Chapter 235. Because His Name is Teng (1/2)
Heng Yue Mountain.
The Xuan Dao Sect was shrouded in rain and fog with bolts of lightning flashing down accompanied by the roar of thunder. The foliage made popping sounds as the rain poured down.
On this rainy night, a white haired youth walked slowly through the forest. Every step he took in the soaked foliage created a rustling sound.
From a distance, this person looked at the Xuan Dao Sect on top of Heng Yue Mountain. After a long time, he withdrew his gaze. His target this time was a small village hundreds of kilometers away.
In the middle of the night at the mountain village, besides the roaring thunder, there was only the sound of rain hitting the ground. Of course, there would be a few howls from some of the dogs raised by the villagers. It was as if they wanted to defy this weather. However, the only response was even louder thunder.
The entire village was dark as the white haired youth walked along the main road, looking at the familiar scene mixed with unfamiliar elements. His eyes were no longer filled with coldness, but with melancholy. This melancholy could even melt ice as it was filled with an unimaginable amount of familial love.
400 years had passed in an instant. Although it didn’t seem long for cultivators, it had been many generations for ordinary people. All of the houses in the village had been rebuilt by their descendents and now looked different from before.
This person was Wang Lin.
He looked around at the houses in the village. His gazed stopped at one house, remembering that there used to be a large tree there. He often read books and played with his friends under that tree.
In the blink of an eye, all of that had disappeared.
Wang Lin secretly sighed and slowly walked forward. After a short period of time, he stopped as he stared at a very familiar house. His body started to shake as he looked at the house. All of the other houses in the village had changed, but this house was still exactly the same as it was back then.
Wang Lin bit his lower lip and opened the main gate. The gate creaked as it opened. He closed it after he entered.
In the yard was a wooden table with several small wooden chairs under an overhang. Wang Lin silently watched the scene as tears fell from his eyes.
After a long time, Wang Lin walked to the house, opened the door, and stepped inside. Everything was left as he remembered, as if nothing had changed.
At the moment, Wang Lin felt like everything that had happened in the past 400 years was a dream and that he had just woken up. His parents were no longer dead and their souls weren’t inside the heaven defying bead. They were inside his house and they had gone to bed in this rainy night.
However, with his divine sense, he knew without even spreading it out that there was no one inside this room.
In the center of the main room, Wang Lin saw two memorial tablets, one above the other. The one above read:
“Wang Tianshui, Zhou Tingsu”
The lower tablet read: “Eldest son: Wang Lin”
Under the two memorial tablets was an incense burner with some unused incense sticks next to it.
Wang Lin’s eyes were filled with sadness as he lit up three incense sticks and placed them in the incense burner. He slowly knelt on the ground. He mercilessly kowtowed a few times and muttered, “This unfilial son is here to offer incense this time. Next time, I’ll build a tower made of the Teng family’s heads for my parents.” An aura of killing intent escaped from Wang Lin. The room instantly became even colder than the rainy night outside.
After he finished, he pondered for a while, then suddenly moved and disappeared from the spot.
After a while, one could see a horse carriage racing toward the house from the mountain village. Driving the carriage was an old man in white robes. It was clear that he was a martial artist in the mortal world.
He snapped the whip in his hand and, with a popping sound, the horse moved even faster.
The ground was uneven, which caused the carriage to keep bobbing up and down, but the old man seemed to be glued to the carriage. He remained unfazed and would sometimes shout, “Go!”
Soon, the carriage got close to the house. The old man let out a shout and tightened his hold on the reins. The horses let out a cry as their front legs went up into the air and the carriage stopped in front of Wang Lin’s home.
The old man jumped off the carriage and respectfully opened the door. The moment the door opened, a girl jumped out of the carriage. She was wearing a green shirt, her hair was tied up in a bun, and she looked very pretty.
After the girl got out of the carriage, her body shivered. Clearly, the coldness of the weather had gotten to her. However, she didn’t mind. She opened up an umbrella and said, with a crisp voice, “My lady, we are here.”
An exquisite figure came out of the carriage and stood under the umbrella. This girl’s face was pale. It had the look of a sickly beauty.
The moment she came out, her body shivered. The servant girl quickly held the umbrella in one hand and grabbed a large purple coat from the carriage with her other hand. With the help of the old man, they placed the coat on the young woman.
At the same time, the servant girl said, with discontent, “My lady, why did we have to come here tonight in the rain? We could have just come tomorrow instead. What if you catch a cold?”
Even the old man’s eyes showed a sign of regret in his warm gaze.
That young lady smiled. As she walked, she said, “You guys don’t know this, but before grandfather died, he said that no matter what happens, a descendent must come here to visit this place on this day. It is a family tradition.”
The servant was still not happy and said, “My lady, this place is so far from the capital. Why must we come here every day? Could there be something important hidden here? I heard from the other servant that this place used to be one of the Wang family’s branch locations.”
The young lady stopped the old man from opening the gate and raised her own jade-like hand to push it open. She smiled at the servant girl and said, “This is the first time you’ve come with me, so you don’t know. When we have time, I’ll tell you.”
After entering the courtyard, the three of them didn’t hesitate and immediately entered the house. The servant girl closed the umbrella, shook the water off it, then curiously looked around the room.
As for the old man, he silently stood at the doorway.
The young lady took a deep breath. Just as the servant girl was about to walk up, the young lady stopped and said, “You wait with grandpa Li out here. I’ll go in myself.”
The servant pouted, but obediently nodded.
The young lady smiled, coughed a few times, then slowly walked toward the main hall. After entering the main hall, the young lady looked at the two tablets. She took placed some bedding in front of the tablets and knelt on the ground. After kowtowing a few times, she was about to take out a few incense sticks, but her eyes suddenly locked onto the three incense sticks that were almost burned out. Just as she was about to cry out, she felt a gust of cold air in the room. She froze up and her forehead was covered in cold sweat. She felt that if she moved, she would be killed instantly.
She saw a young man with a head full of white hair slowly walk into the room.
Wang Lin looked at the young lady and blandly asked, “Whose descendent are you?”
The young lady’s face was filled with horror.
She constantly trembled as cold air penetrated her body. Even her voice trembled as she asked, “Who are you? And why are you at the Wang family’s ancestral home…”
Wang Lin looked at the young lady. He waved his hand. The cold air around her disappeared and was replaced by a sense of warmth. The young lady’s body felt warm as she revealed a shocked expression and looked at Wang Lin. However, she secretly moved her right hand and touched her waist.
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind created by the force palm rushed into the room along with the old man. However, the moment the old man entered the room, he slumped over and fell asleep.
The young lady’s face became pale
Wang Lin didn’t even glance at the old man that passed out and blandly said, “I’ll ask you again: whose descent are you?” In reality, the moment he saw his house, he already had a suspicion. It was impossible for the house to remain the same without someone taking care of it. Although the house looked the same, it had been rebuilt to look like what it was before.
The young lady revealed a determined look. She clenched her teeth and said, “My father is Wang Yun. Since you already followed me here, why even bother asking these questions?”
Wang Lin frowned and asked, “What do the people whose names are carved on these tablets have to do with you?”
“… it’s the ancestral home of my ancestor’s brother.” The young lady was very confused. If he was someone sent by one of her father’s enemies, why was he asking these questions?
Wang Lin’s heart shook. His voice was no longer bland. It instead trembled a bit as he asked, “What is the name of your ancestor?”
The young lady hesitated a bit and answered, “Ancestor’s name is Tian Tu…” She felt that this person was very strange.
After Wang Lin heard the name, his body immediately shook. He muttered, “Fourth uncle…” Speaking of the Wang family, aside from Wang Lin’s own parents, the one he cared the most for was fourth uncle. After hearing news of fourth uncle, he couldn’t help but become excited.
Scenes of fourth uncle replayed in Wang Lin’s head. After a long time, he sighed and looked at the young lady. His gaze was filled with a complex emotion, a look one would have when looking at their own descendent. He slowly said, “Your ancestor… at what age did he die?”
The strange look on the young lady’s face became even deeper as she answered, “Ancestor died at the age of 98. When he was middle aged, he caught the attention of an immortal of the Piao Miao sect. After he got off the mountain, he started his life in the capital and became one of the vassals of the royal family. That was also when the foundation of the Wang family started.”
There was a hint of relief in his eyes as he asked, “Fourth… your ancestor’s son, Wang Hu, also died?”
The young lady’s eyes were shocked as she muttered, “How…how do you know about the ancestor’s son, Wang Hu? Three years after the ancestor died, he also died.”
Time passes and people come and go. After Wang Lin heared about fourth uncle, his mentality underwent a change. After a long time, he looked at the young lady and slowly said, “There is harmful Yin energy inside your body. Was your mother injured when she was pregnant with you?”
After hearing Wang Lin’s words, the young lady’s mind was in complete chaos. It has to be said that if Wang Lin had carefully inspected her and had some clues, then it would have made sense if he managed to guess some of her secrets. However, very few people knew about the Yin energy in her body and most just thought that she was born with a weak body.
The young lady looked at Wang Lin. She asked, with a trembling voice, “You…who the hell are you?” The young lady had already thrown out the idea that he was an assassin sent by her father’s enemies. If he was, why would he know so many things?
Wang Lin waved his right hand and a cloud of green mist started to gather at the young lady’s forehead. The color of the cloud became deeper and deeper until Wang Lin finally waved his hand and the gas disappeared without a trace.
The young lady suddenly felt her body warm up. The coldness that had bothered her for 20 plus years disappeared with just a wave of his hand. This suddenly reminded her of a type of person from the myths.
The young lady bit her lower lip and asked, “You… you are an immortal?”
Wang Lin chuckled, “Immortal… sort of.” Seeing that fourth uncle had descendants and that they were doing well in the capital, Wang Lin couldn’t help but feel relieved.
Wang Lin pondered a little. He looked at the young lady and said, “Speaking of which, I’m considered your ancestor too. I made an agreement with fourth uncle that if I successfully become an immortal, I would protect his family to repay him for giving me the chance to become one.” With that, he slapped his bag of holding and took out bottles of pills and continued, “There are 72 pills here. Every descendant can take one pill. They mustn’t be greedy, but you are allowed to take 3.”
After giving the bottle to the young lady, he pondered a bit and pointed his finger between her brow. After extracting a drop of blood, he slapped his bag of holding and took out a piece of jade. He left a sliver of his Ji Realm inside the jade, then turned to the young lady. His expression was serious and cold as he said, “I have left a small piece of my divine sense inside this piece of jade. No cultivator in Zhao will be able to last more than a moment under its might. However, this jade can only be used three times. For now, you hold onto it. Only descendants of the Wang family can use it. Be careful and use it wisely.”
After throwing the jade at the young lady, Wang Lin waved his sleeves and disappeared from the room.
The young lady stared dumbfounded at the pills and jade in her hands, still feeling like she was dreaming. The old man that fell on the ground slowly woke up. His eyes suddenly lit up as he got up, walked next to the young lady, and asked, “My lady, what exactly just happened?”
At this point, the servant girl also came in. Only after seeing that the young lady was fine did she let out a breath. Her face reddened as she said, “My lady, Cui Er was too tired and accidentally fell asleep.”
The moment the old man heard those words, his face became ugly. He clearly remembered that the young lady had sent him a signal, but the moment he entered the room, he lost all control and fell asleep.
“It’s okay. Don’t overthink all of this. Let us go back to the capital.” The young lady took a deep breath and stood up. The sickly complexion had disappeared from her face and was replaced with a healthy, red glow.
The old man was the first to notice the abnormality. He said, with a shocked voice, “My lady, you…”
At that moment, the servant girl also noticed the difference and revealed an expression of disbelief.
The young lady let out a smile. She didn’t explain. She turned around and looked at the two tablets in the room, especially the one that said Wang Lin. Then, she turned around and left the room.
With her cleverness, she already had an idea of what happened, but to confirm her speculation, she must check the family tree back at the capital. She believed that this time, father will take time from his busy schedule to check the family tree with her.