Chapter 54

Little Yuan Zhong opened the bronze tripod and used tongs to stir the snow-white incense ash inside.

He added a piece of incense shaped like a plum blossom, and soon, a faint, cool fragrance filled the quiet bedroom.

He tiptoed to the bedside, gently parted the curtains, and looked inside.

Tanyin lay there with her eyes closed, just as she had six months ago, not moving at all.

Yuan Zhong was sleeping beside her, his eyes deeply shadowed, looking extremely haggard and exhausted, as if he had reached the point of utter fatigue and had finally allowed himself to rest.

It was no wonder he was so anxious.

Since gaining a physical form, Tanyin had been continuously asleep.

Though she breathed and had a heartbeat, she had never awakened, having slept from winter into summer.

Little Yuan Zhong closed the window halfway to prevent the midsummer sunlight from directly shining on their faces.

He couldn’t help but glance back at Tanyin.

She remained in a state of deep unawareness.

He couldn’t help but sigh.

Over the past half year, the question he had asked the most was when would Tanyin wake up, but Yuan Zhong had never answered.

In fact, apart from the initial joy on the day she gained a body, Yuan Zhong’s expression had grown increasingly gloomy.

Perhaps he regretted using the lotus to create a body for her?

The fact that she couldn’t wake up might be due to this lotus body?

Having a physical form was different from the previous ethereal state.

Gaining hope only to lose it was the most painful and despairing thing.

If Tanyin never woke up, Yuan Zhong might go completely mad.

They had speculated countless times about why Tanyin’s divine heart remained in Yuan Zhong’s heart.

Yuan Zhong believed it was because Tanyin’s residual divine power remained in the body when she repaired it, but he didn’t think so.

As a mechanical man, he might not fully understand the subtle and ever-changing emotions and thoughts of humans, but he understood Tanyin’s dedication to Yuan Zhong.

She was originally a goddess, and all gods were passionate and single-minded, obsessed with their pursuits.

What had once obsessed her was the craft techniques, but later she fell in love with Yuan Zhong, with even greater focus and fervor than her craft.

Her divine heart had changed.

What remained in Yuan Zhong’s heart was her obsession for him.

Regardless of whether this reasoning made sense, in his heart, Tanyin was an incredibly intelligent yet clumsy woman who only had one heart from beginning to end.

Either it was fully given to her craft or fully given to the one she loved.

Her life had been clumsy and laborious.

Little Yuan Zhong sighed and turned to leave, but suddenly heard a familiar and long-missed soft voice from within the curtains: “Little Yuan Zhong.”

He jumped in surprise, quickly turning around to see Tanyin gently parting the curtains, her finger on her lips to indicate he should not make a noise.

She woke up?!

Little Yuan Zhong covered his mouth tightly to prevent himself from shouting in excitement.

Tanyin scrutinized him carefully, smiled slightly, and lay back down.

“I’m not fully accustomed to this body yet. I’m very tired and need to sleep for another day. Don’t make any noise. Once I wake up, we can talk properly.”

Little Yuan Zhong nodded repeatedly, turning back three times as he reluctantly left the bedroom, closing the door as gently as possible.

Tanyin quietly looked at Yuan Zhong lying before her.

He had become thin and worn out.

His once thick and dark hair had turned silver in places.

Over the years, he had endured so much suffering.

She slowly moved closer to him, resting her body against his embrace.

She hadn’t expected to truly return.

When she saved him from the underworld, she had lied to him.

She knew that Yuan Zhong would choose not to drink the water of forgetfulness and would wander alone in the underworld, waiting forever for her.

Once he realized that the goddess did not reincarnate or enter the underworld, he would likely collapse completely and fall into utter despair.

She didn’t want Yuan Zhong to end this life in such despair.

He still had a long time to live, long enough to forget her and start a new, truly happy chapter.

Her Yuan Zhong should die with a smile, drinking the water of forgetfulness, with no regrets in this life.

When she brought Yuan Zhong back to the human world, her divine body completely shattered and turned into golden dust.

Like Han Nu’s dispersal, she sensed the powerful light of the primodial god and heard many voices calling her, urging her to merge into that warm light.

But she never went, just like she couldn’t cross the Naihe Bridge after death.

Her obsession prevented her from allowing her divine heart to become part of the Primodial god.

In the interweaving of light and shadow, who knows how many years passed.

Tanyin, solitary and tenacious, resisted the call of the primodial god.

One day, many voices suddenly fell silent, and a gentle voice she had never heard before asked her softly, “Is it really impossible? Has your heart already left here?”

Yes, her heart had already left here.

From the day she realized she loved Yuan Zhong, she was no longer the unmatched craftsman or the goddess Wushuang.

Her heart had remained in Yuan Zhong’s heart.

“The divine heart has changed and cannot be merged. You may go.”

A god without a divine heart could no longer be considered a god.

Tanyin instinctively followed her remaining divine power, opened her eyes, and saw Yuan Zhong’s haggard, sleeping face.

He seemed to be extremely exhausted, and even when she gently held him, he did not wake up, murmuring incomprehensible dreams.

Tanyin smiled faintly and held him a little tighter.

Sleep well, my beloved.

When you wake, this world will be free of pain and tears.

They will always smile, surrounded by happiness, never to be separated.