Nine Star Burden

Chapter 8: You Will Hate Me

2

On the following morning.

The sun had yet to rise up to the sky, but it was already getting bright. A young man was sound asleep in his room in a certain residential home in Jiangbin City.

Ka-cha.

The door of the room was opened and a figure entered.

Han Jiangxue lowered her head to look at Jiang Xiao. She then raised her leg and gently kicked his calf. “Get up.”

“Huh?” Jiang Xiao opened his eyes wearily, only to be greeted with the sight of his daughter, ahem, older sister, Han Jiangxue standing beside the bed with a stern expression. It was as if Jiang Xiao owed her a living.

“Time for the morning workout.” Han Jiangxue turned around and walked out of the door. When she was far away, she said, “You have five minutes.”

Jiang Xiao sat up, only to feel a sudden numbness and ache that overwhelmed his body.

He had run a total of three kilometers last night!

Logically speaking, a high school student like him who was also an Awakened, should be physically fit and have no problem completing a three-kilometer run.

However, Han Jiangxue ran way too quickly and her physical fitness seemed to be beyond that of normal humans.

Jiang Xiao clenched his jaw and tried to persist on, but he only barely managed to complete the so-called “night jog” in the end after Han Jiangxue slowed down a little.

What time is it now? 

4:30 AM? 

“Are you a devil!?!” Jiang Xiao barked.

“I’m your sister,” Han Jiangxue said nonchalantly while standing outside the door. “If you don’t want to be a doctor, get up and train.”

“Don’t you have some misunderstanding of the sacred profession of a doctor?” Jiang Xiao murmured.

“Cut the crap!” Han Jiangxue barked angrily from outside the door.

The only response she got was a moan of satisfaction. “Ah…”

Han Jiangxue was speechless.

Jiang Xiao, who had given himself some help, felt much better. Although his legs were still sore, he could at least stand without trembling.

He quickly put on his clothes and walked out of the door.

Regardless of how frivolous he may be with his speech, Jiang Xiao knew what his goals were. Since he had come to this world, he felt that he had to make a name for himself.

His short-term goal, which he had set last night, was to improve his physical fitness and strength, so as to increase his absorption of Star Power.

School would be reopening in ten days and Jiang Xiao wanted to become a beginner at least before school started.

Han Jiangxue was rather surprised as well. She initially thought that her brother would stay in bed for a long time and skip the morning workout entirely. To her astonishment, the mischievous Jiang Xiaopi actually got out of bed.

Waking up at 4:30 AM would indeed be tough for a young man.

It would perhaps be easier for him to stay up late at night, all the way till 4:30 in the morning…

The pair of siblings then dashed to the park while the birds chirped along. After passing by the group of elderly who were also in the park for their morning exercises, the two of them began training.

However, Han Jiangxue felt rather embarrassed by the peculiar sounds that Jiang Xiao would often make.

…

The more fatigued Jiang Xiao was, the more relief he would get from his Blessing technique. Hence, such occurrences would be inevitable.

Jiang Xiao absorbed Star Power while running and giving himself relief. It had become a virtuous circle in his opinion.

At the end of the morning run, the pair did some stretching exercises where Han Jiangxue took the lead, before calling it a day. On the way home, they decided to have breakfast at a small breakfast bistro.

“Boss, I would like to have four dough fritters, two tea eggs, and two bowls of beancurd.” Jiang Xiao then turned and asked, “Would you like your beancurd to be sweet or salty?”

Han Jiangxue glanced at Jiang Xiao and answered, “I’d like to have soy milk instead.”

Okay. 

That will do. 

“Boss, two bowls of soy milk please.” Jiang Xiao again, turned around and asked, “Do you want the soy milk to be sweet or salty?”

At this moment, they heard the sounds of the news broadcaster reading some news aloud, coming from the television that was placed on the high counter of the breakfast bistro. “This is the live news broadcast for this morning. At 1:34 AM, energy waves were witnessed at the intersection between Xing Street and Xinfu Road. No casualties have been found so far. The Police Department of Jiangbin City has taken this very seriously and immediately cordoned off the area. The Awakened Defense Force of Jiangbin City has also increased the number of personnel for the area and the situation is now under effective control.

“The Jiangbin City Bureau would like to remind the public that this area will be under lockdown for a long period of time. The public is urged…”

Jiang Xiao took a bite of the crispy dough fritters and took a sip of hot soy milk while thinking to himself, Ah, life is wonderful.

“Lately, more and more portals have been opened, and those in the past have yet to be shut. A new portal is opened even before the previous one is sealed,” remarked an elderly man who sighed and shook his head.

“Yeah, the frequency of portals being opened is getting higher and higher. At this rate, will we really still have a place to live in?”

“Sigh, I hope my grandson will get better and be able to protect himself in the future. Who knows what Earth will look like in time to come?”

Jiang Xiao eavesdropped on the conversations of the other patrons quietly and seemed to have sensed that the living environment was gradually worsening.

The opening of dimensional portals was irregular.

They opened abruptly, and some would only last for a day before disappearing without a trace.

Some multidimensional portals would remain open for years or even decades, continuously connecting Earth to the multidimensional world. That had also resulted in inevitable changes to Earth’s environment.

In large human settlements, it would still be possible to ensure that the life cycle of humans was protected and blocked from external factors.

However, in the deserted suburbs, the number of portals being opened was unknown and the invasion of species seemed to be an irreversible result.

Fortunately, the frequency of multidimensional portals being opened ever since history was not high.

Jiang Xiao wondered what the exact situation was now.

Of course, it was just called a portal because humans named it that way. The connection points between Earth and multidimensional spaces did not all appear in the shape of doors or portals. Instead, they were mostly cluttered and overlapped, making it difficult for the boundaries to be identified and for others to control it.

“Are you full?” Han Jiangxue suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Jiang Xiao hurriedly stuffed a dough fritter into his mouth and wiped his lips before answering, “Yes, I’m full.”

“Let’s go.” Han Jiangxue placed 14 yuan on the table and stood up to leave the breakfast bistro.

Staring at the girl who was clad in white sportswear, Jiang Xiao felt rather helpless.

She was quiet, nimble and swift. She was truly “fair like snow” and “comes and goes like the wind”.

When the two of them returned home, Jiang Xiao couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Since you have obtained a Medical Star Technique, you’re more inclined to be an Awakened of the Medical caliber. You’ve also managed to embellish two Star Techniques in one star slot. That already represents your great potential. Although your qualifications are not high and have few star slots, I believe you can make up for your shortcomings with due diligence,” Han Jiangxue said in an unexpectedly patient manner.

Jiang Xiao asked, “So?”

Han Jiangxue said, “Starting from today, I will train you because I hope you can have the ability to protect yourself no matter what the world turns into in the future.”

!!!

Extremely excited, Jiang Xiao nodded gently.

What made Han Jiangxue change her mind all of a sudden? Doesn’t she want me to graduate properly and then find a job and just get by life ordinarily? 

Is it because of the news just now? Or is it because of the things that those patrons said?

Or is it my potential?

Or is she aware of something unknown to others because she is one of the Awakened? 

“Physical fitness, combat technique, and Star Power,” said Han Jiangxue.

“Combat technique?” Jiang Xiao asked in bewilderment.

“Don’t be fooled by the magical Star Techniques, your goal is to defeat the enemy and the multidimensional creatures in order to survive. If you have incredible Star Power and competent skills and reflexes coupled with great physical fitness, you can do it.

“Your Star Technique will increase your upper limit indefinitely, but as a human, your physical fitness and technique are the things that determine your lower limit.” Han Jiangxue continued, “Once Year One of High School begins, you and the other rookie Awakened will undergo basic combat training, which is a required course for the Awakened.”

Jiang Xiao nodded in agreement.

Han Jiangxue took Jiang Xiao to their parents’ room and craned her neck to take a look inside.

Yesterday afternoon, Jiang Xiao cleaned up the entire house and reckoned that the largest bedroom was once occupied by their parents. However, it had changed beyond recognition and resembled a small training room.

The floor was padded and there were two punching bags, coupled with some mini-gym equipment.

The only thing that didn’t change in the bedroom was the huge wedding photo that was hung on the wall.

Looking at the wedding photo of the couple whom he had never met, Jiang Xiao entered the room.

“I like training here because it feels like they’re always looking at me,” Han Jiangxue explained.

Feeling a little emotional and touched, Jiang Xiao turned around to see that Han Jiangxue had closed the door and locked it.

Jiang Xiao looked at Han Jiangxue who was standing in front of the door and asked, “What are you trying to do?”

Han Jiangxue said softly, “You will hate me.”

Jiang Xiao was dumbfounded.