108 World of Fog (1/2)

Everything was foggy. Xue Wei was lost in a world of limitless fog; he felt like he was floating, and everything passed by him so fast.

Silhouettes and figures appeared by Xue Wei's side. Some flashed by in the blink of an eye, and others moved past at a snail's pace. However, all of them had one thing in common – all of them were indistinct and impossible to identify.

Xue Wei reached out his hand in an attempt to stop a few of them, but he found that they turned to smoke and dissipated right in front of him as soon as he came into contact with them.

Puzzled, the young man started walking aimlessly within the world of fog, completely unaware of what was going on.

As he kept walking, he had lost all his memories of what had happened to him prior to his appearance in the world of fog.

Here in this world, he felt no pressure; there was nothing urging him to move, but he still felt curious. Just what was the origin of this place? For what reason had he appeared within this location?

Xue Wei was confused as he continued walking, yet even after walking for what felt like an eternity, Xue Wei realized that there was no end to this realm of fog. The only things he encountered in this never-ending world were the silhouettes that appeared from time to time.

Walking in the fog, Xue Wei felt that everything was calm and comfortable. Nothing was getting in the way, nothing was stressing him. In fact, he felt no danger and was at peace with himself.

The more he walked, the more the number of silhouettes appearing around him increased. The further into the world of fog he went, the faster these figures flashed past him.

Some would hold hands, and an echo of laughter emerged from every direction in the world of fog. Child-like silhouettes ran around in groups, and their voices too echoed in the fog.

The silhouettes became more and more realistic the further Xue Wei walked. They turned from mere silhouettes into lifelike figures, their bodies became less transparent, and their faces began to have features that resembled real people.

These people had faces that Xue Wei suddenly remembered. There was the blacksmith of Lingyun Town. He suddenly remembered how he had run errands for his father to the blacksmith on a weekly basis, and that the blacksmith and his wife doted on him as if he was their own nephew.

He saw the faces of the children that ran in the fog, and was reminded of those he used to play with when he himself was a young child.

Where Xue Wei had changed and matured, becoming a young man, these people had not changed a day since the fateful encounter six years prior.

These children were his friends; these people were his kin. Each person he passed by brought with them memories of a time long gone.

Each memory was a treasure that returned to Xue Wei's mind; he felt that something that had been missing for years was returning to him. He felt as if the constant self-doubt he had had was vanishing. The fears he had had about himself were also being extinguished with every memory that returned to him.

Although Xue Wei had been incapable of cultivating, his childhood was filled with heartwarming and comfortable memories, and these memories that started taking root in his mind brought with them a feeling of being good enough.

Xue Wei felt comfortable. He felt as if he was bathed in a soft and gentle embrace as these faces floated through his mind and brought with them everyday memories.

Albeit a small town, Lingyun Town still had a populace of around a thousand. All of them more or less knew each other. And although they were not all equally close, Xue Wei was right now remembering every single person and the encounters and episodes he had experienced with each of them.

The first memories were the faintest. The people he had played with the least, the people he had dealt with the least. However, the deeper into the fog he went, a larger number of memories pertaining to people close to him, good friends and those with whom he had many memories, surfaced and assaulted his mind.

”If I walk deep enough, will I encounter my parents?” Xue Wei could not help but ask himself. As he thought of this, he could not help but feel excited.

Although he had lived six years without even remembering his father, he knew from the moment he entered the apothecary shop that he had once been truly loved by his father.

Reaching this realization, Xue Wei sped up within the world of the fog and moved further and further into its depths, on the search for any of the figures that floated past him and added to his memory as they passed by.

More and more of these memory fragments appeared. The experts who were in charge of training the youngsters in the city also appeared, filling Xue Wei with dread and reverence, a feeling that he remembered from the time he was a small child himself.

Another eternity went past, and fewer and fewer figures appeared. The further Xue Wei walked, the more important the memories he recovered were, but the less frequent they became as well.

Finally, the steady stream of memories and figures vanished and Xue Wei reached the end. There, not one but three figures were waiting for him.

The first one had a gentle, comfortable and familiar feeling to them; the second felt dangerous but also loving; while the third was completely frightening.

Xue Wei frowned. Why on earth were there three figures? Who were they?

He reached out, trying to remember something, and the moment he came into contact with the gentle and soft figure, the first of the three, he was assaulted by memories of his father.