One Sight Dreaming . . .
The man in white smiled gently and bid farewell, "Absolutely. Brother Cha, farewell."
"Take care," Cha-Eun Xiao stood on the street, watching as the man with the same name as him slowly departed in his wheelchair. A strange feeling stirred in his heart once again.
Ostensibly, he was watching the man's wife, but it appeared as though he had an immediate urge to rip off her clothes.
Under the white silk, the girl concealed her seething anger, restraining herself from turning back and confronting the insolent man. Instead, she stepped forward and pushed the wheelchair.
Finally, they disappeared onto the next street.
Cha-Eun Xiao felt a wave of relief wash over him. Cold sweat had formed on his back.
"Who is this man in white? Why did he give me such an uncomfortable feeling?" Cha-Eun Xiao pondered, unable to comprehend the situation.
But he knew one thing for certain: both the man and the two women pushing the wheelchair in silence were undeniably powerful cultivators at the Tianyuan Grade.
After their departure, Cha-Eun Xiao dared not follow them. He realized that if he attempted to stalk them, they would detect his presence and swiftly eliminate him.
Furthermore, the man's utterance had raised alarm bells in Cha-Eun Xiao's mind. It was the phrase "Cha Xiao" that had him puzzled.
"'Laughing under the firmament. Laughing at the whole martial world.' There's only one person worthy of such a phrase, and he always used it as his signature—Xiao Monarch, Cha Eun Xiao!"
Upon hearing that phrase, all the hair on Cha-Eun Xiao's body had stood on end. He was baffled as to who this man was and why he knew the phrase. It felt like the man was mocking him, and he couldn't fathom the man's identity.
Returning to his room, Cha-Eun Xiao was astonished to find that in such a short span of time, he had completely forgotten what the man in white looked like. Cha-Eun Xiao had always prided himself on having an exceptional memory, bordering on the best in the world. However, he had just seen the man's face, and now he couldn't recall it at all. Even the faces of the three others were becoming increasingly hazy.
"This is bizarre!" Cha-Eun Xiao had heard of memory fading over time, but never had he experienced such rapid memory loss after seeing something.
He tried diligently to recollect, but no matter how hard he tried, the image of that man's face remained elusive. Even the faces of the other three people were slipping from his memory.
"That's strange!" Cha-Eun Xiao thought. He had heard of such phenomena before but had never encountered anyone capable of causing such an effect. It was impossible for someone's memory to deteriorate to such an extent after only a brief encounter.
Moreover, there was an even stranger aspect to the encounter. The women dressed in cyan had remained behind the wheelchair the entire time. Cha-Eun Xiao had acknowledged their strength but hadn't paid significant attention to their faces. Instead, he had focused on the man in white. The bizarre part was that the image of the man in white had been the first to fade from his memory, which defied common sense.
Something was amiss.
Cha-Eun Xiao contemplated the situation and had an inkling. He suspected that he might have fallen victim to a unique technique that could erase a brief portion of one's memory. It was a phenomenon unheard of in the Land of Han-Yang but not uncommon in the Qing-Yun Realm.
Initially, Cha-Eun Xiao hadn't considered this possibility. He had no prior knowledge of such techniques and had never experienced them before. That's why it had taken him some time to piece it together.
"Could it be... One Sight Dreaming from the myths?" Cha-Eun Xiao muttered to himself.
One Sight Dreaming was a technique where individuals who witnessed something would suddenly feel as though they had just awoken from a dream, causing them to forget the details of what they had seen. It was a rather sinister martial art.
Questions swirled in Cha-Eun Xiao's mind. Who were these people? Why did they possess such a martial art? Were they natives of the Land of Han-Yang or hailing from a higher realm? What were their intentions during this crucial moment for the Kingdom of Chen? What were they after?
Cha-Eun Xiao had a gut feeling that this encounter held significance for him, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
He didn't want to lose crucial memories that could impact the outcome of the impending war, but he was at a loss about how to counteract the technique. He sat in contemplation, ultimately deciding to activate the East-rising Purple Qi.
While he understood that his martial art, the East-rising Purple Qi, was potent, he couldn't be certain it could fully shield his memory from the effects of the mysterious technique, given his own weaknesses.
He diligently practiced the East-rising Purple Qi for ninety-nine cycles, discovering that while it wasn't all-powerful, it had halted the deterioration of the images. The blurriness had ceased, though he couldn't fully recapture their appearances. Nonetheless, he retained the memory of their conversations, which was sufficient.
Cha-Eun Xiao was confident that even if he had forgotten the man's face, he could recognize him by his voice once they met again.
"That's eerie," Cha-Eun Xiao muttered, taking a deep breath.
As he lay in bed at home, another possibility crossed his mind: What would have happened if he had playfully attacked the man named 'Cha Xiao'? That individual had left Cha-Eun Xiao with a rather peculiar impression.
Cha-Eun Xiao couldn't shake the feeling that the man in white must be a dangerous individual. However, strangely, he didn't harbor even a hint of hatred or hostility toward him. Whenever Cha-Eun Xiao thought of the man, he couldn't help but feel a peculiar sense of contentment.
Despite the lack of a clear image and the likelihood that the man was an enemy, Cha-Eun Xiao found himself unable to harbor any ill will. In fact, he had an inexplicable desire to spend more time with this enigmatic man. It was as if their personalities naturally gravitated towards each other.
"Who on earth is this guy? Where does he come from?" Cha-Eun Xiao furrowed his brow, contemplating the puzzle. Despite his efforts, he couldn't come up with any answers.
He couldn't help but think, "This guy... he must be my greatest enemy!"
It was an irrational thought that had suddenly taken root in his mind. However, Cha-Eun Xiao had an unwavering trust in this instinctual feeling.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the man in white, known as Master Bai, kept his eyes closed as he sat in his wheelchair. Only after they turned a corner did he finally speak, "Proceed."
The two women dressed in cyan promptly lifted the wheelchair, and the girl in white moved ahead. With a soft whooshing sound, they vanished.
After some time, they reappeared in a secluded location within the city. The four of them seemed to materialize out of thin air in a bamboo forest nestled among the surrounding mountains.
They moved further into the bamboo forest, and the man in white remained silent. As they entered the forest, the two men dressed in cyan respectfully bowed and disappeared from view.
The girl in white positioned herself behind the wheelchair and began pushing it slowly. Finally, the man spoke, "Wan-Er, what is your assessment?"
Wan-Er, the girl in white, furrowed her brows and replied, "This Cha EunXiao... is very irritating! He leered at me from head to toe with a brazen and lustful gaze, even though he tried to restrain himself... It was still enough to make me feel humiliated and annoyed."
The man in white was Master Bai. Upon hearing Wan-Er's assessment, he fell silent for a moment before saying, "Tell me more about this Cha Eun Xiao."
Wan-Er paused, collecting her thoughts, and began, "Cha Eun Xiao is currently 16 years and 7 months old. His father is Cha Nan-Tian, the Northern General. Cha Eun Xiao was born with physical ailments, and his father went to great lengths to provide him with a chance at a normal life. By the age of three, he could barely walk, and at five, he began to speak. Despite his fiery temperament, he struggled due to his physical limitations."
She continued, "However, when Cha Eun Xiao turned seven, his father acquired some mysterious medicinal materials that miraculously allowed the boy's body to recover. His mental faculties also surpassed those of his peers. He began to grow and develop like a typical child, with only a slight physical weakness remaining. He exhibited exceptional intelligence and possessed an extraordinary memory."
Master Bai spoke thoughtfully, "An extraordinary memory and a recovered body... It must be the Creation Fruit."
He tapped his knee, a signature gesture of his. Speaking gently, he said, "The Creation Fruit... How did Cha Nan-Tian obtain it?"
Glancing at the sky, he mumbled, "Is Cha Nan-Tian's cultivation truly abandoned?"
After a brief silence, he urged, "Please, continue."