In the following days, he ate the birds that had been sucked in and died crashing into this place whenever he was hungry. Most of his time was spent carefully observing the stone pearl, each time using the dew that appeared on it to wipe his arm. Gradually, his arm completely recovered. He was extremely concerned about this dew, accumulating quite a bit in a bird’s skull.

One day, he evenly sprinkled the dew he had accumulated over several days onto a strip of cloth. He carefully wrapped the stone pearl inside, hung it around his neck, and tugged it a few times to make sure it wouldn’t fall. Then, taking advantage of a lull in the suction force, he went to the cave entrance. With a determined bite, he tore off most of his clothes, tied them together, fixed one end to a stone block beside him, and tied the other end around his waist, cautiously climbing down.

After descending about five or six meters, his hand suddenly slipped, and his body fell rapidly. Fortunately, the clothes provided some resistance, and as his body swung, he quickly grabbed onto a protruding branch. At this moment, the cloth strip snapped in the middle, and the section tied to his waist swayed back and forth in mid-air.

Wang Lin’s forehead broke out in cold sweat. Looking down, there were still about twenty meters to go. Holding onto the branch with one hand, he quickly grabbed the cloth strip with the other and painstakingly tied it to the branch. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Carefully shifting his body, after a long time, he finally approached the cliff face again and continued to climb down. By the time he was about ten meters from the bottom, his cloth strip was at its limit. Without hesitation, Wang Lin jumped down.

The cloth strip couldn’t bear the weight and snapped again, but it slightly slowed Wang Lin’s descent. A gust of wind hit his face, and another series of branches broke. At the moment of landing, he struggled to control his body, his toes landing first. Using the massive forward momentum, he rolled into a ball on the ground.

The stones on the ground were like sharp knives, stabbing into his body, opening bloody wounds. Especially his right leg was pierced by a sharp stone, revealing the white bone through the wound.

Wang Lin’s breathing was rapid, and his eyes were unfocused. He laboriously took the cloth strip containing the stone pearl from his neck and held it in his mouth, sucking on the moist dew. After a while, he struggled to sit up and, with trembling hands, untied the cloth strip, forcefully squeezing a few drops of the liquid onto the wound on his right leg.

A wave of coolness came from the wound. After doing all this, he weakly collapsed to the ground, silently praying that no wild beasts would come before he recovered.

Just then, a shout came from the distance.

“Tiezhu, where are you?”

Wang Lin was startled. Listening carefully, it was his father’s voice! Without thinking, he immediately shouted with all his strength, “Father, I’m here!”

A streak of light rapidly slid from the distance, hovered over Wang Lin’s cliff, and then descended with lightning speed. As the sword light dissipated, a Zhang disciple of the Heng Yue Sect, with Tiezhu’s father under his arm, frowned as he looked at Wang Lin.

Tiezhu’s father, seeing his son, immediately burst into tears and ran to Wang Lin, hugging him and crying, “Tiezhu, why did you do this? Why couldn’t you think this through? Have you ever thought how your mother and I would live if you died?”

Wang Lin was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he realized that his father had misunderstood him, thinking he wanted to commit suicide. Looking at his wounds and disheveled appearance, he couldn’t help but smile wryly.

The Zhang disciple glanced at Wang Lin, looked up, and found the strips of clothing. With a move, he leaped up, and with a few jumps, climbed to the cave. At this moment, the suction appeared, and his face flickered, but he quickly recovered, not concerned with suction. He looked around, and landed lightly and said in a low voice: “Your child wants to commit suicide, but was caught up by this natural vortex, that is how he survived this fall. Now that Wang Lin has been found, when we return to the sect, the elders will decide what to do.”

With these words, he waved his sleeves, grabbed Wang Lin and his father, and quickly left the place. Before long, they arrived at the foot of the Heng Yue Sect mountain, easily climbing to the top along the stone steps.

Back in the old place, Wang Lin’s mood was complicated. Several people were standing on the top of the mountain, all with looks of disgust. The Zhang disciple hurriedly went forward and whispered a few words in the ear of one of them. That person frowned and said coldly, “Since the person has been found, send him to the guest room to meet his mother.”

In the guest room, Wang Lin’s mother, seeing her son, immediately burst into tears and hugged him, sobbing and complaining. Through his parents’ description, Wang Lin learned the whole story.

After he ran away from home, his parents immediately returned to the Wang family to find his fourth uncle. The three of them, worried about his safety, found Wang Zhuo’s father. Reluctantly, Wang Zhuo’s father contacted all the relatives of the family, jointly petitioned the Heng Yue Sect, begging for help to find him.

The Heng Yue Sect had never encountered such a thing before and didn’t want to bother with it, but Wang Lin had left home because he hadn’t been selected. If something happened to him, they wouldn’t care about the life and death of a mortal, but if this matter were to be publicized, all the villagers would spread the word, and probably not many parents would let their children come for testing in the future. After much consideration, they sent a few people to search nearby, and Wang Lin’s father was worried, so he followed.

This led to the previous scene.

Before long, someone brought medicine soup. Tiezhu’s mother quickly thanked them and carefully fed it to Wang Lin. This medicine was indeed made by the Immortal Sect, and the effect was excellent. After drinking it, Wang Lin felt that his body had recovered a lot at once, and the pain in his wounds had also eased.

His parents’ concerned words kept entering Wang Lin’s ears. He wanted to explain, but when he thought about it, his parents might not believe him.

At this moment, in the main hall of the Heng Yue Sect, several elders were sitting aside, listening to the Zhang disciple’s account of finding Wang Lin. After a long time, a red-faced old man slammed the table, dissatisfied, and said, “What does the life and death of mortals have to do with us cultivators? Look at the cultivation sects of Zhao, which one is as disorganized as we are? For a child who wasn’t selected and tried to commit suicide, we actually sent people to look for him. It’s really embarrassing!”

A middle-aged man with a cold expression next to him sighed secretly and said in a deep voice, “Elder Ma is right. Looking at the sects in Zhao, Heng Yue is the most unreasonable. But if that child really died near our Heng Yue Sect, this matter will definitely affect the recruitment of disciples in the future. At that time, when parents think that their children may commit suicide if they are not selected, how dare they send their children here?”

An old man in a brocade robe picked up his teacup and took a sip, saying unhurriedly, “Actually, to put it bluntly, it’s still because our Heng Yue Sect has declined and needs to select a large number of suitable disciples from mortals. Hehe, if it were 500 years ago, we wouldn’t care whether they lived or died, and we wouldn’t have to care about the thoughts of mortals.”

The last old man with a face full of wrinkles sighed and slowly said, “This young man can commit suicide once, and he may commit suicide a second time. Forget it, in order to save trouble in the future, let’s make an exception and accept him as a registered disciple.” After saying that, he glanced at the middle-aged man, closed his eyes, and said nothing more.

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**Fantasy Style Rewriting:**

The hour tolls for the second offering of this day, with a third yet to grace the eve!

––––

In the days that followed, the wretched boy subsisted on the unfortunate avians, drawn into this cursed chasm by unseen winds and dashed upon the rocks below. His waking hours were devoted to the Orb of Mystery, a thing of strange allure. With each passing morn, he would capture the dew that beaded upon its surface, anointing the festering wound upon his arm. Slowly, miraculously, the flesh knitted itself anew. The boy hoarded this liquid grace, each droplet a treasure sequestered within a scavenged skull of feathered kin.

Upon a day when the sun held dominion in the heavens, he spread his accumulated dew upon a tattered strip of his former life’s raiment. This he swaddled about the Orb, securing the sacred bundle upon a cord about his neck. He tested the knot, ensuring its steadfastness against the vagaries of fate. Then, seizing a fleeting respite from the gale’s incessant pull, he crept to the precipice of the abyss. With gritted teeth and a silent prayer to forgotten gods, he tore at his remaining garb, weaving a makeshift rope. One end he bound to a defiant, jagged stone, the other to his waist. He began his descent, a desperate dance against the void.

Scarcely had he plumbed the depths of five or six measures when his grip faltered. The abyss roared, eager to claim its due. Yet, the makeshift rope held, fraying against the stone’s cruel embrace. His body swung like a pendulum of doom, until, by fortune’s grace, his fingers found purchase upon a branch that clawed at the face of the cliff. Even as he clung, the woven cloth gave way, severing in twain. The tether upon his waist danced a macabre jig in the air.

A frigid sweat slicked Wang Lin’s brow. He peered into the chasm below, a drop of twenty measures awaiting his demise. With one hand fused to the limb, the other frantically grappled for the errant rope. He succeeded in binding it anew, knotting it about the branch in a desperate plea to fate. Only then did his lungs draw breath once more.

With the patience of a stone carving, he shifted his weight, inching his way along the treacherous face. At long last, he neared the cliff’s base, but ten measures yet separated him from solid ground. His rope was at its limit, threads screaming in protest. With a heart steeled against terror, Wang Lin leapt into the unknown.

The tattered cloth shattered again, a final, meager act of defiance against gravity’s insatiable hunger. A gale of poisoned air clawed at his face, whipping through the labyrinth of fractured branches. At the moment of impact, he twisted his form, offering his feet as the first sacrifice to the earth. He collided with the ground with a resounding crash, his body rolling into a tight, desperate ball.

The stones below became a field of daggers, ripping into his flesh, each shard a malevolent whisper of pain. Blood blossomed upon his skin, painting a grisly tapestry upon the unforgiving earth. In his right leg, a shard of rock carved a path to bone, a ghastly grin etched in crimson.

Wang Lin’s breath came in ragged gasps, his vision blurring at the edges. With trembling hands, he plucked the cloth-swaddled Orb from his neck and pressed it to his lips, drawing upon its precious moisture. He then struggled to sit, his limbs burning with each motion. With a prayer to gods he did not know, he twisted the soaked bandage over the gaping wound in his leg.

A wave of soothing cold washed over the ravaged flesh. His task complete, he collapsed back to the earth, a broken effigy of defiance. He begged the heavens for reprieve, that no ravenous beast might find him before his strength returned.

But fate, it seemed, was not yet done with him. From the distant reaches of the forest, a cry pierced the air.

“Tiezhu! Where are you, my son?”

Wang Lin started. He recognized that desperate cadence; it was the voice of his father! Ignoring the searing pain, he mustered every fiber of his being, shouting, “Father! I am here!”

A streak of vibrant light sliced through the heavens, a celestial tapestry woven with speed and grace. It wheeled above Wang Lin’s perilous perch before plunging earthward. As the glow faded, there stood a Zhang disciple of the Heng Yue Sect, Tiezhu’s father nestled beneath his arm. The disciple’s brow was furrowed as he gazed upon Wang Lin, his gaze measuring the depths of the chasm and the boy’s precarious state.

Tiezhu’s father, upon beholding his son, crumbled into tears, a torrent of grief and relief washing over him. He rushed to Wang Lin, embracing him with fierce protectiveness, his voice choked with emotion. “Tiezhu, my son, why? Why would you do this? Did you not consider your mother and I? How would we live if you were gone?”

Wang Lin recoiled at the man’s words. After some thought, he realized his father had assumed he meant to end his life. He wryly smiled at his father, who couldn’t comprehend what he had done.

The Zhang disciple then scanned Wang Lin, looked upward, and noticed the cloth strips. Then he leaped upwards, and in several bounds scaled up to the cave, where he noticed suctioning, but he was not phased. After looking around, he returned and said in a low voice, “This child meant to commit suicide, but he was trapped in the natural wind. Now that we’ve found him, we can go back to the Heng Yue Sect for judgment.”

With that, he gathered Wang Lin and his father, and left quickly. It wasn’t long before the party returned to the foot of the Heng Yue Sect, easily scaling the steps.

After returning to his former location, Wang Lin felt complicated. At the peak, several people looked at him with scorn. The disciple Zhang then spoke to one of the people. “Since we’ve found him, send him to his mother.”

In the guest room, Wang Lin’s mother was weeping and hugged Wang Lin. She was also blaming him for the situation. Wang Lin then learned what actually happened when his father and mother told him.

After Wang Lin left, his parents went to find his uncle. The worried parents went to Wang Zhuo’s father. Wang Zhuo begrudgingly found all of the Wang family and pleaded with the Heng Yue Sect.

The Sect had not experienced this situation, and didn’t want to act. But, since Wang Lin was not accepted, they feared his fate, and worried that word would spread. After some thought, they sent people to look, and Wang Lin’s father followed.

Before long, medicine was sent. Tiezhu’s mother thanked the people and fed the medicine to Wang Lin. As expected, the medicine from the Sect quickly eased Wang Lin’s pain.

While the concerned parents spoke, Wang Lin was thinking to not explain, as his parents wouldn’t believe him.

At the Sect’s grand hall, the elders were listening to the finding of Wang Lin. After some time, one red-faced elder slammed the table and said with distaste, “What do the lives of mortals have to do with us, the Cultivators? Look at the Sects in the Zhao kingdom! Sending people to find someone who was not chosen and committed suicide! So embarrassing!”

One middle-aged man next to him sighed and said, “Elder Ma is correct. But if he died, it could harm our future disciple selection. Parents could think that their children may be suicidal! How can we attract them?”

One elder in a silk robe raised his tea and said slowly, “The problem is that Heng Yue Sect has declined! We need to accept many disciples from mortals! If this was 500 years ago, we wouldn’t bother with any of this.”

Finally, the last elder sighed and said, “This boy tried to commit suicide! He may try again! We must act to prevent that. Let us accept him as a registered disciple!” He then closed his eyes.