Chapter 8: Younger Brother! Show Some Restraint!
On the second-floor corridor late at night.
Faint sounds of water flow came from the water pipe.
Jordan Kent, with a head of messy curly hair, carefully dried the “cherished Treasure Tool” he had just washed in his hand, which was his puberty Divine Artifact that he needed to use every night.
He seriously applied dry powder to the Treasure Tool, completed its maintenance work, and only then did Jordan store it in the box, then gently opened the restroom’s door as if afraid of waking the other family members.
However.
As soon as the door opened a crack, he was so startled that he nearly awakened his Superman bloodline on the spot.
“Holy shit—!”
Jordan instinctively let out an exclamation.
A gaunt figure stood silently outside the door, hunched over, with a sallow face, deep-set eyes, looking utterly listless as if a banshee had drained all the spirit from his body.
If Jordan hadn’t reacted quickly and recognized that the person standing outside was his younger brother, he really would have smashed the “cherished Treasure Tool” in his hand right into the other’s face.
“Ian?”
Jordan swallowed, still somewhat shaken.
Ian slowly raised his head, his gaze scattered.
“Mm, I want to use the restroom.” When he spoke, he sounded weak and listless, as if he might collapse on the ground and respawn at any moment.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”
Jordan had a strange expression as he hid his own Treasure Tool in his clothes pocket while looking Ian up and down; he still cared quite a bit about the youngest brother in the family.
“Nothing, just my body feels drained.”
There was a hint of annoyance in Ian’s tone as he replied. They say one needs to go all out, and he really had gone too far; he hadn’t expected the Self-Healing Tide skill to consume so much stamina 【Self-Healing Tide】.
It healed the wounds but depleted the energy reserves in his body. Ian was so hungry he could barely stand straight—how could he not look listless, sallow, and emaciated?
“Uh…”
Jordan clearly misunderstood what Ian meant.
His expression was somewhat spectacular.
Finally settling into an awkward “I get it, but I shouldn’t” look.
“…”
The atmosphere in the air felt somewhat frozen.
“Uh… well, you… go ahead and wash up?” Jordan gave a dry laugh twice to ease the heavy atmosphere, then stepped out of the restroom to make space inside.
“Okay.”
Ian dragged his feet into the restroom. Just as he was about to close the door, Jordan suddenly pressed his hand against the door panel, hesitating to speak.
“Um… Ian.” He weighed his words, speaking with difficulty as if being a life mentor for the first time, “I… I know you might have unlocked the door to certain new worlds.”
“But… as a person, especially as a man, you have to know moderation. If you don’t take care of your body now, you’ll regret it later!” Jordan’s voice was earnest and sincere.
He really hadn’t imagined these words coming out of his own mouth. But there was no way around it—Ian’s appearance was too alarming, and the young older brother could hardly imagine how many times his little brother had gone at it in the bedroom?
Very obviously.
Jordan was judging by his own standards.
There was some misunderstanding between the two brothers.
“…”
Ian opened his mouth, wanting to explain but not knowing what to say, and in the end could only nod as if resigned to his fate, forcing a smile as he slowly closed the restroom’s door.
Soon, the sound of washing water came from the restroom.
It was Ian cleaning the knives he used to “get stronger,” but in Second Brother Jordan’s mind, what Ian was cleaning was perhaps a “tool” like the one he used to exercise certain muscles.
“Ian is really precocious.”
Even a kid like Jordan couldn’t help but sigh, clutching his Treasure Tool hidden in his pocket as he planned to head back to his room to play a few more games.
However.
Just as he reached the stairwell, Jordan ran straight into his father Clark, who was coming upstairs. The father and son exchanged a glance, and the atmosphere became awkward again.
“Good evening, Jordan.”
Clark, still wearing his wrinkled suit, spoke first to break the silence.
“Mm.”
Jordan nodded stiffly by way of greeting, then sidestepped to head back to his room. If there was one child in the whole family with the most strained relationship with Clark, it had to be him.
“Wait.”
Clark called out to Jordan.
“Is Ian in the restroom?”
He looked toward the restroom that was making noise.
Jordan paused, nodded in response to his father’s question. As for Jordan’s somewhat distant attitude, Clark couldn’t afford to work on improving it right now.
“Has he been acting strange lately?” What Clark cared about most now was Ian’s mental health; the way Ian had been self-harming in his room while laughing creepily before had really worried him.
Sure enough.
Living too close to Gotham would lead to being influenced by that haunted place—Clark wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he always felt Ian’s behavior had a bit of a Gotham madman’s vibe.
This was completely at odds with Ian’s usual image of an obedient, well-behaved good kid who only focused on school books. In such a situation, Clark naturally had to consider the mental illness that Dr. Hannibal had mentioned.
Could it be… that Ian had already reached the state of schizophrenia? Thinking of this, Clark’s expression grew even more serious as he tried to get some information from Jordan.
But.
“What’s strange about Ian?”
Jordan’s mind instantly flashed to Ian’s “overindulgence” face and that shocking line about his “body being drained.” He hesitated for a moment and ultimately chose to keep his younger brother’s “unspeakable secret.”
That is, the privacy he couldn’t tell his parents.
“What’s strange about him? Great grades, teachers love him, girls wish they could fall into his arms ten times a day, even the troublemakers who love fighting hope he’ll sell exam prep real questions《 before tests… I dare say, even Jonathan wasn’t this popular in middle school.”
There was still a slightly sour tone in Jordan’s voice—was it jealousy? Maybe a bit, but mostly envy, since he didn’t have many friends due to his social anxiety.
“Yeah, Ian is practically a model student, very perfect… but he’s too perfect, which makes people a bit worried.” Clark mainly thought Ian might be under a lot of pressure because of this.
However.
To Jordan in his rebellious phase, it sounded like his often-absent father was just looking for issues.
“If there’s a flaw, you lecture him; if there are no flaws, you’re still not satisfied… Heh, parents these days.” Jordan rolled his eyes, bypassed his nitpicky father in his mind, and strode straight back to his room.
“Bang!”
Jordan shut the door loudly.
As if venting his dissatisfaction with his father.
Clark sighed helplessly, withdrew his gaze from Jordan, looked at the tightly shut restroom door, and hesitated for a moment before his eyes narrowed slightly.
The next moment.
This superhero’s expression suddenly turned shocked and suspicious.
His pupils flickered.
As if he had seen something unbelievable.
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