Chapter 14: An Abnormality

Wang Lin felt a warmth in his heart. After a month of enduring others' ridicule, returning home immediately allowed him to feel his parents' care.

"Second Brother, Wang Lin is already an Immortal Disciple. Sixth Brother, I was blind back then and said some unpleasant things. Second Brother, don't take it to heart. You know me, I have a sharp tongue but a kind heart. It was all for Wang Lin's good."

"Second Sister-in-law, my daughter got angry with me when I told her I hadn't arranged her engagement. She insisted on marrying your Tie Zhu. What do you say we finalize this marriage?"

"Second Son, Fifth Uncle is old. From now on, the Wang family will depend entirely on you. In my life, Fifth Uncle valued your child the most. He will have a promising future, frankly, I think even more promising than your eldest brother's son."

Wang Lin's parents were both beaming. Before long, the birthday feast began. All the relatives who came spoke highly of Wang Lin. Some, after a few drinks, even loudly voiced their indignation over the matter of Wang Lin's father's family property years ago, insisting they would unite to reclaim his share. Wang Lin's father just smiled, not taking it seriously. He knew these relatives too well.

More importantly, he no longer cared about the past. He only hoped his son would get better and better, nothing else.

After a bustling day, at dusk, all the relatives gradually left. Wang Lin looked at the various gifts in his courtyard, feeling quite emotional. Books often say, when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. He now thoroughly understood this saying.

That night, Wang Lin's parents pulled him aside to ask about life in the School. Wang Lin, seeing the hopeful look in his parents' eyes, lied for the first time. He described how popular he was in the School and how he Cultivated, making his parents so happy they couldn't stop smiling.

For his parents, no matter how hard or tiring being a Named Disciple was, no matter how much others mocked and ridiculed him, he would grit his teeth and endure it. After all, his parents had never been as happy as they were today, from his childhood until now.

"It's just ten years, I'll endure it!" Wang Lin secretly vowed.

Wang Lin stayed with his parents for two days. On the morning of the third day, with his parents and everyone in the village seeing him off, he affixed the Immortal Talisman to his leg and departed.

Even from a great distance, the envious words of the villagers from the past few days still echoed in his ears.

Today, the sky was overcast, with dense, dark clouds pressing down like a heavy stone on one's heart. Thunder rumbled occasionally, the humidity in the mountains greatly increased, and a mist appeared.

Wang Lin couldn't help but speed up, finally returning to the Heng Yue School late at night. Lying on the bed in his dwelling, Zhang Hu was still sound asleep. Wang Lin tossed and turned, unable to sleep. At midnight, thunder roared outside, and a flash of lightning illuminated everything in the room. Wang Lin felt the bead in his embrace; this time, when he returned home, he had his mother sew an inner pocket into his clothes to keep the bead inside.

Taking the stone bead out of the inner pocket, Wang Lin examined it by the oil lamp. Suddenly, his expression changed. He rubbed his eyes and stared intently at the cloud pattern on the bead.

"That's not right. I remember seeing five clouds carved on it last time, but now there are six?" Wang Lin was surprised. He sat up and counted carefully; indeed, there were six white clouds.

He was curious and couldn't figure out the reason, but his curiosity about the bead grew. He carefully put it back in his pocket, blew out the oil lamp, and went to sleep with his questions.

Outside, the wind howled, lightning flashed repeatedly, thunder roared, and large raindrops pattered down from the sky. The windows in the room rattled from the wind. Wang Lin, in his sleep, was awakened by a chill. The moment he opened his eyes, he was suddenly dumbfounded.

Several consecutive flashes of lightning illuminated everything. The room was filled with dense water vapor. The table, the floor, and even the bedding on the bed were soaking wet. However, except for his chest being somewhat damp, Wang Lin's entire body was not soaked. He quickly looked at Zhang Hu, only to see white frost appearing all over Zhang Hu's body. His clothes were drenched, his body was covered in frost, his eyes were tightly shut, his face was purplish-blue, and his teeth chattered.

"Zhang Hu, Zhang Hu!" Wang Lin exclaimed in surprise, quickly getting up. He pushed Zhang Hu for a long time, but Zhang Hu showed no signs of waking, and his breathing was barely perceptible.

Anxious, Wang Lin was about to go out to find other Disciples for help. Just then, he suddenly stopped, touched his clothes, and a question arose in his mind.

"Why is it that we're in the same room, and the bedding is so wet it could be wrung out, yet my clothes, except for my chest, aren't wet while I was lying on it?" Wang Lin's heart stirred. He looked down at his chest, his eyes flickering, and quickly took out the mysterious bead he kept there.

At that instant, all the water droplets in the room began to tremble, slowly floating up. Even Zhang Hu's body emitted wisps of white mist, forming water droplets that floated in mid-air.

Just then, another flash of lightning streaked across, and Wang Lin was stunned to see these water droplets shimmer with a crystalline glow, suddenly transforming into tiny crystal points that rapidly gathered towards the mysterious bead in his hand.

Wang Lin hastily threw the bead away and squatted on the ground to dodge the rapidly shooting water droplets.

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

Before long, all the water in the room had drained away. Even the damp bedding was now dry. Zhang Hu's breathing slowly returned to normal, his clothes wrinkled and clinging to his body.

After a long while, although the thunder and rain still raged outside, the sky was no longer pitch black, and faint moonlight shone through. Wang Lin stood up, hesitated for a moment, then carefully stepped forward to pick up the mysterious bead. Upon closer inspection, he immediately noticed a difference.

The clouds on it had become seven!

The scene just now filled his heart with a trace of fear in addition to curiosity about this mysterious bead. If he hadn't woken up in time and taken out the bead, Zhang Hu might have been frozen to death.

As for why he himself was fine, Wang Lin pondered for a moment, attributing it to his frequent consumption of mountain spring water and dew soaked with the bead.

However, Wang Lin developed a strong interest in the clouds on the bead. He really wanted to know what purpose these clouds served. After much consideration, he dismissed the idea of going outside to let the bead continue absorbing rainwater, fearing that too grand a phenomenon would attract others' attention.

After hesitating, he carefully placed the bead back in his inner pocket. Not long after, the sky gradually brightened. Wang Lin was about to go to the general affairs office when Zhang Hu suddenly scrambled out of bed, shouting, "Water, water, I'm dying of thirst."