Chapter 3 - The Gift Of Sight
In the city square, the markets were open and bustling with chatter. The adults shopped while the children ran rampant through the streets.
Within the crowd there was an 18 years old boy. His silk robes were torn and ragged, his hair was tied up in a mess, and face dirtied, but the most disturbing thing of all was the bandage that wrapped around his eyes like a blindfold. They were bloodied as if his eyes had been recently gouged out. The boy walked as if he had just crawled out of a grave. Many of the store owners cursed inwardly because he was scaring away the customers. This boy was Xiao Fang.
He had been traveling for 5 days now. The pain in his eyes gradually disappeared and eventually stopped bleeding. Just like how we might not realize when a fire alarm stops beeping, Xiao Fang didn"t realize his eyes were feeling fine until much after the fact.
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Xiao Fang eventually exited the city and entered an area that was lush green with vegetation. He found a place to sit next to a medium sized pond then began to remove the bandage that wrapped around his eyes. He cupped a hand full of water, then washed his face with it. He did it two more times before completely submerging his head under water. Feeling refreshed, he took off his clothes then jumped in.
Once he was done was.h.i.+ng himself, he took out a clean robe from his spatial pouch, then slipped them on in an extremely odd way. The top half of his robes hung over his belt, exposing his toned muscular body. He put his blindfold back on then prepared to leave.
"It won"t be long till I reach the Black Paradise sect now", he thought to himself.
The moment he took his first step, his focus increased, and his field of view grew many folds. It was at that moment that he realized someone was watching him.
"There"s no point in hiding, I can see you. Come out and tell me why you are following me", despite only finding out now, he spoke in a tone that made him seem as if he had always known, and was only now getting tired of playing along.
After some time pa.s.sed, a girl finally stepped out. "H-how did you know?" she asked. This girl wore the robes of some sect he was unfamiliar with, but she didn"t look much older than he was. She wore an apologetic look on her face, her cheeks were as red as peaches, and her head was slightly lowered as if she was expecting to be berated.
Xiao Fang, understood how she felt since he was a pervert himself. "I heard you", he said kindly while pointing at his ear.
The girl took a few seconds to reply, "I didn"t mean to peak at you, I just wanted to know what happened to your eyes".
"My eyes?". He thought perhaps she was stupid and couldn"t tell that he was blind, but if he could see the blood that stained his bandages he might of understood her state of mind. Xiao Fang was silent, ever since he drank the elixir, he never once checked to see if it had worked. So, after some thought, he decided to try them out.
The girl seemed to have something to say, but she stopped herself once she noticed him removing his blindfold. She curiously lowered her head in a tilt to follow his line of sight. Once his eyes were open, she couldn"t stop herself from gasping.
"Wow~ they"re so beautiful".
Her words mirrored Xiao Fang"s thoughts exactly. Until today, he had never even seen shades of white or grey, much less colours. But standing before him was nearly every colour imaginable. The vibrant colours of the brightly lit up forest, flowers, s.h.i.+mmering pond, and cloudless sky, but the most shocking of all being the beautiful girl that was standing right in front of him.
She had long black hair, wore emerald earrings that matched the colour of her eye, her skin was as fair as jade, and she had a slim figure with generous proportions. If any ordinary person were to see her, they would think she was a G.o.ddess.
To Xiao Fang, all of it was captured within a single glance. For the first time in his life, he felt his eyes watering. This picture perfect image will forever be engraved into his soul. What a precious gift this was. The gift of sight.
Xiao Fang"s eyes were violet. His abnormally coloured eyes struck her speechless. After sometime, the girl was the first to speak. "Are... are you crying?" She noticed his eyes watering up.
"Ah no, that"s not it... My eyes are just sensitive to light, that"s why I carry blindfolds around", he said the first thing that came to mind.
"Ah I see, My name is Li Lian, what is your name?".
Xiao Fang is the son of a famous sect"s Patriarch, there was no telling how many enemies they might have outside their walls.
So, after a quick thought, he decided to keep his ident.i.ty a secret and lie about his surname. In a rush to speak he accidentally used her surname.
"I am Li... Fang".
"You are also surnamed Li? What a pleasant surprise", she smiled. "Wher-" before she could finish asking her question, a man"s voice suddenly rang out from behind her:
"Junior Disciple Li, where are you!". It was extremely faint but they both heard it.
"Dammit, how did he find me already", she said with a shocked expression. Without thinking, she grabbed Xiao Fang"s hand then started running, but upon realizing what she was doing, she immediately let go. Xiao Fang, being unaccustomed to using his eyes, frequently tripped so he closed his eyes and used his ears to run at a pace that matched hers.
They ran for more than an hour, before she finally stopped. "Let"s hide. I can"t run anymore", she said, struggling to say each word. Not waiting for his response she pulled him into a large fallen hollow log that was roughly 3 feet in diameter and 10 meters long.
She had gone in first. After they were inside she started feeling uncomfortable. She quickly realized Xiao Fang must have been facing her b.u.t.t as she crawled up the hollowed log. As soon as the thought crossed her mind she felt something touch her.
"Eek" she screamed.
"You little devil, you dare touch me!", she berated him.
"It was an accident", he said with an innocent expression.
She didn"t hesitate to call him out on his bulls.h.i.+t. "Don"t give me that excuse, quickly get infront of me" she growled.
She went from all fours to laying flat on her stomach. After a moment"s thought, she said "wait", then turned to her back. She didnt want to give him a second chance to do the same shameful act so she crossed her arms while cupping her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in each hand.
"Now come", she said.
Xiao Fang moved up the hollowed log, trying not to touch her body. He stopped moving once he was face to face with her and only a head width apart. She turned her head to the side, refusing to look his way.
"K-keep going, why"d you stop?", she asked.
He slightly turned his head as if he was listening for something. He heard the man running towards them, but what shocked Xiao Fang was how far he could hear him coming from.
Xiao Fang in the 8th stage of the body refinement realm could hear anything as far as 300 feet away, but in the 1st stage of the solid body realm he could hear things as far as 700 feet away. However, the man was way farther than that, he was several kilometers away.
It wasn"t Xiao Fang"s doing, it was the man coming towards them. It was the first time Xiao Fang heard someone use their spirit powers to amplify the sound of their voice. He"s been stuck around body cultivators all his life, the spirit cultivation world was a complete mystery to him.
"That man, he"s moving much faster now, but he still has a long way to go. It looks like he"s tracking our footsteps", he whispered.
She got a nervous feeling that he was telling the truth. It would explain how he was able to find her here in the first place. She was becoming more curious as to who this boy was, but also more anxious because of the situation at hand.
Slowly his body neared hers. He was now so close that she could smell his masculine scent, feel his warm breath tickling her skin, and hear his heart beat beating in sync with hers.
Her body got hot and tingley. She unexpectedly started recalling the memory of him bathing in the pond naked, her face flushed red once again.
Suddenly, without thinking, she planted her hand onto his chest then slightly pushed him away. Although she was trying to make s.p.a.ce between them, by doing so, she inevitably felt his muscles, reminding her of the time he was naked in the pond.
Xiao Fang, feeling the pressure from her hand, pressed his back up against the roof of the hollow log. By doing so, his muscles tightened, such a small and trivial thing didn"t escape her hand and eyes, and that turned her on even more.
Body cultivators, like Xiao Fang, have extremely strong bodies unlike most spirit cultivators. Even more so for a solid body realm cultivator.
His body wasn"t dry yet from was.h.i.+ng himself earlier so she felt the warm water dripping on her skin. Warm, because of the heat emanating from his body.
She almost couldn"t restrain her hands from wandering his body, but also couldn"t take them off his chest.
Their previous formalities had been broken and she now had little regards for discretion. This has been the closest she has ever been with a man and didn"t think something like this would happen anytime soon.
"Look at me", she whispered.
Xiao Fang, who was completely focused on what was going on outside, turned his head to face hers once again. He opened his eyes but what he saw was far from what he was expecting. She looked like she was sweating, but she was releasing a sweat yet l.u.s.trous aura.
"Li Fang... Do you like me", she asked.
Xiao Fang was flabbergasted. "What happened just now? why did her expression change so drastically? Did she knock her head on the way in here?", he couldn"t help but think the situation was a bit too strange.
He stared deeply into her eyes then told her the truth, "My name isn"t Li Fang, its... Xiao Fang".
Taking that as some sort of answer she kissed him. Xiao Fang was not experienced enough to understand why her behavior changed so suddenly, but he was no ameture either.
She only kissed him, but with his experience with women, he understood this was his golden opportunity. A mysterious light s.h.i.+ned in his eyes. From this point onwards, her body would be his for the taking.