Chapter 9: Descending the Cliff

For the next few days, whenever he was hungry, he ate the birds that had been sucked into the area and died from the impact. He spent most of his time carefully observing the Stone Bead. Each time, he used the dew that appeared on it to wipe his arm. Gradually, his arm fully recovered as before. He was extremely concerned about this dew and accumulated quite a bit of it using the skull of one of the dead birds.

On this day, he evenly sprinkled the dew he had accumulated over many days onto a strip of cloth, carefully wrapped the Stone Bead within it, hung it around his neck, and tugged on it a few times to ensure it wouldn't fall off. Taking advantage of a lull in the suction force, he came to the cave entrance. Gritting his teeth, he tore off most of his clothing, tied the pieces together, secured one end to a nearby rock, and tied the other end around his waist, before cautiously climbing down.

After descending about five or six *zhang*, his hands suddenly slipped, and his body rapidly plummeted. Fortunately, the clothing strips bore a little weight, allowing his body to swing, and he quickly grabbed a horizontally growing branch. At this moment, the strip of cloth tore apart in the middle, and the section tied to his waist swayed precariously in mid-air.

Cold sweat broke out on Wang Lin's forehead. He looked down; there were still about twenty *zhang* remaining. He grabbed the branch with one hand and quickly snatched the strip of cloth with the other, painstakingly tying it to the branch. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

He cautiously moved his body, and after a long time, he finally approached the cliff face again and continued climbing down. When he was only a few *zhang* from the bottom of the cliff, his strips of clothing had reached their limit. Wang Lin jumped down without hesitation.

The strips of cloth, unable to bear the weight, broke again, but they slightly slowed Wang Lin's descent. Fierce Winds rushed at his face, followed by a series of snapping branches. The instant he landed, he struggled to control his body, his toes touching the ground first, and using the immense forward momentum, he curled into a ball and rolled across the ground.

The stones on the ground were like sharp knives, stabbing into his body and tearing open bloody wounds. His right leg, in particular, was pierced by a jagged rock, revealing pale white bone through the injury.

Wang Lin was breathing rapidly, his eyes unfocused. He struggled to take the cloth strip containing the Stone Bead from his neck and put it in his mouth, his tongue sucking the moist dew sprinkled on it. After a moment, he struggled to sit up, his hands trembling as he untied the cloth. He squeezed the cloth hard over the wound on his right leg, and several drops of liquid fell out.

A wave of coolness spread from the wound. Having completed all this, he weakly collapsed onto the ground, secretly praying that no wild beasts would approach before he recovered.

Just then, a shout suddenly came from the distance.

"Tiezhu, where are you?"

Wang Lin froze. Listening closely, he realized it was actually his father's voice. Without time to think, he immediately used all his strength to shout, "Dad, I'm here!"

A Long Arc of Light swiftly glided over from afar. After circling the cliff above Wang Lin, it descended with lightning speed. Once the sword light dissipated, a Disciple surnamed Zhang from the Heng Yue School, who was holding Tiezhu's father under his arm, frowned as he looked toward Wang Lin.

Tiezhu's father immediately burst into tears upon seeing his son. He ran to Wang Lin, hugged him, and cried, "Tiezhu, why would you do this? Why couldn't you think straight? Did you ever consider how your mother and I would live if you died?"

Wang Lin was stunned. After a moment's thought, he realized his father had misunderstood that he was trying to commit suicide. Looking at his wounds and disheveled appearance, he couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

The Disciple surnamed Zhang glanced at Wang Lin, then looked up, spotting the cloth strips. He moved quickly, leaping up and scaling the cliff face to the cave entrance in a few bounds. At this moment, the suction force suddenly appeared, startling him, but he immediately regained his composure. Ignoring the suction, he scanned the interior before gently dropping down. He said in a low voice, "Your child tried to commit suicide, but he was pulled in by this naturally formed Wind Eye, which is why he didn't fall to his death. Now that Wang Lin has been found, this matter will be decided by the Elders when we return to the School."

After speaking, he flicked his sleeve, grabbed Wang Lin and his father, and quickly left the area. Before long, they arrived at the base of the Heng Yue School mountain peak. Following the stone steps, they effortlessly ascended to the summit.

Returning to the familiar place, Wang Lin felt complicated emotions. Several people stood on the mountaintop, all wearing expressions of disgust. The Disciple surnamed Zhang quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words into the ear of one of them. That person frowned deeply and said coldly, "Since the person has been found, send him to the guest room to meet his mother."

Inside the guest room, Wang Lin's mother immediately burst into tears upon seeing her son, hugging him while sobbing and complaining. It was only after hearing his parents' account that Wang Lin learned the full story.

After he ran away from home, his parents immediately returned to the Wang Clan and found his Fourth Uncle. Worried about his safety, the three of them sought out Wang Zhuo's father. Due to his Fourth Uncle's insistence, Wang Zhuo's father reluctantly contacted all the relatives in the Family, who jointly petitioned the Heng Yue School, begging for help in the search.

It was the first time the Heng Yue School had encountered such a situation, and they initially did not want to bother. However, Wang Lin had run away because he was not accepted. If something serious were to happen to him, although they did not care about the life or death of a Mortal, if this matter were publicized, spreading by word of mouth among all the surrounding villagers, few parents would likely send their children for testing in the future. After careful consideration, they sent a few people to search nearby, and Wang Lin's father, worried, followed them.

This led to the scene that had just occurred.

Before long, someone delivered medicinal soup. Tiezhu's Mother quickly thanked them and carefully fed it to Wang Lin. The medicine truly lived up to being produced by an Immortal School; the effect was excellent. After drinking it, Wang Lin felt his body recover significantly, and the pain from his wounds eased greatly.

His parents' words of concern continuously entered Wang Lin's ears. He wanted to explain, but he figured his parents might not believe him.

At this very moment, inside the Main Hall of the Heng Yue School, several Elders of the School sat to the side, listening to the man surnamed Zhang recount the process of finding Wang Lin. After a long while, a red-faced old man slammed the table, complaining, "What does the life or death of a Mortal have to do with us Cultivators of the Dao? Look at the Cultivation Schools in the State of Zhao, which one of them is as improper as us, sending people to search for a brat who tried to commit suicide because he wasn't chosen? It is truly shameful!"

A cold-faced middle-aged man nearby sighed inwardly and said in a deep voice, "Elder Ma is absolutely right. Looking across the various Schools in the State of Zhao, our Heng Yue School is indeed the most improper. However, if that child had truly died near our Heng Yue School, this incident would certainly affect the recruitment of Disciples in the future. If parents thought their children might harbor suicidal thoughts after not being accepted, who would dare send their children here?"

An old man in brocade robes picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said unhurriedly, "To put it plainly, isn't it because our Heng Yue School has declined and needs to select a large number of Disciples suitable for Cultivating Immortality from among the Mortals? Heh heh, if this were 500 years ago, we wouldn't care if he lived or died, nor would we need to heed the thoughts of Mortals."

The last old man, whose face was covered in wrinkles, sighed and slowly said, "This youth was able to attempt suicide once, and he might very well attempt it a second time. Fine, to save trouble in the future, we will make an exception and accept him as a Named Disciple." After speaking, he glanced sideways at the middle-aged man, closed his eyes, and said no more.