A bizarre silence filled the room, but now it was a different kind of silence. A sharp, strange silence, where no one dared to say a word.
The air touched the newborn's skin for the first time.
It was cold.
His naked body was covered in blood and a kind of black liquid. His body shivered at the touch of the unknown world.
But he didn't cry. He didn't need to.
His lungs, once useless, expanded with some effort for the first time. His chest rose as air entered his tiny nose.
The hunger inside him seemed to have ceased, at least for now.
At that moment, with his first breath, the beating of his heart, deep inside him, stopped for an instant. And then.
"BOOM…!!"
A single beat, like a deep echo, emerged as his eyes suddenly opened. Light entered his vision for the first time.
His eyes, a vibrant gray color, sparkled. Not with innocence.
But with curiosity.
His eyes watched silently, judging the world that now surrounded him. That he had previously only felt.
His eyes saw unknown beings around him, some murmuring things he did not understand.
One of the beings approached cautiously, holding the child in a white cloth. At that moment, his eyes met those of the woman lying on the bed. Then, extreme pain shot through his head, fragmented images he didn't understand appeared in his mind, the face of a woman smiling as she caressed her large belly, and several other memories, which quickly caused him to faint.
The woman holding the baby cautiously handed it to a tall, middle-aged man.
The silence in the room was heavy, no one dared to say anything, not out of respect, but mainly out of discomfort.
In the center of the room, lying on the bed, the once young woman was lying on the sheets completely stained with blood.
Her eyes were still open, staring at the ceiling, dull, lifeless, and tearless.
Her face looked decades older, her hair, once blonde, almost golden, now gray.
No one in the room understood. There were no screams, no struggle. There was no resistance. Her life seemed to have simply drained away.
Next to the bed, each of the maids recoiled, some falling to their knees in shock. Everyone knew something was wrong. And in the center of it all, in the man's arms, was the baby.
The man held the sleeping baby, whose forehead was slightly furrowed but soon returned to normal.
The baby slept peacefully. He was small, silent, and fragile, pale as porcelain.
He was wrapped in white cloths that were already stained with blood and a strange dark liquid.
Yu Shen, the patriarch of the Yu family, held him in his arms with extreme care.
He was a man with a stern expression and dark eyes, but tired from years of cultivation and leadership of his family.
He had never been a genius, but he was not a fool either. His cultivation was at its peak in that city, and his family, which had previously been losing ground to two other families, had risen again solely through his strength. Thanks to him, the Yu family still had a place in the city.
But at that moment, he was completely unsettled, with confusion and mistrust taking hold of him.
"This is… strange," he muttered as he slowly squeezed the white cloth around the child.
Yu Shen kept his gaze fixed on the face of his newborn grandson. The boy's skin was still damp and cold.
The more he looked, the more something bothered him.
His eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing, and he couldn't find the words to describe it.
His gaze fixed on the baby's face. The features were soft, delicate… too much so.
It was as if he was seeing his daughter again. There were no similar traits, as was common between parents and children. No, it was as if she herself had been reborn. The only difference was the boy's body.
Patriarch Yu shuddered, not knowing what to think.
The baby seemed peaceful, just sleeping as if he had been on a long journey. But Yu Shen felt that this was not normal.
He then adjusted the cloth around the small body, covering it and leaving only part of the baby's chest exposed.
"Doctor Li," Yu Shen called in a low but firm voice.
Then, from one side of the room, an elderly man with a large white beard approached. He was a highly respected doctor in the city, with years of experience in medicine, as well as being a cultivator with some strength. But even so, there was sweat on his forehead, and he was strangely tense, which did not happen easily with his years of experience.
First, Doctor Li approached the bed. He placed two fingers on the neck of the young woman lying down. After a few seconds, his hand held her wrist for a few minutes.
His forehead gradually furrowed and soon returned to normal, but the confusion was evident on his face.
"There's… nothing," Dr. Li muttered, even more confused.
"What do you mean, nothing?" Yu Shen asked, looking away from his grandson for a moment.
Dr. Li cringed slightly under his gaze as he continued quickly.
"Mr. Yu, there is nothing left in her. All of her remaining Qi has been drained, her life essence has ceased, and most of her blood is gone. She is almost… an empty shell. But it does not appear to be a case of failure or any kind of difficulty in childbirth. This is abnormal…" concluded Dr. Li.
Beside him, the maids just looked at each other, not daring to offer any guesses.
Dr. Li then turned to the baby.
"If I may…" Dr. Li asked Patriarch Yu.
Yu Shen understood and held the baby out toward Dr. Li.
He lightly touched the center of the baby's small chest with two fingers, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
His perception through Qi was simple but accurate, refined by countless years of practice, even if limited by his cultivation.
For a few seconds, he was completely silent. Then he frowned again before slowly withdrawing his hand.
"I think… everything is fine," Dr. Li said hesitantly.
Yu Shen looked at him seriously.
"Speak clearly, Dr. Li."
"His body is functioning normally. His heartbeat is stable, and his breathing is regular. His meridians are complete, though inactive, which is normal for his age, so he will be able to cultivate.
His heart… is also normal."
"But?"
"I can't say," said Dr. Li, looking once more at the baby with a serious expression.
"It's just a feeling, but he seems too perfect… well, it's just a hunch, I can't explain it. But he's fine, Mr. Yu."
Yu Shen stood silently, looking at the boy. Even in his sleep, he gave off a strange feeling, he was different. And he understood a little of what Dr. Li meant.
The patriarch then gently squeezed the cloth around his grandson, covering him properly as he looked at those present in the room.
"Take my daughter's body away with respect. The funeral will be tomorrow afternoon. She gave her life for this child."
The servants nodded silently and prepared to carry the young woman's body away. Then the Patriarch's voice rang out again.
"I know the face of everyone in this room. What really happened here dies here. Do you understand? If rumors about my grandson surface, I will know that they came from one of you. And it will not be just you who suffers the consequences. After all, I know that you all have people you care about.
You can consider this a warning or a threat. As you prefer."
"But know that if you disrespect me, none of you will have a place in this world anymore." Patriarch Yu said in a cold voice that, together with his cultivation aura, instantly struck fear into everyone in the room. They just agreed silently. There were orders that did not need confirmation; their force made them mandatory.