chapter 02
Just as his fingertips were about to touch her, a sudden chill seized his hand.
The movement was ghostly fast — impossibly so for someone who looked half-dead.
A faint ripple stirred in Fu Juncheng’s otherwise still gaze; his cool expression betrayed no emotion.
Yun Zheng’s eyes widened.
“Master…”
Did—did that girl just grab his master’s hand?
Someone actually dared to touch his master?
With great effort, the young woman lifted her head. Gentle light illuminated her delicate features; her eyes, bright and luminous, burned with a feverish glow.
Their gazes met.
Fu Juncheng’s thin lips parted slightly. “Let go.”
The calm tone made Yun Zheng freeze.
Since when had his master become so patient?
With his obsessive cleanliness, shouldn’t he have flung her away immediately?
Gu Qingning’s unfocused eyes drifted toward the hand she was holding. In a faint murmur, she whispered—
“Warm…”
The sound was barely audible, slurred and weak.
Fu Juncheng found himself leaning down unconsciously to catch it.
“Your hand… so warm…”
Since the moment of her birth, she had existed as nothing but a fragment of a soul — a drifting wisp, living eighteen long years in shadow, never knowing the warmth of sunlight.
Now that she was finally back in her own body, for the first time she could feel warmth.
Fu Juncheng’s palm was hot against hers — a gentle ray of winter sunlight that pulled her from the icy abyss, letting her truly sense what it meant for a soul to return home, for a ghost to become human again.
She was alive now — no longer a wandering remnant.
It felt… wonderful.
Clinging greedily to that faint warmth in his hand, Gu Qingning tightened her grip.
A flicker of clarity returned — then exhaustion crashed over her like a tidal wave. Her body went limp, and she collapsed once more into unconsciousness.
Yun Zheng snapped out of his shock and blurted, “Master, be careful — this could be a trap!”
There were all kinds of people in this world. For someone to appear out of nowhere near the mountain villa — it had to be treated with suspicion.
Fu Juncheng drew his hand back, his eyes lingering on the dirt-smeared face before him. A flash of those clear, ink-dark eyes crossed his mind.
He stood. “Bring her back.”
He’d been bored for too long — this one was… interesting.
Yun Zheng nodded, reaching instinctively for the girl’s collar to drag her away like luggage.
“Wait.”
Yun Zheng froze mid-motion, puzzled.
“Sir?”
“No need.”
The abrupt words left him stunned.
“Huh?” he muttered dumbly.
Under his confused gaze, Fu Juncheng slowly crouched down.
Reaching out, he slipped an arm under her shoulders — and lifted the unconscious girl into his arms.
Fu Juncheng looked down at the person he carried and smirked faintly.
“Light, at least,” he murmured. “But fierce.”
Yun Zheng stood thunderstruck, as if lightning had struck him instead.
Was he seeing things?
His master — his master — was carrying someone?
And not just anyone… a woman?
He shook his head violently. Clearly, he was hallucinating.
“What are you standing there for? Move.”
The cool, steady voice snapped him back to reality. He looked up — Fu Juncheng was already walking away.
“Master, wait for me!”
Panicked, Yun Zheng stumbled after him, his steps clumsy and mismatched.
That Night
Mist-shrouded moonlight blanketed the mountains. Hidden among emerald trees stood a grand manor, silent and still.
A cold wind swept through the window, filling the room with quiet.
On the bed, a slender figure stirred. Long lashes fluttered.
Gu Qingning opened her eyes. The unfamiliar surroundings made confusion flicker in her gaze.
After a moment of dazed stillness, she sprang up and darted straight to the bathroom.
Scanning her reflection in the mirror, she froze.
The person staring back at her was filthy — covered in dirt, cuts, and splashed all over with red paint.
She looked utterly miserable.
Fortunately, only a few drops of paint had hit her face — nothing too serious.
Turning on the faucet, she bent to wash her face.
As the grime rinsed away, her true features emerged — skin pale as porcelain, brows drawn as if painted in ink, and eyes clear and cool, carrying a trace of detached indifference.
Her rosy lips curved faintly. Each movement, each expression, carried a natural charm that was both bright and unrestrained.
Gazing at her familiar reflection, her lips lifted into a small smile.
“Heh.”
The soft laugh was cold but tinged with satisfaction and joy.
“Finally… I can be human again.”
So it wasn’t a dream after all. She had truly returned to her own body.
Her broken soul was whole again.
From the moment of her birth, she had lived as a fragment — a mere shadow trailing beside her physical self.
That strange existence had continued until she was eight. Bored and naive, she had wandered away from her body… and somehow, ten years had slipped by.
She’d only gone out for a stroll in the rain — and got struck by lightning.
Yet, it was that very lightning strike that brought her soul back into her body.
If she had known being struck by lightning could fix everything, she would’ve waited for storms every day.
But before she could relish her happiness, agony ripped through her skull.
It came out of nowhere — sharp and merciless.
Gu Qingning clutched her head as fragments of memories surfaced, swirling until they grew clear.
When the pain finally faded, she lifted her head again, her delicate features now shadowed with a trace of cold fury.
So that’s what her soulless self had become — a pitiful creature everyone could bully.
Truly…
pathetic.
