Chapter 1: Strange Encounter by the Sea

  "This damned weather!" Lin San wiped the hot sweat from his forehead, cursing nonstop: "Today is really going to kill me with heat!"

  "Rumble, rumble......" A thunderclap echoed through the sky.

  Lin San looked up, gazing at the vast sky and pouted: "Hmph! Won't be just thunder without rain again, will it?" He sighed, dug his hands into his pockets, and continued walking forward.

  "Dong Road" is a famous commercial street in Lanzhou, the whole street is 5 kilometers long, and both sides of the street are decorated with luxurious storefronts, all kinds of goods are sold here.

  Every weekend, Lin San would come to Taidong Road for a stroll. Of course, he wouldn't buy anything, not because he didn't want to, but because the things on Taidong Road were just too expensive, and Lin San simply couldn't afford them. So, coming to Taidong Road was just something to do out of boredom, and secondly, Lin San really liked the atmosphere and environment of Taidong Road.

  Lin San is 25 years old, graduated from university for a year, working as a small staff in an internet company, still a temporary worker, with a monthly salary of 1,000 yuan. He works five days a week, has double rest days, and the work is quite relaxing, but unfortunately, the salary is too low, not even enough to cover Lin San's living expenses. Every month, Lin San has to swallow his pride and ask his parents for money. Sometimes Lin San feels confused, he worked hard to finish university, but can't even find a decent job, it's as if it was a waste of money to attend university in the first place.

  Lin San had just graduated from university, full of ambition and wanting to achieve something big. However, the harsh reality hit him hard - as a graduate from a second-rate university, he couldn't find any good job opportunities. In the end, his father had to pull strings and give gifts to get Lin San a temporary position at a small internet company in their hometown. Initially, Lin San was reluctant to take the job due to the low salary, but seeing his parents' hard work every day made him feel guilty for being supported by them without doing anything. So, with a heavy heart, Lin San finally went to work at the internet company.

  "Alas..." Lin San suddenly let out a sigh and muttered to himself, "When will these gloomy days come to an end?"

  The sky gradually darkened.

  Lin San spent a whole day strolling around Taidong Road and didn't buy anything, purely just for fun.

  Lin San took out his mobile phone and looked at the time, finding that it was already past 6 o'clock, which meant it was time to have dinner. Normally, Lin San would go home for dinner, mainly to save money. However, today his parents had gone back to their hometown to attend a relative's wedding and wouldn't be returning tonight, so Lin San could only eat out.

  After walking for half a day, Lin San finally found a ramen shop in a remote corner and spent 5 yuan to eat a delicious and flavorful bowl of ramen. After finishing the noodles, Lin San strolled leisurely to the seaside.

  Lanzhou City is a coastal city and one of the richest prefecture-level cities in the province, with annual fiscal revenue second only to the provincial capital Fenghuang City. There are rumors that the provincial leaders are studying whether to upgrade Lanzhou City to a vice-provincial level city. If Lanzhou City really becomes a vice-provincial level city, its status in the province will become higher and higher.

  "The sea! I'm back again!" Lin San bellowed loudly at the endless expanse of ocean.

  Lin San loves the ocean, likes to watch the blue sea water, and enjoys listening to the sound of waves crashing against the shore. Whenever Lin San feels depressed and cannot bear it, he will come alone to the seaside, shout a few times, and relax.

  There aren't many people by the sea, only a few couples of men and women who are in love.

  Lin San let out two loud roars, feeling refreshed all over, coughed a few times, and began to sing his own composition: "Do you know how much I love you... loving you till the earth is old... without you, I really can't go on living..."

  "Rumble, rumble..." The sky suddenly thundered with a loud clap of thunder, and the surrounding area began to blow strong winds, blowing sand and dust everywhere.

  "Ah! Is it really going to rain?!?" Lin San looked up at the sky and saw that it was dark and gloomy, with one or two dazzling lightning flashes from time to time. It seemed like it was about to rain soon.

  At this time, several couples playing on the beach also quickly left.

  Lin San was afraid of being drenched by the rain and hurriedly walked towards the side of the road.

  "Crack!" A thick bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and immediately afterwards the sky began to pour down a torrential rain.

  Lin San was instantly drenched from head to toe by the heavy rain.

  "Isn't it coming down too fast?" Lin San touched the rainwater on his face and quickly ran to the side of the road.

  "Whoosh!" A loud noise, a huge black shadow flew over Lin San's head and finally fell on the sandy beach not far away.

  Lin San was startled, took a deep breath, turned his head to look, and found that ten or so meters away, a black shadow was crouched, constantly trembling. Due to the heavy rain and dark sky, Lin San couldn't see clearly what the black shadow was for a while.

  Suddenly, a very weak white light was emitted from the black shadow's body, and then the black shadow didn't move at all.

  Just now when the white light flashed by, Lin San seemed to see that the crouched black shadow was actually a person.

  Lin San hesitated for a moment, but still slowly walked up to the black shadow. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a person - a man wearing a Taoist robe with white hair and a pale yellow complexion. There was a faint trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, and a long strand of whiskers grew from his chin.

  "Daoist?" Lin San was taken aback: "How did this Daoist end up here all of a sudden?" Lin San hesitated for a moment, squatted down, and reached out to feel the Daoist's chest. There was a pulse; the Daoist was still alive! Lin San helped the Daoist up, gently shaking him: "Hey, uncle... wake up, wake up."

  No matter how Lin San shook and shouted, the Taoist priest didn't show any reaction at all.

  "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh......" The rain was getting heavier and heavier.

  "What to do?" Lin San looked around, but there was no one in sight. On a rainy day like this, pedestrians had long since gone home to take shelter from the rain. Who would still be out? Although Lin San wasn't exactly a good person, he wasn't someone who would ignore someone's plea for help either.

  Lin San hesitated for a moment, then took out his mobile phone to dial "120", but found that it was out of power. Lin San was so angry that he gritted his teeth, today was really unlucky, even the mobile phone was against him. He sighed and put away his mobile phone, bent down to pick up the Taoist priest, and hailed a taxi on the side of the road to take them to the hospital.

  After a thorough examination by the doctor, it was concluded that Daoist was very healthy and had no problems at all.

  Holding the diagnosis book, Lin San was stunned, no illness, how could he be unconscious?

  To be on the safe side, Lin San also asked the doctor to give Dao Shi a thorough examination. The result was only four words: "Everything is normal."

  Finally, the doctor said that the Taoist priest was estimated to be physically exhausted, leading to a deep sleep, and after a good rest for one night, he should be fine. He prescribed some medicine for Lin San, collected 260 yuan from him, and then let Lin San carry the Taoist priest out of the hospital. The doctor was very busy and really had no time to bother with Lin San.

  The rain outside continued to fall non-stop, and the road was filled with water.

  Lin San stood by the side of the road, looking around in all directions. The road was quiet and still, without a single car in sight.

  "Hmm..." The Taoist priest who was lying on Lin San's back suddenly let out a sound.

  Lin San was taken aback and hastily turned his head towards the Taoist priest: "Hey? Are you awake?"

  The Taoist priest was motionless on Lin San's back.

  "Hey, are you awake yet?!" Lin San shouted.

  The Taoist still didn't react.

  "Damn it! I must have been cursed for eight lifetimes, how did I end up with this unconscious Taoist?" Lin San muttered to himself.

  "Hmm... " The Taoist's mouth suddenly emitted a snoring sound.

  Lin San was stunned for a moment: "Snoring? Sleeping?" He turned his head and glanced at the Taoist priest, Lin San curled up his mouth: "What that doctor said earlier is right, it seems that this Taoist priest really has nothing to do with him, he's just asleep... No, if he's just asleep, he should have woken up early when I shouted at him, let alone in such heavy rain... Never mind, I'll still be a good person and bring this Taoist priest back home. I reckon the Taoist priest will wake up tomorrow." After making up his mind, Lin San carried the Taoist priest on his back towards home.

  Lin San's home is a few hundred meters away from the nearby area, it has been an old building for over 30 years, with more than 70 square meters of space, which is still spacious enough for a family of three.

  Back home, Lin San carried the Taoist priest into his bedroom, took off the Taoist robe, found a towel to wipe the priest's body, then covered him with a woolen blanket. After serving the priest, Lin San took the robe and walked out of the bedroom, sitting on the sofa. He carefully examined the robe, which remained dry and clean despite being exposed to heavy rain for so long, without any hint of dampness.

  "What kind of fabric is this Taoist robe made of? How can it be waterproof? It's really amazing!" Lin San exclaimed.

  "Ding dong ding!" The clock on the wall rang out.

  Lin San looked up and saw that it was already past 10 o'clock at night. He neatly folded his Taoist robe and put it away, then went to the bathroom to take a bath. Lin San was quite vain, and after washing up, he would always stand in front of the mirror to admire his robust physique. He was about 180 cm tall, with a head of shiny black hair. Strictly speaking, Lin San was quite handsome, with a chiseled face, a pair of bright eyes, a high nose bridge, wheat-colored skin, and a subtle smile that hinted at mischief.

  Lin San admired himself in front of the mirror for over ten minutes before wiping his body clean and going to bed.