Chapter 1

To be honest, it wasn’t my dog that was hungry. It was me.

Thanks to Master Li of the cloth shop, I hadn’t eaten in three days.

All because I’d refused to become his second son’s concubine. He’d sent men to block the alley and chase me away.

So when I noticed someone standing before me, I immediately stretched out my bowl, trying to look as pitiful as possible.

“Sir, my little dog is starving. Could you spare something to eat?”

Pea Pudding played along beautifully, wagging his tail before burrowing into my arms with a whimper.

The man froze for a moment. Then he asked, startled and anxious, “What are you doing here?”

What was so strange about that?

The local beggars had their own gangs and occupied all the busiest spots in town.

I was an outsider and blind besides. To avoid being bullied, I had to hide in the most out-of-the-way corners of its alleys.

While I was trying to work out how to make this sound more wretched, Pea Pudding suddenly leaped from my arms.

He stopped in front of the man, barking with excitement.

He certainly didn’t look as if he were starving to death.

“It’s only been three years. Even Pea Pudding remembers me…

“How could you have forgotten?”

His voice softened, brushing against my heart like a spring breeze through reeds.

Apparently he knew me.

But I knew only a handful of young men, and he definitely wasn’t one of them.

I was about to ask when I heard him draw a sharp breath.

“What happened to your eyes?”

I chuckled. “They went blind. But sir, you sound as though you know me. Who exactly are—”

“Ah Fu, don’t call me sir.”

There was a trace of pity in his voice.

“It’s me. Ying Que.”

Ying Que.

The name brought a memory rushing back, startlingly clear.

By the river in Apricot Village, with a thunderstorm approaching, a young man as lovely as jade had stood in his flowing robes and slaughtered every demon in the water with a single sword.

Then the mist had cleared, and daylight had broken through the clouds.

Three years had passed, but I remembered it as vividly as ever.

I’d thought I would never see him again.

Yet here he was.

I didn’t know what to feel.

Meeting an old friend should have been a happy occasion. But things had changed, and I was in such a sorry state.

As I agonized, a voice inside me cried—

Run! Run now! Hurry!

So I jumped up, picked a direction at random, and bolted.

Ying Que’s voice followed me.

“Ah Fu! Why are you running?

“You’ve left your dog behind!”

Abandoned, Pea Pudding gave a pitiful bark, apparently hoping to stir his mistress’s affection.

Unfortunately, I didn’t even turn my head.

Pea Pudding, you belong to Ying Que now.

You’ll eat well from now on. You might even become the Celestial Hound’s little sidekick!

Blind as I was, I couldn’t see the road. All I could do was run headlong.

Suddenly I sensed someone in front of me.

I couldn’t dodge in time. I hit his chest and landed hard on my backside.

Ying Que held Pea Pudding in one arm and helped me up with the other.

Then he asked, sounding amused, “You know who I am, and you still tried to run? Did you think you could outrun me?”

Rubbing my sore bottom, I protested, “You’re an immortal. Isn’t it cheating to race a mortal? Besides, what’s so impressive about outrunning a blind person?”

Failing to outrun one would be the embarrassing part.

Ying Que said nothing. He simply stood facing me in silence.

The scent of fragrant wood still lingered at my nose from our accidental collision.

After a long while, he asked gravely, “Ah Fu, what happened after I left?”

Even without sight, I could feel the weight of his gaze.

Knowing I couldn’t hide it from him, I lowered my head and smiled bitterly.

“I’m sorry, Brother Ying. I lost the house you gave me.”