Ming Ai was to first to stand up, she looked significantly less tired than everyone else. Feng Hao shortly followed, the other two needed a few more minutes before they felt ready to move again, a brief wave of nausea obviously crossed their faces from standing up took quickly, they caught each other from falling before looking back at Feng Hao and Ming Ai.
"Wan Ya, you said you knew where your house was right, I'm starving" Feng Long voiced out, everyone else was also thinking along those lines and they all glanced at Wan Ya, as if forcing her to tell them. "Of course I do, follow me" she kept it short and sweet before walking off. the rest were left to somewhat awkwardly follow her.
Despite it getting somewhat late in the day, the town was still bustling with activity, street vendors sold various types of food, a majority of which was stuck on a kebab stick. There was a constant chatter filling the air, paper lanterns were lit and various spirit masters were showing off their abilities while the crowds surrounding them whooped and cheered.
The sunset covered the city in many oranges and reds, many people could be seen climbing on top of houses to get a better view. The place was full of lively energy, many people would say that this place was heaven, every day was full of joy and content.
Feng Hao had a furrowed brow, his eyes had a shred of contempt in them, he clearly judged and looked down on the people in the crowd. "Wasteful" he muttered to himself, 'everyone here is so plentiful, and yet they frivolously use their resources.' He knew that in the morning most of the food would simply be thrown out. the next night the same would repeat, until eventually there was nothing left. In his previous life nothing was wasted, people would make only as much as was consumed.
Sighing once more Feng Hao looked around for a moment, he had fallen behind everyone else and slightly increased his pace to catch up once again. They were reaching the edge of the crowd, the sound of music and voices faded as they reached a darker part of the city. the night was pleasant but the darkness felt uncomfortable as it seemed to crawl in close to them. The moon was covered by clouds making it almost impossible to see anything.
Wan Ya bumped into something a gave a small yelp, she had ran into the edge of a fountain, luckily she didn't fall in. some time passed and they came across a small building with the light still turned on, Feng Hao looked inside as the doors were still open. bathed in the orange light was a familiar figure, they were a little thinner and a little more dirty, but still unmistakable.
"Mother?"
For a moment he felt his heart beat faster, his eyes became a little softer. That only lasted for a moment though, he was already a matured person and his dependence and reliance on his parents was less than that of other kids. Over time he had begun to find it awkward that he thought of them like parents, he was far beyond the need for them. His perception had slowly shifted because of that, he began thinking of them as his superiors, like he was a low ranking soldier and they were his captains.
Feng Long also looked over to the bar, checking out what his brother was looking at, He too, froze for a moment, before yelling out with much more vigor. "Mom!" He immediately began running towards her.
Feng Jingyi looked up, her face was smeared with tears and filth, her eyes seemed misted over, as if she no longer wished to see the world without her children. She didn't recognize Feng Long at first, too unfocused and weary to take in her surroundings. She blinked, then the mist that seemed to fill her eyes faded and tears took its place. A gentle sob escaped her lips as she fell to her knees and embraced Feng Long. her face quickly became a mess of tears and snot as she tightly clung to the young boy.
She called out his name as she held him, "Feng Long, Feng Long! My baby Feng Long. I was so worried, so scared." her words quickly became unintelligible as she called out about how she thought she would never see him again. Feng Long reciprocated, crying into her shoulder.
Feng Hao looked away from the sappy display, instead opting to go over to the wooden bar stools and rest on one. the bartender was a skinny man in a suit with a rather intimidating curled mustache.
He looked somewhat flustered, constantly shifting his weight and looking around the room for some reason to leave. Feng Hao gave him a way out of the strange circumstances by saying, "you should leave" the man swiftly listened to him and left the room saying, "alright, I-I'll be off then."
It didn't matter that he was listening to a three year old's orders, he just wanted to leave without his boss yelling at him later.
Feng Hao turned to look back at the two girls who were standing just inside the doorway, they looked somewhat confused on what to do. Feng Hao walked towards them, he wasn't a fan of talking, but he liked being in a group, it gave a sense of comfort that others were there to back him up if he made a mistake.
Half a minute passed before Feng Jingyi asked Feng Long "Where is Feng Hao?" Feng Long just looked around for a second before pointing at the doorway. She swiftly got up, bringing Feng Long with her as he was cradled in her arms. She stood in front of Feng Hao before getting down on a knee. She looked into his eyes, and gave a heartfelt smile that expressed nothing but joy.
She knew that Feng Hao was always against close contact, so she didn't fully embrace him like she did Feng Long. For a moment, Feng Hao's face remained stiff, like it was made of stone. then his hard visage cracked a little and the corners of his mouth shook for a moment before forming the smallest of smiles.
"Hey, I'm back"
All of Feng Jingyi resignations disappeared and she leaped at Feng Hao, clutching him to her chest. The joy she was feeling was unimaginable, for days she had been scouring every inch of the city for them, when she had found out that the place she had left them actually sold the children as slaves, well... the building no longer exists, and the staff were never seen again.
The exhaustion had slowly caught up to her, and she eventually had to take a break, drowning her sorrow and anger in alcohol. That was until this moment when all the intoxication seemed to fly away, being replaced with an overflowing, overwhelming joy.
Feng Hao and Feng Long stayed in her embrace for a few minutes before Feng Hao subtly tried to escape, he tried this for a few seconds before saying, "mother, let go please." He felt somewhat uncomfortable being held for too long. it seemed that she didn't hear him, so he put up with it for another few minutes before finally being released.
Feng Jingyi looked over her children, feel in stab of pain in her heart when she saw how much thinner they were. It was true that they had barely eaten, only managing to find a few berries along the way.
"You must be starved, come on, lets get you something to eat." She looked at the two girls who had long ago went to play in a corner, although it was more Wan Ya who was playing while Ming Ai just watched.
"You two as well, I cant thank you enough for helping get my babies back." Feng Long chimed in, "actually is was more us helping them!" Feng Hao also felt the need to say something to curb his brothers ego "who was passed out while a dragon chased us?"
Feng Jingyi heard that they were chased by a dragon and yelled out "You were chased by a dragon?!?" Feng Long Deepened his voice and, although he was trying to sound cool, it was more comedic than anything else said, "yes, it was a hideous beast spewing forth fire and brimstone, a beast which would have brought calamity to the world if we didn't stop it, a beast so terrifying and powerful that no words can express its might. Its very existence was death we barely escaped with out lives, although I am still weak, I bravely stepped up and fought it to sav-"
He was cut short when Feng Hao interrupted, "earth dragon, a prideful thing, managed to trick it into getting itself killed." neither of their stories seemed to calm their mother, she still seemed shocked that they faced a dragon and lived.
"But, how?" she asked. "we'll explain it on the way, now what were you saying about something to eat. Feng Jingyi just smiled before placing her hands on their backs and leading them out of the bar.
Feng Hao described the encounter with the slavers, omitting the details of how he escaped, it would be weird if he knew how to pick a lock. he also omitted his encounter with the void wraith and the black void which sealed it. The inhabitants from the universe jar were certainly dangerous to himself, but he knew they were also the key to facing powerful beings, after all, what he was experiencing was less than a tenth of a percent of their power. they were his trump card, his final option, and nobody could know about it, not even family, although family didn't mean a lot to him anyways.
Feng Long described everything past escaping the dragon, it was clear that Feng Jingyi's heart was being filled with pride because of the strength and intelligence of her children. She was still ignorant of the system, and Feng Hao planned to keep it that way. he suspected that the system users would all become powerful people and he didn't want other people getting involved in the conflict which would likely break out between them.
Soon they arrived at a small bakery, it looked to be closed, but there was still a person that could be seen inside through the windows. Feng Jingyi burst the door open, it banged against the walls inside, alerting the worker that someone was there. he moved towards the counter and put on a business smile which barely covered his annoyed expression. "I'm sorry ma'am but were closed, you can come back tomorrow if you w-"
Feng Jingyi has enough of listening to him and slammed her hand down on the counter, creating a wave of pressure which forced the man to take a step back. "I want everything left in this store." she was too tired to deal with any of this bullshit.
The man said in a panicked voice, "right away Ma'am!" and went back to grab the last few bags of buns and placed them on the counter. "that will be..." he looked down to notice the exact amount already on the counter. He let out a nervous laugh before saying "thank you for your patronage."
Before he could even finish his sentence everyone had already left. He sighed, resting his arms on the counter, only for it to shatter in small pieces because of the force Feng Jingyi had slammed her hand on it.
He stared in shock for a few moments before Jumping over the debris, a furious expression on his face. He ran out the door, but didn't find his rather rude customers anywhere, in order to vent out his anger he yelled into the night. "You need to pay for my counter!!!"