Ch. 13 – No Different Than You

"Uhm, yes… and no…"

"What do you mean 'yes and no'?"

"I do have dual essence."

"Then what did you mean by 'no'?"

"I have more than just dual essence."

"MORE?! You have three spirit essences?! Or maybe four?! Hurry and tell me about all of them!"

"All of them?"

"ALL of them!"

"Okay… I have 'Absolute Ice', 'Silver Lightning', 'Demonic Flame', 'Shadows of Darkness', 'Holy Light', 'Evil Nightmare Illusions', 'Vines of Judgement', 'Asura's Wrath', 'Heaven's eyes', 'Icy Hurricane', 'The Golden Dragon' as well as 'The Golden Bird'."

"WHAT?!?!"

"You have TWELVE spirit essences?!?!?!"

"Y-yes…"

"You actually have the same spirit essences as my brother and I, as well as nine others?!"

"Yeah, I-I guess…"

"This is a miracle!"

"They are all in the top fifty!"

"I-I know."

"Something strange, apart from the fact that you actually have twelve spirit essences, is that you actually have TWO of the spirit essences that only people from the Jin Clan can have. My brother clearly told me that you were not his biological son, so how come you have both 'The Golden Dragon' and 'The Golden Bird'?"

"Well that is a little compli--"

"--Wait! You do not have to tell me now. I understand that you have your own secrets. Tell me when you feel ready, but I will not force you to tell."

"Thank you for being so understanding."

"Enough with the chatter now! Time to eat! I want to try your cooking!"

They both smiled and went to eat the food grilled by Xiao Huoyan. As soon as Jin Niao tasted his nephew's food, he burst out in laughter.

"Hahahaha! To think that a mere five years old little boy's cooking is better than mine! Hahaha, who taught you how to cook?"

"No one taught me 'how' to cook, but my father taught me that food tasted better cooked. He is also the first person who had ever tasted my cooking…"

"… So, you are telling me that your mother never cooked for you?"

"She is… She was a vegetarian. She always told me that she did not want to kill other living beings just to eat their meat. She thought it was cruel."

"Then why are you eating meat now?"

"Well… Because of something, my appetite grew stronger. With my appetite, I probably would have eaten the entire forest by now if I had chosen to stay vegetarian."

"How much can a little guy like you actually eat?"

"When I eat, the food gets digested almost immediately. Therefore, I can eat quite much. For an example, it would take me a little more than a week to eat a fully grown twelve thousand years old Fire Serpent of the 7th rank."

"WHAT?!?! Are they not enormous?!"

"I guess they are."

"It is probably going to be quite hard to feed you when you grow up."

"Oh, do not worry about that. I know how to catch my own food. I have been living alone for around two years, so it is fine."

"Okay, but what if you get injured?"

"I never get injured."

"But what if you do?"

"Then I will heal."

"Of course you will, but what if the wound is too severe? What if you are alone and hurt? It would take at least a few days before you could heal completely, right?"

"No, not really."

"What do you mean 'not really'?"

"I mean that I heal really fast."

"How fast?"

"I do not know exactly… Let us find out!"

"What?"

"You just have to start counting when I give the signal, okay?"

"Okay?"

Xiao Huoyan rushed back to the kitchen and came back with a very sharp knife. Then he stabbed his left arm. The knife even went right through. When Jin Long saw that, he began to panic!

"Uncle Niao! Start counting when I pull out the knife, okay?"

"What?! Are you insane?!"

"NOW!", Xiao Huoyan yelled as he pulled out the knife. Then, even though Jin Niao was shocked, he still began counting.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!"

Seeing how his nephew's arm were completely restored, Jin Niao was speechless.

"Hahaha, told you!"

"H-how did you do that?!"

"I told you I heal fast!"

Xiao Huoyan smiled happily while his uncle, Jin Niao, was left dumfounded.

"HOW?! I heard a rumour about a hidden expert living in the same forest as you lived in. Did you meet him? Did he gift you some kind of miraculous elixir?"

"Hahaha! I guess my father never told you, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"That 'hidden expert' is me."

"You are kidding right?"

"Nope."

"Then how do you explain the elixir that can heal all the wounds?"

"To keep it short, it is not an elixir and I never gave it away."

"Well, I still do not understand, so do not keep it short and explain it!"

"Fine. I usually carry a bottle with my blood, around the forest, so that when I stumble upon an injured Magical Beast, I can heal them. One day I dropped the bottle and a man came and picked it up. Those who dare go into that forest are usually only young Lords of high status, therefore there should be quite some hidden experts. With that in mind I decided not to show myself.

Instead I sent a mental message. I told him that the bottle belonged to me and that he could not take it. Then blah, blah, blah, I let him go and he began spreading rumours about some mysterious hidden expert and that is the entire story! Almost…"

"So, your blood have healing properties?! That explains how you could heal so fast!"

"You finally get it!"

"Having such a miraculous ability as well as twelve spirit essences is not something that a normal human being would have."

"I know."

"What are you then?"

"I think I am no different than you."

"I need a real answer!"

"That IS my real answer! If I knew anything else, I would have told you, but I myself do not know what the hell I am!"

"… Did you read the letter my brother left for you?"

"Yes, I did. I read it on the way here. He did not want me to tell anyone about my abilities, but I trust you."

"I am really thankful for your trust, but you still have not told me everything yet."

"True."

"Since you have read the letter, you should also know that he did not want you to get angry, sad, scared, nor panicked, right?"

"… Yeah, I know. You are right. I almost lost it for a second there. It is just that I hate questions that I can not answer. I have indeed regained most of my memories, but there is still a lot that I do not know. Perhaps I did not even have the answer before my memories got sealed.

I hate that I do not know the answers you seek. I hate to talk about my biological parents who may be the only people who knows the truth. My mother was killed, my biological father erased my memories of him and disappeared without leaving any proof of his existence to me.

Then your brother came and wanted to take me in. I was so happy, but now I can not even remember our last moments together. It should have taken six months, but it seems as if I am immune to my own orbs. I remember almost everything already. Everything except for how he died and who killed him! Everything except for your brother… My father!"

Xiao Huoyan burst into tears. He felt so useless. According to what Xiao Huoyan's father had written to him in the letter, Xiao Huoyan was probably the strongest individual on the entire continent.

'Father… If I am really that powerful, then why could I not save you?'