Chapter Fourteen: Mutation

  Updated, more later.

  －－－

  Wang Lin felt warm in his heart. For a month, he had been used to others' cold ridicule and hot criticism. Now that he was back home, he immediately felt the care of his parents.

  "Second brother, Wang Lin is already a disciple of the immortal, sixth brother I was blind at first and said some unpleasant words, second brother don't take it to heart, you also know me, sharp tongue but soft heart, all for Wang Lin's good."

  "Second sister-in-law, my daughter was initially anxious when I told her that I hadn't arranged a marriage for her. She said she would only marry your son Tiezhu, no matter what. What do you think? Should we arrange this marriage?"

  "Lao Er, Wu Shu is getting old. From now on, the Wang family will be relying on you all. In this life, what Wu Shu values most is your child. He has a promising future, to be honest, I think he's more promising than your older brother's kid."

  Wang Lin's parents were beaming with joy, and before long, the birthday banquet began. All the relatives who came to this place were praising Wang Lin nonstop. Some of them even drank a few cups of wine and loudly complained about the injustice of Wang Lin's father's property in the past, saying that they would unite to fight for what belonged to him. Wang Lin's father just smiled and didn't take it seriously, as he knew these relatives all too well.

  What's more important is that he no longer cares about what happened back then. He only hopes his son will get better and better, nothing else matters.

  After a lively day, at dusk, all relatives left one after another. Wang Lin looked at the big and small gifts in his own courtyard, feeling quite moved. As the book often says, when one man becomes an immortal, even his chickens and dogs rise to heaven. Now he thoroughly understood this saying.

  At night, Wang Lin's parents asked him about his life in the sect. Wang Lin looked at his parents' expectant eyes and lied to them for the first time, describing how well he was doing in the sect, how delicious the food was, and how great his cultivation was going. His parents were overjoyed and couldn't close their mouths.

  For the sake of his parents, even if being a nominal disciple is bitter and tiring, even if others mock and ridicule him, he will grit his teeth and endure it. After all, from young to old, his parents have never been as happy as they are today.

  "It's just ten years, I endured!" Wang Lin secretly made up his mind.

  Wang Lin stayed at home with his parents for two days, and on the third day, in the morning, amidst the farewell of his parents and all the villagers, he stuck the talisman on his leg and left.

  All the way far away, his ears still echoed with the words of envy from the villagers in recent days.

  Today the sky is overcast, with dense dark clouds covering the sky like a huge boulder pressing down on people's hearts. The air is filled with thunderclaps and the humidity in the mountains has increased significantly, with mist also appearing.

  Wang Lin couldn't help but quicken his pace, and finally returned to the Hengyue Sect in the dead of night. Lying on the bed in his residence, Zhang Hu was still snoring away, while Wang Lin tossed and turned, unable to sleep no matter what. At midnight, thunder rumbled outside, and flashes of lightning illuminated everything inside the room. Wang Lin felt for the pearl in his pocket, which he had sewn into a hidden pouch in his clothes before leaving home this time.

  He took out the stone bead from his inner pocket, and Wang Lin looked at it under the light of the oil lamp. Suddenly, he was moved, rubbed his eyes, and stared intently at the cloud pattern on the bead.

  "This can't be right, I remember last time I saw it, there were five clouds carved on it, but now how did it become six?" Wang Lin was surprised, sat up and carefully counted again, indeed there were six white clouds.

  He was amazed in his heart and couldn't think of a reason, so he became even more curious about the pearl. He carefully put it back in his pocket, Wang Lin blew out the oil lamp and went to sleep with doubts.

  Outside, the strong wind was howling, lightning flashed continuously, thunder rumbled, and bean-sized raindrops poured down from the sky with a loud patter. The windows in the house were blown open with a creaking sound. Wang Lin, who was sleeping, was awakened by the chill of the cold air. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was shocked and stared blankly.

  Several consecutive flashes of lightning illuminated everything, the room was filled with thick water vapor, the table, the floor, even the bedding on the bed were all wet and soggy. However, Wang Lin's body except for his chest being slightly damp, everywhere else remained dry. He hastily looked over at Zhang Hu, only to see that Zhang Hu's entire body was covered in a white frosty aura, his clothes soaked through, his body covered in frost from head to toe, his eyes tightly shut, his face a deep purple color, his teeth chattering.

  "Zhang Hu, Zhang Hu!" Wang Lin was shocked and hastily got up. He pushed for half a day, but Zhang Hu showed no signs of waking up, not even his breathing could be felt.

  In his anxiety, Wang Lin was just about to go out and find other disciples for help. At this moment, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, touched his clothes, and a sense of doubt rose up in his heart.

  "Why is it that even though we're in the same room and the bedding is already dripping with water, I'm lying on top of it and my clothes are dry everywhere except for my chest?" Wang Lin's heart skipped a beat as he lowered his head to look at his chest, his eyes flashing quickly as he took out the mysterious pearl that was placed there.

  At this moment, all the water droplets in the room began to tremble and slowly float up, even Zhang Hu's body emitted a faint white mist, forming water droplets that floated in mid-air.

  At this moment, another flash of lightning cut through the air, and Wang Lin was shocked to discover that these water droplets suddenly transformed into a multitude of glittering crystal points, rapidly gathering towards the mysterious pearl in his hand.

  Wang Lin hastily threw out the pearl and crouched on the ground to avoid the water droplets that shot over.

  The mysterious stone bead drew an arc in mid-air and finally fell to the ground, rolling to one side. All the water droplets shot onto it quickly, merging into the bead and disappearing.

  Before long, all the water in the house had flowed away cleanly, and even the damp bedding was now dry and stiff. Zhang Hu's breathing also slowly returned to normal, his wrinkled clothes clinging to his body.

  After a long time, although the outside was still thundering and raining, the sky was no longer pitch black, with a hint of moonlight shining down. Wang Lin stood up, hesitated for a moment, then carefully picked up the mysterious bead, took a closer look, and suddenly discovered something different.

  The cloud above turned into seven!

  The scene just now made him have a thread of fear in his heart towards the mysterious pearl, apart from curiosity. If he hadn't woken up in time and taken out the pearl, Zhang Hu would have likely been frozen to death.

  As for why he himself was unscathed, Wang Lin pondered for a moment before attributing it to his habit of often drinking mountain spring water infused with pearl and dew.

  However, for the cloud on the bead, Wang Lin raised a strong interest. He really wanted to know what role this cloud played. After considering it for a long time, he dispelled the idea of going out and continuing to let the bead absorb rainwater. He was worried that too big a scene would attract attention from others.

  He hesitated for a moment, then carefully put the beads in his inner pocket. Before long, the sky gradually brightened, and Wang Lin was about to go to the duty room when Zhang Hu sprang up from bed with a loud cry: "Water, water, I'm dying of thirst."