“I’ll take you there!”
Out of nowhere, a deep, powerful male voice came from above. A man with a resolute face descended from the sky. Su Mo recognized him as the commander of the Big Dipper, named Nangong Xuan.
Before he could even put on a show of greeting him properly, Nangong Xuan grabbed him and lifted him off his feet.
“Ahhhh! I’m afraid of heights!” A scream like a pig being slaughtered echoed through the skies, but Nangong Xuan showed no intention of slowing down. His expression was serious, as if something important was going on.
In less than a minute, they arrived at the Big Dipper headquarters and landed in the courtyard.
Su Mo was still shaken, clutching his stomach and about to throw up, but to his surprise, he didn’t feel nauseous at all, nor dizzy—just simply a bit scared.
“Why are you so unreasonable? I’m a patient, could you be a little gentler?” He had only just complained when he noticed an old man with white hair and beard sitting in the courtyard. The old man looked like he was struggling to breathe, very weak, so Su Mo instinctively quieted down.
“Xiao Mo, come here.” The old man waved at Su Mo, his kind smile infectious.
This white-bearded grandpa looked genuinely good-natured—he probably wasn’t a bad person. Besides, Yang Jie was standing right next to him, so if nothing unexpected, this should be the original owner’s master.
Su Mo thought this to himself and obediently walked over, respectfully calling him “Master.”
Qin Xun’s withered face was full of smiles: “How did you know I’m your master? Haven’t you lost your memory?”
“I don’t know either. I just feel especially close to you, and since our senior brother is standing next to you, I figured you must be my master.”
That part was the truth.
Qin Xun was beaming, in a great mood.
Yang Jie curled his lip and said irritably: “Same as before—smooth-talking, really knows how to win the master’s favor.”
Nangong Xuan’s expression was strange: “Before, it was ‘honey on the lips’—how did it become ‘smooth-talking’ now? Such careful word choice.”
At that moment, Yin Tianxi, who had been silent with a sorrowful expression, suddenly spoke: “How is junior brother better than junior sister? Can’t even show off to Tianyu.”
The old man’s single sentence silenced Yang Jie completely.
Listening to their conversation, Su Mo felt baffled: What the heck—was I a girl before or something?
“Can you stop talking? You’re already at that age—why do you always like to needle people?” Qin Xun rarely “scolded” Yin Tianxi, then continued: “This old man still has important matters to discuss—don’t waste my time.”
Su Mo sensed something was off: “Master, you…”
“I’m dying. Before I go, I want to give you something.” Qin Xun said it casually, as if death meant nothing to him.
Su Mo’s nose inexplicably tingled, and a scene suddenly flashed through his mind: a spectacular vision of mountains collapsing and tsunamis surging, an old but vigorous Taoist priest fighting powerful enemies single-handedly—he was the core of the entire scene.
Huh?
Isn’t this the original owner’s memory? Why did it suddenly appear?
Su Mo was certain these weren’t his own memories, so he firmly believed they belonged to the body’s original owner.
In the instant he was dazed, Qin Xun handed him a long saber of extremely beautiful design.
“Master, what’s this?”
“It’s called Tao Yao. Someone left it with me for safekeeping. Now I’m passing it on to you.”
Su Mo said awkwardly: “That doesn’t seem appropriate.”
“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. That person can’t come back anymore—or rather, he’s already gone back.” Qin Xun spoke in roundabout terms, adding a layer of mystery to this saber named “Tao Yao.”
“The peach tree blooms with vibrant beauty—give it to a girl named Ye Qingyi.”
“Ye Qingyi—who’s that?” Su Mo was completely confused. “Is she the owner of ‘Tao Yao’?”
“More or less. This is the task I’m leaving you—it must be completed!” A hint of seriousness appeared on Qin Xun’s kind face.
“I don’t even know her, and I don’t know where she is—how am I supposed to deliver it?” Su Mo said with a mournful face, instinctively drawing the blade and giving it a few swings before sheathing it again.
Everyone was stunned for a moment—including Su Mo himself.
But the others weren’t overly surprised—Su Mo himself was the one who got caught up being impressed by how cool he looked.
“Take this. When you want to open it, open it and take a look—then you’ll know.” Yin Tianxi suddenly shoved a brocade pouch into his hand.
Su Mo couldn’t wait to open it.
Yin Tianxi: (￢_￢)
Nangong Xuan: (￢_￢)
Qin Xun: (￢_￢)
Yang Jie: (￢_￢)
He didn’t know why he was in such a hurry, why he was so eager to open it—his hands just itched.
Inside the brocade pouch was a slip of paper with words on it: Yin Fire.
“What does that mean?” Su Mo spread out the paper, indicating he didn’t understand.
But the others immediately realized this was very likely the key to Su Mo recovering his memories.
However, they didn’t explain in detail—they just told Su Mo to go back and wait for instructions, saying they’d arrange a trip for him within three days.
The one who escorted Su Mo back was Nie Yun. Her expression was rather displeased when she saw Su Mo, and she kept glaring at him.
Su Mo got a bit angry from being glared at and said with a straight face: “Miss, why do you keep glaring at me? Do we have some kind of grudge?”
Hearing the “Miss” address, Nie Yun’s expression softened a little: “It’s nothing really. It’s just that a friend of mine became a vegetable at a young age. Her boyfriend looks a lot like you—I was just reminiscing.”
Su Mo found this baffling and said suspiciously: “Your friend became a vegetable because of her boyfriend?”
“No, but he couldn’t protect the girl he loved—always letting her get hurt. Don’t you think he deserves to die?”
“I’ve never been in a relationship—I don’t understand. Don’t ask me.” Su Mo thought his answer was quite clever and even took the trouble to correct her mistake: “By the way, ‘reminiscing’ isn’t used that way here—remember not to misuse it next time.”
Nie Yun opened her mouth but couldn’t think of a single thing to say in response.
“Of course, it’s not like you absolutely can’t use it that way—sometimes it can come across as quite humorous.”
“Ah, is that so…”
The rest of the way, Nie Yun didn’t speak to him again. The two of them each carried their own thoughts as they made their way to where Su Mo lived—the courtyard house where Qin Xun used to live.
Su Mo felt like a child who hadn’t grown up yet—needing someone to pick him up and drop him off wherever he went, and the people doing the picking up and dropping off all seemed pretty badass.
Well, that made sense. In their eyes, he had lost his memory. A person with amnesia—forget everything else—would definitely not be able to find their way…
Hmm?
He paused mid-step, staring in astonishment at the courtyard house before him. Through the gap in the door, he looked inside—this was exactly the place where he had been staying all this time, the place he had left for the first time.
“What’s wrong? Go in.” Nie Yun gestured toward the inside with her chin, her words slightly unclear because she had a lollipop in her mouth.
“Why do I know the way here?” Su Mo’s breathing became rapid.
If all the previous incidents could be explained as the body’s instincts, then knowing the way wasn’t something instinct could account for. After all, they had walked quite a distance to get here, and Nie Yun had been trailing half a step behind him the entire time—there was no way she could have been giving him hints.
But Nie Yun thought he was just making a fuss over nothing and said irritably: “It’s not like you’ve never walked this road before. Suddenly remembering something isn’t that big a deal.”
Su Mo looked at the lollipop in her mouth, and it was like a slideshow was playing in his head—but it kept stuttering, the images he glimpsed fragmented and intermittent.
In the scenes, he and Nie Yun were walking very close together, chatting and laughing, each with a lollipop in their mouth, looking inseparable.
Su Mo was deeply shaken: No way—she and I are actually in this kind of relationship…
