As Hogan and Red left one after the other, the space became quiet again.
Celine let out a deep breath. With a thought, she brought the small truck out of the space with her.
Outside, the sky was already dark.
Only then did Celine realize she had been inside the space for a long time.
"Celine!" Shenan's voice broke the quiet in the yard.
He walked quickly toward her, his eyes checking her carefully to make sure she was okay.
Eleanor followed behind. He didn't say anything, but his eyes showed how worried he was.
Celine felt warm inside. She quickly showed she was fine, then looked toward the main gate.
The three of them had been siblings for many years. They understood each other without needing to speak. They all knew what Celine was thinking.
Inside the house, the smell of food filled the air.
Mother Zhou had already made dinner. The table was full of hot, steaming dishes.
When she saw Celine and her brothers, her face showed a kind and loving smile. "Go wash your hands and eat. The food is almost cold."
Celine said yes and sat at the table with her two brothers.
She took out the crystal cores from her pocket. Then she placed the old green jade disc that Hogan had given her on the table.
The crystal cores shone softly under the light. The jade disc looked plain and didn't draw much attention.
But Shenan noticed it right away. He picked it up and looked at it carefully. He touched the edge of it gently and looked surprised.
"This looks like something from the Qin or Han time."
"You know what it is, big brother?" Celine didn't think Shenan would really know.
Shenan nodded but then shook his head. "I haven't seen this exact one before, but I've seen something like it."
He remembered seeing something similar online. It was a Qin dynasty jade disc that was auctioned at Sotheby's.
"Is it worth a lot?" Celine was more interested in how much it could be sold for.
Shenan answered in a calm voice. "More than twenty million."
Celine's heart started beating fast when she heard that number.
At the same time, Eleanor was attracted to the shiny glow of the crystal cores. He grabbed a handful to look at them more closely.
"Ah"
But the next second, he screamed in pain and dropped the crystal cores. They scattered across the floor.
"What happened?" Mother Zhou ran over to check on him.
Eleanor held his wrist tightly. His face was full of pain. He couldn't speak right away.
Mother Zhou looked even more worried. "Tell me what's wrong. Say something"
"Mom, let him catch his breath," Celine said as she stopped her mother gently.
Mother Zhou stepped back and stayed quiet.
After a while, Eleanor was finally able to breathe normally. He shook his hand and looked afraid. "It felt like my arm almost broke."
Shenan frowned and looked at the crystal cores on the floor. "You picked up too many. These aren't normal stones."
Celine crouched down and picked up the crystal cores one by one.
"Big brother is right," she looked up at Eleanor and explained slowly, "These are crystal cores. They are taken from the heads of zombies."
Eleanor was shocked.
Zombies?
Crystal cores?
These were strange and new words to him.
Celine turned to Shenan again. "I asked the person who traded supplies with me. They said these crystal cores can really heal your leg."
Shenan's face finally showed some relief. He smiled a little.
He had felt the power of the crystal cores before, so he believed what Celine said.
But Eleanor still looked shocked and confused.
He mumbled to himself, "Wasn't this just a trading space? How did zombies get involved? Crystal cores? Healing? Are there superpowers too?"
Celine saw him talking to himself and simply told him everything about the space again.
"Celine, you are right. The crystal core really has healing power," she added.
"Because you have an injury, you can feel its power. But the crystal power is strong. You cannot take too many at once."
After this explanation, Eleanor finally understood what was happening.
He had been in a car accident before and his arm was broken. That is why he could feel this strange power?
"Is this thing really that good?" he thought quietly.
Thinking this, he tried to hold a small crystal core again.
This time, when he held it in his palm, he felt no discomfort. Instead, a warm and soothing power flowed through his body like a small stream calming his tiredness.
The crystal in Shenan's hand got smaller after it was absorbed.
He opened his eyes wide, staring at his palm, not believing it. "This is really amazing!"
Shenan had experienced it before, but seeing the crystal get smaller again was still very surprising.
"Brother, how do you feel?" Celine quickly asked.
Shenan stood up and moved his body a little. "I just feel lighter. Nothing special."
He jumped two times with excitement.
But when his foot touched the ground, the red brick under him cracked and broke with a loud snap.
Everyone in the room was shocked and stopped moving.
The air was full of surprise and confusion.
"Brother, your strength got stronger!" Celine's voice was full of surprise.
"Really?" Shenan was not sure.
He looked around the room and his eyes stopped on an old wooden chair.
To check his strength, he tried to lift the chair.
The chair was very heavy and he usually needed all his strength to move it.
But this time, using the same strength as before, he almost lost balance because the chair was too light.
"Why is the chair so light?"
Shenan's voice changed. It felt like he lifted foam, not a heavy wooden chair.
Now he really knew that this power was real and inside his body.
"This thing must be worth a lot of money, right?" He quickly lowered his voice and asked with a smart look in his eyes.
Celine felt her chest tighten and almost could not breathe. Her brother was still the same. His thoughts were always different.
"Brother, you cannot sell this thing!" Celine was shocked by his words and quickly warned him. Her voice was full of worry.
The crystal was not from this world. She only gave it to her family to heal big brother's leg and make life better.
If someone found out the secret, it would cause big trouble. The secret of the space could be exposed!
The more she thought, the more afraid she became. Her face turned pale.
She quickly said, "Brother, you must never take the crystal outside! It is too special. Only our family can use it!"
"Celine, don't worry. Your brother is not careless," Shenan said calmly to ease her fear and warned Shenan with a serious look.
His steady eyes looked at Shenan with strong authority.
Shenan was confused by their serious looks. Then he laughed and gently tapped Celine's forehead with a smile full of care.
"Silly girl, do you think your brother is so dumb? I was just asking. You don't need to take it so seriously."
"You are the dumb one!"
Mother Zhou came out from the back room with a broom, pretending to hit Shenan.
"You broke the floor tile! Do you know how much it costs to fix it? You are such a troublemaker!"
"Mom! I really did not do it on purpose!"
Shenan quickly moved away, looking innocent as he rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"How could I know my strength got stronger? It really was an accident!"
He said this while tapping the broken red brick lightly with his toe, still looking surprised.