The Black Lotus Eclipse - Chapter 1

“Qing Wu?”

Panguan called out to me again.

I hurriedly lowered my head, my hands stirring the hot soup in the pot, replying sullenly, “I haven’t seen her.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zhuo Yuan with his hands behind his back, surveying the shabby Naihe Bridge.

When he heard my voice, his eyes flashed toward me like unsheathed swords.

I pretended to be calm and sprinkled a little white sugar into the soup pot. This was a mortal thing; Meng Po Soup was mostly bitter, and I was used to adding a bit of sugar to enhance the flavor.

“Why are you adding sugar?”

Zhuo Yuan suddenly spoke.

I was so startled I trembled, nearly losing my balance.

It was as if I had returned to my previous life in the mortal realm, when Zhuo Yuan extracted my spinal marrow and comforted me by my ear: “Jing Chun, don’t be afraid, your spinal marrow can still grow back. Le You can’t wait…”

The pain was unbearable; I begged him to stop, but I was never as important as Le You in his heart.

He didn’t even know that I was just a Yin Official of the Underworld, my powers weak to begin with. Once my spinal marrow was taken, it could never regrow-unless he went to the Heavenly Realm and picked a Seven Glow Lotus.

Otherwise, I would become a cripple.

Later, I truly became a cripple, lying in bed day after day, bitterly waiting for Zhuo Yuan to bring back a Seven Glow Lotus to regrow my spinal marrow.

Who could have known that Le You, being playful, wandered into Bei Hao Mountain, was chased by a He Ju, and injured her limbs.

The Seven Glow Lotus could not only regrow spinal marrow, but also produce new flesh and bone.

In the Heavenly Realm, it took a thousand years to grow a single stem.

It was laughable-after sharing a bed for ten years, Zhuo Yuan still chose to save Le You.

He said, “You and I do not belong to the mortal realm; we possess immortal bodies. Le You is different. I promised her parents I would take her back to the Heavenly Realm as an Immortal Attendant, to repay the kindness her parents showed me when they adopted me in the mortal world.

‘Jing Chun, I know your heart is the softest. Please, just wait a little longer, alright?’

He didn’t wait for me to reply; he simply drifted away.

I coughed up blood, finally understanding why Eldest Sister and Second Sister went to the mortal realm and came back mad.

The mortal world is heartless.

I decided to leave the mortal realm and return to the Underworld.

Zhuo Yuan rushed over, anger surging, and gripped my throat with one hand: “Jing Chun, why did you tamper with the Seven Glow Lotus?”