Chapter 18 - The Shu Family - [C18]

Shu Himo’s face was filled in confusion as he stared at her. He had recognized her at first sight, she was Shu Ashey, his mother. So why did she try to kick him?

After a moment, Ashey raised an eyebrow in surprise. “If you could dodge this, why did you get kidnapped?”

Shu Himo rolled his eyes, feeling wronged. He wasn't the 'Shu Himo' who had got kidnapped, after all. “There is no way those weaklings would have got me! The one who did so was a dantian core formation realm expert!” Thinking back at that figure, he narrowed his eyes as he muttered under his breath, “Just wait for me, bearded guy!”

“As expected, it wasn’t a normal attack.” Overlooking how her son had called the three ‘weaklings’ she asked, “Have you noticed which family it was?”

Oh? She had already suspected that other nobles were involved? Shu Himo was pleasantly surprised. But he waved his hand dismissively. “Hmph! No matter which family it was, I don’t need help from anyone for this! They challenged me, so I will be the one who will pay them back a hundredfold times!”

In response to those words, she stared deeply at her son. She considered to retort against him but found herself breaking into a smile instead.

That’s how a member of the Shu family should be.

Having traveled to countless kingdoms and learned the way of trading, she knew how important confidence in oneself was. She believed that every member of her family should be confident in themselves and adept to combat, something she noticed in the child in front of her. The only missing thing was if he could actually prove true to his words, or the ‘confidence’ would be plain ‘arrogance’.

She stared at the child who she felt so different from before. Was the kidnap the reason for such positive change or did something else happen? She couldn’t help but wonder about it.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she posed her hands on her son’s head and caressed him gently. “Welcome back, Himo.”

“I’m back.” Shu Himo smiled.

The two began to walk toward the mansion’s gate, when it flew open and crashed to the sides, breaking in countless pieces.

A figure ran out, approaching Shu Himo.

“Himo!” A shout came from it, revealing a middle-aged wolf-man with black hair and tail. His eyes were dark, reminiscent of a deep abyss. Yet, a tear flew out of that abyss.

He rushed to Shu Himo and checked anxiously if he had any injuries. Only when he was sure his son was fine did he sigh in relief. "Welcome back." A smile grew on his face.

It was Shu Himo's father. His name was Shu Mo, a vicious general to the public, yet a doting father to his family.

Feeling Ashey's stare, he broke into a cold sweat. He quickly stood up in front of Shu Himo. He opened his mouth, but just as he was about to talk, the words he was about to say gulped back to his throat.

However, he couldn't help but yield against his wife's constant glare. He forced himself to stare straight at his son’s eyes. "Tomorrow we will have a mock fight. I want to see how strong you are, and if you don't reach my requirements... you won't be allowed to walk outside the mansion. And you will train every day until you reach those requirements."

"Requirements?"

"Nothing much, I just want you to be able to fight against an Acupoints Opening phase cultivator."

Shu Himo was currently at the Muscles Strengthening phase, so setting such requirements was akin to forbidding him to succeed. Shu Mo felt regretful to do such thing to his own son, but after the recent events it had become too dangerous.

Knowing that, he expected to receive complaints from him, but...

"That's wonderful!"

The answer was unexpected. He couldn't help but blink and stare at his son in astonishment. His wife was no different.

Neither the usual laziness from hearing about training nor the unwillingness from not being able to go outside appeared in their son’s eyes. What appeared instead was overflowing excitement.

Shu Mo slightly squinted his eyes. Was he still the same person? But he soon shook his head, it was indeed his son.

Dismissing those thoughts, he patted Shu Himo’s shoulder. “For now let’s go inside, you must be tired.”

The three then walked in the courtyard, when a small figure pounced out from a side bush. It aimed at Shu Himo.

However, Shu Himo didn’t feel fear, anxiety, or any other negative emotion. He felt joy.

He opened his arms, and soon, a small girl fell to his embrace. Her tiny arms hugged his waist, not daring to let go for a moment. Her tears fell, soaking his clothes. Her head rubbed on his chest.

It was his little sister, a little cat-girl two years younger than him.

“I— I was scared! Please… don’t leave me alone like that again!” Her sorrow resounded to his heart.

Shu Himo felt her trembling slightly as her grip around his waist strengthened. A warm feeling pervaded his body, unlike anything he had felt in the past few years. “I’m sorry for making you worry, Aria.”

Shu Himo gazed at her affectionately. Memories on how the ‘former’ Shu Himo had always spent his time with her surfaced on his mind.

“Hmm.”

Shu Himo felt in his chest her head’s small nod. He patted her head gently. His fingers slid through her smooth black hair.

After she calmed down, they walked hand in hand toward the mansion’s entrance as their parents followed behind.

At that moment, Shu Himo noticed at the side a young wolf-man standing with his back against the wall. Black hair and white eyes, he stared coldly at Shu Himo without changing expression.

A second later, the young wolf-man nodded slightly to Shu Himo as a greeting and walked away. Even his tail stood as still as his expression, refusing to show any emotion besides coldness.

Shu Himo’s lips twitched. Nice to meet you too, big brother Eitha.

He shook his head slightly and walked inside the mansion. Soon, the view of butlers and maids rushing left and right played out in front of him.

A smile grew on his face, and he began to explore the mansion while his little sister tagged along.

A long hallway joined various rooms, glass windows on one side and rooms' doors on the other. Most rooms were provided with a bed and some wooden furniture, namely a desk and a chair.

Behind an arch-shaped doorway was a further section of various rooms. A kitchen, a laundry, and several other rooms used for the servants' tasks were there.

Walking up the stairs to the second floor there was a huge round hall filled with training dummies, weapons, and armour stands. On the side opposed to the stairs stood a double door.

It connected to a hallway which led to an internal pool.

The pool had crystal-clear water, but Shu Himo felt that it wasn't 'normal' water at all. Upon touching the liquid he felt his body's fatigue dissipate. He soon understood that the water had been treated with special herbs.

Being someone who used to live in a house with just a few small rooms, the realization that all this was his new home overwhelmed him.

Like that, the two kept exploring the mansion until the sun fell close to the horizon. They then went back to the dining room and met with the others.

The dinner was quite awkward for Shu Himo. Everyone kept staring at him each with different expressions.

Ashey kept staring at him as she fell in thought, Shu Mo kept a doting smile that was starting to annoy him, and Eitha had his usual cold gaze. Only his little sister Aria seemed normal, who chatted happily with him.

After a dinner which he felt lasted longer than the past days put together, Shu Himo dragged himself back to his bedroom on the fifth floor.

His view was greeted by a comfy-looking double bed covered by a white mosquito net, a wooden wardrobe decorated up to the finest details, and a wooden bedside table likewise polished. Fresh air coming from a window gazed his skin, giving him goosebumps.

But Shu Himo's gaze didn't linger on any of that, staring straight at an object on the bedside.

The object had a metallic base which evolved into a glass cone filled with liquid. A glowing red moving liquid.

It was a lava lamp.

"Why is this here? Based on the technology shown in the street, this shouldn't exist..." He fell in thought for a moment, but then broke into a laugh. "Interesting! This world has either a messed up technology advancement... or this was imported from a nation which hoards all the technology for itself!"

He walked up to the window and gazed down the street. He could see most of the nobles’ mansions from there, his vision blocked from the rest of the capital by the inner wall. But ignoring them his vision darted to the sky, where he could see the countless stars shining amidst the night.

His focus went to the brightest star, and his palm extended toward it. Just as the star shone between his fingers, his hand closed and a smile crept to his mouth.

Few silent seconds had passed, when he walked to the bed and lied on it.

He then spent 20 BS points to buy the Bones Strengthening phase’s (5) and the Blood Strengthening phase’s (15) fragments of the legendary myriad of ways cultivation technique.

[Thanks for your patronage!]

[You now have 20 BS points!]

As the next phase's fragment required 25 BS points Shu Himo could not afford it, so he could only cultivate the Bones Strengthening and Blood Strengthening phases before going to sleep.

Just a moment before he fell asleep, however, he felt a rush of excitement flow through his body and rubbed his face to the pillow, a blissful smile covered his face.