Shi Lang and Amelia returned to the federation. They dealt with the report submissions and then after a queue of meetings, they all dispersed. Even the award ceremony for their exploits in the galactic showdown was postponed indefinitely, after all, the soldiers did thei duty, and now they wished to spend some time on a soft bed and a warm embrace of their family members. If the government failed to provide this bare minimum for the sake of a glorious facade, they will make the hardworking soldiers turn cold.
After all the work was done, the people gathered for a round of drinks in a local pub reserved for the military people, and then they went back home. Shi Lang and Amelia rode on a levbike for ages and they reached their destination after three hours. Actually, Shi Lang could have taken her on a flight, but it would turn into a crackling headline in the news the day after.
Shi John was tending to the flowers in the garden when he heard the main gates of the villa open. From the main gates to the entrance of the building, it was a ten-meter long pathway. Shi Lang and Amelia parked the levbike and the middle-aged man said, “Welcome home you two.”
The couple smiled and replied, “We are back, dad.”
This sound was like music to the old man, he said, “Go in, and take rest, you both look so tired and exhausted.”
The couple nodded and they pulled Shi John inside the house with them. Luna was sitting on the couch reading a book. Shi Lang made a ‘silence’ gesture and walked closer to his mother without alerting her. He covered her eyes with his palms. Luna whelped and said, “Lang, you brat, old enough to have your own kids, yet you do not stop acting like a child yourself. What will I do with you.”
Although she sounded exasperated, the smile on her face betrayed her. Shi Lang took back his hands and hugged his mother from behind before resting his chin over her shoulder and asking, “Mom, how come you always know?”
Luna sighed and said, “Since you want to know, I shall satisfy your demand. You stink of sweat whenever you come home from outside.”
Shi Lang pulled a long face when he heard this. Amelia sniggered, and Shi John chuckled, “Go, take a shower first.”
Luna patted his head and said, “Go, I still love you the same.”
Shi Lang scoffed and said, “You only love Amy, now.”
Then he turned around and went to his room to take a shower, and he did not forget to lift Amelia in his arms like a princess. Amelia slapped his shoulder but was that going to stop him? She was not carefree like him.
After a couple of hours, the two came down, and Amelia was slightly blushing. Luna cast her a gaze and shook her head with a genial smile. She said, “Come, I made lunch.”
Shi Lang could not wait to get to the table, the food made at home, was something he missed the most on missions. Although spirit energy can sustain his body to the peak, it was still a privilege to be able to eat something made with love.
The dining table was silent except for the noise from the spoon falling on the plate from time to time. The dishes were simple but they tasted no less than the divine food from the heavens. The people ate and then they began to chat. Shi Lang was really stressed to the limit this time, so he decided to sleep for the time, and go out tomorrow for a spa day.
He will take his whole family along with him. Shi John and Luna had stepped into spirit gathering real and were healthier than ever before. They both looked younger, the same changes happened to Mila and her husband.
…
Two days later, the family of six people, was traveling in a big vehicle, they were going to the mountains away from metropia. The speed of the lev car was very fast, and Shi Lang was driving. Amelia sat in the front seat with him, under public demand. She said, “Can you not drive slow? What is the rush?”
Shi Lang said, “Slower than this seems like crawling, ugh, I swear if not for scaring the world off, I would want the people to know that it is possible to fly at a speed higher than that of a lev engine.”
Mila snorted and said, “Look at you boasting so much. If so, then go back home and grab my stall from the couch. I will believe you. You must take half the time than that of the lev engine.”
Shi Lang said, “Amy, hold the steering.”
Amelia was shocked, but the next moment, this guy directly left the steering and vanished from his spot. The vehicle was traveling at a speed of seven hundred kilometers per hour. This was fast enough to turn the body of the people inside into a puddle of flesh and blood. Amelia hurriedly grabbed the wheel, and shifted her seat, she cursed, “Has he gone mad?”
Mila and Luna were shocked, but suddenly, the window of the passenger seat was knocked on. Amelia turned to look at the window and found Shi Lang grinning sheepishly. She unlocked the door and he came inside. He extended his hand behind and said, “Your stall.”
He had just used his fastest speed to travel back home and grab the stall. This speed was just a fraction of what the Lev engine was capable of. The people were silent from shock, but then they all started scolding the young general for his carefree attitude.
It was night when the people came to the remote mountain region. Amelia asked, “Mom, why did you select this place, I do not see anything noteworthy here, except the cleanliness.”
Luna smiled and said, “This is the place where your husband was born. This used to be where the Shi Family used to live. Every year the new generation would come here and pay respects to their ancestors. That year, I came here with Shi John, and unexpectedly, I went into labor, there is a small clinic up ahead near the summit. Come, that was where I gave birth to this carefree guy.”
Shi Lang heard her words and smiled. He did not know such a story existed behind his birth, and the people parked the car at the foot of the mountain and climbed to the summit. Their speed was fast and in just a few minutes they came to the summit and found a stone house there. A dusty plaque said, “Wave Mountain Clinic.”
Amelia thought of something and asked, “Mom, is this why you named him, Lang?”
Luna nodded and Amelia cast a gaze at Shi Lang’s darkened face and she could not help but laugh out loud. She used to think that his name meant waves so that he can create ways in his life, but never expected the real reason to be like this.
Shi Lang looked at her mother, who was acting to be confused, and turned to his father and said, “Could you not have come up with a better name? Am I even your real child?”
Mila sighed and said, “Finally the truth came out. Lang, baby come to me, I am your real mother.”
Shi Lang was amused by her pitying expression and decided to play along and walked over to her from the side and hugged her as he said, “I knew it, only you love me.”
Mila patted his back and said, “Yes, my child. You are an abandoned child, I am a gentle soul. I have to take you in, no?”
Amelia laughed and Shi Lang flickered away, looked at the group of people, and said, “Good, good, you all are ganging up on me.”
The people laughed and suddenly, it began to snow. Shi John chuckled and said, “The weather here is still as unpredictable as it was in the past.”
Luna nodded and suddenly, a soft snowball hit Shi John in the face. The people were surprised, the snowflakes had just started falling, how come there were snowballs already? Shi Lang chuckled as he used the spiritual energy to control the falling snowflakes to gather in his palm and condense into a ball.
Then he threw it to hit Amelia. Then the two people began to fight each other. The elders of the group enjoyed the banter and joined in when there was enough snow on the ground. These people did not have the skill to control the spirit energy outside their bodies.
After sunset, Shi John and Mila’s husband gathered some dry wood and lit a fire. Shi Lang hunted a big warthog for the people to eat. Amelia helped the ladies with setting up the camp. The family was having a camp night. The vacation had begun.