Memory Cycle
At the same time,
That Awakened Lion, surrounded by people like stars around the moon, seemed to have sensed something. At the end of the bustling street, it suddenly looked back.
Two gazes crossed the crowded, beaming and smiling crowd, touching each other in an instant... In this split second, an inexplicable feeling grew from Chen Ling's heart.
Chen Ling didn't know how to describe this feeling. He felt as if he had forgotten something very important. After seeing those eyes, it was as if some dust-laden memory started to loosen, a segment of the past between him and the owner of those eyes.
Before Chen Ling could carefully recall, the Awakened Lion turned its head back and walked alone into the depths of the Alleyway amidst the crowd's applause.
Chen Ling stood blankly in place for a moment, then suddenly recovered his senses. He immediately pushed his way forcefully through the crowded people, trying to catch up to that Awakened Lion figure...
He exerted nine bulls and two tigers' worth of effort to push through the crowd, passing by the lively fire-breathing, hoop-jumping, and Stagecraft performances on the street, turned a corner into the Alleyway where the Awakened Lion figure had disappeared, and ran forward at full speed!
Pant—— Pant——
The cheers and applause gradually faded away behind him. Loneliness and emptiness surged towards him like a tide;
The narrow Alleyway gradually blurred, as if what he was running in wasn't an Alleyway, but rather someone's long inner path... Chen Ling realized that this wasn't his memory.
He had entered the depths of another person's memory.
Chen Ling ran in the Alleyway for a long time. Finally, a smear of faint light appeared at the end of the darkness... Chen Ling unhesitatingly charged into that faint light.
His vision suddenly opened up.
It was a piece of barren open land. Looking around, there was nothing but yellow earth and occasionally a few dead trees;
Liveliness and noise came from behind him. An ancient city decorated with lanterns and colored banners, with firecrackers setting off simultaneously, was situated not far away, as if immersed in the celebration of New Year's Eve.
Chen Ling didn't know which dynasty this was, but he could feel that this place should be quite far away from his era...
But what remained unchanged was that inside the city, just like the street just now, everyone was immersed in joy and happiness.
"Master... has the time come?"
A voice came from behind. Chen Ling turned his head to look. At some point in time, two figures were already standing on the barren earth.
One was the youth wearing the Awakened Lion attire from just now. He was sweating profusely, as if he had just finished a performance, still holding a tattered Awakened Lion Head-dress in his arms; the other person's figure was already blurry, but looking at his appearance, he should be an Old Man.
"Mm, it has come." The Old Man reached out a hand, stroked Sun Bumian's head, and spoke softly,
"Bumian... you have to die amidst Deafening Celebration."
Sun Bumian asked worriedly: "Will I really die?"
"You die amidst Deafening Celebration, and you will also be reborn amidst beautiful prayers... Bumian, your path is different from everyone else's. You are the incarnation of auspiciousness in the world." The Old Man held his hands behind his back, gazing at the city engaged in Universal Celebration in the distance, and spoke earnestly,
"As long as there are still people in this world praying for happiness, you will exist eternally."
"Oh..."
Sun Bumian nodded, half-understanding. "Then will I still be able to see Master?"
The Old Man laughed heartily, "Although you won't die of old age, you are ultimately in a human body. Every sixty years, you have to fall into the slumber of death... Until a year later, when someone nearby prays for auspiciousness and happiness from the bottom of their heart, only then will you awaken from the prayers.
Master's body is still considered hale and hearty. A period of one year, Master can still afford to wait."
"That's good then."
Sun Bumian heaved a sigh of relief.
The Old Man flicked his sleeve, "Then Master will leave first."
Sun Bumian nodded obediently. The Old Man turned and walked a few steps, hesitated for a moment, and still turned back to say:
"Bumian."
"What's wrong, Master."
"You are the incarnation of Good Fortune and Auspiciousness, able to pursue good fortune and avoid disasters. As long as you want to, you can spend every Reincarnation Cycle without disasters or calamities... No matter what happens in the future, take good care of yourself... Understand?"
"I understand."
The Old Man took one last look at Sun Bumian, walking alone towards the bustling and lively city, gradually disappearing at the end of the horizon.
After watching him leave, Sun Bumian circled around, took out a Shovel from under a dead tree, and started to dig into the ground bit by bit...
Bang bang bang bang——
Fireworks and firecrackers went off continuously.
The city was engaged in Universal Celebration. Sun Bumian, while gazing at the noise in the distance, quietly dug a grave for himself... Chen Ling watched this scene quietly. He didn't know what Sun Bumian was thinking, but a sense of loneliness rushed over his face.
After an unknown amount of time, a flat dirt pit appeared on the earth.
Sun Bumian took one last look at the city in the distance, and reluctantly laid flat in the dirt pit, his hands folded on his chest.
With a thought from him, the Awakened Lion Head-dress that had been placed not far away all along seemed to come alive. Colored flames intertwined to form the body of the Awakened Lion. As its head gently nudged, that piled-up dirt mound submerged Sun Bumian's figure bit by bit.
Ultimately, Sun Bumian disappeared from the barren earth.
The colored flames dissipated from the Awakened Lion. It turned back into a head-dress, rolling down onto Sun Bumian's grave with a rumble, covered in dust, deadly still and silent.
Only then did Chen Ling walk forward. He slowly came onto that flat land, bent down and picked up the Awakened Lion Head-dress...
He patted the dust off it, looking at the familiar head-dress. A struggle surfaced in his eyes, as if a segment of memory was about to break out of the ground.
"You have to wait for him." A voice came from behind.
Chen Ling turned to look, only to see a white-haired figure wrapped in bandages silently standing behind a dead tree.
"Who are you?" Chen Ling asked.
"My name is Jiang Xiaohua."
"Where is this place? Just what exactly did I forget?"
Jiang Xiaohua fell silent for a moment, and pointed to the ground beneath him, "Wait until he awakens, you will know."
Chen Ling looked down blankly at his feet, his mind completely empty... But after hesitating for a long time, he still gritted his teeth and sat cross-legged directly beside the grave.
"An auspicious incarnation that goes through a Reincarnation Cycle every sixty years..." Chen Ling muttered to himself,
"You... just who exactly are you?"
...
Sun Bumian slowly opened his eyes.
Bone-chilling cold wind mixed with cold rain fell scattered upon his thin ancient Tang suit, a chill making him shiver.
"This is?"
Sun Bumian looked around and found himself standing in front of the gates of a luxurious manor. On both sides were northern-style houses extending into the distance, and blue-green auroras silently surged like ribbons above his head.
Sun Bumian looked at those auroras, always feeling as if he knew where this place was. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember...
Right at this moment, the gates of the manor suddenly opened.
A figure stumbled and rushed out from inside, losing balance as if kicked out by someone, and fell headfirst in front of Sun Bumian, sending dust flying.
"You dog, a mere servant slave, you dare talk back to me??"