His father came closer and clamped his hand over his left shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

  “You look tired. We’ll talk more tonight at dinner.” He clapped his hands, and four servants appeared out of nowhere. They bowed before Chris and his family members. “Usher the young master to his chamber.”

  His sister was reluctant to let him go this quickly, but she knew that she would have enough time to talk at dinner. Chris looked back as they guided him and saw that the three guards with whom he had spent and shared his meals for the last weeks were not following them.

  He wanted to ask why they were not following, but it would look strange for him not to know this. The rest of the Baek house still didn’t know about his cover story.

  The servants led him deeper into the Baek manor. His body moved without hesitation, turning corners before his mind caught up, guided by muscle memory that wasn’t truly his.

  ‘This is a neat trick.’

  -Your body remembers this place.-

  ‘That doesn’t make me feel better.’

  They walked through the maze-like manor until they stopped before a familiar-looking door. A girl from Baek Yong-Su’s memories stood there, her height alone enough to remind him how much time had passed.

  “Suni.” Her name came out of his mouth.

  The servant girl glanced toward him with tears in her eyes.

  “Welcome home, young master.” She said as she wiped her tears with her sleeves.

  “Show some respect while you are in front of the heir.” One of the servants said as she stepped toward Suni, her intent to discipline her unmistakable.

  Suni closed her eyes as the servant’s hand was about to smack her, but the pain never came. She opened her eyes and saw Chris holding the other servant’s hand, and when she looked at his face, she saw a burning fire in his eyes she had never seen before.

  “She’s my servant.” He began squeezing the servant’s hand. “No one is going to touch her as long as I’m here.” He squeezed even harder.

  The servant began squirming on the ground from the pain as Chris put more pressure on her wrist.

  -Chris, stop! That’s enough! Chris!-

  He couldn’t hear what the system was saying as the fury took control over him. He only came to his senses when Suni wrapped her arms around him from behind.

  “Please, young master, let her go. You shouldn’t go to such extremes for a lowly servant like me.”

  He let go of her wrist and told the others to take her to a healer and not to disturb him until it was time for dinner. Chris flung the door open and went inside his chamber. His whole body was drenched in sweat.

  -Chris, are you okay? What happened?-

  ‘I don’t know. I moved without realizing it when I saw that she was about to hurt Suni.’

  -It seems that not all was sunshine and rainbows in this place.-

  ‘Every place has its skeletons in the closet. It seems that some of them have surfaced.’

  A knock on the door made him turn to the present.

  “Young master, are you fine?”

  “I’m alright, Suni, but I want to be left alone for some time.”

  “Would you like me to prepare your bath?”

  As he sniffed his armpit, he finally realized that he hadn’t taken a bath during all those weeks they had traveled in the carriage.

  -You really need to take a bath. I don’t have a sense of smell, and I still think you should wash.-

  ‘I’ll do it, so stop nagging me.’

  “A bath would be perfect, Suni. Thank you.”

  “All right, young master. I’ll fetch you when it is ready. You can take a quick rest until everything is ready.”

  -That’s a good idea. You should take some time to rest.-

  ‘I’ll try, but I don’t think I can sleep after all that happened.’

  As quickly as he closed his eyes, Chris fell asleep, but a nightmare ravaged his mind.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw the night sky expanding over him.

  “What is happening? How am I outside? System, are you there?”

  Silence.

  “Okay, Chris, think. If there is no answer, this must be one of Baek Yong-Su’s memories. But where is this place?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Snow-covered trees encircled him, the world swallowed by an unbroken blanket of white.

  “I wonder where I am and why I don’t see Yong-Su anywhere.”

  Suddenly, his body was dragged around.

  “What is going on?”

  His stomach growled, and he began to tremble as the cold finally seeped into his bones.

  “What is going on? How can I feel hunger and cold in a memory?”

  Then he felt a sharp pain on his left side, and as he touched it, he realized that he was bleeding. Something sharp had just grazed him. He would have loved to run away, but he could only be dragged along. Another sharp pain came, and another. He tried to turn his head to see what was going on, but he couldn’t.

  “Can someone tell me what is going on?” He screamed from the bottom of his heart.

  Then a familiar voice spoke.

  “Chris, is that you? How can you be here?”

  “Soa, is that you? What is happening? I was taking a nap at the Baek house, and the next thing I knew, I found myself here.”

  “Where are you? I can’t see you.”

  “I don’t know. I’m being dragged around, but someone is attacking me, and I can’t see them.”

  “Can you see them now?”

  The view finally changed, and he could see that he was being hunted by figures dressed in red clothes.

  “Did you see them?”

  “I did. How did you do that?”

  “Chris, it might sound strange, but I think that you are in my mind. How did you do it?”

  “I don’t know how I did it, but who are those pursuers?”

  “Those are the hunting dogs of the Crimson Cult. I’m in the northern region. If those guys are here, it means that something big is going to happen here.”

  “Soa, why did you leave so quickly? We didn’t have time to talk.”

  “I found a message left behind for me in that jade ring. It only activated after I began cultivating. It was from my mother, and it said that I have to go to the northern regions and find the heritage left behind by my ancestors.”

  “You should have asked for my help. I would have come with you.”

  “I know. That is why I didn’t do it. I have my mission, and you have yours, Chris.”

  A knocking sound began echoing in Chris’s ears.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “I didn’t hear anything.”

  The sound came again.

  “There it is again.”

  “I didn’t hear it.”

  The world began to darken around him.

  “Soa, what is going on?”

  “Don’t worry. I think our connection is coming to an end for now.”

  “I can’t leave you here alone in your time of need.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve grown stronger in the time we were separated. I can take care of myself. Now go with a calm heart.”

  As he was enclosed in darkness, Chris woke up.

  -Chris, what happened? You look as if you had run a marathon.-

  ‘I saw Soa in my dream. She was in the north and was being hunted down by the Crimson Cult.’

  -What do you mean?-

  ‘Somehow, I was connected to her mind.’

  The knocking came again.

  ‘Where is this sound coming from? Am I going crazy?’

  -Sometimes you are such a fool. You are not going crazy, and the sound is coming from the door. Suni must have returned. Go and look.-

  The system was right. It was Suni who had returned to fetch him and take him to his bath. It was already dark outside when he finished bathing. His change of clothes was already waiting for him, perfectly folded on his bed.

  ‘Suni is a diligent girl.’

  -Indeed, she is. I don’t know what she did, but that bath did wonders for you.-

  ‘It really did.’ Chris stretched his joints. ‘I feel as if a weight has been lifted. Too bad that I couldn’t stay longer.’

  -If you stayed any longer, you would have become a giant raisin.-

  ‘It would have been worth it.’

  Someone knocked on the door. Chris thought that it was Suni and, without hesitation, opened it, forgetting that he hadn’t changed, only to find his younger sister there. She didn’t seem bothered at all to see him in a bathrobe. Chris felt embarrassed and quickly shut the door.

  “Young-Su, how many times have I told you to be more careful?”

  As she didn’t get an answer, she knocked again, harder this time.

  “Open the door. Don’t make me break it down again like last time. Father had me clean the front yard for a week.” Chris didn’t answer. “Fine by me. What is one more week of work?”

  She took a step back and positioned herself to snap the door in two, but at that moment, the door slid open. She stopped her fist near Chris’s face. Chris gently pushed her fist away.

  “I was changing and couldn’t talk. Why would you break my door?”

  “I don’t know. I just felt like it.”

  Chris face-palmed.

  “You should do something about your fiery temper.”

  “You are the one talking.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve heard what you did this morning.”

  “I did it to protect Suni.”

  “I know, but father won’t like it. That reminds me, we should go. Father is waiting for you.”

  “Just me? Weren’t we all having dinner?”

  “He wants to talk to you… alone. Let’s go.”

  His sister began walking without glancing back to make sure he was following.

  ‘She sounds pissed.’

  They stepped outside the building and followed a paved road lined with flowers and candlelit lamps.

  ‘This place looks familiar. I feel like I’ve been here before.’

  Chris stopped and knelt to look more closely at the flowers, unable to remember where he had seen them before.

  “Mother’s favorite.”

  He had been so engrossed in the flowers that he forgot about his sister.

  “I heard from father that you’ve lost most of your memories. I’m glad that you still remember them, though.” A few tears slid down her fair cheek.

  “You don’t have to worry. I still have fragments of my memories.” Chris felt a sharp pain in his chest as he lied.

  “Do… do you still remember my name?”

  “Rin, you silly girl. How could I forget it?”

  The name came out of his mouth without even trying.

  Chris opened his arms, and she threw herself into his embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

  “You don’t know how hard it was to lose you, too. Father was devastated when he got the news that you had disappeared. For the past two years, he didn’t even let me go outside the main door without his guards.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you, but I’m back now, and I won’t leave you again.” Another lie.

  “Don’t. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Before you left, you promised that you’d return, and you almost didn’t.”

  She hit him a few times with her fists, but there was no power in them. She didn’t want to hurt him; she just wanted to pour out her anger. Then, as quickly as she started crying, she stopped, jumped back, and wiped away her tears.

  “Let’s go. Father will be furious if we let him wait.”

  Chris gave a small chuckle, then stood up and cleaned his pants.

  -She is right, Chris. You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.-

  ‘I know, but I couldn’t let her suffer.’

  -What will you do when it’s time for you to leave? She’ll have to lose her brother again. You know that.-

  ‘I know, but we’ll see when we get there.’

  -You are playing a dangerous game.-

  He didn’t say anything and continued following Rin. They didn’t have to walk much longer before they reached a peaceful lake, on which a beautiful pagoda floated. The bridge was decorated the same way he remembered from Yong-Su’s memories long ago.

  “I can only accompany you this far,” Rin said with a sullen face.

  “Don’t worry. Tomorrow we’ll talk as much as you want.”

  Her color returned, and with a wide smile, she turned back and left.

  ‘You know, I’m more scared now than the times I had to put my life on the line.’

  -You’ll get over this hurdle, too. Just don’t tell your stupid jokes.-

  Mustering all his courage, he pushed forward. Everything was as he remembered: the flowers, the lamps, and the pagoda. The only difference was the person waiting for him.

  He carefully stepped onto the pagoda and bowed before his father.

  “Sit.”

  Without realizing it, he followed the order.

  “You’ve just returned, and you’re already making trouble.”

  “I…” The words wouldn’t leave his throat.

  “You speak when you are allowed.” His father’s tone grew angrier.

  ‘Something is not right. He’s different from this morning.’

  -Chris, run away! Now!-

  ‘I can’t. My body isn’t listening to me.’

  “I learned from Jin-Mu that you’ve lost your memories. It looks to be true, as you can’t even remember how to protect yourself from my Qi pressure.”

  Panic struck Chris. What was he going to do if the man found out that he wasn’t his son?

  “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt my son.”

  Now he felt safer, but then panic returned as he realized the man knew that he was not Yong-Su. The pressure intensified. It was hard even to blink.

  “I didn’t want to do this in front of my daughter. That’s why I called you here alone.”

  He would have screamed if he could, as his muscles began to strain and his bones gave way under the enormous pressure.

  “SPEAK! WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY SON!”