Ryujin's eyes blurred open to welcme the shadowy visage of several figures into his vision.
He reflexively tried to lurch into a defensive stance but was fluked by how own physical and mental exhaustion.
"Take it easy kid, you shouldn't be moving around just yet." The gruff voice of his Uncle Raja increasing the pitch of the flatline ringing within his head.
Now realizing he must be amongst family, Ryujin relaxed a bit, and as a result, the ringing noise in his head toned down a notch, improving his blurry vision.
The first faces that came into his view were that of his twin cousins who had heavy bags beneath their eyes; perhaps, they had been taking care of him without rest, or probably mourning his death, Ryujin couldn't tell.
Regardless, Ryujin moved onto the next figure who happened to be his mother who seemed to have aged a few more years due to the wrinkles of worry than were now present on her forehead.
His father had a mixture of a solemn and relieved expression on his face, while his Uncle Raja had a mixture of rage and relief instead.
"Are you alright, son? Are you feeling pain anywhere we need to know about?"
Shin asked, seemingly trying to check if the amount of revenge spurring within his mind was enough or still needed further seething.
"I don't think so dad... Sore? Yes; but injured ad in pain? Not really." Ryujin managed to mutter, his subtle groans not escaping the attentive gazes of his family.
While he was indeed not suffering from any lasting injuries, his entire musculoskeletal system felt like they had been hollowed out, sapped of energy and filled with nothing but air...
It was the feeling one had when one bit down hard on a metal coin; only that, it was happening all over his body, both within ad without.
"Mom?" Ryujin called out.
"Son, mom is right here." Lin answered, walking over to lay by his side as she checked his temperature with her palms.
Ryujin was barely over a meter tall, hence Lin's action seemed perfectly natural at that moment.
Moreover, she was his mother and they had basically slept this way for at least half Ryujin's age, thus, even Ryujin felt natural to it; in fact he coddled deeper into his mother's embrace.
There was something about her embrace that dulled the cringey feeling that pervaded his entire being.
"How did I get here?" He asked, backing the inquisitive gazes of the rest of his family as he buried his face into his mother's chest.
Lin glared at the group, causing them to flinch slightly as the suffocating atmosphere their presence created all over Ryujin vanished, allowing Ryujin to breath and feel some fresh air.
"A hunter brought you home, claiming you had tried to rescue him from a Savage Beast, and that you valiantly helped in forcing it to retreat." Lin softly answered, caressing Ryujin's hair.
Ryujin's mind spun weakly as he tried to make up a story based on the tidbit of information he just got.
He knew the hunter could not have been Luo Fei; after all, the location of his and Aric's battle had been was off trail, and she would have spent at least three to five days before she could spot him.
Judging by the fact that he had not been frozen into a block of ice or died due to frostbite, he was able to deduce that barely twelve hours had passed since he fell unconscious in the forest ad awoke here.
Thus, the only other hunter who could have done so was Aric. However, Ryujin was finding it difficult to understand why the latter hadn't killed him, but instead chosen to rescue him and bring him home.
Then as if coming to a sudden idea, Ryujin's body jolted as he asked his mother;
"Where is he? Where is the hunter? Has he left? Did he tell you where he was going?" Ryujin blurted one after the other, stunning his mother and the rest of his family.
"Erm... He collapsed upon arriving at our door, but don't worry, we've placed him in Ella's care." Raja's voiced answered from behind.
Ryujin however, wasn't satisfied by this answer. For some strange reasons, he had been getting this instinctual feeling that he was in danger.
No, more accurately; his instincts could sense an atmosphere of danger looming all over his entire family, and it was just as suffocating and cringey as the soreness that pervaded his body.
'I can't allow Long's warning to happen the third time; I need to come clean and make them aware of the level of danger we're in.
I think it's time I introduce them to Luo Fei and Aric as well... Furthermore, I guess I need to come clean to Jada and Dara also.' Ryujin thought to himself as he stirred out of his mother's warm embrace.
He was now feeling less sore and could move his body better, thus, he simply sat cross-legged and stunned the onlookers with his next actions.
His mental sense spread out, covering a 30 meter radius, before latching onto the atmosphere, diffusing streams of Qi Plasma which he then absorbed intk his body.
Ryujin felt the cringey feeling come back with vengeance; it seemed whilst he could absorb Qi, his blood hasn't been able to regenerate to the extent where he could convert an ample quantity into Vital Qi.
However, since he couldn't directly cultivate Qi due to lack of meridians and spirit root, his vessels had cringed in the face of the pure, unmorphed, atmospheric Qi.
Nonetheless, Ryujin had achieved what he needed to achieve, and it was evident from the way Dara and Jada were staring at him like they just saw a ghost.
"Ryu, you can cultivate Qi?!" Dara was stunned silly; in fact, shockingly flabbergasted would have been the right word.
He was turning ten in a few months, and thus, he knew a little about cultivation since he would be undergoing his awakening as before the Spring Festival.
Even though his family didn't teach the about cultivation, that didn't mean he was totally in the dark about it either; after all, he had friends who had elder brothers who had taught the a little.
Thus, he was most definitely sure that no one should be able to cultivate Qi except they had awakened. The closest that could happen was to be imbued with Qi by another.
Jada had no idea about cultivation; she had never showed any interest in it as only cared about being the assistant mother of the house, thus, she was only shocked by the beautiful spectle Ryujin had caused in the air. She had no idea if it was Qi or whatever it was her twin brother was talking about.
In fact, back when Ryujin had been using Acumassage on her, she had always thought he was simply using the massage to squeeze out whatever energy was left within her muscles and using acupuncture to direct it towards where she ailed. She had never thought he had been using his own Qi.
Not that it made any difference at the moment, because she still had little to no clue about what they were talking about, and would always love this younger cousin of hers regardless.
Raja wanted to scold Ryujin, but Shin was quick to stop him. If the latter former scolded Ryujin, wouldn't he be basically telling the kids that they had helped their cousin keep a secret from them?
Raja though didn't understand, but he trusted Shin's judgement and thus simply pretended to scratch his head. Shin had been attentive to the situation, ad he knew his sworn brother too well, thus he was able to react quicker and stop the latter.
Lin didn't care about anything, she was just happy that her son was alive, hugging him deeper into her blossom the moment the latter rested on her.
Since they had begun to treat Ryujin like an adult, she had been feeling a deep sense of loss.
She didn't know why, but it seems Ryujin was growing farther and farther away from her. For a mother who felt se had shown less than 10 percent of all the love she wanted to bestow him, it was a sensation that left her feeling anxious and lonely.
She just wanted her son to live like a normal kid his age, and spend time with her like this.
Ryujin barely suckled for half a year before he stopped breastfeeding. Though, she had been the one who start weaning him first, she didn't expect him to adapt and stop suckling on the first day.
The weaning process was gradual and far between; once or twice a week, until he could go longer without needing to suckle and eventually stop.
Most children would take between 9-14 months before they completely stopped suckling, but her own sin has stopped in the first day and never turned back ever since.
This left Lin feeling unaccomplished; as if she had failed as a mother.
Then as if that wasn't enough, he hit a mental growth spurt that totally shattered her premade plans; outgrowing them to the extent that she had barely done anything motherly for him ever since he stopped suckling.
How could she not feel her son was slipping away? If given three more years at this rate, would he even still be living with her?
All of this is even ignoring the fact that Ella had decided to take him in as an apprentice; which for one, meant he would always be at his master's place all day and probably hunt late into the night, returning home at midnight and barely spending four hours with his family before repeating the cycle in the morning.
She couldn't even remember the last time he had played or hung out with his cousins.
Though none of the twins had ever complained, se could still see and feel their longing for his presence and companionship. In fact, the house had become bland and less fun since he had stopped spending time at home.
However, his actions at this moment made her realize something she might perhaps have been negligent about?
Had he been keeping a distance because he didn't want his secret to be revealed? After all, it was they, the adults, who had told him to do so.
This made her feel a pan of pain in her heart for his plight, and when she saw the slight bragging smirk that hung on his face and the wowed expression on Dara's she couldn't help but smile slightly on the surface, but feel a deeper pang of guilt within.
"No, I can't do that yet. I can only make it show up and nourish my skin for now." Ryujin answered, as the gleam in Dara's eyes rose to another level.
"Teach me! Teach me how you do it!" Dara had almost dragged Ryujin off in excitement before noticing how limp the latter's hand felt wen he picked it up.
"Don't worry. Wait a minute, I'll go make you some soup." Dara said before bolting towards the kitchen, but shocked to realize that his twin sister was already three steps quicker.
'Wait? He had taught Jada already?' Dara lamented his plight before swearing to pump Ryujin full of strength as quick as possible.
He knew the benefits of having adequate knowledge about Qi Sensing and Absorption even before one's awakening. His friends' brothers had always lamented this fact.
Apparently, it was a discovery Ella made not too long ago, and they had already underwent their awakening by then.
But for him, he still had three months before that, ad from what he could tell, Ryujin had a more than adequate mastery over it as well; if he could manage to sense Qi before his awakening, he might just be able to undergo a higher awakening.
Dara almost skipped his step as he burst into the kitchen with anxiety, anticipation, relief and excitement bubbling within his soul.