"No wonder my sister's face bled from all seven orifices just now... I suppose her body couldn't withstand that surge of power, it wasn't used to it," Tang San thought optimistically, unaware of the details of spirit ring knowledge.
Tang Hao glanced at Tang San, tacitly agreeing with his explanation without elaborating.
"But, Father, Sui Sui's aura just now was so terrifying, it was as if... she suddenly became a different person. Is that also because of... the spirit ring?" Tang San asked another question.
Tang Hao looked down at his sleeping youngest daughter in his arms, his dry lips moving slightly. "I don't know. It might also be related to the abnormal form of Sui Sui's spirit just now. But we'll only know these things after Sui Sui wakes up. It's getting late, let's go back."
After speaking, he shifted Tang Sui, holding her up with one arm while extending his other hand towards Tang San.
Tang San looked at his father's calloused, rough palm, pursed his lips, and placed his own small hand on it.
"Okay."
...
The first ray of dawn light from the early morning streamed through the gap in the window, casting dappled shadows on the bed.
Tang Sui, her eyes exposed to the direct sunlight, frowned, turned over, and tried to escape the glaring rays.
"Sui Sui, wake up."
It was already noon. Feeling that Tang Sui shouldn't sleep any longer, Tang San flicked the water droplets from his hands and walked to Tang Sui's bed, gently pulling her quilt.
The scorching sunlight shone into her eyes. Tang Sui, still in a deep sleep, didn't open her eyes. She instinctively moved her body, shrinking downwards with the falling quilt, as if saying she would go wherever the quilt went, and no one could separate them.
Tang San: "..."
What to do when his usually obedient sister was uncharacteristically refusing to get out of bed?
Of course, he had to continue trying to wake her.
So Tang San reached out and shook Tang Sui. There was no response.
"Sui Sui, it's time to get up for lunch."
This time, Tang San infused some internal energy into his hand.
The warm internal energy seeped through the thin quilt. The cozy bed instantly became a sauna.
Woken by the heat, Tang Sui opened her tired eyes. The familiar small room and Tang San's relieved expression appeared in her sight.
"Sui Sui, are you alright?" Seeing that her little face was still pale and sickly, devoid of healthy color, Tang San frowned, a sense of doubt arising in his heart.
He had talked late with Father last night and understood the benefits of spirit power and spirit rings.
Logically, after becoming a spirit master, Sui Sui's frailness should have improved somewhat, her body becoming stronger. But why did it feel like there was no change at all?
Memories of last night flooded back. Tang Sui slowly sat up, a puzzled sound escaping her lips. "I'm fine, Brother. Why are you suddenly asking this?"
Tang San's furrowed brow did not relax. "Sui Sui, you absorbed your first spirit ring last night. Do you feel anything now?"
Tang Sui blinked her clear black eyes. A trace of genuine confusion appeared on her thin, pale face. "What first spirit ring? After you finished forging that piece of pig iron last night, I went to sleep. Brother, are you confused from forging iron?"
Tang San froze.
Tang Hao, who had just entered and heard this, paused. His scrutinizing gaze swept over his innocent and puzzled youngest daughter. He lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "It's already noon. Stop lingering in bed, come and eat."
Tang Sui looked at Tang Hao with surprise. After he turned and walked into the living room, she tugged on the sleeve of the dazed Tang San, her dark eyes sparkling with wonder.
"Brother, Father is the one calling me to wake up today?! And he even spoke several words in one go!"
Tang San, regaining his senses, pursed his lips. He looked at his somewhat excited sister and reached out to rub Tang Sui's soft hair. "Mm, Father is in a good mood today. Come on, get up and eat."
"Okay." Tang Sui nodded her small head. After watching Tang San leave the room, the smile on her face gradually faded, hidden in the growing golden sunlight, making her expression unreadable.
She didn't distrust Tang San and Tang Hao. It was just... fear...
She didn't want to have anything unusual in her father and brother's eyes. She just wanted to be a good child...
So, let it be like this...
— Author's Note —
Sui Sui: I'm still a child, I don't know anything, yay!