Gazing at the dilapidated and empty Zhang family home before him, the young man's expression remained impassive.
As if he had foreseen this outcome long ago.
Zhang Bei felt a pang of heartache. From this day forward, the weight of all the Zhang family's karma would fall upon his shoulders alone.
Zhang Bei went to prepare food, while the young man sat silently in the ancestral hall.
The ancestral tablets were gone, likely taken away by others.
Zhang Bei paid no mind to this, but the young man stared blankly at the spot where the tablets once stood.
“How are you feeling?” Zhang Bei asked when it was time to eat.
The young man shook his head, not uttering a word. Even in front of Zhang Bei, he remained silent.
Before, he knew he would answer a question or two, but now he was even more reluctant to speak.
Zhang Bei only sighed, unsure of the young man's condition.
“Have you found out about your past?” Zhang Bei asked.
The young man's eyes finally flickered with change, but they were filled with a sense of confusion.
“I've forgotten.”
His voice was as cold as ice from a frozen cave.
This was the first time Zhang Bei had heard the young man speak since he came out.
His voice had already been quite cold before, but now it was even colder.
“So, you actually know about your past, but you've forgotten now?” Zhang Bei furrowed his brow.
The young man nodded, acknowledging Zhang Bei's words.
This left Zhang Bei at a loss, as he wasn't a doctor.
“Is it because of the Absolute Transmission?” Zhang Bei inquired.
The young man nodded but remained silent.
“Let's eat first, you haven't eaten in days,” Zhang Bei sighed.
He hadn't expected that the Absolute Transmission had just ended and the young man had already lost his memory.
Was this something a teenager should have to endure?
Gazing at the young man's youthful face and underdeveloped body, he was already carrying the pain of everyone in the family.
How could one not feel heartache and pity?
“Do you remember who I am?” Zhang Bei asked.
The young man looked up at Zhang Bei and suddenly asked, “Xiao Guan?”
Zhang Bei was stunned. Xiao Guan was his former nickname, not his own!
“Have you forgotten?” Zhang Bei asked in confusion.
The young man shook his head and said, “I remember, but it feels a bit hazy.”
Zhang Bei knew that his memories were jumbled. He remembered himself, but he didn't remember his name.
Xiao Guan was his nickname, so he thought his name was Xiao Guan.
“I'm not Xiao Guan. Xiao Guan was your nickname,” Zhang Bei said helplessly.
The young man's eyes filled with confusion, then began to show signs of pain.
“Xiao Guan! Xiao Guan is the nickname she gave me!”
The young man suddenly spoke.
“Who is she?” Zhang Bei asked abruptly.
The young man uttered two words: “Bai Ma.”
Zhang Bei was taken aback. This was an unfamiliar name.
“I feel like these two words are very important to me!”
The young man's face remained impassive, but pain flickered in his eyes.
“Don't worry, don't worry, don't overthink it,” Zhang Bei hastily comforted him.
The young man looked at Zhang Bei and said, “You are Zhang Bei.”
“Huh? You remember me?” Zhang Bei was overjoyed.
The young man nodded, then shook his head, unsure of what he meant. He wasn't willing to say more.
“That means your memories can slowly return. There are still many books in the family. Why don't we stay here for a while? Then you can use the family records to see if you can remember anything.”
Zhang Bei looked at the young man with a hint of heartache in his voice.
“Okay!”
The young man seemed to have nowhere else to go and readily agreed.
They were like abandoned children, with nowhere to go except the Zhang family ancestral land.
Though it was dilapidated, it was still a home of sorts.
“They emptied out the other places, but they didn't dare touch the books near the ancient tower. Why don't we live near the ancient tower for now? It'll be convenient for you to read the books.”
Zhang Bei suggested again.
“Okay!”
The young man had no other thoughts and simply agreed.
Right now, Zhang Bei felt like a parent taking care of their child.
The young man was now like a blank slate, with Zhang Bei making all the decisions.
After dinner, they moved to a place near the ancient tower.
There were many houses near the ancient tower, filled with a large number of ancient texts and materials.
Zhang Bei didn't know how to help the young man recover his memories.
He could only hope that these ancient texts and materials would help him regain some of his memories.
For this purpose, Zhang Bei busied himself, arranging a room for him and finding materials, which delayed his own forging progress.
“I remember him!”
One day, while the young man was looking at the materials, he suddenly pointed at a name on the document and said.
Zhang Bei leaned over and saw that the name was Zhang Fu Lin.
Zhang Bei was unfamiliar with this name.
“Who is he?” Zhang Bei asked in confusion.
The young man said, “The person I killed.”
Hearing this, Zhang Bei nearly fell to the ground. This person was killed by the young man?
Who was this person, then?
“Where?” Zhang Bei asked curiously.
The young man replied, “Si Shui City.”
Zhang Bei was completely baffled and could only say, “Keep looking, maybe you'll remember something.”
The young man nodded and continued to examine the materials, but it didn't seem to have much effect.
He only remembered that he killed this person.
However, Zhang Bei was still happy, at least the young man's memories had a glimmer of hope.
As long as he persisted, the young man would definitely recover his memories.
“I remember who he is.”
A few days later, the materials about Zhang Fu Lin were all discarded.
The young man finally approached Zhang Bei and said.
“Who?” Zhang Bei was also a bit confused.
The young man said, “Zhang Fu Lin, my adoptive father, the person I killed.”
Zhang Bei's jaw dropped. So, the young man had killed his adoptive father?
However, judging by the young man's words, he had killed his adoptive father in Si Shui City. Perhaps something had happened at the time.
After all, the young man was still a child at the time and was treated as a blood slave.
It was even possible that his adoptive father was the one who bled him.
But the young man didn't seem willing to talk about it, so Zhang Bei didn't ask further.
However, it could be seen that reading these materials and books was helpful in his memory recovery.
“Keep looking, if you can't remember after reading it once, read it again. You will eventually recover your memories.”
Zhang Bei said to the young man.
“Will I remember who Bai Ma is?” the young man asked.
Zhang Bei nodded and said, “You will.”
The young man nodded without saying anything else. It seemed that Bai Ma was very important to him.
He listened to Zhang Bei's words and spent his days with a book in hand, quietly staying near the Zhang family's ancient tower.
Sometimes he would even sit at the entrance of the ancient tower, like a door guardian.
Their days were peaceful. The Zhang family had food and vegetables planted by their ancestors. There were also livestock that had been running wild. Now, they were almost like wild game.
So, they wouldn't starve to death here.
Zhang Bei thought this life would continue indefinitely.
But unexpectedly, an unexpected visitor arrived.
……