Lang Jiuchuan walked out of Ou Yu’an’s courtyard with a satin ribbon wrapped around her eyes, giving Jian Lan such a fright that the girl’s face was written over with distress. How in the world was she going to explain this to the household?

“It is only that I cannot be exposed to light for a few days. There is nothing seriously wrong. There is no need for such a worried face — I can see perfectly well.” She could still perceive things through her spiritual consciousness, after all.

Jian Lan forced a smile and murmured haltingly: “It is just — I fear Madam and the others may find this difficult to accept.”

Ou Luozhong, standing nearby, was overcome with remorse. He asked: “Should I call for an imperial physician to take your pulse and prescribe something for a few days?”

“I know medicine myself.” Lang Jiuchuan said those words — and then was struck by a sudden, momentary blankness.

She knew how to draw talismans, knew pharmacology, knew medicine — she knew many things. And yet it was not possible that she had been born knowing all of it. At most, her natural gifts were somewhat stronger, her comprehension of the Dao sharper than most — but all of this required someone to have led her to the threshold and shown her the way in.

So who had that person been?

And where were they now?

Everyone present watched as her expression shifted through several changes in rapid succession, as though she had fallen deep into thought. They exchanged glances in bewilderment.

Jiangche, who had been watching the thunder cloud overhead with a fraying temper, snapped: “Stop letting your mind wander. That thunder cloud still refuses to strike — what is it waiting for? Don’t tell me it plans to hit you with one massive bolt and put a miserable end to you after all?”

Lang Jiuchuan did indeed snap back to the present. She tilted her head, using her spiritual consciousness to observe the thunder cloud that seemed to be following her as she moved, and came to a stop.

It was an enormous mass of thunder clouds — yet the Heavenly Tribulation showed no sign of descending. She had defied Heaven and altered destiny with such audacity; by all rights, the Dao of Heaven should have punished her already. Yet the lightning refused to fall. What was it waiting for?

Was it toying with her? Or was it waiting to strike her at the most unexpected, unavoidable moment?

Was it letting the thunder cloud hang above her head like a suspended blade — wearing her down with anxiety and restless frustration, just as it was wearing on Jiangche?

The expression on Lang Jiuchuan’s face turned cold as ice. “What cannot be avoided, cannot be avoided. Whatever is coming will come sooner or later. Why trouble yourself over it? If it has the nerve, let it strike me dead. If it cannot strike me dead, then I win.”

At worst, she would return to the Underworld and then find an opportunity to be reborn.

Thunder cloud: What a brazen woman!

Very well then — since that is your attitude, do not blame me for what comes next. This is punishment you have brought upon yourself in any case.

Take this lightning!

Lang Jiuchuan’s entire body went rigid. In an instant, her form shot forward like a hunting leopard — with a speed so blinding that Jian Lan and the others had no time to react before she was already dozens of paces away.

And then, the sky let out a single deafening thunderclap, and a bolt of lightning drove straight down toward a certain person.

Boom.

The ground-shaking, heaven-rending impact.

The people of Wu Jing were startled and looked skyward. Thunder in the depths of winter was not unheard of — could a great calamity be coming?

But the sky, though not the clear blue of summer, showed no signs of rain. The thunder was a genuine oddity.

Inside the Ou Residence, however, several piercing screams rang out in quick succession.

Jian Lan’s eyes went black as she crumpled softly to the ground.

Ou Luozhong’s face drained to a ghastly pallor. He stared at the person who had been struck by the lightning bolt — a great cloud of black smoke had erupted from the impact — and his heart felt as though a hand had grabbed it, squeezing it into a tight, agonized knot.

It was over. This time it was truly over.

The Ou Family and the Lang Family were going to be blood enemies from this day forth.

“Quick — quick—” Ou Luozhong’s legs shook like a sieve. He gestured desperately to his son beside him — go save her, go find a physician, maybe there is still hope.

Ou Luozhong’s second son was equally ashen-faced, eyes wide with horror. She had been struck with terrifying precision — was there any hope at all?

As for Jiangche — its spiritual consciousness had been numbed by the blast, leaving it in a pitiful, nearly-dissipating state. Could someone please tell it — when you form a Heaven-and-Earth Covenant, do you also have to help bear the karmic backlash and take a share of the lightning tribulation?

Had it truly fallen into a pit of no return?

Lang Jiuchuan lay on the ground, breathing in ragged gasps. In her hand, she still clutched the Vajra Pagoda. The residual thunder intent from the strike was still circulating through the body of the pagoda, crackling with faint arcs of electricity.

“When did you bring it out?” Jiangche gathered every last bit of its spiritual will and forced its scattered consciousness back together. When it caught sight of the Vajra Pagoda, it stared in stunned disbelief.

Or was it imagining things? The lingering malevolent ghostly energy that had clung to the Vajra Pagoda seemed to have dissipated. It was no longer that suffocating, oppressive dark presence it had been before.

Jiangche leapt forward to crouch on Lang Jiuchuan’s chest for a closer look — and was immediately rebuked: “Do not move. My bones are fractured.”

Jiangche quickly jumped back. It took in her appearance — face alternating between crimson and white, hair standing on end, still trailing wisps of black smoke, her clothing hanging off her in tatters like strips of old rags. This was the first time it had ever seen her this wretched, this pitiable a state.

There are no windfalls in this world that come without a price.

So this was the truth behind what she had said. For the sake of a pair of Eyes, she had defied Heaven and altered destiny, willingly accepting the celestial punishment — even if it meant gambling her life.

She had been willing to push this far for the sake of rebuilding her physical body. Then when she found her missing soul fragments, uncovered the truth of her death and life — how far would she push?

Jiangche thought of what she had said to that fierce little ghost: I will not stop until one of us is dead.

Lang Jiuchuan had no idea what Jiangche was thinking. She only looked at the Vajra Pagoda and answered its earlier question: “Lightning tribulation is the most righteous and domineering force in existence. Since I had to endure one anyway, why not make use of it? I put it to work — let its overwhelming force of thunder and lightning purge the malevolent ghostly energy lurking inside this pagoda. That saves me the trouble of spending my own efforts to draw down lightning in the future.”

She smiled — though blood welled at the corner of her mouth. She wiped it away. “Besides, it was always a treasure in its own right. Even with the ghostly energy tarnishing it, its true power was never fully suppressed. It served as a shield to help me absorb some of this celestial punishment.”

See? She had not been struck free of her physical body, had she?

Jiangche: “You had it all planned out from the beginning? And never said a word to me.”

How had a mind like that come to be?

Lang Jiuchuan said: “Affairs succeed when handled in secret. And let this also be a lesson for you — even the deepest trust should hold something in reserve. Even when it comes to me — do not surrender everything. Always keep one part back. Consider it a safeguard, a last resort.”

Jiangche listened, and for some reason felt a flicker of displeasure rise within it. With a cool edge to its voice, it said: “Without absolute trust, would a companion dare hand you their back? Even nine parts of trust with one part held back — that one part is still a calculation. Is there truly no one in this world worthy of your full, unreserved ten parts of trust?”

“I would very much like to know that myself — whether such a person exists. If they do, then I am fortunate indeed. And as for whether I have ever been betrayed by someone I trusted so completely — then that would be my misfortune.” Lang Jiuchuan was not angered. Her voice was simply cold and measured. “Jiangche — is there truly no calculation between you and me? In such a short span of time, can you truly claim ten parts of trust? Would you believe that yourself?”

Jiangche was caught short. The logic was sound enough — yet laid out this rationally, it felt somewhat unsatisfied.

“Do not come any closer — go and bring me a large cloak from my maidservant.” Lang Jiuchuan suddenly spoke up, addressing the figure approaching from a short distance away.

Ou Pu had been a hollow husk of despair inside — and to suddenly hear that voice brought such a surge of wild relief that she nearly wept. She was alive.

Jiangche heard those words, glanced once at Lang Jiuchuan’s current state, and instinctively moved to block her from view. But it caught itself immediately — it was only a spiritual consciousness. What exactly was it shielding? Anyone who wanted to see could see everything perfectly well.

Also — she did not even trust it with ten full parts. Why should it be looking out for her?

Jiangche, in a fit of pique, retreated directly into the Spirit Platform and fell silent.

It was throwing a tantrum.

Lang Jiuchuan slowly sat up, took the Vajra Pagoda in hand, and said nothing. But the look in her eyes carried a depth of meaning.

What she had just said had not been idle words. When the lightning tribulation struck, her spirit had briefly wavered, and in that flash — something like a dark and unwelcome memory had surfaced.

Someone had once betrayed her. And it had been someone very close.

Thank you for writing and reading alongside me — it makes me feel like I am not walking through this story alone. Wonderful!