novelraw Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Leaving Home
During the two days after his awakening, Lin Bai stuck to his father like taffy, wheedling and pestering him to take him to the market.
The main reason was that one of the “wings” that would carry Lin Bai to greater heights in the future would be spirit beasts.
And judging from the novels he had read in his previous life, as well as the storybooks of this life, protagonists could always pick up some divine beast with enormous potential right in their starting place.
Clinging to that expectation, he wandered the market for two straight days, peering into every stall and every cage, until he finally gave up completely.
They were all ordinary creatures with utterly average potential. Not a single one was enough to make his eyes light up.
Still, he did discover a flaw in the passive detection ability of Metamorphosis: there was a chance it could be noticed by others, and the greater the gap in cultivation, the more likely he was to be discovered.
Lin Bai had tested that himself while browsing the market. Fortunately, he had run fast enough at the time.
Moreover, the level of detail in the information he obtained, as well as the amount of mental energy it consumed, were both related to the difference in cultivation between him and the target.
Thinking about it, that was only reasonable. If there were no restrictions at all, then this talent would be far too heaven-defying.
“You’re back? Reeking like that, and you still haven’t gone to bathe?”
When Lin Bai came home, Wang Xiu even grabbed him by the ear and scolded him. Lin Bai himself did not sweat much, but the market in Anning County was mostly full of animals for sale, and after darting here and there among them, he had inevitably picked up the smell.
After washing himself clean, Lin Bai hurried back to his room and took out a pill, swallowing it in one gulp.
Once it entered his stomach, it melted into a warm, gentle current that nourished his limbs and bones.
“Almost there. Once I finish absorbing this pill, the energy my body lacks should be more or less replenished.”
Once spirituality awakened, even without deliberate cultivation, the body would still undergo a small transformation, much like a sponge naturally soaking up seawater.
But if one relied only on that natural transformation, then with nothing more than the ordinary grains and food one ate every day, who knew how long it would take to complete?
Lin Bai, however, had once again spent his way through the problem with pills.
After all, who told his sister to be an alchemist?
After a long while, Lin Bai slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam seemed to flash through them for an instant, and even the room itself appeared to brighten for a moment. The corners of his mouth could not help curling upward into a satisfied smile.
It was done.
Lin Bai used a detection skill on himself.
Name: Lin Bai
Strength: 2.5
Agility: 2.7
Constitution: 2.6
Spirit: 3.5
Level: Not yet in Transcendent-Mortal
Skills: Primary Blade Arts, Basic Medicine, Galloping Horse Stance, Intermediate Archery, Northern Mountain Army Scout Aura Concealment Art of Yunzhou (Beginner)
Talents: Metamorphosis, Shared Journey
Evaluation: Great potential for the future; easy to bully for now.
After the transformation was complete, all of Lin Bai’s stats were already close to three times those of a cultivator who had just entered the Transcendent-Mortal Realm.
And he still had not even begun cultivating yet.
Compared to the transformation brought about by actual cultivation, however, this little increase was no more than scraps.
And it was not as though gathering three people who had just stepped into Transcendent-Mortal would be enough to defeat Lin Bai either. To him, such people would be little more than targets he could bring down with a few punches.
Reality was not a game, after all. Health did not decrease by force according to some fixed rules. And the higher one’s four attributes rose, the more a difference of even a single point became a gap as vast as heaven and earth.
Of course, that only applied to ordinary martial practitioners. If someone else happened to possess some outrageous talent, or if they followed a path that was exceptionally strong in the early stages, then Lin Bai could still capsize in the gutter.
As for his skills, with the all-around improvement to his physical condition, his former “Low-Level Archery” had naturally advanced into “Intermediate Archery.” His rate of fire, precision, and endurance in sustained combat had all improved noticeably.
His blade arts had also advanced somewhat, though before this he had only practiced the forms and lacked real combat tempering, so the improvement there was relatively limited.
What satisfied him most was the last skill of all: the Northern Mountain Army Scout Aura Concealment Art had finally reached the Beginner stage.
Now, he could control on his own whether or not he absorbed the spiritual energy of the outside world. He no longer had to be the brightest little target in the crowd.
And this Aura Concealment Art truly belonged to the Northern Mountain Army’s scout camp.
What kind of army was the Northern Mountain Army?
It was the force stationed in the north of Yunzhou, hacking away at the Desert Nomads beyond the frontier. It was praised as the shield of Yunzhou, and among its ranks, the scout camp was the elite of the elite, especially skilled in stealth and concealment.
If this were placed in a game, it would be at least a blue-grade skill.
Lin Bai truly had no idea how his father had managed to get hold of it. Although Lin Ye had served under the Northern Mountain Army in his younger days, he had not belonged to the scout camp. That much Lin Bai knew very well.
Forget it. Thinking too much about it was useless.
Perhaps his father had his own opportunities as well.
Lin Bai stroked his chin and looked at his panel.
“With my level of archery, paired with a military-grade concealment technique, along with my speed, strong spirit, and accurate aim... tsk, the more I look at this panel, the more I look like prime material for firing cold arrows from the shadows.”
Of course, he also knew his own shortcomings. His blade arts were far too shallow, and all he really knew were fancy forms.
For a fifteen-year-old boy still laying his foundations, that was perfectly normal, but it still wasted the astonishingly well-rounded talent he possessed.
Two days later, that little bit of unwillingness in Lin Bai’s heart stirred up trouble again. As if guided by some unseen impulse, he went to the market once more.
The result was disappointment yet again.
Fortunately, he had not held out much hope this time, so he was not too upset.
That strange weather was just like this: at noon, the blazing sun scorched the skin, but when the evening wind rose, it carried a chill that seemed to seep into the bones.
Tomorrow would be the day he left home with his sister Lin Su for Yunmeng City.
Because this was the first time Lin Bai had ever left home, Wang Xiu kept packing while endlessly nagging him.
“Bring a few more sets of clothes. Don’t be fooled by how hot it is at noon. It gets cold at night, and in another month the weather will start turning chilly.”
“When you’re out there, be kind to others. But if someone bullies you, don’t be afraid either. Our family is still capable of making people reason with us.”
“If anything happens, remember to go find your uncle and your aunt.”
Lin Bai sat obediently at the side.
“I understand.”
Whether in his previous life or this one, Lin Bai had never gone very far from home.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan and a poor university student. The beautiful scenery he saw online remained only online. In this life, he was still young, and his range of movement had been even more limited. As for the unknown commandery city, he felt both expectation and a trace of confusion.
..............
After one more night had passed, Lin Ye and Wang Xiu brought the siblings Lin Su and Lin Bai to the Anning County branch of Benevolent Heart Hall that morning.
When they reached the entrance to the back courtyard, the servant guarding it recognized Lin Su. Not only did he fail to stop them, he even took the initiative to greet them.
“Manager Lin, you’ve come. There’s still some time before departure. And these people are...?”
“My father and mother. They came to see my brother and me off today.”
Lin Su answered simply. The gatekeeper did not ask any further questions and treated it as routine business. Strictly speaking, the back courtyard was the inner compound of Benevolent Heart Hall, and unrelated outsiders were not supposed to enter.
But was the manager an ordinary person?
So the gatekeeper simply turned a blind eye and pretended not to have seen anything.
Once Lin Bai’s parents entered, they behaved very properly and did not wander about carelessly. They only made use of the last bit of time to repeatedly remind Lin Bai of all the things he should pay attention to after reaching Yunmeng City.
After Lin Su finished exchanging greetings all around, she came back and sat beside Lin Bai, closing her eyes to rest. She knew Father Lin and Mother Lin’s constant instructions were only natural. Otherwise, they would never be able to put their minds at ease, just as they had been when she went to Yunmeng City three years ago.
After listening to his parents’ nagging, Lin Bai quietly shifted over to Lin Su’s side and nudged her with his elbow.
“Big Sister, why are they calling you Manager?”
“Because when I asked Master for leave, she said that in the future I should go out and see more of the world. She wanted me to follow the caravan and gain some experience, so she gave me the title of manager. I’m not the one truly in charge.”
Hearing that, Lin Bai could not help sighing inwardly. His sister’s master truly was a major figure.
Lin Su had made it sound easy, but as someone who had lived two lives, how could Lin Bai fail to hear what this really was?
This was clearly gilding her credentials.
Especially since transporting medicinal materials outside was itself an official duty. The hidden profits and implications within such a position were no small matter. Could just anyone do it?
Of course. They could serve as guards.
But the position of manager?
They would have to be dreaming.
That was a post reserved for one’s true insiders.
Lin Bai watched as the hall’s attendants repeatedly checked whether any goods had been left behind, then loaded the goods onto the horse-drawn wagons.
The caravan guards also returned one after another. Whenever they saw Lin Su, they respectfully greeted her, and Lin Su merely gave them a faint nod without saying much.
It was not until a man who looked rather thin, around forty or fifty years old, and clearly had the bearing of a manager walked over that Lin Su rose to speak with him.
“Manager Zhou, when will the caravan depart?”
“Soon, soon. We’ll leave in at most a quarter of an hour. By the way, these are...?”
“My parents came to see my younger brother and me off. My brother is Lin Bai, and he’ll be traveling with our caravan to Yunmeng City.”
“So he is your younger brother. Since he is Alchemist Lin’s younger brother, then he is one of our own at Benevolent Heart Hall. Little Brother Lin Bai looks bright and promising at first glance. This trip to the commandery city will surely lead to a fine future for him.”
As Lin Bai watched Manager Zhou speaking with his sister, he could not help admiring him inwardly.
As expected of someone who handled affairs outside.
Even the way he spoke made people feel as though they were bathed in a spring breeze.
People truly were different from one another. The same words, spoken by some, could make the listener feel perfectly at ease.
Of course, Lin Bai also understood that a large part of that spring-breeze warmth stemmed from his sister’s status and potential. If he were merely an ordinary boy, the other man probably would not even have been interested in sparing him an extra glance.
After finishing the conversation with Manager Zhou, Lin Su turned back to Lin Ye and Wang Xiu.
“Father, Mother, the caravan is about to depart. Xiaobai and I will walk you out first. Please don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Little Brother.”
Lin Ye and Wang Xiu nodded. They knew it was time to leave.
At the gate of the back courtyard, Lin Bai was saying goodbye to Wang Xiu. Wang Xiu opened her mouth as if to say something, but she knew there was not much time left.
In the end, she could only step forward and gently hug Lin Bai.
“When you get to Yunmeng City, make sure you eat properly. Don’t be picky. Eat more vegetables.”
Lin Bai nodded, and only then did Wang Xiu let him go and allow him to walk back inside with Lin Su.
At that moment, Lin Ye stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Wang Xiu, and tried to comfort her.
“All right, don’t be sad. Don’t you trust our son? That brat has been clever since he was little, always full of tricks. It’s always him taking advantage of others. Since when has anyone else had the chance to take advantage of him? And now Su Su is there to help him too.”
“With his super-grade talent, he is destined to go farther than we ever will. An eagle can only soar in the sky. Inside a birdcage, it is no different from a sparrow.”
Wang Xiu leaned her face against Lin Ye’s chest and nodded.
“I know. I’m just unwilling to part with him. Su Su left, and now Xiaobai is leaving me too.”
Soon, a group of towering black horses with horns on their heads slowly pulled the caravan out through the gate. Two carriages and more than a dozen freight wagons were tightly protected at the center by the guard escort.
From the window of one of the carriages, Lin Bai leaned out and waved his arm vigorously at his parents.
He watched as the carriage passed through the streets he had long known so well, then rolled out through the city gate.
Anning County.
The hometown where he had lived for fifteen years.
Lin Bai watched as the city walls grew smaller and smaller, until at last even the outline of the battlements vanished completely beneath the horizon.