Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 729 (1): The Increasingly Human Blind Woman

Teaching him directly had not caused any catastrophes. At the very least, it proved that teaching in this kind of “gray area” manner did not necessarily violate any rules.

Or perhaps it was something deeper: the rules existed, but the blind woman possessed the ability to bypass them to some extent without incurring any consequences. Clearly, she was not some passive artifact spirit bound to the tome’s laws. Her actions were simply too deliberate to deny her agency. Dragging people over from another world, for example, or even directly attacking someone back at Kunlun—if she truly were a mere treasure spirit bound by hard rules, there was no way she could have done any of that.

Now that I think about it, back in Kunlun, that must have been the Dao Lord... It seems like they were an overwhelmingly powerful figure. I mean, even Yuxu had no choice but to appease him, and Ye Wuzong was so wary that he stayed as far away as possible, retreating to as far as Miaojiang. Yet, this supposed apex existence was casually smacked aside by the blind woman during a previous encounter. If the Dao Lord is a boss, then the blind woman must be something altogether beyond that.

Even Xia Longyuan, whom everyone regarded as a boss-level target, had someone he regarded as a boss, someone he dared not cross even at the peak of his power. All he could do was write petty essays to disgust and provoke them from a distance.

Now that’s the true boss.

Zhao Changhe could not help but smile. If karma is involved, what kind of ripple effect might her decision to teach me now have in the future?

The blind woman’s expression shifted several times before she finally spoke, her tone laced with her usual detached sarcasm, “You’ve always been wary of the Heavenly Tome, convinced that it hides some sort of backdoor or hidden flaw. That’s why you were hesitant to delve deeply into it. It’s just like how you avoided fully embracing the Vicious Blood Art, studying it halfway before becoming wary. What now? Did witnessing Lie’s magnanimity make you think that I’m equally magnanimous? If so, you’re gravely mistaken. I’m incredibly petty.”

Zhao Changhe chuckled. “I did think so in the past. But lately, I’ve been reconsidering. Something about it doesn’t quite add up.”

“Oh? How so?”

“If the Heavenly Tome truly had such an obvious backdoor, why would those gods and demons fight so desperately to obtain it? Are they just too stupid to notice?”

The blind woman sneered. “Because the Heavenly Tome didn’t have issues in the past. But that doesn’t mean it’s free of issues now. They’re just careless and don’t anticipate it.”

“Then let’s just say I’m being careless too,” Zhao Changhe replied casually. “After all, with you watching me so closely, there’s no way I could escape even if I tried. So what’s the point?”

The blind woman gave him a mocking smirk. “Is that why you’ve been using the Heavenly Tome more and more lately?”

“Because without it, I simply can’t keep up...” Zhao Changhe sighed. “For countless years, only one or two people have ever broken through to the Profound Control Realm. Sure, the severance between ancient and current eras is a major factor, and the number of people who even have access to methods like the Heavenly Tome is exceedingly small. But even considering the total number, there should have been at least several hundred or even a thousand practitioners who’ve tried. Yet how many have succeeded? The difficulty speaks for itself. You can’t rely on raw talent alone. Personally, I know I’m not particularly gifted in dealing with these esoteric matters. After going through so much trouble to collect the Heavenly Tome, not using it would just feel outright idiotic.”

The blind woman let out a faint “heh” without commenting further on his words.

It was true that Zhao Changhe had talent, but in the beginning, he was not exactly a top-tier prodigy. As a nobody starting out, purely in terms of innate talent, Zhao Changhe might not even have matched Yue Hongling. His early rise to prominence owed a great deal to the Heavenly Tome. Yet, the evolution of his strength had given him the audacity to regard it as a mere accessory.

Zhao Changhe said, “Everyone knows that cheating might get you punished, but they still can’t resist cheating. That’s pretty much my current mindset. But there’s another, more important reason I’ve started to trust the tome again.”

“And what’s that?”

“If I were to say... I want to try trusting you, would you tell me more?”

Leaning lazily against her chair and sipping her wine, the blind woman replied indifferently, “What does your trust have to do with me?”

Zhao Changhe let out a faint “heh” of his own, choosing not to respond.

The two of them sat in silence, drinking their wine. Neither spoke. When the blind woman’s bowl was empty, Zhao Changhe reached over and refilled it for her.

Finally, she raised her head and “looked” at him, though her eyes remained shut.

Zhao Changhe said, “Can you open your eyes? You clearly rely on them instinctively.”

The blind woman replied blandly, “I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”

“Am I such a shallow person?” Zhao Changhe countered.

“You are,” she said flatly.

“...?”

The blind woman sighed lightly and mused, “If I looked like some hideous demon—say, like Desolate Calamity or Underworld Guide—what do you think your attitude toward me would be? Would you still say that you want to try and trust me? Ugh, don’t make me gag...”

“Uh... well...” Zhao Changhe scratched his head. “I mean, as long as you look better than Wubing or Buqi, it wouldn’t be that bad.”

The blind woman burst into unexpected laughter, shaking her head slightly. She then finished her bowl of wine in one swift motion and set it down. “Whether your words are genuine or not, I don’t really care. But since you’ve decided to use the Heavenly Tome, then use it properly. If you don’t understand things like meridians or karma, you can ask me. Well, whether I teach you or not depends entirely on my mood.”

With that, she vanished, leaving only the faint warmth of the wine bowl on the table.

An absurd thought suddenly crossed Zhao Changhe’s mind: I wonder if I could collect DNA from that bowl.

Just as this ridiculous thought crossed his mind, his senses stirred. From a distance, the sound of something cutting through the air reached his ears. He turned to look out the window. The morning sun had already risen, and before long, a familiar face appeared outside—Sisi, cautiously peeking in through the window.

Zhao Changhe guessed that the blind woman had vanished because she sensed Sisi approaching and could not be bothered to interact further. Judging by the timing, Sisi was probably still ten li away when the blind woman detected her... That level of perception really is incredible. But then again, is it even still purely a matter of power?

The blind woman seemed to have a view of the entire world. Unless a space was literally isolated from the world, she seemed to know everything that happened everywhere. From this perspective, her power was on a completely different level. People talked about how the divide between the ancient and current eras had been bridged, but was this not still the gap between the mortal and the divine?

“Not resting? Why are you sitting by the window so early? Huh?” Sisi suddenly slipped through the window, her eyes darting around. She glanced at Yue Hongling, who was sound asleep on the bed, then at the tea table where the remnants of still-warm wine lingered. Her gaze finally fixed suspiciously on Zhao Changhe. “You... were drinking and chatting with someone all night?”

Zhao Changhe scratched his head awkwardly.

The wine was still faintly warm, and Yue Hongling clearly had not just laid down. Trying to say it was her drinking before bed would be a hard sell. How was he supposed to explain this?

Sisi sniffed the air. “I spent all of last night with you, and poor Big Sis Yue worked so hard to come help, even getting injured. I figured I’d back off last night and let her have her moment. But it turns out there was someone else? If I’d known there was someone else, I wouldn’t have stepped aside!”

The blind woman: “?”

Zhao Changhe hastily said, “Why do you think I wasn’t chatting with a man?”

Sisi wrinkled her nose. “This faint fragrance... If it’s a man, then he’d have to be a courtesan. My Spirit Tribe doesn’t have those kinds of men!”

Only then did Zhao Changhe remember. The blind woman really does have a unique fragrance. I remember noticing this before. It’s strange, though. Why does she have a scent when she’s clearly a spirit?! The fact that her touch felt warm and smooth could be explained, maybe her spiritual form is just exceptionally dense, but how on earth does she manage to have a scent?

Sisi, still sniffing the air, began marching toward the door. “I need to see who this traitor is, sneaking behind my back! Even I haven’t had the chance to sit down for a night drink with you, but some little bitch got to?”

Zhao Changhe broke out in a cold sweat. He was terrified that the blind woman, accused of being a “little bitch,” might actually strangle Sisi to death. He hurriedly grabbed her. “Hey, hey, hey! Don’t! I... I was just playing around!”

Sisi snorted. “Is my Spirit Tribe some kind of brothel? Have some self-respect! Don’t let me find out who it was. If I do, I’ll make her regret it!”

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The blind woman’s eyebrows shot up in anger.

Go ahead. Try me.

Zhao Changhe could not help but fear that Sisi might end up miserably dealt with, though not in the way she expected. He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back. “Come on, let’s just drink, okay?”

Sisi huffed. “Let me get a different bowl. I’m not using some little bitch’s bowls!”

Zhao Changhe wiped the sweat from his forehead, watching as Sisi, still puffing with indignation, stomped off to fetch a new bowl. He glanced around. Everything was eerily silent. Sure enough, despite Sisi’s tirade, nothing had actually happened. It seemed the spirit of the Heavenly Tome was not able to act against people so casually. Even when Zhao Changhe had smeared the tome recklessly, The blind woman had not attacked him, no matter how furious she had been. To date, the only person who had ever been lucky—or unlucky—enough to be personally struck by her was the Dao Lord.

But Zhao Changhe could not shake the feeling that Sisi might suffer in some other, less direct way. With the blind woman’s mastery over mysterious skills like karma, her methods were probably far beyond the obvious.

Sisi returned with a fresh bowl, her earlier irritation vanishing like smoke. Beaming like a flower, she said, “Drinking this early in the morning isn’t great, is it? Ah, who cares? If that little bitch can drink, so can I.”

Blind or not, all roads seem to lead here... Zhao Changhe looked at Sisi, who was happily warming wine, her antics equal parts amusing and exasperating. She could not even sit still while warming the wine—before long, she had wiggled her way onto his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned in close, her breath warm and fragrant. “Master...”

Zhao Changhe raised an eyebrow. “Still calling me Master?”

“It’s a habit,” Sisi cooed softly. “Sisi doesn’t mind being your maid, Master. Where else would you find a master who never orders people around and spends all his time rescuing and helping others? Being your maid might be better than being some people’s wife.”

The blind woman had the urge to gag.

Sisi leaned closer, her lips almost brushing his ear. “What about that little bitch just now? How did she serve you, Master? Just drinking with you?”

Zhao Changhe was at a loss for words.

Sisi slid off his lap slowly, her movements deliberate. Bowing her head, she used her teeth to untie his belt, her voice teasingly seductive. “Did she do this for you?”

“Uh...” Zhao Changhe’s expression turned odd as his mind unavoidably conjured the image of the blind woman in such a scene. The thought was too much, and he felt himself losing his composure.

“Hehe...” Sisi murmured, her voice muffled. “I know you like this the most...”

Sure, this is nice... but now’s really not the time, is it?

Sisi caught his conflicted expression and chuckled. “Big Sis Yue and the others are too reserved. They’d never think of doing something like this, and you’re too polite to ask them. But we Spirit Tribe women aren’t so fussy... That little bitch earlier must be the same as me...”

“Enough, Sisi...” Zhao Changhe’s face tightened, though he was not sure whether he wanted her to stop or double down. Can you not keep dragging that little—no, that queen—into this? If you keep this up, you’re going to die a very ugly death...

In an effort to distract her, he blurted out, “Aren’t you busy with the Spirit Tribe’s reforms? Shouldn’t you be too busy to come here?”

Sisi, still occupied with her task, replied, “Our reforms have been attempted before. It’s just that the old factions were too stubborn, making everything a chaotic mess. Now we’re simply going back to what we were trying to achieve in the first place. Once the tasks are delegated, it doesn’t require me to micromanage everything. On the contrary, I’ll actually be leaving the Spirit Tribe’s secret realm today. Miaojiang’s affairs demand more of my attention—I need to lay the groundwork in Dali.”

Zhao Changhe asked, “Does that mean that you came here to say goodbye?”

“Mm-hm.” Sisi remained silent for a moment, her hands still as she focused on her service. Then, she finally added, “I know you’ve still got things to take care of here. I came to ask if there’s anything you need me to do.”

Zhao Changhe considered her offer. “Actually, there is. I’ve been wondering if I could borrow some ideas from your Spirit Control Technique.”

Sisi tilted her head curiously. “But the Spirit Control Technique is something you passed on to us. What more could you need from us?”

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “I need foundational techniques. The high-level stuff you’re using is way beyond me—I couldn’t possibly grasp it directly.”

Sisi froze for a moment, her sultry eyes narrowing playfully. “So, Master thinks I was stingy during our dual cultivation, not sharing the Spirit Tribe’s techniques with you...”

“Hey, hey, hey! That’s not what I meant—” Zhao Changhe did not even get to finish his protest before Sisi leaped up and wrapped herself around him. “Then take them yourself, Master...”

“Xiang Simeng!” Yue Hongling’s voice finally erupted through gritted teeth from the bed. “Do you think I’m dead or something?”

Sisi did not look the least bit fazed. “Big Sis Yue, come join us! It’s going to happen eventually...”

Yue Hongling could not hold back anymore. She flipped off the bed in one swift motion and stormed over, grabbing Sisi’s ear and pulling her up. “You’re now the ruler of a nation! Look at yourself! Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re some decorative ornament who does nothing but cling to a man all day! Get a grip!”

For some reason, the blind woman felt like every word Yue Hongling said could also apply to herself.

Sisi grinned sheepishly. “But it’s the most efficient way...”

“Efficient? Efficient, my ass! He doesn’t stop once he starts dual cultivation! It drags on forever. If it’s just your Spirit Tribe’s foundational techniques, he can pick those up in one or two hours just by looking at them!” Yue Hongling tugged at her, huffing. “Come on, you’ve got work to do in Dali, and I’m coming with you. Just leave someone to hand over your foundational techniques for him to study. He’s got plenty of things to work on here without you clinging to him!”

Sisi reached out toward Zhao Changhe in vain, her pitiful grasp unable to connect. Her expression was like that of a little fox being dragged away by a domineering wolf, on the verge of tears. She had not even gotten to take a sip of her freshly warmed wine.

Zhao Changhe’s mouth twitched. “Is this your revenge? Using the power of karma or something? Care to explain how it works?”

The blind woman’s lips parted slightly, her tone crisp and sharp, “Get lost.”