After talking for a little bit more, Hao finally understood what had just happened and why they were here.
Feeling ashamed, he promptly apologized for his earlier rudeness, acknowledging that Ash and Aetherion had come with good intentions.
Meanwhile, Ash noticed Aetherion behaving strangely ever since he first laid eyes on Hao. Curiosity got the better of him. "What's wrong with him?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He might be a promising candidate," Aetherion replied thoughtfully, glancing at Ash with an amused smile. "Of course, if he can bear the pain from the training, that is."
"Why not fully heal him first?" Ash suggested with a concerned frown.
"There's no need. If he can't handle this much pain, then he won't survive the training anyway," Aetherion chuckled, then looked at Hao with a smile. "Do you want to become stronger my way? Or the normal way?"
"What's the difference?" Hao asked curiously.
"My method is far quicker and more effective," Aetherion explained seriously. "But the catch is, the pain will be unbearable, and failure could mean death."
Hao hesitated momentarily before asking, "Is it really worth the risk?"
"Absolutely." Aetherion replied with a smile.
"Okay then, I'll be in your care from now on." Hao nodded.
"Good choice." Aetherion patted his head softly, then looked at Ash. "Let's go!"
"Sir, what about his injuries? Shouldn't we apply medicine first?" Grandpa Lu? she asked nervously.
"That won't be necessary. I'll train him immediately right after filling his stomach to the fullest." Aetherion waved his hand, and all of them immediately appeared in front of a rundown restaurant near the slum.
"Wow! How did we suddenly appear here?" Xiao Mei exclaimed, eyes wide with excitement. Seeing Hao levitating in midair, she called out, amazed, "Brother Hao, you're flying!"
"Me too, me too! Can I fly too, pleaseee??" Xiao Mei begged cutely to Aetherion, but he only rolled his eyes and ignored her.
When Ash noticed that Xiao Mei was suddenly saddened, Ash shook his head helplessly and waved his hand. "Do it!"
Li Jian only glanced at Xiao Mei, and the little girl immediately flew beside Hao, moving around excitedly.
After sitting at a table by the window on the second floor, Ash asked Xiao Mei beside her as he patted her head. "Why did you choose this place?"
"Because this is the place where our family usually ate when Dad and Mom were still alive." Xiao Mei replied with a sad expression before crying when she remembered about her deceased parents.
Ash immediately consoled her, petting her hair softly. "Xiao Mei, don't cry, okay?"
He paused for a second, then continued. "Did you know food tastes better when you're happy? Crying only makes it lose flavor. Instead of remembering sad things, focus on good memories."
"Really?" Xiao Mei sobbed softly as she stopped crying and looked at Ash with an innocent look.
"Naturally." Ash replied with a smile.
…
After chattering for a little more, Ash ordered so many dishes that he literally filled the entire table with them.
Xiao Mei drooled unknowingly when she looked at the dishes in front of her, having not had such a lavish meal for a while, around 2 years to be exact.
"Go ahead and eat as much as you like. What are you waiting for?" Ash chuckled, patting her little head softly.
Xiao Mei instantly swept up her saliva and grabbed as much of the food as she could. She ate them so quickly that it was as if she was afraid that they were going to be eaten by the others.
"Take your time, no one is going to steal your food." Ash patted her hair with a smile.
"Are you certain you want to keep her with you?" Aetherion asked him through their connection, which surprised Ash, thinking that there must be something more than the eyes could meet with Xiao Mei.
"What's wrong with her?" Ash raised an eyebrow.
"What if I told you that she carries an extremely high level of bad luck? Meaning that having her beside you might get you into countless trouble in the future, to the point that it might cost your life." Aetherion asked with a calm smile.
Ash frowned when he heard it, seemingly in deep thoughts for a while before letting out a long sigh.
"You know my past, Aeth. If Laura and Lukas's parents hadn't taken me in, I would've died from hunger. They didn't hesitate to help me back then." Ash smiled bitterly.
He paused for a second, then continued. "And looking at their situation, which reminded me of them and myself at that time, you want me to ignore them just like this? Now that you mentioned bad luck, maybe because of my bad luck, their parents got into a car accident and died from it."
Ash instantly became sad when he remembered about the fact that their parents' death could basically be said to be because of him.
That's why he genuinely loved Laura and Lucas so much that he felt he owed his life to them.
Aetherion laughed and waved his hand reassuringly as he explained. "Even though she does carry an extremely high level of bad luck, her good luck is at such an enormous level that it's higher than her bad luck."
After pausing for a sec, Aetherion continued. "Albeit she was basically like a walking disaster, sometimes her good luck does wonders. Because of that, I asked her to choose the place, in case you get lucky by coming here, who knows?"
"No wonder you let her choose the place." Ash rolled his eyes, then frowned when he realized something. "Nothing good has happened yet, maybe her good luck hasn't triggered or something?"
"Maybe? We'll see." Aetherion smirked as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Now that you mention about luck, was the reason you did not grant her wish when she wanted to fly because you don't want to get complicated by it?" Ash asked, noticing when Aetherion didn't reply to Xiao Mei's request before.
"More or less." Aetherion smiled calmly.
"If that's the case, isn't that going to be dangerous to Laura and Lukas in the future?" Ash asked with a serious expression.
"Well, there's a way so it won't affect the others, but it would be tied to you instead. Do you dare to bear it?" Aetherion smiled mockingly.
Ash thought for a second before sighing softly. "No problem."
"It's settled then, but we'll do that later on." Aetherion chuckled.
Watching the gluttony side of Xiao Mei, Ash suddenly thought of his siblings in his previous life, especially Laura since she was also a little gluttonous.
Sigh!
'I hope they will be okay and won't be too sad when they find out about my death.'
Thinking about his siblings, Ash unknowingly recalled his good memory with his siblings on the day before he died in his previous life.
…