The night was dark, and there was no moon.
Wang Lin lay on the bed in the back of the shop. Next to him was a flagon of alcohol. Occasionally, he would pick it up and take a sip. Over the past year, Wang Lin could clearly feel that his mentality was slowly breaking away from the life of a cultivator and becoming like that of a mortal.
For example, he rarely sat down to do breathing exercises. Before, this was impossible. During the four hundred years of fleeing and killing, he had been constantly circulating the spiritual energy in his body to increase his cultivation level. His life was filled with scheming and the strong preyed on the weak. The slightest carelessness could lead to death.
In fact, he had never laid down to sleep like this before. Even late at night, he spent his time meditating.
Although this kind of life was exciting and passionate, there was a hint of regret and a hint of peace. It was incomplete.
But now, Wang Lin's life was devoid of fighting. Although it was ordinary, it was like a gentle stream that cleansed his soul.
At first, Wang Lin was unfamiliar with this kind of feeling. But as time passed, he gradually accepted his current situation and lived the life of a mortal.
After picking up the flagon of alcohol and taking a sip, Wang Lin suddenly frowned.
At this moment, two cultivators arrived outside his shop. They floated over like ghosts. One of them waved his hand and the door to Wang Lin's shop opened without a sound.
The two of them quickly entered the shop. Then, the door of the shop was closed by the wind.
Inside the shop, the two cultivators' eyes flickered as they stared at the wood carvings. Their eyes were filled with shock, but the shock quickly disappeared and was replaced with endless greed.
"There are so many magical treasures!"
One of the cultivators sucked in a breath of cold air and casually picked up a wooden carving beside him. When he looked at it, his body suddenly trembled and he almost dropped the wooden carving.
The greed in his eyes became even stronger. He waved his sleeve and all the wood carvings on the shelves fell into his bag of holding.
The other cultivator squatted down and rummaged through a wooden chest to the side. Then, he let out a cry of surprise and found a half-finished wooden carving in his hand. His face suddenly turned red and he coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
He quickly tossed away the wooden sculpture in his hand, as if it were an ancient beast, and hastily retreated a few steps.
In fact, it was no wonder he couldn't withstand it. This was a semi-finished carving made by Six Desire Devil Lord. Although it was a semi-finished carving, it contained the spiritual energy of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator. With his Core Formation cultivation, it was impossible for him to withstand it.
Luckily, he let go quickly and the spiritual energy inside the wooden sculpture was not activated. Otherwise, this person wouldn't have just vomited blood.
The moment the wooden sculpture fell to the ground, it was grabbed by an invisible hand and fell into the hands of Wang Lin. Wang Lin put the sculpture to the side. He took a drink from the wine jug and said, "A total of 4,500 taels of gold. Hand it over."
The moment Wang Lin appeared, the two of them suddenly stopped moving. They stared at Wang Lin in horror.
Especially the cultivator who was injured by the spiritual energy inside the wooden sculpture. His face was pale and his forehead was covered in sweat.
In their eyes, Wang Lin's appearance was too strange. Before the two of them entered the shop, they had clearly used their divine senses to detect a person lying in the back room, but that person was only a mortal.
But now, this mortal in their eyes had appeared without them noticing at all. This was like a bolt from the blue, causing the two of them to be shocked.
Adding on the fact that this wooden sculpture had appeared in the shop, even if the two of them were stupid, they would still understand that the person in front of them was a senior, someone they couldn't afford to offend.
The two of them looked at each other and respectfully said, "Greetings, senior.
Junior is a disciple of the White Cloud Sect. If junior has offended you today, please forgive me. "
Wang Lin's voice was calm as he said, "4,500 taels of gold. Do you have it?"
The two of them looked at each other. As cultivators, if it was Spirit Stones, they would still have some. However, they didn't have that much gold and silver as the currency of mortals. Of course, if they were to go back and prepare, they would be able to take out 40,000 taels of gold, much less 4,000.
Wang Lin could tell what the two of them were thinking. He sighed and waved his right hand. The storage bag on the cultivator's waist flew into his hand and he casually swiped it. Instantly, the cultivator's face turned red and he took a few steps back. He swallowed a mouthful of blood.
The respect in his eyes became even stronger. Wang Lin's swipe had already removed his divine sense.
With a slight shake, all the wooden sculptures inside flew out and landed in their original positions on the shelves. There was no mistake, as if they had never been moved in the first place.
"Go back. The next time you come, bring enough gold."
As Wang Lin spoke, he waved his right hand and the storage bag flew into the cultivator's hand. Then, the two of them were pushed by a strong force toward the door of the shop.
The moment they were pushed toward the door, the door suddenly opened. The two of them were pushed out and the door closed.
This push pushed them more than five kilometers away. The two cultivators finally managed to stop themselves. Their eyes were filled with unimaginable shock and fear. In their eyes, the cultivation level of the young man in the shop was unfathomable.
The two of them were silent for a while. They secretly thought that they were lucky. After glancing at each other, they quickly left. These two people were the cultivators from the Wang Mansion.
They could tell that the wooden sculptures were not ordinary. After asking around, they found Xu Tao, who was having fun, and hurried over.
However, after experiencing what just happened, the two of them were scared out of their wits. They didn't dare to have any ideas about the shop.
What they didn't know was that Wang Lin's divine sense had been placed on their bodies. If they had any ill intentions toward Wang Lin, they would be killed in an instant.
In truth, if the two of them knew Wang Lin, they would feel very lucky. If this happened one year ago, the only outcome for the two of them would be death.
Wang Lin sat in the shop and took a sip of wine. He let out a sigh and muttered to himself, "I haven't killed anyone for a year …" He shook his head, returned to the back room, and lay down on the bed to sleep.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. This was already the third year that Wang Lin had been in the capital.
Daniu had grown taller and stronger. The number of neighbors had increased. The owner of the Kong Family Cloth Shop had passed away due to a serious illness, and the shop had been sold to someone else.
Daniu's parents had more wrinkles on their faces. Although they were still young, they couldn't withstand the passage of time.
What was worth mentioning was that in the past two years, many neighbors had come to propose marriage. Every time, Wang Lin would politely decline them.
The second son of the Xu Family Shop had also married and had a chubby baby. When Xu Tao came back, he respectfully came to Wang Lin and gave him a hundred taels of gold, saying that it was a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince.
In fact, in the past two years, Xu Tao would bring a large amount of gold to Wang Lin before the new year arrived. Wang Lin didn't decline and accepted it.
Spring passed and autumn came. In the past two years, Wang Lin had seen people grow old, get sick, and die. He was filled with emotions.
Over the past two years, he had only done breathing exercises twice. He didn't care much about his Cultivation base. It had been a long time since he had used Inner Sight to examine himself. As for the red mist surrounding him, it was now only a thin layer, which had condensed into three red beads, which he put into his bag of holding.
According to his analysis, when the fourth red pearl condensed, the red mist would completely dissipate.
In the past two years, the two cultivators from back then had come once. After offering a large amount of mortal gold and silver, they had respectfully taken the three wood carvings away.
In the past two years, Wang Lin's shop had gradually become famous in the western part of the city. Although there weren't many customers, it was still a lot better than when the shop had been closed for a year.
However, most of the customers in Wang Lin's shop were not mortals, but cultivators. Generally speaking, six out of ten customers were Dao cultivators.
Every Dao cultivator who came here would use mortal gold and silver to buy the wood carvings. In the past two years, he had sold quite a few wood carvings, and now, Wang Lin had accumulated a large basket of gold and silver.
The matter of an eccentric person in the western part of the capital had gradually gained some fame in the local Cultivation world.
From beginning to end, Wang Lin's heart was calm, without any change. What he sought was the mentality of a mortal, to experience the life of a mortal, and to experience the cycle of the Heavenly Dao. The shop was only a tool for him to understand the Heavenly Dao, and the wood carvings were the same.
Now that the end of the year was approaching, the capital was in a festive mood. Wang Lin walked out of his shop and sat at the entrance, looking at the people outside. His eyes were filled with deep reminiscence.
This was the third year since he had come to the capital. Each time, the feeling was different, but there was one thing that was similar, and that was the nostalgia for his childhood.
In the ironworks shop directly across from the shop, Daniu quickly ran out, holding some fireworks in his hands as he played with them excitedly. When Wang Lin saw Daniu, a look of joy appeared in his eyes. He had watched this child grow up over the past three years, from an eleven year old child to a fourteen year old youth.
Last year, Daniu could not stand his father's nagging and began to learn to forge ironworks. However, when he had free time, he would still run over to Wang Lin's shop to watch him make wood carvings.
Although Daniu did not come often, he still had a pot of fruit wine every day.
As the fireworks were set off, Daniu shouted and ran to Wang Lin's side. He sat down on the cold wooden stool, but did not feel cold. Instead, he winked and said, "Uncle Wang, a few days ago, I heard from my father that Shopkeeper Lu in the east wanted to betroth his daughter to you. Why didn't you agree? I've secretly seen his daughter, and she's very beautiful."
Wang Lin faintly smiled and rubbed Da Niu's head.
"Uncle has a wife."
"Ah?
Really?
Then why haven't I seen her? "
Daniu stood up with a look of surprise.
"She's waiting for me in a faraway place. One day, I'll go find her." Wang Lin's eyes showed a trace of tenderness, and the figure of a woman appeared in his mind.
"I know, Uncle Wang. You must have come to the capital to do business and prepare to make a lot of money so you can go back and marry a wife," Daniu said with a smile.