Gun of Ashes

”Jiuxia...”

Shao Liangxi gazed at the faintly dim light above her head, and everything around her began to fade away, leaving only one thing; it grew more and more intense, like a blazing sun high in the sky.

A gentle breeze came by, and the sound of rustling arose all around. Amidst the swaying reeds, one could see a golden river flowing past lowly villages, with someone standing under the eaves of a house, humming a tune. The melody was so familiar, it brought a sense of peace.

”It’s a very beautiful place, different from these pervasive industrial machines. There, everywhere you see is lush green, and people don’t bother with Gods or anything like that. It’s the ancestors’ protection we value, completely different from Ingwig’s country...”

Shao Liangxi reminisced, searching through her blurry memories for stories to tell, but upon careful thought, there wasn’t much to share.

”The most beautiful scenery was from my childhood.”

The tavern was quiet, with everyone listening intently, eager to hear stories from beyond the distant walls.

Shao Liangxi picked up a glass, took a sip, and oddly enough, she liked this strange-tasting ”Succumb” from Heracles.

To her, some differences between the two countries were very normal, even when it came to fine wines.

Even Heracles hadn’t realized that under his guidance, these Jiuxia people had started assuming that the wine of Ingwig and indeed the entire Western world tasted like this.

Shao Liangye often sighed internally, surprised the people here were drinking this stuff. When he had the chance, he was determined to let them taste Jiuxia’s fine wine, to save these poor souls.

”My home is by the lakeside, and since Anonymous has existed for generations, we began various training when we were very young, such as fencing.”

Shao Liangye was also drawn into memories by Shao Liangxi’s words, his own recollections pulling him into that vast expanse of gold.

”We had a training place by the lakeside, with a ground paved in green stone, and beside it stood a giant maple tree. Come late autumn, the leaves turned fiery gold, blown down by the wind, swirling about; under the setting sun in twilight, everything was golden bright.”

Shao Liangxi chased after fuzzy memories, immersing herself in the golden world.

Her reverie didn’t last long, then she awkwardly smiled.

”That’s it.”

”That’s it?” Heracles repeated.

”Yeah, not much detailed memory. Everything else is fierce, like through a layer of fog, I can’t quite see clearly,” Shao Liangxi apologized earnestly.

Under the influence of the Anti-Meme, she couldn’t remember much about Jiuxia, most memories were shrouded in mist; even the clear memories weren’t much help in Heracles understanding Jiuxia, unless he wanted to discuss with Shao Liangxi about demon-hunting methods in Jiuxia.

Strangely, in Shao Liangxi’s mind, what she could clearly recall seemed only to be knowledge related to battling Demons.

”The memories of the Anonymous have been influenced by the Anti-Meme, after leaving the Forgotten Great Wall, for protection, most of their understanding of Jiuxia was sealed,” Lorenzo explained.

”Is it okay to say these things?”

Shao Liangye pointed at Lorenzo, more accurately at Buscalo leaning behind him.

”Yeah!”

Lorenzo looked startled, realizing he hadn’t thought of this before.

”Hey! Did you hear anything?”

Lorenzo roughly yanked Buscalo up. The poor old man just emitted meaningless grunts, and the bar in front of him had several empty glasses; he had gotten himself drunk to escape this miserable reality.

He burped, the pungent smell of alcohol with an odd odor hit them squarely.

Lorenzo threw him aside in disgust; Buscalo fell to the ground, probably got hurt by the fall. His face twisted a little but soon relaxed, as he found a comfortable position and started snoring.

”See, it looks like he didn’t hear anything,” Lorenzo waved dismissively.

Everyone’s expressions were a bit stiff, wanting to ask Lorenzo if Buscalo was really his friend; it seemed being a friend of Lorenzo wasn’t a very good thing.

”Sounds kind of sad, right? Not even being able to remember your past.”

In a drunken voice, Rod muttered, resting on the other side, looking at Shao Liangxi with sorrow.

Shao Liangxi’s gaze was a bit strange, she looked at Rod’s flushed cheeks, then at the half glass of wine by his hand.

”Is he... drunk?”

Shao Liangxi sent a pleading look to Lorenzo, who nodded and walked over, lightly patting Rod’s face.

”Seems like it, this guy’s drunk.”

Rod’s tolerance for alcohol was surprisingly low; he was down after just half a glass, which was quite troublesome. Everyone drank with moderation because they couldn’t return to the Perpetual Motion Pump all inebriated, but now Rod was already a bit out of it.

Lorenzo could already imagine those folks endlessly prattling at him.

”Was the past real or fake?”

Rod was completely unaware, he continued to ask, even raising a hand, pointing at Shao Liangxi. This time he used Jiuxia language, which Lorenzo didn’t understand.

”Who knows? I wish it were true, but sometimes I can’t help but think in a bad direction.”

Shao Liangxi responded in Jiuxia language as well, perhaps the alcohol had loosened her resolve a bit; this person, who rarely showed distress, now revealed confusion and bewilderment.