Chapter Sixteen: The Disciple

  Today's third shift is over!

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  At this glance, Wang Lin suddenly felt that his entire body inside and out seemed transparent, being seen through by the other party.

  The old man furrowed his brow, he didn't notice anything unusual about Wang Lin, and asked in a low voice: "Wang Lin, when did you come back?"

  Wang Lin was just looked at by the other party, and his heart was beating fast. He hurriedly said: "The disciple returned last night and came early this morning after hearing from Liu Shixiong in the miscellaneous affairs department that you were looking for me."

  Old Sun's face turned gloomy, and without saying a word, he grabbed Wang Lin. With one step, a seven-colored auspicious cloud appeared, and they rushed straight to Wang Lin's residence.

  The speed was too fast, Wang Lin even had a suffocating feeling. Fortunately, the time was not long and they soon arrived at his residence. After throwing Wang Lin to one side, Old Man Sun's divine sense swept through the room.

  "Huh?" Old Man Sun's body moved and he came to Wang Lin's bedside, his large hand grasped and pulled out a gourd filled with spring water from the luggage under the bed.

  Wang Lin appeared calm on the surface, but his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly racked his brain for an excuse.

  Sun Changlao looked carefully for a long time, his expression slightly changing. After a while, he stared at Wang Lin and said in a low voice: "Wang Lin, what is inside this gourd?"

  Wang Lin hastily pretended to be foolish and said: "Elder, this gourd is filled with spring water from the mountain. This spring water is really amazing. Every time I'm tired, after drinking it, I immediately feel refreshed and invigorated. When I was young, I read in a book that the things of immortals are all good, but I didn't expect even the spring water to be so amazing. Elder, if you want this spring water, there are ten large vats at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department, each as big as a house, and they were all carried back by me from the mountain."

  The old man Sun opened the gourd lid, put it to his nose and took a sniff. His face suddenly changed greatly, and he hastily said: "Who asked you about the spring water? Tell me, where did you find this gourd? Speak quickly!"

  Wang Lin was taken aback and asked foolishly, "Elder, what's wrong with this gourd? I saw it floating downstream when I was fetching water, and I thought it looked fine, so I picked it up."

  The old man narrowed his eyes, looked at Wang Lin with a profound gaze, and stroked the gourd in his hand. In his heart, he thought: "This gourd has an extremely rich spiritual energy, and the spring water inside it, although ordinary people won't be able to absorb it after drinking, will still make them feel refreshed. This point is not a lie, but giving it to him is really a waste. If used for alchemy, the effect would definitely be good."

  "As for the withering of Blue Line Grass and Purple Night Flower, it's highly likely that this gourd is involved. Perhaps there are some principles of mutual growth or restraint between them, but all this can only be known after experimentation."

  At this thought, he suddenly changed his expression, carefully looked at the gourd, and with a stern face, gloomily stared at Wang Lin, saying: "Wang Lin, you have a big nerve, daring to deceive the elder. It seems that you've been in the Hengyue Sect for too long!"

  Wang Lin's face showed a look of confusion, and he hastily said: "Elder, I didn't deceive you, the Miscellaneous Affairs Department really has ten large jars of spring water..."

  Before he finished speaking, Old Man Sun was so angry that he laughed instead, saying: "You're still pretending to be stupid with me. I'm asking about this gourd. The shoots on this gourd are obviously broken recently, but you said it was picked up from the spring water. Wang Lin, I'll give you one last chance. Tell me where you got this gourd, otherwise, today I will expel you from the Hengyue Sect!"

  Wang Lin's face surged with anger, revealing a desperate expression. He shouted loudly: "Leave then! In the Hengyue Sect, I have nothing to do but fetch water every day. With ten large jars of water, I often go a week without eating a meal. If it weren't for my mother bringing me sweet potatoes, I would have starved to death long ago. This isn't cultivation at all, it's purely suffering."

  "I finally managed to scoop up this gourd from the water with great difficulty, if you want it just take it directly, why say I'm cheating you? Whether there's a handle on this gourd or not has nothing to do with me, maybe someone else broke it off and threw it into the spring. You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?"

  The old man looked at the remaining sweet potatoes in his luggage, then glanced at the gourd in his hand, and pondered for a moment. Inwardly, he sneered to himself: "I've decided on this gourd, but if I were to snatch a treasure from a named disciple and drive him away, it would be too embarrassing if word got out. My reputation within the sect would be ruined, and other fellow disciples would surely come to take advantage of me. I'm not capable of snatching everything from them. This matter must remain secret, and this kid still hasn't told the truth. There must be more than one gourd. If I were to obtain all of them, my cultivation would definitely increase significantly."

  He thought for a moment, then immediately put on a surprised look and sighed: "You kid is quite miserable, can't even eat a meal in a week. I didn't know about this before, but now that I do, I'll definitely take care of it. After all, you're also a disciple of the Hengyue Sect!"

  After finishing, he saw Wang Lin still looking angry and furious. He sneered in his heart, but spoke kindly: "Wang Lin, I'll take this gourd, but I won't treat you unfairly. Are you willing to be my disciple?"

  Wang Lin said in a low voice: "I'm not willing to, the child is just a servant. If my father knew I was serving as someone's slave, he would definitely beat me to death."

  Old Sun barely controlled his temper, wanting to slap him dead before his father could intervene. After all, although he was a mediocre second-generation disciple, if he said he wanted to take in an apprentice, even the named disciples would have to scramble forward with their heads bowed.

  Under intense pressure, he irritably said: "Forget it, I'll take you as my disciple. I'll go and discuss this with the sect leader right now. You pack your bags and wait for me at my place." After finishing speaking, he flung his sleeve and walked out of Wang Lin's room, stepping on auspicious clouds, heading straight to where the sect leader was.

  After he left, Wang Lin's face suddenly turned gloomy. In his heart, he sneered coldly. This old man had ulterior motives; on the surface, he was taking him as a disciple, but in reality, he wanted to obtain more gourds.

  Wang Lin pondered for a moment, chuckled lightly, and thought to himself that it was just a gourd, which were abundant in the mountains. He could simply soak one in spiritual energy later on. For now, since he had the chance to become an inner disciple, he must seize this opportunity to cultivate diligently.

  Thinking of this, he was greatly excited in his heart, packed up his luggage, and left many sweet potatoes for Zhang Hu, before slowly walking towards the main courtyard.

  This time he didn't sign up either, and walked directly into the main courtyard. The young man in white sat cross-legged on a large tree in the corner, looked down and didn't stop him. He had already received the news released by the sect leader that Sun Shifu accepted Wang Lin as his disciple, so he sneered to himself: "A trashy master took in a trashy disciple, it's also a good match."