea what to do.

The woman let out a cold laugh. “The law firm is right in front of you,” she said, pointing to the sign at the entrance behind her. “If you’re looking for trouble, you should at least find the right place, shouldn’t you?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve offended you,” Zhang Kuang explained, her voice dropping low, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

“I mistook you for someone else…”

Mistaken?

Those were the features she had traced with her fingertips, the face she had engraved in the deepest depths of her heart.

How could she have mistaken her?

Zhang Kuang lowered her head, not daring to look at her.

The woman wasn’t one to relentlessly pursue a point once an apology was made. Seeing Zhang Kuang apologize, her tone softened considerably: “It’s fine.”

The woman who had been walking in front earlier hadn’t left yet. She leaned lazily against the car, looking like she was watching a play. “Lawyer Xia, what’s the situation here?”

Lawyer Xia looked toward her and changed the subject. “Miss Lu, I will reply to you as soon as I have finished organizing the documents.”

Lu Yue nodded, gave an OK gesture, and drove away.

Zhang Kuang watched the two of them talk with a look of resentment, feeling sour but not daring to make a sound.

What else could she say??

The wife she longed for didn’t recognize her anymore. Life was so hopeless, so painful, so sad.

Just let my heart break alone in this freezing world.

Having finally sent off the big client, Lawyer Xia let out a nearly inaudible sigh of relief.

The middle-aged man from before, realizing he couldn’t get a word in, had slipped away at some point. Now only Zhang Kuang and she remained, standing somewhat awkwardly at the entrance of the law firm.

Lawyer Xia put on that formulaic smile again and handed two small cards to Zhang Kuang. “Hello, Linshen Law Firm.”

She paused, then added: “Xia Zhitao. Professionally responsible for civil disputes. Please make an appointment in advance if you have any business.”

Zhang Kuang immediately stood up straight, very formally accepting the cards with both hands.

Seeing her disciplined and serious manner, Xia Zhitao felt it didn’t look like someone receiving a business card, but rather resembled a lady-in-waiting in a TV drama receiving a reward from an Emperor.

Zhang Kuang carefully tucked the card away, not forgetting to say: “Thank you, Lawyer Xia.”

Although she didn’t know what a “lawyer” was—likely a profession of some sort?—as long as her wife liked it, she would support her in whatever she did.

Xia Zhitao felt helpless in her heart. She had never heard of someone saying “thank you” for receiving a business card… Should I say “you’re welcome”?

Zhang Kuang watched Xia Zhitao walk back into that strange glass building until she was completely out of sight before turning to leave.

When Zhang Kuang suddenly appeared at the window, her two underlings were already sitting in the room, playing poker while waiting for her.

Zhang Kuang lightly held the windowsill, bringing in the cool evening moisture as she leapt easily into the warm room.

The two underlings swarmed her with a “hula” sound, serving tea and water. “Boss! You’re back!”

Zhang Kuang nodded slightly and said: “I went to haul bricks.”

Song Muzhao laughed and said: “Oh, Boss, you went to haul bricks—”

“Wait, hauling bricks?? Hauling what bricks???”

Zhang Kuang sat down casually on the sofa, crossing her legs. Her tied-up long hair flowed down like a waterfall, resting on her shoulder.

“Yes,” Zhang Kuang said very calmly, “I went to haul bricks to earn money.”

She pulled the folded banknotes from her bag and placed them on the transparent coffee table. Her well-defined knuckles brushed over the paper, smoothing out every tiny wrinkle.

The two underlings sat next to her, leaning in to look.

Song Muzhao counted the money and said: “Oh, three hundred yuan.”

Zhang Kuang didn’t understand the amount and asked: “Is that considered a lot?”

Song Muzhao didn’t really know either; she could only scratch her head and say hesitantly: “For one day, I guess… it counts as a lot?”

Lu Qian interjected: “Boss, if you want to earn money, tell me. Next time I’ll take you to a film set. We can perform stunts; it’ll definitely make a lot of money. Or you could be a martial arts stunt double—how cool would that be!”

Song Muzhao: “Give it a rest! Boss doesn’t need to perform stunts or be a double. It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration for her to debut as a celebrity right now. she’d crush all those ‘little flower’ and ‘little grass’ idols.”

Once these two were together, they easily started bickering. The Cult Leader had already entered a state of confusion.

What was a film set, what were stunts, and what was a celebrity debut?

Song Muzhao’s sharp eyes suddenly noticed that besides the banknotes, Zhang Kuang had also pulled out two cards.

“Are these business cards?” she asked curiously. “Linshen Law Firm?”

Zhang Kuang nodded and said: “I saw my wife today.”

Since she had known since yesterday that the Boss’s beloved was a woman, Song Muzhao was naturally happy: “Then—”

Zhang Kuang continued: “But she doesn’t recognize me anymore.”

The words “Congratulations Boss” were choked back by Song Muzhao, turning into: “How could that happen?!”

Thinking about how her wife didn’t recognize her and how she had no money, Zhang Kuang suddenly became sorrowful. She gave her two underlings a rough account of her experiences that day, wanting them to help brainstorm.

“So, she completely forgets you?” Lu Qian asked.

Zhang Kuang nodded and said: “Mhm. I can see it in her eyes.” She lowered her head and said somewhat dejectedly: “She never used to look at me with eyes like that before.”

The usually peerless and arrogant Demonic Cult Leader now looked like a small animal drenched by rain, huddled pitifully on the sofa.

Song Muzhao said: “Don’t panic! Think about it: even if she doesn’t recognize you, can’t you just chase her and win her back?”

Zhang Kuang suddenly saw the light.

That’s right! What if her wife forgot her? It didn’t matter; she would just win her back again.

Zhang Kuang happily took back the cards. Her grievance and sadness suddenly vanished into thin air.

Her confidence was now mysteriously through the roof. She already had the “tokens of love” (the two business cards) in hand—wasn’t winning back her wife just around the corner?!

Seeing Zhang Kuang revitalized, Song Muzhao began to plot: “Boss, why don’t you think about your first meeting and do a scene reconstruction? To evoke Madam’s beautiful memories?”

Zhang Kuang pondered for a moment: “Beautiful memories…?”

It was in a noisy teahouse. The storyteller was, as usual, full of absurd lies, and the crowd was listening with righteous indignation, wishing they could storm into the Demonic Cult the next moment and tear Zhang Kuang into ten thousand pieces.

Zhang Kuang, in an elegant seat on the second floor, was accustomed to it, sipping fine tea and turning a deaf ear to the clamor downstairs. Unexpectedly, this time was different. A girl interrupted the crowd with a smile, and Zhang Kuang would never forget that bright voice for as long as she lived:

“Judging others behind their backs and even maliciously slandering them is an unseemly act to begin with. Believing hearsay, failing to distinguish truth from falsehood, not understanding right from wrong, and recklessly slandering a woman—”

“Who exactly is the villain? Who is the demon?”

As Zhang Kuang spoke, she became somewhat shy, a faint blush appearing on her face. Even her sonorous voice carried an almost imperceptible, deep-seated tenderness.

Afterward, they experienced many things together and gradually grew closer, supporting one another.

Sorrow and joy, parting and reunion, through light and shadow, morning and dusk—

They had simply tasted all the flavors of the human world together.

The two underlings were very proactive. Lu Qian brought over a laptop and began to gather all sorts of information on Xia Zhitao.

Linshen Law Firm was considered an old brand with a great reputation and a stable status in the industry. Xia Zhitao was a rookie lawyer who had joined the firm as an exception in recent years due to her outstanding grades. She had less experience, but her win rate for the cases she handled was extremely high.

Although they followed the trail and found Xia Zhitao’s official Weibo account, there was very little information online. The entire Weibo had only a few retweets regarding legal matters, and the photo album was empty.

Lu Qian said: “It’s an official account; there’s nothing to see. We have to find her private account.”

“You don’t understand,” Song Muzhao said as she opened the following list, scrolled to the bottom, and pointed to an account named “Want to Eat Peaches.” She smiled and said, “Do you believe me? This is her side account.”

She had actually guessed correctly. Unfortunately, the side account didn’t have much information either—most of it was fragmented records of her moods and some landscape photos.

Zhang Kuang didn’t know the complex phone functions yet, but she learned quite quickly how to swipe her finger to browse Weibo. She read through the long and short Weibo posts seriously, as if she were studying some profound technique.

Suddenly, Zhang Kuang’s movement stopped. Her face darkened. The two underlings felt their hearts skip a beat, thinking this is bad.

Zhang Kuang pointed to a retweeted Weibo post about a celebrity news update: “Popular ‘little flower’ actress confirmed to join the cast! The most anticipated drama of 2036!” Below was a photo of a beautiful woman.

Xia Zhitao’s retweeted comment was also quite simple, just six words: “I like her a lot. Looking forward to it.”

However, Zhang Kuang was about to explode.

The two underlings hugged each other, trembling, not daring to breathe, as they heard Zhang Kuang ask slowly, word by word:

“Who is she?”

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