“Without seeing how the man acted, the old man was kicked and sent flying for several meters, heavily landing on the ground.
The man’s gaze fell slowly on the girl, calm and unfazed. In his icy, bone-chilling eyes, a hint of indescribable heartache emerged.
“Does it hurt?”
Quickly, the man crouched down and gently held the girl in his arms.
“How… did you come…” The girl opened her eyes weakly, looking at the man who seemed like a deity descending from the heavens.
“I was worried about you,” the man slowly spoke.
“Are you… the only one…?” The girl stared at the man.
“Just me, that’s enough,” the man said expressionlessly.
“You should go, don’t mind me… it has nothing to do with you,” tears and rainwater blended on the girl’s face, making it hard to distinguish between them.
“Don’t talk,” the man held the girl, letting her rest against his chest.
Soon, the man’s icy gaze shifted towards the densely packed crowd ahead, his voice seemingly carrying the final calm before doomsday, an almost suppressed breath on the verge of eruption.
“The Martial Arts Alliance Guild… From now on, the Independent State… the Martial Arts Alliance Guild must… be annihilated.” The man’s gaze, as cold as eternal ice, sent shivers down one’s spine.
At this point, the relatively complete memory fragment came to an end, and the scene instantly shifted.
Huaguo, the Si family.
The man remained by the girl’s side, never leaving for a single moment.
The girl often sat outdoors, silent, refusing food and water. Only through forceful means did the man make her eat and sustain her life.
“What exactly happened in the Independent State?” the man asked, looking at the girl.
However, the girl seemed to intentionally avoid the question.
“Can you do me a favor, Si Yehan…” the girl said to the man one day.
“Help me erase all my memories,” the girl said.
“Impossible,” the man stated firmly.
“I see… even if I die.” Despair appeared on the girl’s face.
With these words, the man fell into complete silence.
At the final moment before entering the operating room, the girl took out a ring and handed it to the man. “Si Yehan… This is my most precious ring. Please keep it safe for me.”
The man took the ring and examined it for a moment. “What is it?”
The girl smiled faintly, shaking her head. “You don’t need to know. Keep it hidden.”
…
In the blink of an eye, or perhaps after several decades, Ye Wanzhu suddenly opened her eyes in the office of the dean, sitting up abruptly and coughing violently as if choking on water.
“Take a deep breath,” the dean, Chi Yan, said to Ye Wanzhu.
Following the dean’s instructions, Ye Wanzhu gradually recovered.
“With two more sessions like this, you should be fine. Go back and rest,” the dean returned to his desk, reviewing documents.
Ye Wanzhu, like a walking corpse, left the dean’s office, her head buzzing. This time, the memories retrieved through hypnosis were no longer fragments but two relatively complete recollections. She felt like a bystander, watching a movie, having witnessed these scenes.
The Martial Arts Alliance Guild, the indistinct man… Elder Jin, who tried to kill the girl with a dagger, and… Si Yehan…
Everything seemed to connect in an instant, shocking to behold.
That girl, Ye Wanzhu was certain, was her former self, Miss Nie Wuyou of the Nie family.”