Weird, my gaming life

Three days later.

A startled cry suddenly rang out from the simple kitchen of the Lin family in Tiejiacun Village.

"Dashan, come in quickly!"

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Lin Dashan rushed into the kitchen and couldn't help but ask his wife, who was exclaiming in surprise.

However, just as he was about to speak, he saw his wife holding an exquisite purse, her eyes filled with surprise and excitement.

Lin Dashan walked forward, puzzled, and followed his wife's gaze. His breathing became rapid instantly.

What he saw was a huge bag of money; he had never seen so much money before.

Lin Dashan couldn't help but swallow.

"Honey...honey, where did you find this?!"

Wang also snapped out of the dizziness of suddenly becoming rich and pointed blankly at the pile of firewood that had been cleared away.

"Dashan, where did all this money come from?"

Lin's mother's voice trembled slightly.

Lin Dashan shook his head blankly, and after a long while, he answered in a daze.

"Do you think... it could be that child who's come back? After all, he's always seemed so strange since he was little!"

Lin's mother was slightly stunned, and her eyes instantly became a little moist.

"Then why doesn't he come back and acknowledge us? Is it just because we didn't explain the situation to him in the first place?!"

Lin Dashan became somewhat silent and repressed.

The couple had high hopes for their eldest son's birth, but as they spent more time with him, they noticed that the child was becoming increasingly strange.

Sometimes he acts like a normal child, and other times he is so hardworking and diligent that he doesn't seem like a normal child at all, as if two different people are sharing one body.

This once made them feel panicked, thinking that the child might be possessed by some evil spirit. Although it did not cause them any harm, the strange and ever-changing state still made these two honest farmers feel uneasy.

"Do you remember how he sometimes seemed like a completely different person?"

Lin Dashan lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard by something, "He was helping you with the work in the fields the day before, his hands and feet were so quick and nimble, but the next day he was lying on the haystack. No matter what you say, he can't do anything right."

Wang finally couldn't hold back her tears and wiped her cheeks with the back of her rough hand, choking out, "I remember... how could I not remember?"

"The night before, he was happily telling me that he would help me with this and that tomorrow and that I should rest well. He was being incredibly obedient."

The next day, the shrewdness in his eyes vanished, and he reverted to being a normal four- or five-year-old child, incredibly mischievous.

Parents are often most sensitive to changes in their children. From birth, they notice differences in their child, such as being unusually quiet at times and crying incessantly at others. This has caused them a lot of anxiety, with some wondering if their child has some kind of illness.

But when they later found a doctor, the doctor said the child was perfectly normal.

However, no one could accept that their son, whom they thought was a genius, had changed completely overnight. If he had remained ordinary, they wouldn't have thought anything of it.

After all, all the children at the edge of the village are like this, but the constant changes are making it hard for them to accept.

Moreover, no matter how well Lin Yuan concealed it, he was never a real baby. The maturity and contemplation that occasionally shone in his eyes made them feel uneasy.

That sometimes-wise state of mind always examined the world and them with a gaze they couldn't comprehend.

Lin Dashan sighed, pulled his wife into his arms, and awkwardly patted her back. "Don't think about it anymore, it's all in the past. Maybe...maybe sending him away back then was the right thing to do."

"right?"

Wang suddenly broke free from him, her voice sharp, "Sending him to that cannibalistic place, is that what you call it? Dashan, put your hand on your heart and tell me, was sending him away really for his own good?"

Lin Dashan was speechless at the question, his face etched with deep wrinkles. He avoided his wife's gaze and looked outside.

But what could he do?

That child was only four years old that year.

The neighbor's newly bought wheelbarrow slipped off the slope, half-loaded with stones, and was about to hit the family's little piglet who had just learned to run. He was too far away to shout in time.

But in that instant, he saw it.

Seeing her son, that thin boy who usually couldn't even lift a small bucket of water, walk with a steady gait beyond his years to the front of the car. There was no panic, no crying, he simply stretched out a hand and gently placed it on the rolling wheel.

The wooden cart, fully loaded with stones, just stopped there, motionless.

At that moment, Lin Dashan felt a strong sense of horror. What he saw was not a gifted child, but a monster in human skin.

He would never forget the look in the child's eyes at that time. It was an extreme calmness, so calm that he never thought there was anything wrong with a four-year-old child holding onto a cart loaded with stones.

After doing all this, the child, though he concealed it well, turned around and started playing in the mud.

But he's an adult! How could he be so easily fooled?

He dared not ask, nor dared he speak, and could only pretend that he had not seen anything.

Later, he began to pay attention to the child's differences from time to time.

Sometimes he would stare at a blade of grass for a long time, sometimes he would secretly do strange things, and sometimes he would even get upset if he wasn't allowed to do any work.

Until the news came that the Taoist priest from Qinghe Palace had come to the village to take on disciples.

Other families in the village tried to hide their children to prevent the old Taoist priest from taking a liking to them.

After all, these common people aren't stupid. They say they'll teach their children martial arts and calligraphy, but who in the surrounding villages doesn't know that once a child is sent to those Taoist sects, how many of them actually make a name for themselves? Most of them disappear without a trace after being sent in.

Only families who are desperate to survive would send their children there, because the Taoist priests who come to take in disciples will give them a sum of money for accepting them as disciples, which is already a disguised form of selling themselves into servitude.

However, he had inappropriate thoughts and deceived the child, saying that an old Taoist priest had come to the village and would teach them martial arts so that they could become successful in the future.

They originally thought that even if the clever child discovered something was wrong, he wouldn't suspect his parents. After all, although they had lived in fear all these years, they had been really good to him in order to save their lives, and they could also get a sum of money.

With this money, the couple can have another normal child. They don't ask for him to be rich and powerful, they just ask that he can take care of them in their old age without worry.

Moreover, in a place like the Taoist Palace, they might be able to drive away the filth from the child.

He had never told his wife this thought, but he knew she must be thinking the same thing; they were both afraid.

"Honey," Lin Dashan's voice became hoarse, "we are useless, we are selfish. But if we don't send him away, can you and I... sleep peacefully? If he stays in the village, something bad will happen to him sooner or later."

Wang collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Yes, they were afraid, so afraid that in the end, they couldn't even look their son in the eye anymore.

Now, the child they pushed away with their own hands hasn't returned to take revenge; instead, he's left behind such a large sum of money. This is more like a slap in the face than any words of resentment, a resounding blow to their cheeks.

"He...he still cares about us." Wang took a gold melon seed from her purse; its dazzling light stung her eyes. "He hasn't forgotten us..."

Lin Dashan squatted down, picked up the cloth bag, and found it heavy in his hand, making his chest feel heavy.

After a long silence, he finally made up his mind.

He helped his wife up, wiped away her tears with his sleeve, and his gaze fell on her slightly protruding belly.

"This money is Yuan'er's gift to our family, to... to his unborn brother or sister." His voice was resolute. "We can't let this child continue to suffer with us. With this money, we'll hire a good midwife, buy him the finest swaddling clothes, and let him grow up safely."

Wang stared at him blankly, then looked at the gold in her hand, and tears welled up again, this time with a bittersweet feeling.

The son they abandoned, with his mysterious abilities, secured a stable future for the family.

Lin Dashan said no more. He took the cloth bag, walked to the woodpile behind the house, dug deep inside, carefully stuffed the cloth bag inside, and then carefully covered it with dry firewood.

After doing all this, he dusted off his hands, stood up straight, as if he had also unloaded a heavy burden.

He turned to look at his wife and gave her his instructions, word by word.

"This matter must remain a secret, and no one can be told. Yuan'er... he has never returned."