7. Following Her
Meridians are a network of chi pathways scattered throughout the body. If blood has a blood circulation network, and nerves have nerve networks, then energy also has its own network, it's called meridians.
When one wanted to use the ninja arts, spiritual energy would be channeled into the middle dantian where it would later be converted to universal energy. After that, universal energy will be channeled to chakra points before being channeled to meridians throughout the body to perform ninja arts.
Too bad, since Ji Long's entire meridians were blocked, he couldn't channel his energy properly.
However, even though his meridians were blocked, it didn't mean that he couldn't use ninja arts at all. Only, he could perform the lowest level of ninja arts.
Ji Long tried to imitate the hand seals he had seen before. He also circulated spiritual energy to the middle dantian, then to the chakra points. Then…
"Ninja art, transformation!"
But nothing happened.
"Ugh. Wrong hand seal?" Ji Long muttered.
Then, he tried again using different hand seals over and over. But, he still failed.
"Aghh!!!" Ji Long scratched his head in annoyance.
On the other hand, Ji Hao who heard and sensed what his son was doing was confused. He wondered what technique his son wanted to learn. But then, he shook his head and let his son do whatever he wanted to.
— — — — —
6 years later.
Ji Long was already 12 years old after 4 years had passed. Even though Ji Long was scorned by the Ji clan clansmen because of his poor talent, his appearance still attracted girls of both the same age and older.
He has crimson eyes with three dots in each iris, pale skin, and black hair reaching below his shoulders. His hair is partially pulled back in a braided half ponytail.
His appearance, from the eyes, nose, and eyebrows, to the mouth, was inherited from his mother. While his black hair is inherited from his father.
One day, Ji Long and his younger sister were sparring behind their residence with their mother, Ji Yuling, watching over them.
Ji Yuling could see that Ji Feng was superior in terms of strength. But, she couldn't land a hit on Ji Long. Instead, Ji Long's counterattack was too precise as his attacks always landed on her nerves.
Ji Feng had already reached the second level of the Life Energy realm, whereas Ji Long was still stuck at the peak of the Qi Condensation realm. Even so, with Ji Long's fighting experience in his previous life, he was still far ahead of Ji Feng.
Ji Feng gasped out of breath.
"Brother, how come I couldn't land a hit on you?"
"Your attacks are too reckless as usual. Why don't you try to relax a bit? If your mind is calm, you can feel what your opponent will do. Then, you can move accordingly while preparing for a counterattack." Ji Long replied.
While they were conversing, Ji Yuling's expression didn't look so good as if she had something in her mind.
"The promised time has come, what to do?" Ji Yuling muttered. She glanced at her children with a complicated expression. Except for herself, no one understood what was on her mind.
At that moment.
"Mother." Ji Long called out to her. But, she didn't respond. He called her once more.
Ji Yuling woke up from her daze.
"Ah, what is it, Long'er?"
"Your complexion isn't that good. If you're sick, you can just rest, mother!"
"That's right, mother. You don't need to accompany us."
Ji Long advised his mother because he was worried about her condition. And Ji Feng also agreed with what his brother said.
Ji Yuling approached her children, then rubbed their hair together as she also put a smile on her face.
"Don't worry. I'm alright. It's time to eat, what would you like to eat?"
"Meat!"
"Fish soup!"
Ji Long and Ji Feng answered simultaneously. Then, Ji Yuling led them to the kitchen.
After seeing his mother leading the way, Ji Long had an odd feeling toward his mother. He suspected that his mother was hiding something important and that no one knew about it. Still, she was his mother, so he shook his head to get rid of his hunch.
— — — —
In the middle of the night, Ji Long was still awake due to an odd feeling. And sure enough, he heard soft footsteps coming from his mother's room.
"Clear Mirror, Still Water." Ji Long muttered. And then, his figure disappeared.
Slowly, he tried to peek outside. His gaze captured the figure of his mother who was sneaking out of the house while carrying some luggage. He frowned. He didn't frown because of his mother's behavior, but because he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.
He wanted to ask why. But, looking at her behavior, he knew it was impossible to get the answer. In the end, Ji Long quietly followed her.
Ji Yuling moved swiftly and avoided the eyes of the people adeptly.
"Damn it. She's too fast." Ji Long knew that her mother was so strong. But, he didn't think that his mother hurriedly got out of the city.
Seeing that, Ji Long immediately jumped on the roof, then swiftly dashed following his mother. Due to his skill, no one in the city noticed him.
When Ji Yuling was already outside the city, she looked back, as if looking at the city she had lived in for many years for the last time. She reminisced about her past, living with her beloved husband and children made her feel blessed, yet also made her heartache.
"Ji Hao, Long'er, Feng'er, I'm sorry."
After she said that, she immediately dashed toward the direction of the Siming Forest which was south of Jiaxing City.
The Siming Forest is a forest that is known for its death rate because there are many high-level spiritual beasts, especially if one goes deeper into it.
Ji Long couldn't catch up with his mother at all due to the huge difference in their strength. Luckily Ji Long was equipped with experience from his previous life that he could detect his mother's faint footsteps just because his mother didn't notice that someone was following her.
"Why did mother leave even though she didn't look like she wanted to leave us? Did something happen to her family? In the first place, I don't know what her family is like." Ji Long asked inwardly, pondering why her mother left reluctantly. And it seemed she kept it a secret from Ji Long's father.
Looking at the sky that had started to brighten, one could say that Ji Long had followed in her tracks from midnight to dawn without a rest.
For the sake of knowing the secret that his mother was hiding, and even though he was starting to get tired, he endured it.
"Damn! I lost track of her." Ji Long grumbled.
He looked around, he didn't know the exact location at that moment. What is certain, he is in the depths of the Siming forest and the location is so dangerous for humans. Especially a kid his age.
Supposedly, his skill made the spiritual beasts unable to feel his presence. Well, some spiritual beasts could sense him by instinct or smell, but he always avoided them with ease.
Since Ji Long had gone deep into the forest, he couldn't back down. Moreover, he seemed to have lost his way to go back home.
"Well, I'll try my luck."
Ji Long walked into the depths to look for his mother while following the direction his mother had walked before.
After carefully walking for about two hours, he found a track.
"There!"
Ji Long immediately dashed in a certain direction. Not long after, he found his mother and some people. But, those people's appearances seemed different from humans.
Their skin color is pale white, red eyes, and also a pair of horns on each of their heads.
"Huh? What's their relationship with my mother? They're not like ordinary humans. Who are they? Don't tell me, mother was threatened by them?"
Ji Long tried to approach them slowly and carefully in the desire to see their appearance clearly.
At that moment, one of them noticed the oddness in his surroundings. Without warning, that person took out the sword and thrust it which released energy toward Ji Long.
"Crap!"
Ji Long moved his body reflexively to avoid the energy being released toward him. Still, because of how fast the energy was, it pierced through his body before he could avoid it.
*Splatter.*