Colorful Spiritual Essence

Seeing this, Jiang Youfu walked gently to the bedside. Looking at the frail, skinny old woman on the bed who had taken care of him for over a decade, he reached out, grasped her withered, weak hand, and said softly,

"Grandma, I'm home."

Hearing his voice, Grandma Jiang on the bed struggled to open her half-closed eyelids to a slit. Her old, dim eyes could no longer clearly see the face of the person in front of her, but recognizing the familiar silhouette, she still managed to part her toothless mouth and give him a strained smile.

However, she had no strength left to speak.

Seeing this, Jiang Youfu's eyes grew red as he choked out,

"Didn't you just tell me yesterday that you were fine and in good health? How did you end up like this all of a sudden..."

His mother walked in. Hearing his words, she sighed and said,

"Your grandma didn't want you to worry. Lately, every morning when you left the house, she was forcing herself to stay energetic just to talk to you. Sigh, Fuzi, ever since you were born, your grandma has doted on you the most..."

Although Jiang Youfu was plump, his eyes were not small, and his gaze was extremely pure. Right now, those pure eyes were already brimming with tears.

He held his grandmother's hand tightly, sniffled, and said,

"Grandma, I know how to cook now. You haven't tasted my cooking yet. Wait for me a moment, I'll go make you a dish right now. Brother Xiao brought back a type of fish that tastes amazing. Wait for me."

After saying that, he reluctantly let go of his grandmother's hand, turned around, and ran out of the room, entering their family's kitchen.

Standing before the stove, Jiang Youfu felt his little heart ache with a sour, swollen pain for the first time in his ten-odd years of life.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind.

He was going to use all his strength to cook the best meal he could possibly make for his grandmother!

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the kitchen knife and began to focus on preparing the ingredients.

Under his knife, the tender white meat of the silver-tail fish was sliced into crystal-clear, translucent pieces.

The amount of each seasoning he added was incredibly precise.

The moment he finished preparing the ingredients and picked up the spatula, he suddenly felt a swelling fullness in his chest, as if something was longing to burst out.

Anxious to finish this dish for his grandmother, Jiang Youfu had no mind to pay attention to anything else and forced this strange sensation down.

His only desire was to let his grandmother taste his craftsmanship.

His speed was incredibly fast.

Yet fast and extremely precise.

He controlled every single step perfectly.

In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, this meticulously crafted silver-tail fish stew was ready.

The crystal-clear fish meat was incredibly fresh and tender, soaked in a rich, fragrant broth. Just one look was enough to whet anyone's appetite.

Not only that, but a layer of seven-colored spiritual glow hovered over it, something that had never appeared in Jiang Youfu's cooking before. However, the current Jiang Youfu was in no mood to notice this.

He only wanted to quickly bring this dish over for his grandmother to taste.

Jiang Youfu carefully carried the dish out of the kitchen and into his grandmother's room.

Jiang's mother and Eldest Brother Jiang had long smelled the wondrous aroma wafting from the kitchen. When they saw Jiang Youfu walk in carrying a plate of food that looked absolutely delicious, they could hardly believe their eyes.

To think this was actually made by their family's Fuzi!

In their minds, Fuzi was still that little boy who would just wait all day for his grandmother to fill his small pockets with snacks before running out to trail behind Brother Xiao.

Jiang Youfu returned to the bedside, and Eldest Brother Jiang gave up his stool for him.

He sat down with the dish, picked up a slice of fish with his chopsticks, and gently blew on it to cool it down. Once the dripping broth had drained from the meat, he brought the fish to Grandma Jiang's lips.

"Grandma, come, try the food I made for you, okay?"

Grandma Jiang struggled immensely to slowly open her mouth as wide as she could, though in reality, it was only a narrow slit.

Jiang Youfu used his spiritual energy to gently support his grandmother's mouth, then softly fed the fish into it.

The fresh, tender fish melted in her mouth, allowing Grandma Jiang to swallow it without needing to chew much.

Following that, her eyes crinkled into a smile at Jiang Youfu by her bed.

Her mouth opened and closed with very slight movements.

Although she didn't make a single sound, the few people in the room felt as if they could hear her saying, Delicious, delicious.

The next moment, however, the three of them saw her let out a long breath before peacefully closing her eyes.

Seeing this, the three of them felt their hearts tighten. Jiang's mother was the first to react; she rushed to the bedside and, trembling slightly, reached her hand under the old woman's nose.

Immediately, her eyes turned red.

A teardrop the size of a bean rolled down from her eye.

Seeing this, Eldest Brother Jiang covered his face, squatted in the corner, and began to sob silently.

Panic gripped Jiang Youfu's heart, and then his eyes became like open faucets, tears instantly gushing out uncontrollably.

But he refused to believe it. He immediately grabbed Grandma Jiang's hand and channeled his spiritual energy into her body, wanting to regulate her system just like he usually did. He hoped she would be like before, opening her eyes every time to look at him with a gaze full of smiles.

His spiritual energy flowed through Grandma Jiang's body, over and over again.

However, Grandma Jiang did not wake up as he had hoped.

Her heart was no longer beating.

Her eyes remained tightly shut, without the slightest movement.

Seeing this, Jiang Youfu felt a massive wave of despair flood his heart.

Just as he was about to disappointedly withdraw his spiritual energy from his grandmother's body, he suddenly realized that within her previously silenced heart, there seemed to be a trace of vibrant aura.

He couldn't help but hold his breath.

Terrified that he might disturb this wisp of aura.

He merely used his spiritual energy to carefully protect the outside of his grandmother's heart, patiently waiting to see how this vibrant aura would develop next.

For some reason, he felt that this wisp of vibrant aura carried a somewhat familiar sensation.

This inexplicably filled him with a kind of anticipation toward this aura that even he found hard to understand.

Beside him, Jiang's mother saw him staring intensely at her motionless mother-in-law with a tense expression. Afraid that he was driving himself crazy with grief, she wanted to reach out and shake him awake.

Unexpectedly, before her hand could even touch him, she saw her son place his index finger over his lips.

Jiang's mother hesitated slightly and ultimately decided not to shake him.

It seemed he was still clear-headed.

As long as he hadn't lost his mind, it was fine.

So she said softly to Jiang Youfu,

"Fuzi, don't overthink it. I'm going to go see why your father isn't back yet..."

With that, she turned to leave the room.

But just as she was about to step out the door, she suddenly heard Jiang Youfu speak up from inside the room:

"It moved."

Jiang's mother didn't understand. She turned her head, just about to ask him what he meant, when she heard him say to her again, his face revealing pleasant surprise:

"Mother, Grandma's heart is beating again!"

"What?" Jiang's mother was utterly shocked. She immediately turned back to the bed and reached out again to check Grandma Jiang's breath.

When she felt a faint breath of air against her finger, she was equally overjoyed.

"She's breathing!"

"She's really breathing again!"