"Uggh!... Sigh!... This isn't a new feeling." Furong complained with pain.

He slowly opened his eyes which instantly got big and round from shock!

He saw the face of a girl who seemed to be around the age of ten staring at him with concern.

The girl is fair with beautiful almond eyes. Have sharp eyebrows curved from one end of the eye to the other end, perfectly balanced.

Her nose is of perfect shape; her lips are rosy pink and soft.

She has long, shiny black hair which is tied into a bun adorned with a long jade-green pin.

"Ah!" The girl suddenly exclaimed.

She then shouted, calling for someone. "Grandpa! She's awake. Grandpa..."

'She?... Sigh!... This isn't something new as well.' Furong thought, shaking his head.

"Pffft..." Xingzuo giggled.

No one heard Xingzuo except Furong since he's communicating with him via Divine Sense.

"What are you laughing at? I want to see what you look like after hatching. I will laugh my head off then." Furong scolded Xingzuo via Divine Sense.

"You won't get a chance. I look similar to a Dragon, isn't it cool. I will see how you make fun of me." Xingzuo said.

Furong rolled his eyes secretly and thought. 'We will see when the time comes, I will laugh at you even if you look cool as fuck! Who cares? Humph!'

Then ignoring the rude Behemoth Egg, Furong shifted his attention to his surroundings.

He noticed he's inside a room, lying on a soft bed. His clothes have changed from the jungle style to proper t-shirt and trousers.

All he could recall is till the moment he fell down from a high ground being chased by a pair of Horn Wolves, after that it's all blank.

Looking around the room and at the girl's concerned face he is at least sure that he has been rescued by someone and the people here don't seem to be hostile to him.

At least these strangers are the saviour of his life.

"Little Ling(sound of jade), I told you it's a 'he' and not a 'she'. The child is a boy." A deep voice of man sounded, with the voice, the door of the room opened and two men entered the room. The leading man is old, about the age of 60 and the other one looks middle aged.

Both men have black hair tied in a topknot. The old man wore a somewhat blue hanfu while the middle aged man was wearing a brown hanfu.

Little Ling stuck out her tongue and then playfully pouted. "It's not my fault, he's just sooo beautiful." Saying this she pinched the lying Furong's little nose while she's sitting beside him on the bed.

"What are you doing? The child is injured, don't disturb his rest." The old man tried to give an angry look but couldn't due to how much he adored the Little Girl.

"Well, stand aside, let Doctor Sheng diagnose the child." The old man said.

Little Ling carefully got up from the bed and stood beside the old man holding his arm.

"Please Doctor." The old man respectfully gestured to the middle aged man to diagnose the little boy.

The middle aged man nodded. "Don't worry Great General Zhu, I will do my utmost." He humbly smiled.

The Doctor Sheng pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down. He opened his medical kit and placed it on another chair.

He pulled out Furong's right hand and placed two fingers on the wrist.

Furong felt something enter his body but couldn't clarify what it was. He didn't pry too far so as not to end up doing something weird. His Physical Body is quite unique after all. It's better to avoid people knowing about it.

The Doctor's face showed signs of relief which later turned into confusion and soon into that of worry then disappointment.

"Sigh!..." Doctor Sheng shook his head with disappointment. He gently let go of Furong's hand.

"What's the matter, Doctor Sheng, are there any issues with the child's health?" The old man instantly asked with worry.

"Well, there is nothing to worry about the child's health. He will be all fine and healthy after taking some medicines and a few days of proper rest." Doctor Sheng slowly said.

"Then..." The old man asked worriedly.

"It's just that after checking his body with my Qi I found out that he is unable to Cultivate." "Such a beautiful child but such a misfortune." Doctor Sheng shook his head.

"I see..." The old man also seemed dejected.

"Grandpa..." Watching her grandfather suddenly looking sad, the little girl shook his arm with worry.

The old man or Great General Zhu quickly recovered his expression and gently rubbed the little girl's head, with a gentle smile he said. "Everything is fine Little Ling. You take care of the child, I will see Doctor Sheng off."

After that both the men left the room leaving the two children alone.

Walking through the hallway, leading Doctor Sheng to the main gate, Great General Zhu asked. "Does it have something to do with the injuries or is it by birth?"

"It seems to be from birth. I channeled my Essence Qi through his veins passing through his dantian. As you know even though he is just a child who hasn't started Cultivating Martial Arts yet, his dantian still should be capable of holding Essence Qi for a moment of time before letting it go." Doctor Sheng explained his diagnosis.

"But for that child… The strand of Essence Qi never stayed in the dantian even for a split second, the Qi just vanished without a trace, really strange... Sigh!" Doctor Sheng sighed.

Ehem! Just to avoid any confusion. The Human Race is only capable of holding a special type of Qi inside their dantian, it's called Essence Qi. For the formation of Essence Qi, human beings convert the Spiritual Qi from the air during Cultivation.

Further explanation of Qi will be provided in future chapters. So till then I ask you to please be patient.

... Now picking up from where we left.

"Well maybe it's the reason why the child was abandoned inside that dangerous Tartarus Forest. The parents must have been poor and wanted to get rid of the child since he couldn't even Cultivate Martial Arts. Unfortunately, it's quite a common occurrence. Sigh!" Great General Zhu also shook his head with disappointment.

"What? You mean that child was left inside the Tartarus Forest? That Tartarus Forest which is filled with high ranked Spiritual Beasts?" Doctor Sheng asked in utter shock.

Great General Zhu nodded with affirmation. "I was sent there by His Majesty to look for a certain medicinal herb. We found the child being chased by Horn Wolves when we ourselves were fighting a pack of it."

"The child suddenly fell off a high ground and fell unconscious, we somehow managed to get him out of there and I took him home."

"Siiiiii... To be hunted by Horn Wolves and still be alive. The child is really very lucky. But..." Doctor Sheng sucked in cold air from his amazement but he still couldn't ignore the fact that Furong can't Cultivate Martial Arts.

"Well he is still a child, maybe things will get better in the future. Even if it's known to be impossible to recover from such birth defects, there's always miracles happening out there." Great General Zhu said with hope.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

The duo soon reached the main gate of the manor and Doctor Sheng rode his palanquin towards the Castle.

Yes! Doctor Sheng is a Royal Physician. And Great General Zhu is none other than the head of the Ministry of War or Defence of the Ming Dynasty.

Our protagonist is now in a Lower Realm where the continents are ruled by Emperors and Kings. There's war going on everyday somewhere in this world.

But even in a world where there are Emperors and Kings, the Martial Artists are still given utmost respect. In some areas they are even more respected than the rulers.

After bidding farewell to Doctor Sheng, Great General Zhu went back to the room where Furong is being taken care of.

He has to find out more about the little beauty he has kidnapped... Ehem! Rescued.

...

With slow and steady steps, Great General Zhu reached the room where the two kids were having a nice chat. He stood in front of the door to inconspicuously listen to them chatting.

"Little Flower, where are you from? How old are you and... Are you really a boy?." Little Ling bombarded the little Furong with several questions while frowning.

She has again taken her seat on the bed beside Furong who is weakly lying covered in a blanket.

She is wearing a cyan hanfu with beautiful golden embroideries and a deep blue belt.

The little girl looked gorgeous.

"Eh... Elder Sister, please stop calling me Little Flower, didn't I just say my name is Furong." Furong begged.

Little Ling scratched her head. "But I like to call you like that. Doesn't your name 'Furong' mean 'Hibiscus'. It's a flower. So what's wrong with the way I call you?" Little Ling asked with innocent eyes.

Furong rolled his eyes. "I don't like it, so please just call me Furong." He said.

"No." Little Ling shook her head without any hesitation.

"But why?" Furong asked with slight irritation.

"Didn't I say? I like to call you Little Flower. Humph!" She puckered her small mouth, twisting her head to the side, she took the stance of a lady who has made her final decision.

"Er..." Furong is lost to the girl's stubbornness.

He never imagined that after being reborn, the first event of his life would be to receive a name full of girly charm.

'Isn't being thought to be a girl by anyone I meet for the first time already the worst case. And now this... Little Flower... What the fuck!' Furong grieved in his mind.

"Give up! It's better to not argue with females. Even more so, when the female has a stubborn attitude." Xingzuo suggested.

"Sigh!..." Furong gave up on arguing with the girl.

Slide!... With a sliding motion the door of the room opened.

Great General Zhu entered the room with a face full of smiles.

"What are you two doing? Are you guys getting along with each other?" Great General Zhu asked with a smile.

Then he poked the forehead of Little Ling. "Little girl, you are not bullying him are you?" He gently scolded.

Little Ling cutely pouted. "Why would I bully such a beautiful child? I never bully anyone."

"Yes, my Little Ling is a good girl indeed." Great General Zhu rubbed her head, messing up the hair.

"Ah, grandpa, my hair. You ruined my hair." She again pouted, rearranging the messed up hair with her tiny hands.

"Haha, go tell the chefs to prepare some food for the little child here. He was unconscious for half a day, he must be pretty hungry." Great General Zhu kindly said to Little Ling.

"Okay." Little Ling complied and zoomed out of the room towards the kitchen.

Great General Zhu shook his head while grinning. He enjoys the company of his playful granddaughter very much.

He then pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down on it.

"How are you feeling? Is anywhere uncomfortable? You were lucky enough to not suffer any life-threatening wounds. But still, the injuries you have are not small by any means. You should rest as much as possible." Great General Zhu said while caressing Furong's tiny head like a caring father.

"I am feeling alright now. Just... A little bit hungry." Furong said in a low voice with a slight smile.

"Good. Hunger is a sign of recovery going well, hahaha." Great General Zhu laughed.

"By the way kid, how old are you? And what's your name?" Great General Zhu asked.

"My name is Furong and my age... I guess five years old?" Furong replied with awkwardness.

"Are you asking me for your age? Haha. How will I know how old you are? Silly child." Great General Zhu again broke into laughter.

"Furong... The flower Hibiscus huh... Good name." Great General Zhu murmured while nodding his head.

"By the way, what were you doing at such a dangerous place? Common people don't even dare to get close to the Tartarus Forest but a child like you was roaming quite deep inside the forest." Great General Zhu asked.

"I..." Furong doesn't know how to answer this question.

He couldn't just say that he was teleported there by his masters after they forged a new Physical Body for him right?

Tearing a Space Tunnel already looked like a miracle to Furong who was just a Core Formation rank Cultivator in his past life. How will the people here react if he said the truth?

Probably they will just laugh it out as a joke from a five-year-old. Or may think of it as a nightmare due to the trauma caused by the environment of Tartarus Forest.

Well whatever it may be, it would be hard for them to believe.

"Well it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. It was quite insensitive of me to ask such questions in the first place." "It's quite common for people to leave their unwanted child inside some forests or flow them into rivers. That's how miserable the world is. Sigh!" Great General Zhu sighed with disappointment.

"You must have suffered, kid. Though no need to worry for now. You can live here as long as you want. At least stay till you are fully recovered." Great General Zhu said with a warm smile.

Furong smiled back and nodded slightly.

"Is Little Flower going to stay with us? So cool." Suddenly the door of the room opened and Little Ling arrived with a tray full of dishes.

Great General Zhu turned back and frowned. "Little Ling, why are you carrying the food? Where are the maids?"

"Er... The maids were busy with other work, grandpa, so I decided to carry the food myself. It would be quite bad to keep Little Flower hungry isn't it?" Little Ling said with a soft smile.

"Sigh!... Little Ling you are too kind-hearted. Only if your parents were still alive-" Great General Zhu grieved.

"Ah grandpa, please don't start talking about sad topics." Little Ling complained while putting the tray of dishes on the desk beside the bed, she didn't let Great General Zhu continue what he was saying.

"Little Flower let me help you get up, eat the food while it's still hot." Saying this Little Ling supported Furong to sit up on bed.

"Thankyou Elder Sister." Furong awkwardly replied.

He slid on the bed to get closer to the desk. The tray consists of several nutritional dishes like roasted fish, rice, salad, bird nest soup and some fried vegetables.

Furong drooled over the sight of proper food. After being reborn, all he had eaten was raw or roasted beast meat while surviving inside the Tartarus Forest. Also some weird herbs.

"Don't stare at the food so much, eat up before it gets cold." Little Ling said while taking her seat beside him on the bed.

Furong quickly picked up the chopsticks and gobbled up the food.

Little Ling and Great General Zhu smiled warmly looking at the beautiful little child eating with such fervour.

It didn't take long for Furong to stuff all the food into his tiny belly. He burped with satisfaction.

"How was it? Are you full? Need more?" Great General Zhu asked gently.

"No no no, it was more than enough. My belly is all round now." Furong hastily replied, patting his belly.

"Pffft..." Little Ling couldn't help but giggle at his cute behaviour.

"Well, it may sound weird to ask a five-year-old but, what are you going to do after this? I mean what will you do after you have completely recovered?" Great General Zhu asked Furong.

It's really a weird question to ask a five-year-old who shouldn't have much worldly knowledge. It's an age where he should be acting all mischievous and playful.

But lucky for Great General Zhu, it isn't weird to ask this question to the five-year-old in front of him. Our protagonist is five-year-old only physically.

"What will I do..." Furong suddenly bowed to Great General Zhu while sitting. "First let me thank you for saving my life. If you hadn't rescued me from those Horn Wolves, I would be dead by now." Furong humbly said.

"That's what I should do." Great General Zhu accepted the show of gratitude.

Furong raised his head staring at the ceiling. In a low voice he spoke. "As for what I will do... I guess I have to find a way of making a living. Working at some shops or serving as some servant is the most I can do with this small body of mine." Then he looked towards Great General Zhu and said with a smile. "Well that's only if people don't mind accepting a five-year-old as a worker."

"Fwooshh..." Great General Zhu breathed out hearing such a mature answer. He never expected such a small child to act in such a grown up manner.

"Don't you want to find your parents? I mean they may have abandoned you but that's because of their difficulties. If I provide them with some help-"

"I don't have any parents." Furong replied straight away without giving Great General Zhu any chance to continue.

"You don't have any parents? I mean you-you... Weren't you abandoned inside the Tartarus Forest by your parents?" Great General Zhu asked with shock.

"Tartarus Forest? Is it the forest where I was attacked by those Horn Wolves? Well I don't remember much but I found myself there a few days ago when I woke up from a coma." Furong answered with an innocent and confused face.

He tried his best to look like an ignorant and sorry child to avoid any suspicions or discrepancies and avoid being bombarded with any difficult to answer questions.

"Another coma..." Great General Zhu made a face like he understood everything. He sighed.

"Sniff! Sniff!..." Little Ling started to weep. She hugged Furong and caressed his small head. "Such a pitiful child."

Furong didn't know what to say, so he just accepted the consoling.

Also, being embraced in such a way gave him an inexplicable feeling of tenderness and warmth. He felt rather calm and peaceful. A feeling he has never experienced before.

Unknowingly Furong's eyes also got wet with tears.

'Maybe this is how it feels to be embraced by a mother.' Furong thought.

For someone who has never experienced the love of parents and family, let alone receive a single hug, this is a brand new feeling.

A feeling he has always longed for.