Though his world had essentially been turned on its head, Bai Yunfei didnāt feel tired. Not even the journey to the city tired him. Left without even a single iota of drowsiness, Bai Yunfei sat right next to the windowsill.
As he sat there, entranced by the rising full moon, Bai Yunfeiās ears suddenly perked up. Someone was walking down the hall towards his room. He leaped to his feet to run towards the door and open it.
A surprised Wang Tong stood on the other side of the door. One of his hand was outstretched as if prepared to knock on the door before it was opened. āHaha, so I see you were still up, brother Tang Longā¦ā
Bai Yunfei led Wang Tong into his room first before he responded. āBig brother Wang Tongā¦would you perhaps have that recall pillā¦?ā
His impatience for the pill had Wang Tong smiling. Shaking his right hand, he produced a small pill that seemingly glowed blue in the moonlight. āThis is that very pill. If your memory-loss is due to a concussion, then this pill will help you return your memories after a nightās dream.ā
He held the pill out for Bai Yunfei to take.
Hands shaking as he reached forward, Bai Yunfei urged for his rapidly-beating heart to still. Not even his breathing rate seemed to want to cooperate with him.
āI know youāre impatient to take it, so do so and weāll find out tomorrow if they returned. Thenā¦we can talk about some other matters.ā
āTruly,ā Bai Yunfei choked out, āI truly thank you for your help, big brother Wang Tong!ā
āHaha, thereās no need for that. Iāll be going now then, see you tomorrow.ā
āKa-chtā¦ā
The door closed behind Wang Tong on his way out, leaving Bai Yunfei to stand there alone in his room. Sitting down, Bai Yunfei held the pill up to eye-level as if to examine it. Several deep breaths later, he tossed it into his mouth.
A refreshing sensation flowed through Bai Yunfeiās body the moment the pill was taken into his stomach. A blissful sensation like none other propagated throughout his entire person and head as the pill started to be digested. Bai Yunfeiās vision felt blurry for just a moment before falling back onto his bed. One moment later, Bai Yunfei was asleep.Ā
āSnnā¦.Snnnā¦.ā
The soft winds from Bai Yunfeiās breathing were all that could be heard within the room as he slept. Bai Yunfeiās eyes were closed, and his eyebrows knitted together. His body shivered non-stop and beads of sweat formed one after another all over. Parts of his body was starting to grow red, alarming Lao Sha with how sudden the change was.
But this was something that surely had to do with the pill Wang Tong gave Bai Yunfei. Lao Sha knew that Wang Tong was going to give Bai Yunfei and was therefore not suspicious of any harm befalling its master. However, it still couldnāt say it was completely without concernā¦Ā
The night went on like this before the first rays of sunlight started to shine through the windowā¦.Ā
āAhhh!!!ā
As if waking from a nightmare of some sort, Bai Yunfei let out a wail of fear. His body shot up like a spring from his bed and brought him upright!
āIā¦.Iā¦Iā¦ā
His face went blank for a moment as he stared at his hands. Something within his mind was occupying the entirety of his concentration.
āTheā¦the Azure Cloud!!ā He exclaimed! āIām from the Azure Cloud Province, not Earth!!ā
āTalus City. The Zhang. Uncle Wu. The Glacial School!!ā
A discontinuous stream of thoughts flowed through his mind and mouth. He clutched at his hair as he muttered madly to himself. Each word was spoken with emotion as if unloading some sort of weight off of him, and Bai Yunfei looked almost pained at the memory associated with the words.
āThe Blackwood School. Li Chengfeng. Jadewillow City. The Jadewillow School. Hong Yinā¦a trapā¦Liu Meng!! Ahhh!!!ā
Another burst of words. Nonsensical out of context, but eye-opening within. Bai Yunfeiās eyes looked ready to burst with blood as they bulged outwards from their sockets from pain. Face twisting in on itself, Bai Yunfei suddenly let out a furious roar!
āBoom!!!ā
A heavy wave of energy exploded outwards from his body with his scream. The bed beneath him was immediately reduced to splinters before being set aflame from the red light shining from Bai Yunfei. The very air around him was starting to warp as if being baked by the heat he exuded.
āBang!!ā
The door to Bai Yunfeiās room crashed open as a wide-eyed Wang Tong charged in.Ā
āLate-stage Soul Warrior!ā He exclaimed the moment he saw Bai Yunfei.
āAnd so much elemental fireā¦whatās going on!! Tang Long, whatās wrong?!ā
The state Bai Yunfei was in was currently a terrifying one. His skin was cracked all over, looking as though he was a living bomb ready to burst. Worried as he was, Wang Tong knew now wasnāt the time to just wait for an answer. He flew to Bai Yunfeiās side at once and took out a white pill to administer into Bai Yunfeiās mouth.
āHnghā¦ā
Bai Yunfei let out a relieved sigh the moment the pill was taken into his mouth. From his mouth, a white light flowed across the rest of his body and dimmed the red light around him.
āIs thisā¦him becoming a Soul Sprite? What kind of breakthrough is this?!ā
None of the answers made sense to Wang Tong. The amount of elemental fire in Bai Yunfeiās body made no sense to him. No matter how hard Wang Tong thought, nothing about this situation made sense to him.
āāāāāāāā
It was with a start that Bai Yunfei woke. A quick look around him was all he needed to know that this wasnāt his room anymore. He was in a new room, and Wang Tong, Kai Wen, and Feiyun were in there with him.
āAh! Youāre up!ā Feiyun was the first to speak, happy to see that Bai Yunfei was up. āWhat did you do? It was just a recall pill you ate, howād you manage to react that violently? I donāt remember the recall pill being able to make you stronger!ā
Fatigued, Bai Yunfei tried to sit upright. His arms were failing to listen to him though. āIā¦what happened?ā He asked.
āYour soulforce went out of control and nearly burned down your own body with elemental fire. Itās a good thing we were able to stop it. Did the recall pill help you? Do you remember who you are?ā
Bai Yunfeiās body trembled in response to Wang Tongās question. His hands shot up to his head to cradle himself as if in pain.
āHm? It didnāt work?āĀ
āItā¦did.ā It took a brief moment for Bai Yunfei to find the energy to shake his head. āI remembered many things, butā¦not everythingā¦ā
It was true, heĀ didĀ remember quite a lot. From living in Talus City to being punished by the Zhang. To being forced to escape into Jadewillow City. From there to some more, he could remember practically everythingā¦
But there was still something very important he was missing. The puzzle piece amongst the blanks. The key to remembering who he was.
His name.
He was still unable to recall his own name!
If Bai Yunfei were to explain it, then heād say that he found the locked door that held his memories. From looking through the keyhole, he was able to glimpse at a few memories that told him who he was. But the truth was still locked up, and Bai Yunfei was without the key to unlocking the rest of his memoriesā¦Ā
āNot everything?ā
The three alchemists were taken aback. āThenā¦your memory loss wasnāt just due to physical trauma then. It most likely has to do with the damage to your soul. It wonāt be easy to recover from that, Iām afraidā¦ā Wang Tong trailed off.
Bai Yunfei looked up at him, āBig brother Wang Tongā¦If Iā¦If I were to have a second recall pill, wouldā¦ā
If he were to try a second pill, would he be able to recall even more about himself? One was already enough to give Bai Yunfei a tremendous amount of information. Perhaps a second one wouldā¦.Ā
āAbsolutely not!āĀ
But just like that, Bai Yunfeiās hopes were driven away in a flash.
āA pill like that canāt be taken multiple times. A second pill will fail to do anything. In fact, youāll most likely be stuck in a nightmare and go mad!ā
The light of hope faded away from Bai Yunfeiās eyes at once as he despaired the loss of a possible avenueā¦Ā
He had so much hope with this pill, but in the end, he was only able to remember just a small amount. How was it so difficult to remember who he was?!
āSighā¦.āĀ
Bai Yunfei looked back up at the three. āFeiyun, big brother Wang Tong, big brother Kai Wen. I truly cannot thank you enough for your help. Ifā¦if I may ask for your help to return me to the villageā¦ā
Wang Tong looked uncomfortable at his request. āThatā¦cannot be done for now.ā
āAh? Why is that?ā
āRight nowā¦our clan has given the order for the city to be sealed. No one is allowed to go out. You will have to stay here for the meanwhileā¦
āBut donāt worry,ā He smiled to reassure Bai Yunfei. āYou may rest here for now, Iāve the clan headās permission. If you so wish, we can teach you how to cultivate and how to control your soulforce. Thereās a possibility that youāll be able to slowly repair the damage done to your soul. The total recall of your memories wonāt be out of the question then.
āAnd if youād likeā¦once you become a Soul Sprite, you have permission to learn the art of Alchemy.ā
He smiled. āSo how about it? Are you willing?ā