Recollection

Xia Lun saw that familiar face again.

At last, he remembered.

At last, he remembered what he had forgotten.

“Aina…”

At Xia Lun’s address, the goddess froze for a moment. Then she drew a deep breath and revealed a smile that looked almost gritted with irritation. “Xia Lun, even a broad-minded goddess like me can get angry when someone mistakes me for someone else, you know?”

Her voice was still ethereal and melodious, but Xia Lun could hear the emotions she was deliberately suppressing.

“I’m sorry, Your Divine Grace. I…” Xia Lun, only now realizing how rude he had been, stumbled over his words.

The moment he saw the goddess’s face, he had instantly remembered his wife. Xia Lun had no idea how to explain himself…

“It’s all right. I forgive you.”

The goddess stepped forward and gently embraced Xia Lun.

It was an embrace between two people reunited after a long separation, carrying both warmth and weight.

“Did something happen?” the goddess asked. Her voice was as soft as a feather brushing against his heart, and it gradually helped Xia Lun calm down.

“Do you know? Since you’re a goddess, you must know how Aina is doing now…” As though grasping at the last lifeline, Xia Lun abruptly raised his head to look at the goddess before him.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the corners were red. All the anxiety and fear he had forcibly suppressed now erupted, laid bare before the goddess.

But the goddess merely shook her head. The radiant wings behind her drew in slightly, casting down a gentle halo of light. “Xia Lun, I’m only an illusion lingering from the past. I don’t know what will happen in the future… However…” She paused, then gently ran her fingers through Xia Lun’s disheveled hair. “If it’s her, I don’t believe she would come to harm so easily. You should have faith in her, just as she has always had faith in you.”

“Is that so…”

The goddess’s reassurance brought a little light back into Xia Lun’s eyes.

“Compared to Aina, Xia Lun, you should be more concerned about your own condition right now.” The goddess extended a finger and tapped Xia Lun’s forehead, a trace of displeasure in her gesture. The touch brought a cool sensation, as though it could dispel the chaos and agitation within his soul.

“How did you end up like this?”

“I… I’m fine.” Xia Lun’s gaze suddenly grew hazy again. “I’m adventuring with Liyana and Moke…”

“Then let me ask you: How old is that little elf this year?” The goddess gently caressed Xia Lun’s cheek, but her gaze had turned sharp.

“Over a thousand… I think,” Xia Lun murmured.

“And what about that young thief?”

“In his twenties…”

Xia Lun seemed to realize that something was wrong. Liyana had clearly left the forest together with him.

“And you? Xia Lun, do you still remember how old you are now?” The goddess’s gaze deepened.

“I…” Xia Lun clutched his head as his shattered memories began to piece themselves back together.

“This is only your illusion, Xia Lun.” The goddess let out a soft sigh, filled with boundless pity and understanding. “By forcibly absorbing the power of the Spirit World, you disrupted both your soul and your memories… Because, deep down, you wanted to escape reality, you forgot your wife.”

“I really am…” Xia Lun’s face filled with profound guilt.

“It’s all right, Xia Lun. This is nothing to be ashamed of. Though you are a hero, you are also human—a true, flesh-and-blood human.” The goddess drew Xia Lun into her arms and spread her sacred wings, enveloping him within them. “Humans get hurt. They grow tired. They feel fear, and sometimes they want to escape. You are not the clan leader. All you need to do is be yourself.”

“Thank you, Your Divine Grace.” Xia Lun took a deep breath. The light within the goddess’s wings seemed to seep into his soul, soothing the wounds that had been torn open and organizing the fragments of his chaotic memories.

“You’re welcome, Xia Lun. I will always love you.” The goddess chuckled softly as she patted Xia Lun’s back. “You are the child I created with my own hands, after all.”

Xia Lun felt his emotions slowly settle, and his consciousness gradually grow clear.

“Now that you’ve remembered Aina, it’s time to wake up… Don’t forget, you still have things you need to do.”

The goddess gave Xia Lun a gentle push.

At once, he felt as though he were falling from the clouds. The goddess’s radiant figure rapidly receded into the distance, and darkness once again began to close in around him.

…

Pain was the first sensation to return.

Then came his sense of control over his body—heavy and rigid, as though every bone and muscle had been crushed beneath ten thousand tons of boulders.

Next came his hearing: the sound of his own ragged breathing, the rush of blood in his ears, the thunderous pounding of his heart, and, in the distance, a deep and ominous hum.

Finally came his sight. Blurred patches of color gradually sharpened into a clear image.

Xia Lun, his reason restored, slowly opened his eyes.

Before him, the Chaos Demon God lay sprawled on the ground, looking somewhat battered. His entire body was covered in dense sword wounds. Four of the six arms on his back had been severed, while the remaining two hung on the same side, leaving his posture twisted and grotesque.

It seemed they had just finished exchanging blows.

“You can’t kill me. Even the clan leader couldn’t do it, let alone you…” A sea of blood surged upward and enveloped the Chaos Demon God. After a single breath, he had recovered completely.

Had Xia Lun been the one to beat the Chaos Demon God into that state?

In a daze, Xia Lun sensed a vast and abundant power filling his body. The surrounding environment of the Spirit World seemed to move at his command, as easily as his own limbs.

But this power did not come without a price. At the same time, Xia Lun felt as though his body were an overinflated balloon, liable to burst at any moment.

“Again!”

In the next instant, the Chaos Demon God appeared before Xia Lun, his fist shooting straight toward Xia Lun’s face.

Although Xia Lun’s eyes still could not follow the Chaos Demon God’s movements—he was simply too fast—his soul could sense them through the surrounding environment.

Block. Redirect. Counterattack. The motions flowed together seamlessly.

Xia Lun pressed the Chaos Demon God’s fist downward, then smashed an elbow heavily into his head, knocking it askew. After the Chaos Demon God lost his balance, Xia Lun seized him and slammed him viciously into the ground.

Boom!

The sea of blood dispersed. The solid ground below shook violently, and a spiderweb of cracks spread across several thousand meters.

“You… You actually regained consciousness.”

The Chaos Demon God could clearly sense that Xia Lun’s way of fighting had changed.

The old Xia Lun would certainly have exchanged injury for injury and fought him desperately. Now, however, he fought with far greater restraint.

Xia Lun clenched his fists, struggling to adapt to the sudden surge of power within his body.

A white vortex of air streamed from his mouth.

Xia Lun looked at the Chaos Demon God before him and asked once more:

“Where is Aina?”