The Twin Lotus

With the creak of the carriage, Bai Lingmiao’s wagon slowly arrived at the entrance of Niuxin Village. Seeing her return, the other martial siblings came out one after another to greet her.

But their attention was soon drawn away by Bai Lingmiao’s adopted sons and daughters.

“Hey, this is good, isn’t it? I said before, no matter how many oxen you buy, you can’t plow all this land around here. Well, now there’s people to do the plowing.” Gouwa, supporting his pregnant wife, put on a knowing air as he rambled on.

“Eh! Hehe! Isn’t that the Xiucai? How did he—"

But before he could finish, a heavy force slammed into him from behind, sending him stumbling. By the time he steadied himself, he saw Lü Juren, sleeves rolled up, and Lü Zhuangyuan, his face full of fury, charging forward aggressively.

When he saw Lü Zhuangyuan rush up, swing his right arm in a full circle, and slap Lü Xiucai across the face twice—smack, smack—Gouwa was overjoyed. “Hey! Now this is something to watch!”

Lü Xiucai was then tied to a tree at the village entrance by his elder brother, after which Lü Zhuangyuan beat him relentlessly with his tobacco pipe. The two fathers and sons cursed each other, a lively spectacle.

“You dared to steal money! You actually dared to steal money and run!! Fine, fine, our Lü family has been clean and honest for generations, but in your generation, you had to become a thief! I’ll beat you to death, you little bastard!”

“I’m the little bastard? You’re the old bastard! If you’ve got the guts, untie me! I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Who’s your father? Say that again! Who’s your father?” Lü Zhuangyuan’s tobacco pipe swung up and down, and Lü Xiucai’s mouth swelled up from the beating.

Watching the father and son roar at each other at the village entrance, Bai Lingmiao found it somewhat tedious. She poked her head out, looked around left and right, then spoke to the tall Gao Zhijian. “Zhijian, could you get some paper and a brush? We need to sign some long-term laborers in the village.”

Gao Zhijian’s gaze shifted away from Xiaoman, and he looked at the men and women behind the carriage, then nodded. “Alright.”

Soon, the usually quiet Bai family ancestral hall became lively. These people lined up one by one, pressing their red fingerprints onto their own contracts.

Though none of them could read, the contracts detailed their compensation clearly, without a single trick.

“Miaomiao, what are you doing?” Chun Xiaoman looked at Gao Zhijian, who was writing rapidly, and asked in confusion.

“Signing contracts. This is how my grandfather used to hire short-term and long-term laborers. These people are just the beginning. More will come later. Since there are people here, we might as well do things properly from the start.” Bai Lingmiao tried hard to recall how her grandfather had once managed the village.

“You’re going to hire more people?”

“Of course. Niuxin Village is huge. We need to fill it up at the very least.” To revive Niuxin Village, this handful wasn’t nearly enough. Besides, some of the less capable would have to be weeded out.

After seeing that everyone had pressed their fingerprints, Bai Lingmiao looked at them and said, “Since you call me your godmother, that makes us family. The journey was hard. Tonight, we’ll slaughter a pig and have a good meal.”

The moment they heard there would be pork to eat, these people forgot their anxieties about being in a strange place and instinctively started swallowing their saliva. Some of them had never even eaten meat once in their entire lives; they had only heard that pork was delicious.

That evening, Yang Xiaohai worked very hard. A black-skinned pig weighing over a hundred jin was completely turned into dishes—bones and hair aside, everything was cooked and eaten clean.

Afterward, these people were assigned to the empty houses in the village. The once-quiet village began to show signs of life.

Night fell. In the hidden chamber of the Bai family ancestral hall, Bai Lingmiao carried a lantern, her fingers lightly tracing over the White Lotus cultivation manuals. A hint of longing flickered in her eyes. “Tell me, with all these good things here, is there a way to solve the immortal trouble we have?”

Behind her, the Second Spirit, her red bridal veil still covering her face, followed silently like a specter.

The Second Spirit thought for a moment, and a familiar face appeared in her mind. “Brother Li said we could look for the Great Calamity to find balance…”

“He said it, but it’s easy for him to say. With just a name, how are we supposed to find it?”

Four uneven streaks of clear tears soaked through the Second Spirit’s red veil. A powerful wave of longing welled up in her heart. “I miss him…”

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao’s expression twisted slightly. “Miss him, miss him! That’s all you know how to do! Would you die without him?”

“Look at this sniveling, pathetic state you’re in. It’s exactly the same as when you tried to kill yourself in the shrine back then. Just looking at you makes me angry!”

The Second Spirit choked back a sob, then pulled a white jade pendant from her bosom and gently stroked it. It was a gift Li Huowang had given her. She had thought about pawning it for travel money, but even after returning home, the pendant was still there.

As Bai Lingmiao walked, she continued, “Haven’t you noticed? The things happening around him are things we can’t get involved in anymore. If you want to avenge your parents and kill your father’s murderer, then fine—go back to his side and be a burden to him, dragging him down.”

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao felt the movement behind her stop. Then, from that dim corner, a faint, lingering sob echoed.

At the sound, Bai Lingmiao rolled her eyes and continued her inspection of the hidden chamber.

After looking over the legacy the Bai family had left her, Bai Lingmiao’s greed was truly piqued. She picked up a random book and flipped it open.

She struggled to read it, but the content was still too complex for her current level.

Just as she was frowning and puzzling over it, a faint flicker of light nearby caught her attention.

Bai Lingmiao looked over in surprise and saw that it was the giant white jade lotus on the cabinet. It was no longer emitting a steady, soft white light as it had before; instead, it flickered, dimming and brightening.

Curious, Bai Lingmiao moved closer to examine it, but she had no clue what was happening.

She had no idea why this object was placed here. Still, since it could be hidden in such a concealed spot, this white lotus must be valuable.

Based on her guesses, she thought it must be related to that so-called Wusheng Laomu. According to what she had deciphered earlier, the divine powers of the White Lotus Society were all bestowed by this Wusheng Laomu.

“Why is it flickering? Is it a sign of something?”

Suddenly, a hand tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and saw the Second Spirit looking up at a mural on the wall.

When Bai Lingmiao looked up as well, her pink pupils widened slightly. The lotus petals being pulled by the six white donkeys had started to overlap. Because the petals were too dense, it no longer looked like a white lotus but more like a hollow onion.

Then, a strange chanting sound suddenly came from her left, overwhelming everything.

“Great Qian甘露 Realm, Qinghua Ever-Joyful Gate, Eastern Utmost Marvelous Palace, within the myriad truths circling, the Nine-Colored Lotus Seat, within a hundred billion auspicious lights, Jade Clarity Lingbao Venerable, through vast kalpas bestowing compassion, the Seven Treasures Fragrant Forest, responding to the transformation of Xuan Yuan Shi...”

The chanting contained voices of men and women, old and young, layering upon each other, blending into an eerily unnatural sound.

This feeling of the Brahmic sound filling her ears made Bai Lingmiao tremble uncontrollably. She could even feel the murderous intent within her heart being nearly washed away.

“Not just the murderous intent, but also my ten emotions and eight sufferings!” All kinds of emotions flickered across Bai Lingmiao’s face as she struggled bitterly.

Almost instinctively, Bai Lingmiao reached out to embrace the white jade lotus. As its flickering light enveloped her whole body, she finally felt some relief.

Fortunately, this sensation came and went quickly, not lasting long. When Bai Lingmiao, still shaken, looked back up at the mural, she saw that the lotus being pulled by the six white donkeys on the wall had now transformed into a twin lotus flower on one stalk.