Lin Wushui looked away, coughed lightly, and said,
“The school brought you. Xie Dingxin and another girl are in the next ward.”
“Another girl?”
Zhang Xianyu’s brow lifted slightly.
“Is her name Wang Yi? Is she okay?”
“No danger,”
Lin’s mother replied gently.
“You all were very lucky, and the rescue came just in time. The injuries aren’t too serious—just need some rest. Wushui’s the worst off, though. Both legs are fractured. He won’t be walking for a month or two.”
Zhang Xianyu glanced at Lin Wushui’s legs, suspended high in traction, then looked at him again and froze slightly.
That gaze—it seemed oddly familiar.
Seeing him staring, Zhang couldn’t help but ask,
“Do you know me?”
Lin’s mother also acted as if she knew him.
It was all rather strange.
Lin Wushui, gloriously injured, looked somewhat displeased.
They’d just fought side-by-side—how could wearing a different shell make him unrecognizable?
“I’m Lin Wushui,” he said, tilting his chin slightly and reaching a hand out toward Zhang Xianyu.
“Hello,”
Zhang Xianyu shook his hand, still finding his voice more and more familiar.
“I’m Zhang Xianyu, a student at Jiangcheng University.”
Lin Wushui hummed internally, thinking I know that, but outwardly said solemnly,
“It was thanks to you in the shelter.”
He deliberately mentioned the shelter and winked at Zhang Xianyu.
Zhang blinked, suddenly connecting the dots—his eyes widened.
“You…that was you?”
Lin Wushui nodded steadily.
“It was me.”
Having gone through life and death together, the trust formed in battle dissolved any awkwardness.
Zhang Xianyu visibly relaxed, his expression now full of genuine concern.
“Your injuries okay?”
“Just two months in a wheelchair. The rest are manageable,”
Lin said with a frown, sounding slightly annoyed.
“Annoying, though.”
“You know it’s annoying, so don’t go to such dangerous places again,” his mother said with concern and a bit of reproach.
“Mom…”
Lin Wushui replied helplessly.
“Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this.”
Just then, the doctor came to check on Zhang Xianyu, ending the not-so-pleasant conversation.
After the exam, the doctor said Zhang Xianyu was just physically weak and needed two more days of IV glucose but was otherwise fine.
Zhang immediately wanted to be discharged—this hospital room clearly wasn’t cheap, and since he was okay, it was better to leave early.
But Lin’s mother wouldn’t hear of it.
Worried, she held him back.
“You just woke up. Stay and be observed a couple more days, get all the tests done. Don’t think just because you’re young you can treat your health lightly.”
Other than the kids at Tuanjie Village, this was Zhang Xianyu’s first time being scolded so caringly by a female elder.
He was a bit flustered, his cheeks even blushing.
He stammered, not knowing what to say.
Seeing him frozen, Lin’s mother made him sit down at the bed, then brought out a thermal lunch box.
It had white porridge, vegetables, and a bowl of soup—still steaming hot.
She liked children and found Zhang Xianyu’s refined, handsome appearance especially appealing.
Since he was her son’s friend, she felt even more affectionate.
“The doctor said your body’s weak. Eat a little to settle your stomach. Later, I’ll have our housekeeper make some ginseng-and-angelica pig heart soup to help you recover.”
Zhang Xianyu, holding the hot soup, looked completely at a loss.
His reddened ears revealed a rare bit of youthful innocence.
He usually acted so mature, but now he looked more like a typical eighteen- or nineteen-year-old.
Lin Wushui watched with amusement.
Unable to resist Lin’s mother’s kindness, Zhang Xianyu sat back on the bed and began eating.
The bland hospital food still tasted good, and after a whole night of unconsciousness, he was truly starving.
He finished the soup and porridge, finally feeling satisfied and sighing in relief.
Since it wasn’t appropriate to be noisy in a hospital, and seeing that Zhang Xianyu looked tired after eating, Lin’s mother didn’t stay longer.
After giving Lin Wushui some reminders, she and Lin’s father quietly left.
With the elders gone, the two young men relaxed.
Zhang Xianyu rubbed his full belly and looked at Lin Wushui with shining eyes.
Finally, he asked what he’d wanted to earlier: “That cloud of dark mist—was that really you? I thought it was some ghost servant conjured by that Taoist priest.”
“How did you do that? Was it an out-of-body experience?”
He had never seen anything like it before.
One question followed another, until he realized he might be being too forward. Embarrassed, he added,
“If it’s inconvenient to answer, that’s okay too.”
But Lin Wushui wasn’t secretive.
“I almost died when I was seven. Xie Dingxin’s master forcibly called my soul back from the underworld and anchored it to save my life. Maybe because of my special constitution, I ended up with this ability.”
“Not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse.”
Xie Dingxin’s master was one of the rare cultivators of the age—highly knowledgeable, immensely powerful, and broad-minded.
He had once owed the Lin family a favor, so when Wushui’s life was at stake, he made an exception and saved him.
He didn’t expect the situation to take such a strange turn.
To prevent Lin Wushui from going astray in the future, he accepted him as a lay disciple and taught him alongside his direct disciple Xie Dingxin.
Lin’s dislike of cultivators—well, that was largely thanks to the old master.
Seeing the dark expression on his face, Zhang Xianyu sensed it wasn’t a happy memory, so he tactfully changed the subject with a light joke: “Do you have a sister? I know a girl who looks a lot like you.”
He gestured with his hands.
“Even the height is similar.”
Actually, even the name sounded…
“She’s called Wu Shui…”
“And you’re Lin Wushui.”
Lin Wushui: “That’s my sister.”
He tensed for a moment, then quickly relaxed, saying a line he had clearly rehearsed.
Zhang vaguely remembered Wu Shui mentioning an older brother.
He hadn’t expected it to be such a coincidence.
Feeling amazed by fate, he asked,
“But why don’t you have the same last name?”
“I took my father’s surname. She took our mother’s,”
Lin replied calmly.
“You guys must be really close. But didn’t Wu Shui come visit today?”
That question was outside the script…
Lin Wushui panicked internally but maintained a calm exterior.
“She’s overseas.”
“Alright.”
Zhang Xianyu nodded in understanding and didn’t pursue the topic any further.
Lin Wushui, who had been tense and bracing for questions, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Since Zhang Xianyu didn’t bring up another topic, he didn’t dare speak again either, afraid that saying more would just mean making more mistakes.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Xie Dingxin poked half his body in, leaning on a crutch, his eyes gleaming green as he looked at Zhang Xianyu.
“Can I come in?”
Lin Wushui rolled his eyes at him.
You’re already halfway in and still pretending to be polite?
Xie Dingxin ignored his eye roll, hobbled into the room on his crutch, and sat down beside Zhang Xianyu’s bed, grinning like a weasel about to steal a chicken.
“Yuer, you know, technically we’re fellow disciples now…”
Zhang Xianyu: “???”
Seeing the wary look on his face, Xie Dingxin chuckled and explained,
“We took the exams together, received our talismans together— even if we came from different sects, going through the same hardship makes us brothers-in-dao, doesn’t it? Don’t get so hung up on sect differences.”
“???”
Zhang Xianyu was completely baffled.
“What exam? What talisman? What are you even talking about?”
His soul-deep triple-question attack stunned Xie Dingxin.
He froze for a long time, then hesitantly asked,
“You…haven’t taken the Taoist Association’s exam?”
Taoist ranks are divided into five levels: The ‘Dugong Lu’ talisman for the 6th and 7th grades,
The ‘Weimeng Lu’ for 4th and 5th grades,
The ‘Five Thunder Talisman’ (Wulei Lu) for 3rd grade,
The ‘Three Caves Five Thunders Talisman’ (Sandong Wulei Lu) for 2nd grade,
The ‘Upper Purity Talisman’ (Shangqing Lu) for the highest 1st grade.
Different ranks correspond to different internal statuses and welfare benefits.
In the past, disciples were nominated by their own sects, then evaluated and ranked by the Celestial Master’s Bureau.
Depending on their qualifications, they’d be granted or promoted in rank.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Taoist Association was also established.
In line with the nation’s call to build a socialist China, the Taoist system underwent reform: the old nomination-plus-evaluation method was replaced with a standardized annual examination system.
Every year, on the 15th day of the tenth lunar month, Taoist disciples of various ranks gather at the Celestial Master’s Bureau to take a unified exam.
The content varies by level: For example, the 6th and 7th grade ‘Dugong Lu’ focuses on basic scriptures like Morning and Evening Liturgies, the Dao De Jing, and the Scripture for Saving the World (Duren Jing);
While the 2nd grade ‘Three Caves Five Thunders’ and the 3rd grade ‘Five Thunder Talisman’ test advanced scriptures like the Shangqing Jing and Three Caves Scripture (Sandong Jing).
In addition, the Taoist Association developed an official app called “Dao Men”, which incorporates a task and points system.
Except for the first Dugong Lu, further promotions require both passing the exam and accumulating enough task points.
The Association has kept pace with modern times, and Taoist disciples haven’t lagged behind either.
The Dao Men app is a must-have on their phones.
So when Zhang Xianyu asked “What’s an exam?” and “What’s a talisman?”—it completely blew Xie Dingxin’s mind.
His hand trembled slightly as he leaned on his crutch.
With very little hope, he asked,
“What sect are you from…? Who’s your master?”
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