The escapees scurried to the side of the closest house and started to cast Hearing Enhancement. The two held their ringer fingers inward and pressed their index and middle fingers on the area of their heads behind the ears, then tapped the tip of their ringer fingers and the two knuckles above it with their thumbs. As the siblings closed their eyes, two short waves of diminutive ripples unrolled from the tip of Wongtao's middle and index fingers. As always, not a blow of air was found around Aitao's fingers. She could sense that she had failed again, similar to her attempt at learning many other hexes. Her tutor and mother always told her it was fine and she was just too young, and her brother never held back on mocking her. Knowing he only did it jokingly, Aitao still felt like she was no more than a burden of responsibility to her brother. Despite his sister's feelings, Wongtao couldn't care less. He was aware that his sisters and brothers would live an easy life without work or pressure. Only the eldest child would inherit the throne; that was him, the crown prince.
Hearing Enhancement allowed Wangtao to detect and identify almost all the sounds in his 40-meter radius equally clearly when he was holding his fingers in place. Thousands of noises began flooding into his mind the moment after activating the hex:
The servant in the house they were next to just scratched his butt; a night guard 20 meters away was moving farther away while different pieces of his armor repeatedly bumping into each other; two servants were having sex in the room 24 meters away; Jiantao was still crying; a bird just entered the hex range; a patrolman just slipped 32 meters away; two servants were chatting in the house 18 meters away; one servant was snoring 21 meters away; and more; and more; and more.
Most of the sounds just slid through before Wongtao could ever catch them. All the information overloaded his brain and stunned him for a second. Within that extra second, hundreds of more noises rushed into Wangtao's mind, causing a spurt of blood from his nose. The little sister quickly held her brother by his shoulders and stopped him from falling to the ground while Wongtao limited the hex range to 10 meters in his mind.
Seeing her brother could finally support his own body, Aitao frowned and tried to look her brother in the eyes, denoting her worry. She suddenly remembered that her tutor had refused to teach her Hearing Enhancement, saying it was too dangerous. She didn't really take her tutor's words seriously until her brother bled in front of her.
Wongtao lightly closed his eyes to dodge his sister's tender sight as his sister wiped off the blood on his face using her bare palm. Although not showing it on his face, Wongtao was profoundly annoyed by Aitao's actions. He disliked the fact that he almost screwed himself up, and he hated the feeling of his own mistake affecting others psychologically or physically.
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Wongtao turned away from Aitao and prepared to get going. Before he could make a step forward, Aitao hugged him from behind. She could not sense her brother's bad temper, but she understood that a hug between family members could solve any conflict. Wongtao closed his eyes, having all his annoyance melted by his lovely sister, his sister.
The hug lasted dozens of seconds before Aitao eventually loosened her hold. Wongtao didn't turn back to see his sister, and Aitao didn't expect her brother to give any actual response. They were too close for any explanation or elaboration. They both knew that the other was satisfied. They just knew.
With the power of Hearing Enhancement, Wongtao could "view" his surroundings like a gameboard and everyone around him like pieces. However, the hex didn't grant him the ability to predict where they were heading or where to hide from their sight. It was entirely through talent, training, and experience that Wongtao brought himself and his sister to one of the two royal kitchens. They passed through a few offices and cottages of courtiers without raising any attention. Most of the courtiers were sleeping since it was already in the middle of the night. Some were yet not resting. The crown prince always liked to hear some politics and gossip on his way to the kitchen, although most high-position officials had hexes to block his ability. He still received some tattles: This advisor was arguing with that one; a minister lost his pet; that department got all the files mixed up; which official was a total asshole.
The siblings eventually arrived at the royal kitchen. The kitchen was a bit bigger than their mother's bedroom. There were different sizes of maroon pots throughout the kitchen. About half of these pots were just storing various kinds of liquor. The rest varied: three pots of almonds, six pots of salted lettuce, two pots of chestnuts, five pots of dried spinach……, and three pots of pork jerky in which the two were searching.
While Wongtao was reaching his hand into the cashew pot through the ajar opening of the lid, his sister found the jerky pot in a corner. Aitao beckoned like a hummingbird flapping its wings. "Che di! Che di! (Here! Here!)" she whispered excitedly, putting a slice in her mouth.
Quickly shoving a handful of cashews in his mouth, Wongtao walked steadily to the pot. He had passed the age of being exhilarated by food. Aitao, holding the slice she was chewing in one hand, extended her other hand to her brother, offering him a slice as he approached, "Yo qin nian shi wi huai qiu gao, pu zan wo tei mang zi. (I am only going to take one slice today, or I will die from fatness.)"
Aitao used to fill her full mouth and take as much as possible when she first came to the kitchen with her brother, but the consequences had her regretting in merely a few months. After working extra hard to regain her slender and lean waist, she limited her maximum consumption to three slices a day. More importantly, eating jerky every day really made the taste less delicious than before. Despite that, she enjoyed the little daily adventure. The part that mattered was the adventure itself, not the goal.
Holding his jerky in his mouth, Wongtao began guiding themselves back to Wuan Gou Guang with Hearing Enhancement. This time, he cast it perfectly by turning down the hex range immediately after the casting. They bypassed cottages again on their way back, and Wongtao eavesdropped as much as usual. Nevertheless, he abruptly stopped next to one of the houses. His sister bumped into him in confusion while he listened with all his attention.