Told You I Can Turn Back Time
Chapter 552 - 417: The Identity of the West Emperor

Chapter 552: Chapter 417: The Identity of the West Emperor

As the village chief stepped forward to negotiate with the other party,

Lin Xing and Bai Yiyi stood not far away, each observing the trading convoy stationed in the village.

Bai Yiyi cocked her head and said, "The people in this trading convoy seem out of place here. They don’t seem as ’innocent’ as the people from Moon Kill Country, do they?"

Lin Xing’s spiritual sense had already quickly swept over every individual in the convoy; he spoke indifferently, "They must be from the Ming Mountain Sect, here to look for the West Emperor."

"This makes things easier, as long as we follow them we might have a chance to find the entrance to Kunlun."

At that moment, the village chief came over with a helpless expression and told them that the convoy had refused to take them along.

Lin Xing was unconcerned by this, and he smiled slightly, "No matter, we can think of some other way."

That night, Lin Xing and Bai Yiyi stayed at the village chief’s house, planning to follow the caravan when it departed the next day.

As the sky grew darker, the stars in the sky began to shine brighter and gradually emitted a purple light.

At a certain moment, the purple light gradually enveloped the whole world, even slowly creeping into the villagers’ houses and the tents of the trading convoy.

While meditating and sensing the White Bone God Slaying Saber, Lin Xing abruptly opened his eyes, his whole being becoming alert. His vast spiritual sense instantly enveloped the entire village.

"This starry sky is definitely the power of some Array."

"It’s covering such a vast area."

"But what’s the purpose of activating it now?"

Feeling that the purple luminescence didn’t contain any destructive power nor was it targeting him specifically, Lin Xing guessed that this phenomenon must be a part of the Array’s operation.

"Master Bai."

"Hmm?" Bai Yiyi, slightly drowsy, opened her eyes and yawned.

Lin Xing sighed, "How can you sleep at a time like this... never mind."

Watching the creeping purple light, he casually waved his hand, sending a trace of spiritual sense that tossed Bai Yiyi’s physical body over.

Looking at Bai Yiyi shrouded in purple light, Lin Xing asked, "Master Bai, do you sense anything wrong?"

Bai Yiyi complained, "How can you use me to test what this sinister light does?"

However, complaints aside, Bai Yiyi carefully sensed her body’s condition and then surprisingly said, "This sinister light’s power seems somewhat similar to the ’Yuhua Reincarnation’; it’s affecting people’s memories."

Seeing Lin Xing beginning to dig into the ground, Bai Yiyi said, "No need to dig a hole, Lin Xing, with my profound knowledge in ’Yuhua Reincarnation’, this mere sinister light naturally cannot trouble me."

Looking at Lin Xing, who had sunk half his body into the ground, Bai Yiyi couldn’t help but laugh resignedly, "No need to dig a hole, Lin Xing, with my profound knowledge in ’Yuhua Reincarnation’, this mere sinister light naturally cannot trouble me."

Looking at the spot where only a big hole remained, Bai Yiyi said, "No need to dig a hole anymore, Lin Xing..."

A surge of spiritual sense abruptly pulled Bai Yiyi over.

Then a slight tremor occurred in the room, and Lin Xing had already sealed all the doors and windows.

Seeing that the purple light did not invade further, Lin Xing thought to himself, "It must be to maintain the range of the spellcasting, which caused a reduction in its intensity."

The purple light lasted for about a minute before completely dissipating from the world.

When the villagers in the village woke up one by one the next day, Lin Xing also understood what the purple light had done.

"Who are you?" The village chief looked at Lin Xing and Bai Yiyi with a puzzled face, "Why are you in my house?"

Whether it was the village chief or the girl who had fetched water yesterday, all the villagers in the village had already forgotten the memories of the previous day.

As for Lin Xing, Bai Yiyi, and the trading convoy stationed outside the village, they had no impression at all.

Watching this scene, Lin Xing thought to himself, "The purpose of this Array, is it to erase the memories of the people within the Array every day? But what’s the meaning of doing this?"

But as Lin Xing observed the team from the Ming Mountain Sect, he noticed something different.

...

The young leader named Zheng Yong curiously asked, "Have the people in this village also forgotten?"

Uncle Zheng nodded beside him, "Yes, but I told them that we arrived last night, and they didn’t suspect anything."

Zheng Yong stroked his chin, his eyes full of curiosity, "Why would the West Emperor do such a thing? For fun?"

Uncle Zheng smiled helplessly, "The thoughts of such a supreme person of the world are not something we can speculate. Maybe it has something to do with his heritage."

Zheng Yong nodded, "Never mind that, let’s prepare to head to the next oasis. This wretched place doesn’t allow this or that, truly boring."

Turning around, he saw at a distance by the edge of the village, the two lost travelers from yesterday seemed to be watching the location of the trading convoy from afar.

A curiosity suddenly surged in his heart, "These two, losing the memory of the previous day each day, who knows how long they have been trapped in this village."

"One day in the future, when they have a chance to regain their memories, they will probably find that most of their life has already hurriedly passed."

"This is the sadness of being weak in this current era."

Zheng Yong looked towards the still somewhat gloomy sky and thought to himself, "Only when my Zheng Family sweeps away the accumulated malpractices, rebuilds the world, and establishes order to manage both the strong and the weak, can the chaos of this world be completely ended."

Sensing the situation at the camp, Lin Xing said, "It seems that the people in this team haven’t had their memories of yesterday erased."

Bai Yiyi said, "Could it be that the demon light does not affect outsiders?"

Lin Xing shook his head, it was still too early to determine that.

However, he always felt that there was something different about the people from the Ming Mountain Sect from the day before, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

So, he and Bai Yiyi followed the departing team, and with his cultivation, naturally no one could detect him.

"Memory is the foundation of consciousness."

"One could say, the type of memories one has will shape the type of person they become—it is the true soul of a human."

Looking at the team ahead, Lin Xing slowly said, "The West Emperor has set up an Array that keeps people’s memories locked in the same day, essentially keeping their consciousness always in the same state, unchanged."

Bai Yiyi said, "But you mentioned these people from the Ming Mountain Sect have changed."

Lin Xing pondered, "So it must be more than just maintaining..."

When the team reached the second oasis, Lin Xing noticed that this time the team members and the villagers were talking and laughing, with even some members dining with the villagers, exchanging food with each other.

At the third oasis, the interactions between the people of Ming Mountain Sect and the villagers grew even friendlier, with many drinking and eating meat together, arm in arm.

The leading Zheng Yong even bestowed an elixir upon a sick villager, curing them.

When they reached the fourth oasis, Lin Xing stood high in the sky, watching from above as Zheng Yong and others were pulled by villagers into singing and dancing, his face gradually showing a look of understanding.

"It’s more than just maintaining the original state, the real function of this Array is to gradually transform everyone who enters into the likeness of the citizens of Moon Kill Country."

Bai Yiyi exclaimed, "Are you saying... this Moon Kill Country can transform those lunatics and villains outside into good people like these citizens?"

"How is that possible? The malevolent energy here is clearly very strong; they should become crazier upon entering."

Having observed silently these past few days, Lin Xing had thought a lot.

He slowly said, "It’s likely related to their memories."

"Memory is the foundation of consciousness, Master Bai, you should have considerable experience in this area."

Master Bai nodded slightly, remembering her and the Sword Maiden.

Although they originated from the same essence, because of the differences in their memories, they formed two different personalities and chose different paths: the Path of the Master and the Sword Dao.

"If a person suddenly loses a part of their memories, or gains new ones, their character will differ."

Lin Xing speculated, "If an ordinary person had their happy memories erased day by day, with more and more memories of pain, anger, and sadness taking up their consciousness, or even completely devoid of any happy recollections, they might go mad, might break down, might even commit suicide—in any case, there would be drastic changes in their personality."

"On the other hand, what if a wicked person had parts of their memories of their own misdeeds erased daily?"

"If at the end, they don’t even remember any of their evil deeds, how would their character change?"

"Unless this person has never done a good deed in their life, inherently being a beast."

Lin Xing looked at Zheng Yong and others, slowly saying, "Otherwise, the remaining few good memories might just change a person into what they are now."

Bai Yiyi exclaimed, "Is the West Emperor using this method to reshape people’s minds?"

Lin Xing said, "This is only my speculation, but since it involves memory, I think it’s probably something similar."

"But why would he do that?"

"Is he trying to use this method to combat the environment’s increasing malevolence?"

Lin Xing took the hand of the young girl beside him, and with the flickering of the Red Gang Star River, they had already appeared simultaneously inside the camp.

Their figures flickered in and out of visibility, like phantom shadows that shifted unpredictably, always appearing in the blind spots of the onlookers, as if they were never meant to be observed.

"If we want to understand more, I’m afraid Master Bai, you’ll need to take a look at their memories."

The two appeared behind the unsuspecting Zheng Yong, who was earnestly reading a book, completely unaware of the additional man and woman behind him.

Just as Bai Yiyi was about to probe Zheng Yong’s memories, streaks of starlight suddenly emerged throughout the entire camp.

A graceful figure seemed to step out from the void and gently descended in front of Zheng Yong.

Zheng Yong abruptly looked up, seeing a woman clad in a robe of stars, like a goddess from the night sky radiating layers of starlight, slowly floating before him.

His heart shook, recalling the warnings of his elder, and he hastily stood up, bowing respectfully, "Lord West Emperor, I am Zheng Yong of the Ming Mountain Sect, thank you for personally making the trip..."

"Shut up."

Zheng Yong froze, realizing the other was looking behind him.

"You two, having sneaked around for several days, have seen enough, haven’t you?"

"Thinking of laying hands on my people, that’s rather presumptuous."

"West Emperor?" Lin Xing looked at the smiling woman before him, a speculation rising in his mind.

"Who are you, really?"