Chapter 44

It was rare for Fu Shuhang to see the lights on when he returned home.

Pushing the front door open and stepping inside, he heard the voices of his two fathers talking.

Gao Mingyuan had been away for nearly ten days this time.

His efforts had not been in vain; he had finally figured out what was going on with Ji Xun’s ability to "enter the spiritual domain through dreams."

The problem did not lie with Ji Xun, but with their son, Fu Shuhang.

Fu Shen suddenly signaled his partner to be quiet for a moment, then raised his voice and called out toward the entrance, "What are you doing lurking outside eavesdropping? Get in here."

Fu Shuhang walked into the living room with a calm and indifferent expression. "I wasn't eavesdropping."

If he had wanted to eavesdropping, his father wouldn't have discovered him from the very start.

Fu Shuhang released his spiritual beast.

General padded across the floor, its massive muscles shifting with every step, exuding an air of majesty and dominance.

The giant white tiger walked over and lay down not far away, watching the family of three.

Then Fu Shuhang called out, "Dad, you're back."

Gao Mingyuan smiled at him. "Haven't had dinner yet, have you? I'll go cook you a tomato noodle soup."

Fu Shen: "Let him cook it himself."

Fu Shuhang: "I'll cook it myself."

The two Fu father and son spoke in unison.

Without looking at his father, Fu Shuhang took off his single-strap bag, placed it on the table, folded back his cuffs, and walked into the kitchen.

Gao Mingyuan glared at his partner, then turned and followed his son into the kitchen, smiling as he said, "Xiaohang, you've been at school all day, you must be exhausted. Go rest, Dad will make it."

Fu Shuhang said nothing, taking a tomato out of the refrigerator, washing it, and slicing it.

Seeing his son like this, Gao Mingyuan felt a slight pang of disappointment, but he quickly adjusted his mood, leaned against the counter, and asked, "Has Xiaoxun been alright these past few days?"

Fu Shuhang’s hand slicing the tomato paused. He looked up at him. "What could possibly be wrong?"

Gao Mingyuan: "Good, as long as he's fine."

If that child was fine, it meant their Fu Shuhang was fine too.

Gao Mingyuan felt a sense of relief. Knowing that any topic revolving around the Ji family child would get a reaction from his son, he leaned further against the counter and continued, "I heard you accompanied Xiaoxun to District 10 to watch the excitement a few days ago?"

Seeing that his father was merely asking casually, Fu Shuhang withdrew his gaze and resumed slicing the tomatoes.

Once sliced, he scooped them into a bowl and reached for the eggs.

Looking at the two round, pointed eggs in his hand, Fu Shuhang remembered the spiritual beast egg that Ji Xun cradled all day long. The movement to crack the shell stopped; he put the eggs back into the refrigerator, brought a pot of water to a boil, and dropped the noodles straight in.

"Going out to walk around and watch the commotion is a good thing," Gao Mingyuan continued on his own. "You only ever show a bit of childlike innocence when you're with Ji Xun."

Fu Shuhang still said nothing, stirring the noodles with a pair of chopsticks.

Gao Mingyuan asked again, "When I just got back, I smelled a strong scent of traditional Chinese medicine coming from the Ji household. What's going on? Is someone sick?"

"Ji Xun is taking it," Fu Shuhang finally spoke. "Auntie Ji bought traditional Chinese medicine to condition his spiritual power."

Hearing this, Gao Mingyuan thought to himself why on earth they would start using traditional Chinese medicine to condition spiritual power.

Spiritual beasts were not something to be rushed; how much use could traditional medicine be?

If it were really useful, wouldn't all Awakened ones without spiritual beasts flock to traditional medicine clinics? I hope Sister Ji isn't just panicking and grasping at straws!

I'll go over and chat with them later.

Seeing his father fall silent, Fu Shuhang knew what he was thinking.

Fu Shuhang said, "Ji Xun has a spiritual beast."

"What? Xiaoxun has a spiritual beast??" Gao Mingyuan had not expected this at all. Pleasantly surprised, he immediately said, "Such a big deal and you didn't tell us sooner! I'm going over with your father right now to take a look!"

Fu Shuhang stopped him: "Don't go."

Gao Mingyuan stopped and turned back to look at his son. "Why?"

"It hasn't hatched yet."

Gao Mingyuan was stunned, almost thinking he had misheard. "What?"

Fu Shuhang repeated, "Ji Xun's spiritual beast is still just an egg right now. It hasn't hatched."

Gao Mingyuan didn't know how to react and let out a chuckle.

He had just figured out how Ji Xun managed to enter his son's spiritual domain through dreams, and now he had to face yet another unbelievable shock.

"Did you just say Xiaoxun's spiritual beast is an egg? How is that possible? No one's spiritual beast is ever an egg. What kind of egg is it??"

Fu Shuhang lowered his voice: "What kind it is, we'll only know after it hatches."

The more Gao Mingyuan heard, the more bizarre it sounded. Knowing his son wouldn't joke with him, he leaned toward the conclusion that there must have been an initial error in the information.

No Awakened person's spiritual beast had ever been an egg.

Unheard of.

Gao Mingyuan walked out of the kitchen and saw Fu Shen sitting in the living room using his optical computer to handle work. He walked over and said, "You stay here, I'm going to check on the Ji family. Shuhang says Xiaoxun has a spiritual beast, and it's an egg."

Ji Xun had not been in his bedroom long before he heard a knock on the door, accompanied by voices.

He ran to open it, and the moment he pulled the door wide, he saw Uncle Gao and Uncle Fu standing outside.

Ji Xun still felt a lingering sense of trepidation from his recent entry into Fu Shuhang's spiritual domain. Seeing the two uncles made his heart skip a beat, bringing a flutter of guilt and unease.

Ji Xun looked toward his mother and asked quietly, "Are they looking for me?"

"Mhm." Seeing her son's slight unease, Mother Ji spoke in a gentle, reassuring tone, "It's fine, the uncles just finished work and heard you have a spiritual beast, so they're very happy and came to take a look. Go get King Egg and show it to Uncle Gao and Uncle Fu."

Ji Xun didn't suspect a thing: "Awooo!!"

He turned, ran to fetch King Egg, and handed it to the two of them.

Gao Mingyuan accepted the large, oval-shaped egg.

King Egg had been quite active lately, unable to stay still, and right then it was wiggling around in Gao Mingyuan's hands.

Gao Mingyuan sensed a faint trace of spiritual power coming from the egg.

This spiritual power was very familiar.

It felt like the one belonging to his son's white tiger.

Gao Mingyuan showered Ji Xun with praise, didn't stay long, and returned home with a head full of bewilderment alongside Fu Shen.

That egg really was a spiritual beast's egg.

A spiritual beast could actually take the form of an egg??

What on earth was going on here?

Moreover, there was no other spiritual power present in that egg except for a faint trace of General's.

Fu Shuhang was almost finished with his noodles.

Seeing them enter the door, his expression remained undisturbed, though his tone carried a trace of mockery. "Confirmed it?"

Gao Mingyuan knew his son had opinions about this.

Earlier, Fu Shuhang had said Ji Xun could enter his spiritual domain through dreams, and he hadn't believed it.

As it turned out, it was true.

Just now, Fu Shuhang had said Ji Xun's spiritual beast was an egg, and he hadn't believed that either.

And once again, it turned out to be true.

Gao Mingyuan felt that his authority as a father was in grave peril.

However, at the moment, he was more concerned about another matter.

He asked Fu Shuhang, "How is it that there is General's spiritual power inside that egg?"

Fu Shuhang recalled.

The only time General had contact with Ji Xun's "King Egg" was half a month ago.

At the time, General had almost swallowed King Egg whole in one gulp.

He hadn't expected the spiritual power to linger for so long.

Fu Shuhang told his father about it.

Gao Mingyuan understood and rubbed his forehead. "I really have never seen anyone whose spiritual beast is an egg."

"Now you have."

Fu Shuhang said flatly, "The textbooks need an update."

After Fu Shuhang finished eating, Gao Mingyuan performed a spiritual soothing session for him.

The process went smoothly, which clearly showed that Fu Shuhang had indeed been doing quite well over the past few days.

Seeing his son acting so mature and steady at such a young age, Gao Mingyuan thought for a moment before saying, "My business trip this time was actually to go to the main star to inquire about what you mentioned before—entering the spiritual domain through dreams."

Fu Shuhang's tone was calm. "I thought you didn't believe it."

"It's not that we didn't believe it, we mainly went to verify the possibility this time," Gao Mingyuan said. "The existing conclusion is this: Xiaoxun's spiritual power is lower than yours, so he cannot subjectively enter your spiritual domain; he can only enter passively."

Fu Shuhang pressed his lips together and looked at his father.

Gao Mingyuan continued, "When your emotions are agitated, turbulent, and fluctuating intensely, you 'pull' him into your spiritual domain. Xiaoxun's spiritual power is low and unstable; the moment he falls asleep, his consciousness is out of his own control, making him very easy to be affected by your chaotic spiritual power."

Fu Shuhang asked, "Why him and not another Guide?"

"Among the peers in the compound, isn't he the only one you're close to?"

Fu Shuhang fell silent for a moment.

Then, Fu Shuhang asked, "Is this harmful to him?"

"As for that, it shouldn't have too much of an impact," Gao Mingyuan said. "Because of your emotional instability, you need spiritual soothing, and unconsciously you forcibly pull him in to provide it. He is forced to enter your spiritual domain and help you soothe your spirit. However, because your spiritual powers do not match, he won't succeed, so his spiritual power won't suffer heavy depletion."

Fu Shuhang pressed his thin lips tightly together.

Deep down inside, because of his father's words, a faint spark of joy began to flutter.

"He succeeded."

Gao Mingyuan: "What?"

Fu Shuhang looked at his father, his eyes shining slightly, his Adam's apple bobbing as the words left his throat, slightly hoarse and heavy. "Ji Xun can calm my emotional agitation. He succeeded in doing it."

"Really? That is a bit strange," Gao Mingyuan said. "But none of us know the specifics. Your Aunt Ji said she took Ji Xun to the hospital for a checkup last week, and that these behaviors of Ji Xun's were 'spiritual sleepwalking,' which would stop once he stabilized. Moreover, Ji Xun's spiritual power value is on the lower side. Even though his spiritual beast isn't normal yet, based on those numbers, even if it normalizes in the future, Ji Xun's assessed rank probably won't be very high."

Fu Shuhang only repeated, "He can perform spiritual soothing for me. He succeeded."

How could Gao Mingyuan not understand his son's meaning?

"Yes," Gao Mingyuan acknowledged, then added, "But it could also just be a coincidence."

"Maybe it's not." Fu Shuhang's inner conviction remained firm. He looked at his father. "No matter what strange thing happens to Ji Xun, I would never find it strange. So, perhaps..."

"No perhaps."

Gao Mingyuan interrupted him, uncharacteristically lacking his usual gentleness as he said heavily, "The final exams are coming up. As soon as they end, your father will take you to the battlefield for training. You won't have this much free time for wild thoughts."

Fu Shuhang's jawline tightened. "I know."

Seeing him like this, Gao Mingyuan softened his tone again. "Your father didn't want me to tell you about this, but I felt that since it concerns you and Xiaoxun, the two of you have a right to know."

With that, he stood up and patted his son's shoulder. "Get some sleep early."

Sleep early?