Beyond the Timescape

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Fourth Vice-Bishop left the Green Spirit Pharmacy. Back out on the street, he turned to look at the medicine shop, his eyes shining. Moments ago after meeting the Heir Apparent, he had exchanged some words, and had maintained an extremely formal and respectful attitude. In the end, he’d expressed his interest in being a follower of the Heir Apparent.

The result was promising. However, the Green Spirit Pharmacy was a very unique place that left the vice-bishop with a very deep impression.

That young man scrubbing the floor has a bloodline in which the strength of humankind runs very strong.... It’s extraordinary! And then there’s the fellow reciting the poetry. I can sense some sort of blessing on him! Plus there’s that Ancient Spirit girl. She has destiny aura on her!

The maidservant tending to the water seems like a Smoldering God, except with incomplete souls. I bet that she was formed from some Smoldering God expert who died, and was then tampered with by someone with very high personhood.

All of that got Fourth Vice-Bishop quite excited. But what was most extraordinary was the back room....

That entire medicine shop is full of a very strange type of authority. It’s related to amnesia. If your cultivation base is too low, then you’ll be affected by it without even realizing it. And that effect... is only in the beginning stages, but still can affect the soul. If it reaches fruition... then it could affect all the living beings in a very wide range, substitute for them in cultivation, alter consciousness, and make it difficult for them to tell each other apart.

It’s all coming from that back room, which is occupied by that young man who met us on the border. He must have a very close relationship with the Heir Apparent. That seems especially true considering that they call him ‘young lord’....

Fourth Vice-Bishop contemplated all of that as he walked away.

***

In the back room, Xu Qing opened his eyes. In D-132, his nascent soul had just pulled its hand away from the god’s finger. Xu Qing’s eyes went blank.

At the same time, everyone else in the shop also looked dazed as all of them lost their memories of what just happened. The affected memories started from when Xu Qing’s nascent soul touched the god’s finger, and ended when the connection ended. It was a very smooth and natural process.

Frowning, Xu Qing looked at the recording jade slip in his hand.

Back in the old Corrections Division, he had used methods like this to try to unravel the mystery of what was happening. Unfortunately, looking through it didn’t reveal any relevant information. It just showed him seated there in meditation.

Why do I get the feeling I’m forgetting something?

After some thought, he summoned Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, and also communicated with his shadow. They provided no helpful information.

Nothing out of the ordinary?

The shadow and the patriarch were the backup methods he used in addition to the recording jade slip. Next, he looked through his bag of holding hoping to find some clues. Upon finding none, he thought some more, then went out to the main floor of the shop.

Everyone there was going about business as usual. When Ling’er noticed him, she smiled sweetly and hurried over.

“Big Bro Xu Qing, how’s your cultivation going? Over the past few days I’ve got the feeling you’re about to break through.”

Xu Qing smiled and tousled Ling’er’s hair. Then he walked over to the counter and picked up a recording jade slip he’d secretly placed on the eaves the day before.

Although nothing unusual seemed to be happening lately, Xu Qing got the distinct sense that something gruish was happening. Therefore, he was hoping to see if anything unusual was going on outside the back room during his cultivation sessions.

After checking the jade slip, he didn’t notice anything unusual. The recording in the jade slip didn’t reveal any clues. Yet that only made him feel more suspicious.

Whether in the back or out here, nothing has happened while I’ve been doing my study? In that case... what exactly have I been studying?

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

A short distance away, the Heir Apparent picked up his cup of tea and looked at Xu Qing. Inside, he was feeling very pleased. That jade slip... had been wiped clean by his very hand.

Even this little punk has days when he can’t figure things out. Hahaha! I’m happy just being able to witness this. That said, the brat’s powers of understanding really are shocking. When he forgets, everyone else forgets. This will domain of amnesia is really domineering.

With such thoughts on his mind, the Heir Apparent decided that he would keep observing for a few more days. After that, he would give Xu Qing some advice. In that way, he could ensure that his awe-inspiring reputation remained the same.

Frowning, Xu Qing put the jade slip away and turned to look at the Heir Apparent.

The Heir Apparent looked calmly back at him.

After a moment of thought, Xu Qing clasped hands politely, then returned to the back room and sat down cross-legged to review his memories. No matter how he went over things, everything seemed normal. Yet he still felt like he’d forgotten something. Therefore, he decided to draw on a trump card.

Have I really forgotten some things recently? Or has there been some other unusual reaction?

He sent some divine will into the god’s finger in D-132. The god’s finger was pretending to be asleep, and didn’t react. And yet, that behavior in itself clued Xu Qing in to what was happening.

“So, you’re admitting it?” Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He had another trump card. Tapping his bag of holding, he produced a bottle, which he shook back and forth a few times. Inside came a loud noise followed by a host of vague whisperings.

Whatever was inside the bottle was obviously alive. Therefore, Xu Qing opened the bottle. Light emerged, which started growing larger and larger until Xu Qing stopped it at a bit less than two meters.

It was an enormous brain that looked like a tree. Before leaving Sea-Sealing County, Xu Qing had gone to the Supreme Void World and captured a few brain trees in order to purify his heavenfiend clones. At the moment, he had one of them out in the open. He looked at it coldly.

The brain tree shivered. Clearly it remembered Xu Qing, and was absolutely terrified of him. Shaking its head vigorously, it said, “You’re not hungry. Not going to eat.... don’t want to eat... I’m a brain! Don’t eat good brains!”

Xu Qing ignored the chatter. Extending his right hand in the direction of the brain tree, he said, “I want you to devour my memories of sitting in meditation for the past two days.”

The brain tree shivered. Not daring to do anything disobedient, it carefully approached. When it touched him, bits of electricity cracked across the brain’s surface.

As it happened, Xu Qing did not experience any sensation akin to memory loss. However, the brain ended up shivering and then emanating a sensation of blankness. It currently was not sending out fluctuations of terror.

Xu Qing paid very close attention until he noticed a change in the brain tree. It backed up, the sensation of blankness disappearing, to be replaced with dread. It started shaking its head.

“You’re not hungry. Not going to eat.... don’t want to eat... I’m a brain! Don’t eat good brains!”

Xu Qing frowned. Something seemed very odd about the brain tree. It was repeating itself, yet didn’t seem to realize it. It was almost as if it had forgotten what just happened.

After some thought, Xu Qing lifted his hand with the intention of doing some more experiments. Before he could, the brain tree started shaking violently, and then, after a few breaths of time passed, it collapsed into ashes that drifted onto the ground.

Eyes glittering, Xu Qing took out another brain tree and did some more experiments. After the fifth brain tree died he took a deep breath. He’d come to an outrageous conclusion.

After they devour the memories of me researching the amnesia will domain, they then forget about it. It’s as if they don’t realize they devoured anything. In other words, after they devour my memories, they lose some of their memories, and don’t remember devouring anything.

Eventually, they can’t sustain it, and they die.... Does that mean my memories really can’t be preserved?

He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought back to the sensation of forgetfulness he’d been experiencing.

Could it be that I’m actually being affected by the very will domain I’m seeking enlightenment of?

As he tried to figure out how to confirm that theory, he noticed a message had come in from Paramount Temple in the Moonrebel Congregation. The Captain was calling for him. Realizing that he hadn’t delivered any new oil to the Captain lately, he took out the mirror shard and went into Paramount Temple.

The moment he arrived, he heard the Captain’s excited voice coming from the door.

“What’s going on, little Ah Qing? It’s been days! Have you rescued my kidney yet? Have you brought it back?”

Xu Qing was very taken aback. “What kidney?”

The Captain looked at him from the totem, stunned. “Quit messing around, little Junior Brother. My kidney shouldn’t be the subject of jokes. It’s really important to me.”

Xu Qing frowned and looked at the Captain. “It seems I’ve forgotten some things, Eldest Brother.”

The Captain’s eyes went wide and he looked at Xu Qing. From his facial expression he could see that he was serious about forgetting things. He inhaled sharply. “Have you been seeking enlightenment of some weird thingy nowadays?”

Xu Qing nodded. “The Heir Apparent has me seeking enlightenment of a will domain of amnesia.”

Hearing that, Erniu sighed. “Little Junior Brother, how could you be going around randomly seeking enlightenment at a time like this.... You forgot about what you promised to do for me? You really don’t remember how you solemnly agreed to give me 100,000,000 spirit stones?”

Xu Qing looked expressionlessly at the Captain.

The Captain looked back very sincerely. “I’m serious! Little Ah Qing, you really did promise me that. And you also promised to bring me back my missing kidney. Remember the clay fox? You told me that she’s interested in your primal yang. Am I right? See, I couldn’t possibly be making this up. It was your idea.”

Xu Qing closed his eyes. He didn’t believe for a second what the Captain said about the 100,000,000 spirit stones. Given what he knew about the Captain, that part was a complete fabrication. But when it came to the clay fox, he didn’t remember telling the Captain that story. That seemed to indicate that he really was forgetting some things. And it confirmed why he was forgetting things back at the Green Spirit Pharmacy.

Nodding, he said, “What’s the deal with your kidney?”

The Captain sighed. As far as he was concerned, this amnesia will domain of Xu Qing’s was very shameless and unreasonable. Back when he originally convinced Xu Qing to help him, it had taken a lot of carefully crafted words. If he tried to just explain things with a few words right now, it was entirely possible Xu Qing might refuse to help. Therefore, he had no choice but to revert to his previous state of sorrow and anxiety. He even said the same things and reused the same facial expressions. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that....

After Xu Qing heard the whole sales pitch again, he was about to refuse when the Captain sighed loudly.

This is just like before, he thought, and went on to counter all of the arguments he knew Xu Qing was going to use.

Afterward, he felt very tired as he looked nervously at Xu Qing. Xu Qing hesitated briefly, but finally nodded, then turned to leave.

Seeing that Xu Qing was going back, the Captain got a bit nervous.

“Help me get that kidney right away!” he called. “Don’t start by seeking enlightenment. I really don’t want to have to repeat myself again like this time... it’s really exhausting....”

Xu Qing left. Back in the Green Spirit Pharmacy he stood there thinking for a short time before he finally let loose a sigh.

“I guess I should go take a look,” he murmured. With that, he vanished from the Green Spirit Pharmacy.

This time, he didn’t tell Ling’er where he was going.

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