Eternal Love Within A Smile - Chapter 46
Chapter 46
By the time Langyin returned to Daxing Palace, it was already noon. Before he even stepped into the courtyard, he caught the tempting aroma of freshly cooked food.
He paused for a brief moment as if remembering something, then quickened his pace into the yard.
From a distance, he could see a rich spread of steaming hot dishes laid out on the sandalwood table inside the room.
Xu Manman walked to the edge of the table holding a wine flask. Turning her head, she saw Langyin standing outside the door and froze. Her eyes flickered with slight apprehension, not quite daring to look him straight in the eye.
Tightening her grip on the flask, she spoke softly, “Where did you go? I’ve been waiting for you here for so long, so I made a table full of food.”
Xu Manman had felt a pang of conscience, realizing that since forming her Golden Core, she had not cooked a single meal for Langyin in over two hundred years.
The promise she made back then to “cook every day” had turned into empty talk once again.
Langyin, naturally, never held it against her. His method of consuming sustenance was far simpler and direct, and enjoying delicious food was merely an added luxury.
Yet Xu Manman felt deeply guilty. Langyin was always the one giving for her sake, while she returned far too little. After much thought, she could only prepare a grand feast to apologize.
Langyin lowered his eyelids, a soft smile flickering deep within his gaze.
He stepped into the room and took a seat beside Xu Manman.
“I went to see a friend today to ask about a few matters concerning you,” Langyin briefly explained the reason for his absence.
Recalling the man she had seen in Langyin’s memories—the one with Jiayou Karmic Fire between his brows who was likely connected to the Demon Clan—Xu Manman realized he was someone Langyin would consider a friend.
“Did that person mention the Soul Sect to you?” Xu Manman asked.
Langyin nodded.
“Manman, do you know that your cultivation technique is different from ordinary people? Ordinary cultivators absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, whereas the power you absorb is the power of vow from all living beings. This path of cultivation shares the same origin as the Tuntian Shenzun. In ancient times, it went by another name: ‘Faith’.”
Xu Manman was quick-witted and immediately caught the core meaning behind his words. Her expression shifted as she asked, “Tuntun inherited the cultivation method of the God Clan. Are you saying that I am also part of the God Clan?”
“Yes and no. The God Clan was formed from Pure Qi, while the Human Clan was formed from Turbid Qi; the two share nothing in common. The God Clan absorbs the power of faith from the hearts of humans to boost their cultivation—to them, the Human Clan is merely a tool for training. Although your cultivation method is identical to that of the God Clan, you ultimately still belong to the Human Clan. It is just that you were born with one extra soul than ordinary mortals: a Divine Soul condensed from the power of vow of all living beings. Your clan is known as the Four-Soul Clan.”
Langyin did not explain the tangled grudges among the God, Demon, and Human clans to Xu Manman in detail.
Because she possessed no Chaos Qi, she would be influenced by the Book of Heavenly Fate and unable to process that history.
Hearing Langyin’s words, Xu Manman felt as if a great bell had resounded in her mind, clearing away the fog that had plagued her for so long. No wonder every time she cultivated, she entered a realm of mysterious wonder—feeling as though she merged with heaven and earth, perceiving the most minute existences, and hearing the inner voices of countless people.
Because those were all living beings…
And the reason her Primordial Soul was far more solid than that of ordinary people was not just due to her special technique, but because she possessed an additional soul.
A Divine Soul condensed from the wishes of all living beings was naturally superior to the three souls of ordinary mortals.
“But I wasn’t born like this…” Xu Manman murmured in confusion.
“I was originally just an ordinary person of dull talent whose spiritual aperture was unopened. It was only after I died and possessed this body that these abnormal traits appeared.”
“Manman, have you never thought that this was the real you all along?” Langyin gazed deeply at her.
“You didn’t die, nor did you possess a body. You simply returned to your rightful place, back inside the shell that truly belongs to you.”
Xu Manman trembled.
Snapping out of her daze, she hurriedly asked, “Right, I’ve always wanted to ask you: that day at the Burning Heaven Division, what happened after I died? Why did you create an illusion to deceive the world?”
“Did you not know? You revealed your true form after death.”
Langyin’s brow furrowed slightly, a strange look passing through his eyes.
He said earnestly, “Manman, you are not human.”
Xu Manman was completely bewildered.
“Spirits don’t have spiritual apertures, only consciousness seas; no Golden Cores, only monster cores; no Dharma appearances, only true forms. I am clearly identical to a human! If I’m not human, what else could I be?”
“Shortly after your breath ceased, you turned into an Immortal Lotus Root in my arms.”
“Immortal what?” Xu Manman thought she had misheard.
“What lotus root?”
“Do you truly not know your own identity?” Langyin asked, his brows knitting in doubt.
“The Longevity Immortal Lotus Root. There is a fable that a divine flora called the Longevity Lotus grows on Mount Luowu of Qiongnu Island, and consuming it grants eternal life. You should have heard this legend.”
Xu Manman nodded blankly.
“And then?”
“The legend is false. The Longevity Lotus does exist, but it cannot grant eternal life. Its lotus seed is named ‘All Being’s Bitterness’—the purest and most bitter substance in the world, capable of stirring all seven emotions, and serves as an antidote for certain poisonous herbs. But beneath the Longevity Lotus lies another treasure that few know about: the Longevity Lotus Root. It possesses seven delicate apertures and is shrouded in immortal aura, making it a divine medicine as well.”
Xu Manman pointed at her own nose, saying incredulously, “Are you saying I am an immortal lotus root that gained consciousness? But if I’m a spirit, how could I look identical to a human?”
“I didn’t understand why at first either—why no one could see through your true form. Even after spending years together, I always believed you were human. To keep this secret, I slaughtered the entire Burning Heaven Division and deceived the Daoist Alliance. After returning to the Siyi Sect, I searched through all the notebooks left behind by Nianyi, desperate to find a way to revive you…”
“Wait!” Xu Manman interrupted him, her face turning pale.
“So during those days when you were hiding in the herb garden planting flowers, you were trying to grow me out of the soil?”
Langyin nodded.
“I tried countless methods, even offering my own heart’s blood to nourish it, but it was all to no avail.”
“And you even wanted to bury me in that mud pond as fertilizer…” Xu Manman stood frozen.
“My body was inside that mud pond at the time?”
“Yes.”
Langyin’s voice softened, an uncomfortable expression crossing his face as if realizing how absurd he had been.
But back then, his mind was filled entirely with thoughts of reviving Manman, and he had completely lost his composure.
Xu Manman suddenly went rigid, a look of horror spreading across her face.
“Then where is my body right now?”
Langyin stood up and walked toward a table on the side, where a wooden box was placed.
“When I left, I set it right there, thinking you would see it as soon as you walked in…”
Langyin flipped open the lid, only to find it completely empty inside.
“Manman, did you take it? Then why did you ask me…”
Langyin turned back to look at Xu Manman, only to see her complexion looking dreadfully pale, her eyes staring blankly at the dishes on the table.
Following her gaze, Langyin froze instantly.
There on the table sat a dish of crisp, pale, and tender stir-fried lotus root slices…
With a loud waa, Xu Manman buried her face on the table and wailed loudly, “I died such a tragic death!”
Langyin: “…”
Fortunately, he hadn’t picked up his chopsticks yet.
After Xu Manman cried for a while and regained her composure, the two sat back down in their chairs.
However, the atmosphere had grown considerably heavier.
Xu Manman, having just chopped her own body into pieces, still looked somewhat dazed.
Of course she had seen the wooden box the moment she walked in—it was placed in such a prominent spot precisely so she would notice it.
When she opened the box, all she saw was an ordinary-looking piece of lotus root.
Leave alone immortal aura, it didn’t even possess a trace of spiritual energy, looking as earthy as if it had just been pulled from a mud pond and casually rinsed off.
How could she have associated that with Langyin, let alone herself? It just so happened she wanted to cook a feast to apologize and thank Langyin, so didn’t that lotus root come in handy…
Langyin hadn’t expected this either.
He had asked Manman to fetch her body, but then, recalling that his demonic energy was slipping out of control and fearing he might harm her, he hurriedly left Tiandu City to find a hidden place and summon Haoyi’s projection.
He knew that the burning of Karmic Fire in one’s heart was extremely dangerous and wasn’t sure if he could survive it, so he had left Manman’s body in the room.
His room was extremely safe, as no one dared enter except Manman.
He had assumed Manman knew her true form was a lotus root. On that day at the herb cottage, hadn’t she kept stealing glances at the mud pond behind him?
The two, completely lacking tacit understanding, sat silently for a short while.
Xu Manman sniffled, her eyes lifeless as she stared at her sliced-up body.
She rasped, “Langyin, I can’t go back…”
Langyin was taken aback, then chuckled helplessly.
“Manman… you belong to the Four-Soul Clan, not a lotus root spirit. The Longevity Lotus Root was merely a human-shaped puppet. Although I do not know what happened to you back then, what is certain is that the current you is the real you. Three hundred years ago, you merely attached your soul to the immortal lotus root and assumed the form of a mortal.”
Xu Manman fell into thought. She raised her hand, bringing her five fingers together and opening them again, sensing the degree of harmony between her soul and this body.
Ever since the battle at the Shennong Temple, she had felt her Primordial Soul merge completely with the original body’s Golden Core, allowing her to freely control her soul leaving and returning to the body.
Yet she still couldn’t recall anything related to her original self.
If, as Langyin said, this body was her true self and her real identity was a member of the Four-Soul Clan, yet she couldn’t remember anything from the past, then there was only one possibility left.
—A portion of her Conscious Soul had been forcibly gouged out.
It was similar to Qunyu, yet different.
Qunyu’s Conscious Soul was merely sealed; as long as a way to break the seal was found, her memories could be restored.
Her Conscious Soul, on the other hand, had a chunk carved away—much like a person whose limbs were severed, unable to grow back or be reattached.
If an ordinary person’s Primordial Soul suffered such damage, they would likely turn into an idiot or die with their soul extinguished.
It was only because she belonged to the Four-Soul Clan—possessing a Primordial Soul far sturdier than normal—that she managed to survive.
So back then, why did she hide her physical body deep beneath the ice cave in the far north, attach her Primordial Soul to a human form made from the Longevity Lotus Root, erase all traces, and turn into an ordinary mortal?
Xu Manman rubbed her chin in deep thought, muttering, “I keep feeling… as if I was hiding from someone.”
“The Four-Soul Clan draws power from the wishes of all living beings. As long as living beings do not perish, you enjoy eternal life; you simply need time to repair your damaged Primordial Soul.” Langyin paused slightly.
“Nianyi made you walk the mortal world to seek your Dao Heart… He must have realized something.”
It was common knowledge that Venerable Nianyi was the person in the world who understood immortal herbs best. Although Xu Manman’s true form was concealed by the Longevity Lotus Root—making her look no different from an ordinary mortal inside and out—if anyone could see through her true nature, it would be none other than Venerable Nianyi.
Snapping back to her senses, Xu Manman recalled something and asked urgently, “You mentioned earlier that you fed me your spiritual blood for two years to help me cleanse my meridians, wash my marrow, and open my spiritual aperture. Was it Master who asked you to do that?”
Langyin hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Why was Master so good to me?” Xu Manman felt both touched and bewildered, but she was seven or eight tenths certain that her master must have known something.
“Langyin, before Master passed away, he left me a Sound-Transmission Conch and told me to give it to you a thousand years later. I hid that conch in the Purple Bamboo Pavilion—did you take it?”
Langyin’s brow twitched slightly.
Avoiding Xu Manman’s gaze, he gave a soft hum of affirmation.
“What did Master say? Did he mention me?” Xu Manman pressed on.
After a moment’s hesitation, Langyin finally said, “He said that if one day you transformed into a lotus root, and the immortal aura of the Longevity Lotus Root dissipated completely into ordinary nature, he wanted me to burn the lotus root and leave the Siyi Sect.”
Xu Manman was stunned for a moment.
“That’s all?”
Langyin nodded.
“That was all.”
Doubt lingered in Xu Manman’s heart. She felt that Langyin was still keeping something from her, and that the Sound-Transmission Conch likely contained more than just that.
But it might not all be related to her—perhaps it concerned Langyin’s private matters?
She felt she lacked the standing and right to pry further. If Langyin was unwilling to speak, she could only pretend not to know.
Xu Manman let out a soft sigh.
“It seems there’s still a mysterious past shrouded around me. I wonder what kind of enemy could drive me to fake my death, detach my soul, and even lose all my memories. Even if he stood right in front of me now, I wouldn’t recognize him, whereas he would recognize me…”
Langyin’s eyes softened by a fraction.
Covering Xu Manman’s hand, he said in a deep voice, “Manman, you don’t need to worry. Behind you stands the Siyi Sect, and beside you… you have me.”
The temperature on the back of her hand felt slightly cooler than her own, yet it warmed her heart until it trembled lightly.
The floral fragrance unique to Langyin lingered around her nose, soaking into her lungs.
Without drinking any wine, she felt slightly intoxicated, her cheeks tinged with a soft blush.
Her hand shrank back slightly, only to be held tightly by Langyin.
He asked in a low voice, “Manman, have you thought about how to answer the question I asked you last night?”
“I…” Xu Manman’s breathing grew flustered and her eyes darted around, not daring to look straight at him.
In a panic, she picked up her chopsticks and stammered incoherently, “Let’s… let’s eat first… Taste it and see if it tastes the same as back then.”
Seeing her flustered state, a faint smile surfaced in Langyin’s clear, dark eyes.
Scenes of the past flashed through his mind.
Had he known he would love her so deeply later on, he wouldn’t have had the heart to be so strict with her back then.
Yet she had never held any resentment or dissatisfaction; she only felt sad when he spoke harsh words to her.
Langyin had long ceased the need to eat.
It was only because her eyes would light up and her heart would glow with quiet joy whenever she watched him eat that he accompanied her during meals.
He used to quietly watch her busy herself, serving bowl after bowl of steaming, aromatic dishes, her face full of anticipation as she waited for his evaluation—and as long as he nodded, flowers would bloom deep within her heart.
Right now, Langyin held a similar mood as he watched Xu Manman eagerly put food into his bowl.
However, Xu Manman seemed a little distracted.
Langyin gave a soft cough to remind her.
“Manman…”
Xu Manman focused her attention, only to realize she was holding a slice of lotus root between her chopsticks.
The body she had used for three hundred years looked so utterly ordinary now.
No, she herself had always been ordinary.
Xu Manman gave an embarrassed smile and placed the lotus root slice into Langyin’s bowl.
“Since it’s already cooked, let’s not waste it.”
Langyin looked down at it with a complex expression.
“Manman, do you really want me to eat you?”
The words sounded somewhat strange, and Xu Manman couldn’t help but misinterpret them.
Her face turned hot, and she said solemnly, “This was nourished by your heart’s blood for two years after all, so it’s only right that you eat it.”
Langyin couldn’t help but chuckle softly. His lotus-like appearance was usually elegant and refined, but when he smiled, a breathtaking charm bloomed.
Xu Manman’s heart fluttered as she stared eagerly at Langyin raising his chopsticks to pick up the lotus root slice.
His thin, water-moistened lips parted slightly, holding the lotus root slice and taking a soft bite.
Xu Manman swallowed her saliva alongside him, feeling a tingling itch spread from her lower back, as if that bite hadn’t been taken from the lotus root, but directly from her own body.
Scenes from last night involuntarily surfaced in her mind—recalling being pressed beneath him, her collar parted, his soft, warm tongue and lips scorching pink marks onto her trembling skin, licking and biting at her tender flesh with an unbridled, overbearing intensity, as though he truly meant to devour her whole.
Though it was such an elegant scene unfolding before her, it made her body heat up uncontrollably.
Her breathing grew quick and shallow, her throat feeling dry and tight.
