105: Glimmer of Memory 2

In an instant, the three were pulled into a shared illusion—

In the backyard of the Xiao Family in Utan City, a young Old Ancestor was guiding three teenagers in Cultivation.

The youngest, silver-haired Ling Xiao, always struggled to keep up, his eyes reddening with frustration; the black-haired Xiao Bing appeared aloof but would secretly slow down to match; the eldest, Xiao Yan, would periodically correct their postures, his eyes filled with the unique concern of an older brother...

"Focus!" the Old Ancestor in the illusion tapped Xiao Yan's head.

"The key to Burning Decisive lies in the heart moving as one pleases, not in your eyes darting around!"

"Yes, Teacher..." the three replied in unison, then exchanged smiles.

The illusion shattered, and the three returned to reality, all in tears.

"That was... our memory..." Ling Xiao's voice choked.

"Old Ancestor... he taught all three of us at the same time..."

Xiao Bing clutched the crystal bead, dozens of ice flowers uncontrollably congealing around him from his Ice Crystal Longsword: "I remember now... he always said I was too impatient..."

"And Ling Xiao always worried about holding us back," Xiao Yan interjected, a black glow flashing in his right eye again, more distinctly this time.

"Xiao Bing, you... you often secretly helped him..."

The gazes of the three converged on the crystal bead, and a long-lost warmth flowed through their chests.

Although only a small fragment of memory had been recovered, the sense of reality surpassed a thousand words.

Xuan Yu watched this scene with reverence: "This crystal bead condensed after the Flame Lord and Ice Lord's phantoms dissipated... The Ancient Clan's Grand Elder believes it might contain more of your memories."

"How do we extract it?" Xiao Yan asked eagerly.

"The method is unknown," Xuan Yu shook his head.

"The Grand Elder only said that when 'emotional resonance is strong enough, memories will naturally return'."

After seeing Xuan Yu off, the three sat around the crystal bead, trying various methods to trigger more memories—simultaneously inputting energy, spiritual probing, even dripping blood to bind it... but the crystal bead remained unresponsive.

"Perhaps specific conditions are needed," Xiao Bing analyzed.

"When Ling Xiao touched it just now, we were all thinking about the same thing—the incongruity of the training ground."

Xiao Yan nodded: "That makes sense.

We need to find more 'trigger points' like that."

Over the next few days, the three traveled all over Utan City, revisiting every place that might hold common memories—the Xiao Family's medicinal garden, the mountain cave behind the house, the martial arts cliff outside the city...

Some places could evoke fragmented pieces, but most yielded no response.

On the evening of the seventh day, the three returned to the Xiao Family, exhausted.

Ling Xiao suddenly stopped, pointing at an old Sophora japonicatree in the courtyard: "Is something... missing there?"

Xiao Yan and Xiao Bing carefully examined the Sophora japonicatree—there was a clear scar on the thick trunk, as if something had once been fastened there.

"A swing..." Xiao Bing blurted out.

"The swing Old Ancestor made for Ling Xiao... because he was afraid of heights when he was little..."

Memories surged like a tide—when Ling Xiao first arrived at the Xiao Family, he was timid and cowardly.

Old Ancestor made a swing on the Sophora japonicatree to train his courage.

Xiao Bing outwardly scoffed at such childish things but always stood by to protect Ling Xiao when he practiced; Xiao Yan was responsible for pushing the swing, always carefully controlling the force...

"I remember!" Ling Xiao excitedly ran towards the Sophora japonicatree.

"One time the rope broke, and Second Brother used ice crystals to form a net and caught me!"

"Then Big Brother scolded me for wasting my Qi," Xiao Bing rarely showed a hint of a smile.

Xiao Yan also smiled, but his smile suddenly froze—a tearing pain came from his right eye, and the black glow writhed like a living thing!

He staggered and leaned on the tree trunk, a familiar yet strange voice ringing in his ears:

"Do you think it's over?"

"Who?!" Xiao Yan roared, startling his two younger brothers.

"Brother?" Ling Xiao anxiously approached.

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Yan endured the pain, forcing a smile: "Nothing... just a little tired."

He didn't mention the voice he heard—it sounded like Dark Lingxiao, yet it was different... older, more... hungry.

That night, Xiao Yan sat alone on the rooftop, repeatedly checking the condition of his right eye.

Outwardly, everything seemed normal, but when he circulated the Flame Lord's Fire, he could still see a few black lines swimming deep in his eye—the residue of Chaotic Black Flame.

"As expected, it wasn't completely cleared..." Xiao Yan muttered to himself.

"What wasn't cleared?" Xiao Bing's voice came from behind him.

He lightly leaped onto the rooftop, holding two jars of wine.

"Can't sleep?"

Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, then decided to be frank: "I still have remnants of Chaotic Black Silk in my body."

Xiao Bing's movements paused, then he handed over a jar of wine: "I guessed it.

My Xuanming Ice Flame is also unstable."

He pulled open his collar, revealing the skin near his collarbone—there were tiny, faint blue patterns, like ice crystal cracks.

"Every time I use power, these patterns spread."

The two drank in silence, each lost in thought.

Under the moonlight, the ruins of the Xiao Family contrasted sharply with the newly built houses, just like their incomplete memories and their difficultly rebuilt lives.

"Is Ling Xiao asleep?" Xiao Yan asked.

Xiao Bing nodded: "He's exhausted.

His emotions fluctuated too much today, and his Spirit of the Plane power was over-consumed."

He paused, "Speaking of which... don't you think the balance of our three powers has been broken?"

Xiao Yan pondered: "Before, we cooperated seamlessly, but now something is always missing..."

"It's not that something is missing," Xiao Bing corrected.

"It's that something extra has appeared.

There are Impurities in my Ice Flame, black threads in your Flame Lord's Fire, and even Ling Xiao's Spirit of the Plane also..."

He suddenly stopped, his gaze sharply fixed on a distant mountain ridge.

"Someone!"

Xiao Yan followed his gaze—on the mountain ridge under the moonlight, a blurry figure stood silently, seemingly observing the Xiao Family.

As the two concentrated their gaze, the figure raised a hand and made a strange gesture, then disappeared.

"Did you see clearly?" Xiao Yan asked.

Xiao Bing shook his head: "Too far away.

But that person seemed to be holding something... something reflective."

The next morning, Ling Xiao rushed to find the two who were doing their morning exercises: "I had a dream! About Xingyun Pavilion!"

In the dream, Ling Xiao returned to the Chaos Furnace, but the scene was different from his memory—the inside of the furnace was not a starry sky, but a vast darkness.

Dark Lingxiao stood before the furnace, his back to him, saying: "The day the Three Spirits unite, is the time Chaos returns..." Then he turned, but his face was not Dark Lingxiao's, but an unfamiliar old man...

"An old man?" Xiao Yan pressed.

"What did he look like?"

Ling Xiao struggled to recall: "White hair... red robe... a scar over his right eye..."

Xiao Bing's Ice Crystal Longsword suddenly dropped from his hand: "Are you sure it was a red robe?"

"Yes, and there were flame patterns on the robe..." Ling Xiao's eyes suddenly widened.

"Second Brother, are you thinking of something?"

Xiao Bing's face turned unusually pale: "I don't know if this is a memory... but hearing your description, a name appeared in my mind... 'Old Ancestor Fentian'..."

Xiao Yan's right eye suddenly stung violently!

This pain came so suddenly and intensely that he couldn't help but cover his eye and kneel on one knee.

Countless fragmented images flashed through his mind—a red-robed old man standing in a burning palace, countless flame Cultivators kneeling at his feet; the same old man infiltrating the night, implanting a black seed into the brow of a sleeping person...

"Big Brother!" Ling Xiao quickly supported the swaying Xiao Yan.

"Your eye!"

Xiao Bing also squatted down, forcibly pulling away Xiao Yan's hand covering his eye—his right eye had completely turned into a pitch-black vortex, with three streaks of blood flowing from the corner of his eye!

"Black Silk backlash!" Xiao Bing immediately circulated his Xuanming Ice Flame, trying to help his brother stabilize his condition.

But at the instant the Ice Flame made contact, the darkness in Xiao Yan's right eye suddenly surged, inversely invading Xiao Bing along the Ice Flame!

"Let go!" Xiao Yan roared, pushing Xiao Bing away fiercely.

Both fell to the ground in disarray, gasping for breath.

Ling Xiao looked at his two brothers, at a loss: "What... what's going on?"

Xiao Yan wiped the blood from his face, his right eye already back to normal, but the feeling of being spied on lingered: "Someone is monitoring us through the remaining black threads... that Old Ancestor Fentian..."

Xiao Bing picked up his Ice Crystal Longsword, the faint blue patterns already spreading to his neck: "We need more information.

Xuan Yu said the Ancient Clan is organizing the discoveries from Xingyun Pavilion, we should..."

His words stopped abruptly.

The three simultaneously turned to look in the same direction—there was clearly no one there, but they felt an inexplicable sense of being watched.

"More than one..." Ling Xiao's silver eyes flickered.

"The person on the mountain... and the one watching us are not the same..."

Xiao Yan slowly stood up, his right eye throbbing faintly: "Someone is playing a very large game of chess.

And we, perhaps, have been pawns all along."

On the distant mountaintop, the red-robed old man gently stroked the dark red crystal bead in his hand, looking at the restless light points inside, and revealed a satisfied smile: "Soon... it will be soon..."