Chapter 13: Compassionate Heart Like Orchid
Lin Xiaosu sat on the green stone slab, closed his eyes, and his heart surged with excitement. In another hour, if all went as expected, the skylight would open once more.
Last time, during the Zodiac Eclipse, he had inadvertently "snatched" an opportunity meant for some immortal, gaining the Heavenly Eye of Wisdom. That chance had given his ordinary life a new direction.
Today was not by accident.
Today, he came with intent.
He wanted to see if there was another opportunity he could "snatch"...
To cross into a world utterly disconnected from his own, to seize a divine power not meant for mortals—what could be more thrilling, more worth anticipating?
Midnight arrived.
Lin Xiaosu fixed his gaze on the patterns etched into the stone, awaiting the faint glow he had longed for...
His heartbeat suddenly quickened. He sprang up and lay flat, eyes peering through the pattern, staring beneath the stone.
The skylight atop the stone slowly slid open before his eyes.
He saw that strange, uncanny world once again.
A month had passed, and this world seemed to have changed a little. No longer barren, it now pulsed with movement.
A colossal monstrous bird soared into the sky, sweeping over the great river below.
Its body was vast enough to blot out the heavens, its five talons spread wide—part eagle, part dragon. Three scarlet scales atop its head made it even more striking.
The giant bird twisted its wings, descending toward an ancient stone stele.
Judging by where its talons aimed, it was about to seize the tiny tree with a single branch and barely a dozen leaves.
Lin Xiaosu’s heart trembled. Was the giant bird also snatching an opportunity?
Given its stance, a single swipe would surely obliterate the delicate tree—and possibly even shatter the stele.
Yet, as the bird drew near, the entire world seemed to shift.
The bird’s body shrank smaller and smaller...
No!
It was the stele that grew larger.
What had first seemed merely a stone slab now loomed like heaven and earth as the bird approached.
Even a single leaf on the little tree appeared as vast as the cosmos.
When the leaf gently brushed, the giant bird exploded into a cloud of blood.
Lin Xiaosu was stunned for ten seconds...
Afterward, his gaze shifted behind the stele. The crystal coffin was still there, but compared to a month ago, something had changed—something indefinable.
A portion of the haze within the coffin had dispersed, revealing the upper half of the beautiful woman.
This revelation was like the world’s most exquisite painting.
Her face was noble and immaculate; her figure, astonishing. The combination was beyond description.
Yet Lin Xiaosu’s purpose today was not to spy.
It was as if Lin Fugui had peeped at Widow Feng bathing—not out of desire, but because he was really after something, and only lifted the curtain to see if anyone was there, earning the reputation of a voyeur by accident.
Lin Xiaosu, at his core, was also here to steal...
His Heavenly Eye of Wisdom fixed on several leaves above. On one leaf, a dew drop hung, poised but not yet fallen. Behind that leaf, another dew drop was forming but not yet complete.
This was the opportunity!
Last time, he had inadvertently caught a dew drop, gaining the Heavenly Eye of Wisdom.
Today, he came prepared; his target was again the dew.
The starry sky seemed to quiver.
The dew drop fell.
Lin Xiaosu’s consciousness glanced toward the beauty below, murmuring inwardly: "Forgive me..."
Then, he reached out to meet the falling dew.
A droplet seemed to splash within Lin Xiaosu’s sea of consciousness.
Countless shards of jade scattered.
An ancient and vast message flooded his mind: "The human heart of orchid, discern the great trends of the world, comprehend the universal path, integrate the subtleties of wisdom, unravel the calamity of the unforeseen."
In an instant, Lin Xiaosu felt all his memories ignite; every fragment from his past connected.
Every book he had read, he now fully understood; all his brain cells activated, clarity unlimited.
His consciousness, once ethereal and fleeting, suddenly coalesced into a silver fish—alive and aware—leaving his body and roaming freely within that wondrous world.
Boom!
Below the stele, the river roared.
Above, the starry river reeled.
Within the crystal coffin, clouds and mist churned, faintly revealing the most mysterious part of the beautiful woman...
Lin Xiaosu’s silver fish sensed extreme danger and swiftly withdrew, slipping through the skylight, which closed behind him, sealing off that world’s raging storm.
Sweat broke out on his back.
Had his repeated snatching finally been noticed?
If his consciousness were trapped in that world, would he ever return?
Luckily, fortune favors the bold.
He had successfully seized another incredible opportunity: the human heart of orchid.
In the past, it might have taken him a long time to unravel the secrets of this divine power.
But now, possessing the human heart of orchid, he instantly understood its extraordinary nature.
It was supreme insight.
Photographic memory was merely the foundation—the true marvel lay in mastery and synthesis.
Recently, he had crammed for civil service exams, reading till the books were worn and working endless problems, but much remained unclear.
Now, he could recite every book he’d read, word for word, and the question bank in his mind was child’s play.
My God, to receive such an invincible cheat six days before the civil service exam—what does it mean?
Does the heavens truly think a genius like me is destined to be a weather observer?
Last time he snatched, a seven- or eight-foot-long earth deity appeared; what about today? Would something else emerge?
Lin Xiaosu glanced at the sleeping Tiger Girl ahead; she slept soundly, undisturbed.
From this angle, her chest was definitely no match for the woman in the coffin.
But her posture was more uninhibited than any woman.
She lay on her back, body shaped like the goddess Chang’e ascending to the moon.
Chang’e’s pose was elegant.
Hers was... not quite so refined?
The reason was clear: the weather had warmed, she wore little, half her chest exposed, her stomach bare...
Tiger Girl, you’re testing me again.
Lin Xiaosu went inside, picked up Second Uncle’s blanket, and covered her.
He tucked the corners carefully; Tiger Girl didn’t move at all.
Lin Xiaosu felt a subtle jolt—something was off.
Despite her fierce exterior, Tiger Girl’s alertness was extraordinary.
Last time, a snake burrowed outside the temple and Lin Xiaosu hadn’t noticed, but she did.
Tonight, after all this commotion, she hadn’t woken?
Lin Xiaosu grew anxious. “Tiger Girl!”
His voice echoed through the temple, yet Tiger Girl remained asleep...
Had she drunk too much?
Indeed, she had drunk more than usual—eight ounces of white liquor. For a girl to be so oblivious was not unheard of, but she had never been like this.
Lin Xiaosu’s gaze shifted, tracing back through time.
He recalled a few minutes earlier, when the faint glow appeared, and he had lain down. At that moment, Tiger Girl had suddenly sprung up.
As she rose, the glow struck her.
Then...
She collapsed.
The problem wasn’t the alcohol!
The problem was the glow.
Last time, the glow brushed past a two-foot earth deity, which grew into a seven- or eight-foot super earth deity before his eyes.
Today, the glow shot straight into Tiger Girl’s forehead.
What would happen to her?
Without delay, Lin Xiaosu dialed emergency services.
He lifted Tiger Girl and carried her down the mountain.
The path was rough, the moon hidden behind clouds, darkness all around.
With the Heavenly Eye of Wisdom, these obstacles were nothing.
The real challenge was his own physique—after miles of mountain road, carrying the hundred-pound Tiger Girl left him gasping for breath.
He had to confirm whether her bodily functions were normal.
That was why he called for help.
By the time he reached the foot of the mountain, the ambulance had arrived.
Two doctors waited by the vehicle. “What symptoms?”
“Unconscious,” Lin Xiaosu replied.
“Was there alcohol?” The male doctor sniffed. “How much?”
He had caught the scent.
“It’s not the alcohol. She’s drunk more than this before without incident. Please, just check if her body is functioning normally...”
“Come, bring her aboard!”
The ambulance started up, and the examination began inside.
“Pulse normal... blood pressure normal... EKG normal... Check blood alcohol level!”
The nurse inserted a needle into Tiger Girl’s arm, but the needle slid aside.
Her eyes widened in shock...
She tried again, but still couldn’t pierce the skin...
“Dr. Zhou, the needle won’t go in!” Her voice trembled.
“How is that possible?” Dr. Zhou said. “Try again!”
Again!
Before everyone’s eyes, the needle bent.
Everyone was dumbstruck; even the driver nearly crashed the vehicle.