Chapter 250: Coldness

Wang Lin couldn't help but laugh, nodding his head. “That’s right. Once Uncle earns a fortune, he’ll go back and marry a wife.”

Just as Daniu was about to speak, his father called out from inside the Ironware Shop. Daniu quickly responded, then said to Wang Lin with a bitter expression, “Sigh, back to forging iron.” With that, he reluctantly returned to the Ironware Shop.

A few scolding remarks from Daniu’s father drifted out from the shop. Wang Lin took a sip of wine and sat quietly by the entrance. Just then, a few snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. Slowly, the snowflakes grew larger. The first snow of the year had silently descended.

The temperature suddenly dropped.

Snowflakes struck Wang Lin’s face, quickly melting into icy water. Wang Lin looked up at the dim sky. After a long while, he stretched out his right hand and casually clenched it; immediately, the surrounding snowflakes instantly gathered toward him.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and released his right hand. The snowflakes immediately scattered, drifting away again. This scene happened extremely fast, and no pedestrians noticed anything unusual; they were all just hurrying along with their heads lowered.

As the sky darkened, pedestrians gradually thinned out. Eventually, there was not a single person left on the entire street. Even the surrounding shops closed their doors early due to the heavy snowfall, stopping business to allow families to gather around the stove for warmth.

This warmth was not just physical, but also spiritual. A family reunited, that kind of warmth could dispel any coldness.

A look of desolation gradually appeared in Wang Lin's eyes. The chill brought by the snowflakes was insignificant to him, but as he watched the lights turn on in the surrounding shops, and saw that his own shop was the only one pitch black on the entire street, a sudden trace of coldness rose in his heart.

This coldness could not be dispelled by any fire source, nor compensated for by any Divine Ability or Spell. This coldness was the price of comprehending the Heavenly Dao, and a necessity for experiencing life.

If one wishes to achieve Soul Transformation, one must first become Mortal.

But becoming Mortal, easy as it sounds, is far from simple in reality. Wang Lin was now experiencing solitude, a loneliness he knew he would have to continue experiencing.

Compared to this current solitude, the feeling that years later everyone around him would die, leaving him as the only person in the entire world, that would be true loneliness.

Wang Lin remained silent. After a long while, he staggered to his feet, his entire being seeming to age in that instant. He slowly tidied up the chair by the entrance, returned inside the shop, and gently closed the door.

After a long time, a firelight lit up inside the shop. Although it looked no different from the surrounding shops, in reality, this firelight was merely a facade, concealing a deep sense of solitude within.

Wang Lin sat by the stove. It was warm inside the shop, but his heart grew increasingly cold. After a long silence, Wang Lin took out his Storage Pouch, retrieved a carving from inside, and placed it beside him.

The carving depicted his father.

Looking at the carving, the coldness in Wang Lin's heart gradually lessened. He then took out a carving of his mother. Subsequently, one by one, he took carvings out of his Storage Pouch and placed them around the stove.

The carvings included men and women, old and young—all were the neighbors and villagers from his small village years ago.

Looking at these carvings, Wang Lin revealed a smile. Although this smile was filled with a hint of satisfaction, if anyone were to see it at this moment, they would feel that it was not a smile at all, but clearly a silent cry.

The stove fire flickered, bright and dim, reflecting similarly on people's faces, and creating an even stranger sensation when reflected upon the wooden carvings.

Gently picking up each carving, the coldness in Wang Lin's heart gradually diminished. However, while the solitude lessened, the sorrow deepened.

“I can't let go… I can't let go…” Wang Lin muttered to himself. When he first began cultivation years ago, he couldn't let go of his family, and even now, he still couldn't.

However, this emotion was different from back then. If one wishes to achieve Soul Transformation, one must first become Mortal. If one truly lets go of familial affection and everything else, then becoming Mortal would be utterly impossible.

The reason every Cultivator at the Soul Transformation Stage is powerful, besides their cultivation, is that deep within their hearts, they all possess a deeply hidden emotion. It is this very emotion that allows them to become Mortal, and subsequently rely on that emotion to Breakthrough the Nascent Soul and reach the Soul Transformation Realm.

It was precisely because of this obsession that Wang Lin did not encounter too many setbacks in becoming Mortal, but rather gradually felt the sensations of a Mortal.

At this moment, immersed in the yearning for his parents, he quietly contemplated this feeling. The spiritual power within his body began to spin wildly once again. This rotation gradually seeped out of his body, and a trace of Spiritual Qi suddenly rose from all the wooden carvings inside the shop, rapidly rotating with the same fluctuation as the spiritual power within Wang Lin.

Gradually, this rotation of spiritual power became faster and seeped out of the shop.

The snowflakes descending from the sky also began to spin as they landed on the shop roof, forming rotating clusters of snowflakes that rapidly slid away in all directions.

The snow fell heavier and heavier. After a long while, Wang Lin gradually woke up. The moment he awoke, a small portion of the wooden carvings on the surrounding shelves cracked with a snap.

Although this small portion of wooden carvings had cracked, the Spiritual Majesty emanating from them was heavier than before, and their quality had even improved.

Wang Lin glanced at them and took a deep breath.

He stood up and pushed open the shop door. A chilling glare, mixed with countless icy snowflakes, blew into his face. Wang Lin looked up at the sky and softly murmured, “Soul Transformation, I, Wang Lin, am determined to achieve it!”

The snowflakes falling from the sky were larger now, piled thick on the ground. Just then, the door of the Ironware Shop opposite suddenly opened. Daniu and his father were about to step out when they saw Wang Lin standing across the street. They couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Daniu then quickly ran a few steps, the snow crunching beneath his feet, and came up to Wang Lin, calling out, “Uncle Wang, did you know we were coming?” After speaking, he entered the room and sat by the stove.

Daniu's father, holding a wooden basket, smiled honestly and said to Wang Lin, “Brother Wang, are you busy?”

Wang Lin smiled, stepped aside, and said, “I’m not busy. Come in and talk.”

Daniu's father entered the room, glanced at the wooden carvings around, and a look of envy appeared in his eyes. He then put down the wooden basket in his hand, rubbed his hands together, seeming to want to say something but feeling too embarrassed to speak.

At this moment, Daniu, sitting by the stove, saw the carvings of Wang Lin's parents and relatives, and immediately exclaimed, “Uncle Wang, how come I’ve never seen these carvings before? Did you make them recently?”

Wang Lin closed the door, sat down nearby, and said, “I made them a long time ago.”

Daniu stared intently at the carvings and asked, “Uncle Wang, who are the people carved on these statues?”

A trace of nostalgia appeared in Wang Lin's eyes, and he slowly replied, “They are my family.”

Daniu was startled and stopped asking questions. He quickly stood up, ran over to the wooden basket, and opened the lid, revealing three plates of exquisite side dishes and two pots of Fruit Wine inside.

Wang Lin glanced over, watching Daniu's father with a half-smile. In the past three years, they had interacted frequently, and this was the first time he had seen this hearty fellow behave like this. Clearly, he needed help with something.

“Brother Zeng, just tell me what's wrong,” Wang Lin said.

Daniu's father hesitated for a moment, rubbed his hands, and said awkwardly, “It’s nothing, nothing.”

Daniu stared at the side dishes in the wooden basket, swallowed, and reached out to grab some. His father glared at him, scaring Daniu into quickly withdrawing his hand. Daniu grumbled discontentedly, “Isn’t it just about borrowing some silver? What’s so embarrassing to say?”

Daniu's father's face immediately flushed red, and he cursed, “You little brat, just wait until we get home.”

Daniu stuck out his tongue and said to Wang Lin, “Uncle Wang, my dad is too embarrassed to say it, so I will. My mom plans to take over the shop next door to make our store bigger, but we don't have enough money.”

Daniu's father sighed, looked at Wang Lin, and said helplessly, “Brother Wang, your sister-in-law always says our shop is too small, which is why not many people come to buy ironware. Didn't we see that Old Li’s Family's shop next door was up for rent? So we planned to rent it.”

Wang Lin smiled and nodded, picked up the wine pot from the wooden basket, took a sip, and asked, “How much do you need?”

Daniu's father hesitated for a moment and said, “Their shop is quite large, and we have to pay for two years upfront, needing fifty taels of silver… Uh… thirty taels, thirty taels should be enough.”

Daniu pouted and whispered, “Mom clearly said we needed eighty taels…” Before he could finish, his father glared fiercely at him again.

Wang Lin nodded without speaking. He stood up and went to the back room, where there was a large box filled entirely with gold and silver objects. Wang Lin casually picked up a piece of gold, returned to the shop, and placed it in front of Daniu's father.

Daniu's father was stunned when he saw the gold. He quickly said, “We don't need this much, Brother Wang, please take it back. I only need to borrow thirty taels of silver.” In his estimation, this piece of gold was worth at least ten taels, far exceeding what he needed.

Wang Lin picked up the wine pot and laughed, “Brother Zeng, this money isn't a loan. It's payment for my wine. From now on, one pot every day. Your Fruit Wine is good; this is worth ten years of wine money.”

Daniu's father hesitated, a look of excitement appearing on his face, and said, “Brother Wang, this…”

Daniu rolled his eyes and said, “Dad, just take it. Uncle Wang’s wooden carvings are worth ten taels of gold each.”

Daniu's father glared at Daniu again, then took a deep breath. He picked up the wine pot, took a big gulp, and nodded, saying, “Brother Wang, forget ten years or eight years. As long as you live here, I will bring you a pot every single day.”

Wang Lin chuckled, watching the father and son in front of him. The coldness in his heart gradually disappeared, slowly replaced by a trace of warmth.

That night, Daniu's father drank a lot. Two pots of wine were clearly not enough. Daniu served him, and it wasn't until the tenth pot was brought out that he had enough to drink.

Finally, Daniu's father drank himself into a stupor, but he kept the gold tightly clutched in his hand as Daniu helped him back home.

Before leaving, Daniu whispered to Wang Lin, “Uncle Wang, we have tons of this wine. My dad doesn't let me tell anyone, but actually, we have several large jars in our cellar left by our ancestors. I heard there are quite a few buried underground too. If my dad hadn't firmly refused to sell it, my mom wouldn't have made him come here to borrow money.”

—

My daughter is sick, and I need to spend more time with her tonight, so there are only two chapters today. In a few days, I will find some time to consistently release three chapters.

Please don't be suspicious; no father would use his daughter as an excuse.