Volume One, Chapter One: Three Years of Blindness

In the most chaotic urban village of Cloud City.

On the top floor of a grimy seven-story building, the harsh glare of a white incandescent bulb cast a cold, pallid light.

Ji Yunzhu lay trembling on a filthy sofa, her entire body shaking, her face tinged an unnatural blue, cold sweat beading on her brow. She was clearly enduring unspeakable agony.

Not far away, the ancient television flickered with scenes of dazzling stardom. “With her exquisite acting, she breathes soul into her roles... Her performance is a brilliant beam of light, illuminating the sky of world cinema. Li Susu—undoubtedly a true legend on the silver screen!”

“Let us welcome with rapturous applause the winner of this year’s Legend Cup for Best Actress—Miss Li Susu! Please welcome—”

Ji Yunzhu’s eyes flew open, revealing horrifying, empty sockets devoid of pupils.

Li Susu...

Her trembling hand reached up to her “eyes”—the spiritual pupils that once nestled in those sockets, that enabled her to perceive fortune and fate, to seek auspiciousness and avoid calamity. Three years ago, the very man she had pursued for seventeen years and nursed as his wife for five—her childhood sweetheart—had “donated” them to his beloved, the shining moon in his heart: Li Susu. A modern retelling of a woman robbed of her eyes for another, yet without the redemption of myth.

But unlike the fables, there was no return to divinity, no reclaiming of her lost sight. Born with spiritual eyes, Ji Yunzhu was swiftly devoured by their backlash after losing them, haunted by a hundred vengeful ghosts.

Meanwhile, Li Susu, gifted with her spiritual vision, soared to fame as the nation’s foremost metaphysical goddess, cherished and adored by Fu Mingyue.

Now, Ji Yunzhu was a rotting soul on the brink of death, decaying in the gutter, while the television broadcast Li Susu’s radiant ascent onto the world stage.

Her childhood love, Fu Mingyue—the richest young man on earth—was, at that very moment, kneeling before Li Susu, proposing marriage.

“Susu, will you marry me?”

His voice, so different from the cold impatience he once reserved for her, now hoarse, trembling with hope and excitement.

Though blind, Ji Yunzhu could picture the scene perfectly, every word from the television searing into her mind.

Hatred?

She drew a ragged breath. Her shivering grew more violent, her face drained of all color.

A sinister black aura began to coil around her, the chill biting deep into her bones. The agony of evil spirits gnawing at her soul eclipsed every ounce of regret, resentment, and despair.

Suddenly, she coughed up a mouthful of black blood, and the darkness swirled around her, ready to engulf her completely.

This time, Ji Yunzhu surrendered, letting the ghostly energy consume her last breath.

Her empty sockets stared into the void, veins bulging and writhing across her skin, her face twisted with pain and horror as she gasped her final breath.

...

A crisp slap broke the silence.

Ji Yunzhu’s head snapped to the side, disheveled hair falling across half her face. Her mind buzzed, blank and disoriented. What was happening? Hadn’t she just died, torn apart by a hundred ghosts in agony and misery?

Fu Mingyue’s hand still tingled from the blow, yet he didn’t hesitate—he slapped her once more, knocking the dazed Ji Yunzhu to the floor.

With a heavy thud, her head struck the ground, right on the shards of a broken teacup.

The temperature around Fu Mingyue plummeted. “Susu had no choice but to go abroad back then—you have no right to slander her!”

He left without a backward glance. He didn’t see the blood pooling around Ji Yunzhu.

Dizzy with pain, her eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Wasn’t this the scene when Li Susu had just returned to the country, and Fu Mingyue was rushing to the airport to meet her?

“Young Mistress! Young Mistress! Someone, hurry—she’s not breathing!”

Aunt Zhang’s panicked cries rang in her ears, and not far away, Fu Mingyue’s cold, impatient voice echoed.

“Ji Yunzhu! Have you caused enough trouble?!”

“Quick, call an ambulance!”

Aunt Zhang stared helplessly at Ji Yunzhu, blood staining her hair and face. Even the usually composed Butler He stood frozen, before rapidly grabbing the departing Fu Mingyue.

“Young Master! The young mistress is seriously hurt!”

Fu Mingyue shook off Butler He’s hand irritably, but just as he turned back, someone burst in through the Fu family’s gates—a tall, fair-skinned woman, radiant and alluring.

“Mingyue.”

“Susu?”

Fu Mingyue was stunned.

Li Susu strode into the house in high heels, her gaze bypassing Fu Mingyue and settling on the scene behind him.

“Young Mistress! Are you all right—?”

“I’m fine,” Ji Yunzhu replied, clutching her bleeding forehead, her face deathly pale—though she looked anything but fine.

Inside, her heart was far from calm.

Had she... been reborn?

Ji Yunzhu stared blankly at the blood on the floor, and scenes flashed before her eyes like a film reel.

She saw her own foolish past life—especially the moment when the “doctor” pressed the scalpel into her eyes.

The images rewound, second by second...

Back to the present.

Back to the blood pooling in her palm.

Had she truly been reborn?

Could she see again?

With trembling hands, Ji Yunzhu reached up, disbelief etched in her every movement, to touch her eyes.

They were no longer hollow...

Her spiritual pupils were still there!

Overcome with joy, she wept as she gazed at her bloodstained, quivering hands—she could see! She could see again!

“Susu, why are you here? I’m sorry—I promised to fetch you at the airport but was delayed.”

Fu Mingyue’s gentle voice drifted into Ji Yunzhu’s ears, dreamlike and distant. She jerked her head up in shock.

The instant she saw Li Susu, Ji Yunzhu instinctively locked onto her eyes—then frowned in confusion.

Li Susu.

Why was she here?

Ji Yunzhu now realized with certainty: this was the moment when Fu Mingyue was most determined to divorce her, desperate to greet Li Susu’s return with a clean slate.

Back then, she had refused to sign the divorce papers, having used her spiritual vision to foresee Fu Mingyue’s fatal car accident. To save him, she clung to him, refusing to let him go to the airport.

Even after being slapped and battered, she had crawled to his feet, clutching his trouser leg in pathetic desperation.

Perhaps her misery had moved him—Fu Mingyue had ultimately stayed, taking her to the hospital and avoiding the accident.

But Li Susu, on the way, was injured instead—her leg broken. Fu Mingyue, wracked with guilt, had only grown to hate Ji Yunzhu more.

Yet the Li Susu, who should have been flying and arriving at the airport later, had appeared at the Fu residence instead. Why?