Sun proved to be the most useful to Lin in the days following his second birthday. The male of the two tigers grew healthier with Lin's care and daily training sessions and Sun became the boy's method of transportation from the cave to the construction-site of their new home and when Lin's father was away Lin would intensify the tiger's training instead and teach him new moves be that on hard and solid ground or within the soft water of the pool! he even started to teach Sun how to scale and climb mountains and rough terrain or work on Sun’s fast respond to his orders and gradually Lin began to give the animal more complicated requests.

“Come on Sun, you already know how to do this one! you already did this practice more than three times before. Why are you refusing to listen to me buddy? you don’t happen to be bored, tell me now, just give it to me straight... are you bored?”

Lin was confused by his feral friend's strange attitude because for almost a week now he felt it within him that Sun is really being irritated and fidgety whenever he was near him for some reason.

“Mrrrr...”

Sun rested his head on his front paws lazily and made a purring sound while keeping his crouching position but unfortunately Lin doesn't understand what does that mean at all in tiger-language!

“It's alright, how about a treat instead? is steak okay?”

Lin ruffled Sun’s fur and said while smiling at how the tiger seemed to like it when he spoilt him.

“Growl...”

Sun growled faintly and turned on his back to show Lin his belly, he clearly was asking for a tummy-rubs instead of back and neck massages.

“Want to go spend some time with Moon instead? you can go if you want buddy, your favorite steak will take some time until it’s done. Sun has been a good-boy lately and deserves a break anyway, I won’t be sad if you go have fun.”

Lin smiled and offered his partner to go play and take a break from all the training he’s been forcing on him.

“Mrrrr...”

Ears twitching at the rare offer from his short friend. Sun stood on his feet then nudged Lin with his head to confirm if he is really exempted from training this time then ran towards the cave when Lin smiled and nodded his head.

Seeing his beast-companion leave made Lin feel complex emotions for a moment before he washed them out of his system with a sigh. While placing thick slabs of raw meat on the chopping board the boy began to travel back with his memory on his moments of training the tiger.

When Lin started to give him the complicated orders Sun was clearly happy with the change from the previous routine especially when Lin made sure to present his training to resemble some fun game-simulation for the tiger and included various elements in the sessions to be in different situations, tools, locations, altitudes, and time. When Lin watched Sun leave he just couldn’t prevent his brain from thinking about this problem because clearly Sun hit some wall with his training progress in it always made Lin frustrated to be met with a problem which would give him the feeling of being helpless against solving it.

“The mental-chart that I drew of his progress in training, is clearly behind the actual progress! should I really be changing this advanced routine with some simple routine instead?”

Lin sat alone under the secluded pavilion next to the pool to think this one problem thoroughly.

Sun was very slow in making progress in his earliest days of training which made the boy hesitate about changing his plans! Lin gave the excuse of Sun being young and not that mentally developed plus the commonly known fact of animals just being inferior in brain function compared to intellectual beings.

Lin couldn’t help but smile when he remembered the first days he spent with Sun just sitting there in front of him and wagging his long tail –which is similar to a thick and very dangerous whip- like a little child’s first day in the backyard garden of his house and seeing a butterfly for the first time in his life! That training session was a complete disaster really because whenever Lin told Sun to push him in the pool water it would mostly end up with Lin getting pinned-down on the floor instead or worse.

That gradually developed to Lin getting carried by the tiger like a mother carrying her cub between her teeth and the only difference was that Lin would mostly be getting waved around left and right like a pendulum by the naughty tiger just for fun! finally after one month of trying and trying only to be getting played with some more by the tiger Lin received the required and simple nudge from Sun and the tiger used his head to push him in the pool water.

At that moment Lin was genuinely happy when it happened because he saw hope for his plans succeeding and the boy started to make variations in the movements and changed it to be a game with Sun! If Lin managed to reach the pool water before the tiger pushed him then Lin wins and if it was the other way then Sun wins.

The tiger found it to be one hell of an extremely exciting game in the beginning then even more exciting when it got harder and the tiger would rarely get bored and always responded to Lin's orders and commands.

“This chart of Sun's progress doesn't match with this intelligence-chart over the past fifteen days, obviously he should’ve been at least three moves ahead of this routine by now. Was it wrong of me to keep repeating old routines? but animals tend to forget and only learn if you repeatedly gave them the exact same instructions over and over for extended periods of time then make it complicated at a gradual pace, it's common knowledge!”

“Mrrrrr...”

While Lin sank deeper in his thorough analysis Sun returned after about an hour or so.

“What's it buddy? you can stay with Moon for the whole day if you want, are you worried about me forgetting about your food? don’t worry, your steak is right there. I’m sure you can already smell the sweet aroma of your favorite steak which is about to finish being over-cooked inside the charcoal-grill over there.”

Lin found Sun being clingy and refusing to return to play with Moon while neglecting the promised treat from his friend! the tiger kept nudging Lin with his head seemingly urging him to do something else.

“Then... let's test if this theory of mine is correct or erroneous, and I promise buddy, if it really turns-out to be that I was the one boring you all these past few days, then to apologize for my mistake I’ll let you eat however-much of my famous steak until you feel sick of meat after eating too much. Let's go buddy, back, some more... now go!”

Lin widen the distance between him and Sun then calculated the exact amount of steps between him and the edge of the pool and Sun after making sure everything is according to the advanced routine and not the one her tried earlier and at once he noticed that Sun began to show signs of excitement by crouching-down and preparing to lunge instead of his disinterested crouch! after giving the signal Lin started to run in a zigzagging pattern and not directly towards his target while keeping his back facing Sun while indirectly dashing for the pool.

The sight of such vicious predator chasing down a baby from this close distance would give any onlooker who’s unaware of the close bond between the two a scare of their life really.

“Growl...”

“Whoah!... Haha, you did it buddy. You dipglh...”

“Splash...”

But the result of the action would likewise scare them too because even the best animal trainers would be standing up and applauding with burning enthusiasm if they saw it happen knowing full-well the effort that must’ve been dedicated to accomplish it.

Lin laughed aloud in thrilling excitement when he ended-up on Sun's back with a backflip! after pushing Lin's butt up with his head Sun took a high leap up at the edge of the pool with the boy on his back and dived into the pool water.

“You're definitely eating steak tonight, lots of steak buddy, mountains! I wasn't aware that you're trying to tell me that you know this move already and was bored with it. No longer will I make you do boring things, since you're so smart and clever. Come, let's go again one more time before we try the next move.”

Lin was very happy with the results of the training that day and he and Sun tried four more of the advanced moves successfully with the tiger and only called it a day to give Sun his steak when it was the right time for the meat to be done being cooked.

“Lin is cooking tonight! Mommy is feeling blessed, Lily we're having steak for dinner bring-out the dishes and arrange the table. Little cute Lao, you need to grow up to be something amazing, just like your big brother Lin. Make mommy delicious food every day, will you do that? alright!”

“Giggle...”

“Aren't you the cutest thing ever? No... you're definitely, the cutest thing ever!”

Lin's mother exited the cave carrying Lao and found Lin grilling steaks and marinating more meat to the side, smiling she called Lily to do her job of preparing the table under the pavilion then sitting on the recliner by the pool she got busy playing with Lao.

“Half-done ones for me and Moon, let's go chase some birds Moonie.”

Lily exited the cave riding on top of Moon with the tableware prepared and gave orders like some kind of spoilt-princess then after quickly scattering them across the table and ran for the garden to have fun and play with her partner.

“Go play if you want Sun, you did really, really good today, and I’m very proud of you.”

Lin scratched his partner behind the ear and at the area of his throat to please him then told him to go play if he feels like it, surprisingly Sun refused and gave Lin a look that meant : 'that's something which cubs would enjoy doing buddy, I'm no longer a cub. Do I look like a cub to you? huh!'

“Alright, lots of crispy slabs of meat with extra sauce on top coming right up, here you go, watch it now or you’ll get scalded, that's still very hot! Want me to cut them for you?”

“Growl...”

“alright! I’ll stop messing with your food, see... hands off, I just tend to forget about these sharp claws of yours that’s all. chow down!”

When Lin's mother saw the interaction between her son and his tiger then compared it with Lily and her tigress she noticed the clear difference right away because Sun was acting like a small baby just like her boy Lao! especially when she saw Sun pull the large plate filled with meat away from Lin with his paw when he saw the knife in her eldest son's hand then use one of his claws to hold the meat and use the other claw to cut it.

It was a lot like when Lao would cry if she opened his bottle for him and stubbornly refuse to take it to drink when it’s handed to him open.

Her boy Lin was really making her feel even more proud every day and just watching her eldest son grow daily is the biggest achievement of her life.

She tried to ask her man about what are they making down south of the cave but the man -for the first time ever- tried to avoid the question and didn't tell her anything! when she asked Lin about it he just smiled and said that it was a gift and surprise for her then he kissed her hand and told her to wait patiently for the right time and she'll never regret waiting.

She was feeling this itch in her mind that wouldn't go away because of that secret and she enjoyed it. This feeling of wanting to know so bad yet time would seem to refuse to budge or go faster no matter what was an intriguing and novel experience for the woman.

Days went and Winter arrived again for the third time for Lin and Lily.

The palace south is only missing the last finishing-touches and Lin already did his best for the gardens and greenery there to grow three times faster so hopefully with fingers-crossed by the time next summer arrives the work would be over on that project and his small family will be ready to relocate into their new home then.

Especially since the father did manage to bring more than one sample of metal ores back to his kid and some of those ores were foreign materials to Lin and of course this caused his exploratory-nature to get ignited by this discovery! he planned to spend the next winter working on these new metal ores and maybe add electricity to the cave then their new home back south.

The tunnel linking both the cave and their new palace up the mountain was created specifically to enable Lin and his father to keep on working during winter and the father did what Lin asked from him on his previous hunting missions and collected a wide variety of flower-seeds, exotic plants, herbs, branches from fruit-trees, shrubs, and aquatic algae. Just so his boy could make the best looking gardens around the palace they’re making for his woman which he adores with all his heart.

………

Outside the cave.

“That long-bow, it has been installed with a specific bowstring, one that allows the bow-structure and frame the required standards, to perform in its top quality without straining the limits of the materials the bow was made from in the first place. Five strings were added, entwined, and twisted into a coil. Even someone with your strength father, will find it hard to draw it open, I think. These arrows too, had to be altered and remodeled, modified to withstand the great amount of air-pressure! you see... ordinary arrows, will bend or veer-off target because of the friction against air-currents, and the faster your arrow moves after it’s loose the higher the amount of air-pressure resistance the bigger the friction, if your arrow’s body is hard it might break mid-way if it’s moving at great speed, and if your arrow’s body is elastic and bendy it can cross the distance without suffering damage but the aim will be incorrect when aiming for a very far target. Well... these arrows have been created with a method to counter that problem, and I couldn't make more than fifty in the short span I had.”

“Humph! what do you mean by saying I wouldn't be able to draw it open? you’re looking-down on your old-man now huh, I'll show you what it means for a bow to be drawn-open like full-moon you little brat. Tsk, still I have to praise you on making such a good bow, at least.”

At the last day of Autumn after their family had one final proper meal with an open-air view maybe for the three months to come. Lin made Sun carry the upgraded bow and one quiver full of arrows towards his father and explained to him how much better these tools are from the ones he used before.

The man was displeased with his son's words and snatched the long-bow in excitement to test its weight in his hand and get a feel for its bowstring resistance against his fingers when he spoke.

“Bet!... bet... bet...”

Lily started banging with her fists on the table when she saw her father being displeased with what Lin said and despite how reasonable Lin’s words were she knew about her brother’s love for gambling and trying his luck just for the sake of fun.

“So... old-man, you in? our audience seem to be expecting a showdown.”

Lin smirked and asked while obviously trying to provoke his father slightly into accepting despite knowing that Lily was intentionally trying to cause trouble. But. When was she "not" trying to cause trouble exactly? like never! ever.

“Of course I'm in! you're still light-years too early and away from beating your "old-man" what’re we betting? what's in it for me? what’s in it for you?”

The ex-caveman was becoming smarter which made Lin smile while recalling his very first day meeting his father. That memory still makes him a bit angry at the man sometimes and here he’s standing in front of the same father who’s changed in character to almost become a completely different person sharing the same looks and physique.

“The bet will be targets shooting with the bow of course, since you’re very confident in your abilities and all that. There’s fifty arrows, and fifty shall be the number of attempts you’ll get. I believe we both agree on that. The target can't be anywhere less than four kilometers from you, or it will be pointless to have ourselves a bet, since our main-objective is to test the bow in the first place. Rewards then... you'll gain either one month worth of free-liquor at once, or... full-permission and authorization from me to enter the wine cellar to choose what you want for daily during the winter. Fail to win the bet, and... you'll lose your freedom of venturing alone in three hunting trips, you’ll do your best watching over Sun and Moon because they’ll be joining you. I think this deal is more than fair.”

Lin's mother kept her silence and watched the ongoing back and forth conversation between her man and oldest child. She just hugged little Lao who sat on her lap and kept repeating some simple words to the boy patiently. She was teaching him how to speak like Lily instructed. Lily told her that if she thought that all her babies will be like her first twin then she'll only end up with dumb kids! hearing Lily's words was enough warning for the mother and she kept doing everything her daughter instructed her to do to prevent such a scenario from ever coming true.

“It's actually to your advantage dad, this bow should be able to send arrows at least five kilometers in average! if it is drawn completely with each shot fired using normal arrows, and the distance increases by much more with these arrows. I say you go all in and clean his stash of liquor, Lin is planning to let it ferment until he grows up and reach the right age, you know... to drink freely and enjoy it while travelling everywhere. With his character, you might not get a second chance, maybe it’s because he wants mom to be entertained.”

Lily was more excited than her father and provided commentary like an addict gambling on the underdog hoping for a chance to claim the biggest win. But for her there’s no bigger win than knocking Lin down a peg or two just for the mere fun of it.

“No! you're not allowed to bully that man again, there... aim northeast at that snow-covered mountain summit. It isn’t exactly four kilometers away, but it will do for today. As if it wasn't enough to ruin his home once, now you actually want to do it again. Such audacity is really despicable! haven’t you ever thought about something along the lines of... what if he couldn’t find another safe place to live? or... froze to death in this winter or something! can you really live with that?”

When Lin saw his father prepare to aim northwest at the poor neighbor's mountain he stopped him and started to patronize the man while feeling frustrated because it was both inhuman and irresponsible to even think about it.

“Hell yeah I can! let him turn into an icicle for all I care. Snort.”

“Bffft...”

Lin and Lily’s father answered his son’s patronizing speech with something beyond the word cruel which shocked Lin into gaping his mouth and staring wide at his father while feeling speechless and great disappointment all the same! much to his surprise though was his mother’s reaction because she found it amusing.

Their parents never wanted to talk about their past before Lin and Lily were born or that single mysterious neighbor which their mother only said once that this man used to live with them when the three of them were much younger and it stayed this way for many years until recently before they twins were born! it was then that their mother and father made this cave to live "alone" and the relation between the trio completely ended.

“Sigh... the wind is blowing from the northeast direction, take it into consideration when you aim, and... don't forget that this is just an experiment, so there’s no need to take things too far, do remember that our objective is to test how these arrows will work against extreme air-currents and high intensive-pressure. Which why I pointed you to go against the wind in this test, which is the best method to acquire validity for the bow’s strength and the bowstring’s functionality. So... how many shots are you confident on landing from the fifty? I say about seven of every ten shots will... miss. Heh, which means... if you manage to hit the target only sixteen times out of the fifty available attempts then you’ll win the bet, miss thirty-five times and I win.”

Lin saw his father’s eyes burning with rage when their neighbor was mentioned and he decided that it will be better to just change the topic. After he gave his father enough explanation on the reason for the destination and direction of the target in choice Lin provoked his parent with his own predictions on how his father will perform on the bet and Lily nodded.

“Damn! now it really sounds like you're definitely looking-down on your old-man. Watch me then, I swear to beat your odds.”

The man squinted his eyes while answering Lin then took his sideways-pose after relaxing his arms and shaking his wrists for a few seconds. With a straight back and elbows raised-up at shoulder level he calmed his breath and slowly started to draw-open the extremely resistant bowstring and the arrow he had between his two fingers was nocked fluidly then the father took aim and locked it at the target -which is the only white peak and tallest one- and let loose of his arrow. He really has to admit that drawing this long-bow open is really hard but not unachievable with his current strength.

He too was upgraded! better call it that he evolved in some way.

“Sou...”

After his son's training his basic statistics more than doubled and now he could beat-up animals which he couldn't beat before or chase animals which he couldn't catch-up in the past.

“Miss, dad was daydreaming, come-on focus, liquor is at stake here! one month or free entrance to the heavenly cellar.”

Lily read the man like an open-book and gave her father the right incentives.

Lin didn't mind because this bow is hard to use fifty times repetitively and that's why he said earlier that his father will miss seven times out of ten.

“Still, the sound of the arrow cutting through air is scary! that arrow passed the target in just two seconds, good power. The air fluctuated in its wake and I even saw it happen around the arrow until it left my sight.”

Lin's mother spoke while raising her eyebrows in amazement afterwards she raised Lao up and leaned him left and right in the air to give him simulation of flying and the boy kept giggling and squirming inside his cute and thick winter-attire of fur.

“Isn't daddy great? little Lao-Lao!”

“Dad... good... Lao... champion... giggle...”

Lao answered in his cute voice with whatever words he can stammer and the jest made his mother’s heart melt.

“Hahaha, right champion Lao, my baby... you're mommy's favorite now aren't you? my sweet champion is both fun and cute.”

“Lao-Lao... best... fight!”

“Yes! Lao beat everyone, who dares stand in my champion’s way? none has the guts because Lao is great and mighty. Pew, pew, bam, bam, and they’ll escape like a puff of smoke. Ta-da! Lao-Lao wins again. "oh-no" says the villain, you useless minions dare return with your tails between your legs? I’ll smite you all!...”

“Giggle... Lao... victor... love you mommy.”

“oh!”

Lin snickered at the two's comical exchange of cuteness while Lily was terribly jealous seeing Lao and her mother play! quickly she climbed up on Moon's back and threw herself on the mother to get some of that excessive amount of motherly love.

“See Lao-Lao, mommy is being taken hostage because of your cuteness, mommy is in danger! help me my champion, defend mommy with a squeeze hug, save me champion Lao.”

“Lily... naughty... giggle...”

“Am not! Lily is the queen, champions love queen. Now bend the knee your queen is here.”

“Sou...”

During the trio's fun game of champions and royalty Lin's father let another arrow loose and it also happened to miss.

“Tsk. Dad! you're still not using your back or chest muscles correctly, right now all you're doing from the way I see it, is that you’re only straining your arms and shoulders for no reason. If you’re not going to give it your best, then just forfeit! Because it’s impossible to win this bet.”

Lin gave his father a hint then went to sit on Sun's back and the male tiger obediently crouched-down for Lin to mount his back without the boy giving any order or gesture! he even gave the young boy a lift-up with his left forelimb and it was like he could read Lin’s mind to know what he wanted to do.

“He's right dad, your competition is helping you win, don’t forget to feel the wind, and be confident of the trajectory your shot is taking.”

Lily topped Lin's hint with a better advice because if it’s something that brings Lin to his knees then she's all in just to witness her brother lose! but the sight of Lin and Sun being completely in-sync was a surprise because herself and Moon are not in any way sharing a similar bond. She does struggle with her tigress sometimes with commands being ignored or completely misunderstood which can be really frustrating.

“Sou... vzzt...”

This third arrow sounded a lot scarier than the previous two arrows and the same increase was noticed by the mother on the air-fluctuation around the much faster arrow! still it also missed and the father felt it easier to use the bow after following the advices of his kids.

“Third miss dad, you're on a roll!”

Lin smiled and started to enjoy making fun of his father but he noticed that the man quickly found the trick to increasing his strength and empowering the shots.

“Snort...”

The man scoffed at his son’s cynical comment then relaxed his arms once again before taking another arrow from the quiver and so it happens that once the arrow was nocked snow started to flutter down from the sky and dance with the wind or fall to the ground everywhere around the family.

“Mommy... look! cotton-candy... Lao want.”

“Whoah! yes, lots of cotton-candy, isn’t that amazing?”

 “Give sister a kiss and sister will gather a lot of it for you to enjoy little Lao, alright?”

“Alright... Lily... queen!”

“Heh.”

“Lily!”

“Sou... vzzt... whoosh...”

This arrow not only made a more frightening sound when it was shot but also it caused a shockwave of air-pressure in its wake and moved much faster.

“Waah!... m... mommy...”

The shockwave of air-pressure pushed some of the snow-flakes at little Lao and he was scared into crying when they stung his face and buried himself in his mother’s embrace.

“Bull’s-eye! dad you didn't miss this time.”

“Humph. Hubby! look what you've done to my little-Lao, poor thing don’t cry mommy is here, and here I was planning on joining your father for a couple of drinks if he won. Let’s go inside champion, mommy will make you rainbow cotton-candy. Too bad about daddy though right! who knows, maybe mommy would've let him do something which he didn't do in a long time if he could win.”

After Lily encouraged her father Lin's mother got-up from her seat and carried Lao inside while faking being mad at her husband for her baby’s sake! while provocatively speaking she did the catwalk which Lily taught her recently.

The man carrying the long-bow seemed to find another source of motivation when he heard what his woman said or maybe that was his strongest motivation because his eyes never left her swaying waist until she disappeared inside the cave with his youngest-son which she held at her chest! tightening his grip on the bow's center he nodded once to himself and took the fifth arrow from the quiver.

Pulling the bowstring open the ex-caveman did something that made Lin turn his head and give his sister an interrogative stare and Lily just shrugged with a smile on her face admiring the sight of her father standing under the falling snow taking aim with a long-bow.

“Do you think that you can just keep silent about what’s happening right now in front of me?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Really now?”

“Do I look twitchy to you Lin?”

“Foul-play should make you! "corkscrew-drilling-method" of the "bow-drawing-technique" is "unaccounted for" in this equation unless you’re that desperate for a win against me which I understand. Now I see... a fair win is a very long-shot for you, even with my assent for lenient rules and relaxed contribution of "fair" odds in the bet, your knees are shaky and you still keep the "cheap blow" card in your hands below the table. It saddens me greatly to say it but... I expected better from you sister, maybe I’m just delusional, maybe it isn’t the right time for me to find what I expect actually becoming true. Sigh.”

“S... shut-up fool, a win is a win so deal with i-”

“Bang... vzzt... whoosh... boom...”

Once Lin's father let go of the arrow the boy was able to see clearly with his own two eyes when the phenomenon of the sound-barrier forcefully getting broken by the loose arrow! then a single cylindrical-hole devoid of any falling snow happened and linked the position of the bowman all the way to the target which is the mountain-summit about four kilometers away in an instant.

Before the following shockwave of air-pressure carried the snow and expanded enough to blind Lin's vision he saw some part at the side of the mountain-summit already starting to fall while the cylindrical-hole shape in the air travelled further behind it with an elevating angle going upwards! Whatever Lily was saying before that arrow interrupted their conversation doesn’t even matter to Lin anymore.

“Growl... whoah...”

“Cough... cough... ptooey...”

Lin almost fell from Sun's back despite being over thirty meters away from his father but the male tiger was quick enough to act and catch the boy from the air with his jaw then cover him with his body from the snow-carrying wind! Lily who was resting in the pavilion not only was she interrupted mid-speech she was forced to swallow some of the hurling snow that entered her mouth and sweeped her location before going further behind when the expanding circle of wind of this miniature hurricane picked it away. Lin felt slightly vindicated at his sister’s fate of swallowing snow when it happened while he stood inside Sun's protective cover and really enjoyed watching Moon hide behind Lily like a startled over-sized cat covering her head with her own paws.

“Dad wait! don't continue shooting anymore arrows. That test has become very dangerous, you'll only end-up hurting yourself severely if it goes on.”

Lin stopped his father when he saw him prepare to take aim again because being exposed to this phenomenon of breaking the sound-barrier from this point-blank range can lead to heart-failure and internal-injuries! the man only shot five arrows so far and if it happened again forty-five more times then he might really die or at least get mortally wounded in the best-case scenario. Such wounds were child-play to Lin in his previous life and had many methods to cure or prevent but now in this life or at least right now he's completely helpless against them and can only try and alleviate them slightly if they happened. Stopping it all-together right now before it happened is the best way to avoid any needless struggle in the future.

“Ugh. The snow this year, is... not, to my liking at all! he's right dad, you can't continue anymore. Your well-being is, of paramount importance and above all else, plus... mom would kill us if we let you harm yourself, so... please.”

Lily was so angry when she saw Sun protecting Lin while her Moon hid behind her small body earlier and the short-show Lin and Sun performed before that in mutual-understanding of one another plus the quick response from the male tiger made Lily grit her teeth discreetly once then affirm the words of Lin while walking closer towards her father.

“But... what happens to our bet? Don’t tell me that you two little-brats are planning on handing me an involuntarily loss! because I won’t accept it. I can spank too you know, your mother did it once, so do I.”

The ex-caveman squinted slightly at his children and tried to see if they're targeting him intentionally while rubbing his palms together he threw that threat at them and smirked like a giant devil.

“No! you didn't lose.”

“You bet your asses... I didn’t, be dam sure of that.”

Again the father threw another threat at the twins when Lily gave a quick answer to calm him.

“You... didn't win either, why not consider it a tie.” Lily looked at Lin who kept his silence the whole time then her father who was unwilling to back-out with a result of no win or loss and was still warming his hands for a round of double-spanking then continued : “However, we can solve this situation.”

She waited for her brother to speak or say anything to help her out from this difficult situation and found him keeping his silence to enjoy watching her dancing on a sharp blade of hard choices then after clicking her tongue she turned to look at her father waiting for him to bite the bait of curiosity.

“How would you do that?”

“One arrow to decide the winner of the bet.”

Lily sighed inwardly then gave her father the gesture of one finger to answer and she waited for Lin to speak or say anything to participate in the conversation but he kept quiet which was irritating her.

“Alright then, see... that wasn’t so hard was it? my last arrow made quite the damage on that mountain, this time I'll make sure to obliterate that mountain top completely.”

Lin's father was more than happy to end it with one shot too and smiled at Lily when his intimidation method worked on his daughter! he wasn’t ashamed at all because honestly that burst of intense-wind that happened after his last shot gave him the feeling of wanting to puke his guts out but he forcefully endured the sickening feeling and kept his lunch in his system.

“Wait! don’t you think that it would be unfair for Lin if we end it with one shot without making it harder on you dad?”

Lily spoke again to stop her father when she saw him ready himself for the final shot.

“Hrmm... I guess you’re right on that point, what do you suggest then? out with it.”

The father lowered the bow in his arm then thought deeply about it while scratching his jaw and Lily was not comfortable with the long time her father took thinking while Lin just kept his lips closed and took pleasure in watching the family drama.

“You need to add another string to the bowstring-coil first, that way it will be a true win-or-loss decider in one-shot. Lin, what do you think? any objections to this handicap that I suggested?”

Lily sighed inwardly again when her father didn’t make things harder on her than they’re already are then told him the extra condition before the decisive-shot of the bet is made before turning to ask Lin while she ruffled Sun's fur with her fingers with jealousy all-over her expression.

“I'm okay with the new terms of the bet, but dad has to wear his full-armor for protection when taking the shot. I’m okay if I lost the bet, but I can't lose my dad. That would be my only condition, If father happens to see this condition of mine, to be my "childish-way" of trying to make things harder on you, then I admit my loss right here and now, and... you don’t need to shoot anymore arrows.”

Lin consented and his father smiled when he heard his son’s condition. Personally he agrees with his son on protecting himself before shooting any more of these nasty arrows! if it wasn’t for his own "pride" preventing him from doing it in front of his children so that his image of invincibility wouldn’t be affected then he would’ve been busy strapping-in at least a few parts of his armor like chest-plates, abdominal-protectors, spine-guard, and heart-mirror.

“Tsk. Your old-man isn’t some softy, I’m tough, and rough, and built to last long, against all kinds of strong, to break right-through, and walk out on top. Let’s get this over with, all this talk with brats smelling like breast-milk made my throat itching for a cold drink.”

Despite saying all these resolute words the man was feeling warmth fill his chest and utter contentment fill his heart when he looked at Lin. The idea of his son being willing to lower his head and accept a loss so easily if the price paid for a loss means no harm coming to his father! made the man want to go down on his knees and just hug his son but he couldn’t say or do anything to express how he felt at the moment and he just walked ahead towards the workshop but the peace he felt inwardly made him sure that he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing in the future when it came to Lin’s character.

“Humph... and you say I’m foul-playing, what should I call this then? you playing dirty? I have my cheap-blow while you have your psychological-sway, you’re no better than me great-sage. Snort.”

Lily only took one glimpse at her father’s eyes and knew Lin is all her father is seeing right now even if he’s looking away and that Lin is all her father is thinking about right now even if there’s one very hot and sexy woman and a shitload of liquor waiting for him to just snap his fingers and say the word to be his! after nudging Lin with her elbow quite roughly to show her displeasure at how quick this idiot is making her perfect scenario into some living-nightmare of "everyone is swooning-over Lin" situation and grumbled these words.

“Ouch! who stepped on your tail? oh... apologies parasite, I forgot, you don’t have one. Well... you can try and mix black and white all you want, just leave me out of your nonsense, father is feeling a bit touched right now because of what I said that’s all, and it doesn’t mean he forgot about your existence. So... get it out of your system alright! I love you by the way, now let’s go help him because if it got dark before we do then we’ll be waiting until tomorrow, and he might forget you if that happened. Hahaha... moron, fool me once, remember.”

Seeing the pouty expression and jealousy in his sister’s eyes made Lin tease Lily then calm her with some words while taking her under his arm and rubbing her hair. When Lin saw Lily surrendering to his actions and calming-down he pinched her cheeks and gave it a bit of twist before avoiding her counter-strike and running away while sticking his tongue-out to rile her up.

“Grrrr... stop you coward.”

“That makes you a brave turtle then... turtle! I believe slug suits you better bfft.”

“I’ll bite you, definitely going to bite your ass. Better stop now or I’ll do it in your sleep.”

“Mom will be more than willing to spank you to kingdom come if you do, maybe I’ll cry to increase your punishment just to enjoy it. I’m willing if you are... oh-no! out of breath already? cardio girl, riding Moon is fun I know, but you got to join me in the pool every now and then.”

“Are you two going to help? If not, then go play somewhere else, I’ll just call you when I’m done. Tsk. Brats I swear.”

After their father snapped at them Lin and Lily agreed on a temporary truce after a single exchange of eye-contact then joined their father inside the workshop. The trio started to add the sixth string to the bowstring-coil then placed the improved bowstring on the long-bow which Lin made from a pure extract of melted-bones he exposed to fusion trials with -experience to a dozen complete-circles of hot and cold treatments then refined again with both soft and hard tempering for a dozen more before adding the result to- some of the metal ores his father collected and working it all over again with this complicated method which he learned once from a "certain" metallurgy -gorilla- expert.

Just opening this bow to a full-moon should be considered an achievement of great-strength not to mention aiming it at a target that far and succeeding.

“Alright, keep this in mind, you can enter and stay inside, where it's both warm and wet, getting drunk all you want for a whole month, or three! can be made possible, just hit this target. Or miss, and be under your son's mercy during the whole winter, telling you when to drink and when to stop.”

After seeing her father ready wearing his full-armor Lily demonically gave him a very flaming speech aiming to both encourage and distract him from the effects Lin caused with his previous conversation and the man's eyes reddened when he remembered the nights he had to finish outside just when his thrusts were becoming comfortable and the idea filled him with enthusiasm and his morale and desire to win reached the top.

When the father’s competitive-nature was ignited he directed a glare at his smart boy then took a very cold breath in and nocked an arrow on the bowstring. After releasing the stifled-breath out he focused on the mountain-summit and took another breath in then began to draw this bowstring open after releasing more than half the air in his chest out.

Opening the long-bow with this bowstring was much harder and for the man doing it he felt like this long-bow tried to resist his pulling force! but he refused to simply draw it open half-way back and the memories started to surface in the ex-caveman’s head at that exact moment.

……

One month earlier before the day of the bet.

He already got the technique of using his back and chest muscles after following Lin’s training-menu while his pose and form were almost reaching perfection after Lily drilled him into being in tip-top-shape and working on his positioning again and again until his body remembered how it’s done.

“Lin will most likely present you with the bow he’s making soon, we need to take this chance to take advantage of him, since the idea of adding some fun to the family is something which he approves of. Betting and healthy gambling is a good way to entertain the family in Lin’s opinion, and that would be my role to make it happen, and when it does, it would be my turn to spice things up a bit between you two and set the mood right.”

Lily said to her father while overseeing his secret training. Her eyes had this mischievous pleasure when she spoke because if this plan worked then Lin would be left with one less card in his hands! Lily would gain nothing on the surface but her influence would grow in the family by more than one degree.

“Are you sure it will work? Lin always has this way of reading my mind you know!”

Her father answered while standing up but uncertainty was all over his face. After wiping sweat from his forehead in a towel he went back down to continue his exercise.

“That’s exactly why you need to be mentally prepared dad, in a bet both sides need to offer things on the table, things that other party wants or hoping they would get their hands on. You being taken as an example, you want mommy to indulge all your needs in sex, or more liquor to drink whenever you feel like drinking to your heart content, and to go out and fight strong foes and throw them under your feet before hunting them for us to grow bigger. Lin can’t help you in either the first or last issues, but has within his palms the key to your second desire, so... when he declares his intentions in-case you lose, you don't show any unnecessary emotions on your face or he'll be able to notice our scheme, whatever Lin asks for in-case he wins wouldn’t be anything for you to worry because there’s nothing for you to lose in the first place. Just ask for the rules or the prize while checking the bow he make, which I believe would be more than enough to distract him from our main goal. Gradually increase your power and correct your form during the bet, and most importantly, never show your absolute best, keep your strength hidden as long as possible and only reveal it when you’re absolutely sure that it's the right time for the finishing strike to be delivered.”

While Lily watched over her father do one-finger push-ups then change fingers after every successful push-up he makes. She told him how they'll scam Lin when he tries to entertain her mother.

……

When he remembered these moments Lin's father smiled in glee inwardly and felt grateful in having Lily in his corner to give him counsel. Then after one last fleeting-look at his son he smiled slightly before uttering a faint and scruffy-grunt while pulling-back on the improved bowstring with all his strength.

“He didn't use his full power earlier! you really trained him well Lily.”

Lin was currently standing one-hundred meters away from his father and hiding himself partly behind Sun's body and watching his father try and draw the bowstring open. When he saw his father give him that last look and the half-smile that followed he knew that something is wrong in this this scenario! Turning to look at Lily next to him and seeing her smile widely in glee he found the reason for the controversy and told her that.

“Heh. No reason to keep hiding it I guess, watch carefully brother, there’s another surprise for you.”

Lily twirled one curl of her hair with a finger then answered slowly with a smile of triumph on her face.

Hearing her answer Lin turned to look at his father he saw him succeed in fully opening the Long-bow! not only was the man satisfied with that achievement he got but also he started using the same corkscrew-drilling-method again by twisting his wrist counter clock-wise.

“Arrgh...”

After one final beastly howl from his father who seemed to be straining all his muscles greatly beyond limit just to steady himself and keep the long-bow in control and directed at the target. The man let go!

“Bang... vzzzt... whoosh... boom... creak... crash...”

Last thing Lin saw was the great swirl of snow forming around his father's back and the same cylindrical-zone connecting the man to the mountain and this time the arrow didn't seem hit the side of the summit but the center of the mountain-top.

When the shockwave pushed the accumulated snow on the ground towards Lin and Lily's direction Lin was able to glimpse the aftereffects of the projectile hitting the mountain-summit like a missile! one hole appeared in the center then the mountain-summit imploded from within to the sides and hurled rocks and stones everywhere and most of this debris was sent flying up while the first signs of a mushroom-cloud appeared after the explosion.

After snow covered his sight Lin could still hear the sound of large masses of stone and rocks falling and hitting the side of that mountain like a solid avalanche of earth instead of pure ice crushing everything underneath it! he even felt vibrations underneath his feet like an earthquake hitting their mountain-chain thankfully no falling stones came anywhere near their spot.

“Whine... howl...”

Sun covered Lin again from the hurricane of snow and Lily learned her lesson and hid herself underneath Moon's belly and clung to the tigress’s hind-leg.

“Grunt... cough... cough...”

Then Lin started to hear his father trying in vain to stifle the coughs but he sounded like someone in great pain! once the shockwave carrying the snow in an expanding hurricane was cleared Lin and Lily were able to see their father kneeling on a single knee and supporting his left elbow on one thigh and hunching himself down while the long-bow was thrown to the side and there was a small buddle of blood accumulated below his lowered head and more blood was falling from the protective part of his helmet.

“Dad...”

“Sun...”

Lily shouted in panic and she tried to get on top of her timid Moon's back and head for her father while Lin ran towards his father and called for Sun.

Lily found this behavior from Lin to be very strange because she'll reach her father faster on top of Moon while Lin choose to run instead or maybe try and get on top of Sun after crossing some distance on foot.

'Just how far can your short feet carry you before Sun reaches you, idiot' Lily thought while climbing her way up to reach her spot on Moon’s neck.

That’s just the way her mind works! Lily is always trying to find ways to compete with Lin and even in such situation she’s trying to prove herself the superior one by beating her big-brother in some sort of a race to see who can reach their father's side before the other one.

Then she saw a sight that she'll never be able to forget in her life.

“Growl... Sun hurry...”

Lily saw Lin suddenly do the motion of a backflip and Sun while maintaining his speed of running forward behind her brother lowered his head and neck underneath Lin then lightly push his body upwards and continued to run forward much in a sprint! the end-result of this acrobatics stunt was her brother mounting Sun's back then they both smoothly went forward without the slightest pause in motion or time wasting and when she herself was finally on top of Moon’s back Lin was already jumping down next to her father to check on him.

“Fuck me! What was that?”

Lily muttered to herself and she even forgot to guide Moon towards her father's side! Because that simple stunt from Lin and sun took away the joy of her successfully conning her big-brother with her father’s help and winning the bet.

“Lily, go and get mom. Hurry! don’t just stand there, move your ass.”

Lin's call woke Lily from her daydreams and she quickly went towards their cave.

“Dad lay down on your back, don't try to speak, please! Sun bite this buddy.”

Lin started to unstrap his father's armor and remove its parts with Sun's help but no matter how he tried to control his emotions panic was written all over his face. His bloodied father on the other hand was very pleased with the win he just achieved and grinning widely to reveal his bloody teeth and enjoying the sight of the dimming sky at dusk and the falling snow on his face.

“Hubby! you’ll be alright, right Lin! what happened? and what was that noise earlier? the cave was shaking and everything is a mess inside.”

Lin's mother ran towards them and worry was written all over her face when she saw her man. Seeking answers from her boy she saw him lower his head clearly feeling ashamed.

“I... won... cough...”

The injured man raised his hand to make a celebrating gesture and formed a fist towards the sky when spoke and ended-up coughing some more blood but he was clearly in delirious joy because of his win.

“Dad! I told you not to speak, it's really dangerous already and we might not be able to heal your wounds if you make them worse than they already are.”

Lin frowned at his father and begged him to listen to his advice while avoiding his mother’s eyes.

“Humph... since you already know it's dangerous, why didn't you stop this foolishness before it happened? just wait you two.”

Their mother glared at them one final time before she started to expertly remove her man's armor and threatening Lin and Lily but her eyes started to get watery then tears fell on her man’s body.

“Cough... now you'll join... cough... me... for a drink...”

Seeing the tears fall on him from his anxious woman the man patted her hand weakly while trying to speak with apparent difficulty in between coughs accompanied with more blood! even though it was a romantic sight in some weird way Lin felt like chocking the man's throat instead of feeling pity for him because the sorrier his sight is right now the higher the possibility will be for him to receive a spanking from his mother later.

It already happened once and Lin never ever want it to repeat again because it leaves one hell of a strange feeling afterwards.

“You know that I'll join you even if you didn't win! such a dummy you're. You big idiot... sniff.”

The mother gently wiped the blood from her man's mouth with her sleeve when she said that then she placed one finger on his lips to stop him from saying anything else.

The woman seemed delicate and frail outwardly but she easily raised her man princess-style and hurried towards the cave to place him on the parent’s bed.

Before the mother got the chance to pour her anger at the twins and give them a piece of her mind she found them very busy taking care of her man with anxious looks on their faces and she decided to delay that matter for now.

Still she enjoyed seeing her kids being nervous! especially from Lin who kept stealing glances at her almost every ten seconds until finally after her man's condition stabilized a bit she saw Lin practically running towards the door of her room.

“I'll go get father’s bow and tools from outside.”

Lin said that before he exited the room then quickly escaped the tension zone under the amused eyes of his silent mother.

“I'll go make some broth for father, I’m sure he’ll get well soon mom.”

When Lily found Lin escaping faster than her she inwardly cursed then she too ran towards the kitchen while giving an excuse.

The mother snorted faintly and she thought : 'It will take much more effort than that to make me forgive what you two monkeys just caused, I'll take my time to decide the punishment then.' while watching the twins trying to get on her good side.

Once Lin exited the cave the sky was about to become completely dark and the weather was a lot windy outside while the snow didn't stop falling and accumulating on the ground but he was wearing furry clothes keeping him warm.

He wasn't afraid of the scary darkness because Sun was next to him and if some creature spotted him then Sun would notify him beforehand or carry him and return to the cave if it is something dangerous.

When he reached the location of the bow Lin noticed some rocks of various sizes scattered around the area! and that rubble of rocks weren't there before they took his father inside a while ago.

“The radius of the explosion scattered debris almost four kilometers away from the mountain! that's not a bow, that's a freaking rocket launcher.”

Lin was scared by the destructive force of the improved bowstring on the long-bow when it’s coupled with the corkscrew-drilling-method and air-pressure resistant arrows.

Before he turned his sight towards the objective of exiting the cave in this bad weather (the bow) Lin noticed something reflecting the light of the moon in his eyes amongst the rocks just a few meters next to the long-bow.

“What's that? please don’t be some metal ore, mother would certainly forgive me if I gave her a piece of jewelry! please be a precious stone.”

Curious about this strange discovery and hoping for a way-out so that he wouldn’t receive any punishment from his angry mother! Lin muttered while removing the stones with his foot then reached-out with his hand to pick it up.

“Do... you... want... to... flourish?”

“Uaaah...”

When Lin’s fingers touched the shiny object he heard that voice ringing in his mind! He didn't get to see it clearly before the voice scared him into dropping it and Lin’s heart was racing while his body reflexively took more than four steps backwards in fear and if it wasn’t for Sun stopping his friend from stumbling then Lin would be on his butt right now.

After a couple seconds of standing like a frozen statue Lin finally calmed down and gathered his courage to move forward to take a look at the object which caused him to be startled like a frightened mouse earlier! and to his surprise that turned out to be just a simple ring made from old gold or bronze maybe and it had no ornaments or precious gems covering it whatsoever.

Come on he's the great-sage and nothing unreasonable ever happened to him before and now a talking ring! "get out and don't waste my time" would've been the answer Lin gave if someone mentioned that to him in his previous life.

Yet now it happened to him and Lin still couldn't believe it after staring down at the ring on the ground for almost a minute! bending over to catch that simple ring again. Slowly this time Lin raised it up at eye-level then said : “Who are you?”

If Lily was here right now she'll be rolling on the floor laughing at this sight of Lin talking to a ring.

“My name is Jin Bao. I’m a cultivator from the southern continent's mercenary guild.”

“Huh! cultivator... mercenary guild... what do you want from me? how can you communicate through a ring? what did you mean by flourish earlier?”

When he heard this Jin Bao say some strange words to introduce himself Lin felt wariness fill his heart and asked him because if the answers weren’t to his liking then Lin doesn’t mind burying this ring in one of the concrete blocks of his new home.

“Child... right now I’m trapped inside this ring, maybe if you manage to awaken your martial-spirit in the future then I'll be needing your help. If you couldn't awaken your martial-spirit before reaching the age of ten, then you're of no use to me and that information would be useless to you, I'll be feeding on the excess soul-force coming from your body until you die. Then I'll just look for another candidate to help me escape this prison after your lifespan comes to an end.”

“Martial-spirit... ten years old... soul-force! really? what do I do to succeed in awakening this so-called martial-spirit then?”

Lin kept hearing new expressions and terms from this Jin Bao and that ignited his curiosity a bit but he didn’t truly believe any of the things he heard from this talking ring. The possibility of it being some long-range communication tool is possible but there’s two points which didn’t make sense at all in this situation one of them being that this Jin Bao is communicating with him in the language which Lin brought into this world with him after his rebirth! and the second is that this so-called cultivator is communicating with Lin directly through some brain-wave method or something because Jin Bao gives him the feeling of being within Lin’s head or somewhere deeper and has some closeness to the feeling Lin had when he first met Lily inside that spot she mentioned to be Lin’s soul.

“I once heard from a senior of mine that meditating in the early phase of childhood before reaching the average age of awakening the spirit which is six years old increases the chance of awakening martial-spirits earlier than other peers and makes advancements in the following stages much easier and natural.”

“So... until you reach the age of six years old you should focus on meditating and try not to hurry into training in any martial-arts or strengthening your physique consider that a soft warning of some sort.”

“The soul... sense your soul and your martial-spirit will be much easier to awaken. Only... this land will make it much harder for you to achieve that. Now, are you willing to accept my legacy?”

Lin listened to the old man’s sound speaking in his mind closely and dissected the words trying to analyze the underlying meanings behind them but nothing really made sense at all because he doesn’t believe.

“You're not going to ask for anything else if I couldn't awaken that martial-spirit?”

Lin asked hoping that this Jin Bao would reveal flaws with his words.

“If you awakened your martial-spirit, then you need to help me gather five materials to remold a material-body for my soul to occupy, maybe I’ll be able to escape this ring afterwards. If... you didn't awaken your spirit before becoming ten years old, then my problems got nothing to do with you. I'll be in dormant slumber and only act once your lifespan is exhausted or if you happened to die then search for another host to carry my legacy.”

The sound of the old Jin Bao was calm and unhurried and the matter of Lin accepting his legacy or not didn't seem that critical for the man! Lin got the impression the he’s a lot like someone who lost hope really and Lin only heard that tune of voice from people about to die from incurable diseases during his previous life.

“I accept.”

Lin held the ring between two fingers and gave this reply because he was mostly feeling terribly bored every day for almost one year now with no goal or ambition on his agenda other than some plans for a journey to explore the world somewhere in the future.

“Drip one drop of your blood on the ring to accept my legacy.”

Jin Bao said to Lin in the same apathetic tune again.

“Uh-huh... Sun lend me one of your claws.”

Lin nodded then did what Jin Bao told him to do but inwardly he was still feeling like this situation will end-up with him being pranked or maybe a witchcraft attempt from some third-rated neophyte of the dark magic.

“Huh! fuck... It's gone! Oy... old Jin Bao, where did you go?”

Once Lin's blood touched the ring’s surface it just disappeared and both Lin and Sun jumped back in fear and their faces were covered in disbelief! then Lin started to search the ground around him with Sun while calling faintly for the so-called cultivator.

“Sigh... look again at the ring-finger of your right hand boy, a mere thought is all you need to make this ring disappear or appear. You better focus on your meditation from here on and be diligent in seeking your awakening, or your life will be meaningless otherwise.”

Jin Bao said this then his presence faded from Lin's mind.

“Lin!... snow is piling-up inside the cave, come back right now.”

While Lin was looking at his right palm and making the ring alternate between visibility and invisibility he heard the sound of his mother calling from the cave to pull him from that wondrous state of finally experiencing the impossible.

“Uh! I almost forgot that mom is still angry, we better hurry inside buddy, don’t forget to carry the bow.”

Grabbing the arrow quiver Lin mounted Sun's back and ordered him to carry the long-bow then quickly returned to the cave and from that moment Lin's thought-process didn't only rely on reason or facts alone anymore after this strange encounter with Jin Bao and gaining this ring after accepting his legacy.

-----

We lived together... we were happy.

The big guy always snatched my food and beat me up if I snatched his! but... we were happy.

The big guy always touched the one with saggy chest and beat me up if I did! but... we were happy.

The big guy and the one with saggy chest made another hole for themselves! I am lonely.

The big guy beat me up when I tried to join them! I am lonely.

But... I have the shiny thing buried in the sand.

I wanted to give it to the big guy once to make him stop beating me! he started hitting me before I could give it then took my food for himself.

I won't give it away! big guy doesn’t deserve the shiny thing buried in the sand.

They started making small ones! even these things walking on many legs lived with them.

I am lonely! but... I still have the shiny thing buried in the sand.

The big guy threw something that caused my hole to become no more! I was angry because now all my food is gone.

I don’t like hunger! but... I still have the shiny thing buried in the sand.

The big guy beat me up again in front of his small-one! the small-one made sounds to stop big guy from hurting me then gave me delicious food and things to cover my body and make me warm.

I am happy.

I see them making strange and scary things every day! but... I have the shiny thing buried in the sand.

Today the shiny thing spoke to me! it said to make a hole in a far mountain. I am happy.

The shiny thing told me to break these stones! It said to collect the small and shiny pebbles I find inside the stones around it. I am happy.

The shiny thing told me to break the whole mountain and dig a great hole in it! I am happy. But... I am hungry.

I still remember the food the little one gave to me. Every food I gather is all chewy and hard and tastes bad or soft and mushy and tastes very bad! I am sad.

But... I still have the shiny thing buried in the sand.

I was sleeping in my new hole in the mountain when big stones started to fall from above! I am happy.

Now I no longer need to break all these stones in the cold.

The shiny thing buried in the sand told me to grab a lot of the small and shiny pebbles! I climb the mountain.

I am cold.

Shiny, shiny, shiny, shiny, also shiny, shiny things everywhere! I am happy.

“Vzzt... Boom...”

While the man held his most precious item on one of his palms and laughed aloud despite the cold he’s feeling right now even though he’s wearing thick and furry clothes the final arrow from Lin's father blew up the mountain-summit below his feet.

He was quickly sent higher and higher in the sky by the explosion while wondering what is going on! but the happiness in his heart was in fact genuine.

He’s flying and looking down at the land he was born in! the setting sun in one direction and the far away water on another while clouds surrounded him everywhere.

Spreading his arms next to him like an eagle with a smile on his face he didn’t seem to mind letting go of the circular and shiny thing which he always considered his most valuable possession during fifteen years of his life and the man was truly happy and at peace while his body went higher.

“Scree...”

Before he got to enjoy the fun of flying for long his body got covered by a shadow from above and quickly darkness replaced what is left of the faint daylight around him.

The same bird Lin saw once before had noticed the explosion of the mountain-summit and before it got to fly towards the location to explore the reason for all this disturbance in its territory! it saw this strange creature which shouldn't be able to fly and not only was it flying but it dared to fly higher than itself which can’t be allowed to happen.

That was an insult to the bird who rules this part of the sky and it followed right behind him then swallowed him whole in one bite.

That was too easy! normally its prey would try and flee by flapping its wings which would give it an enjoyable chase.

Never mind he'll do as a snack.

“Crunch...”

He still dares to resist? Ouch!

The fight between the king of this sky and the caveman was gruesome in all sense and the bird ended up not being able to overcome the man in its mouth like it expected.

Like a cockroach he refused to be swallowed or crushed between its beak! soon afterwards the large bird had suffered some wounds in the interior of its body and throat.

It decided to just go and fly upwards then spit him out! humph.

Refuse to be eaten by this king? then go on and fall to your death.

Lin's neighbor fought bravely and disappeared after sending him the gift that will change his life in the few years to come.

Really change his life.

-----

“Snort... what took you so long?”

Once Lin entered the cave and pulled the lever to close the gate his mother appeared from the parent’s room and snapped at him while supporting her waist with one hand and waving the other in the air.

“Sorry mom, I got distracted.”

Lin was currently in an excellent mood and he didn't argue with his mother at all! he just admitted his wrongdoings directly.

“Humph... Lily is feeding your father right now. You... what're you going to do?”

Squinting her eyes at Lin the mother was clearly asking Lin how he'll redeem himself after the mess they caused.

“I... can take care of little Lao!”

Lin pointed at his younger-brother which was currently playing with his toys in blissful ignorance.

“Not possible, Lily said she'll take care of that job plus the responsibility of your father’s diet in his sickness-bed! what else can you offer to avoid punishment?”

The mother smiled a smile which isn't a smile at all and told Lin to seek another way of redemption.

“Cook our food.”

“Lily will take care of that too, what else?”

“Do... the laundry?"

“Taken...”

“Give... mommy daily massages?”

“.......”

“Sigh.”

Lin sighed and turned his back to his mom when he saw her frown in silence then lowered his trouser all the way to his ankles and showed her his butt before leaning forward and holding his knees.

'Lily you evil bitch, wicked evil bitch. You dare corner me! fine then, I will make sure to make you grovel under my feet if you wish to know the secrets of my new discovery. Go on mom, spank until the hands fall off.' Lin was fuming inside while bending over and waiting for his punishment to arrive.

“So smooth and soft! mommy is feeling very envious of little Lin's butt right now. Can I touch it every day?”

When Lin's mother started to feel his butt with her tender fingers slowly he felt electricity run through his body! then he heard her words and knew that he wasn't going to be punished but he was indeed being pranked.

His mother was teasing him all this time and he gave her such a shameful sight! at once Lin raised his pants and ran towards his room like the wind with blushing cheeks under the uproarious laughs of his mom.

“Little Lin doesn’t need to worry! this... will be our little secret okay.”

seeing her treasured firstborn child being overcome with shame and embarrassment to the degree of escaping to his room! the mother said after spending quite a while laughing in joy.

Then she laid on her side lazily on the comfortable couch and ate some of the grapes her son planted while thinking deeply about a matter that has to be delayed. She was going to begin letting her husband start finishing inside on their fun games of winter to make another baby.

Now according to her kids she's forbidden from doing that activity with her man for a month or so! since she is bored the mother decided that she’ll be enjoying teasing her little Lin during this following month.

“Mom, do you want a massage?”

Lily came out from the parent’s room after feeding her father and helping him sleep then she tried to get on her mother's good side by following their agreement.

“Oh! thank you Lily, I would love to have one right now.”

Lazily she answered her daughter while knowing all too well what Lily wants to gain.

“Mommy, I heard you talking with Lin earlier, did something happen?”

Lily expertly pressed the right spots then she asked her mother who kept moaning in comfort.

“Mmmnh... yes, that's the spot right there, indeed something happened.”

When Lin heard his sister asking he became nervous and worried because if she told Lily the truth then it will become very awkward in the coming days.

'Come on mom, you promised to keep it a secret' Lin was about to head outside and interrupt the conversation between Lily and his mom then he sighed in relief when he heard their mother continue speaking after a short pause. And her reply was : “But, that's something between... mmnh... me and Lin. why do you ask Lily?”

Lin rested his back on bed and looked at the golden ring on his finger while a wide smile began to form on his face.

'Safe, for now I guess. Lily, oh Lily, Lot of frustration will fill your belly, Just wait until you see, the huge surprise I have for yee. Keke, bitches get stitches, you alien slut.' he thought while making mental plans on how to distract Lily from that sensitive incident with his mother towards the topic of Jin Bao instead.

“Won't you tell me mommy? please! me and Lin are twins you know, that’s why we should know everything about one another.”

“No, sorry girl, not this one, I promised to keep it a secret, and I’ll keep it that way.”

“Stingy!”

“Tehehe... I’ll be taking a nap, so don't forget to take care of little Lao in my sleep. Oh! and... I expect the food to be ready when I wake-up, the laundry basket is right there next to the water tank. Thanks for the massage Lily, you're a good girl, mommy loves you very much.”

Lin bursted-out laughing in his room when he heard his mother's reply to Lily’s pleads for secretive information and felt sweet vindication fill his chest.

“Come Lao, let's go play in our room. Tsk.”

Giving her smiling mother one last glance of unwillingness Lily refrained from saying anymore then grabbed Lao's hand and walked away. She understood clearly that her attempt to make things difficult on Lin just backfired and her loss is the final result in this round! but in her opinion losing this battle doesn’t mean she lost the war.

Lily was planning on confronting Lin who managed to miraculously avoid her trap of humiliation! his following days are likely to be free unlike her who ended-up with too many responsibilities on her schedule in the next month.

“Oh! look who decided to finally show-up, remind me... parasite, is it babysitting time? or cooking time maybe? uh it's maid time then? go on... go on! don’t make get in the way while you change the sheets. Sorry, that wasn’t on the list huh! now I remember, you only collect dirty clothes to clean them. You’re awfully silent today, so very unlike my cheerful sister! you know what? I’ll totally keep my distance while you turn the bleak atmosphere of this room livelier, just make sure to teach little Lao all the good stuff.”

Lin stepped all over Lily's face because of what she tried to do earlier and enjoyed watching her gritting her teeth and frown more after hearing all his cynical remarks.

“Oy! shitty sage of nowhere, remember that you lost the bet. So you better accept your loss like a man, or I’ll make dad really angry at you, he might just give you a couple rounds of spanking whenever he sees your face.”

Lily used the losing card on Lin which was the last card in her hand on this round! unfortunately for her right now Lin didn't care about the liquor in the wine-cellar at all.

“I accept my loss, now... is there anything else? my dear parasite.”

Lin was calm in the face of provocation from his sister and fueled Lily’s displeasure with his counter provocation instead while decorating his face with a grin.

“Hrmm... what happened?”

Lily felt something different with her brother and asked him after she hugged his neck! she liked this defiant attitude from Lin and kept herself close to his body to anger him because he never liked it when she got touchy-feely with him.

“Oh! nothing happened. Only... dreams come true, sometimes that is.”

Lin unusually responded to Lily’s bold move by hugging her waist with his left arm then raised his right hand in front of her face and very quickly he made the ring appear on his finger before making it disappear while he spoke.

“Huh!...”

Lily's eyes enlarged in obvious shock and her curiosity was peaked to maximum in a split second! she snatched Lin's right hand and kept turning it face-up and face-down in confusion for a while and tried very hard to figure it out on her own because magic tricks wouldn't be able to elude her eyes especially from this close distance.

She’s a hundred-percent sure of what she just saw on Lin’s hand just earlier. Ring! a gold ring to be specific but it disappeared just like that. How can it disappear? that’s impossible to happen and she just confirmed if it’s an illusion by squeezing every inch on Lin’s right hand by herself and there’s nothing close to the word solid on it except for the bones.

“What did you do? where's that ring? where did you find it? how can you make it disappear like that?”

Lily pushed Lin on his chest and repeatedly asked but that’s a clear sign of surrendering between the siblings with superior intellects.

“Uwah! such a violent girl, don't hit me.”

While acting playful Lin jumped on his bed to avoid Lily's reach when he spoke.

“You're... not allowed, to run from answering, this one. Hnnngh... now speak, huff, huff... I’m out of breath already!”

Lily chased Lin for a while and finally succeeded in pushing his body underneath hers! After mounting his belly she asked from her dominant position but she was gasping for air.

“You're just a naughty girl who’s always misbehaving! why should I tell you? maybe you'll cause more mischief and trouble for me if I do. Only if you give me a lifelong promise of true obedience, only then will I let you on this secret. And believe me when I say this Lily, this thing which I discovered... is showing promise and enough potential already, for a future much more fun than what we both got to experience in that previous life.”

Lin willingly made the ring appear again when he spoke and even let Lily take it off of his finger! then he commanded the ring to disappear and it vanished from her hand and returned to his ring-finger again which made Lily gawk in shock when she saw the ring that was in her hand just now appear on Lin's finger.

“Just what in hell’s name... is that ring exactly?”

Lily was extremely excited about this strange item! and overwhelmed by curious sensation just like a cat following a dot of light on the floor. She refused to let it out of her sight and her eyes followed Lin’s right hand wherever it was.

“Are you in? or... are you out? obedience or disobedience? just tell me when you’re comfortable! there’s no rush, I’ll be just a few steps ahead. Like always, hehe.”

Lin smiled while watching the pigtails on his sister's head sway to show how excited she’s and offered again with unhurried attitude but the last provocative phrase made Lily’s eyes squint slightly because she understood the underlying meaning which hinted that "the longer she thought this matter through then she’ll allow Lin to have a much more comfortable head-start advantage before her" since Lin is an individual who’s always advocating fairness in all sorts of competition it would be stupid if she stubbornly refused to grab the opportunity right here and now.

“En. I’ll be good, I promise. Now tell me everything.”

Lily let her body fall next to her brother on bed and hugged his right hand which had the ring on visible mode and asked. Something that's more fun than what happened before in Lin’s previous life can't be a small matter at all.

“Inside it there's a person called Jin Bao, he’s a cultivator...”

Lin started to tell Lily everything about that ring. how he found it and what Jin Bao said to him about martial-spirit awakening, meditation, soul-force.

“Such a thing exists in this world, really unexpected. Uh! that acrobatic stunt which you did earlier with Sun, how did you teach him these tricks.”

Lily remembered the co-ordinated moves Lin performed with Sun and asked while she tightly hugged her big brother’s waist.

“I discovered that Sun's mental capabilities exceed normal animals, you see... in the very beginning, he was really stubborn and kept refusing to do what I wanted him to do...”

Then Lin started to teach the amazed Lily about the discoveries he found in Sun after the training progressed.

“No wonder why I felt like Moon is being a dummy whenever she’s with Sun! seeing her just following behind her big brother everywhere he goes did make me angry sometimes. No! I need to teach her to be smart too, or your pet might take advantage of mine if I let this continue.”

Lily was startled by this second unexpected discovery today and got up to find Moon after she spoke! unaware that this topic will actually happen sometime in the future and poor Lin will literally barge in when it happens and he'll suffer the consequences of the act his beast-companion committed.

“Don't forget to meditate Lily, that whole thing wouldn't happen unless we awaken our martial-spirit.”

Lin reminded his sister before she left and shook his head at her lackluster response but he wasn't worried about a thing. Lily might seem outwardly careless but she’s someone who’s mindful of what to do and when plus how to take care of herself while not forgetting to take care of her family.

“Well, let my first meditation session begin.”

Lin sat cross-legged and tried to reach the optimum-state of inner peace which hermits always mentioned in his previous life.

“Ka... ba... bam... bew... bew... Aaah... champion... Lao... da...”

Little Lao was a few meters away from Lin and playing with his toys and having a blast.

'Who would be able to meditate next to that noise?' Lin thought while his mouth kept twitching at the corner.

“Little Lao... why don’t you draw something with your colors instead of playing with your toys? okay? try and draw mommy and daddy, make mommy a beautiful drawing little champion, that will make her happy.”

Lin just knew that this can’t go on any longer and got up to stop his younger brother from being a pain in his ass and gave Lao some colors and papers to draw instead.

“giggle... Lao... champion...”

Smiling at his little brother’s innocence, Lin nodded then went back to sit cross-legged to continue meditating.

“Tear... tear... crunch... crack...”

“Graah... Lao... champion... boom...”

Just a few seconds after he closed his eyes Lin started hearing Lao tearing the paper sheets to shreds and breaking the color sticks to pieces.

'Fuck... this one certainly inherited lots of barbaric genes from dad' Lin thought while getting up to stop his brother from causing any more havoc in the room.

“Time to sleep little-champ, it's getting late.”

“Hug... Lin... hug...”

Lao got up on shaky legs and practically threw himself on Lin while asking his big-brother to cuddle him while yawning after sleep was mentioned.

“Come little Lao, let me tuck you in bed.”

Sighing. Lin decided on the first rule of meditation just there and then! it has to be done away from Lao because he couldn't remove the distractions his little-brother caused even once.