xx

Lan froze as he heard that. He had started to eat his bun but almost choked on it as he heard the last words. No one seemed to have noticed him, so he quickly regained his natural stance.

It's a coincidence, he told himself.

The reason he was so agitated wasn't that he felt like the riddle of his problem had been solved, and the culprit had been found.

But since the beginning, he had a weird feeling of being aimed at. It was unfounded, it was only because the story was about Immortals, that was all. But it made him uncomfortable, and now it only got worst with the mention of erasing one's memories.

"Hero Yan spent years in ignorance, he couldn't even remember he used to be so talented, let alone that he was famous ! And the people... what use did they have with someone so useless ? it took no more than three months for him to fall into decline. No more than three months I tell you !" he exclaimed to emphasize his harsh statement.

"That's a pity !" the same man who's been complaining about Immortals said. "Their arrogance led to ruin someone's life !"

"Until one day, the Heavens blessed him with a cure !" the old storyteller continued, his tone getting happier. "The Heavens never forgets anyone !"

Quiet cheers echoed in the room.

"How hypocrite." Changming scoffed. "How can they praise Heaven so much and blame the Immortals ? Can you eat good vegetables and curse the farmer who grew them ?"

Lan nodded. "Right. I think the real issue may be inferiority. Immortals were humans too, just like them, so what makes them so good that they've been chosen by Heaven ? On the other hand, gods are gods —they've always been superior."

"You, my friend, understand this very well !"

Lan smiled awkwardly. It wasn't really hard to come up with this, and he assumed everyone thought the same already. But judging by this person's satisfied smile, he doubted many people came up with such a simple reflection.

"Come on, tell us what the cure is !" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Yes, don't throw this suspense at us !" another added.

The storyteller chuckled, "All right, all right ! I'll tell you. Then one day, this man was by the sea, taking a break from this confusing life of his. He lied down on the shore, letting the small, kind waves cover him and protect him from the heat. His eyes were closed and he only noticed that someone was there when their shadow was cast upon him. Opening his eyes, he saw a young and beautiful lady, looking at him curiously. 'What are you doing here ?' The way she asked, Hero Yan almost thought he trespassed on someone's territory. But the conversation flowed and the girl soon noticed his memory loss. When she asked how it happened, Hero Yan answered that he didn't even realize he had memory loss at first, he simply didn't remember anything at all ! The girl was an immortal being as well so she wasn't unfamiliar with the spell he was under."

After a slight pause, he continued, "That girl was a pure immortal being. You must know that for those beings, such as spirits or other creatures, Immortals aren't considered to be 'pure immortal beings'. They've started as humans after all. So this girl decided she would help the mortal. She told him about a special grass. Some of you may have heard the name before, it's Yao Grass."

Some people breathed in as they indeed recognized the name.

"The Mount Taishi Yao Grass ?" a woman asked in wonder.

"That's right ! But don't be fooled ! If any of you is thinking about the Yao Grass used to make one fall in love with you —then you're fooling yourself ! This Yao Grass is a legend. The real Yao Grass is used for mental clarity. In other words, it prevents confusion of the mind, and consuming it repeatedly helps one recover their lost memory. But for this last one, there are conditions ! The person must go alone to Mount Taishi and pluck it for themselves. Being accompanied or having someone do it for you will be useless. More importantly, this mountain is filled with spiritual powers and can recognize anything harmful. In consequence, the person going must be completely harmless : no weapons, no talismans meant to attack, no spiritual artifacts that knew battle."

"That sounds like a trap to me." Changming said.

Lan looked at him with mixed feelings. It did sound like a trap but that didn't mean it was one, right ? Maybe he really stumbled on someone nice and willing to help like-

His thought came to an abrupt stop.

Like him.

It was what he was about to think.

Someone that lost his memories in an affair related to Immortals and meeting a girl offering him her help.

Wasn't that too similar to his own experience ?

Was it simply a coincidence or was something really wrong ? His unease came crashing back at him.

He turned his head back when he heard the story being continued.

"At this point, Hero Yan had nothing to lose anymore ! Whether or not she was lying, it was still the only ray of hope he's received ever since the tragedy befell him ! And so the very moment she told him, he prepared and left the same day. He walked and walked and walked ! It took him twenty days of walk to reach Mount Taishi. Once there, he climbed to the top and looked for the grass the lady had described. «It's a small stem with thin leaves shaped as if they had small spikes on the edge and topped by a white flower» was it. White flowers weren't uncommon in the mountain and it took him half a day to find what corresponded to the description !"

"So much effort !" a man on some table around Lan said. "I hope it'll work out for him in the end."

The woman by his side nodded with a sigh, "I do too. He's really pitiful."

"He plucked a great amount of it and quickly ran away. He went back to his village, and without stopping at his house, he went to the beach. The girl was there as if she had been waiting for him every day. He proudly showed his bag filled with green and white, and filled with hope. What was next to do, as the girl told him, was to make a drink out of the leaves and the flowers and drink it every night. Actually, the time to drink didn't really matter, but the effect of the plant would plunge one into a deep slumber. And like this, after three months, his memories came back !"

"So it wasn't a trap !" a lady exclaimed. "I'm glad !"

"I was afraid the girl was tricking him but it turns out good people do show up when one deserves it !" a man said.

As most people expressed their relief and happiness at the turn of the story, others complained about how naive and simple it was.

But Lan wasn't listening to anything they had to say. His uneasiness only grew the more he contemplated and compared the two situations.

But no, there was no way the story had anything to do with him ! Wasn't he being presumptuous if he thought otherwise ?

Immortals were popular, so it wasn't surprising if stories were related to them —no matter if real or fictional. A girl involved was also common. And about losing memory... this could very well be an actual coincidence.

Lan wasn't a mortal that offended Immortals —the fact that he was one himself was one of the only clear detail of the book. No, he knew he wasn't a mortal.

Moreover, if there were similarities between their stories, there were even more differences. What about the snake part, for example ?

No, this story wasn't hinting at him at all !

"Old man ! Then what happened to Hero Yan after he recovered his memories ?" someone yelled in the crowd.

"What do you think would happen ? What could a single mortal do against the Immortals? The girl advised him to lay low and even run away from his town. To not let the Immortals know he remembered and to just vanish. It was this girl who saved him, so how could he not take her advice ? After all, she was to trust. Three days later, Hero Yan faked his death, left all of his belonging, and left only with the remaining yao grass he had. He never settled in a town ever again and even changed his name to Shu Yao. Although he didn't have fame for the rest of his life, he was said to have been happier as a traveler."

As he finished the tale, everyone in the room thanked him and cheered for him. No matter if some didn't like happy endings, they couldn't deny that the story had been interesting.

And considering he ended up losing his previous life and fame, no matter if he was happy, some couldn't help but feel the story was actually sad.

"It doesn't sound like a real story at all to me." Changming laughed.

"Why ?" Lan asked him.

Maybe Changming's thoughts would make sense and reassure him.

"Disregarding everything else, Mount Taishi is owned by Immortals. Do you think a mortal, and one they cursed at that, could access it so easily and have all the time in the world to look for the cure ?"

Makes sense !

"Oh... well I wouldn't know that. But this yao grass really exists then ?"

"It does. But whether or not it can help one recover his memory... I'm not too sure."

"I see."

From the corner of his eyes, Lan saw the storyteller getting up to leave. He was a bit surprised —shouldn't he wait for his 'reward' ? Or did he come to recount it for free ?

For some reason, if he did for free, it would make Lan even more uncomfortable, and he couldn't even tell why. It wasn't like it had anything to do with him.

"He doesn't ask for money ?" he couldn't help but ask Changming.

"I think he agreed with the inn to be paid later."

"Oh." He stayed quiet, thinking for a second before making up his mind. "I'll be right back." he stood up.

"Wait !" Changming called from behind.

But it was too late. Lan was already making his way toward the storyteller, and he was determined to talk to him.

The old man had already gotten away from the crowd, possibly returning to his room.

"Excuse me, sir ?"

Lan finally caught up to him. He turned around, a smile on his face.

"Oh, hello young man." he greeted in a nice tone.

"Uh, yes, hello."

"Can I help you with anything ?"

"Yes, actually. It's about the story you just told."

"You have questions, I see."

"Yes, that's it."

"Let's go sit somewhere calm and I'll answer them."

"I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Not at all !" he chuckled. "Do you know ? I like it the most when people ask me questions after I finish recounting a tale."

Lan smiled a bit, "Okay then !"

The old man led him to a door in the back, and Lan asked himself if it was really safe to follow him like this. He could even hear Liwei nagging at him about it.

He unconsciously smiled. If she didn't look so young, she could pass as his mother.

But he didn't want to make more trouble for her, so he decided to not talk about it to her yet. Especially that she didn't want him to recover his memory, and he supposedly agreed to stay ignorant. That didn't mean he wasn't tempted to know about such things.

Besides, Lan knew he hadn't forgotten anything. But after his previous conclusion —that he didn't transmigrate exactly as he was— he understood something else : there was surely a way for him to 'remember', like finding a special item (to use the easy-to-understand video game vocabulary again).

Maybe this yao grass was the solution. He couldn't ignore it and remain like this.

He shook the slight guilt he felt away. The reason they didn't want him to remember was that Wen Li was worried about how recklessly he might act, right ? But that wasn't a problem, he didn't think he would and could do much.

He wouldn't get in anyone's way, but he still kept his will to help Liwei and Wen Li. He had been proved today that, if he stayed this way, he wouldn't be able to do anything else but turn away and seek protection behind their backs.

It was very embarrassing to be a burden.