Wang Lin laughed and nodded. "Yes, once uncle makes a lot of money, I'll go back and marry a wife."
Daniu was about to speak when his father called out to him from the ironworks shop. Daniu quickly answered and bitterly said to Wang Lin, "Sigh, I have to forge again." With that, he helplessly returned to the ironworks shop.
Daniu's father's scolding came from the shop. Wang Lin drank a mouthful of wine and quietly sat at the door. At this time, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Slowly, the snowflakes became bigger and bigger. The first snow of the year silently fell from the sky.
The temperature suddenly dropped.
The snowflakes hit Wang Lin's face and quickly melted into ice water. Wang Lin raised his head to look at the dusky sky. After a long time, he reached out his right hand and casually clenched his fist. Instantly, the surrounding snowflakes gathered.
Wang Lin took a deep breath and released his right hand. The snowflakes immediately scattered and floated around.
This happened so quickly that no one noticed anything strange. They all lowered their heads and hurried on their way.
As the sky darkened, the number of pedestrians gradually decreased. In the end, there was not a single person on the entire street. Even the surrounding shops had closed their doors early due to the heavy snowfall. They were no longer doing business. Instead, families gathered around the stove to keep warm.
This warmth not only came from the body, but also from the soul. The family was together, this warmth could drive away any coldness.
Wang Lin's eyes gradually revealed a depressed expression. The coldness brought by the snowflakes was insignificant to him. But at this time, he looked at the lights of the surrounding shops. Only his shop was dark. Suddenly, a trace of coldness appeared in his heart.
This coldness was not something that could be driven away by any fire source. It was not something that could be made up for by magic. This coldness was the price of comprehending the Heavenly Dao. It was a necessity to experience life.
If one wanted to become a god, they first had to become a mortal.
But becoming a mortal sounded easy, but in reality, it was not that simple. Right now, Wang Lin was experiencing loneliness. He knew that he had to continue experiencing this loneliness.
Compared to this loneliness, after many years, when the people around him died one by one, he would feel like he was the only person left in the world. That was true loneliness.
Wang Lin was silent. After a long time, he staggered to his feet. He seemed to have aged a bit. He slowly tidied up the chairs by the door, returned to the shop, and gently closed the door.
After a long time, the shop lit up. Although it looked no different from the other shops, the truth was that this light was only on the surface. Hidden inside was a deep sense of loneliness.
Wang Lin sat next to the fireplace. The shop was very warm, but his heart was getting colder and colder. After a long time, Wang Lin took out a statue from his bag of holding and placed it next to him.
This statue was of his father.
Looking at the statue, the coldness in Wang Lin's heart gradually lessened. He then took out a statue of his mother. Following this, he took out more statues from his bag of holding and placed them around the fireplace.
Among the statues, there were men and women, young and old. They were all his neighbors in the small village.
Looking at these statues, Wang Lin smiled. Although this smile was filled with satisfaction, if anyone saw this smile, they would feel that it was not a smile, but a silent cry.
The fire flickered, the brightness fluctuating. When it shone on people's faces, it was the same. When it shone on the wooden statues, it gave off a strange feeling.
Gently picking up one statue after another, the coldness in Wang Lin's heart gradually lessened. However, although there was less loneliness, there was more sorrow.
"Can't let it go … can't let it go …" Wang Lin murmured to himself. Back when he was cultivating, he couldn't let go of his family. Even now, he still couldn't let go.
However, this feeling was different from back then. If he wanted to reach the Soul Formation stage, he first had to become a mortal. If he truly let go of his family and everything, then it would be impossible to become a mortal.
Every Soul Formation cultivator was powerful not only because of their cultivation, but also because they had deeply hidden emotions in their hearts. It was this emotion that allowed them to become a mortal and use it to break through the Nascent Soul stage and reach the Soul Formation stage.
It was because of this obsession that Wang Lin didn't encounter too many setbacks on his path to becoming a mortal. Instead, he gradually felt the feeling of being a mortal.
At this moment, he was immersed in his thoughts of his parents and quietly comprehended this feeling. The spiritual energy in his body once again began to spin crazily. This rotation gradually spread out of his body. All of the wooden statues in the shop suddenly began to emit traces of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy in Wang Lin's body began to spin rapidly.
Gradually, this spiritual energy spun faster and faster until it spread out of the shop.
When the snowflakes fell from the sky and landed on the roof of the shop, they also began to spin, forming a spinning snowflake that quickly slid away.
The snow became heavier and heavier. After a long time, Wang Lin gradually woke up. The moment he woke up, he saw that half of the wooden statues on the shelves had cracked.
Although a small portion of the carving was cracked, the Spiritual Pressure that it emitted was even stronger than before. Even the quality had increased.
Wang Lin looked at them and took a deep breath.
He stood up and pushed open the door of the shop. A cold wind blew in his face, mixed with countless icy snowflakes. Wang Lin looked up at the sky and said calmly, "Soul Formation, I, Wang Lin, am determined to get it!"
The snowflakes falling from the sky became heavier and a thick layer of snow piled up on the ground. At this moment, the door of the ironworks shop opposite suddenly opened. When Daniu and his father were about to go out, they saw Wang Lin standing in front of them. They couldn't help but be surprised. Then, Daniu quickly ran a few steps and stepped on the snow, making crunching sounds. He came to Wang Lin's side and shouted, "Uncle Wang, did you know that we were coming to mock you?" With that, he entered the room and sat next to the stove.
Daniu's father held a wooden basket with a silly smile and said to Wang Lin, "Brother Wang, are you busy?"
Wang Lin smiled and said, "I'm not busy, come in and we'll talk."
Daniu's father entered the room and looked at the wooden statues around with envy in his eyes. Then, he put down the wooden basket in his hand and rubbed his hands. It seemed that he wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to say it.
At this time, Daniu, who was sitting next to the stove, saw the statues of Wang Lin's parents and immediately exclaimed, "Uncle Wang, why haven't I seen these statues before? Are they made recently?"
Wang Lin closed the door and sat next to him, saying, "They were made before."
Da Niu stared at the statues and said, "You're right.
"Uncle Wang, who are the people carved on these statues?"
A trace of nostalgia appeared in Wang Lin's eyes and he slowly said, "They are my family."
Daniu was startled and didn't continue to ask. Instead, he quickly stood up and ran to the wooden basket. He opened the lid and saw three exquisite dishes and two jugs of fruit wine inside.
Wang Lin looked at them and looked at Daniu's father with a faint smile. In the past three years, he had been in frequent contact with the man. This was the first time he had seen this hearty man in such a situation. Obviously, he had something to ask for help from him.
"Brother Ceng, if you have something to say, just say it." Wang Lin said.
Daniu's father hesitated for a moment, rubbed his hands and said awkwardly, "Nothing, nothing."
Daniu looked at the dishes in the wooden basket and swallowed his saliva. He reached into the basket and his father glared at him, scaring Daniu into quickly withdrawing his hand. He muttered discontentedly, "Don't you just want to borrow some money? What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Daniu's father's face suddenly turned red and he scolded, "Little brat, just you wait until you get home."
Daniu stuck out his tongue and said to Wang Lin, "Uncle Wang, my father is embarrassed to say it. I'll say it. My mother is going to buy the shop next door and make it bigger, but she doesn't have enough money."
Daniu's father sighed and looked at Wang Lin. He said helplessly, "Brother Wang, your sister-in-law always says that our shop is small, so there aren't many people who come to buy ironware. She saw that Old Li's shop next door is going to be rented out, so she wants to rent it."
Wang Lin smiled and nodded. He picked up the jug of wine in the wooden basket and drank a mouthful. He said, "How much do you want?"
Daniu's father hesitated for a moment and said, "His family's shop is quite big, and they have to pay for it for two years at a time, so they need 50 taels of silver … Hmm … 30 taels, 30 taels is enough."
Daniu pouted and said in a low voice, "Mother clearly said it needs 80 taels …" Before he could say anything, his father fiercely glared at him.
Wang Lin nodded and didn't say anything. He got up and went to the back room. There was a big frame there, which was filled with gold and silver objects. Wang Lin casually picked up a piece of gold, returned to the shop, and placed it in front of Daniu's father.
After Daniu's father saw the gold, he was suddenly startled and quickly said, "I don't need that much. Brother Wang, quickly take it back. I only need to borrow 30 taels of silver." In his opinion, this gold was at least 10 taels of silver, which was much more than what he needed.
Wang Lin picked up the wine jug and said with a smile, "Brother Ceng, this money isn't for you, it's for me to buy wine. From now on, I will buy a jug of wine every day. Your fruit wine is not bad, ten years of wine money is worth it."
Daniu's father hesitated for a moment, his face showed excitement, and said, "Brother Wang, this …" Daniu rolled his eyes and said, "Father, just take it. Uncle Wang sells a wood carving for 10 taels of gold."
Daniu's father once again glared at Daniu, then took a deep breath. He picked up the wine jug and took a big gulp. He nodded and said, "Brother Wang, what ten years? As long as you live here for a day, I will bring you a jug of wine every day."
Wang Lin chuckled. Looking at the father and son in front of him, his heart gradually no longer felt cold, but slowly felt a trace of warmth.
That night, Daniu's father drank a lot. Two jugs of wine were obviously not enough. Daniu waited on the side until the tenth jug was enough.
In the end, Daniu's father passed out drunk, but his hand was still tightly holding the gold. He was supported by Daniu and went back.
Before leaving, Daniu whispered to Wang Lin, "Uncle Wang, my family has a lot of wine. My father doesn't let me tell others, but in fact, there are several big jugs of wine in the cellar. Some of them were left by our ancestors. I heard that there are still many buried underground. If it wasn't for my father's insistence that he not sell it, my mother wouldn't have asked him to borrow money."
My daughter is sick, so I have to spend more time with her at night. Today is the second watch of the night. In a few days, I will look for a few days until the third watch of the night.
Don't be suspicious, no father will use his daughter as an excuse.