Celine had just come out of the space when, the moment she steadied herself, a figure rushed toward her like an arrow.
"Sister!"
Minoo looked up, her face breaking into a rare smile. The kind of attachment and happiness Celine had never seen before.
Her heart softened. She couldn't help but get off the car and gently stroke Minoo's hair.
Shenan, who had been chasing after them, glanced at his younger brother, then turned to Celine. "Little brother, I never saw you disappear or appear, but I always sense it first."
The power of the crystal core?
Everyone thought so. It was the only reasonable explanation.
Celine nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Shenan. "Big brother, how is your leg lately?"
Hearing this, Shenan looked down at his leg and smiled faintly.
"It hasn't hurt these days."
But Shenan didn't say that he still walked with a limp.
Although he tried hard to correct his steps, the fact remained: one leg was longer than the other.
Celine saw all this and said directly, "Big brother, let's go to the provincial city to check your leg."
As soon as she said this, the light in Shenan's eyes suddenly dimmed. His lips moved but he didn't answer immediately.
It wasn't that he didn't want to. He was afraid.
This suggestion was like a stone thrown into still water, stirring ripples in his heart but also stirring up the muddy sediment—years of disappointment and fear piled up deep inside.
Over the years, how many times had he dreamed of his legs healing, being able to run and jump like his brothers?
How many times had he secretly saved money, quietly visited doctors said to have miraculous hands, and even went to the best hospital in the county for checks?
But every time he went with hope, the cold and unanimous verdict came back:
"The bones have long been set. The best treatment time has passed. Even surgery now would have very limited effect. It's impossible to restore to the original condition."
These repeated failures had already worn down the little hope in his heart.
Now, with the crystal core, this was supposed to be a godsend chance, a hope he never dared to dream of.
But this hope had become a heavier burden on his heart.
He was afraid that if he went to the provincial city with this last, maybe biggest hope, he would hear the same curse he had heard for years.
That would be a final judgment—no matter how mysterious and powerful the crystal core's force, it could not change the fate of his lame leg.
That kind of total despair was more cruel than never having hope at all.
Shenan stayed silent, and Celine noticed but didn't ask. She gave him time to think alone.
At dinner, Celine spoke again: "Big brother, have you thought about going to the provincial city to check your leg?"
"Yes! Of course I want to go! How could I not?"
Before Shenan could answer, Mother Zhou put down her chopsticks with a firm and urgent voice.
"Big brother, this leg has been a thorn in mom's heart for so many years! Now there's a chance, we have to try no matter what!"
"That's right, big brother, it can't hurt to go check!" Nimuel put down his bowl, wiped his mouth, and spoke sincerely.
Eleanor also joined in: "Yes, big brother, things are different now. We have this… crystal core power. It has to work!"
All eyes looked at Shenan eagerly, but he still kept his head down, his knuckles white from gripping his chopsticks tightly.
The support from his brothers and his mother's hope felt like hot irons pressing on his frozen heart, but it also made him more confused.
Seeing this, Celine put down her bowl and looked at Shenan steadily.
"Big brother, do you know? Hogan, the young master of Qin, gave the crystal cores to several close followers. Two of them even awakened inner strength."
"Not only that, some of them healed old injuries and became stronger than before."
"These were soldiers who had been to war, covered with wounds from knives, swords, and axes. If they could heal with this power, how much more your leg?"
Celine's voice was quiet but clear.
"Big brother, you know the saying: no destruction, no construction."
"No destruction, no construction..." Shenan repeated without thinking.
Celine continued, "You have to give your leg a chance, a chance to regrow with the crystal core's power!"
"It doesn't matter what others say, or what old diagnoses said! I believe this new power can make your leg like new again!"
The firm belief in Celine's eyes was like a burning light, cutting through the layers of darkness in Shenan's heart.
"Regrow..." Shenan muttered to himself.
After a long pause, he took a deep breath and nodded heavily. "Okay! Celine, we… will go to the provincial city!"
Once he said it, it felt like he lifted a heavy burden, but also took on a new hope.
After deciding to go, Shenan felt another concern.
He looked at Celine and added, "It's a good time to visit your fourth brother too."
"So much has happened at home, everything has changed, and he still doesn't know. It's time he finds out."