The deity thought for a while before saying, “When I was still an ancient dragon, I heard that intermarriage between different races would not produce offspring. In modern terms, it’s called species isolation. But cultivators always have some strange methods to make this impossible possible. But even if this impossible becomes possible, it is still not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao. The child will either die in the womb or die young. So some parents who can’t bear to part with their children will try to exchange their lives for each other, attempting to defy the Heavenly Dao and change their child’s fate.”

Shang Lin paused for a moment. Judging from the original owner's appearance, she was a child who couldn't be born. Even if she were born, she would die young. It was already a miracle that she could live to the age of twelve, which is why she was able to transmigrate into the body.

If what the deity said is true, then the original owner was able to live to the age of twelve entirely because his mother sacrificed herself to give him a short twelve-year life?! And a life spent bedridden with illness?

But why bother? How much pain did Shang Lin endure during those twelve years of his life? Unlike every healthy child, he had neither a father nor a mother by his side. How pitiful!

Seeing Shang Lin's cold and stern expression, the Divine Lord suddenly asked, "Is this the situation with Shang Lin?!"

Shang Lin snapped out of his reverie and told the truth, "I don't know." But it was probably pretty close to the truth, right? After all, his dream wasn't like an ordinary person's dream, especially since the scenes were so vivid and realistic.

The deity suddenly advised, "Forget it, it's not your business. Why bother so much? Today is the New Year, the first New Year since the Yuntai Sect was established in the human realm, which you've been talking about all along."

Shang Lin snapped out of her daze and smiled. "Yeah, but I'm not fully awake yet. I need to sleep a little longer."

The deity obediently retreated towards the door, saying, "Alright, alright, I'll go out then."

The small figure of the deity quickly disappeared through the doorway. Only then did Shang Lin open his clothes to look at his chest. Apart from three faint red spots, he was not injured, but the feeling was too real.

Shang Lin closed his clothes and immediately lay down. He couldn't sleep, but he was quite tired, as if he had really been injured and needed to remain still to recover his strength.

Shang Lin didn't get up until 11 p.m., mainly because he was woken up by the sound of firecrackers outside. He then remembered that they also had to go downstairs to set off firecrackers and welcome the New Year.

So Shang Lin got dressed, grabbed the firecrackers, and went downstairs. She Jinxing hurriedly followed, fearing that something might happen to their sect leader again, after all, he was a sect leader who could scare people even in his dreams.

Downstairs, there were people setting off firecrackers and fireworks, it was quite lively. People usually save money, but they make sure to have everything they need for the New Year, hoping that next year will be even better.

Shang Lin lit the firecrackers and looked at the night sky where fireworks were constantly blooming. He silently prayed, "Shang Lin, may you rest in peace. May you rest in peace, Madam. May you be reunited in another world and continue your mother-son bond."

When Shang Lin and She Jinxing returned, everyone had already cooked the dumplings and set them on the table. Huang Li said while distributing chopsticks, "When we eat dumplings, no one is allowed to use magic to find the coins inside, otherwise it won't work."

Hu Tangdi laughed and said, "That's a bit difficult, because even without magic, one can instinctively sense that dumplings with coins will be different."

Huang Li choked, then looked at Shang Lin for help, "Sect Master..."

Shang Lin smiled, "How about this, one plate for each person."

Huang Li hurriedly said, "One plate isn't enough for me."

One plate of almanac wasn't enough, not even enough for Shang Lin and "Old Man Chai." He laughed again, "Then let's have another round."

Huang Li immediately cheered, "Great!"

There were only three coins in the dumplings on New Year's Eve. Shang Lin found two and Shen Jun found one. They couldn't help but wonder if someone else had done it on purpose.

However, looking at Huang Li's chubby face all scrunched up, at least he wasn't involved. As for the others... Shang Lin didn't want to bother trying to figure it out. It's a good thing, isn't it?

After a lively New Year's Eve dinner, Xing Tian rested for a while before preparing to go home. Shang Lin hurriedly said, "Bring some medicinal herbs to nourish your uncle and aunt. If there's anything suitable in the Dragon Spirit Pagoda, take some too, just don't scare them."

Xing Tian had no intention of bringing anything, after all, he didn't want to scare his parents. But after hearing what Shang Lin said, he felt that he should still give his parents some good things. Even if he couldn't make them live forever, it would be good if they were healthy and had fewer illnesses.

Hu Tangdi, one of the accompanying men, asked with some dissatisfaction, "Are we really going to travel in the middle of the night? Can't we set off early tomorrow morning?"

Xing Tian smiled apologetically, "The journey is quite long, and there's no transportation, so we have to set off early. Besides, I'm not suited to traveling during the day."

This was an arrangement made by the sect leader, and Xing Tian's words made perfect sense, so what could Hu Tangdi say? He could only compromise and say, "Alright, have you thought about how to give the things to your parents?"

Xing Tian smiled somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with this. Just pretend to be my classmate and say that I asked you to do this before I died."

Hu Tangdi took a deep breath and finally agreed, "Alright, I'll see this through to the end." After all, this was arranged by the sect leader.

As soon as Xing Tian and Hu Tangdi left, Huang Li hurriedly said to Shang Lin, "Sect Leader, I'm also going back to the mountains. This year, most humans will be staying at home for the New Year, so it's very safe."

Shang Lin told Huang Ying, "You stay with him, but don't stay out too long."

Huang Ying looked at Shang Lin with some dissatisfaction, "Sect Master, you can't spoil Huang Li like a child. After all, he's not a child; he's older than you."

Shang Lin laughed and said, "What does age have to do with it? A child is a child, so naturally they need to be pampered."

Huang Ying, "..."

Shang Lin then asked Qiu Niang, "Do you want to go out and play?"

Qiu Niang shook her head. "I'm a little tired. I want to go back to the tower to rest."

Shang Lin then looked at the Divine Lord with a questioning gaze, but he floated in front of She Jinxing instead, "Have you memorized all the mental cultivation techniques and incantations I taught you before?"

She Jinxing hurriedly replied, "I've got it."

Seeing that there was nothing more for him to do, Shang Lin went to find "Old Man Chai." He found him leaning against the headboard, stroking a wooden hairpin in his hand. He didn't know how long he had been stroking it, but the hairpin was now faintly shiny.

Upon seeing Shang Lin, Ji Xiaoyao hurriedly put away the wooden hairpin. "Sect Master, is there something you need?"

Shang Lin stated frankly, "Everyone has their own plans, what about you?"

In fact, Shang Lin felt that he couldn't leave anyone out since he had asked everyone, especially since Ji Xiaoyao was not the real person yet, so he had to show more concern.

Ji Xiaoyao paused for a moment, then took out the wooden hairpin again. "This is a gift I prepared for Qiu Niang. I've been preparing it for many years but haven't given it to her yet. Now I want to give it to her but I don't know how to bring it up. I firmly believe she is my wife, but she has no memory of me at all. If I give it to her, will she feel it's abrupt and refuse it outright?"