Free Web NovelChapter 50: How the hell a turtle can talk?
"Lin Yuan..." The familiar, calm voice echoed once more within the quiet linger of his consciousness.
Lin Yuan’s eyes snapped open, the last lingering squints of sleep burning away in an instant. It was the turtle.
Across the room, Dan Zhenren and Chen Ming, along with a few clan elders and other representatives, were still deep in a hushed, intense debate over the tactical fallout of the recent arena battle. The air was filled with their anxiety, yet not a single one of them flinched or looked around.
The realization settled in Lin Yuan’s chest.
’Only I can hear it.’ Lin Yuan’s eyes widened, rubbing his temples.
Lin Yuan forced his breathing to remain steady, calmly listening to the remainder of Dan Zhenren’s few other questions. He answered each one with measured, precise details. The old alchemist finally nodded in satisfaction, stroking his chin before sweeping out of the medical hall to brew another batch of pills and potions. Chen Yu Ming and Chen Ming’s family lingered for another hour, offering hearty reassurances and anxious words, until they too finally retreated to their own residence.
The moment the oak doors clicked shut, leaving the medical hall in calmness, Lin Yuan sat straight, leaning his back against a wall.
The silence of the room was deafening. Then, a faint rustling broke the silence. From the dark shadow beneath the bedside table, a small turtle crawled out. Its shell bore faint light, and its bright, unnaturally intelligent eyes locked onto Lin Yuan’s eyes. The turtle came out from his hand without his command.
Lin Yuan stared down at it. The turtle stared right back. After a few seconds, neither moved. The silence stretched until it became almost irritating.
"How can you talk?" Lin Yuan murmured, finally breaking the silence. His voice was low as a whisper.
The turtle shook its small, green head, looking like a faint smile on its face. "I don’t know."
"You don’t know?" Lin Yuan frowned, his left eyebrow raising up.
The turtle nodded, slowly crawling forward. "I also want to know how you can hear me."
Lin Yuan didn’t answer; he couldn’t. For an agonizing second, he genuinely wondered if this spirit beast was mocking him with dry sarcasm.
"You really have no idea?" Lin Yuan sighed, clicking his tongue.
"I really don’t know," the turtle’s voice echoed in his mind again, emanating an aura of soothing innocence. The turtle slowly and meticulously grasped the fabric of the hanging bedsheets, pulling itself up onto the edge of the blanket. "Maybe because we’re friends."
"What kind of explanation is that?" Lin Yuan rubbed his temples, feeling a headache brewing that had nothing to do with his injuries.
The turtle parted its mouth, and a bizarre, rhythmic humming sound emerged from its throat. "Haha."
Lin Yuan froze. The realization hit him with a wave of profound irritation, the turtle had just laughed at him. His expression grew highly strained as he looked at the emerald shell.
"Are you some kind of ancient turtle?" Lin Yuan asked, leaning his body forward. The question slipped past his lips without any hesitation.
"Ancient turtle?" The turtle frowned, blinking its tiny eyes once.
"Yes," Lin Yuan said, narrowing his eyes. "The kind that has slept beneath mountain peaks for ten thousand years. An ancient beast... Something like that."
"No," The turtle shook its head without a shred of hesitation.
"Then what are you?" Lin Yuan asked immediately.
"Hahaha! I am a normal turtle." The turtle settled comfortably onto the soft cotton blanket.
"..."
Lin Yuan stared at it, completely with silence. The turtle stared back, unblinking. Once more, silence consumed the room. Lin Yuan let out a long, lazy sigh, stretching his hands against his pillows. Somehow, the claim of being a ’normal turtle’ felt less believable than it being an ancient beast reborn. A telepathic, laughing reptile claiming normalcy doesn’t even make sense to Lin Yuan.
Slowly, the turtle began to crawl across the bed toward the open window. As it passed through a beam of morning sunlight, the light caught the hidden, precise golden patterns etched deep within its hard shell, shimmering for a brief fraction of a second before vanishing.
"Lin Yuan." The turtle called out again.
"What?" Lin Yuan stammered, straightening his posture.
"I am hungry."
Lin Yuan’s hand twitched, and he fought down with a sudden urge to toss the normal turtle straight out the window. But it was his core beast, he couldn’t do anything.
A few days passed with pleasant mornings and nights that Green Hollow City rarely afforded.
Lin Yuan remained confined to the academy’s medical hall, focusing on recovering his health. The brutal clash with Gu Shiyan had taken a massive damage on him. Although Dan Zhenren’s premium medicinal liquids had recovered the damage to his body, beast essence and inner recovery was a dependent energy; it required patience and steady meditation to naturally regenerate.
During this period of forced isolation, Lin Yuan gradually grew familiar with his strange, turtle companion.
The turtle’s daily routine was remarkably consistent — it ate, it slept, it woke up to eat again, and occasionally, it broke the silence to confuse Lin Yuan’s mind with utterly bizarre questions.
"Why do humans wear clothes?" The turtle asked, seeing Lin Yuan changing his robes into another.
"Why do birds fly instead of swim?" The turtle muttered, watching out from the window, darting its tiny eyes toward the flock of birds flying above.
"Why is Chen Ming so loud?" That last question remained unanswered.
While Lin Yuan rested in the medical hall, the outside world was anything but quiet. News of the arena competition had erupted and spread across Green Hollow City like a wild fire. In every clan residence, every bustling tavern, and every crowded merchant place, people spoke of nothing else.
Two names were on everyone’s lips: Lin Yuan and Gu Shiyan.
When the academy finally released an official declaration exposing the horrifying reality of Gu Shiyan’s forbidden demonic cultivation, the public discussion changed into chaos. The city was fractured; some hailed Lin Yuan as a righteous savior who had eliminated a demon plague, while others feared the sheer ruthlessness he had displayed.
Lin Yuan ignored every shred of it, closing his windows.
****
Three days later, a familiar warmth flooded his lower abdomen. The pale green beast essence within his aperture began to circulate smoothly once more, fully recovered. His muscles no longer ached, and his focus was accurate and sharp. His recovery was complete.
The next morning, the resonance of the academy bell shattered the dawn mist.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The deep bronze bell’s sound echoed over the academy roofs, awakening the disciples across the sprawling grounds. Lin Yuan opened his eyes, feeling the renewed strength humming in his body again as usual. Beside him on the mattress, the turtle was asleep, its tiny legs stretched out comically while a single droplet of drool dripped near its mouth.
Lin Yuan immediately narrowed his eyes, silently deciding that some aspects of the turtle were better left unacknowledged.
Lin Yuan stepped out into the crisp morning air. The cobblestone pathways of the academy were filled with the few disciple groups.
"LIN YUAN!" A loud shout shattered the morning calm, causing several nearby students to jerk their heads. Lin Yuan didn’t even need to look. Lin Yuan knows it was Chen Ming.
Chen Ming came sprinting down the path, his robes willowing and a massive grin crawled across his face. He pulled up right next to Lin Yuan, clapping him hard on the shoulder. "Good morning! Man, you’re actually alive!"
"Of course I am.." Lin Yuan dryly raised an eyebrow. "You are the one in worse condition!"
Chen Ming rubbed the back of his neck, laughing awkwardly. "I mean, after seeing the state of that stage... I thought you’d be bedridden for at least a month. You truly are a monster."
As Lin Yuan and Chen Ming walked side by side toward the central academy classroom, the change in the environment was immediate. The fourteen other disciples walking past frequently stole glances at Lin Yuan. They soon entered the calm academy classroom.
In the first rows, Ying Yue sat with her posture immaculate, her eyes coolly assessing the room. Nearby, Yun He and Lian Nichang were conversing in low voices, while the frowned Teng Haoran sat with his arms crossed. Even Xiao Yanrui, who usually kept to the shadows of the training fields, was present, sitting silently by the far window.
"Hey, do you know whose lecture this is today?" Chen Ming muttered, sliding beside Lin Yuan.
"No. I haven’t checked with anyone, Chen Ming," Lin Yuan shook his head, adjusting his messy robes slightly.
"It’s Combat Class," Chen Ming’s grin widened, a shine of pure excitement glowed in his eyes.
The moment the words left his mouth, the doors of the classroom cranked open with a medium-sound bang. The murmurs of the disciples died instantly.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A muscular, broad-shouldered, tall middle-aged man stepped into the room with heavy footsteps. He wore deep-blue robes embroidered with wave patterns that seemed to linger with his movements.
The atmosphere in the room turned rigid. It was Master Teng Lianhua, the legendary Head of the Combat Hall. His cultivation is in the Core Beast Realm - Mid stage and his beast pathway is Water-type Bear, which makes him one of the academy’s most lethal enforcers.
Teng Lianhua slowly skimmed through the rows of students. His piercing gaze paused briefly on Lin Yuan, holding it for a fraction of a second, before moving on to the rest of the class.
Reaching the center of the platform, the Master folded his massive arms over his chest. A faint smile cut through his sturdy posture.
"Good," Teng Lianhua praised, his eyes locked onto the disciples.
The disciples straightened their backs immediately. Teng Lianhua’s eyes flashed with a cold, chilling light. "Today, we stop discussing theories. Today, we begin learning how to fight."
The temperature in the classroom plummeted down instantly.
