Chapter Ninety-Eight: Someone Has Died

At dawn and dusk alike, Chen Jin still rose early each day to train. In cultivation, not even the slightest slackening could be tolerated. Only through single-minded dedication could one hope to attain the Dao and achieve everlasting life, so Chen Jin had never once been careless in his practice.

Fortunately, what Chen Jin cultivated was an older method, one that required only a single foundational formula and could be pursued endlessly. Unlike the ancient and modern methods, in which every realm demanded a different way of cultivation, this spared him from the immense time cost of daily practice; otherwise he might have had to spend the whole day on nothing else.

In truth, as Chen Jin was about to step into the Spirit-Settling Realm, he had already sensed the flaw in his incomplete technique. If, before shedding mortality and becoming an immortal, he could not gather the full set of the White Emperor's Mysterious Primordial True Scripture, then in the end he might be trapped forever in the Mortal-Transcending Realm, never able to become immortal and attain eternal life.

Still, Chen Jin was not overly troubled. He had plenty of time. After all, he was only at the Qi-Settling stage, still quite a distance from the Mortal-Transcending Realm. There was no need to rush. In cultivation, the most important thing was to possess a calm and rounded Dao heart; only then could one cultivate freely without being impeded by inner demons. Otherwise, if obsession were born, those demons would rise in profusion and obstruct the path.

Chen Lan still cultivated alongside Chen Jin, and now even Chen Jin's father and mother had begun as well.

The three of them had not yet crossed into the realm of cultivation on their own, but fortunately none of them were impatient by nature, nor did they harbor any deep blood-feud or bitter hatred, so there was naturally no urgency. Only Chen Lan kept talking about going to Mount Emei, but that idea had been vetoed every time.

And today, for the first time, the whole family was finally able to sit at the same table for breakfast.

They were not some aristocratic clan, so there was little in the way of strict dining etiquette. While eating, they chatted and discussed important matters.

"I heard the government is finally going to distribute the Universal Cultivation Classic," Chen Jin's father said, pointing a finger upward toward the ceiling.

By that he meant the backing behind the Chen family.

"But for now, only those who have been found by the Cultivators' Association to possess cultivation talent, and who can obtain a certificate of clean records from the police bureau, will be able to receive it," his father added.

"That was expected. It's only normal. There are 1.5 billion people in the country. If that cultivation classic were posted online all at once, who knows what kind of chaos it would cause? Start small, then gradually expand the scope. Haven't they always done it this way? First they run a pilot, and only afterward do they推广 it on a large scale," Chen Jin's mother said.

"The schools will probably be first too. After all, students are the easiest to 'educate.' Little Lan, has there been any news from your school?" Chen Jin's father nodded and asked again.

"Dad, it's winter break. What news could there be? Our class group chat is basically all classmates. Not even the teachers are in it, so who would pass along any news?" Chen Lan rolled her eyes.

As she spoke, she took out her phone and checked it. Then she let out a startled sound. "There really is news. Our homeroom teacher has joined the group."

"Heh. Looks like you won't be able to badmouth your homeroom teacher whenever you like anymore," Chen Jin said with a smile, picking up a fried dough stick and dipping it in soy sauce.

"Our class monitor just made another group and pulled all of us into it, except the homeroom teacher," Chen Lan continued.

"..."

Your class monitor is pretty sharp, Chen Jin had no words for that.

"Ah, youth," Chen Jin could only sigh like that in the end.

"Youth, my foot. Back when we were young, we weren't as ridiculous as you lot," Chen Jin's father said in obvious annoyance.

"Dad, back then you didn't even have QQ..." Chen Jin retorted.

"You did back then, did you?" his father shot back.

"Uh... hehe, actually I did." Chen Jin laughed.

"You little brat..."

"I'm off to work, off to work." Before his father could continue scolding him, Chen Jin seized his fried dough stick and made a quick exit.

"That wretched boy." Chen Jin's father bit viciously into the vegetable bun in his hand.

...

Chen Jin rather liked the atmosphere at home now. The family sitting around a table to eat together was far better than being alone in some restaurant ordering dishes by himself. He did not want to cultivate immortality all alone either; it would be fine if he could bring his family along to share in everlasting life. It was only unknown whether such a thing could truly be achieved...

By the time he reached Xiahu County, Chen Jin went straight into the shop.

The key to the shop door was held by both Chen Jin and Li Han, so usually the two of them were the first to arrive. Most of the time, though, Li Han got there first, with Chen Jin arriving a little later.

Today was the same. By the time Chen Jin arrived, the shop was already open.

Li Han was sitting on a sofa, looking at Chen Jin with a resentful expression.

"I'll give you the day off today. How about that?" Chen Jin said with a smile.

"Really?" Li Han asked in delight.

"If I said it was fake, would you beat me to death?" Chen Jin was still smiling.

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. It's like Schrödinger's cat; it depends on your next sentence. Be careful, Young Master Chen," Li Han said with a sweet smile.

She also knew perfectly well that Chen Jin would definitely let her go to Ningde.

"Oh? In that case, perhaps I should keep myself in this half-dead, half-alive state," Chen Jin said with a light laugh.

Li Han fell silent, then shot him a glare.

"Go on, go. Be careful. I'll set a time limit for you—one week, how's that?" Chen Jin said.

"Don't worry, I'm going with my little brother. Young Master Chen, are you really not coming?" Li Han nodded.

"Fine. Then I'll head out again, and you'll wait for me here a little longer. How's that?" Chen Jin said with a half-smile.

Li Han felt wounded.

"Just kidding. Go on. Oh, right—did you get your police certificate done?" he asked.

"I finished it ages ago. I'm a very good person, you know. From elementary school through middle school, high school, and college, I won model-student honors every single time," Li Han said.

"All right then. Go on," Chen Jin said with a smile, waving her off.

Then Li Han said goodbye once more and left.

"Blinded by false love," Chen Jin sighed.

Beep, beep, beep...

At that moment, Chen Jin's phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the number. It was Hao Wenjia's. So she seemed to be safe enough.

"Hello? Calling so early in the morning—what great national affair requires my attention?" Chen Jin answered.

"I miss you. I can't sleep," came the reply from the other end.

"..."

Chen Jin was baffled.

"You... aren't you sleep-drunk, are you?" he asked oddly.

"Why is it that I can only miss you when I'm sleep-drunk?" the voice on the other end said.

"Who are you?" Chen Jin immediately realized the caller was not Hao Wenjia. The voice sounded exactly the same, but a voice was something that could be imitated far too easily.

"I'm Hao Wenjia. Don't you remember me?" came the reply.

"Stop pretending to be a ghost or a demon. Who are you really? If you don't answer, I'll call the police," Chen Jin barked.

"Hehe, I was just joking with you, and you took it seriously? Hahaha." The person on the other end began to laugh after being shouted at like that, their tone sounding exactly like an old friend's playful banter.

But Chen Jin knew full well that he and Hao Wenjia were not old friends. Their relationship was nowhere near that close.

"Are you Hao Wenjia?" Chen Jin asked again.

"I'm not. She's dead. This is a phone I picked up. Oh, and the corpse is right beside me. Hehe, what a miserable death." The voice on the other end changed at that moment, becoming that of a middle-aged man.

It seemed that Hao Wenjia had truly met with misfortune.

...