Dan Shu remained silent for a long time at Stelle's question.
Perhaps those memories were too painful for her.
But in the end, she chose to speak:
"She was my dearest friend. We'd known each other since childhood. Life on the Xianzhou wasn't easy for the Heavenly Deficient. When I was young, children my age often bullied me. She drove them away and protected me as I grew up and finished my studies. We were inseparable.
"Later, we both went into medicine. She became the Alchemy Commission's finest medical officer, and I became its finest alchemist. Along the way, she did so very much to help me as one of the Heavenly Deficient.
"To make up for my inability to see, she took me to visit famous mountains and rivers, showing me the different landscapes of each region and describing them all in vivid detail. She had such a lovely voice. Sadly, no matter how hard I tried to imagine them or feel them with my hands, I could never form those beautiful scenes in my mind.
"As one of the Heavenly Deficient, I'd never seen a single color. How could I imagine anything so dazzling?
"With her encouragement, I set out to find a way to see. I tried many things, but none of them brought any progress.
"Later, without telling her, I sought out a medical officer from off-world and had Artificial Eye surgery. I kept it from her because I knew she would never agree to let me undergo such a dangerous procedure.
"Artificial Eye surgery is commonplace in the sea of stars, but for a Heavenly Deficient like me, it's like flipping a switch that triggers becoming mara-struck.
"But I wanted to see her so badly. At the very least, I wanted to see what my