Eternal Villain: I can enslave Reality!

Chapter 23 23: Xinren

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A single person's footsteps resounded in the dimly lit hallway. Xu Shan walked in the lead, accompanied by the Book Spirit.

The dark-haired woman still looked the same as before, but her wings weren't present anymore. It was as if she had made them disappear, finding them somewhat unnecessary indoors.

In any case, she only revealed them in the first place to make it easier for Xu Shan to believe her explanation.

"You keep appearing and disappearing. Where do you even go when you disappear?" Xu Shan calmly asked.

"Don't tell me you miss me when I leave?"

A melodious laughter resounded in the hallway, making the dark-haired woman appear even more charming. Unfortunately, other than Xu Shan, no one else could see her like that.

"As if!" Xu Shan rolled his eyes. Since he had been with the Book Spirit for quite some time now, he had realized that she wasn't a serious person at all.

If one was to go just by the looks, she appeared as if she was some cold queen that came down from heaven. However, only when she talked to him it was clear that she was like a child who loved talking! Maybe because there weren't many opportunities for her to talk to people.

His father's journal didn't mention any Book Spirit. His father learned everything himself. From that point, Xu Shan was clear that it wasn't often that the Book Spirit could come out and talk to their hosts.

He wasn't sure if he was an exception because he had something special or because of the unknown last wish of his father. No matter what, he still felt somewhat relieved that he had the Book Spirit to help him navigate through the various secrets of the book.

"That reminds me. It's very inconvenient that you don't have a name, especially when you're not here. Do you have a name that you want me to call you when I need you?" Xu Shan asked.

Even though it wasn't noticeable, he had been matching his pace with the dark-haired woman's pace, intentionally walking slower.

The dark-haired woman appeared to be lost in some thoughts. She didn't answer right away, as if she herself couldn't recall a name that she ever liked.

In fact, as far as she remembered, she didn't leave the Book of Desires in the past. So most of the names that she received were associated with the Book herself!

Most of the time, people only cursed her, which she didn't mind. She just found it amusing.

When people first got the book, they were often full of praise, especially when their greedy wishes were fulfilled. However, when they had to pay, all of them behaved as if she was a demon who had ruined their lives.

She never told anyone to use the Book, yet all the blame was hers. It wasn't as if she could change the rules of the book. She was just a Book Spirit and not the maker of the Book!

Through the centuries, all she received was hate from people. With time, she also started losing interest and faith in the hosts of the book, as it was the same cycle again and again.

It wasn't until Xu Shan's father's last wish that eventually forced her to come out. Even then, she didn't expect anything to change. She was sure that the young man was also going to hate her and curse her when he knew about what happened to his family and the involvement of the book.

She was already prepared to be hated when she came out.

However, to her surprise, the reality was somewhat different. Even though Xu Shan was sad about what happened to his family, he didn't hate her. He understood the core principle of the book! It was that the book didn't force anyone! It was just how it was made to work!

Not only did Xu Shan not hate her, but he also often talked to her as if the two were friends and allies.

For a person who had been all alone for thousands of years, witnessing only greed and hate, Xu Shan was a change that took her by surprise.

She didn't even realize when it happened, but she started hoping that things would always stay like that... For an eternity!

She silently glanced at Xu Shan, who was walking next to her. She had already noticed how considerate Xu Shan was being by intentionally slowing down his pace instead of telling her to walk faster.

She didn't even realize what that strange feeling inside her was, but she felt happy...

"How about you give me a name?" She asked as she turned her head to the other side, not looking at Xu Shan anymore.

"Are you sure? I'm very bad at names. If you insist, then don't hate me if you don't like the name I came up with."

"I won't hate you." The dark-haired woman shook her head lightly.

Xu Shan didn't speak anymore. The entire place turned silent as he started thinking about a name. There were thousands of names in his mind, yet it was hard to come up with one on the spot.

"Xinren." After a brief pause, he finally articulated one word.

"Xinren?" The dark-haired woman gazed in Xu Shan's direction.

"Where I come from, it means something similar to faith, or trust." Xu Shan explained. "With the kind of situation I'm in, I can only trust you in this entire world. Though I do hope that you won't break this trust."

"If you don't like the name, I'll think of something else later."  Seeing the dark-haired woman not respond, Xu Shan felt as if she didn't like the name. Then again, he had already told her that he was bad at naming.

"No, I like it." The dark-haired woman revealed a beautiful smile, nodding her head like a little child. "I am Xinren."

Looking at Xinren's smile, Xu Shan didn't know why, but he felt as if the smile was different from her previous smiles. It was as if it came straight from the depths of her soul.