Chapter 122: Memory

At the thought of this, my entire body trembled instantly.

At this moment, the aura surrounding Zhang Keqing, the Diamond Corpse before my eyes, truly began to undergo a violent transformation. Seeing this, Xiyue stood by my side, gripping my hand tightly, and whispered, "Xiaodong, there is no time left. We must go in!"

Naturally, I knew there was no time for anything else. With a sudden movement, I followed Xiyue as she dashed directly into the central cave.

Just then, I heard a voice from behind me.

"You will never understand. You will never walk out of Thrush Village!"

"Only I can lead you out. Hahaha..."

The voice was incredibly familiar—it was Zhang Keqing’s voice—but I could detect a bone-chilling coldness within it.

"Xiaodong, let’s go. Do not let this voice influence you. Chen Chuyi and Zhao Shiwu will hold off Zhang Keqing outside the cave until we have completely entered the Corpse Coffin!"

Enter the Corpse Coffin?

I naturally understood what that meant. According to Zhao Shiwu and the others, both Xiyue and I were people who had once lived in Thrush Village. I was the one who had founded the entire village, and Xiyue was my wife. As for what came before that...

I shook my head, deciding not to dwell on it for now. I was in a state of absolute amnesia; I hadn't felt it before, but ever since I arrived at Thrush Village and learned the truth, I realized my past twenty-four years had been lived in vain. Unbidden, a thought from Tu surfaced in my mind:

In this vast world, we appear so insignificant. Those who can truly control or evade fate are virtually non-existent.

Everyone desires to master their own destiny, but in the end, it is merely self-deception. In the boundless universe, everyone is unique, yet everyone adheres to rules they believe to be correct—and these rules are the laws of survival.

Thinking of this, my heart felt a little more open, though the path ahead remained shrouded in confusion.

"Is that it?"

Just as I was lost in contemplation, I heard Xiyue’s voice.

I lifted my eyes to look in the direction she pointed, and my whole body jolted. Before me lay a mahogany coffin, but it was much smaller than I had imagined—only about a meter long.

I could clearly feel blood-colored runes etched into the ground around this mahogany coffin. For some reason, seeing these symbols filled me with an inexplicable sense of familiarity, a feeling that felt remarkably fresh. I found myself drawn toward them, as if these blood-red runes were about to come to life and whisper a monumental secret to me.

"Xiaodong!"

Xiyue pulled me back. Only then did I realize I had unconsciously walked right up to the exceptionally archaic, meter-long blood-red corpse coffin. Before my eyes, the blood-red runes twisted and turned, each one seeming like a mischievous child rolling on the ground.

I lifted my foot, ready to step on them.

"Xiaodong, this is the Reincarnation Mantra. You must be careful!"

The Reincarnation Mantra?

My heart skipped a beat at the mention. I recalled many things my parents had told me when I was a child. I hadn't paid them much mind then, but thinking back now, they held significant weight. Could it be that my parents back then were actually the powerful version of me, or perhaps everything had been arranged by the masters of Canglong Mountain?

This Reincarnation Mantra was exactly what my father had insisted I memorize, saying it might come in handy one day.

Now that I think about it, through that Reincarnation Mantra, I had learned many ancient characters that even professional Yin-Yang masters might not recognize. It seemed everything Chen Chuyi and the others said was true. Were my parents also part of this design?

"Yes, these are the most ancient Reincarnation Mantras. I believe only such archaic ones can help us recover our memories."

I nodded. Although I didn't recognize these strange symbols, I trusted that they were indeed the Reincarnation Mantra. The moment I saw them, a profound sense of familiarity stirred within me. Initially, it felt foreign, but as I stepped closer to the blood-red corpse coffin, it began to feel more and more natural.

"Xiaodong, go in. I will guard you from the outside!"

Xiyue stood hand-in-hand with me before the blood-red corpse coffin. Beneath our feet, the lines of runes seemed to wake up, instantly wrapping around us completely.

Xiyue’s snow-white robes were now entwined with rings of blood-red runes, which began to rotate and slowly seep into her body. The Tear of the Vast Sea at the center of her forehead began to float, emitting a faint, silvery-white glow.

I knew my condition was identical to hers.

Xiyue waved a hand toward the wooden coffin lid, and it began to lift slowly.

"Go in."

I did not hesitate. I yearned to know the truth; I wanted to know what kind of memories I held from that time.

What kind of person was I?

I nodded, bowed my body, and slowly climbed into the coffin. At the same time, I could clearly feel a terrifying force surging into my body from all around me.

As I lay down, the coffin lid suddenly closed over me.

In that instant, a starry sky appeared before my eyes—it was truly miraculous. But just as I began to feel at peace, the stars in this sky began to burst, slowly transforming into countless faces, some familiar, some strange.

Hum, hum, hum...

Dull, rhythmic sounds echoed, as if streams of water were slowly filling the space. I could simultaneously feel a liquid with a slightly fishy, pungent odor appearing in the chamber.

It crept over my body, slowly submerging me. At the same time, I lost the ability to move a single muscle, and my consciousness began to drift into a blur...