"You sound surprised." The young woman said after hearing his dazed mumble.
And she continued, "Don't you also play the zither? Did nothing happen to you? As far as I am aware, everyone that plays the zither has encountered misfortune that ruined their lives one way or another."
After a long moment, Yuan said, "I… I learned to play the zither inside Cultivation Online, where such a curse doesn't exist. In fact, this is my first time playing with the zither in this world."
The young woman covered her mouth in a shocked manner.
"W-Why didn't you say so before I handed you the zither! And why did you accept it?! Now you'll also be met with misfortune!" The young woman said to him in a worried voice, as she felt responsible for handing him the zither.
Yuan chuckled and said, "You don't have to worry about me. I don't think playing a single song will affect me."
Furthermore, he is already afflicted with many powerful curses, so having another one won't really matter to him.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you still playing the zither despite the curse that took away your vision?" Yuan asked her afterward.
"It's simple. I love the zither too much to let it go. It can take away my vision, but as long as I get to continue playing the zither, I don't mind some sacrifices," she responded in a calm voice.
Yuan was left speechless by her words.
He has never seen anyone so dedicated and passionate about an instrument before.
If he was in her shoes, he would gladly give up playing instruments for his vision back.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "Then can you tell me a little more about the curse? You said that you lost your vision shortly after playing the zither. How did it happen?"
The young woman shook her head and said, "I don't know. All I know is that I went to sleep one night like usual, but when I woke up the next day, my vision was gone."
"I went to get my eyes checked by many professionals, but to my surprise, all of the doctors said that my eyes were normal and that they couldn't understand why I suddenly lost my vision."
Yuan's body trembled when he heard her explanation, as it sounded oddly familiar for some reason.
'Her situation… sounds exactly like mine…'
Yuan thought to himself, as he could still remember waking up one day with his vision suddenly gone. And just like the young woman, the Yu Family flew him around the world to get his eyes checked by all of the best doctors in the world, but none of them were able to pinpoint the issue.
Eventually, his body also stopped functioning, forcing him to become a cripple who can do nothing but breathe and speak, but can one even consider that as living?
"Have you tried not playing the zither to see if your vision would return?" Yuan suddenly asked.
"I didn't play the zither for a whole year after losing my vision, but the damage was already done, so I decided to continue playing the zither. After all, I didn't sacrifice my vision just to stop playing afterward. I don't need my vision to play, anyway."
A bittersweet smile appeared on Yuan's face. Indeed, one doesn't need any vision to play an instrument. He knew that very well as someone that was forced to continue playing instruments until he could no longer even lift a finger.
"Aren't you worried that the curse might take away your vision as well?" The young woman suddenly asked him.
"My vision?" Yuan laughed a little before continuing, "It can't take away something that I don't have."
"Eh?" The young woman released a surprised noise.
"You're also blind?" She subconsciously asked.
"Yes. I have been blind since I was young."
"Was it caused by an accident, or...?"
"Nope. Perhaps I was cursed just like you, but I didn't play the zither back then."
"What do you mean 'just like me'?" she asked with her head tilted.
"I also woke up one day to find out that I'd lost my vision."
"I… I don't know what to say…" The young woman mumbled in a low voice.
After a moment of silence, the woman suddenly asked, "If you don't mind, can I touch your face?"
"You want to touch my face? Why?" Yuan raised his eyebrows at her special request.
"I want to visualize your appearance. I can't see, so I have to resort to touching everything to visualize it inside my head," she explained.
Yuan remained silent for a moment.
He then used his divine sense to make sure that they were alone. Once he confirmed that they were the only presence there, Yuan removed his mask and approached her.
"Go ahead."
"Thank you."
The young woman jumped off the boulder and proceeded to feel every inch of Yuan's face with both of her small and soft hands.
It was a little awkward at first for Yuan, but it wasn't anything he couldn't endure, and he quickly got used to it.
"Thank you, I have a pretty good visualization of your face now. You're quite the handsome young man, aren't you, Yuan?" The young woman chuckled a few minutes later.
She suddenly grabbed his hands and placed them on her face and continued, "Here, you can touch my face in return."
"Uhh… I don't really need to do that since I can see your face," he said.
"Eh? I thought you were blind?" The young woman raised her eyebrows.
"I am, but I have another method that allows me to see."
"H-How does that work?" She asked, feeling even more confused.
"It's called divine sense. It not only allows me to see everything perfectly, but I can even see things more clearly and with more details— something that isn't normally possible with the bare eyes," he briefly explained.
"Wow, that sounds wonderful. Do you think you can teach me such a technique?"
"Well… It's not that I don't want to, but in order to use this technique, you will need a very high cultivation base— preferably Spirit Master."
"That's a pity... I am only a Spirit Apprentice."
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself.. My name is Azure, and I am part of the Wang Family," she introduced herself.