After walking with Susan for an hour, Mark reached the outermost area in the village with very few hoses and all of them looked as if they were going to collapse any minute now. They both stood in front of one such house when Susan started walking towards its entry.
*Cough cough*
As soon as Mark entered the house, he was welcomed with loud coughing noises. Susan ran towards a block of earth on which lay a small boy with his eyes closed. If Mark didn't know any better, he would have thought that the kid was already dead. He was even more scrawny than his sister, almost like a skeleton, and had dried up blood on the end of his mouth. It was really hard for Mark to stay calm under such a situation and he also walked towards the boy with Susan.
When Mark looked around the house, he saw only two thick and big rectangular blocks of earth that looked like beds. There was another block of earth that was slightly taller than the bed blocks and was similar to a table. All three were quite close to each other with the table in the center. On the other corner of the house was a small oven-like structure with firewood inside. There was also a big container that most likely stored water.
"Brother, I am sorry. I could not get anything to eat. I am really sorry. Tomorrow I will go into another village to plead with them, I am sure someone will give me something to eat." Susan said with her voice mixed with impatience and sadness. She started crying as Mark approached the sibling pair.
Mark lifted his hand and 2 small orange and yellow colored fruits formed. The fruit was the size of an orange and looked somewhat like a peach in shape. These were the Dreaming Flower Fruits but with very low amounts of QI. He offered both the fruit to Susan and did say anything else and just smiled. Although this reduced his cultivation, it could be regained within a week and a week of cultivation was nothing for him.
Susan understood what he meant by giving 2 fruits. Even though she wanted to give both to her brother, she ate one as she knew that she had to eat one due to her shopping experience. Mark smiled a little more after seeing her action and her expression.
'What a smart child!' He thought.
After consuming the fruit, both the siblings instinctively sat cross-legged and started absorbing the QI and nutrients present in the fruit. These fruits had enough QI to allow both the kids to step into the path of cultivation, but most of it was used to make their bodies healthy again.
"What just happened?" Susan asked after opening her eyes and looking at Mark for answers.
Just as Mark was going to make a lie about the fruit, Susan's brother who was looking at each of his body parts suddenly spoke up.
"Si..sister, I have recovered. What was that you just fed me?" He asked with a mixture of astonishment, excitement, and disbelief.
"I don't know, mister gave us the fruits."
The young boy looked up and saw Mark for the first time. He saw a young man, around 20 years old with a fit body, black hair, and a normal-looking face. His aura exuded the feeling of a young, joyful and naive boy, but also of an extremely old man with a lot of knowledge. It was in one word, peculiar.
Susan looked at her younger brother staring at Mark and suddenly realized her mistake.
"Oh, I am so sorry" Susan spoke up with a flustered expression.
"This is my younger brother, Gustav. Gustav, this is our benefactor, Mr. Mark."
"No need to say Mr., just call me Mark. Nice to meet you, Gustav." Mark said and brought his right hand in front of Gustav for a handshake.
"Ah! Nice to meet you." Gustav broke off from his daze and shook Mark's hand. He had a strong grip and his voice carried experience much richer than his age.