Chapter 690 — Removing the Shell

Published Mar 11, 2026, 04:00 PM

Chapter 690 - Removing the Shell Time quickly passed, spring left and winter came, and another five years went by. This year’s winter came especially early. Before it was winter, a large amount of snow was already covering the earth. Some of the remaining dead leaves on the branches were frozen. As the cold wind blew, the withered leaves and the snow fell together. It was like a person’s lifespan. Although filled with reluctance and unwillingness to leave when the cold, snowy wind comes, they couldn’t help but be taken by the breeze. In these five years, five elderly people died and three new lives were born. It was as if the reincarnation cycle had begun to turn while people had no awareness of it. Sun Tai became even older. His house was right next to Wang Lin’s. This house was bright, but it had a hint of twilight. Like a mortal who knew that his time was about to be up, he didn’t like to stay inside his room. He sat in the courtyard, looking at the sky. He was accompanied by his shining memories. Wang Ping was now ten years, old but compared to the other children in the village, he looked like he was only seven or eight years old. However, his little face had more color compared to five years ago. The ten-year-old Wang Ping was extremely handsome, and the village’s residents were all fond of this well-behaved and beautiful child. Among his playmates, many of the little girls were filled with goodwill toward the carpenter’s son. This big snow storm caused the day to become very chilly. Sun Tai peacefully sat in the courtyard. He was wearing a thick coat as he looked up at the sky, and his eyes were filled with reminiscence. Beside him, Wang Ping was also wearing a thick coat and looking at the sky in a daze. “Ping Er, why did you come here to visit this old man instead of accompanying your father?” Sun Tai’s eyes were filled with kindness. He really did like this child from the bottom of his heart. If it wasn’t for Wang Lin, who said he wouldn’t let this child cultivate, he really would have taught this child everything he knew. Wang Ping pouted and said, with displeasure, “I’m not going back, Aunty Zhang is there again.” Sun Tai faintly smiled and shook his head. “Child, you can rest assured, your father won’t agree.” Wang Ping frowned as he counted with his fingers and said, “Not necessarily. Grandpa Sun, look how many times Aunty Zhang came in the last three years. I have been keeping count, it’s a total of twelve times! Twelves times, ah! Why do most of the big sisters and aunties all have their eyes on my father?” Sun Tai laughed as he looked outside the courtyard and smiled. “Don’t worry about your dad. Look outside, it seems like the second daughter of the Zhou family came looking for you.” Wang Ping was startled as he raised his head and looked outside the courtyard. He saw a seven or eight-year-old little girl with a red face gradually approach. “Big Brother Wang, are you here?” The girl’s crisp voice came from outside the courtyard. Wang Ping frowned and shouted, “I’m not here, you should go!” With that, he simply walked out from the courtyard. He didn’t even look at the girl with water gathering in her eyes and ran toward his own home. Sun Tai saw this and couldn’t help but laugh. The kindness in his eyes became even stronger. At this moment, Wang Lin was in a different situation from Sun Tai. He was frowning as he faced a young woman who was constantly complaining. His face was filled with a bitter smile. Wang Lin seemed to have grown slightly older during these five years. It was the same as when he turned into a mortal. In order to not frighten the mortals, his appearance was no longer young and he had stepped toward the middle age. The vicissitude in his eyes gave him a strange temperament even though he was only middle-aged. The young woman was very feminine. She looked at Wang Lin and earnestly said, “Brother Wang, look, Wang Ping is already ten years old and has had a bitter life without a mother. If you don’t care about yourself, then at least think about the child. The daughter of the Zhao family at the entrance of the village is a beautiful girl, and she is willing to follow you. She even promised to treat the child like he was her own. What are you dissatisfied with?” Wang Lin’s bitter smile became even stronger as he helplessly said, “This matter… let’s forget about it.” The young woman didn’t give up and continued, “Ah, Brother Wang, why must you be like this. I know you never got married again because you loved Ping Er’s mother. However, you still have to live your life. When I saw you come here ten years ago with just a baby, this mother… Well… I wasn’t married at the time, but look at me now. My child is already eight years old.” Just at this moment, Wang Ping mercilessly pushed over the door. He looked at the young woman and silently sat down. Seeing that the young woman was about to continue speaking, Wang Ping shouted, “Dad, I’m hungry!” Wang Lin sighed a breath of relief and said, “Let’s stop this conversation here.” The young woman let out a sigh and shook her head. “If you are not willing, there is no need to force it. But Brother Wang, if you fancy anyone, you have to remember to tell me!” She looked at Wang Ping and reached out her hand to rub Wang Ping’s head. Wang Ping grunted and dodged backwards. The young woman laughed. “This child has such a big temper. You should learn your father. Your father has the most gentle temper in the village; why else do you think all these beautiful girls want to marry him?” With that, she turned around and left. After the young woman left, Wang Ping asked, “Dad, you…” Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Wang Lin smiled and said, “Children shouldn’t worry about these things. Your Aunty Zhang is doing this with good intent. Come here and take your medicine.” Wang Ping’s eyes widened as he looked at this father and pouted. “But she wants to find Ping Er a stepmother. Er Huzi’s father found Er Huzi a stepmother. As a result, Er Huzi doesn’t get enough to eat every day and always get scolded.” Wang Lin laughed, then he rubbed Wang Ping’s head and smiled. “OK, I promise you I won’t find you a stepmother, alright? Now take your medicine.” Wang Lin happily picked up the bowl and drank all the medicine in one gulp. This time the medicine didn’t taste bitter; instead, there was a hint of dry sweetness. This sweetness came from his heart, from his love for his father. “Dad, with Ping Er accompanying you, you won’t be lonely. Wait for Ping Er to grow up and I’ll serve you until you’re old.” Wang Pin put down his bowl and earnestly looked at Wang Lin. Wang Lin smiled and patted Wang Ping’s head. He walked out of the room into the courtyard and began to clear the snow with a broom. Once he finished clearing the courtyard, he picked up his tools and began doing his carpentry work. Wang Pin watched his father through the window and silently pondered. His memory was very good, far better than that of other children of the same age. He clearly remembered when he accidentally asked his father where his mother was back when he was four years old. At that moment, his father’s expression was very strange. He didn’t understood what that expression was, but now that he had grown up, he did. That was a downcast expression… He was a sensible child, so from then on, he never asked about his mother again. After winter came, heavy snow storms came one after another. As the cold winter arrived, the people of the village became less active. The cold winter days passed day by day and soon the spring breeze came. It gradually swept away the coldness of winter. The village’s school opened in the spring. The children of the village learned to read and write there. The days passed calmly passed like this. They were calm like water without any ripples. Among the calmness, a hint of tenderness washed Wang Lin’s tired heart. As Wang Ping grew up day by day, Wang Lin no longer persistently pursued enlightenment but silently watched Wang Pin with the heart of a father. During these ten years, except for when he was expelling Wang Ping’s resentment, he didn’t use any other spells. It was as if he had forgotten about everything. However, as he forgot everything, a comprehension of the life and death cycle silently formed in Wang Lin’s heart. As Wang Ping grew, it became more profound. Wang Lin had a very profound understanding of the death part of the life and death cycle, but he didn’t have much comprehension of life. As time passed and as his dao heart relieved its exhaustion, it was also slowly moving toward completion. After a perfect life and death, the karma cycle would be next. Wang Lin’s dao slowly evolved in this peaceful life. If a powerful cultivator saw this kind of change, they would be shocked because this was not a simple change but a huge change in one’s domain. A domain was a special comprehension that cultivators had after the Celestial Realms shattered. It could be said that the dao a cultivator walked was formed from their domain. The root of all of this was very deeply related to domain. Therefore, each domain was almost fixed for every cultivator, and it was very rare for a domain to evolve. The reason Liu Mei had caught the attention of the Huan family’s ancestor was because her domain showed signs of evolving. This caused the Huan family’s ancestor to willingly give up looking for the heaven defying bead and quickly bring Liu Mei back to the Huan family. The root cause of all of this, aside from wanting to devour her domain, was that he was afraid someone like her would be stolen by someone else! Wang Lin was currently walking down this road. However, because he lacked comprehension in the life part of his life and death domain, even though he had shown signs of evolving into the karma domain, his domain hadn’t evolved yet. As a result, the present was a key moment in Wang Lin’s life; it could even determine his future achievements. Wang Lin kind of understood this matter. However, if he had a choice, he would never pay this price for this opportunity that all other cultivators dreamed of. Spring passed and autumn came, and another six years passed. Sun Tai’s time arrived. It seemed to have come a bit earlier than expected. When he was lying in his own house, the people that were there to send him off were only Wang Lin and Wang Ping. At this moment, he was like the withered leaves that were blown away by the big snow storm six years ago. Wang Ping was already sixteen years old, and he had started to look more and more like Liu Mei. This kind of appearance on a boy made him exceptionally handsome. However, his eyes were pure and showed a clear distinction between black and white. During his sixteen years of growth, he came to understand a lot of things. Things like the fact that Grandpa Sun knew his father from a long time ago and respected his father a lot. This respect was never shown through how they talked or on the surface, it came from the bones, and Wang Ping could clearly feel it. Wang Lin appeared even older now. He calmly looked at Sun Tai and slowly said, “Sun Tai, I’ll do what I promised you back then.”

React

Discussion