Chapter 16 Defying Fate: You Should Have Killed Her Before the Tragedy Happened...
"Our sect is just... way too shabby!" Compared to the villas in Shenzhen, it's like comparing heaven and earth.
"It's only broken on the outside, but it's been repaired inside." Lin Jinshui pushed open the rickety mountain gate and went in first.
Seeing that he had only pushed open one door, Lin Jianyu casually pushed open the other door as well.
As a result, the door collapsed with a gentle push.
Damn, is this some kind of staged accident?!
Lin Jinshui saw that the door had fallen over, and said with an air of nonchalance, "I forgot to tell you, that door was broken."
"Why didn't you fix it if it's broken?" This attempt to stage an accident here startled her.
"I'm too lazy," Lin Jinshui said. "This door has been broken for years; it's a unique feature of our sect."
"What kind of unique feature is this?" Lin Jianyu complained.
"Didn't I say it's a unique feature of our sect?"
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu said "Fuck".
"Should we put it back?"
"No need, your second senior brother will go back later." As soon as Lin Jinshui finished speaking, Yun Dan came out of the hall.
"I thought the monkeys from the mountains had run off to the temple again. Turns out it's you who's back." Yun Dan finished speaking, then turned his gaze to Lin Jianyu behind him. "This must be Junior Sister!"
More than two months ago, he heard from Zhu Jin that Lin Jinshui had taken a girl as his apprentice, and today he finally met her.
Just as Zhu Jin described, she was exquisitely beautiful, like a porcelain doll, truly adorable.
Lin Jianyu's current appearance is vastly different from how Lin Jinshui found her, much like the seemingly dilapidated state of their sect and the small villa in Pengcheng.
Now she has gained weight in her face and body, no longer skinny, and her dog-chewed hair is gone. She is neatly groomed and wearing the little dress and shoes that Huo Chenyin bought for her. She looks just like a porcelain doll.
Of course, she doesn't usually dress like this, nor does she usually dress this neatly.
She usually wears boys' clothes, but occasionally she will wear a Taoist robe like Lin Jinshui.
As for maintenance...
They spend all day roaming in the mountains and forests, and it's already a miracle they don't look like wild people. It's impossible for them to keep themselves clean; they get dirty again after just a few steps.
The clothes she was wearing were usually kept at the bottom of a trunk, but Lin Jinshui found them and made her change into them just before the sect's arrival, saying it was to prevent her from being mistaken for a boy again.
"This is your second senior brother, Yun Dandan." After introducing Lin Jianyu, Lin Jinshui introduced Yun Dandan, "This is my disciple, Lin Jianyu."
"Senior Brother Yun Dan." Lin Jianyu stepped forward and greeted Yun Dan.
"Yes," Yun Dan nodded in response, then asked, "Which one sees, which one fishes?"
“The ‘fisher’ in ‘The Peach Blossom Spring’,” Lin Jianyu replied.
"You named it?" He asked Lin Jinshui.
Lin Jinshui nodded. "Does it sound good?"
"It sounds nice, but you're unlikely to find a fisherman in the forest, but you're likely to find a mermaid," Yun Dan said.
Lin Jianyu knew that mermaids were the legendary merfolk.
Where can you find such a creature that only exists in legends? Perhaps in the forest.
Anyone who has heard of merfolk knows that they live in the sea.
Lin Jinshui clearly hadn't heard of merfolk, because instead of refuting Yun Dan's words, he echoed, "Mermaids are indeed easier to find than fishermen." After saying that, without giving Lin Jianyu a chance to complain in his heart, he directly changed the subject, saying, "The door is broken, put it back."
"You can't install it yourself," Yun said casually, but she had already lifted the door panel up.
Seeing this, Lin Jianyu quickly went over to lend him a hand.
"Junior Sister is so much better, unlike some people, tsk!"
“She’s the one who knocked the door down,” Lin Jinshui said.
"Then it is you, as the master, who should put it back."
“When have you ever seen me knock down a door and it was your grandmaster who put it back in place? It was always your master and your two uncles, or your three senior brothers, who put it back in place,” Lin Jinshui said.
"You're quite proud of yourself."
Lin Jinshui raised his head slightly, looking incredibly proud.
"Um...aren't you guys really going to consider fixing the door?" Lin Jianyu genuinely felt that this lousy sect's unique feature was better off gone.
"It's fixed now, but when the Grandmaster's soul returns, it won't be able to get back in," Yun Dan said.
Although Lin Jianyu did not believe in the existence of a soul after death, he could not refute him and could only remain silent.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. This gate had been broken for years when your grandmaster was still alive. If it was going to be repaired, it would have been repaired long ago. He's just lazy," Lin Jinshui said ruthlessly.
Yun Dan wasn't annoyed when he was exposed; he just smiled and said, "You're the one who's diligent, you fix it."
"I'm even lazier," Lin Jinshui said, his argument lacking conviction. "What about your master and the others?"
"Meditate inside the hall."
Lin Jinshui understood and turned to Lin Jianyu, saying, "Come on, I'll take you to see your eldest uncle and your other senior brothers."
"good."
Lin Jianyu's senior uncle, Wen Boyan, is a man who appears gentle and refined but is actually strict with himself and others. Within the sect, he is mainly responsible for managing the sect rules and teaching disciples.
All the disciples in their sect were taught by him, including his three junior brothers.
Well, her grandmaster only cares about picking up children, not teaching them. He always acts like a hands-off manager, just as unreliable as her master.
This is probably the main reason why his master was able to inherit his Taoist temple and become the head of the sect after his death.
Besides Yun Dan, Wen Boyan had three other disciples named Yun You, Yun Xi, and Yun Hu.
All three of them inherited Wen Boyan's temperament, and were very composed at a young age.
Yun Dan is an exception among them.
His personality is like Huo Chenyin's; he is shrewd and resourceful. His talent is like Shen Siming's; he is a rare cultivation prodigy. However, he is obsessed with cooking and only wants to stay in the sect as a chef.
Otherwise, given his personality and talent, he would never have been assigned to Wen Boyan's school.
Apart from her, all the other disciples of their generation were first taught by Wen Boyan after being taken in, and then assigned to individual schools based on their personalities and talents.
Those with a calm temperament and decent talent stayed behind with Wen Boyan to train disciples at the Taoist temple; those with a lively temperament and average talent followed Huo Chenyin to do business and amass wealth to support their sect; those whose temperament didn't matter but had exceptional talent followed Shen Siming to exorcise ghosts, capture demons, and practice feng shui.
As the sect leader, her master, like her grandmaster, is mainly responsible for expanding the sect, which means recruiting people. She will most likely be on the front line of expanding the sect in the future, just like the two of them.
Well, changing masters is impossible. She's not calm or quick-witted, and her talent is probably just average. If she doesn't follow her master to strengthen the sect, she'll probably only be a mascot.
Most importantly, she couldn't leave her master and was prepared to rely on him for the rest of her life.
After meeting Wen Boyan and the others, Lin Jinshui took Lin Jianyu to visit their sect, and Yun Dan also went along.
Their sect was called Wuya Temple, which, as the name suggests, was a Taoist temple.
Before learning to read from Lin Jinshui, Lin Jianyu always thought their sect was called Crow Temple. Even after learning that everyone in their sect had a bad mouth, he still thought their sect's name was quite fitting.
Although Wuya Temple looks dilapidated on the outside, the interior has been renovated in recent years and looks quite new. The temple is mainly divided into four areas: the temple, the dining hall, the meditation room, and the garden.
The temple houses many statues of deities. Although they look old due to years of disrepair, they are still solemn. Incense is burned in the temple for a long time, and the air is filled with a faint smell of incense.
The dining hall is divided into the vegetarian hall, the guest hall, and the kitchen. The vegetarian hall and the guest hall are quite large and well-managed. The kitchen is the domain of Yundan, who is engrossed in cooking. Others rarely go in, and some are even not allowed to go in.
Don't ask her how she knew; although she doesn't know many characters, she can still understand the couplet that Yun Dan posted on the kitchen door.
First line: Love your country, love your family, love your kitchen.
The second line reads: "Beware of fire, theft, and your uncle-in-law."
Horizontal scroll: No money for renovations.
"This senior uncle wouldn't happen to be you, would he?" Lin Jianyu asked Lin Jinshui knowingly.
“It’s not just me,” Lin Jinshui said.
"Who else?"
"And your second and third senior uncles." Of the four of them, apart from his eldest senior brother, none of them were good at kitchen work. He and his third senior brother had even burned down the kitchen together. This is the origin of the horizontal scroll written by Yun Dan. "Next year, add your junior sister too."
Lin Jianyu: "???"
"Why did you add me? To protect yourself from theft?" Although she had done a lot of petty theft in the past, after he took her in, she had reformed under his careful guidance.
“Your cooking skills are almost on par with my master’s. You’re not qualified to enter his kitchen,” Lin Jinshui said. “Besides, you’re not very skilled at using fire and could easily set the kitchen on fire.”
"Oh." Although Lin Jianyu didn't admit that her cooking skills were about the same as his, she was indeed not very skilled at using fire, and he always had to start the fire for her when she cooked.
The clean room, which is the side room for disciples and pilgrims, is divided into the main room and the side room.
The main house is for disciples to live in, while the side rooms are for pilgrims. The side rooms are further divided into east and west wing rooms, which are for male and female pilgrims respectively.
Due to national policies, the Taoist temple has not had any worshippers for many years. Therefore, the side rooms have not been repaired and are as dilapidated as the facade. Lin Jianyu only glanced at them from the outside and did not go in.
The main house has been renovated and looks quite new.
“My master said you’ll arrive around these next few days. I’ve already prepared Junior Sister’s room in advance; this is it.” Yun Dan opened the door to one of the rooms. It was very tidy inside, with all the furniture. The things that Huo Chenyin sent from Pengcheng that belonged to Lin Jianyu were all neatly arranged.
Lin Jianyu looked quite satisfied, but Lin Jinshui said, "She doesn't need a separate room for now, she can stay with me for the time being."
As soon as he finished speaking, he received a look from Yun Dan that screamed "beast."
Realizing he had misunderstood, he quickly explained, "It's not what you think."
"It's not what I think it is, then what is it?" Yun Dan asked.
“Her body could change at any time, so I have to keep an eye on her to prevent anything from happening,” Lin Jinshui said.
Upon hearing about the anomaly, Yun Dan's expression instantly turned serious. He couldn't sense any aura of the Mountain and Sea Clan on Lin Jianyu, so he was almost certain she was a pure-blooded human. The only possibility he could think of for her to mutate was...
"You used that forbidden technique on her!"
"When I met her, her heart had been severely damaged and her life force was rapidly draining away. I had no choice but to try anything, even if it was a last resort. I don't know if it was successful or not, but in any case, she survived. However, her body could mutate at any time and she would need my blood to sustain her life," Lin Jinshui said.
Yun Dan didn't know if this could be considered a success.
The forbidden technique that Lin Jinshui used was something he and Lin Jinshui had seen when they were kids, sneaking into his grandmaster's room while playing. The technique was incomplete, and Lin Jinshui using it to save Lin Jianyu was truly a desperate measure.
"For now, we can use your blood to prolong her life, but what about after that? What are you going to do?"
"I don't know!" Lin Jinshui said straightforwardly. "We'll discuss it with my second and third senior brothers when they get back, and see if they have any solutions. When are they coming back?"
"They didn't say. I'll go to the city tomorrow and call them to ask," Yun Dan said.
"Okay." Lin Jinshui nodded. "Have you tidied my room?"
"No," Yun Dan said matter-of-factly.
Lin Jinshui: "..."
Lin Jinshui had anticipated this.
"Then I'll stay with my disciple for now." He sleeps in meditation, so it doesn't matter where he is.
Yun Dan continued to look at him with the same gaze one would give a beast.
"I've already explained, why are you still looking at me like that?"
I won't listen.
...
Behind the clean room lies the garden.
The garden covers a large area and has everything from flowers and trees to artificial hills and streams. Yun Dan even set aside two plots of land to grow vegetables.
Beyond the vegetable garden was a livestock area, where chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, and pigs were raised. There were so many rabbits that Lin Jianyu couldn't even count them all, which explains why Lin Jinshui didn't like eating rabbit meat.
Well, although their sect consisted of Taoists, they ate plenty of meat. Even Lin Jinshui, who was a picky eater and didn't like poultry or livestock, never held back when it came to seafood and river delicacies.
It took nearly two hours to tour the entire Taoist temple.
Fortunately, she had been exercising a lot with Lin Jinshui over the past six months; otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have been able to stand it if she had been wandering around the sect for almost two hours right after arriving.
This shows that although their sect was located in a remote area and many places were dilapidated, it had once been glorious.
After Yun Dan accompanied them to tour the Taoist temple, he went to prepare dinner for the evening. Lin Jinshui and Lin Jianyu went to their room to rest. Not long after they sat down, Yun Hu brought them some food and tea, including dried fish, which was Lin Jinshui's favorite.
After several months, Lin Jianyu was so satisfied that her eyes narrowed slightly as she ate the crispy, savory fried dried fish again, and there was no limit to the amount.
After she went to Shenzhen, she actually ate a lot of good food, including many fried foods, but none of them could compare to Yun Dan's fried dried fish.
I don't know if it's because the fried anchovies are just too delicious, or if what you can't have is always the best.
"Brother Yun Dan's fried dried fish is amazing."
"He just happens to have a talent for cooking," Lin Jinshui said.
Lin Jianyu thought of the talisman paper that Yun Dan had drawn, which he still hadn't mastered, and added, "And the talisman itself."
“Alright, there’s also talisman drawing.” Yun Dan’s talent in talisman drawing is indeed very high. Not only can he draw well and quickly, but he can also improve and create his own. The kind of talisman paper that he has not yet been able to learn is something he doesn’t know how to improve, but it is his own creation. “In swordsmanship, I am much stronger than him.”
"You are his senior martial uncle. Shouldn't you be better than him?"
“Although I am his senior apprentice, we were taken back to the Taoist temple around the same time, as were Xuan Zhanzhan and Zhu Jinjin,” Lin Jinshui said.
Lin Jianyu knew Xuan Zhan; he was Shen Siming's eldest disciple, her fifth senior brother. He was extremely talented and considered one of the top figures of their generation. Even the exceptionally talented Yun Dan could only rank second in front of him.
She was even more familiar with Zhujin.
"The four of you were picked up around the same time, so why did our master only take you as his disciple? Or rather, why did he take you as his disciple?" Yun Dan and Zhu Jin are one thing, one is obsessed with cooking and has no interest in cultivation, the other has average talent and focuses on business, but Xuan Zhan is an all-rounder, just like his second master uncle.
"Because my talent is the highest."
Lin Jianyu remained silent, her eyes filled with suspicion as she looked at him.
“It’s true,” Lin Jinshui said. “My talent is comparable to your second senior uncle’s within the sect.”
"Then why is Master's strength so much weaker than Second Master's?" Lin Jianyu asked.
“Talent is important, but hard work is equally important.” Clearly, his second senior brother worked harder than him. “Moreover, when your grandmaster decided to take me as his disciple, I was still an infant.”
"I understand." Her grandmaster only considered talent when choosing disciples. "Did Master accept me as a disciple because I also have high talent?"
"No." Lin Jinshui shook his head.
"Is it not very tall, or does it depend on talent?"
“Neither,” Lin Jinshui said. “I took you as my disciple because your body has mutated because of me. Without my blood, you will die, so I must keep you by my side.”
"As for talent..."
"As it stands, you don't seem to have the talent."
"Of course, it's also possible that I don't know how to teach. Later, I'll have your eldest uncle teach me again."
Lin Jianyu thought that even if his talent was bad, it would only be average. He never expected that he actually had no talent at all.
"What do you think?" She felt that her acting skills were okay, her sword skills were not bad, and her talisman drawing was even better than his, so how could she not have any talent?
"It's seen with the eyes."
Lin Jianyu really wanted to ask him when he went blind.
"Am I a bad actor?"
"It's fine." She burst into tears without warning.
"So, your swordsmanship isn't good enough?"
"That's good too." She had basically learned all the moves he taught her.
"It can't be that the talisman was drawn poorly!" Her talismans were drawn better than his.
"The talent I'm talking about isn't these things, but your mastery of spiritual power. You still can't sense the existence of spiritual energy. Without spiritual power, no matter how well you wield your sword or how fast you draw talismans, it's all just an empty shell, a fake trick. You can't kill the dead or slay demons," Lin Jinshui said.
After listening, Lin Jianyu did not refute him, saying that spiritual energy did not exist in this world at all. Instead, she asked him, "I have no talent, will Master abandon me?"
"No." Lin Jinshui shook his head.
"Will you take on new apprentices?" Lin Jianyu asked again.
"No." Lin Jinshui shook his head again.
"That doesn't matter." She didn't want to waver in her beliefs, nor did she want to question his. As long as everything remained the same, it didn't matter whether she had talent or not.
"Um."
After resting at the Taoist temple for a day, Lin Jianyu officially began studying under Wen Boyan.
Unlike Lin Jinshui's unreliable teaching methods, Wen Boyan's teaching methods were very professional and meticulous. Take calligraphy for example, he taught everything from sitting posture to pen grip and the techniques for applying force.
Swordsmanship, talismanic arts, and others are all taught from the basics.
Every morning, she would first practice horse stance for half an hour to strengthen her lower body before starting to practice swordsmanship. Wen Boyan would break down each move and technique and teach her to ensure that every movement was standard.
The afternoon is for learning characters and runes, practicing sitting posture and pen grip, and training hand strength techniques.
At night, meditate and absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.
Lin Jianyu always thought she was someone who could endure hardship, but when she practiced horse stance, she spent half of the half hour lying on the ground. When she practiced swordsmanship, she wasn't much better off; she would sway and stagger before she even learned a single move.
The afternoon was relatively easier because she had a high aptitude for literacy and runes, and could learn almost anything after being taught. However, practicing sitting posture and pen-holding posture, as well as training hand strength techniques, sounded simple but were extremely difficult to do.
Wen Boyan said her wrists were weak and gave her a series of exercises to strengthen them. She had to practice them every day. In the first few days, she felt like her wrists were going to break. Knowing how to exert force correctly was a skill in itself.
She finds meditation most relaxing at night, and she can even fall asleep while meditating.
As for absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy...
There is no such thing as spiritual energy in this world.
In short, in just a few days, she experienced the fear of being dominated by studying.
Huo Chenyin and his group returned to the Taoist temple seven days after the master and disciple had returned.
Everyone came back together.
This includes Shen Siming and his two apprentices, whom Lin Jianyu was unable to see during the Lunar New Year.
After meeting Shen Siming, Lin Jianyu finally understood why he was the living symbol of their sect.
Because both his appearance and temperament give people a sense of purity and detachment from the world. Especially when he puts on a Taoist robe, he becomes aloof and otherworldly, like a banished immortal. If he just stands there, all sorts of demons and monsters would tremble in fear.
"My second uncle is really handsome." He is the most handsome person she has ever seen.
"Am I not good-looking?" Lin Jinshui asked.
“It’s beautiful,” Lin Jianyu said. “But Second Master Uncle is even more beautiful.”
Lin Jinshui: "..."
The boat between master and apprentice capsized in an instant.
"Pfft." Seeing him choke, Yun Dan couldn't help but chuckle. "Why bother!" His second master's title of "number one in the sect" refers not only to cultivation, but to all aspects. Comparing himself to him is just humiliating himself.
Lin Jinshui understood his implied meaning and felt that he had somewhat humiliated himself.
"Should we find you a different master?"
Lin Jianyu, who was completely captivated by Shen Siming's good looks, was taken aback by his words and immediately turned to look at him, saying coldly, "You wish."
Lin Jinshui's idea... was quite beautiful.
"With your talent, you are indeed not worthy of being your second master's disciple."
"As long as he's worthy of being your apprentice, that's enough," Lin Jianyu said dismissively.
Lin Jinshui didn't refute her anymore, because whether she was worthy or not, she was already his apprentice.
The main reason Shen Siming and the others came back this time was to discuss Lin Jianyu's entry into the family.
Although the master-disciple relationship between Lin Jianyu and Lin Jinshui was established long ago, there still needs to be a sense of ceremony for the formal entry into the sect.
The ceremony was presided over by Wen Boyan and was very complicated, a stark contrast to Lin Jinshui's hasty approach back then.
Throughout the entire process, it felt as if Lin Jianyu had been holding a horse stance for half an hour without falling down. It was not only torturous but also very feudal and superstitious.
Take the final act of lighting the soul lamp in the ceremony, for example.
When each disciple enters their sect, they personally light a soul lamp. As long as the lamp is there, the person lives; when the lamp goes out, the person dies.
As a staunch materialist, Lin Jianyu did not believe in soul lamps, nor did she believe that a person would die when the lamp went out. After lighting the soul lamp, she impulsively blew on it, and then the soul lamp in her hand went out.
She, who was perfectly healthy, glanced at the soul lamp in her hand that she had secretly blown out, and then at the various expressions on the faces of the crowd because her soul lamp had gone out, and felt very awkward.
"Um... would you believe me if I said I didn't do it on purpose?"
Whether others believed it or not, Lin Jianyu didn't know, but Lin Jinshui certainly didn't, because as soon as she finished speaking, she received a sharp rap on the forehead from him.
“I’ve already told you, the Soul Lamp is linked to your life. As long as the lamp is there, you’re alive; when the lamp goes out, you die. And you’re still being cheeky.”
Lin Jianyu had no idea that the Soul Lamp was so fragile.
If this were truly linked to her life, she wouldn't have enough lives to die.
"sorry."
"The person is dead, what's the use of saying sorry?" Lin Jinshui said irritably.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Is it possible that she is still alive and well?
"I think I can still be saved." With that, she lit the soul lamp again.
Looking at the rekindled soul lamp and the well-adjusted woman, Lin Jinshui asked Wen Boyan, "Is there any hope for her?"
Having recovered from his shock, Wen Boyan replied somewhat uncertainly, "I think so?"
"Then let's just pretend it exists!" Lin Jinshui, as if he had nothing to lose, helped Lin Jianyu place her soul lamp in the designated spot for soul lamps.
This concludes the initiation ceremony.
After the ceremony, Lin Jianyu and his generation of disciples left first, leaving only Lin Jinshui and his three fellow disciples in the hall.
"How could her soul lamp have gone out?" Wen Boyan asked Lin Jinshui.
The Soul Lamp is something linked to life. As long as life continues, the Soul Lamp will never go out, and there is no possibility that it will be extinguished by a gentle blow.
A extinguished soul lamp can never be relit, just as a dead person cannot come back to life.
"I don't know either." Lin Jinshui was also completely baffled. "It might be because I used a forbidden technique on her."
"What forbidden technique?" Shen Siming asked, her tone somewhat cold.
"The paper used to transcribe the forbidden technique was incomplete, and I don't know its exact name. I only know that it can bring back life to a dying person," Lin Jinshui said. "At the time, her condition was critical, and I had no other choice but to try anything."
"What will be the consequences?" Shen Siming asked.
"What consequences?" Lin Jinshui was a little confused.
"The consequences of your actions." Defying fate always comes at a price.
"The consequence is that her body may mutate at any time, and she will have to rely on my blood to survive."
"I'm not asking about her, I'm asking about you, about the consequences of what you've done." He is the one who defied fate, and the consequences he will have to bear will definitely not be any lighter than those for Lin Jianyu.
"A drop of my heart's blood is needed to use the forbidden technique."
"Anything else?"
“That’s all,” Lin Jinshui said. “The paper is incomplete, and I don’t know what else is on the other side.”
Where did you see it?
"To Master."
“Forbidden techniques are forbidden because the consequences they cause are immeasurable; a single drop of heart’s blood is far from enough,” Shen Siming said. “Lin Jinshui, you have committed a grave offense.”
Lin Jinshui knew that forbidden techniques shouldn't be used lightly, but...
"I can't just stand by and watch someone die!"
"You don't even know what the consequences will be, how do you know you're saving her? What she will have to go through in the future may be far more painful than dying young."
Lin Jinshui: "..."
When Lin Jinshui decided to save Lin Jianyu, he didn't think about all this at all. Now that he thinks about it, he was indeed rash.
Defying fate and changing one's destiny is not that simple.
"So what do we do now?" Since things have come to this, we can only try to salvage the situation.
What is her current situation?
"Aside from the possibility of my body undergoing abnormal changes at any time, I am no different from an ordinary person," Lin Jinshui said.
"And you?"
"Aside from losing a drop of my heart's blood, it seems like nothing has changed for me."
"It seems so?" Shen Siming disliked uncertainties.
"Why don't you take a look at it for me?"
Shen Siming had the same idea. She stepped forward and gently touched his forehead with her fingertips. Then, she closed her eyes, as if sensing something. After a while, she withdrew her hand and slowly opened her eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with my health." He said, pinching his fingers a few times. "My fate hasn't changed either."
"So you mean everything's alright?" Thank goodness.
"Whether it's alright or not, we'll only know after seeing Little Thirteen," Shen Siming said.
"Who is Xiao Shisan?" Lin Jinshui didn't react for a moment.
"Your apprentice," Huo Chenyin reminded him, rubbing his forehead.
"Oh." He forgot that his disciple was ranked thirteenth. "Since you want to see, senior brother, could you also help me see if there is any way to suppress her physical mutation, or to effectively preserve my blood so that she can carry it with her, just in case?"
The talisman that Yun Dan used to preserve food was also used to preserve his blood after he finished eating the dried fish, but it was ineffective.
“Okay.” After Shen Siming agreed, the four of them left the main hall together to find Lin Jianyu.
When they found Lin Jianyu, she was practicing horse stance with Zhu Jiang and Zhu Liu, while Zhu Jin watched from the side.
Upon seeing them approach, the group greeted them.
Lin Jinshui called Lin Jianyu over and said that Shen Siming wanted to examine her body.
Lin Jianyu thought he was going to take her pulse, so she obediently extended her hand, only to have him place his fingers on her forehead.
His fingertips were cool as they lightly touched her forehead, giving her a tingling sensation on her scalp. But when she saw his aloof and ethereal face, she felt that this temperature was fitting for him.
After Shen Siming withdrew her hand, she didn't say anything immediately. Instead, she pinched her fingertips as if she was calculating something.
Just when Lin Jianyu thought she was about to see how their sect's living advertisement was putting on a show, Wen Boyan dismissed her with a single sentence.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
She had already taken her pants off.
"Can't I hear what my second senior uncle has to say?"
“No, go practice horse stance.” Wen Boyan said ruthlessly.
Lin Jianyu dared not disobey him and left, turning back every few steps.
I walked to a spot not far from them, assumed a horse stance, and pricked up my ears, trying to eavesdrop on what they were saying.
Strangely, even though they were not far apart, she couldn't hear a sound at all. She didn't know if they were deliberately speaking in low voices or if she was hard of hearing.
"How is it?" Lin Jinshui asked Shen Siming.
"Her body has not undergone any mutation; she is still a pure-blooded human."
"What about destiny?" Lin Jinshui asked again.
“They have no destiny,” Shen Siming said. “Those who defy fate have no destiny; everything about them is unknown.”
"In other words, everything is currently unknown."
“The unknown is the most terrifying thing.” Shen Siming frowned.
"What's so scary?" For Lin Jinshui, the known is more terrifying than the unknown, just like his destiny.
"Defying fate can result in a life for a life, or even more devastation." Shen Siming looked at Lin Jianyu, who was practicing horse stance not far away, with indifferent eyes. "Perhaps you should have killed her before the tragedy happened."
"I won't kill her," Lin Jinshui said without hesitation.
“If you can’t bring yourself to do it, I can help you.” Shen Siming said this while looking at Lin Jinshui, but Lin Jianyu, who was practicing horse stance not far away, suddenly felt a chill down her spine, as if she were being stared at by some cold-blooded animal.
Her survival instinct made her subconsciously look at Lin Jinshui.
Lin Jinshui wasn't looking at her. Before his brain could even process what Shen Siming had said, his body had already stepped in front of him, blocking his gaze from her—a gesture of absolute protection.
The seventeen-year-old boy still had a hint of childishness in his eyes. His gaze was full of vigilance, like an eagle whose wings had not yet fully grown. Facing a predator that was much stronger than itself, it still dared to try to protect the more vulnerable fledglings behind it.
He said, "You're not allowed to touch her."
"What if I insist on moving?" Shen Siming said this in a calm tone, without the slightest ripple, but the temperature around him suddenly dropped.
At the same time, Lin Jianyu, who was practicing horse stance not far away, suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. An indescribable pain swept through his body, followed by a sweet taste in his throat, and then a mouthful of blood spurted out.
Hearing the commotion, Lin Jinshui subconsciously turned his head and saw Lin Jianyu clutching her chest and lying on the ground. His pupils suddenly contracted, and the Whale Fall sword on his back was instantly unsheathed, pointing directly at Shen Siming.
Shen Siming didn't even glance at Jingluo before flashing to Lin Jianyu's side.
Upon seeing this, Lin Jinshui's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he shouted, "Shen Siming, you are not allowed to touch her!"
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