Mortal Bones

Chapter 2: On the sickbed, Grandpa gives a treasure before his death

“I’ve heard of it.”

Taiping nodded, and then said with a longing look:

“Uncle Zhao at the village entrance said that there are immortals on Cloud Hut Mountain not far from our village. A few years ago, the snake demon in Clear Water Town was killed by an immortal who came down from the mountain. He flew in the sky and escaped underground, very impressive.”

The old man smiled and asked:

“Then Taiping, do you want to be like those immortals, live forever, and fly in the sky and escape underground?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

Little Taiping nodded without hesitation, but then scratched his head sheepishly and said:

“But Uncle Zhao said that if you want to cultivate, you must have a natural spirit bone. If you have a natural spirit bone, your name will automatically appear on the immortal register, and then an immortal will come down from the mountain to take you up to cultivate. Otherwise, if you are just a mortal bone, you can’t cultivate immortality.”

From his tone, Taiping actually sounded a bit disappointed.

“Taiping…”

The old man hesitated for a moment, then looked at Taiping seriously and asked in a low voice:

“If there is an opportunity that can make you get on the immortal register, but you have to risk your life, would you be willing?”

“Can make me…get on the immortal register?”

Little Taiping was stunned at first, and then began to think seriously.

“Grandpa, if there really is such an opportunity, I want to try it.”

After a while, he raised his head and looked at the old man on the bed with a firm look.

“Why? That’s very dangerous.”

The old man smiled and stared at Taiping’s clean eyes.

“If I become an immortal, I can help you cure your illness, right?”

Little Taiping answered naturally.

The old man was taken aback when he heard this, and then smiled again.

“Taiping, take…take it”

Then he tried to lift his hand and handed a somewhat worn-out wooden box to Taiping’s hand.

“Grandpa?”

Taiping looked at the wooden box in his hand with some confusion.

As far as he could remember, Grandpa had been very careful with this wooden box and wouldn’t let anyone see it.

“Open…open it.”

The old man said with great difficulty.

“Okay…”

Although he was puzzled, Taiping obediently nodded and opened the wooden box.

After opening the wooden box, Little Taiping only saw that there was a vermilion wax pill inside, as well as an ordinary soybean seed.

“This red wax pill was given to me by a Taoist I met by chance ten years ago. It is also called Spirit Bone Pill. After taking it, it can turn mortal bones into spirit bones and make your name appear on the immortal register.”

Before Taiping could ask, the old man pointed to the red wax pill in the box and explained.

“There is such a miraculous medicine in the world?”

Little Taiping looked incredulous.

“The world is so big that there is nothing strange. What’s so remarkable about a Spirit Bone Pill?”

The old man nodded very seriously.

“Since this Spirit Bone Pill has such an effect, why didn’t you take it yourself?”

Little Taiping suddenly thought of a question.

“The Taoist said that this Spirit Bone Pill only works for children between nine and eleven years old. When I got this Spirit Bone Pill, I was already sixty-three years old. Your father and your second uncle and third uncle were also in their forties. It’s useless for us.”

The old man smiled bitterly.

It could be seen that he had regrets in his heart.

Who would want to miss this opportunity to become an immortal?

“And besides, this Spirit Bone Pill only lasts for half a year after taking it. If you can’t cultivate to the Qi Refining Realm that the immortals talk about within half a year, your status as a mortal bone will be discovered by the sects. Your name will also be removed from the immortal register. If you are lucky, you will be expelled from the sect. If you are unlucky, your soul memory will be erased and you will become an idiot.”

The old man frowned and continued.

Taiping was startled when he heard this.

But after thinking about it for a long time, he still nodded his head and looked at the old man earnestly:

“Grandpa, I still want to try it.

In his opinion, once he entered the sect and learned some immortal techniques, he would be able to cure his grandfather’s illness.

So it was worth the risk.

“Good.”

Seeing that Taiping was so determined, the old man nodded very satisfied. Then he took the wax pill from his hand, peeled off the wax coat, and personally sent it to Taiping’s mouth:

“Eat it.”

Little Taiping didn’t hesitate and swallowed the Spirit Bone Pill.

As soon as the pill entered his stomach, Taiping felt a warm current, as if a warm hand was stroking his whole body.

But apart from that, there was nothing special.

“Is that…all?”

Little Taiping looked at the old man in surprise.

“It won’t take long for an immortal from the mountain to come down and take you.”

The old man smiled and nodded.

At this time, his expression was complicated. He was both happy and worried.

The happiness was self-evident. Taiping was his favorite grandson. He was naturally happy to be able to walk on the path of seeking immortality.

The worry was because this path was bound to be extremely bumpy. Little Taiping might not even make it through half a year and would be expelled from the sect and become an idiot for the rest of his life.

“In this long and dusty road, a mortal bone asks for immortal fate. If you don’t experience all kinds of dangers in the world, how can you open the door to heaven?”

The old man suddenly remembered what the old Taoist who begged for food said before he left.

Thinking of this, his eyes became firm again-“Let Taiping go on this road is right!”

“Grandpa, what about this bean? What is it for?”

Taiping, who was a little nervous, suddenly pinched the soybean in the wooden box.

“This was also left by that old Taoist, but he didn’t say what it was for. He only said that if you have the chance to enter the sect one day, you should use the spiritual soil in the mountain to plant this soybean. By then you will get another great opportunity…”

The old man answered weakly.

“Cough cough cough…”

After saying this, he began to cough violently.

“Grandpa, drink some water and don’t talk anymore.”

Taiping was worried and stepped forward to support the old man.

“Taiping…keep that bean…Grandpa’s words tonight…can’t…can’t tell…tell anyone…”

The old man grabbed Taiping’s wrist hard.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa, I won’t tell anyone!”

Little Taiping nodded vigorously.

“Taiping, you are smart, but the world is treacherous. You have to be very careful…”

At this time, the old man who coughed blood at the corner of his mouth suddenly hugged Taiping’s shoulders with both hands. Then he stared at him with his eyes wide open and shouted with all his strength:

“Taiping, Grandpa has been looking for that immortal road all his life, but he was trapped by this mortal body. You have to fight for it! Fight for all the mortal bones in this world!”

After saying this, the old man stiffened and fell straight on the bed.

“Gra…Grandpa?”

Little Taiping felt a chill in his heart.

He tremblingly stretched out his hand to the old man’s nose and found that he had no breath. He suddenly felt dull.

“I…I don’t have a grandpa anymore…”

Little Taiping stood there blankly, tears rolling in his eyes. Finally, he cried out loud with a “wow”.

He didn’t cry when his parents died a few years ago. He didn’t cry when he rolled down from the hillside while picking herbs. He didn’t cry when he was trapped in a cave by a jackal for days and nights without food or water.

Because he knew that he was not alone. He still had Grandpa.

…

This night, Little Taiping lost his Grandpa.

This night, on the Spirit Bone Tablet of Azure Profound Sect on Cloud Hut Mountain, a name appeared-Xu Taiping.

“At the foot of Cloud Hut Mountain, there is a boy named Xu Taiping from Green Ox Village who has developed a spirit bone. Quickly inform the master of the Seventh Peak and let him send disciples down to take him up.”

The elder who guarded the Spirit Bone Tablet put a letter in the mouth of a white crane at the door.

“Disciple obeys.”

The white crane spoke human language and then spread its wings and flew away.