As if he had gone mad, Zhao Hong began shouting:
"You never died in the Falling Sword Mountain Range. You should have died long ago, before the Outer Court Calamity happened... One day, you suddenly vanished from the Outer Court, died at Ding Bandit's hands..."
As Zhao Hong spoke, his voice suddenly grew quieter and quieter:
"No, that's not right. You didn't die. You didn't suddenly disappear—you were taken in by Elder Lin as a Personal Disciple, then took part in the Outer Court Grand Competition, and after that... did you die, or... enter the inner sect?"
Zhao Hong completely ignored Chen Yan sitting beside him, merely sinking into his own world:
"Tian Ding Mountain, Chief Chen... the Outer Court Calamity. No, I should have died in the Outer Court Calamity, but why do I have memories from after the Outer Court Calamity?"
Contradictions.
All manner of contradictions had become hopelessly tangled in Zhao Hong's mind.
He lifted his eyes toward Chen Yan.
Tears of terror slowly streamed down his aged face.
"What in the world... is going on?"
Then, his body swayed faintly.
It was as though a string that had been taut all along had suddenly snapped loose.
The confusion and terror in his eyes seemed to be drawn away, and he swiftly returned to his original state.
That stiff, pedantic, clouded gaze with which the regulars at this tea stall were all too familiar.
"Back then, King Qin of the Great Wilderness marched against Desolate Ridge..."
Zhao Hong had vanished.
In his place was still Old Li, the pedantic old man who had spent his entire life in Forgotten River City.
But Chen Yan no longer had any desire to learn about Lord of Desolate Ridge's past.
Heaven-Stabilizing Continent.
Southern Bright Region, Desolate Ridge.
When the