Chapter 17 Death by Explosion I only have one disciple, I can't lose him...
Compared to his anger and agitation, Shen Siming remained as calm as ever. He glanced at Lin Jianyu lying on the ground and said in a calm tone, "Her body is undergoing a change."
When Lin Jinshui saw the veins bulging on Lin Jianyu's body, he realized that he had misunderstood Shen Siming. He quickly stepped forward, cut his finger, and fed Lin Jianyu his blood.
After drinking the blood, Lin Jianyu's body gradually returned to normal.
Lin Jinshui felt a slight sense of relief, but his gaze towards Shen Siming remained wary. He picked Lin Jianyu up from the ground, took two steps back, and tried to distance himself from him.
Shen Siming saw through his intention, and a mocking smile appeared on her usually indifferent face: "If I really wanted to kill her, this distance wouldn't be able to stop me at all. Or do you think you can stop me?"
"We have to stop them even if we can't." Lin Jinshui hugged Lin Jianyu tightly.
Shen Siming wanted to say something more, but Huo Chenyin interrupted her, saying, "Alright, stop scaring him. He's still a child."
Looking at Lin Jinshui's still-childish face, Shen Siming decided not to frighten him any further: "Since you've chosen to defy the heavens, you must have the ability to do so."
"I will cultivate diligently," Lin Jinshui said.
"Carry her inside; I need to examine her again," Shen Siming said, then walked directly towards the purification room.
Lin Jinshui didn't hesitate and quickly followed.
Although he was worried that Shen Siming might harm Lin Jianyu, he also knew that he would not disregard the bond between them as brothers. Just as even when he sensed Shen Siming's killing intent, he subconsciously raised the Whale Fall, which represents a shield, rather than the Whale Rise, which represents a sharp blade.
Most importantly, if Shen Siming really wanted to harm Lin Jianyu, he wouldn't be able to stop her at all.
Seeing that they had left, Zhu Jin moved closer to Huo Chenyin and asked, "What happened?"
"Is Junior Sister alright?" Zhu Jiang and Zhu Liu also moved to Huo Chenyin's side, their little faces filled with worry.
"It's alright," Huo Chenyin said. "You all continue practicing, I'll go watch the fun."
“I want to go too,” Zhu Liu whispered.
He didn't want to go see the spectacle; he wanted to check on Lin Jianyu's situation.
Unfortunately, Huo Chenyin rejected him without hesitation.
"Go practice your skills."
Zhu Liu wanted to try again, but when he saw Wen Boyan's gaze, he immediately shut his mouth.
Not only Lin Jianyu had a fear of being dominated by studying, but he did too, and even more so.
After arriving at Lin Jianyu's room, Lin Jinshui first placed Lin Jianyu on the bed before Shen Siming went forward to examine her body, gently touching her forehead with his fingertips.
"How is it?" Lin Jinshui asked with some concern.
“Nothing has changed from before, still a pure-blooded human,” Shen Siming said.
“But she clearly changed just now.”
"It must be your blood that suppressed her mutation."
"So that's what my blood does." Lin Jinshui suddenly realized. "Does that mean as long as I keep giving her my blood, she'll never mutate?"
"no."
"Shouldn't it be that way in theory?"
“Theoretically yes, but in reality no,” Shen Siming said. “The more you suppress mutations, the greater the rebound will be in the future. When your blood can no longer be suppressed, that will be the day she explodes and dies.”
"What if we don't suppress it and let it mutate?" Lin Jinshui asked.
"He died instantly from his body exploding."
Lin Jinshui: "..."
So you're saying you're going to explode and die no matter what, right?
"Can't we try to save him?"
"A pure-blooded human's body simply cannot withstand the energy contained in your heart's blood. If you feed her blood even a little slower, her blood vessels will burst one by one, and her bones will be blown to pieces, leaving only..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Jinshui covered his ears and interrupted him.
"Stop talking." He already had a picture in his mind.
Didn't you think about these consequences when you saved her?
"When I saved her, I was just trying anything, no matter how desperate I was." I didn't think about the consequences.
“It’s a relief if she explodes and dies on her own,” Shen Siming said. “The energy contained in your heart’s blood is enough to completely level this land beneath your feet. If there were other people around when she exploded and died, they would likely be affected.”
"I don't want to hear about the consequences. What I want to hear is what I can do to prevent her from exploding and dying." He could already imagine what the consequences would be; what he needed to do now was to prevent them from happening.
"have no idea."
"Then think quickly," Lin Jinshui urged.
"Can't you think about it yourself?" Shen Siming almost laughed out of anger at his self-righteous tone.
"I have a head to look good."
Why don't you just say you don't have a brain?
"I don't have a head, so what's this huge thing on my neck? Is it a ball?"
"It would be better if it were a ball." At least you could hit it.
"Then let's just treat it as a ball!" Lin Jinshui said nonchalantly. "You two think of a way, and think of one together too." He said the last part to Wen Boyan and Huo Chenyin.
“I do have a solution,” Huo Chenyin said.
"What method?" Lin Jinshui asked.
"If you compare her body to a balloon, then the energy contained in your blood is the air. If there's too much air, the balloon will burst. To prevent the balloon from bursting, you either need to blow air in and out at the same time, or you need to find a way to increase the balloon's volume. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand." Lin Jinshui nodded. "Then the question is, how do you blow air in and out at the same time? Or, how do you increase the volume of the balloon?"
"I don't know how to blow air out at the same time, but it shouldn't be difficult to increase the volume of the balloon. Just practice hard," Huo Chenyin said.
“No.” It was Wen Boyan who said this. “She has no talent, not at all.” Pure-blooded humans must have talent to cultivate, and unfortunately, Lin Jianyu has no talent in this area.
Huo Chenyin: "..."
Heaven is going to destroy their thirteenth son.
"Do you think Xiao Shisan prefers Nanzhao or Nanyue?"
"Why ask that?" Is it related to the issue they are discussing now?
“I want to buy her a burial plot,” Huo Chenyin said.
Lin Jinshui: "..."
Lin Jinshui was truly grateful to him.
"Second Brother, why are you blowing air in and then letting it out at the same time?"
“It’s difficult,” Shen Siming said.
"So you mean there's a way?" Lin Jinshui wasn't afraid of difficulties; what he feared was being at a loss.
"Theoretically, yes, but in reality, there is a great risk. It's better to wait until your blood can no longer be controlled and you explode and die, at least you can live a few more days."
"What kind of risks?" Lin Jinshui asked.
"Landmines, you know what that means, right?"
"Um."
“Your drop of heart’s blood is like a landmine buried in her heart. If you don’t touch it, it may never explode. But if you do touch it, she will be shattered to pieces,” Shen Siming said.
"Isn't there any other way?" Lin Jinshui was somewhat desperate.
"Do you think Little Thirteen prefers burial or cremation?" Huo Chenyin asked.
"You want to get her a coffin, or buy her an urn?" Lin Jinshui said angrily.
"Yes." Huo Chenyin nodded.
Lin Jinshui didn't want to talk to him, let alone see him. So, he focused his gaze on Lin Jianyu on the bed, and the more he looked, the more sorrowful he felt, like a white-haired man burying his black-haired son.
"I only have one apprentice. Although she has no talent, is not diligent, eats a lot, loves to talk back, and has a lot of bad habits, and..."
"That's enough." Huo Chenyin was afraid that if he kept talking, Lin Jianyu's coffin lid would burst... So, let's just buy an urn; a coffin is prone to causing a corpse to rise from the dead.
"Oh." Lin Jinshui was caught off guard by his interruption, his grief caught in his throat. After a while, he regained his composure and continued, "I only have one disciple, I can't live without her. You have to help me, Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother..."
Huo Chenyin's lips twitched when he saw Huo Chenyin's gaze fall on the three of them in turn, but skip over him.
“There is a method that may not be useful, but it is risk-free,” Shen Siming said.
"What method?" Lin Jinshui asked.
“Nourishing her body with your soul power and heart’s blood might stimulate her talent. Even if it doesn’t, it can at least suppress any mutations in her body. The effect should be similar to feeding her your blood.”
How do I operate it?
"First, take a drop of heart's blood, then condense your soul power into a soul jade to encase this drop of heart's blood, so that she can wear it with her," Shen Siming said.
"It doesn't sound difficult."
"It's not difficult, but it consumes a lot of cultivation." Whether it's using soul power to condense a soul jade or taking heart blood, it requires a large amount of cultivation.
"Is it really necessary to use Junior Brother's soul power and heart's blood?" Wen Boyan asked.
“Yes.” Shen Siming nodded.
"Then there's nothing we can do." Wen Boyan said with some regret, "I was originally thinking of using the third brother, since he doesn't really need to use his cultivation."
Huo Laosan: "???"
Extracting heart blood was not difficult for Lin Jinshui; he had done it before and had experience. However, condensing soul power into soul jade was something he had never tried before and needed to experiment with it first.
"When will she wake up?" Wen Boyan asked, looking at Lin Jianyu on the bed.
"If you call her, she'll wake up immediately; if you don't, she can sleep for two or three days." When she first underwent this transformation, Lin Jinshui fed her blood but didn't call her, and she slept for two or three days before waking up.
“Oh, then wake her up; she hasn’t finished her homework for today,” Wen Boyan said.
"She'll be hungry when she wakes up, so ask Yun Dan to prepare some food for her," Lin Jinshui said, reaching out to pinch Lin Jianyu's philtrum.
Lin Jianyu was quickly jolted awake by the pinch on his philtrum.
Opening her eyes, she saw Lin Jinshui and called out in a hoarse voice, "Master."
"Hmm." Lin Jinshui patted her head and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm hungry," Lin Jianyu said.
Lin Jinshui knew.
"Eat something if you're hungry. Once you're full, cultivate properly with your senior uncle. I have some things to take care of and can't stay with you."
"It's up to you." He said the last sentence to Wen Boyan.
Wen Boyan nodded slightly to him, which was taken as an agreement.
When Lin Jianyu saw this, she mistakenly thought that Lin Jinshui was going to entrust her to Wen Boyan's care and leave the Taoist temple. Suddenly, she sat up in shock from her deathbed and grabbed his arm, saying, "Master, where are you going? I don't want to be separated from you."
“I’m not going anywhere, I’ll just stay at the Taoist temple. However, I might be in seclusion for a while. How long exactly…” Lin Jinshui didn’t know either, so he paused halfway through his sentence and looked at Shen Siming with a questioning gaze.
After receiving his gaze, Shen Siming said, "With your talent, it won't be long."
Before long, still in the Taoist temple, Lin Jianyu had nothing to worry about. She let go of his hand and lay back down on the bed.
Seeing that she was alright, Lin Jinshui left with Shen Siming.
Wen Boyan went to ask Yun Dan to prepare some food for her, while Huo Chenyin stayed behind to feed her some water first.
"Little Thirteen, do you prefer Nanzhao or Nanyue?"
"Who is Little Thirteen? Me?" Lin Jianyu asked suspiciously.
“Yes, you are the thirteenth among the disciples of your generation,” Huo Chenyin explained.
"Why are you suddenly calling me Little Thirteen?" He used to call her Little Junior Nephew.
"That's what your second uncle calls me, so I'll follow his example."
"Oh." I didn't realize he was such a clever scholar. "I like both Nanzhao and Nanyue quite a bit."
"Do you really have to choose one?"
"Can't I like them all?"
"It's not impossible." It just means they'd have to be buried separately. "So, which do you prefer, burial or cremation?"
“I don’t like any of them,” Lin Jianyu said. “I like sea burial.”
Huo Chenyin: "..."
Buying a piece of the ocean doesn't seem like a bad idea.
"So, do you prefer the sea of Nanzhao or the sea of Nanyue?"
"I love the sea in western Vietnam."
Huo Chenyin: "..."
West Vietnam is fine too!
It's conveniently located between Nanzhao and Nanyue, so I can visit her grave when I travel back and forth in the future.
"Why are you asking me these questions? Are you planning to go into the funeral business?" After the reform and opening up, the market for the funeral industry gradually opened up. When she was in Shenzhen, Zhu Jin mentioned that money from the dead was the easiest to make.
"You even know about the funeral business!" When it comes to business, Huo Chenyin has a lot to say.
When Wen Boyan brought over the food, the two of them, one big and one small, were seriously discussing business, as if they had known each other for a long time.
Lin Jinshui learned how to condense soul power into soul jade in just one day. Then, he spent another day consolidating this skill. On the third day, he took out his heart's blood and wrapped it with the soul jade condensed from his soul power.
Once formed, it becomes a piece of jade that is light blue throughout, with a touch of red in the middle.
"It looks pretty good."
"It used nearly a third of your cultivation, how could it not look good?" Your cultivation wasn't very high to begin with, and now it's even lower.
“If you lose your cultivation, you can cultivate again, but you can’t lose your only disciple,” Lin Jinshui said.
"You can have many apprentices, it depends on whether you want to take them on."
"I will only have her as my disciple in this lifetime." Although Lin Jianyu did not say it explicitly, he could tell that she did not want him to take on any new disciples. He was not very enthusiastic about taking on disciples in the first place, and taking her on was an accident. So he simply went along with her wishes and only took her as his disciple.
"If she doesn't mutate, you'll lose her sooner or later." Pure-blooded humans have very short lifespans.
"Then let's pray that she can successfully undergo the transformation after obtaining this Soul Jade! If not, it would be good for her to live a normal life without any disasters or hardships," Lin Jinshui said.
Shen Siming didn't say anything more.
He chose this path himself, and how he walks it and how far he gets is entirely up to him. All he can do is try his best to remove any obstacles in his path.
Since Lin Jianyu was picked up by Lin Jinshui, she has been inseparable from him. The longest they are apart in a day is no more than four hours. Especially after realizing that her body may change at any time, he hardly leaves her sight. Even when she is sleeping at night, he will stay by her side.
This was the first time she had been separated from him for such a long time.
On the first day, she couldn't get used to it. Whenever she had free time, she would run to Shen Siming's room and wait outside, and she did so until the third day.
"Two days have passed, don't my master and second master need to eat?" Lin Jianyu asked while eating dried fish.
"It's only been two days, you won't starve, don't worry," Zhuliu said, patting her shoulder reassuringly like a little adult.
Lin Jianyu knew that no one would starve to death in two days. Before Lin Jinshui found her, she had gone four days without eating anything, only drinking a little water, and she still survived.
"You won't starve to death, but you'll be hungry! The feeling of being hungry is unbearable." Just thinking about those days of uncertainty makes her stomach ache.
Zhu Liu has never gone hungry since he can remember, so he can't empathize with her.
Zhu Jiang did experience hunger.
He was already five years old when his master found him. Before that, as an orphan, his life was not much better than Lin Jianyu's before he was found by Lin Jinshui. Going hungry was a common occurrence.
"I'm not feeling well, so I eat as much as I can when there's food available." As he spoke, he put two more dried fish into his mouth.
"Why are you eating two at once? They're almost gone."
“There are still four left… Oh, only two left.” As he spoke, Zhu Liu also grabbed two and put them in his mouth.
Lin Jianyu couldn't stop him in time, and the whole plate was taken away.
"The remaining two are mine."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Siming's door was opened from the inside.
Seeing Lin Jinshui and Shen Siming come out, Lin Jianyu ran towards them with the plate in her hand.
"Master, have some dried fish."
Lin Jinshui had been busy condensing the Soul Jade for the past two days and hadn't felt hungry. But now, when she suddenly heard her mention dried fish, she suddenly felt ravenous and wanted to have a big meal.
"Only two!" That's not even enough to fill a gap between his teeth.
“There was a whole plate full of them, but the three of us ate them down to just two,” Lin Jianyu said.
Two is fine, at least we can get a taste.
Just as I reached out to take it, there was only one dried fish left on the plate.
Well, someone else took one of them faster than him.
"My apprentice gave it to me!"
"Oh," Shen Siming replied perfunctorily. "Do you still want the last one?"
Lin Jinshui didn't say whether he would eat it or not, but directly picked up the remaining piece and put it in his mouth, as if afraid that he would try to take it from him again.
"Master, have you finished your seclusion?"
"It's over."
"Will it be closed again?"
"It won't be closed again in the short term," Lin Jinshui said.
"That's good." She didn't want to be separated from him again. "I miss my master."
"Master misses you too." Lin Jinshui patted her little head.
When Lin Jianyu heard that he also missed her, he immediately grinned.
"Is Master in seclusion cultivating?"
"No, I'm making this for you, and this too." Lin Jinshui took out the Soul Jade and a small porcelain bottle and gave them to her.
Upon seeing it, Lin Jianyu's gaze was instantly drawn to the Soul Jade.
"What is this? Jade? It's so beautiful."
"This is a Soul Jade formed from the power of your master's soul. Wearing it will nourish your body and suppress any abnormalities that may occur in it." Lin Jinshui placed the Soul Jade around her neck. "You must wear it at all times and never take it off. If the Soul Jade breaks or is accidentally lost, you must tell your master immediately, as this concerns your life."
"Okay." Lin Jianyu touched the Soul Jade she wore around her neck. It felt slightly cool to the touch, and its texture was pure and delicate. It felt very comfortable to the touch. Even though she didn't know much about jade, she knew it was a good piece of jade just by the feel of it.
After admiring it for a while, she turned her gaze to the small porcelain bottle in Lin Jinshui's hand: "What's inside this?"
“Master’s blood,” Lin Jinshui said. “You should carry this with you at all times. If you feel unwell, take one.”
"One drop?" Isn't blood a liquid? How could it be just one drop? And... "Master's blood in a small porcelain bottle won't lose its effectiveness." They've done many experiments on preserving blood, and none of them have been successful.
"Putting it directly into the small porcelain bottle will have no effect, but wrapping it with soul power before putting it into the small porcelain bottle will not, that's what your second senior uncle said. Whether it works or not, we still need to experiment." Lin Jinshui poured two blood beads from the small porcelain bottle into his palm to show her.
"It doesn't look like blood, it looks like red beads." Lin Jianyu picked up one of them, and it felt slightly cool to the touch, with a texture similar to the Soul Jade she wore around her neck. "Is this also a Soul Jade?"
“Strictly speaking, yes.” Lin Jinshui nodded. “However, it’s only a very thin layer. Once you bite it, you’ll find my blood inside.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Jianyu immediately threw the one she was holding into her mouth and bit into it... It wouldn't break; it was too hard.
She refused to believe it and bit down a few more times, almost breaking her teeth in the process.
"Are you sure you can bite this into pieces?" Lin Jianyu spat out the blood in her mouth and looked at him with suspicion.
Lin Jinshui hadn't tried it before and wasn't sure, so he looked at Shen Siming and asked him with his eyes.
"She has no spiritual power in her body. She can't break the soul jade that you condensed with your soul power with just her teeth. Just swallow it directly."
"Oh." Lin Jinshui understood and said to Lin Jianyu, "Just swallow it."
Upon hearing this, Lin Jianyu stopped putting the blood bead into her mouth and asked, "Won't you be able to digest it?" Although the blood bead was small, it was still a bead, and she didn't want to swallow it unless absolutely necessary.
“No,” Shen Siming said. “Once it enters your body, it will be absorbed very quickly. If you don’t want to swallow it, you can hold it in your mouth, but the absorption will be much slower.”
Lin Jianyu didn't quite believe that the bead she couldn't break even with all her strength could be dissolved just by holding it in her mouth, but she still put the blood bead back into her mouth and held it there, trying to slap their sect's living signboard in the face.
She held it in her mouth for about four or five minutes, during which she sucked on it a few times, but there was no taste at all. Just when she thought she was about to expose the false reputation of her sect, her tongue suddenly tasted a sweet flavor.
She was familiar with this taste, because she had tasted it many times before. It was the taste of her master's blood, but it seemed sweeter than any she had ever tasted before, as if it were mixed with honey.
Unfortunately, there was only a little bit, not enough for her to savor properly.
Is that outer layer candy?
“No, it’s a Soul Jade,” Lin Jinshui said.
"How could the jade have melted?" Lin Jianyu asked in disbelief.
"It didn't melt; it was absorbed by your body."
Lin Jianyu still didn't believe it. She thought to herself, "It's clearly melted, just like the candy I ate before." However, she didn't say it aloud. Instead, she picked up the Soul Jade she was wearing around her neck and asked him, "Could this one have melted... I mean, been absorbed by my body?"
Lin Jinshui, unaware of this, turned to look at Shen Siming.
Shen Siming said, "No, it will only nourish your body and suppress the abnormalities in your body."
"Won't it hurt even if you hold it in your mouth?"
"No." Unlike the thin layer used to encapsulate the blood droplet, this Soul Jade used a large amount of Lin Jinshui's soul power, damaging nearly a third of his cultivation. If she doesn't activate her talent and cultivate it, it will never be absorbed even if she keeps it in her mouth for a lifetime.
"And what about when it's eaten?"
"It will be okay if you eat it, but you will die." Her body couldn't even withstand the energy contained in a single drop of Lin Jinshui's heart's blood. Adding another drop would only lead to her death. Moreover, there was the energy contained in the Soul Jade. Even if she didn't absorb it all at once, it would still take her life.
Lin Jianyu glanced at the Soul Jade in his hand. It was an amount that, if swallowed, would likely cause choking.
"Can I have another blood bead?" The first one dissolved so suddenly that she didn't get to taste it.
"No." The one who answered him was Shen Siming.
Lin Jinshui silently withdrew his hand, which was halfway outstretched.
"If there is no damage to the body, you can only eat one a day at most."
"What will happen if I eat two?" Lin Jianyu asked.
“You can give it a try,” Shen Siming said.
Lin Jianyu glanced at the blood bead in Lin Jinshui's hand, his face showing a strong desire to try it.
"Don't be reckless." Lin Jinshui didn't indulge her. He put the blood beads back into the small porcelain bottle and handed it to her, saying, "There are still twelve in here. Keep them with you. Ask your master for more when you've used them up."
"Do I take one a day?" Lin Jianyu asked, taking the small porcelain bottle.
"Eat one when you have a physical injury, but don't eat it if you don't have one." This is his blood, not candy, and you're eating one every day.
"If there is damage to the body, is it sure that taking one will be effective? Will it be ineffective like in previous experiments?" They had conducted many experiments before, and none of them had any effect.
"Theoretically, no." After all, it was his second senior brother's idea. "In practice, we don't know if it will work." Because it hasn't been tested.
"Would you like to try it?" She still wanted to try another one.
“You can try,” Lin Jinshui said. “I will go to the backyard and find you a poisonous mushroom.”
"I'll go find it myself. You and Second Uncle-Master go eat first."
"You can't eat it right away once you find it. You have to show it to your teacher first. Only after your teacher has checked it and confirmed that it's safe to eat can you eat it," Lin Jinshui instructed.
"Okay." Lin Jianyu agreed and went to the backyard with Zhujiang and Zhuliu to look for poisonous mushrooms.
The season when mushrooms grow wildly in Nanzhao is not over yet. The backyard has a lot of them. Yun Dan usually picks the non-poisonous ones to eat as vegetables, while the poisonous ones are basically left there unattended.
After the three of them arrived at the backyard, they quickly found several poisonous mushrooms.
When they went back to find Lin Jinshui and the others, they had only been in the dining hall for a short time, and Yun Dan was cooking for them.
"Master, we've found four kinds of poisonous mushrooms. Which one should we eat?"
"This one, please! This one is less toxic," Lin Jinshui said, picking up one of the plants.
"Okay." Lin Jianyu picked up another one of the same kind and was about to put it in her mouth.
Upon seeing this, Lin Jinshui quickly stopped him: "Don't eat it raw, take it and have your second senior brother roast it for you."
"Is there a difference?" Lin Jianyu asked.
“It tastes even better,” Lin Jinshui said.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu hesitated between "tastier" and "faster," but ultimately chose "tastier."
After giving the poisonous mushroom to Yun Dan and explaining the situation to him, she sat down next to Lin Jinshui and waited with him.
After waiting for almost twenty minutes, Yun Dan brought her the roasted poisonous mushrooms, along with two bowls of fish soup.
"Your roasted poisonous mushrooms, and the fish soup for both of you." Yun Dan placed the roasted poisonous mushrooms and fish soup from the tray on the table in front of them. "There's still fish soup in the pot. Help yourselves if you need more."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Yun Dan." Lin Jianyu picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of roasted poisonous mushroom that Yun Dan had sliced, put it in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and exclaimed, "Delicious!"
Hearing that it was delicious, Lin Jinshui picked up a piece and put it in her mouth to chew. It did taste quite good.
"Master, don't eat it, it's poisonous!" Lin Jianyu was too late to stop him and hurriedly got off the chair to try and shove the poison into his throat.
Lin Jinshui grabbed her outstretched hand and said, "Don't worry, this little bit of poison won't harm your master. Eat it quickly, or your second uncle will eat it all."
Upon hearing this, Lin Jianyu subconsciously turned around and glanced at the plate of roasted poisonous mushrooms. He saw Shen Siming reaching into the plate with his chopsticks, and at some point, only one slice of roasted poisonous mushroom remained on the plate.
"Second Uncle, stop!" She was roasting poisonous mushrooms.
Shen Siming seemed not to hear her voice at all, and without pausing for a moment, picked up the last piece of roasted poisonous mushroom.
Upon seeing this, Lin Jianyu's body reacted faster than her brain, and she pounced on him and ate the grilled mushroom that he had placed on his chopsticks.
Yes, she's a pro at stealing food.
Shen Siming: "..."
Shen Siming put down her chopsticks and said to Zhu Jiang beside her, "Little Eleven, go and get me a new pair of chopsticks."
Lin Jianyu, who was savoring the "fruits of victory," turned to Lin Jinshui upon hearing this and asked, "Is Second Uncle-Master looking down on me?"
"Isn't it obvious enough?" Lin Jinshui asked instead of answering.
"It's quite obvious." Even someone as clueless as her could see it clearly.
“Don’t take it too seriously. He’s not targeting you; he’s targeting everyone here,” Lin Jinshui said.
“He targets not only everyone here, but everyone,” Yun Dan said while eating peanuts.
He wasn't exaggerating; Shen Siming's obsession with cleanliness was genuinely felt by everyone, including his most beloved junior brother, Lin Jinshui.
After eating two roasted poisonous mushrooms, Lin Jianyu sat there waiting for the poison to take effect. After about two minutes, she got bored and went to the kitchen to make herself a bowl of fish soup.
After drinking the fish soup, she still showed no signs of poisoning, so she started eating peanuts.
"It's been almost half an hour, and there's still no sign of poisoning. Could it be that we didn't eat enough? It's all your fault." I've never seen a master and senior master act like this, even snatching a few pieces of roasted poisonous mushrooms.
"I'll grill some more for you," Yun Dan said, standing up.
"Roast more, roast all of these," Lin Jianyu said, pointing to the poisonous mushrooms they had picked.
"Are you afraid you won't be poisoned enough?!" The combined toxins from these poisonous mushrooms could kill a cow in no time.
"No, I'm afraid there won't be enough to eat," Lin Jianyu said, glancing at Lin Jinshui and Shen Siming, her meaning quite clear.
Yun Dan ultimately roasted all the poisonous mushrooms because he wanted to try them too.
While he was roasting poisonous mushrooms, Lin Jianyu was poisoned and experienced a sharp pain in his abdomen.
Upon noticing the abdominal pain, she immediately poured a drop of blood into her mouth, then clutched her stomach and screamed in agony.
Seeing that she was still crying in pain after taking the blood bead, Lin Jinshui couldn't help but frown and ask, "Didn't it work?"
"I don't know, it hasn't dissolved yet," Lin Jianyu replied, enduring the pain.
"Who told you to hold it in your mouth? Swallow it now, hurry up," Lin Jinshui urged.
"No, I want to taste it," Lin Jianyu said stubbornly.
Lin Jinshui almost laughed out of anger at her.
"I told you to swallow it, did you hear me?"
"Don't rush me, it'll melt soon." Lin Jianyu endured the pain and tried her best to suck.
Seeing her face contorted in pain, covered in cold sweat, and still refusing to swallow the blood droplets, Lin Jinshui almost reached out and pried open her mouth to force it in.
Fortunately, the blood bead in Lin Jianyu's mouth dissolved before he could touch it.
Upon tasting the familiar sweetness, Lin Jianyu instantly came back to life.
"Could this be the legendary 'bitter end yields sweetness'?"
"There's no sugarcane." Lin Jinshui corrected her while giving her a flick on the forehead. "This isn't a case of 'after hardship comes happiness,' you're just asking for trouble."
Lin Jianyu rubbed his forehead and said, "Whether it's bitter or not doesn't matter. What matters is that this blood bead is really delicious, better than any candy I've ever eaten. You should try it if you don't believe me."
"It's just the taste of my blood." It's not like I haven't tasted it before.
"It tastes sweeter than your blood, like it's mixed with honey," Lin Jianyu said. "Believe me, you'll definitely like it once you try it."
Lin Jinshui was somewhat tempted by her words, but he also felt that his attraction was a bit abnormal.
“The blood bead not only smells of your blood, but also of your soul power,” Shen Siming said, extending his hand to Lin Jianyu. “Give me a blood bead.”
Lin Jianyu thought he wanted to see the blood bead, so she immediately poured one out for him. However, after taking the blood bead, he put it directly into his mouth.
Lin Jianyu's expression instantly cracked as he watched him put the blood droplet into his mouth.
"Spit out my blood beads."
"It's gone." The blood droplets that would normally take her several minutes to absorb melted instantly in Shen Siming's mouth.
"How could it be gone?" He had just put it in his mouth. "You didn't just swallow it, did you?" What a waste.
Shen Siming didn't explain further to her, and simply held out her hand, saying, "Give me two more."
Lin Jianyu had already given away one, and was already heartbroken; how could he possibly give him another?
Seeing him reach out to her, she immediately hid the small porcelain bottle in her pocket, covered it with her hand, and lied through her teeth, saying, "It's gone."
At the same time, Yun Dan came out of the kitchen carrying roasted poisonous mushrooms.
With roasted poisonous mushrooms to eat, Shen Siming no longer cared about the blood droplets in her pocket.
Upon seeing the fragrant roasted poisonous mushrooms, Lin Jianyu instantly forgot her earlier stomach pain and picked up her chopsticks to grab them, but was stopped by Lin Jinshui.
"It's poisonous, don't eat it."
Lin Jianyu picked the poisonous mushrooms himself; how could he not know they were poisonous?
"It's alright, eat one blood bead after you finish this one." Kill two birds with one stone.
"No, you're not allowed to eat." Lin Jinshui didn't want to see her sweating profusely from the pain anymore, screaming in agony.
“Then you’re not allowed to eat it either,” Lin Jianyu said unreasonably.
"good."
"Forget it, you should eat it!" Otherwise, it'll all benefit her second senior uncle... and second senior brother. "Senior Brother Yun Dan, why are you eating it too? Aren't you afraid of getting poisoned?"
"Don't worry, this little bit of poison can't harm me."
Lin Jianyu was jealous.
"Master, I want to eat candy."
Lin Jinshui could tell from her tone that she was jealous, but he didn't have any candy for her at the moment.
Is there any sugar in the kitchen?
"Yes, it's in the sugar jar. Go get it yourself," Yun Dan said.
Lin Jinshui got up and went to the kitchen to make two bowls of honey water.
"Weren't you going to get candy?"
"I saw honey and suddenly want some honey water." Lin Jinshui handed one of the bowls of honey water to Lin Jianyu and asked her, "Want some? If not, have some candy." In addition to the honey water, he also gave her a piece of candy.
After drinking honey water and eating sugar, Lin Jianyu finally felt less sour.
Huo Chenyin's businesses outside are mostly just starting out and he can't do without people. The main reason for his return is to witness Lin Jianyu's initiation ceremony. He originally planned to return to Nanyue after witnessing the ceremony, but unfortunately, Lin Jianyu's health deteriorated on the day of her initiation.
Shen Siming needed to help Lin Jianyu resolve her health issues and couldn't return to Nan Yue for a while. Huo Chenyin waited for two days, but couldn't wait any longer, so he, Xuan Zhan, Xuan Mo, and Zhu Yuan returned to Nan Yue first.
After resolving Lin Jianyu's health issues, Shen Siming prepared to return to Nanyue.
A large group of people came in a grand procession, and then left in two equally grand processions, leaving behind only the weeping, drifting masses.
Zhu Liu wasn't old enough to go to school last year, so he went to South Vietnam mainly for fun. This year he's old enough to go to school, but he won't be able to start until September.
It's only June now, and there are still more than two months until September.
Wen Boyan was worried that Lin Jianyu, being a young child, would be lonely staying in the Taoist temple for too long, so he decided to keep him there so that he could keep Lin Jianyu company while also cultivating himself.
Whether he herds one sheep or two, it's all the same to him.
Zhu Liu had experienced the fear of being dominated by studying under his tutelage since he was very young. He finally went to Nan Yue, thinking he had escaped the sea of suffering, but he returned in less than a year. He was filled with despair and had no one to confide in, so he could only cry during the farewell.
Fortunately, he only needs to stay for a little over two months before he can return to South Vietnam.
Lin Jianyu will be with him then.
Lin Jianyu truly had no talent whatsoever in cultivation. Huo Chenyin was worried that she would amount to nothing in the future, so he suggested that she and Zhuliu go to school together in September. Wen Boyan thought it was feasible and informed Lin Jinshui. Lin Jinshui had no objections, so the matter was settled.
As for Lin Jianyu's own opinion...
Since no one asked her, it was assumed that she had no opinion.
Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Early that morning, just as dawn was breaking, Lin Jinshui left his room and went to the kitchen, startling Yun Dan, who had also gotten up early to prepare breakfast.
"What are you doing in the kitchen so early in the morning?"
"Cook noodles for my apprentice."
"Junior Sister, are you hungry? What kind of noodles would you like to eat? I'll cook for her."
“No, she hasn’t woken up yet,” Lin Jinshui said. “This day last year was the day I found her, and I wanted to cook her a bowl of longevity noodles.”
Yun Dan understood.
When the members of their sect were taken in and brought back to the Taoist temple, they were generally very young, and few of them knew their own birthdays. So, their master took the day they were found as their birthdays, symbolizing a new life.
"Junior Sister, don't you know your own birthday?" Lin Jianyu was already nine years old when he found her, so she should know her own birthday.
"I know, but I hope she can have a fresh start." He hoped Lin Jianyu could completely say goodbye to the past, to that unbearable and unfortunate past, and be reborn. "How do you make longevity noodles again?"
"Are you going to make it for her yourself?"
"Mm." Lin Jinshui nodded.
"I don't know whether to be happy for my junior sister or worried," Yun Dan said.
Lin Jinshui pretended not to understand his implied meaning and asked again how to make longevity noodles.
Yun Dan didn't really want to teach him, but he was afraid that if he tried to do it himself, he would burn down his kitchen, so he taught him anyway.
He taught him from the very beginning, starting with kneading the dough, and strictly supervised every step until the longevity noodles were made.
The longevity noodles I made failed in every way—color, aroma, and taste.
So, which step went wrong?
Unable to come up with a solution, and with no time to redo it, I had no choice but to make do, since it wasn't for him to eat anyway.
"This bowl of longevity noodles shows that you have love for your junior sister, but not much."
"How can you tell that this bowl of longevity noodles isn't much?" It's clearly overflowing.
He didn't say anything, no matter how you looked at it, he didn't see much. Instead, he said, "Hurry up and take it to your junior sister!" If the noodles get soggy, there will be even less love left.
Lin Jinshui guessed that Lin Jianyu would be up soon, so he stopped talking to him and left the kitchen with his bowl.
When I arrived at the room, Lin Jianyu was already up and washing up.
Seeing Lin Jinshui come in with a bowl, her little nose twitched involuntarily. After smelling the aroma, she didn't even bother to wash her face and ran over to him excitedly.
"Master, what did you bring over? It smells so good."
"Longevity noodles." Lin Jinshui placed the bowl on the table. "Wash your face first, then come and eat."
"Oh." Lin Jianyu obediently ran back to wash her face, asking as she washed, "Is it someone's birthday today?" Although she had never eaten longevity noodles, she knew that they were eaten on birthdays.
"It's your birthday," Lin Jinshui said.
"Whose birthday is it?" Lin Jianyu was a little confused.
"It's your birthday." Lin Jinshui repeated.
"Today is not my birthday."
“The birthday I’m talking about isn’t the day you were born, it’s the day you were reborn,” Lin Jinshui explained. “On this day last year, I found you in Nanyue.”
The day he picked her up was indeed the day she was reborn.
She remembered that day was the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is the Qixi Festival.
Today is also the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, exactly one year since that day.
Even though only a year has passed, when she recalls the events of that day, she feels as if it were a lifetime ago.
The people of Nanyue call the Qixi Festival "Seven Sisters' Birthday". On this day, families with children will worship the Weaver Girl and pray for wisdom and skill, which is also called "begging for skill".
As a child, she admitted she was jealous.
In her quest for a piece of candy, she foolishly stole someone's wallet and was beaten half to death.
Or perhaps, he was beaten to death.
In short, her short, miserable, and unfortunate life ended on that day, and a new life full of beauty and happiness awaited her.
The person who gave her a new life is the one standing before her.
Her life began when she met him, and it also ended when she met him; she was born in her youth and died in her youth.
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