Memories

- ??? -

"Ngh…"

When Xuan opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a familiar landscape. It was daytime, and all around him, people walked and talked, bustling with life. Buildings rose on the sides of the wide concrete street he stood on, and at the central intersection, a large statue of an ancient wind-commanding knight stood proud.

"Huh? This is… Cloud Catcher City…?"

Xuan looked around, confused. Why was he here? He remembered going back to Open Sky Alchemists' Guild, falling on top of Zhi Ruo, then… he couldn't remember. He did, however, know that his body was supposed to have a gaping hole in it, and yet, when he looked down at his chest, it was perfectly intact. Even his hands were back.

There was no doubt about it—either this was heaven and he'd already died, or this was a dream.

The latter seemed more probable, since he didn't think he'd be able to go to heaven considering all the deeds he'd done in the past. If anything, after he died, he'd go to hell—and this scenery seemed far too pleasant for hell. But if this was a dream, then… what was its purpose?

Xuan couldn't remember the last time he'd dreamed. In his past life, his dreams were filled with the screams of the vengeful souls of the poor people he'd killed in cold-blood, threatening to tear him apart. Eventually, Ling'er had concocted a pill for him so that he'd never dream again, and sure enough, he hadn't ever since.

This was nice, for a change. A dream that wasn't littered with blood, gore, and screams.

Slowly, Xuan began to walk around, taking in the view of Cloud Catcher City. It seemed somewhat… off. Some buildings he saw in the real world weren't present here, and vice versa. The atmosphere seemed to be different as well, though Xuan couldn't quite put it into words.

After some walking, he began to notice that no one was paying attention to him, despite his appearance. It was as if he didn't exist, and was completely invisible to all these strangers on the street. Xuan appreciated that, but at the same time, it felt somewhat odd.

Before long, however, his interest was grabbed something else—a young child in the distance, with two tall guards standing behind him. The child was yelling and complaining about something, while the two guards were trying to soothe him.

To Xuan, this was a peculiar sight. First, this kid must be the young master of some prestigious family to have two well-built guards following him around when he went out, and judging from the color of his clothes… Xuan could tell he was from the Zhou family. In fact, it was near identical to Zhou Hai's clothing, just far smaller in size.

'So… this is a dream about the past of Cloud Catcher City? But… why would I dream about this? I didn't even remember the scenery of this place until I arrived back in it a day ago…'

Then, Xuan's gaze moved to one of the guards, and his eyes widened a bit.

"Impossible… is that…"

Walking closer to get a good look, Xuan stopped mere feet away from the trio, and observed the guard's appearance closely.

"As expected… Mamba."

Without a doubt, this guard was Mamba—or rather, whatever he had been called before taking on that alias. He'd been wearing a suit with extremely high collars to cover his appearance while fighting Xuan, but his corpse had not—as such, Xuan had a good idea of what his appearance was.

But the question was…

'… Why is he here, in my dream?'

Clearly, the timeframe was not a coincidence. The young Zhou Hai did not just happen to start making noise right as Xuan passed by them. Whoever was in control of this dream, they did it on purpose—and that would also mean this was not Xuan's dream at all.

Suddenly, the scenery cut. All around Xuan, the world shifted, turning into a different environment in the mere blink of an eye. He was now standing in a dark alleyway, facing a dead end much like the one he'd killed the Four Serpents in. He was still in Cloud Catcher City, so it could even be the same one—though the chances of that weren't high.

Inside the dead end, three people stood over a cowering man, tears in his eyes. The three consisted of two tall guards and a slightly shorter posh-looking young master in between them, all of which were glaring at the merchant kneeling before them, trembling in fear.

"So… who gave you the audacity to sell me those pills at a rip-off price?" The young master—Zhou Hai—said, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes.

"I-I wouldn't dare, young master Zhou! I'm not the one who makes the prices, I'm just the alchemist  who refines the pills… the guild is the one who sets all the prices!"

'Oh. So he's not a merchant, but an alchemist,' Xuan thought, correcting his earlier view.

"Oho… is that so? They're your pills, but you don't get to set the prices when selling them? Ha!" Zhou Hai chuckled. "Aren't most of the profits going back to you? Who's going to believe that lie?"

"I-I'm not lying, young master Zhou- please, just believe me, I can take you to the guild and you can ask them yourse-"

"Oh, there's no need for that," Zhou Hai said, bending down and leaning in to the man, savoring the look of utter fear on his face. "You see… the pills aren't actually that expensive at all. I just want everything that's on you, understand? The prices… that was just an excuse."

"W-Wha… but Open Sky Alchemist Guild… they'll know… your Zhou family will be destroyed!"

"Ha! Nice bluff. Unfortunately, they'll never know. And even if they do…"

Zhou Hai leaned in by the man's ear. "… I have two scapegoats for me right here, don't I?"

"Y-You… evil… bastard!"

"Heh."

Zhou Hai moved away and turned to one his guards, motioning for him to kill the man.

"Do it."

"Understood, young master."

The guard stepped forward, drawing his sword, but the other guard did as well and interrupted.

"Wait. Forgive me, young master, but I must ask… is this not going a bit too far?"

Xuan, watching from afar, rubbed his chin in interest. 'Really, Mamba… you used to be this merciful and kind-hearted? I wonder what made you change…'

"Huh? Too far?" Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes at Mamba. "Don't forget your position, Yu Heng. You're just a lowly guard of my family. Nothing more. Since when could a dog tell their master what to do?"

"…"

At this, Mamba had no choice to shut up, although his fists were clenched with anger. Xuan, observing this, waited for the scene to unfold. A shame he didn't have popcorn.

Perhaps a normal person thrust into Xuan's situation would've jumped out and tried to interfere somehow, saving the innocent alchemist. But Xuan was experienced, calm, and thought carefully before every move. He still made mistakes, of course, evident by how he let Mamba get a sneak attack on him earlier, but for the most part, he calculated every step. Jumping out and trying to save the alchemist here wouldn't do anything—he was already dead a long time ago.

It was only now that Xuan realized the truth of the matter—this was not a mere dream.

These were Mamba's memories.

As for the reason Xuan was experiencing all of this… it could only be summed up to the power of Devouring Qi, could it not?

As the first guard cut the alchemist down with his blade, the scenery changed again, this time to the mansion of some large family. The nameplate above the entrance gave it away—it read 'Zhou Mansion'. Xuan, who could half-guess what was going to happen next by this point, let out a sigh and played along, entering the mansion.

Naturally, the guards didn't pay any attention to him—he didn't exist, from their perspective. Xuan strolled on in without a care in the world, and honestly, the feeling was pretty nice. It reminded of his old days, when he would be able to walk and go anywhere he wanted without everyone staring at him. Speaking of, he should probably obtain some sort of invisibility technique soon.

Inside the Zhou mansion's main meeting hall, a mass of people had gathered. The various elders of the family as well as the current patriarch sat demandingly on their respective thrones, while below, Zhou Hai and his two guards stood one side, with what looked like a younger Grandmaster Dun on the other.

"Brother Zhou, I hope you give me a proper response for this," he said politely but with an edge in his voice as he looked at the Zhou family patriarch. "One of Open Sky Alchemist Guild's alchemists was found dead in an abandoned alleyway in the city, and we have sufficient evidence that the crime was done by the hands of your Zhou family's young master. If you'd like, we can present you with proof."

"There is no need for that," the Zhou family patriarch said, wanting to maintain a good relationship with the alchemist guild, before turning to his son. "Zhou Hai, you unfilial brat, what do you have to say to this?"

"Father, it was not I who committed the crime," Zhou Hai replied, perfectly calmly. "At the time, I was simply bargaining with him for a fair price regarding the pills he was selling, but quite unfortunately, we were unable to reach a consensus even after many attempts. Before long, one of my guards became agitated with the alchemist, and killed him in the blink of an eye… I was shocked. Later, we hid the body to help protect him, but… I was wrong, father. Please forgive me."

Zhou Hai kneeled on the ground, pretending to be apologetic, while the patriarch narrowed his eyes.

"A guard did this, you say? Acting without your orders?"

"That is correct, father. I can understand where he was coming from—wanting to help me get my business done—but even so-"

"… Where is this guard? Step forward."

At this, Zhou Hai turned to none other than Mamba, who was shocked and pointed at himself as if to say 'Me?'

"Sorry, Yu Heng. You've been very loyal to me through the years, and I've always appreciated you greatly, but… this time, I'm afraid I cannot protect you."

Zhou Hai made a regretful expression on his face as Mamba remained perfectly still, trying to comprehend what just happened. Xuan, watching this scene unfold, narrowed his eyes a bit.

'Zhou Hai…'

He was angry—not because of Mamba's framing, but simply because of Zhou Hai's vile personality.

Xuan had done his fair share of backstabbing and framing in the past, but never to a good man. Every person he plotted against, he always had a good reason for it. Mamba did not do anything wrong, but Zhou Hai simply used him as a scapegoat to carry the weight of his own crimes. That was what disgusted Xuan.

"… We have our culprit, it seems," the Zhou family patriarch said, spreading his arms. "From today on, this guard, Yu Heng, will have no connection with the Zhou family whatsoever. Grandmaster Dun, you may deal with him as you so choose."

Grandmaster Dun frowned. "Forgive me, but I do not believe this is what truly happened. Sir Yu Heng does not seem like the type of man with such temperament-"

"Are you implying that my son was the one who did it?"

"… Yes."

"And do you have evidence to backup your theory? The fact that it was my son in particular who did the job?"

"… No."

"Then I must ask that you leave, Grandmaster Dun. I hope we can oversee this trivial matter and continue working as partners in the future, but do not attempt to accuse my son of anything."

"… Tch."

Grandmaster Dun, defeated, turned around and left, but as he did so, he stopped beside Yu Heng.

"… You. Come with me."

Yu Heng—or rather, Mamba—had no other choice but to follow. If he didn't, he'd be killed on the spot. With his teeth grit and fists clenched, he trailed after Grandmaster Dun, a burning fury in his eyes.

*****

The scene cut once more, and Xuan found himself looking at Mamba speaking with Grandmaster Dun. After hearing about the truth of the matter from Mamba, Grandmaster Dun sighed and gave him a scripture of some sort as thanks for trying to save the alchemist. Mamba, however, could not stay in the city for long, so he moved out into a small wooden cabin in Hefeng Woods that Grandmaster Dun had arranged for him, where he had all the time in the world to practice the technique contained in the scripture.

Xuan smiled. Finally, the moment he had been waiting for.

He kind of wished he could've just skipped to this from the very start, but at the same time, learning about other people's pasts was somewhat interesting. After all, it allowed him to see just truly how vile Zhou Hai truly was—and Xuan was going to make sure he paid the price.

The scene then cut to Mamba inside his cabin, looking over the scripture. It was titled the <Twelve Zodiac Technique>, a series of moves that each represented an animal of the Chinese Zodiac. As Mamba flipped through the techniques, he gradually began to understand why Grandmaster Dun sent him here out in the forest—to study the animals that lived here.

And now, Xuan was here, studying him.

A montage than began, cutting between day and night. For hours on end, Mamba trained, practicing the Twelve Zodiac Technique, but for Xuan, all this was happening in mere minutes. He mimicked the other man's actions, comprehending it slowly, and by the time the montage was complete and Mamba had mastered the Twelve Zodiac Technique, so had he.

The final scene of the memory showed Mamba looking back in the direction of Cloud Catcher City, and Xuan could somewhat guess what that was about—revenge. Now that he'd mastered these skills, he could become a hired assassin, meeting Cobra, Viper, and Python.

But before that… Mamba suddenly turned again, and stared straight at Xuan.

"How dare you…"

"Hoh… so you were able to perceive me all this time?" Xuan narrowed his eyes and readied himself for a fight, but his body wouldn't move.

"—?!"

Xuan's features tightened in alarm as he narrowed his eyes, and prepared to fight. He felt resistances—like something was trying to control his movements—but his world-breaking Soul Strength was enough to overcome that.

"How dare you… STEAL MY MEMORIES!"

With a roar of rage, Mamba leaped towards Xuan—but in that moment, everything suddenly went dark, and all that was left was the sound of Mamba's terrible warcry.

"DIE!"