Chapter 80: 79: Growing Up

Chapter 79: Growing Up

True to his word, Mao Yun returned six months later. Since the cabin had no extra room for him, he pitched a tent behind the garden.

By this time, Bao’s belly was so large she had trouble walking normally.

It turned out that Mao Yun was the most nervous of the three of them about what was to come. Bao was more excited than anything, and Sunan was simply jumpy with anticipation.

Mao Yun brought the latest news of what was happening in the empire. The raids from the Yangu Plains had turned into a full-fledge invasion, forcing the Demon Emperor to send most of his armies north.

The majority of the fighting was focused around the Bay of Yu. Qi Fao had been sacked, and last Mao Yun had heard, the Yangu tribesmen and Chai Yun barbarians were pressing south toward Nansun.

Because of the unrest in the north, the resistance led by the Timeless Master was picking up speed. Martial artists in all the major cities had created secret societies devoted to the overthrow of the local governments, and more broadly, the empire itself. Of course, that included numerous members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect.

On the eighth day of the ninth lunar month, they called for the midwife to come from the city. After all of the months of practice with the language, both Sunan and Bao could speak Singh conversationally, and had no trouble communicating with her.

The following day, on the ninth, Bao gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. In the traditional culture of Qi Xien, it was the custom to call upon astrologers to help with the naming of newly born children, but being so far from home, there were no astrologers who spoke Daoyun, and when it came to profound matters like astrology, neither Bao nor Sunan were qualified to discuss them in a foreign language. Besides, as Mao Yun had mentioned to Sunan years before, they were no longer normal members of society.

So Sunan and Bao had come up with their own names. Their son was Fan Jinlong, and their daughter, Fan Qingfeng. Their given names came from Classical Fei, and literally meant “golden dragon” and “pure phoenix.”

Everything went smoothly, and according to the midwife, the two babies were exceptionally strong.

Bao recovered quickly, and she and Sunan soon fell into the same type of routine that most new parents do; catering to the children and dealing with lack of sleep.

Thankfully, Mao Yun was there to help. For the most part, he took over the responsibility of caring for the livestock and crops, as well as the fishing.

Six months went by in a blur. Eventually, the babies fell into a pattern of sleep, and Sunan resumed his previous duties. At that point, Mao Yun said his farewells, and promised to come back in another six months.

Even at six months of age, the two babies were already showing their personalities. Fan Jinlong seemed like his mother, somewhat feisty and always looking for something new to amuse himself. Eventually, they took to calling him Little Dragon. As for Fan Qingfeng, she took after her father. She seemed fascinated by everything around her, and would always take the time to thoroughly study anything she got her hands on, mostly by chewing on it. Her parents began calling her Little Phoenix.

Time marched on. For Sunan and Bao, the things that had been so important in the past, the matters which had once been their passions in life, slowly began to slip into the backs of their minds. The seething hatred they had for the Demon Emperor was more distant. Sunan still thought about his childhood, but it was more with reminiscence than with the bitter grief and rage that had gripped his heart for so long since that fateful summer night. Bao never forgot Geng Long, or the nightmares she had endured in Yu Zhing, but now, her focus in life was her children.

Although neither of them forgot the oaths they had sworn years before to bring an end to the Demon Emperor, the joy of watching Little Dragon and Little Phoenix grow was the most important thing in life now. In their little corner of the world, separated from all the chaos of the empire, their life was a simple one.

As promised, Mao Yun returned just in time for the babies’ first birthday. He brought gifts, and news.

Everything north of the Chezou River had been taken by the Yangu and Chai Yun, and their new allies, a race of barbaric giants from far to the north called the Juren. According to the reports Mao Yun had read, the Juren had four arms, gray skin, and white hair, and were savage in ways that surpassed anything that existed in Qi Xien. As for how the Yangu and Chai Yun hordes had convinced them to join the fight against the Demon Emperor, it was hard to say.

In fact, most people had no idea why the hordes were invading to begin with. The Timeless Master had reached out to their leaders with an offer of alliance, but had been completely ignored.

In addition to the invasion, the Timeless Master’s resistance was growing in momentum, ensuring that the Demon Emperor was feeling pressure on all fronts. Things were not going well for his empire.

Around the time that Bao and Sunan had first fled south, there had been a flurry of activity as agents of the Demon Emperor searched for them. However, with more pressing matters of concern for the empire, the death sentence that had been issued against them was gradually pushed aside to become a thing of the past.

Mao Yun stayed for a month and then left. This time, he didn’t return for another year, for the children’s second birthday. The news was not as exciting this time. The war was at a deadlock, with the forces of the Demon Emperor holding the Chezou River against the invaders.

In one interesting bit of news, Daolu had been occupied, but mostly left untouched, including the Heavenly Meat Palace. In fact, the invaders apparently enjoyed the fare there, and as a result, the restaurant had doubled in size.

By now, Little Dragon and Little Phoenix could walk, and were already beginning to say a few words. To Mao Yun’s delight, Sunan and Bao had also begun to train them in the fundamentals of martial arts, and the children loved wrestling with their Uncle Mao.

As the children grew older, life grew easier. The relatively remote location in which they lived was a perfect place for meditation, so after the initial two years of raising twins on their own, Sunan and Bao finally got back to their routines of training. And of course, since Little Dragon and Little Phoenix had been building a foundation almost from the moment they were born, they also joined in.

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Most martial artists back in the empire would have been shocked to learn that by their third birthday, both children had already made their first breakthrough in Qi cultivation. As for Sunan and Bao, they also began to progress again, edging closer to the Profound Master level.

Mao Yun returned for their third birthday, of course, to bring news and gifts. The Demon Emperor’s forces had made a major offensive, retaking Daolu and Nansun, and pushing the invaders back north toward Qi Fao and the Bay of Yu.

Three-year-old Little Dragon and Little Phoenix were turning into skilled fighters for their age, and by teaming up, managed to force their Uncle Mao to use a real kung fu countering technique during one of their “wrestling matches.” Mao Yun was completely taken aback for a moment, but then roared with laughter.

Shortly after Mao Yun left, both Bao and Sunan made breakthroughs, reaching the Profound Master level. The Qi flows within their bodies became more clear, and they came to an understanding of how Karma connected to them with the world at large.

It was during the same year that Lawat made his sixth breakthrough. Both Bao and Sunan were very excited to have a skilled combatant with whom to spar. Of course, they made fairly frequent trips into the city for the sake of the children, who soon made friends with the local children. Because of the environment, both Little Dragon and Little Phoenix were completely fluent in the local Singh dialect as well as Daoyun which they used at home.

The years whizzed by.

Because of the large amount of gold they had brought with them from the north, and the fact that they could live almost completely off the land, there was no need for anyone in the family to work at any specific trade or occupation.

Other than family chores, they spent their time devoted to the martial arts.

Every year, Mao Yun would return for the children’s birthday, and to give news. By the children’s fifth birthday, they had made two breakthroughs, which was around the time that they demanded their parents stop calling them by their nicknames in public. Furthermore, because both Sunan and Bao had long since taken to using only their given names, the children did the same. From then on, they were Jinlong and Chunfeng. By the children’s tenth birthday, they had each made four breakthroughs, and were just as skilled fighters as Sunan had been back in his days of platform fighting in Daolu.

After ten years living in Nansun, both Bao and Sunan had progressed quite a bit. Sunan had reached his tenth breakthrough, and Bao was right behind with nine.

Over the years, they developed powerful new techniques. Sunan created a mystifying counter called Blink of the Dragon, and Bao conceptualized a way to use the rage attack she had developed years before into something terrifyingly powerful that she called Rage Holocaust.

In addition, they experimented a bit with the powers of the Wind Sabre and the Phoenix Crown.

Among the gifts Mao Yun took to bringing were various books and texts from the north, items which Bao and Sunan felt were important for the education of Jinlong and Chunfeng. Before long, they had quite a collection including The Book of Fortunes, The Classic of Mountains and Rivers, The Rites of Wan Mei, The Sayings of Kong Zhi, as well as various histories of Qi Xien. Mao Yun also brought two new volumes of Sun Mai’s scripture, along with a personal note from Sun Mai himself, providing a bit of news as well as some personal insights into his latest scriptures.

Both children were voracious readers, and quickly memorized all the classics.

There were a few adventures here and there. On one occasion, the family pigs were stolen by a band of marauding monkeys. Sunan and Lawat tracked the monkeys far into the jungle to the east, and a spectacular battle ensued before the pigs were rescued. On another occasion, Sunan and Jinlong were out fishing when a sudden storm struck, dragging them far out to sea, where they were stranded on an island, unable to leave because of a sea monster that circled the island for two weeks straight.

During Mao Yun’s return trip for the children’s twelfth birthday, a sudden disaster struck Lawat’s family. His wife and two children were all stricken by a pernicious illness that, according to the local healer, could only be cured by means of a special type of ginseng that grew to the west. Sunan, Bao, Jinlong, Chunfeng, and Mao Yun all joined Lawat on his journey to search for the root. It turned out to be a much more difficult task than they had imagined, taking them on a journey of many weeks, into a land of endless swamps. They faced numerous dangers, including bandits, monsters, and the like. However, it would have been hard to find a group as well equipped for such challenges in all the lands.

It was on their adventures to the west that Bao used Rage Holocaust for the first time, and it left everyone dumbstruck with its sheer power. In the end, they returned with the ginseng just in time to save Lawat’s family.

The most dangerous situation arose when the children were 13. Tribes of seemingly intelligent monkeys from the deep jungle went onto the offensive, pouring out from the trees to attack the humans in the area. What started out as raids quickly turned into a full scale invasion by an entire army of primates. Sunan and Bao’s log cabin was completely destroyed, and the entire family fled to Sunharee Machalee city.

In addition to Lawat, there were a few other Qi fighters in Sunharee Machalee, who Sunan rallied to help defend the city from the army of vicious monkeys. That was the first time Sunan used Blink of the Dragon in a real combat situation, and it was just as shocking as Bao’s Rage Holocaust.

The “siege” lasted for only a few days before the monkeys were routed and driven back into the jungle.

The destruction of the log cabin turned out to be somewhat of a blessing. After all, it had grown quite cramped and worn out during the past decade. Sunan, Bao, Jinlong, and Chunfeng built a new log cabin, making it bigger, with separate rooms for Jinlong and Chunfeng, and even a spare bedroom for when Mao Yun came to visit.

Ironically, shortly after the new cabin was built, Mao Yun returned for the children’s thirteenth birthday, and this time he brought a guest with him.

When Bao saw who it was, her eyes lit up.

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