Fairy, Don't Be Afraid, I Am Blind

The morning light falls through the window lattice, resting on Wangshu’s near-perfect face, faintly radiant.

Her features seem sculpted from moonlight, gentle yet sharp; her brows are like willow leaves, eyes alluringly hooked, like a snake captivating one’s soul; her nose is straight and delicate, with a slightly upturned tip; her lips are soft and full, colored like ripe cherries, as if hiding the secrets of spring, tempting one to explore further.

This is undoubtedly a face that could drive men across the world mad, an artistic masterpiece that gathers the beauty of the world into one.

Wangshu caresses her own face in the mirror, but suddenly feels somewhat unfamiliar.

Is this me?

The self in her memory... seems to still be the face of the Jade Rabbit Mask...

"Wangshu Fairy, you wouldn’t want your junior brother’s recently revived Bihua Pavilion to go bankrupt immediately, would you?"

These words from Venerable Qianhua lingered in her ears, and Wangshu couldn’t help but recall that day’s conversation...

"Bihua Pavilion won’t go bankrupt, I trust my junior brother!"

Wangshu firmly declared, clenching her pink fist.

Venerable Qianhua simply shook her head with a smile, "You’re thinking too simply. Your Bihua Pavilion started by plagiarizing our Qianhua Pavilion, believing that a low-price strategy alone could carve out its own sky. But have you considered that if Qianhua Pavilion also lowers costs and prices, what will your Bihua Pavilion have to compete with us? Even if Qianhua Pavilion halved the price of all its clothes, Qianhua Pavilion would still profit."

Wangshu didn’t understand this, but could sense from this woman’s endless talking the confidence, and full malice towards Bihua Pavilion.

She doesn’t like this Venerable Qianhua.

"The Celestial Technique Chief sent me here to exorcise evil spirits. If there aren’t any, then I’ll leave."

With that, Wangshu Fairy was about to rise.

"Don’t be hasty, Wangshu Fairy. I’ve already caught the evil spirit."

Venerable Qianhua said, smiling gently as she took out a jade plate.

Upon the jade plate, however, was nothing but emptiness.

Venerable Qianhua overturned the plate, unexpectedly dropping another plate, but that dropped plate transformed into the shape of the tea table as soon as it hit it!

If Wangshu hadn’t seen its transformation, she would have thought it was merely part of the tea table.

"Does Wangshu Fairy recognize this evil spirit?"

Wangshu shook her head.

"I named it—Thousand-Faced Spot, a unique evil spirit within the flesh-and-blood realm that does not rely on brute force to kill. It can change into anything you want to see. Most importantly, once it changes, there’s not a single trace of evil spirit left visible. You might think you’ve seen various terrifying evil spirits and are convinced none can hide from your eyes. But as long as its evil aura is concealed, it’s not afraid of being seen, for even if you do see it, you won’t recognize it. Wangshu Fairy, isn’t it miraculous?"

Venerable Qianhua raised her brows, looking with great interest at the masked girl.

"It’s very dangerous," Wangshu said coldly.

"Indeed, it’s dangerous. There was once a man infatuated with me, who used it to transform into my maid and tried to quietly approach me. His act was flawless, but he revealed his flaw when I punished him, allowing me to find out in time."

"So you’ve been keeping it all this time."

Wangshu focused her gaze, recalling in her upbringing that those who kept company with evil spirits were bad people.

"Ever since I took charge of it, it hasn’t harmed anyone. It’s more accurate to say I am controlling it rather than keeping it. Because if it wanted to hide, even your Celestial Technique Chief might not find it out. Wangshu Fairy, don’t wrong a good person..."

"You’re a bad person."

Venerable Qianhua laughed involuntarily, shaking her head:

"Wangshu Fairy is too innocent. Your enemy isn’t necessarily a bad person. Furthermore, I... am not your enemy."

"I’m not dumb. You could just kill it directly, and it wouldn’t be able to harm anyone. Keeping it makes you a bad person."

Wangshu’s aura grew intense, as if she was about to draw her sword at any moment.

"Then what about the Celestial Technique Chief at your Exorcism Bureau? Others may not know, but I know that he has quite a few evil spirits kept by his side. Does that make him a bad person too? Why don’t you punish him?"

This question made Wangshu’s aura falter, hesitating:

"The Celestial Technique Chief uses evil spirits to battle evil spirits. It doesn’t make him bad, but not necessarily good either."

"Silly child..." Venerable Qianhua scooped the Thousand-Faced Spot back onto the plate, which merged with the jade disc, "I haven’t done anything bad while keeping it, so can’t be considered bad, can I? In fact, not only have I not done bad things, but I intend to use it for good—very good things..."

"What good things?"

Venerable Qianhua looked at Wangshu’s Jade Rabbit Mask, speaking to the clear blue eyes beneath:

"I want to use it to give you a face..."

Wangshu’s eyes widened instantly, all the complex thoughts of the girl displayed within those blue eyes.

The other person truly had no malice, she indeed wanted to give her a face...

But this was a secret agreed upon with her master, who could possibly know?

Venerable Qianhua seemed to see through the girl’s thoughts, smiling:

"I’ve seen too many women in Qianhua Pavilion; who doesn’t wish for their beauty to be seen? Those who occasionally wear masks might feel their beauty brings unnecessary woes; but those who wear masks permanently, ultimately believe that face should not be shown. Wangshu Fairy, don’t you want to remove this mask?"

Wangshu stared dazedly at herself in the giant mirror behind Venerable Qianhua.

The mask seemed welded onto her face.

Of course she wanted to remove it, or she wouldn’t have said to her master in the pool, "Master, I want to take it off."

Her master seemed relieved at the time and encouraged her, "Just be bold and do it."