Ou Luozhong stared at those eyeballs lying less than three paces from him, and could not help wishing he could gouge out his own eyes. If only he were blind, he would not have had to witness this horrifying sight.

Lang Jiuchuan’s entire body shook like a sieve, trembling incessantly. Her eyes burned with searing pain, and blood trickled from the corners, as though her eyes had been physically gouged out of her skull.

Beyond that, her body temperature had dropped to an alarming degree as well — as if she had been coated head to toe in frost and ice, radiating a bone-chilling cold.

And her five senses had sharpened to an abnormal degree. She could almost hear the wailing and howling of ghosts from several li away.

Shadowy entities were closing in rapidly. Jiangche saw them, and the ferocious murderous energy of a sovereign surged with savage force — so overwhelming that those shadowy entities scattered and fled in an instant.

Rumble, rumble.

Above the Ou Residence, the weather shifted and churned. Muffled thunder rolled through the dense cloud cover, and lightning pierced the cloud layers in jagged, menacing forks.

Even Jiangche’s fur had bristled to full attention. Setting aside Lang Jiuchuan below, it could feel the righteous and domineering force of that thunder intent for itself.

And yet — had the technique succeeded? Why had the lightning still not struck?

Could it be that even receiving a lightning strike required different treatment for different people?

Lang Jiuchuan felt flesh and blood slowly accumulating and taking shape inside her eye sockets. She trembled, reaching for the cloth pouch hanging at her waist and extracted a handful of medicinal pills that carried a fragrant herbal scent. She swallowed them all at once.

These were medicinal pills she herself had formulated for her current body — comprising potent restorative medicines alongside rare spiritual herbs she had obtained from Tongtian Pavilion.

And as luck would have it, she had managed to compound them into a bottle of pills for restoring sinews, flesh, and bone.

The pills dissolved the moment they hit her throat, their medicinal essence coursing into her five organs and surging outward through her meridians to every part of her body. The pain around her eyes was finally eased.

Lang Jiuchuan immediately formed hand seals with both hands, activated her Major Heavenly Circuit, and drew the surrounding Heaven-and-Earth Five Elements energies into her body — merging spirit and Qi, cycling ceaselessly in a continuous, unbroken flow.

Only after one full revolution of the Major Heavenly Circuit did the pain in her eyes finally subside, leaving behind only a faint, tingling itch. She did not open her eyes. Instead, she untied the black satin ribbon that had been binding her hair and wrapped it around her eyes, then formed a seal and pressed it against them.

Having completed all of this, her complexion was a startling white.

Ou Luozhong was somewhat dazed. Wait — had the technique succeeded? And if it had, why had she wrapped the satin ribbon over her eyes?

He looked down at the two eyeballs lying not far from his feet and studied them more carefully. They did not quite look like human eyes after all — so why had they been so terrifying to behold?

They had clearly fallen from her body, so he worried: could it be that in sealing his daughter’s Yin-Yang Eyes, she had also blinded herself? If that were the case, that would truly be an act of terrible wrongdoing.

Lang Jiuchuan braced herself against the ground and stood up, her body still swaying slightly from the excessive expenditure of vital energy. She turned to Ou Luozhong and said, “It is done. Help her up and let her rest.”

As she spoke, she walked directly toward him, bent down, and picked up those two eyeballs. She tucked them into her sleeve casually and said: “They are fakes. I keep them around to play with — rolling them through my fingers sharpens my manual dexterity, so my hand seals come faster and more fluidly.”

Ou Luozhong: “…”

What kind of decent person kept fake eyeballs as a hand exercise — and they even had blood on them, impossibly lifelike.

Also — she clearly had a satin ribbon binding her eyes, so how had she walked directly to this very spot and picked those things up with such perfect precision? Was the satin ribbon transparent? Was that also just something she kept around to toy with?

Ou Luozhong had a hundred questions he wanted to ask, but he heard his daughter’s weak, wavering call from where she sat unsteadily reaching out her hand. Every other thought vanished, and he hurried over to support her.

Ou Miaonan was helped into a seat at the table, looking listless and drained, her voice soft and languid as she called out to Lang Jiuchuan.

“I am here.” Lang Jiuchuan came over, took her wrist, and placed two fingers against it. The pulse was steady; her breathing was slightly rapid, but there was no cause for concern.

Lang Jiuchuan withdrew her fingers. Her voice had taken on a faint hoarseness. “You are free of it now. From here on, your birth characters have shifted slightly — there is no need to explain the particulars to any outsider.”

She recited the new birth characters.

Ou Luozhong was startled. “These are not what that old monk from back then—”

Lang Jiuchuan gave a small nod. “That is correct. I changed them. A fully Yin birth chart is not to her benefit. Since I am altering her destiny, I adjusted it to lean slightly away from pure Yin. I have sealed the Eyes, and I have changed the birth characters. As for her constitution — from now on, let her spend more time in sunlight. Keep objects imbued with righteous, upright energy in the rooms she frequents, and supplement that with medicinal broths for regulation. Over time, that constitution will gradually change as well. Also — she was born near water, which itself belongs to Yin. The character ‘Miao’ carries many water radicals, which further compounds the Yin. She should change her name. This name does not serve her well.”

Ou Luozhong’s weathered face flushed with embarrassment. He had been the one to choose the name “Miao” for his youngest daughter — because she had been born near the water, and he had thought the character fitting. It turned out it had been a mistake all along.

“Since you have altered everything else, why not give her a new name as well?” he said sheepishly.

Ou Miaonan also nodded. “Please, Lang-jiejie, give me a name?”

Lang Jiuchuan fell silent. She had always been hopeless at choosing names. She turned something over between her fingers for a moment, and at length said: “Yu’an?”

Father and daughter both paused.

“Bestow upon you a lifetime of peace and tranquility — would you take Yu’an as your name? If it does not sound well, let me think a little longer…”

“No — this one.” Ou Miaonan cut her off hurriedly, tears brimming in her eyes. “Bestow upon me a lifetime of peace and tranquility — it is wonderful, the best there could ever be. Lang-jiejie, I love it.”

“Ou Yu’an.” Ou Luozhong murmured the name once under his breath, old tears circling in his eyes. “It is very fine indeed.”

Ou Miaonan — no, she should be called Ou Yu’an now — raised her face toward Lang Jiuchuan and asked: “Lang-jiejie, does this mean things will be like this from now on?”

“Yes. Your Heavenly Eye has been sealed. From this day forward, you will no longer see or hear those shadowy entities. But just because you cannot see them does not mean they do not exist — you need not be afraid. In truth, there are many times when people are far more terrifying than ghosts and spirits. The human heart is difficult to fathom, and human nature even more unpredictable.”

Ou Yu’an paused at these words, a look of quiet contemplation crossing her face.

Woof.

A sudden bark rang out.

Ou Luozhong and the others startled, looking toward the source of the bark. Since when was there a dog?

“Nearly forgot.” Lang Jiuchuan walked over to the bamboo basket, lifted the lid, and drew out a tiny newborn puppy.

It was a black dog — its fur jet black with a lustrous sheen, smooth and gleaming, its pair of eyes bright and lively, extraordinarily well-behaved.

“This black dog — I brought it along myself. I have been caring for it for a few days now. It can already understand some simple commands, and I have consecrated a spiritual awareness within it. You may keep it from now on. It will serve as your eyes, guiding you away from dangerous things. Should any ghostly entity approach, it will warn and protect you as well.” Lang Jiuchuan guided Ou Yu’an’s hand to touch the dog, then placed the little creature in her hands. “Follow along with my spiritual consciousness. I will lead you to ‘see’ it.”

She placed a hand against Ou Yu’an’s Spirit Platform and led her spiritual essence to look upon the little black dog.

Girl and dog gazed at each other.

Ou Yu’an’s tears spilled over at once. And when the little black dog licked her palm, her emotions surged even more intensely.

Up on the rooftop, Jiangche tugged at one of its whiskers. They called her cold-hearted and unfeeling — yet on that very day, she had specifically taken it along to search for this dog. She had expended vital energy to consecrate it a spiritual awareness, not to mention training it for several days, all for the sake of giving this young girl a pair of eyes and a guardian spirit.

This person…

Truly impossible to see through.

Ou Luozhong did not even know what to say. This had been thought of with such thoroughness.

“Lang-jiejie, thank you for thinking so carefully on my behalf.” Ou Yu’an rose with the dog in her arms and bowed to her with quiet solemnity. “And thank you for giving me a life of peace.”

Lang Jiuchuan looked at the young girl through her spiritual consciousness and could not help reaching out to pat the top of her head. “For all the years ahead of you — live with abandon. A pair of eyes should never be the reason for a life to wither.”

“I will.”