Before sunrise, Zhao Zhilan woke up in a shared rooftop hut with a group of orphans from Dongpange.

The black cat is always the first to wake up.

These stray animals huddled together under the blanket, warm and comfortable, and she could hear their soft breathing.

She sat up and groped around. A sleepy Dongpango girl mumbled a complaint and then turned her back.

The chill from the gray stone walls gave the cat goosebumps.

She quickly put on her clothes in the dark. As she was putting on her coat, a girl named Acha opened her eyes and called to her, "Daxia woman, bring me my clothes."

She was a slow-witted girl, so thin she was practically skin and bones, and she was always complaining about being cold.

Zhao Zhilan fetched her clothes, wriggled under the blanket and crawled into them, and then they pulled her big sister off the bed together. The big sister, still half asleep, mumbled threats at them.

After the three of them climbed down the ladder connecting the roof to the attic, the boatman and his sons had already boarded the boat in the small canal behind the house.

As every morning, the Dongpango boatman would yell and shout at the girls to hurry up, while his sons would urge Zhao Zhilan and Acha onto the boat with whips.

Zhao Zhilan's task was to untie the rope from the pillar, throw the rope to Acha, and then push the boat away from the dock barefoot. The boatmen's sons worked hard to pole the boat, and the distance between the dock and the deck gradually increased.

The stray cat ran over and leaped onto the deck.

After that, Zhao Zhilan had nothing to do for a long time, and could only sit and yawn, letting the boatman and his sons push the boat forward in the darkness before dawn, passing through a series of intricate canals.

"This might be Luo Yan's arrangement!" Zhao Zhilan thought to herself. "It must be!"

All she remembered was that she killed the girl.

Then she went blind and fainted!

After regaining consciousness, I arrived at this place.

This place seems to be a port city in East Pangoal.

Later, after meeting Acha, who could speak the Da Xia language, Zhao Zhilan learned that this place was called Xiaotian City.

Although she knew the name, Zhao Zhilan knew nothing about it.

Today looks like an exceptionally fine day, fresh and invigorating.

Odawara only has three types of weather: foggy days are bad, rainy days are worse, and freezing rain is the worst.

But occasionally, one morning, the sky would turn pink and azure at dawn, and the air would have a pungent salty smell.

This is her favorite kind of weather.

They came to a wide waterway, known as the "long canal," and then turned south toward the fish market.

Because of her blindness, Zhao Zhilan can only use her hearing and smell to distinguish her surroundings.

Upon reaching her destination, she disembarked.

After going barefoot for many days, her little feet were covered in blisters.

Therefore, Zhao Zhilan could only endure the pain and walk on the dirt road full of gravel.

Then, they were driven to the most crowded part of the port to begin their day's work: begging!

"This is a required course for becoming an assassin!" Zhao Zhilan told herself.

Therefore, she tried to adjust her mindset.

"Listen with your ears, feel with your heart!" Luo Yan's words echoed in my mind.

One day, I will become an assassin.

Then I will find them, hunt them down, enjoy their fear, and taste their blood. That day will come.

As the days went by, Zhao Zhilan began to notice that her legs were growing longer and becoming stronger and more elastic every day.

She was pleased with this change; the assassins of Xuanhua Palace needed strong legs.

The blind Zhao Zhilan is not an assassin, but she will not always be the Zhao Zhilan she once was.

Out of sympathy, Zhao Zhilan still managed to receive some food as a gift from the people of Dongpan.

Although it wasn't much, it was enough to keep her from starving.

The only downside is that the food consists entirely of sardines.

Savoring the taste and aroma of food from a foreign land, feeling the roughness of calluses on my fingers, and the salty, moist fish.

Hearing, smell, taste, and touch—she reminded herself that even though she couldn't see, there were still many ways to understand the world.

Suddenly, she sensed someone appearing behind her.

Dongpan Ge's wooden clogs made a clattering sound as he moved.

Her nostrils were slightly open. Was it Luo Yan?

She smelled different from other women, and there was a hint of orange in the air.

"Who are you today?" she heard Luo Yan's voice ask.

Then came the sound of peeling oranges by hand.

"It really is training for me," Zhao Zhilan thought excitedly.

“Nobody!” she quickly replied.

"You're wrong again!" Luo Yan said. "You're a blind beggar."

Upon hearing Luo Yan's words, Zhao Zhilan quickly corrected herself, "I am Aning!"

In a moment of desperation, she just randomly thought of this name.

The reason is that Aning is Acha's deceased sister!

At the same time, this name is more suitable for a blind person!

“Poor child,” Luo Yan continued, “Do you wish to see the light again? Beg me, and you will be able to see.”

"Is this another test?" Zhao Zhilan thought to herself.

“No, I don’t need it!” she replied. Perhaps I hope this happens later, not today!

Her face was calm and still, concealing everything and revealing nothing.

"As you wish!" She heard Luo Yan eating an orange.

Luo Yan likes to stuff the whole orange into her mouth in one bite and then chew it.

"Did my poor blind girl get any money begging yesterday?"

"No!" Zhao Zhilan replied, "I even got beaten up for it!"

"Who hit you? Did they use their left or right hand? A whip or a willow branch? How many times did they hit you? How long did it last?"

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