Jian peered into his reflection in shock. 'How did this happen? Did I dream all of that... Was it not real?'
His wandering eyes fell on the bloodied rag he had thrown away in the corner of the room. Dashing to it, he picked it up only to see golden stains all over it. 'Gods... it was real. I really did get my head smashed... and... it healed?'
Jian gazed back at his grandpa, who was looking at him questioningly. "Grandpa... something's not right..."
"Stop playing around, child. Come eat the chicken before it goes cold." The old man ignored his stunned expression and hand-fed him some crispy fried chicken.
With a piece of chicken in his mouth, Jian blankly gazed at the walls. "I might have awakened some of my dormant powers!"
He knew that he was not human for a long time, but he had zero clue that he could actually have superhuman powers. The thought alone made him quite happy.
The crispy chicken in his mouth tasted a hundred times better. He happily chewed on the bones. "This is good..."
"I know. That's why I brought you some. Eat, eat. You have lost a lot of weight." The old man gently cupped his face.
Jian grinned, holding his grandpa's bony hands. "Nah, I've gained weight, all thanks to your indulgence."
The old man's face bloomed into a beautiful smile. "Yes, my child is the prettiest."
"No, you should say handsome." He playfully pinched his grandpa's cheeks. "Did you have dinner yet? Let's go, they might run out of good dishes. The others' uncle really knows how to eat."
"Hey, I'll tell them you're teasing them for eating too much."
"Aww, grandpa, you're supposed to be on my side."
Happily, they ran off to the dining area and soon after dinner headed off to bed.
Late at night, Jian sat up stealthily. His gaze fell on his grandpa's sleeping face. "He is out like a light..." he muttered. Sneaking around, he found a small knife and left the room.
A small light in the hallway illuminated the shiny knife in his hand. Without a second's hesitation, he slashed his palm with it. Golden blood poured out, dripping down to the ground. As soon as the liquid touched the ground, it turned into a small gold nugget.
But Jian was too focused on his wound. The new cut closed up right in front of his eyes. Each muscle, each inch of skin joined together like it was being stitched by invisible hands. In just seconds, the wound was gone. His palm was still soft and pale with no indentation of such a wound.
"Rapid healing..." he quickly took out his phone and made notes. "For a one-inch deep wound, it took around five seconds. What about being stabbed? How long will it take?"
He gazed at the knife and then at his arm. Jian was so tempted to test this, but if things went wrong, he might have to be hospitalized. Going to the hospital in his situation was the worst thing that could happen. He did not want that, whatever the cost.
"So... stabbing test can wait."
He still couldn't contain his joy. "With this newfound power, I can protect my grandpa well. Even if those aliens come to eat us, I can easily use my body as a shield! Thank God... thank the gods... Maybe it's a good thing I'm not human..."
With a happy grin, he ran back into the room and tucked himself into the sheets, hugging his grandpa to sleep.
Unknown to him, another person woke up in the middle of the night, yawning. It was a foreman from the room opposite theirs. The man stumbled out, holding his crotch. "I shouldn't have drunk so much tea..." Mumbling, the man ran to the bathroom but paused along the way.
Something gold caught his eyes.
He quickly picked up the small golden nugget. "What is this? It looks like gold," he bit it with his teeth. The nugget did not crumble. "Ehhh... who left it here..."
The man relieved himself in the bathroom and came back to his room with the small thing in his hand. He quickly shook his roommate awake. "Hey! You worked in a gold mine before, yeah? Is this gold?"
The man sleepily gazed at the thing in his hand. "It sure does look like it." He took it from his palm. "I've never seen a nugget this big. Where did you get it?"
The sleazy foreman just chuckled. "Is it real? Tell me, brother."
Grunting, his roommate went on his knees and rubbed the nugget on the ground. It left behind golden streaks. "It's real..."
"It's real!!! Oh my god, I've struck gold!!!"