The deeper they walked into the cottage, the stronger the stale scent of blood became, overpowering the smell of decay. The sun had long disappeared, the moonlight slowly filtering into some of the broken windows. Lei ventured farther into the house, his red hair faintly illuminating in the darkness.
"As I said before, Brother Xiao, I suffered an injury that has made me lose my memory, but I can't help but feel a strange and strong connection to this painting." Johan looked at him.
He had never introduced himself to Long Xiao. So how did he know his name? He also couldn't help that Long Xiao was observing him as much as he was observing him.
"Brother Xiao Long is far more interesting than I initially thought. He seems useful to keep close at the moment." Johan thought.
The winds swept by, carrying dry and fresh leaves around the cottage.
Lei had found a small but colourful room full of carved items, mostly people and animals. They were toys little Qian Yun played with.
Li Ping also walked around, walking carefully over the broken items. She made sure not to wander far from her young master.
While Lei was hopping from place to place, he found a trail of dry blood.
"Master, you might want to see this." He called out, following the trail.
As they arrived at the room on the far end of the corridor, they found Lei crouched down, observing something intently.
"Brother Lei, what have you found?" Johan asked softly, his gaze sweeping the room.
The scent of stale blood was from this very room. Frost clung stubbornly to the shattered furniture, and every breath left pale mist in the air with frozen splattered blood on the walls and windows. It appeared that most of the struggle went on in this room. Though the room was a mess, it appeared that this was a bedroom. Supposedly that of Qian Yun's parents.
"What's that writing on the wall?" Gong Feng pointed, stepping closer.
The words on the wall were written in blood and ice, the shards pointing outward like snowflakes as they covered the whole wall.
"Amazing. The ice looks like it has been mounted for a while now, and yet it shows no sign of cooling." Gong Feng was truly fascinated.
"The only people capable of using the Frozen Essence Art are the cultivators from the Bingchen Realm." He added.
Li Ping nodded in agreement as she moved closer. She had heard of the cultivators from the Bingchen Realm. They were perfectionists at assassinations, eliminating threats gracefully without a trace of blood. This made the scene all the more disturbing. Whoever wielded the Frozen Essence Art had abandoned the precision the Bingchen Realm was famous for.
As they all stood in front of the wall, Li Ping moved forward.
"Son... your mother suffered a backlash while breaking through the Saint Realm. Her emotions were unstable, making her go berserk, brutally attacking me. I'm going after her. I promise to help her return even if it costs me my life." Li Ping read out loud, a stray tear flowing down.
The words of blood ice melted as if recognizing that the message had been delivered.
A stray tear fell onto Johan's cheek, an involuntary action from the body's owner. The tear irritated him more than the blood on the walls. His own mind remained calm, yet Qian Yun's body mourned on its own. It was a reminder that the memories had vanished... but the emotions had not.
"I arrived late, Father... Your son will find you." He spoke like a man whose world had been shattered that very instant.
He didn't care about Qian Yun's parents or anything else, for that matter. All he cared about was severing his connection with Qian Yun's parents so he could return to the Forest of Forgotten Echoes and cultivate.