"Shouchuang?"
The words caused a feeling to arise deep inside Pearl. The voice alone gave him vague mories, but the words… that word gave him a mory of a past that had long since gone from his mind.
He rembered when he first heard the words. It was during the ti when he had been struggling inside the blood pool where he underwent the ritual to evolve into a White Tiger.
He did not know what the word ant at all, but this word had been spoken back then.
Shouchaung.
'You must survive, Shouchuang!'
The hint of mory returned again and with it a thunderous roaring sound. Pearl shook his head but he could still rember it.
'Survive and Live!'
He had forgotten those words once he was done with the ritual, but now he rembered it again. Who had been that person? It did not sound like a woman's voice at all.
"You… are Shouchuang, right?"
The White Cat looked perplexed and even started tearing up.
"Mother," Pearl said slowly. "You… recognize ?"
"You're really my Shouchuang!"
Shi iyoung had the biggest smile on her face even as tears flowed down her cheek. She moved and arrived in front of Pearl in an instant and took him in a hug.
She laid her head on Pearl's body and held him tightly.
Pearl didn't know what to do at all, but the familiar feeling he got from being taken into a hug made him want to cry. He reached around with one of his arms too and hugged her.
Tears started flowing through his eyes as well.
Shi iyoung choked a little on her own tears as she finally let Pearl go and looked at him all throughout. "Look at you, you're so grown up, Shouchuang. I can't believe you really are my son."
"How did you recognize?" Pearl asked.
Shi iyoung gave a small smile. "Of course I would recognize you, you're my son," she said as she stroked his head with her paws. "Also, you are the last mory I have of right now, so seeing you I recognized you imdiately. I would never not realize who you are, Shouchuang."
"Shouchuang…" Pearl spoke slowly. "Is that… my na?"
Shi iyoung gave a weird look. "Of course," she said. "Is that… not what you are called now?"
"I was young when you… when you died," Pearl said. "I did not know what I was supposed to be called at all. So I was nad Pearl."
"Pearl?" Shi iyoung asked. "That's not a bad na I suppose."
She continued stroking Pearl's head as the two looked at each other. "How many years has it been since I died?" she asked. "I… did die, did I not? This does not feel like my soul at all."
"70 years, more or less," Alex answered from the side.
"70 years…" Shi iyoung said and finally looked away from Pearl. Her eyes fell on Bai Jingshen and she finally let go of Pearl.
"Who might you be?" she asked.
"Do you not recognize ?" Bai Jingshen asked.
"Not really," Shi iyoung said with a slightly rueful smile. "I only know that my grandfather is a White Tiger, but he has long since died, so I do not know who you are."
"I did not die, child," Bai Jingshen said. He stepped toward Shi iyoung, along with the other 7 beasts, and stopped when he was right in front of her.
"It is ," he said. "I am Bai Jingshen, your grandfather."
Shi iyoung's eyes went wide in shock. "You are?" she asked, unable to believe it. "But you were supposed to be… I was told you were…"
"Whoever told you this was mistaken. That is not their fault, everyone believed I had died," Bai Jingshen said as he kissed her forehead. "I never thought the cub I saw back then would be so grown up."
Shi iyoung gave a look of surprise. "We've t before?" she asked.
"Of course," Bai Jingshen said. "Did your mother not tell you? That is when you got your bloodline."
"Oh!" Shi iyoung said. "I… wasn't aware. She did tell there was a secret to my bloodline, but never told what it was."
"I see," Bai Jingshen said. "She must have done it for a reason then. That matters not at the mont. Here, et your Grandmother."
Ren Xiao was already in shambles with tears streaming down her face nonstop. Before Shi iyoung could even turn around, the large cat was already hugging her deeply.
Alex watched from the side as the reunion brought a tear to his eyes as well. Once Ren Xiao talked with Shi iyoung, the others approached and started talking to her as well.
Shi iyoung was beyond happy to et the entire family. Not only was her son still alive, he had grown up, and now she got to et her grandfather whom she had heard so much about, as well as her grandmothers.
It was a while before she questioned how any of this was even possible.
The group explained what was happening, and how they had brought her back to life. By the ti they explained it all, Shi iyoung understood that this was sothing temporary.
In fact, this wasn't even her at all. What she was now was just a fragnt of a mory the core rembered of her being. Still, even with all that, she was happy.
She was so very happy to see her child grow up to beco what she had always hoped he would be.
Shi iyoung turned to look at Alex finally. "You're not the young man I t, are you? You look nothing like him," she said.
"Ah, that was ," Alex said quickly. "I looked different back then."
Due to the ga 'character creation' system, he had indeed looked a lot different than what his original body was back then, and that was all the white cat had known.
"You rember that day?" Alex asked her.
"Vaguely," she said. "I rember being hurt and eting a young man who tried to protect despite being wounded himself. I don't rember much aside from that, but I must have asked you to take care of my son. Thank you for not abandoning him when he was a child."
"Of course," Alex said. "I promised you I would, so I did. It is only right."
"Still, you do not know how happy I am right now to learn that my child is not only alive, but doing well. He's even managed to beco a White Tiger," she said proudly.
Pearl gave a wide grin.
"I hear you can do this with any beast whose core you get?" Shi iyoung asked Alex.
"Um, yes," Alex said. "As long as the beast is above Saint Transformation realm, it should be possible."
"That is not a problem," the White Cat said as she put on a saddened face. "Shouchuang's father must have died by now. If you can sohow get your hands on his core, please help Pearl et him. I'm sorry to make another request so soon, but this one I must beg of you."
"No, no, I will do it," Alex said. "Just tell us who he is, and we'll do our best."
"Who he is?" Shi iyoung gave a weird look. "Do you not know?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Shouchuang's father is Qing Tianchui," she said. "Ruler of the Eastern Continent, the Azure Dragon."
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