Wu Jia furrowed his brow. He took Barbatos's test results to examine. Meanwhile, Bai Fanxian turned to stare at the little red one nestled in Tang Yeye's arms.
Sensing her master's gaze, the Dragon Queen flinched and quickly protested. In this room, besides Barbatos, only Bai Fanxian's people were present — no outsiders to startle.
"It wasn't me! Master, I really held back..."
She turned to glare at Barbatos. The large man startled — he'd never seen this kind of creature before, and now it was glaring straight at him.
"...I haven't even said anything yet?" Bai Fanxian said.
Bai Fanxian smiled faintly at her flustered reaction. She turned back to Wu Jia, who'd just finished skimming the results.
"What do you think?"
"Mm... this is rather strange." Wu Jia stroked his chin and walked closer to examine Barbatos himself.
"There's no wound or anything severe enough to cause brain trauma. Everything in his body is perfectly normal."
Wu Jia finished his analysis and withdrew his hand from the foreign man's neck. Both his Heaven Sense and qi had found nothing abnormal.
"...Could it be some technique or art?"
Sword Master Zheng Renyi, who'd experienced many worlds, also suspected something. There was no way someone could just lose their memory for no reason.
The Marshal nodded at this and shared his thoughts with Bai Fanxian.
"I also think there might be some technique of theirs that can seal one's own memories."
It was similar to spy organizations in movies — when missions failed, to prevent torture or secrets being extracted, operatives would have poison hidden in a tooth cavity as a last resort.
"...So that's why those people haven't made a move until now."
Liu Yianfei narrowed his eyes. If that was true, this thief group was more difficult to handle than they'd thought.
"Very likely."
Because it was true — since that day, there'd been no news whatsoever from the Night Shadow Thieves. If they hadn't decided to cut their losses and abandon Barbatos, then they were "confident" that even a captured comrade couldn't reveal their secrets.
The best option besides death, after all, was making them forget everything. If this man couldn't even remember his own identity, he naturally couldn't divulge anything — not even about himself.
"Any way to fix it?"
Zhang Xianyuan turned to Wu Jia. But the young doctor only shook his head helplessly and looked to Bai Fanxian.
"Can you take a look? Maybe you'll get more than I did."
Wu Jia stepped back and let Bai Fanxian approach. The moment Barbatos saw a young woman appear before him, he tensed.
Bai Fanxian raised her slender finger to touch the center of the foreign man's forehead. At first he resisted, thinking something strange would be done to him. But after several seconds passed with nothing happening, he relaxed. She was threading her pure qi into his body, reading every sensation within him.
She looked surprised — his body was extremely strong and flexible despite not being a cultivator, with no qi flow she could sense at all.
Yet that day had proven otherwise. He'd released power equivalent to peak Sage realm, suppressing her people until they could barely move. His power source had to come from elsewhere.
"..."
Bai Fanxian still wouldn't give up. Could that enormous power really disappear without leaving any trace? And the moment her pure qi flowed past his heart, she sensed a faint energy current she didn't recognize.
It was a faint energy flow nourishing the area around this man's heart, connecting him to the outside world's life energy while also shielding his heart from impact.
"This man's heart is strange..."
The words drew everyone's attention. Several had already tried examining him, especially Zhang Xianyuan and Wu Jia, who'd practically used their qi to touch every corner of him.
So when Bai Fanxian found something they couldn't sense, they hurried over to look closer.
"...I can't sense anything."
Wu Jia frowned. His qi couldn't perceive the abnormality Bai Fanxian mentioned at all.
"Don't resist my qi..."
Finding both Wu Jia and Zhang Xianyuan experiencing the same problem, Bai Fanxian sighed. The Divine Doctor and Marshal glanced at each other and smiled dryly. Even without words, they felt like she was mentally scolding them: "you're both useless."
So they complied. Wu Jia felt more familiar with this - it was like when he and she had worked together treating Liu Yianfei. He let his small qi thread merge with her pure qi. What differed from before was that she held control this time, not him.
As for Zhang Xianyuan, even though it was his first time, he adapted quickly. The power and purity of the qi wrapping his own left him in awe. Then both men felt a new world open before them — they could see directly inside Barbatos's body.
Muscles, bones, blood vessels, internal organs — they could see every part working as if with their own eyes.
Bai Fanxian didn't let them stay amazed. She guided the qi to his heart once more. This time both Wu Jia and Zhang Xianyuan could sense the energy current she'd mentioned.
"This is..."
Wu Jia stared, wide-eyed. What he saw resembled qi but wasn't the same. It didn't flow through meridian points throughout the body or originate in the lower abdomen. The heart seemed to be both origin and driving force for all the energy currents. Right now it was so faint that without Bai Fanxian's power, they couldn't see it.
"I didn't think it would really be..."
Zhang Xianyuan, by contrast, only sighed and muttered upon seeing it — as if he'd hoped it wouldn't be what he thought.
"You know what it is?"
Bai Fanxian asked curiously. The Marshal nodded, then closed his eyes briefly.
"This should be a magic core..."
"...A magic core?"
Zhang Xianyuan opened his eyes. "You've heard about dark arts, witches and wizards from the West, right?"
He turned to Bai Fanxian, who admitted she'd heard bits and pieces of such stories before. Her interest in techniques that might be "magic" was exactly why she'd wanted him kept alive.
"It's a mystical art. Just as the East has cultivators, the West has magic users too." Zhang Xianyuan stepped back, his senses and consciousness pulling back into his body.
"But the difference is magic users are far rarer than cultivators... Several hundred years ago, an era called the 'Witch Hunt Era' occurred in the West. People led by the Church hunted and killed those suspected of using magic until they nearly went extinct."
These things were recorded in some current history books. But people didn't think the "witches" they hunted were actual "magic users." And that's why afterward, hardly any magic user revealed their identity again.
They'd been secretly passing down training to their descendants all along. These arts branched out across the entire continent until people didn't realize they all originated from the same source.
"So even though there's no witch hunting now, those who've been hiding chose to live normal, quiet lives instead..."
Everyone in the room had their eyes on Zhang Xianyuan now, especially the children, who had more imagination than the adults. Everyone had heard about magic in fairy tales at least once.
"...Is this person a wizard?"
Tang Yeye asked in wonder. In her mind, a wide-brimmed hat, a cloak, and a broomstick had already materialized on the man before her.
"No, he's not."
The Marshal couldn't help laughing at the innocent question.
He continued explaining, "From what I know, magic's origin is in the heart. They can accumulate something called mana, storing it until it develops into a magic core and releases throughout the body. Each person's magic differs. It's like cultivation — most people choose to train in only one branch."
"So I don't know what this man's magic is. But according to the records, he could enhance himself to peak Sage realm, right?"
"He controlled earth and enhanced those arrows too..."
Bai Fanxian, who'd clashed with Barbatos, added. She looked at the foreign man who still hadn't spoken a word, curiosity flickering briefly across her face.
"So basically we still can't find the cause of his amnesia..." Wu Jia muttered.
Because the magic topic had interjected, many had completely forgotten the original purpose. This unknown art was far too tempting. The way Bai Fanxian lingered and stared was no different from the children.
"My lady... you have an appointment with Chairman Zhu this evening. Should I call to postpone?"
Huang Zihuan's voice pulled her back. He checked his pocket watch. One look at his lady was enough to tell him what she was thinking. Finally, Bai Fanxian decided.
"...No need."
The answer surprised everyone. Then she turned to Zhang Xianyuan with something close to a request.
"...Would it be alright if I visited this man more often from now on?"
"That's fine... but how often? If I'm not here, I'll inform the staff in advance." He didn't need to worry about this young woman's safety anyway. Zhang Xianyuan accepted this request easily. In his mind, he'd assumed perhaps once a week.
"...Maybe once or twice a day?"
"..."