“Ah!”

The man awoke in cold sweat and screaming. He was in a daze, unsure of what was going on. Scanning the empty room, he saw only the bed he was on and a small but exquisite table.

This man’s name is Relic Astor. When he was picked up by the travelling doctor, he was quickly healed of all external and internal wounds he had suffered on that day. However, his dantian was completely shattered, and no one would be able to fix that.

Despite having his mortal wounds healed, he continued to stay unconscious even after the doctor and his daughter were finished with their business. As days turned to weeks, the pair decided to take Relic back to their home out of pity and continued to look after him.

At this moment, Relic was holding his head in confusion.

“Who….wait, where is master?” he said in a panicky expression.

Suddenly the room door swung open. A stunningly beautiful girl with blonde hair and black eyes entered into his room and stared him down.

His eyes widened as his eyes lay on the girl. Of the many girls he had ever seen, this girl was by far the most beautiful he had ever seen.

Quickly regaining his senses, he asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is Ren, my dad is the one who saved you when you had only half of breath left. Who are you?” She spoke in an almost angelic voice

Questiones began to swirl in his mind. What had he been doing that required someone to save him? His mind felt a bit jumbled but he decided to answer the girl’s question first.

“My name is Relic, a disciple of the Thunder storm sect. I-I do not seem to understand how I came here. Could you tell me where I am and how I got here?

She frowned at his response. Was it possible he did not realize he was previously injured?

“What is the last thing you remember?” she quickly asked

“I….arggggggg” He held his hands against his head. He felt his head was splitting in pain.

“Are you ok!” she hurriedly arrived to his side.

Suddenly a memory resurfaced. “Yes, the last thing I remember was walking with my master around a city when suddenly light encompassed the sky. After that…. I don’t know. That is all I seem to be able to remember….”

“…….”

Light in the sky? How was it possible he could not remember the things he said as he bled on the ground?

She quickly understood that he probably had repressed memories. She felt a bit of pity for this man as his speech had affected her on an emotional level. The event that must have been so terrible his mind decided to lock it up.

She pondered for a moment, deciding whether she should tell him what he had said on that fateful day or not. It was quite possible a person with repressed memory to have a mental break down when faced with the reality of the situation.

“The truth is always better than ignorance.” She muttered to herself.

She began to narrate the event of that day to Relic, starting from when they first saw him, all the way to the end of his speech, just before he lost consciousness.

She had expected Relic to be stunned and possibly even reject what she said after some contemplation. Yet, his expression was one of immediate anger. It was as if he didn’t believe her at all.

“Miss, I do not know if what you told me is true, and if you and your father really have saved me, then thank you.” Relic did not hesitate to give a bow. “However, I will not forgive anyone who smears the name of my master!” his voice was sharp with a tone of anger in it. It was as if what she said was not something even possible!

Without further speaking, he got out of bed and passed her by without a single glance. She was no longer even worth looking at.

Exiting the building, he was met with an extravagant garden filled with flowers representing every colour imaginable. Despite being in the season of heavy rainfall, the smell of these flowers made Relic feel like he was basking in the warmth of the most perfect day. As the wind caressed the waving flowers, it created a scene of tranquility. They danced in perfect harmony which mesmerized his entire being and made him feel weightless.

Relic was so entranced by the scene he had not noticed a scholarly man was currently standing right behind him.

“I see you are feeling better”

Relic snapped out of his trance and turned around to see a black haired man. This man wore a simple blue robe which matched his blue spectacles hanging low on his nose. His expression was gentle and his voice was soft. Relic felt his heart completely at ease In front of this man.

“Pardon the intrusion. My name is Relic Astor, are you the one who saved me?”.

“Indeed I’ am, and it seems you are fully recovered. That’s good!” The man gave a heartfelt smile.

“Dad!” Just then, Ren came out and hugged her dad.

“So this is where you were sweetie.”

The man gave a kiss on the little girl’s head.

The girl saw Relic but she only gave an angry ‘hmpf’ before facing away from him.

Relic gave a wry smile while scratching his head. Looking back on it, he may have acted irrationally when he was talking to her. He didn’t even know the girl, why would she purposefully say such negative things about his master? He quickly surmised there must have been a misunderstanding.

The spectacle wearing man was surprised by his daughter’s expression towards the man they had saved.

“Did something happen between the two of you?” He asked

“Uh, that is my fault; I was confused and may have reacted too strongly to her questions. I hope you two can forgive me.” Relic did not hesitate to give another bow. He was an upright character. He definitely would not repay generosity with hostility.

The man gave a hearty laugh

“Hahaha, no problem. If I know little Ren, she probably said something insensitive to you without thinking about it. I hope you don’t take any offense to her banter. ”

The little girl felt wronged and became red faced. She pouted at her dad before storming off in another direction.

Relic turned to the scholarly man who was smiling at the sight of his daughter walking angrily.

“Sir, I don’t even know your name, I’m indebted to you for your kindness.”

The man gave a soft smile. “My name is Kubo, a travelling doctor. You do not owe me anything. As a doctor I have a duty to save a dyeing man’s life.

Relic shook his head. “Although I do not know how I got here, I will definitely repay your generosity.”

Kubo was slightly stunned. Didn’t this man remember he was injured on the streets before they found him? Now that he thought about it, the man standing in front of him was a little too upbeat all things considered.

He quickly came to the same conclusion as his daughter.

“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked

Relic gave a confused look as he was asked the same question as before. However his answer did not change as what he said before.

“It is possible you have missing memories.” Kubo stated.

Having two people confirm his situation instantly made his hair stand. Was it possible for the little girl to have said the truth? Did the words of abandonment really come out of his mouth?

Kubo saw Relic’s countenance turn serious. He asked, “Has my daughter already told you what had happened.”

“Yes….But that couldn’t have happened!” His voice carried a lot of emotion.

Seeing Relic’s worried expression he only gave a sigh. “We can only say what we saw, what really happened may be entirely different from what it actually was.”

Kubo spoke the truth. He had no way of knowing of what had happened. He didn’t want Relic to worry over something that may not actually have happened.

Relic’s countenance instantly brightened and a smile came on his face.

“That’s right! I know master would never abandon me! Something must have happened, I must return!”

Relic clasped his hand and bowed to Kubo before he made his way towards to exit of the garden.

However he quickly realized something was wrong.

No matter what he tried he could not activate his movement ability. In fact he was feeling rather…mortal.

“My cultivation…. It’s gone! MY CULTIVATION IS GONE!!”

His dantian was shattered, he had no Qi running anywhere in his body.

He tried to circulate his Qi

“Nothing!”

He tried to feel the energy in the air

“Nothing!”

He tried to sense the energy in his body

“Nothing!”

Relic turned crazy as he inspected his body. He couldn’t sense anything or feel any Qi flowing in his body. Memories of his life before his master came surfacing to him in an instant.

“MASTER! MASTER! WHERE ARE YOU?!” He felt his mind splitting as if it was being forcibly torn in half.

Kubo ran up to Relic and upon assessing the situation, he knocked him out with a needle. The scream was heard all around, many people on the streets came to see what happened but upon seeing that it came from the doctor’s house, their interest waned and they went on their way. Kubo was a famous doctor and it was not strange to have screaming patients once in a while.

However, there was still one girl that came to see a man lying on the ground.

“Dad, what happened?”

“Ren…. this man… is mentally unstable. Something must have happened to him prior to this incident that made him like this.”

He sighed as he carried Relic back to the room he was recovering in.