Chapter 29: The Silent Change
The sun shone softly on Sujin Village that morning, casting golden rays on the training fields where little girls sparred with wooden swords and boys jogged in circles, sweat dripping from their brows. The smell of fresh rice porridge wafted through the air, and the gentle clatter of morning chores echoed from every house.
Inside the village matriarch's home, Lin Yue sat cross-legged on the floor, playing with her siblings. Zhao Xun, now one year old, had learned to suppress her lightning... somewhat. There were fewer singed curtains now, though every once in a while, a loud zap would send the family goat sprinting in terror.
Li Wei, meanwhile, floated lazily upside down while humming to himself, using his charm ability to compel the dog to fetch random objects for him—flowers, socks, a frog once. Yue had to rescue the poor animal from levitating halfway up the roof more than once.
Just as Yue managed to catch Zhao Xun from speed-crawling out the door again, her mother stepped into the room holding her phone.
"It's from Yua," she said. "She's calling from the city."
Yue perked up. Yua was her mother's younger cousin and one of the Sujin-born who had moved to the capital years ago. The phone shone, and soon Yua's voice filled the room.
"Auntie!" Yua's voice came in choppy but clear enough. "Please tell me it's not just us."
Yue's mother raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Yua's face flickered into view. She looked tired, her hair tied up messily, two babies on her lap—both glowing faintly.
"They awakened. Both of them. Three abilities each," Yua whispered. "They've been flying around the room, biting everything, throwing up glowing goo... it's chaos."
"You followed the silence rule, right?" Yue's mother asked sternly.
"Of course. Only the neighbors know and they promised to keep quiet. But Auntie... what does this mean?" Yua's expression tightened. "All the other mothers from Sujin who moved here—our kids too. All awakened. Four babies this month, all with at least three powers. But—none of us are awakening. None of our husbands. Not even the kids we had before this change."
Yue leaned in, curious.
"And there's something else... weird," Yua added with a cough. "Our husbands... they're different."
Yue's mother frowned. "Different how?"
"Like, physical Stamina. They're more resilient. The crying stopped faster. They don't faint when we...well, during sex. They're still soft-hearted. It's subtle, but all the women in our Sujin group noticed. We joked about it last week... but now, I'm starting to think it's connected."
Silence hung in the air for a beat.
"Only the newborns are changing... and a little shift in the men's endurance," Yue murmured.
Yua nodded. "And it's only us—Sujin-born. The locals here? Their babies come out normal. Nothing's happening. No powers. No change."
Yue's mother exchanged glances with her daughter. "We suspected Sujin was different. But now it's spreading to Sujin's bloodline… regardless of location."
Another voice entered the phone—another woman from Sujin who now lived in a coastal city. "Auntie! My baby, too. Four powers! But no awakening for us either. Even my five-year-old hasn't changed."
"And none of the other city kids show signs. Just Sujin blood," another voice added.
Yue listened as more voices came through the phone—cousins, distant relatives, friends. All reporting the same strange pattern.
The newborns glowed with power.
The older kids remained the same.
The parents—still unawakened.
Except for one odd side effect: the men were getting a bit sturdier.
It was hilarious in its own way. One of the women from the city whispered that her husband, who used to faint after three rounds, could now lasted for six and didn't shed a single tear.
Yue tried to stifle a giggle. Even her own dad, while still his usual soft-spoken self, had stopped squealing every time he bumped his toe on a chair.
But behind the laughter was tension. Why only the Sujin-born? Why not others? And why only the newborns?
After the call ended, Yue walked to the shrine alone, Zhao Xun riding her back like a tiny, squirming thunderball.
She found the elder shrine keeper sweeping the front steps.
"Is this because of the prophecy?" she asked softly.
The old woman didn't look up. "Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe the prophecy is just a curtain… hiding what the gods truly intend."
Yue looked down. "The children of Sujin... they're changing. But the rest of us aren't."
"Maybe you're not meant to," the woman said, her voice dry like falling leaves. "Maybe your job is to raise them, guide them... not fight like them."
Zhao Xun sneezed on cue and a nearby stone cracked in half.
Yue sighed.
That night, the village council met in hushed tones. Rumors of other hidden villages like Sujin started to circulate. One woman said she heard about a small mountain village where babies were speaking in tongues before walking. Another swore that an island in the southern seas had newborns who could breathe underwater.
Yue, sitting near the fire, held Li Wei and Zhao Xun in her arms.
"Are we really just the beginning?" she asked herself.
No one had answers.
But everyone could feel it.
The world was shifting. And the children of Sujin were leading the way.