The Musings of a Sane man, and Two Psychopaths.

He gasped again, looking at the door and covering his mouth. "What happens if he finds out I'm going to help Xiao Xia behind his back? If his familiar wasn't exempt from execution, then what hope do I have? He'll execute me, and all the people Xiao Xia is trying to save too, that crazy man. Then he'll chop up our bodies and serve them at his buffet-style wedding; rare, medium-rare, and well-done. Oh my gosh, and wine from our blood! He's not beyond that, I know it! He's always drinking red wine at dinner! Can't he drink juice or water for once? Waste your liver away, why don't you?"

Tai Yang looked up at the starry sky illusion in thought. "But then, he's been decent the last few days. I mean, yes, yesterday he pulled down my pants again to press the mushroom, and he keeps calling me a Mushroom with a new adjective every time... But he does feed me, and give me clothes, medicine, a warm bed, and shelter-" Tai Yang gasped loudly again, falling to his knees. 

"TAI YANG YOU DEGENERATE GOAT! STOP IT RIGHT THIS INSTANT! YOU CAN'T DEVELOP STOCKHOLM SYNDROME!!!" He held his head, barely stopping himself from tearing his hair out. "Okay, listen, listen." With open hands, he patted the air in front of himself.

"There is a way out of this. All you have to do is remember that everyone here is insane, and you're not. No offense." He said glancing at Bed-Jiejie the Second. He took her silence as a shrug. "So as the only sane person here, you can't blame them for their peculiarity, but you need to separate work from your personal bias." He looked at Bed-Jiejie the Second. "Doesn't that make sense? It does, doesn't it? I mean if you really think about it, they're not all there, they really need my help." He sighed and stood up, holding his hips. "I don't know how to help them mentally, to be honest. I can't even help myself, but I mean, I could make sure nothing bad happens here before I leave the Universe for good, can't I?"

He nodded twice to himself. "Mhmm, mhmm, yes. But how am I going to go back to my Earth and come back here?" He started to pace again. After a while, he sighed heavily.

"Okay, no, no. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Let's focus on right now. So if Ji Ru has my predecessor's knowledge, and I get that, that could tell me the topics he researched, right? Maybe that could help me figure out who asked him to do the research, or what crazy thing they were planning that made him so scared to sleep alone, don't you think?"

Bed-Jiejie the Second was silent. Tai Yang sighed. "You're right, I need to get my hands on his personal memories too. Hopefully, it wasn't destroyed or something of the sort. Rene Descartes' concept of reductionism is key. You probably don't know what reductionism is Bed-Jiejie the Second. My Bed-Jiejie already knows but I'll tell you too because we'll be collaborating for a while. According to Descartes, everything should be broken down into the smallest components to be understood. Yes, yes. We can't look at a house and understand its architecture without understanding the bricks and the beams. I can't fully understand what my predecessor wanted without going through his memories. Oh Descartes, such a  genius. I know what I must do because of you." He ran a hand through his hair and grasped the slender nape of his neck. "But is that okay?" He asked Bed-Jiejie the second. "Would I have an identity crisis having someone else's personal memories and knowledge in my head? I mean, I don't even know who I am and I'm barely competent enough to cross the road." Tai Yang nibbled on his knuckle. "What if the memories make me too attached to people? I feel like it would make me even fonder of Ji Ru. Yeah, Ji Ru is so nice, he brings warm milk to my cag- WAIT A SECOND!!! He's the very one who KIDNAPPED you!!! STOCKHOLM SYNDROME IS REAL TAI YANG!!! RESIST IT! RESIST IT!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ji Ru knocked on Li Jun's door, glancing around. For some reason, he felt the meeting was conspicuous. Li Jun opened the door and unceremoniously yanked him in. 

"Alright, do you really believe his shit about Xiao Xia admiring his research and all that other nonsense?"

Ji Ru blinked nervously. He knew better than anyone that if Tai Yang was lying, he started to turn red. Indeed, Tai Yang had turned quite red.

He was planning to ease the topic of what he and Xiao Xia really spoke about into their conversation, but Li Jun had called him before he did. 

"I mean, he may be telling the truth, your majesty..." Ji Ru said, trying not to get Tai Yang in trouble. Li Jun rolled his eyes. "Really? You're going to tell me that didn't sound suspicious? And what about the way he didn't want to talk before he said it? He probably made the whole thing up."

'Of course he did, but I'm not gonna tell you that.' Ji Ru thought, scratching behind his ear. 

"I don't know what to say, you majesty. Is that what you've called me here to discuss?"

Li Jun gave him a look and then crossed his arms. "No, I want to know what you've decided to do with his memories." Ji Ru was silent for a moment.

"I think it would be no use not to give it to him."

"Do you not think he would do something strange with what he knows after he gets all that knowledge?"

"No. He has no reason to do anything."

"But we don't know that. We don't even know what he spoke to Xiao Xia about. We don't know how he was able to repel our attempts at looking into his mind. We don't know why he has more than one colour of Aura. He's a massive grey area."

Ji Ru sighed. "Regardless your majesty, we do need Tai Yang to become an immortal; you need him on your side too. Even if Xiao Xia and he spoke about something else, Tai Yang is a trustworthy character, and he would never harm anyone. I don't know if there's something this Tai Yang knows or about his Aura and powers, or if he's in cohorts with Xiao Xia; but I do know that even if they were planning something,  it would never be selfish or evil.  Xiao Xia does not seem like the kind of woman who would do something vindictive either. You've liked her for this long, why are you doubting her all of a sudden? I think we should give Tai Yang his memories. If he is, in the rare possibility, planning something, maybe he would even feel more comfortable letting us in on it if we're willing to work with him. And, if you think about it, it will make training him all the easier too."

Li Jun gave Ji Ru's words some thought. 'He does speak sense.' Li Jun thought. 

"If you're still afraid, you won't be after spending time with him when you're training him. You'll learn what kind of person he is. He's peculiar and a little insane, but he's got a wonderful heart for people. He's the kind of person who can't say no to helping anyone. Yes, he probably wants to escape and run off to die, but I doubt he wants to hurt us. He's too kind to do that." Ji Ru laughed. "Except when you wake him up too early; then he'll grudge you, but he forgets it soon enough."

Li Jun exhaled. "That repulsion spell he let out still bothers me."

Ji Ru bit his inner cheek. "There's something that's been bothering me, for a number of years..."

Li Jun raised a brow and glanced at him. "What is it?"

Ji Ru crossed his arms, then raised one hand to hold the underside of his jaw. "Why did our Tai Yang lock his memories?"

Li Jun frowned. He hadn't ever really spoken much with Ji Ru about the previous Tai Yang. All that he knew about that person came from his few memories of him, and Li Wei.

"Well obviously because he didn't want anyone to see it." Li Jun said.

"But why? What did he know that someone murdered him for it?"

"Do you think this one knows?"

"I doubt it, but I feel like our Tai Yang wanted him to know, and I also feel like he knew someone wanted what was in his head. Why else would he seal his memories in such a way that only could see he could see it? It was an unnecessary, tedious step. If he knew he was going to die and he didn't want anyone to see what he knew, he could have sealed his memories so that nobody saw them at all. If he was dead, he wouldn't be able to see his personal memories or knowledge anyway."

Li Jun frowned.

"So... What you're saying is he wanted you to bring this Tai Yang here? That's why you kept trying to find him in another Universe even when we said not to?"

Ji Ru nodded. 

"What if this wasn't the Tai Yang he wanted here?"

"No. It has to be him. The fact that we can't touch this one's mind at all tells me our Tai Yang had a part in why he has no recollection of his childhood. I was lucky in getting the right one. Also... He told me some strange things before dinner... And there's something you should know about our Tai Yang's memories too."

Li Jun crooked his head. "Like what?"

Ji Ru sighed and told him everything Tai Yang had said and about how it was Tai Yang's personal memories that were stolen. At the end of Ji Ru's explanation, Li Jun's expression became quite complicated. Li Wei and his father had briefly mentioned something about Tai Yang's memories, but hearing it from Ji Ru made it more real.

"Those happenings are way too elaborate to be coincidental." He said. Ji Ru nodded. "I'm positive that there's something strange going on."

Li Jun opened his mouth to say something, then paused. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if it's my place to say it."

"I'm sure you have your reservations your majesty, but if it could help us understand then..."Ji Ru trailed off and Li Jun sighed. He walked to his lounging area and sat down next to a seat by the fireplace. Rubbing his temple, he gestured for Ji Ru to do the same. Quickly, Ji Ru followed, and stared at him, waiting for Li Jun to decide on telling him what he knew.

"As part of Father's initiative to form alliances, he'd offer Tai Yang's assistance to different Rulers."

Ji Ru's eyes widened.