Chapter 1537: Memories
Chapter 1537: Memories
The man on the dragon’s back glanced back, gazing through the heavens—between the weaving laws, the six realms cycled slowly, establishing multiple dimensions and worlds through an unimaginable, even incomprehensible, manner.
The trichiliocosm and the billions upon billions of lives all lay within.
Who had ever said “‘the Green province spans fifteen thousand kilometers. The jianghu is only but a corner”? If the nine provinces were still around, it was just a speck of sand among the myriad worlds.
When the frog in the well finally climbed up the slippery walls of the well after tremendous effort and saw the boundless sky of stars, who would have thought that all it strived for in the very beginning was merely a tiny circle of the sky, chasing after a single star?
With how ignorant it had been, it had once mistaken the entire sky to be that shape, mistaken that there was only one star.
Now, it no longer knew what shape the sky was. It was no longer able to find the star that belonged to it in the endless sea of stars.
In a daze, it understood that all it possessed was this well.
In the Human realm, over the ocean, in the Xuanming dwelling.
Li Qingshan emerged from the ocean, spreading his limbs and lying quietly on the surface of the water. He gazed at the deep-blue circle and the glimmering specks on there.
“It looks like a well!”
“But… what’s a ‘well’? And what are those glimmering specks? Where am I? Who am I?”
He mentioned a string of questions, all of which left him puzzled. He had once read every single book in the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, yet at the end of the day, he still knew nothing.
At this moment, a white, petite figure suddenly appeared, blanking out the moment she saw him. She bit her lip as her eyelashes fluttered.
As a result, he smiled. “Xiao An, I’m back! Oh right, what’s my name again?”
Xiao An suddenly threw herself into his arms. Ripples of water spread silently. He stroked her long, seaweed like hair and noticed how her cheeks were moist.
“Hmm? Why are you crying? Haven’t I returned?”
Xiao An asked hoarsely, “Who are you?”
“I’m… I clearly asked you first!“”
Xiao An raised her head, gazing at him with her red eyes, saying almost as if she was questioning him, “Who are you?”
Her voice rippled across the surface of the water. He was unable to answer her. He rubbed her head. “Alright, I can’t remember. I forgot so much.”
“Your name is Li Qingshan!” Xiao An repeated. “Your name is Li Qingshan!”
“Yeah, that’s quite a nice name!” Li Qingshan nodded in satisfaction. As expected, a name I gave myself.
However, Xiao An burst into tears.
“Sigh, don’t cry!” Li Qingshan wiped away her tears frantically, except only more and more appeared. This is strange. She clearly didn’t like to cry this much in my memories! Don’t tell me I’ve said the wrong thing?
Xiao An suddenly said, “Qingshan, let’s return to the World of the Five Continents, alright?”
Li Qingshan halted.
Xiao An said sadly, “If you’ve forgotten everything, what’s the point no matter how powerful you become?”
Li Qingshan fell silent. He looked up again. The dim circle flickered with a few specks of light that he did not know the name of. It was distant and dim, which made him feel lonely, like drifting through the ocean, yet for some reason, it constantly weighed on his mind.
Yeah, he had forgotten everything, apart from this one person, apart from this one matter.
He lowered his head again and gazed at her clear eyes. They were so kind and so warm.
At this moment, everything he persevered in collapsed. As long as she could smile, he was willing to set the world alight, to never look up again.
He smiled gently. “Alright. Don’t cry. If this is your wish…” He shut his eyes and furrowed his brows before opening them again. “Then we’ll…”
“No!” As if she had been frightened, Xiao An suddenly covered his mouth and shook her head slowly. She smiled. “My wish is to accompany you forever, no matter where you are, until death do us part.”
Li Qingshan abruptly felt his nose burn. His soft spot had been touched. He could not help but shed tears.
The lone stars in the sky gazed down on the water, at the two of them that embraced each other firmly.
And who had ever considered just how much the frog missed the well when faced with the endless sky of stars?
……
“Hah, this kid has lost his memories. What a tasteless trope. You really are a novelist after all!”
Gu Yanying stood gracefully before Li Qingshan like she was facing a little fool. She even waved her hand around in front of him, joking to him. “Then do you still remember me? You even had a crush on me in the past!”
Rāhu Xiaoming thought of something, but he showed none of it on his face. He patted Li Qingshan’s shoulder. “Little Li, I’m your big bro, Rāhu Ming!”
“First father, are you still unable to let go of your obsessions?” Li Fengyuan sat in the lotus position with a Vairocana crown on his head, dressed in a great red kasaya. He brought his palms together and sighed as he shook his head.
Li Qingshan looked at Gu Yanying. He could not help himself as his eyes lit up. “Fish lips!”
Gu Yanying squinted her eyes, gazing sharply at Xiao An who was beside Li Qingshan.
Xiao An was unfazed. She even nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”
It had already been some time since Li Qingshan returned. Xiao An told him in detail about the matters that occurred in the past. Coupled with the powerful deductive abilities of the spirit turtle itself, at least he was no longer clueless anymore. He had not recovered his memories, but at least he knew what was going on.
However, teacher Xiao An seemed to have included some “additional content” in the curriculum.
Gu Yanying burst out laughing. She looked away and introduced herself, “My name is Gu Yanying. It’s not completely a bad thing that you lost your memories.”
“Yanying, please become my woman!”
Gu Yanying smiled away just like before. “I take that back.”
Li Qingshan grinned and shot a glance at Rāhu Xiaoming. “Forget about it, Xiaoming! A day as Xiaoming, a lifetime as Xiaoming! Even if you become a god in the future, you’re still Xiaoming! You’re my big bro? And I’m your grandaddy!”
A vein popped out on Rāhu Xiaoming’s forehead. “If it weren’t for your current situation, I would challenge you to a battle right now!”
In the past few years, he had been constantly waging war in the Asura realm, such that his powers recovered extremely quickly. He had already undergone the sixth heavenly tribulation, instead overtaking the Li Qingshan right before him. It was only a matter of time before he recovered his position as a god.
“Challenge me? Ha! Ha! Ha!” Li Qingshan let out three exaggerated laughs. “You think I’m not your opponent anymore just because you’ve undergone the sixth heavenly tribulation?” He casually fished out three mountains and swivelled them around in his hand like walnuts.
Rāhu Xiaoming’s eyes narrowed, clearly someone who knew what they were. He recognised the power behind the three mountains, which was beyond what he could necessarily endure. “You met with… him!”
“Of course!’
“Alright!” Rāhu Xiaoming surged with fighting spirit. “It’s my honour to be able to fight alongside them!”
Li Qingshan was displeased by that. “You don’t feel honoured to fight alongside me?”
Rāhu Xiaoming sneered. “I don’t!”
Li Qingshan sighed. “Sigh, with how obstinate and unruly you are, you truly are the leader of the four heavenly kings!”
“You think I’ll be satisfied just because you call me the leader of some four heavenly kings?” Rāhu Xiaoming rolled his eyes, but he could not help but laugh as well. It was not exactly an honour to fight alongside him, but it had always brought him great delight.
Last of all, Li Qingshan turned towards Li Fengyuan and furrowed his brows. He turned towards Xiao An. “Who’s this bald ass?”