The Lost Memory 02

A scene that felt all too familiar.

Aise hadn’t expected to suffer the same kind of setback twice at the hands of the same person.

“As expected of my father’s teammate…” Aise slowly reset his dislocated jaw, spitting out a mouthful of bloody spittle.

Musen’s strength here was far from negligible. After all, he had been nourished by the sacred scriptures of the Goddess Church for nearly a thousand years. His spiritual power was nothing short of formidable.

Strictly speaking, this space constructed from spiritual force was also his home ground.

Aise shook his head. That punch from Musen had oddly sobered him up instead.

“Hah——” Aise let out a long breath, and sparks flickered again from the wound on his chest.

Musen was coiled and ready, muscles taut, clearly gathering momentum for his next wave of attack, prepared to strike at any moment.

But Aise closed his eyes. Then, he extended one hand, aiming it at Musen.

Musen’s nerves tightened, and he immediately assumed a defensive stance.

Yet Aise launched no attack. As his hand seemed to grasp something in the air, he suddenly hurled his arm in a sweeping motion — no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling bursts of light. Musen’s figure dissolved into the air like a pencil sketch erased from paper.

The fierce, close-combat bald priest was expelled from this space.

This was a mental world built by Aise upon the foundation of Mian’s dreams. Though Musen had been brought in by Mian as an outsider, Mian’s authority here was inferior to Aise’s.

“Now…” Aise turned to Mian, who still gripped her dagger tightly. His voice was as rough as sandpaper scraping. “It’s just us.”

Icy murderous intent flowed between them. Mian’s knuckles were white from excessive tension, but her eyes held not hatred — instead, there was a kind of pity that unsettled Aise.

“Do you really want to kill me that badly?” Aise looked at Mian, still pointing her dagger at him, with a mix of disdain and puzzlement. “Killing me means you’ll die too… Isn’t it a better outcome for us to coexist like this?”

“I think… you’re in great pain, Aise.” Mian swallowed hard. “Not just the burning pain, but the inner struggle and torment. You need release.”

“What gives you the right to assume how I feel? Such an arrogant fool.” Aise looked deeply impatient. “I don’t need your unsolicited sympathy. Get lost and stop bothering me, you idiot!”

“Even though you say that, I believe you’re not truly evil at heart, Aise.” Mian persisted stubbornly. “You’re just unable to suppress your desires.”

Hearing this, Aise froze for a moment, then clutched his chest and burst into laughter. But the laughter twisted into a pained grimace as it aggravated his wound.

“Uh-ha… uh-haha! If you’re trying to make me die laughing, you’re almost succeeding.”

This guy… actually saying something so naive.

“Do you know what I’ve done before? Evil people? Every villain in the world has their reasons for going astray, stories they can’t share. But no matter how pitiful their past, my father never let them off. As for me… I simply follow my desires, choosing to do things you’d consider unforgivable.”

Aise slowly caught his breath.

“If the world were full of good people, how did the first evil person come to be? Without a doubt — desire! Because desire can’t be satisfied, they harm others to fulfill it. You could say evil is born from desire. And I… am purest evil itself.”

Aise’s gaze fell back on Mian. “Don’t you think what you’re saying is utterly illogical? Judging me based on nothing but your own opinion?”

“But I know that if this continues, you will regret it… You truly love your father, but you don’t know how to express it.” Mian’s voice grew urgent.

Aise crudely picked at his ear — something his upbringing would never normally allow.

But right now, he only wanted to refute everything this person said, to make her give up completely.

“Towards my father… I feel only hatred. All my suffering was brought by him, yet he remains oblivious, unaware of anything…” Aise’s face twisted with rage. “Even my mother took his side. Because of him, she always dismissed me. And she — someone like her — was the one I admired most… Everything… is my father’s fault.”

Aise knew that Mian had seen these scenes in his memories.

Her hiding skills were truly terrible. Aise couldn’t even be bothered to call her out.

He did have reasons to hate Xia Lun.

But he saw no sign of surrender on Mian’s face — only greater resolve.

“Then why did you accept the Goddess’s help?”

Aise frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“If it were truly as you say, why did you let the Goddess suppress your desires? And when you were corrupted by the Sacred Sword, why did you accept her teaching to master it?”

As Mian hit the point directly, Aise felt as if struck by lightning. Deliberately forgotten memories began to surge forth.

…

Inside the Memory Palace, in a chamber veiled in holy light.

“If this continues, before you even reach adulthood, you’ll become a beast that only knows how to kill.” The Goddess’s voice came from within the radiance.

“Then what should I do?” The young Aise’s eyes held no fear of death — only a trace of reluctance. “I want to stay with my father a little longer.”

The radiance gently shimmered. “I can help. I will suppress most of your desires… and compress them into another personality…”

“Do it.”

…

The torrent of memory surged on.

The Goddess sighed. “Your desire-personality has come into contact with the tainted Sacred Sword and grown stronger.”

“Yes…”

“There’s no turning back.” The Goddess’s ethereal voice carried a note of regret.

“Then how much longer can I hold on?”

“Perhaps… half a year. If you can learn to master the Sacred Sword.”

“Teach me.” Aise bit his lip. “Half a year is still time.”

…

“Little one, can I trouble you with one more thing?”

“What is it?” Mian was nervous, uncertain if she could fulfill the Goddess’s request.

“A thousand years from now… Aise will return from beyond the world, to see his father again. So, please help me — send Aise, that child, on his final journey.” The Goddess’s gaze held a flash of sorrow. “I entrust this memory to you…”

…

The waves of past memories constantly eroded Aise’s perception. A few simple words from Mian had pried open the floodgates of a dam, unleashing a flood of information that crashed through his mind.

Aise stood frozen, seeing in Mian’s eyes a reflection of himself — the young boy who, just to spend a little more time with his father, willingly tore his own soul apart. The fool who, knowing the end was already written, still stubbornly tried to seize control of his fate. Though in the end, he was swallowed by boundless desire.

When Aise came to his senses, he slowly lowered his head. The dagger in Mian’s hand had pierced into his chest.

Aise felt no pain—it was more like some kind of shackle that had bound him for a thousand years was finally severed.