Regaining Sight

Lu Yan opened his eyes to a blur of color. To be precise, it wasn't much of a color—just a brownish-yellow patch that he figured was probably the ceiling. It was just far too blurry, like looking through a sheet of frosted glass, or like being extremely nearsighted without glasses. He blinked. The blocks of color shifted slightly, but everything remained a complete blur. He wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real or if his mind was playing tricks on him.

“Am I still dreaming?” he muttered to himself, his voice dry and raspy from a long sleep. He closed his eyes, waited a moment, and opened them again. It was still the same brownish-yellow. He rubbed his eyes hard, his fingertips brushing against his eyelids, feeling the warm, soft sensation. The physical touch sent a signal back to his brain, clearly telling him that this was no dream.

His breathing visibly quickened. His chest rose and fell as a single thought surged in his mind: Don't play jokes on me with something like this. He had been blind for ten years, and for those ten years, his world had been nothing but darkness.

He didn't know how long he had been comatose, but he knew he could see now. Even if it was just blurry blocks of color, even if it was just a brownish-yellow ceiling, even if it was like extreme nearsightedness, and even if it was terribly indistinct, it finally had color. It finally had light. In the end, he could see.

Tears didn't fall, but his eyes were wet. He blinked hard several times, forcing back the stinging sensation. He didn't want his already blurry vision to become any blurrier.

At some point, his cultivation level had reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Feeling the spiritual energy in his dantian, it was much more robust than before, but it circulated sluggishly, like rusty gears that hadn't been used in a long time.

This mysterious breakthrough made him feel extremely uneasy rather than pleasantly surprised or happy. He felt an indescribable weight added to him, as if someone had placed something heavy on his shoulders while he was comatose. But the most unsettling part was that he had no idea what it was.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. All of destiny's gifts had already been marked with a price. Lu Yan didn't dare to think about the price of this near-rebirth transformation.

“Forget it, I won't think about it.” Supporting himself on the soft mattress, he tried to sit up. The moment he lifted himself slightly, the weight pressing on his chest shifted downward, heavy and suffocating. He instinctively reached out to feel it, but stopped halfway when he remembered his eyes were healed, chuckling at himself.

He raised his head and glanced slightly downward. A "snowball" was resting on his chest, fast asleep. Her white hair was spread out, covering him like a thin layer of snow. A bit of drool had even escaped from the corner of her mouth, wetting the clothes on his chest. Looking at her, he suddenly felt that maybe nothing was a big deal after all. Seeing Jiang Ci sleeping so deeply on top of him, he felt that everything should be fine. If things weren't fine, she wouldn't have fallen asleep, let alone so soundly and sweetly.

He wanted to gently pat her to wake her up. But as soon as he raised his hand, he realized his left hand had been tightly gripping her wrist the entire time without letting go. His knuckles were white, clutching her very tightly. He quickly pulled his hand back as if he had been burned, leaving a red mark on her wrist. He stared at the red mark for a moment, cursing himself in his mind for being so improper even while comatose. He didn't know how many days he had been unconscious, nor did he know where this place was. But his eyes could see now, and that was enough.

Perhaps because the movement of pulling his hand back was too abrupt, Jiang Ci was awakened by him. She furrowed her brows and sat up. Her eyes weren't open yet, squinting as she let out a yawn. “Mmh... huh?”

The sensation on her wrist felt off. She looked down and saw a red mark around her wrist, as if it had been gripped for a long time. Not minding it much, she rubbed her eyes, opened them, and saw Lu Yan, who had just sat up. He was looking at her. Both of them spoke at the same time.

“You're awake?”

“You're awake?”

Their voices collided, and both of them froze for a moment. Jiang Ci was the first to react. A faint blush crept onto her face, and she turned her face slightly away, avoiding his gaze. “I didn't mean to fall asleep on top of you.” Her voice was a bit rushed, as if explaining, or perhaps trying to cover something up. “You finally showed some signs of waking up yesterday, so I... I originally wanted to keep watch here all night, but I accidentally fell asleep anyway...” Her voice grew softer and softer until it was barely audible at the end.

Back when she still had her cultivation, she could go night after night without sleeping, meditating while spiritual energy circulated through her meridians, and the night would pass quickly. But now, she couldn't even open her qi sea. As a mortal in the Body Tempering stage, going a single day without sleep made her so tired she could barely lift her head. She had also tried to meditate, but it was useless; her dantian was completely empty, with nothing in it.

“It's fine.” Lu Yan shook his head. His voice was hoarse, but his tone was very gentle. “Where is this? How is Lao Wu?”

“This is Huamanlou in Everspring City, Second Aunt Hua's business.” Jiang Ci answered his questions one by one. “Yao Wu is fine, he just lost an arm...” Her tone was very flat when she said this, as if speaking of a very ordinary matter.

Lu Yan didn't ask further. He noticed that Jiang Ci didn't dare look at him when she spoke, her gaze dodging his, as if she were hiding something from him.

He looked at her, his gaze moving from her eyes to her wrist; the red mark still hadn't faded. Then he looked away. He realized he kept staring at her face, looking from left to right, right to left, from her eyebrows to her lips. He couldn't tear his eyes away. He had to admit he was a visual creature. He simply couldn't look away from beautiful people or things, and besides, this was the first time he was truly seeing her.

Uncomfortable under his gaze, Jiang Ci tried tilting her head to the left, and his face tilted to the left with her. She tilted her head to the right, and he followed to the right. A bold thought bloomed in her mind: Did he regain his sight? She stretched out her hand and waved it in front of his face, holding up one finger, then two, then five, her fingers moving rapidly as if performing some complex hand seal.

The corner of Lu Yan's mouth twitched. Was this girl really that silly? Even if she suspected he had regained his sight, couldn't she just ask? It wasn't like he wouldn't tell her. He grabbed her hand, which was about to poke his eyeball, and held it in his palm.

“Stop waving. I can see.”