"Does it hurt?"
Long Lin squatted down, looking at my face with heartache. I was in so much pain that cold sweat was pouring down. It felt as if my heart was convulsing desperately and was about to stop beating any moment.
"If loving someone causes so much pain in your heart, would you still love him?"
"If... it's for Gu Yuan... I can endure it." I gritted my teeth and said with a trembling voice.
"What a steadfast love indeed."
"Manyue wasn't as steadfast as you. If she had stuck to her heart back then, things might not have ended up like this today."
After he finished speaking, the pain in my chest finally subsided. I took a deep breath, not understanding what he meant.
"Wasn't Manyue dead for Gu Yuan back then? The only person she loved was Gu Yuan." I asked eagerly.
"The person she loved was clearly me. After I met Manyue under the red plum tree back then, she had already agreed to be my bride. At that time, Gu Yuan hadn't yet endured the tribulation, and there was no need for the Nine - Revolving Resurrection Pill at all. Later, Gu Yuan was injured for her. She felt guilty, so she asked for the Nine - Revolving Resurrection Pill. She just wanted to compensate Gu Yuan."
"He could withstand the nine thunderbolts once a month. Back then, it was just a single thunderbolt. There was no need for the Nine - Revolving Resurrection Pill at all."
After hearing Long Lin's words, recalling the memories in my dreams and the scenes when I empathized with Manyue, why was there a discrepancy with what Long Lin said? What went wrong?
I somehow felt that this Manyue was not that simple. Who on earth was she? She managed to navigate between two great immortals with ease.
It seemed that she was secretly provoking a fight between the two.
Just as I was still speculating about Manyue, Long Lin flipped his palm gently, and a transparent dagger materialized in his palm. The dagger was small, looking like a slender willow leaf.
"You insert it into your heart and take a small cup of the blood from the tip of your heart and feed it to Gu Yuan. If you truly love him, it can free Gu Yuan from the three - month heavenly punishment. Take the blood and feed it to him again after three months. Just now you also felt the pain of taking the blood. That was only one - tenth of the pain. I'd like to see how long your love can last."
"If you're just acting on a whim or if your determination to love him wavers, your physical body will die immediately. At that time, your soul must come with me. How about it?"
His obsession with Manyue was really deep.
"What kind of knife can be inserted into the heart to draw blood and yet the person can still survive? Why should I trust you?" I looked at the knife and said in a heavy tone.
"You can also choose not to use it. I won't force you, but I will never lie to you. As long as you feed the blood to him, our contract will be established. Believe it or not." Long Lin placed the dagger in my palm and then turned around and left.
I watched the golden pattern swirling inside the transparent dagger. It really did seem like a magical weapon of the immortals.
I put it into my backpack and decided to show it to Bai Qi later. He had extensive knowledge and should be able to tell whether this thing was as Long Lin described.
After adjusting my mood, I walked slowly back home. Gu Yuan was already home. When he saw me, he still had an icy - cold expression, as if he was still sulking with me.
But I didn't mind. Looking at his cold face, I felt really happy. My vision blurred instantly, and I rushed into his arms and cried loudly.
"Gu Yuan, you're finally back. You scared me to death. I thought I'd never see you again. Wuwuwu..." I cried so miserably that snot and tears were flowing together.
Gu Yuan was confused by my crying and tried to pull me out of his arms, but I refused to let go and hugged him tightly while crying.
"I won't let go. I'm going to cling to you forever and never let go. Wuwuwu."
His heart was made of flesh too. Back then, Meng Jiangnu's crying could even topple the Great Wall. I didn't believe he could be so heartless.
My crying moved the heavens and the earth, but it didn't move this guy. His heart was really made of stone.
"If you don't let go, I'll use force." Gu Yuan's voice was bone - chillingly cold. I had no choice but to let go of him obediently. Tears were still in my eyes, and my mouth was pouted like that of a toothless old woman.
Unexpectedly, my previous crying and making a scene had no effect, but my disheveled appearance now made Gu Yuan break his composure.
He tried hard to hold back his laughter and asked, "What did you do wrong? Reflect on it."
Seeing him smile, I pursed my lips and lowered my head. Shyly, I hooked my little finger with his, but Gu Yuan slapped my hand away.
"Don't try to get on good terms with me. It won't work."
"Yes, Great Master. You're always right. I'll do whatever you say."
Just then, the incense altar suddenly shook violently.
Then I heard Jixiang shouting.
"Can you two go to your room and show your affection? I'm already full. Please stop feeding me. I'm about to be stuffed to death."
Seeing Jixiang constantly complaining inside the incense altar, Gu Yuan ignored it. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me before I could react.
Jixiang was so angry that he threw two apples at us from the incense altar, but Gu Yuan caught them all with one hand.
"Even if you're stuffed, you have to keep eating." Gu Yuan threw the apples back, hitting Jixiang's memorial tablet.
Jixiang let out a miserable scream, but Gu Yuan ignored it and pulled me into our room.
"Come on, your self - reflection." Gu Yuan still didn't forget about this.
"I know I shouldn't have investigated your background. It was my fault. I know I was wrong."
"Then what did you find out?" Gu Yuan sat on the sofa, crossing his arms in front of his chest, looking like a teacher scolding a student.
"The three paintings merged, and I saw the secret in the paintings. A snake scale fell off." I didn't want to hide it anymore, so I told him everything he asked.
"You found out quite a lot. What conclusion did you draw?"
"The conclusion is... is that my husband isn't a snake. He's clearly a dragon, but he insisted on lying to me that he was a snake." I lowered my head and peeked at him from time to time, looking extremely aggrieved.
"Are you still afraid then?" He pretended to be serious and continued to ask.
"I've already said that I'll love you no matter what you are. I want to have children with you, but after what happened with Kuaye, I have some psychological shadows. That's why I secretly took contraceptive pills. I wanted to adapt first and then confess to you."
"However, I'm now convinced that no matter what I give birth to with you, I'll be willing."
This sounded a bit strange, and Gu Yuan's expression was extremely ugly.
"Do you think you'll give birth to a litter of rat pups with me? Then you're asking for death."
After saying that, Gu Yuan pulled me into his arms. He gently pressed on my waist with one hand, and I was so ticklish that I let out a scream.
Then he picked me up with one hand and threw me onto the bed.
The two of us played around on the bed for an afternoon, and the previous unhappiness faded away.
My heart had been completely conquered by Gu Yuan. As long as I could be with him, I'd be willing to live twenty years less.
After we were satisfied, I wrapped one arm around Gu Yuan's solid chest and buried my head in his neck. Looking at his peerless beauty that could charm the Three Realms, I felt as sweet as if I had eaten honey.
Seeing me grinning at him, Gu Yuan lowered his deep eyes, and a touch of affection appeared on his lips.
"Gu Yuan, why did you lie to me that you were a snake? Dragons are so handsome. They can ride on clouds and mist and do anything."
Gu Yuan frowned and said helplessly, "In my memory, you like snakes more."
I pursed my lips. Suddenly, I felt a bit uncomfortable. I had never told him that I liked snakes. Could it be that he remembered wrong? Did he mistake me for Manyue again?
Seeing me sigh, Gu Yuan scraped the bridge of my nose forcefully with his fair hand and asked, "I don't want to have any more misunderstandings in our relationship. If you have any questions, just ask me. Don't keep guessing."
I looked up at Gu Yuan's face and asked with a smiling face, "Can I ask anything? If I dig deep into your background, you won't be angry, will you?"
Gu Yuan pulled my body closer to his chest and said, "I won't be angry."
"Then I'm really going to ask. Let's make it clear first. Whoever gets angry is a puppy..."