In the morning, at the edge of the misty forest, a young girl wearing a black and purple cloak that covered her face was gathering fallen branches from the ground. After some time, it became clear that the young girl, or Vheena, was no longer gathering branches but instead was arranging them into a circle on the ground, deep in thought, pondering something that seemed very important.
'It's been five days since I’ve been staying at Gu Dandan’s house, trying to gather information by asking around in the village, but it’s all been in vain. They’re all just like Gu Dandan—they’ve never heard of the Fellow Sun continent. I even asked the hunters in the village about the ancient building in the misty forest, but unfortunately, they, too, had no idea that such a structure existed in the forest.'
'The villagers suggested I go to the city if I wanted the information I’m looking for, but unfortunately, the city is very far if I travel on foot. I also don’t have any money if I wanted to hitch a ride with one of the merchants passing through the village to go to the city.'
'The lack of information I’ve gathered makes me feel like I’m at a dead end. In the end, I really do need a cultivator if I want everything to go smoothly. Should I seriously consider finding a new disciple? Or would it be better to earn some money first so I can travel with the merchants to the city and then try to find a cultivator willing to help me… after I deceive them with my face?'
'…Wait a minute, why am I even trying so hard to find a way back? If I actually manage to return to my home in Death Forest, all I’ll get is more stress from pretending to be a master, straining my mind to create new techniques for my disciples. Wouldn’t it be better to just stay here, living at Little Dandan’s place? Here, I don’t even have to go through the trouble of acting like an expert or coming up with techniques that make my headache. With the high cultivation levels of my disciples and my pet, they should be able to take care of themselves. Maybe it’s better for me to stay here, right?'
As Vheena thought this, a pang of guilt stirred in her heart. She felt conflicted, knowing she was considering staying with Gu Dandan to escape her responsibilities to her disciples, her pet, and her maid, rather than finding a way home to reunite with them.
“Haaaaah… I’m such a jerk for even thinking like that. How could I come up with such thoughts? The stress I’m feeling is all my own doing—I’m the one who started pretending to be an expert. I shouldn’t run away from my responsibilities toward my disciples, my pet, and my maid. I’m ashamed for even having these thoughts… Well, forget it. It’s time I head back to Little Dandan’s place. I’ve spent too long here brooding over pointless things. I’d be better off helping Little Dandan than sitting here, and I’m sure a way to return to my home in Death Forest will come to me eventually. And if I truly can’t come up with a plan, I still have a backup option—using my deceptive face to persuade a powerful cultivator to help me get back. Though I’d rather avoid that since it’s more dangerous than beneficial.”
After talking to herself at the mist-covered edge of the forest, unheard by anyone, Vheena resumed gathering branches to use as firewood. Once she had collected enough, she tied the bundle and carried it back to Gu Dandan’s house.
When she arrived back at Gu Dandan’s house and went inside, Vheena noticed that Gu Dandan wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen. After setting down the firewood in the kitchen, she headed to the herb preparation room, where she was certain Gu Dandan would be.
Seeing Gu Dandan busy grinding dried plants with a smooth stone until they turned to powder, then mixing them with another unknown powder, seemingly to prepare a medicine, Vheena didn’t interrupt her. Instead, she sat down in an empty chair, watching Gu Dandan with admiration as she worked.
‘Truly, this little girl is amazing. I don’t know how she manages to do all of this without injuring herself—and she even prepares medicine flawlessly despite her blindness. Out of curiosity, I once asked her about it, but she only said it was because she’d gotten used to it after being taught by her grandpa healer. That answer didn’t satisfy me at all.’
‘But come to think of it, I remember reading on the internet back on Earth that blind people often have a heightened sense of hearing, touch, taste, and smell to make up for their lack of sight. Could that be why she can live like an ordinary person without any problems, even though she can’t see? …Or maybe this little girl is just pretending to be blind but actually has some special eyes, like the narrow-eyed character I once read about in a novel back in my world—if I remember correctly, that character was cunning, loved to act weak, and turned out to be the final boss. Could it be that this little girl is pretending to be weak like that character, just to deceive me? Then again, why would she try to deceive me, an ordinary human? Haaaah… why am I even imagining that Gu Dandan has special eyes? It feels like I’m insulting her by thinking this way…’
“…But it would be interesting if little Dandan really did have some kind of special eye power.” Vheena muttered aloud, unaware that she was voicing her thoughts.
“UGH! GUH! AAAKH!”
While Vheena was daydreaming about Gu Dandan, she was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of Gu Dandan crying out in pain. Alarmed, Vheena rushed over to her, seeing Gu Dandan clutching her eyes in agony.
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“Gu Dandan, w-what’s wrong? Why are you screaming like that?”
“Ahhh! Sister! My eyes hurt so much! Please help me!”
“W-what should I do to make the pain go away?”
“P-please! Ugh! It hurts!”
'Damn! W-what should I do? How can I stop her eyes from hurting? Could something like chili help? No, that’s ridiculous! I can’t think of anything! My mind’s all over the place! Besides, I’m not a doctor! What should I do?'
As Vheena frantically tried to think of a way to help Gu Dandan, she noticed that Gu Dandan, who had been crying out in pain, suddenly went silent and still. Concerned, Vheena wanted to ask her how she was, but before she could speak, she saw Gu Dandan lower her hands from her eyes and look directly at her, wide-eyed, which left Vheena stunned.
‘Huh? This little girl is opening her eyes and looking at me? Didn’t she just say her eyes were in terrible pain? Where’s the blood or any sign of injury? In fact, it seems like her eyes are completely focused on me. Isn’t she supposed to be blind? But I don’t see any of the usual signs of blindness in her eyes; instead, her bright green eyes are staring at me intently, and they look so beautiful.’
While Vheena was lost in thought, marveling at Gu Dandan’s eyes, she suddenly noticed that Gu Dandan, who had been staring at her, was now reaching out with both hands toward her. When Gu Dandan’s hands reached her chest, Vheena felt her touch her cautiously, almost as if she were examining her.
‘This little girl, what exactly is she doing? Why is she touching my stomach? Eh, why is she touching my chest now? Ahn~ stop… Guh, damn it! How could I moan like a woman after my chest was touched! Even though the moan was only in my mind and did not come out of my mouth, it was still so direct! Could it be that I am being molested by a 12 year old little girl? And now why is her hand touching my face? What exactly is she doing? Ugh, how long is she going to touch me-‘
“No mistake! Big sister! Dandan can see!”
“Can see? Little Dandan, aren’t you blind? How did you recover from your blindness?”
“Dandan doesn’t know either. Suddenly, Dandan can see after the pain in my eyes stopped tormenting me… Is this your hair? Why is the color different from Dandan’s hair? What’s the name of this color?”
“O-oh, yes, what you’re holding is my hair. The color is white, different from your black hair.”
After Vheena said this, she watched as Gu Dandan shifted her gaze from her to everything in the herb preparation room.
“O-oh, woah! Dandan can see everything! Is this a chair? T-this is what it looks like when you see it! And this… a table? Woah! Woah! This is a wall!”
‘Guh, this little girl is so cute when she’s amazed by everything. Watching this energetic loli makes my heart melt,’ Vheena thought as she observed Gu Dandan’s excited reactions.
“This is the ground! And this is Blue Lit grass—Ugh!”
“W-what’s wrong, little Dandan? Is your eye hurting again?”
“Yes, sister, it feels like my eyes are being stabbed when I look at all the herbs. But strangely, there are weird words entering my mind when I see the herbs.”
‘Weird words? What does she mean?’
“What kind of weird words, little Dandan? Can you tell me?”
“What I mean by weird words is that when I look at this herb, it’s like the words are telling my brain that the herb I’m holding is called Blue Lit, which has healing properties. And Blue Lit, when mixed with other herbs, can also enhance its effects or even turn poisonous… Those are the kinds of words that come into my brain, sister.”
‘Woah! Did this little girl just say her eyes have the ability to provide information about a plant? …Somehow, it feels so strange that she suddenly has this ability after I imagined her having special eyes. Well, I’ll set aside that odd coincidence for now. I need to find out just how far this little girl’s eyesight can go.’
“Little Dandan, can you see information about things other than herbs?”
Upon hearing Vheena's question, Gu Dandan immediately looked around the room, scanning all the items and herbs present. After a few moments, she stopped her exploration, wincing in pain as she relayed her findings to Vheena.
“Ugh, I’ve seen everything, sister. Besides being able to see information from all the plants, it seems I can also see the names, properties, and drawbacks of all the animal parts I’ve dried in this room. But it looks like I can’t get any information from you, the walls, the chairs, or other inanimate objects.”
‘Hmm… It seems this little girl’s eyes have the ability to provide information about the names, properties, and drawbacks of plants and animals, and they can even indicate new effects when those plants and animals are combined. Is her eyesight specifically tailored for healing? It certainly sounds that way from what I’ve heard, especially since she said her eyes can’t obtain information from inanimate objects like chairs. Also, since her eyes hurt when receiving information, can she deactivate this ability? I’m curious.’
“Little Dandan, can you turn off your eye's ability?”
“Turn off my eye's ability? How do I do that, sister?”
‘How would I know? But maybe she’s confused by my answer, so I’ll just have her try something random to see what happens.’
“…Just try closing your eyes or something like that.”
“Alright, sister… Hmm? This is really strange; Dandan can see even with my eyes closed.”
“You can see with your eyes closed?”
“Yes, sister! Look, I’m looking at you with my eyes closed. If you don’t believe me, I can also tell you the locations of all the objects in this room, like the glass to the left of the table, the dried Green Ant plants hanging over there, and there’s an ant on the ground over there…” Gu Dandan replied, pointing and naming the items with her eyes still shut.
‘Woah! It’s so strange to see her being able to see even when her eyes are closed. If that’s the case, won’t this little girl be unable to sleep since her eyes remain open even when closed? Well, whatever, maybe she can still sleep with her eyes open?’
“Little Dandan, try looking at the plants and animal parts in this room with your eyes closed. Is any information still entering your mind or not?”
“Hmm… hmm… hmm… no, sister! The information isn’t coming into Dandan’s brain anymore!”
“In that case, you should keep your eyes closed if you don’t want your eyes to hurt when you accidentally get information by looking at the plants or animals around you.”
“Okay, sister!”
‘With this girl’s ability awakened, doesn’t that mean she’s one of the special people like RuanRuan and Xianxiu? There’s no way I can just let her ability go to waste. Sorry, Dandan-chan, but Vheena-sama is going to trick you into becoming my third disciple. And having you as my disciple will help me return to the Fellow Sun continent! What unexpected luck! But before that, I must pretend to be an expert once again. Let’s do this!’