Wang Lin felt warmth in his heart. For the past month, he had to get used to people deriding him. Now that he was back home, he felt the warmth of his parents.
“Second brother, Wang Lin is really an immortal disciple. Your sixth brother is blind and said a few harsh words. I hope brother won’t take it too serious. You know me, I have a sharp tongue, but a soft heart. It was all for Wang Lin’s own good.”
“Second sister in law, when I told my daughter that I didn’t betroth her, she panicked and said that she absolutely must marry your family’s Tie Zhu. Let us settle this marriage.”
“Lao Er, your fifth uncle is old. In the future, the Wang Family will depend on you guys. Your fifth uncle has always had an eye for your son. In my eyes, he is even more promising than your older brother’s son.”
Wang Lin’s parents’ faces were glowing. After the birthday party started, all the relatives praised Wang Lin non-stop. Even a few who drank too much started causing a ruckus about banding together to get back the inheritance Wang Lin’s father deserved. Wang Lin’s father only smiled, not taking it seriously. He knew far too well how these relatives were.
Wang Lin’s father no longer cared about the things of the past. He just wanted Wang Lin to become better and better, nothing else.
After a lively day, when it was dusk, all of the relatives left. Wang Lin was looking at the gifts in the yard. His heart filled with emotion. He remembered reading from a book saying when one achieves success, those around him benefit as well. He finally understood those words.
That night, Wang Lin’s parents asked him how his life at the sect was. Seeing the anticipation in his parents’ eyes, he lied to them for the first time. He described to them how popular he was, and how he practiced immortal techniques. His parents listened in awe.
For his parents, no matter how harsh being an honorary disciple was, no matter how much people ridiculed him, he would endure it, because ever since he was little, he had never seen them this happy.
“It’s only ten years, I’ll endure!” Wang Lin secretly decided in his heart.
Wang Lin stayed at home and spent time with his parents for two days. On the third day, his parents and everyone in the village sent him off. He put the immortal talisman on his leg and left.
Even when he was far away, he could hear the voices of the villagers.
It was getting dark. The sky filled with dark clouds. There was thunder in the sky, and the high humidity caused mist to appear.
Wang Lin couldn’t help but speed up. He arrived at the Heng Yue Sect at midnight, then went to lay in his bed. Zhang Hu was still snoring. Wang Lin tossed and turned, but couldn’t fall asleep. In the middle of the night, thunder roared outside and a flash of lightning lit up the room. Wang Lin touched the bead next to his chest. When he went home, he had his mom make an inner pocket in his shirt.
Want Lin took out the stone bead and studied it in the light from the oil lamp. He rubbed his eyes as he took a close look at the cloud patterns on the bead.
“This isn’t right. I remember that last time there were five clouds, but now there are six.” Wang Lin was surprised, he sat up and counted. Indeed, there were six clouds.
He was very surprised and couldn’t think of a reason. This increased his curiosity toward the stone bead. He put it back in his pocket, turned off the oil lamp, and went to sleep.
Outside, the wind was howling, thunder was roaring, lightning was striking, and rain was pouring from the sky. The rain slammed against the window. Wang Lin was suddenly awakened by a burst of cold air. He opened his eyes and was dumbfounded.
The continuous lightning lit up the room. The room was full of thick mist. The table, ground, and even the beds were wet. However, except for a damp spot where he stored the bead, Wang Lin was completely dry. He looked at Zhang Hu and saw that his body was surrounded by a white mist. His were clothes wet, his body was covered in frost, and his teeth were clenched shut.
“Zhang Hu! Zhang Hu!” Wang Lin was surprised and quickly got up and shook Zhang Hu. However, Zhang Hu showed no sign of waking up, and his breath was weak.
Wang Lin was very anxious. He was about to head out to look for other disciples for help, when he suddenly stopped and touched his clothes. A doubt raised in his mind.
“Why is it that even though we are in the same room, and both beds are soaked, every part of my body, except for this damp spot, is dry?” Wang Lin pondered, then suddenly took out the stone bead from his breast pocket.
At that moment, all of the water droplets trembled and slowly began to float. Even the white mist on Zhang Hu started to form water droplets.
Lightning flashed again and Wang Lin noticed that all the water droplets looked like crystals and charged toward the stone bead in his hand.
Wang Lin quickly threw the stone bead and dropped to the floor to avoid the water droplets.
The mysterious bead fell in an arc and rolled to the corner after it hit the ground. All the water droplets quickly shot toward the bead and disappeared into it.
A moment later, all the water in the room disappeared. Even the beds were now dry. Zhang Hu’s breathing returned to normal.
After a long time, the thunderstorm still raged outside, but the sky was no longer pitch black, and rays of moonlight broke through. Wang Lin stood up and hesitantly picked up the stone bead. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that it had changed.
The number of clouds on it had increased to seven!
The scene before had caused his curiosity for the bead to increase, but also instilled a bit of fear into him. If he hadn’t woken up in time, Zhang Hu would have been frozen to death.
As to why he himself wasn’t affected, Wang Lin could only guess that it was because he drank a lot of water that had the dew from the bead mixed in.
However, Wang Lin was very curious about what the clouds on the stone bead do. But he eliminated the idea of going outside and letting the bead absorb more water. He was afraid the scene would cause everyone to notice.
After hesitating for a while, he carefully put the bead back into his pocket. Not long after, dawn came and as Wang Lin was about to leave to do his chore when Zhang Hu jumped out of bed screaming, “Water! Water! The thirst is killing me!”