Bizarre Cultivation: Starting from Being Beaten Up by Reality

Chapter 34 The deadline is approaching

"Oh dear nephew, hold your sword tight, or you'll really kill me," the dog-skinned Taoist said nervously. He didn't dare move, but instinctively stepped back.

"How could that be? Do you think I know how to shrink my bones? It's you, nephew, you've grown taller!"

Lin Fan frowned slightly. Indeed, after waking up, he felt that his vision and walking were somewhat different.

Lin Fan didn't notice that the others were shorter because he hadn't interacted with them much, but he had dealt with the Dog Skin Taoist priest quite a bit, so he noticed it immediately.

I've grown a little taller, though only a tiny bit.

"It's not just your height, look at your body, aren't you a bit more robust? Wearing the same clothes as before, do you feel that the clothes are a little small?"

Lin Fan tacitly agreed.

"That's because your senior brother lied to you before! That old snake lied to you from beginning to end!" the dog-skinned Taoist said in a low voice, but with a fierce tone.

"After taking the 'power pill,' besides the short-term effects, it will also increase your physique and vitality! What you've lost isn't vitality at all; on the contrary, your vitality is already more abundant than before. What you've lost is something far more valuable!"

Seeing that Lin Fan seemed to believe him, the dog-skinned Taoist priest said confidently, "It's your lifespan that's being shortened! The power pill is what shortens your lifespan!"

"You don't believe me when I tell the truth, but you believe your senior brother when he lies to you. You're like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, not recognizing a kind heart!"

Lin Fan naturally had his own judgment. What the dog-skinned Taoist priest said was probably true, since the changes in his own body matched perfectly. As for the reduction in his lifespan, he was only sixteen years old and couldn't feel it at all.

"That's not important. Tell me why I was chosen as a disciple of Linglong Temple. I want the truth, don't try to fool me with 'as bold as a bat'!"

In the darkness, the dog-skinned Taoist priest chuckled coldly: "That's the truth. Why do you always think I would lie to you? I invited you to Linglong Temple, of course, because of your boldness."

This was unexpected for Lin Fan. He always felt that such an absurd thing should be fake, and continued to press, "Even if it is true, what's the use of being bold! If you dare to say that it's because you're bold and unafraid of ghosts that you have more confidence when you lie, I'll just wipe you out." Lin Fan felt colder and colder down his spine. The more he couldn't understand something, the more terrified he became. This fear was like a venomous snake slowly crawling up from his heels.

Humans fear the unknown more than powerful enemies.

"This story has to start from the beginning. When I was young, I was in the same sect as my senior brother Wanshou. Our master was skilled in the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams. At that time, I had just started learning..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Fan rubbed his neck with the iron sword, and more blood flowed out.

"Shut up! Why don't you start from the creation myth of Pangu? Get to the point!"

"Alright, alright, I'll put it simply. Didn't I say before that Master predicted my time would come next year, while my senior brother, who is older than me, will have his time come this year?"

Lin Fan frowned and began to think, his attention momentarily diverted, and his grip on the sword loosened slightly.

The dog-skinned Taoist priest noticed Lin Fan's relaxation. He had been rambling on about this and that all along, just waiting for this moment. He made a hand seal in the darkness and shouted, "Freeze!"

Lin Fan suddenly felt the hairs on his body stand on end, a sense of danger creeping over him. He desperately wanted to swing his sword and finish off the dog-skinned Taoist priest, but it was too late.

His hands, and his whole body, felt as if they were filled with lead, and he could no longer move an inch.

The dog-skinned Taoist priest walked to the opposite side of Lin Fan and gently took the iron sword from his stiff hand.

"Oh, oh, nephew, you're always so impulsive and unruly. You don't think I haven't left any tricks up my sleeve, do you?"

"No need to guess, it's the bowl of black dog blood I gave you to drink."

"Oh dear, the price of corpse-driving powder in Xiangxi is not low, but it's worth it. As long as you eat one packet, within seven days, I can make a hand seal and your body will naturally obey my commands."

"But it's strange, I don't know why it failed once before, and I almost thought I bought a fake product."

"Later, while you were asleep, I tried it a few more times before I felt relieved."

Lin Fan can no longer move his limbs, body, or even his neck. Although he can still speak and make sounds, he doesn't know what to say.

Should I curse the Taoist priest who deserves to die, or myself for being careless, or this messed-up world?

"Come on, nephew. It's a bit early, but since you're already here, don't go back to sleep. Come with me."

"Aren't you curious about why your master accepted you? Come with me and see for yourself. You'll understand once you see it."

"Lin Fan, rise!"

As the dog-skinned Taoist made a hand seal, Lin Fan stretched his arms straight forward, his legs involuntarily tensing up, and he hopped up and down behind the dog-skinned Taoist.

"Oh, I used to think it was because of rigor mortis that it was jumping like that, but it turns out this medicine can only control it to this extent. Nephew, be careful, don't trip over the threshold."

Lin Fan tried to muster all his strength, but it was no use at all. He could activate the Soul-Suppressing Pearl by pulling down the extra string in his pants, but he couldn't even move a finger.

It was swaying violently, but the Soul-Suppressing Pearl wouldn't fall down on its own.

The dog-skinned Taoist priest led Lin Fan around the Linglong Temple in a swaggering manner. The temple was deserted late at night, with only the sound of Lin Fan's thumping footsteps.

Unfortunately, they still ran into someone; at a corner, the two almost bumped into a female Taoist priest.

That was the senior sister who sewed clothes for Lin Fan; she seemed to have come to get up in the middle of the night.

After giving Lin Fan an apologetic look, the senior sister immediately turned her head away and left.

Lin Fan's heart grew colder and colder. Sure enough, they all knew. They all knew!

What awaits me now is no longer important; it can't be anything good anyway, can it?

Lin Fan's eyes were empty, completely devoid of any spirit.

The dog-skinned Taoist led Lin Fan through a maze of twists and turns into an inconspicuous side hall, and from behind a statue of a celestial official, into a long, narrow staircase.

Lin Fan kept bumping his head on the ceiling on the stairs, making him dizzy, but his body kept jumping forward.

Finally, they went down to a basement.

"Junior brother, why did you bring Feng'er here so early? There's still a while until Li Shi, why not let him rest a bit more?"

When the two arrived, the Taoist Wanshou greeted them calmly.

His already short figure was stretched long by the candlelight on the wall, like a long black snake.

The dog-skinned Taoist sneered, "You don't know! Your disciple is not only bold but also meticulous. In just one day, he has already become suspicious of us."

The snake-skinned Taoist looked at Lin Fan with concern, and upon discovering that he had been immobilized by some means, he became furious.

"You brat from Yunxiang, what have you done to Feng'er! I repeatedly warned you not to use any spells or medicine. If it affects his mind and body, or ruins the medicine's effects, how will you compensate me!"

The snake-skinned Taoist's eyebrows were raised high, his anger almost tangible, like scales sticking up.

"Oh dear, senior brother, don't get so angry! I specially prepared a corpse-driving powder that won't affect the internal organs. This stuff only controls the limbs and torso and won't leave any toxins in the body. Otherwise, why go through all this trouble?"

However, the snake-skinned Taoist priest was clearly not satisfied with this explanation and roared, "How can you be so casual? My master's divination has never been wrong. My lifespan will only last until the twelfth month of this year at most."

"Tomorrow is the last auspicious day for obtaining the Great Forest Wood of the year. If I fail to obtain the daring Liver Wood, I will kill you first!"

The snake-skinned Taoist cursed the dog-skinned Taoist for a while, and after calming down, he looked at Lin Fan with the same kindness as before.

"Feng'er, you don't need to worry. Your uncle is just careless. I'm just giving him a few words of advice."

"By the way, speaking of which, Feng'er hasn't met your real senior brothers and sisters yet, has he?"

“Those outside are just outer disciples, who are at our beck and call. Feng’er, you are an inner disciple of the old Taoist, so you can’t be compared to them.”

"Oh, right, now that you mention it, I made a mistake. You shouldn't be calling them 'Senior Brother' and 'Senior Sister,' they should be calling you 'Fifth Senior Brother.' I'll have them change their address first thing tomorrow morning!"

The snake-skinned Taoist priest dragged the stiff-bodied Lin Fan to several huge brown glass bottles filled with murky liquid, from which floated flesh and organs.

"Look, these four are your real senior brothers and sisters. They are the ones with extraordinary talents just like you. They are far inferior to those mediocre people outside."

"Feng'er, are you happy? Once midnight has passed, you can live forever with your master, live as long as the heavens, and exist for eternity!"