Ou Miaonan cried pitifully, frightening Ou Luozhong and the others into crowding forward at once, asking whether she was feeling unwell anywhere and whether they should call for a physician. As they went on talking, the family of three dissolved into tears together out of lingering fear.

Lang Jiuchuan sat at the edge of the table, waiting idly.

After quite some time, the group gradually quieted down and felt a little embarrassed to see Lang Jiuchuan still sitting there in silence.

Ou Luozhong, his eyes still red, cupped his hands toward Lang Jiuchuan. “We’ve made a fool of ourselves before you.”

“It’s nothing.” Lang Jiuchuan gave a mild nod, then glanced over at Ou Miaonan, who had been staring straight at her, and nodded at her as well.

Through Ou Furen’s tearful account, Ou Miaonan came to learn that it was Lang Jiuchuan who had saved her from terrible danger. As certain images replayed in her mind, her body trembled faintly, and her pair of dark, deep eyes instantly filled with tears once more.

Lang Jiuchuan walked over and held her gaze steadily. Those eyes of hers were phoenix eyes too — dark and luminous, able to hold so much within them: the goodness and beauty of the mortal world, its evil and ugliness, its yin and its yang — yet these were not things she was meant to bear.

Some people were simply not destined to endure certain gifts.

For her, it was not a gift at all. It was suffering and shackles.

Ou Miaonan pressed her lips together in grievance, looking at her. “Everyone in the family is normal — why is it that only I can see those things? Am I a demon? I know people say behind my back that I’m a monster, that whoever comes near me will suffer misfortune.”

Ou Furen’s fury flared. “Who? Who has been spreading such malicious words about you behind your back?”

Ou Miaonan lowered her head and said nothing.

Ou Luozhong’s heart ached at the sight. He opened his mouth, then finally let out a long sigh, turned away, and wiped the corner of his eye.

“I can see them too — does that make me a demon?” Lang Jiuchuan countered, then said, “This is simply a matter of individual constitution. In the cycles of Heaven’s way, you happened to arrive at just the right moment and were born as the treasure of your parents’ hearts. You simply have one more eye open than most — the Heavenly Eye, something cultivators seek and cannot obtain.”

Ou Miaonan startled, and looked up. “Sought and cannot obtain — the Heavenly Eye?”

“It is also called the Yin-Yang Eye. In truth, a person’s eyes are at their purest from birth. Young children are the most likely to see what others cannot. For some, as they grow older, the ability fades away. For others, it persists their whole lives. As for you — you have directly opened the Heavenly Eye, which is why you have always been able to see the yin entities that ordinary people cannot perceive.” Lang Jiuchuan explained, “Cultivators — people like me, those who can slay evil and drive away malevolent forces — even we cannot guarantee that everyone among us can attain such a Heavenly Eye. If one wishes to open it, an altar must be set up, formations arranged, prayers offered to the divine and the Buddha, beseeching the Heavenly Eye to open — and even then, it can only be opened temporarily.”

Ou Miaonan murmured, “What is so good about such eyes? Why would anyone go to such lengths to set up altars and beseech the gods to open them?”

Lang Jiuchuan said, “An ordinary person cannot see the existence of yin entities. To slay them, one needs the Heavenly Eye — it greatly increases the odds of winning. Just think about it: when the enemy lurks in shadow while you stand exposed in the light, how much mental and spiritual energy must be spent just to win such a battle? Let alone winning against those ferocious and malevolent yin entities.”

Ou Miaonan fell silent.

“Therefore, possessing a pair of Heavenly Eyes is both a fortune and a misfortune — it depends on how you look at it, or how you use it. If you were to cultivate, it would come more easily to you than to an ordinary monk or Daoist practitioner. But at the same time, you must also bear the impact it brings. Some yin entities are not entirely wicked — there are kind ones, pitiable and wretched ones. If you feel empathy toward them, their suffering becomes your own.”

Ou Miaonan shuddered violently, her small face going snow-white.

Ou Furen pulled her close and held her tight. “Is there any way to seal this Heavenly Eye?”

Here it comes.

Ou Luozhong turned around, gazing at Lang Jiuchuan with hopeful eyes.

Lang Jiuchuan looked at Ou Miaonan’s large eyes and asked quietly, “Do you wish to seal it as well?”

“Can you really do it? If it’s sealed, would I be just like an ordinary person — able to go wherever I please, without worrying about terrifying ghosts rushing at me out of nowhere and screaming, or trying to seize my body? Could I sleep peacefully, without fear, without making people afraid of me?” Ou Miaonan’s face was full of longing.

Jiangche held his breath inside the spiritual platform, waiting. Faced with such a sweet and gentle little young lady, how would she respond?

Lang Jiuchuan looked at her eyes and said, “If it is sealed, it will also seal away every color you are able to see. Do you still wish to seal it?”

Everyone froze. What did that mean?

“N-nine — Miss Jiu, what do you mean by this?” Ou Luozhong stammered.

Lang Jiuchuan said with near-cruel bluntness, “I can help you seal it. The price is your eyes. That is to say, once this Heavenly Eye is sealed, you will go blind. You will never again see any color in this world, never read any written word, never see the faces of your father, your mother, or your loved ones. Your world will hold nothing but darkness.”

She watched Ou Miaonan’s face grow whiter and whiter, and continued without mercy, “You will never see the colors of spring, summer, autumn, or winter — only able to sense their changes through your other faculties, and so it shall be for the rest of your life. Do you still wish to seal it? Of course, with the eyes sealed, you will also never again see those dark, malevolent, or wretched ghostly entities, nor hear them. You will no longer live in terror and dread.”

Jiangche watched the family of three on the verge of collapse and said with reluctance, “That’s enough, don’t you think? If you keep going, I’m afraid they’ll come after you with a cleaver.”

Lang Jiuchuan said, “The cause and effect of Heaven’s way is very fair. Whatever you wish to take away, you must give something up in exchange. To completely resolve your Heavenly Eyes and your constitution that draws yin entities — there is only this one way.”

Ou Luozhong cried out in shock. “Are there truly no other methods? What about talismans — the ones you’ve drawn work so well. In these past twelve years, though my daughter has constantly seen those yin entities, she has never truly suffered any great harm. Why should sealing the Heavenly Eye have to mean going blind?”

“Mister Youhe, how many things in this world can truly be understood from another’s perspective? You say she has not suffered any great harm — perhaps in your eyes, she seems perfectly fine, sheltered by you, clothed in fine silks, surrounded by servants. But you are not her, after all. How can you know what kind of suffering she endures each day?” Lang Jiuchuan said coldly. “Her grievances and fears — perhaps you understand them, in part. But you cannot bear them in her place, nor do you truly know how great that pain is.”

Ou Luozhong’s face flushed red with shame. He looked at his daughter, who had lowered her head, tears dripping one by one onto the brocade coverlet.

Ou Furen clutched her daughter and wept aloud.

“Furthermore, you say that in these twelve years, she has not suffered any great harm — that is because someone has long been protecting her in secret, simply waiting for today. Had you ever let slip even a word of her birth characters, she would certainly have been coveted and abducted by those with ill intent. Fortunately, you have been obedient enough.” Lang Jiuchuan revealed yet another matter, continuing, “And the tribulation she faced today was a life-and-death ordeal written into her fate. Had someone not bolstered and sheltered her spirit and soul with their own merit and cultivation, she would certainly have been devoured by that malevolent soul today. Even if I had slain that malevolent soul, she would not have come back to life.”

Everyone shuddered, faces draining to a ghastly pallor.

Lang Jiuchuan gazed at a certain point in the empty air, eyes filled with reverence. “Therefore, the one you truly ought to erect a longevity tablet for is the wandering monk who, on that day, gave her the Buddhist prayer beads and instructed you never to speak of her birth characters to others. He is the great benefactor who saved her — a truly compassionate and accomplished monk of the highest virtue.”