WU DONG QIAN - KUN
chapter 5: the mysterious stone talisman
"What's this?"
Lin Dong stared blankly at the object in his hand; it looked like a piece of faint ash-colored rock and was roughly as big as two fingers put together. Although it looked like a stone, as he rolled it on his palm, it strangely felt soft. This kind of softness did not feel like stone, but it was also unlike jade and was even more unlike wood.
Like stone but not stone, like jade but not jade, like wood but not wood.
After Lin Dong painstakingly climbed onto the roof of the cave and searched around, he finally managed to find this piece of stone in the hidden crack. From the location it was found, it seemed like the liquid dripping into the stone pool was from this thing.
Embedded in the impression of a very clear palm in such a dark place on the mountain. If one took a closer look at the impression, he would find that it was printed so well that even the lines on the palm could be clearly seen. As he looked at the impression of a mysterious palm, Lin Dong suddenly realized that perhaps, someone had arrived at this mountain cave long before he did.
"What a mysterious object."
As Lin Dong muttered, he noticed that on this thumb-sized piece of stone, some faint patterns that looked like some sort of mystical character were faintly visible.
This mystical character covered every inch of the stone piece, causing it to resemble a mysterious stone talisman.
At this moment, other than the mystical characters that looked faint and profound on the stone talisman, there was no other unusual aspect. However Lin Dong understood that the drop of red liquid he had just seen was definitely not an illusion.
“The reason why stone pools have such special properties must have something to do with this stone amulet....”.
Lin Dong was deep in thought. Previously, he had personally seen a drop of light fall into the stone pond, and this was the only evidence that could explain why the stone pond had such miraculous properties.
“Pah!”
As Lin Dong reasoned to himself, the sound of rolling debris rang out from outside the cave. Immediately, he stuffed the stone talisman into his underwear, putting it near his chest.
"Lin Dong-ge, hee hee, I know you'll be here."
Just as Lin Dong managed to hide the stone talisman, like a butterfly, a figure fluttered and appeared at the entrance of the cave. The figure was revealed to be a young girl who looked to be around 13 or 14 years old, wearing light-colored simple clothes. Yet this simple outfit was unable to hide the quick wit on his little face. Although the girl was rather young, her small face was a bit complicated, her large eyes were glittering, making her look extremely adorable.
Staring at the young girl, Lin Dong quietly sighed in relief. The girl was not a member of the Lin Family, but rather was adopted by Liu Yan not long after she was born. She was younger by Lin Dong just a little, so the two of them grew up together and their relationship was similar to that of a brother and sister, very intimate. Since he was an orphan, he did not use the surname Lin. So Liu Yan helped choose a good name for her: Qing Tan. And as the name suggests, he is full of liveliness like sandalwood.
"Lin Dong-ge, the sky is almost dark, Mother has called you long enough."
Qing Tan laughed cheerfully as she approached, her little hand naturally pulled Lin Dong's arm as she dragged him out of the cave. As he walked, he muttered: "If the sky goes dark, you won't be able to see the stone path here, don't tell me that you plan to sleep in the cave like before?"
Staring at Qing Tan beside him, whose voice was chirping melodiously like a bird, Lin Dong could not help but laugh. Immediately after, his arm moved to lightly touch his chest area. In the center of his chest was a talisman, which exuded a cold sensation.
Although he did not know where this stone talisman came from, Lin Dong's intuition told him that it was definitely not an ordinary thing.
As the dim light of night enveloped the land, a cool and refreshing moonlight flowed down, washing away the hot remnants of the day.
Inside the room, Lin Dong was fast asleep. Moonlight sheets gushed from the windows, some of which shone on Lin Dong's body. Suddenly, the moonlight started rippling like water, as soon as the strange scene occurred. Moonlight suddenly began to gather in Lin Dong's chest area, as if in response, a simple stone talisman was emitting a hint of light, causing it to be faintly visible amidst the light.
As the stone talisman shone, Lin Dong who was originally sleeping slightly cracked opened his eyes. However, before he could open his eyes completely, a sudden sense of dizziness gushed out from his mind. After which, he surprisingly found himself in a dark, dark room.
There is no light here, only silence and cold.
This sudden change caused fear to appear in Lin Dong's heart. No matter what, he was still a 14-year-old.
"Grandfather!"
As Lin Dong choked in fear, a voice suddenly broke the silence of the pitch-black space. Immediately after, a glowing figure suddenly appeared before him. Carefully examining the figure, he realized that to his surprise, the figure looked exactly like him. However, his face had no signs of life, but rather was without a puppet-like expression.
"What's going on……"
Lin Dong stared blankly at the glowing figure in front of him, his brain somewhat paralyzed from being frightened by this strange sight.
“Pak!”
While Lin Dong was still in a daze, the glowing figure of "Lin Dong" suddenly moved. The figure had adjusted his body and stretched out both of his fists, showing a familiar fist technique with that hand.
"Is this…. Punch Penetrate?”
Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa Pa!
In the darkness, the luminous figure maneuvered swiftly while moving his fists. His movements were smooth and agile like a monkey, and looked much sharper than when Lin Xiao had done it.
9 Sharp echoes!
Lin Dong stared in admiration at the radiant figure that was very similar to him. The moment the figure executed Penetrating Punch, he could clearly hear 9 echoing echoes!
"9 echoes ..."
Just as Lin Dong muttered to himself, he suddenly felt a jolt of shock. As the glowing figure finished performing a series of fist techniques, his body jolted strangely. Immediately, a soft echo sounded from his arm!
"What's…"
The sound produced is very soft. Just because Lin Dong was in a high state of alert inside this silent space, he could hear that final sound.
10 echoes!
Lin Dong looked at the glowing figure in surprise. He clearly knew that there should only be 9 echoes resulting from the Penetration Stroke, yet this luminous figure was able to produce a 10th echo?!
At this point, Lin Dong was quite certain that even if his father personally did the Penetration Punch, he would not be able to produce this final echo.
"What the hell is going on?"
Lin Dong was surprised to see this scene. A while later, he finally regained his composure and began to ponder the situation. Although he had only witnessed it once, Lin Dong could feel that the Penetrating Punch shown by the glowing figure was even more natural and sharp than his father, or perhaps, perfect.
As for why this luminous figure was able to display such a unique ability, Lin Dong knew nothing. Nonetheless, he understood that this time, he had found a treasure ……
As this thought flashed through Lin Dong's mind, the luminous figure had yet to disappear. Instead, it once again displayed the same set of Penetrating Punch moves that were restarted from scratch.
As Lin Dong stared at the nimble glowing figure, he realized that the fear that was bothering him in the beginning had unknowingly disappeared. Feeling a little lost, he decided to gather his spirit and concentrate on that shining figure. With a very serious expression, he paid attention to each movement again and again, recalling even the smallest detail in each movement.
After observing for some time, Lin Dong finally changed position. Opening his feet, he began to imitate the glowing figure and slowly executed the Penetration Punch.
“Pak!”
In the darkness stood two similar figures, one human shadow and one glowing shadow, tirelessly repeating the same set of fist techniques. A series of sharp crackling sounds continued to echo, though most were produced by the shining shadows.
Despite this, Lin Dong did not feel hopeless. A sincere expression remained on her tiny face, as she subconsciously adjusted her movements to resemble a shining figure.
Although this adjustment is just a small change, it is similar to adding the finishing touches to a masterpiece because each small adjustment brings a significant effect.
“Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!”
As he held onto his fist, Lin Dong's movements were nimble and agile like a monkey. Suddenly, four echoes of chips sounded continuously as sufficient strength was finally generated by his fists!
4 echoes!
Lin Dong's eyes instantly brightened! He had not expected that some minor adjustments would cause Penetrating Punch to flow much more smoothly.
This sensation was similar to getting guidance from a legendary master. Moreover, the level of mastery achieved by this mentor was truly frightening.
Lin Dong was overjoyed. He had achieved incredible progress in just one day even his father's jaw would fall after watching him produce 4 echoes in a row. In fact, his father needed almost a month of training before he could reach this stage, yet Lin Dong had managed to surpass this by more than 10 times!
After making such progress, Lin Dong's spirit lifted. Without a break, he once again changed his fighting position and repeated the movements of the Penetrating Blows one by one. He was determined to perfect these movements until they were exactly the same as that luminous figure......
As if time had stopped flowing, Lin Dong continuously imitated the glowing figure within the pitch-black space. And as his sweat dripped down from his body, his fist technique increasingly matched that glowing figure.
In the pitch-black space, the glowing shadows and human shadows moved in unison, like a pair of living monkeys. The moment their fists came out, the fist sound that pierced through the air echoed.