Chapter 221: Mind Maze

"A mind maze! This place is fake! It's all fake!"

Once Zhang Wenda figured it all out, he shot to his feet and headed for the door. He had to get out. He had to find the Hippocampus. He had to leave this maze!

One step, two steps, three steps… But as Zhang Wenda moved, the thought—the very desire to leave—seemed to unravel like fine threads and drift away from his mind.

Sensing his desire to escape dwindling, Zhang Wenda shoved Song Jianguo aside and bolted for the door.

He could feel the maze trying to hold him back, but he didn't lose heart. He charged outward with all his might, picking up more and more speed.

He burst out of the elevator, through the lobby, and even onto the bustling street. Just as the pink forest came into view, his pace slowed to a halt. He stood there, his eyes vacant. 'What... what was I doing?'

His mind was a complete blank. He couldn't remember who he was or what he was trying to do.

He only had a nagging feeling that there was something he was supposed to do. He couldn't remember what it was, but he knew it was important—very important. And yet, the memory wouldn't come.

He couldn't do anything now. All he could do was turn in circles on the spot.

"Oh, Dad, you've wandered off again!" a young man said, running toward him with a worried expression. He took the old man's arms to guide him back.

A woman with an impatient look on her face followed behind them, holding a rosy-cheeked infant who was staring at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Who are you?" The old man resisted, planting his feet. He looked at the three strangers before him, a flicker of fear in his eyes.

"Sigh, I'm your son, and this is your daughter-in-law. Look, your grandson, Zhang Wenda, was just born. Can you please stop causing trouble for me?"

"My grandson?" The old man looked at the baby again. When the child giggled at him, the anxiety and urgency in his heart began to fade.

"Then who am I?" he asked again.

"You're Zhang Zhongliang. You were a fitter at the hemp textile mill, but you took an early retirement after a head injury at work."

"Earlier, you were talking about how you were finally back. How come you woke up and don't recognize anyone? Just come home with me, okay?"

"Oh, all right. Home. Let's go home." His eyes fixed on his precious grandson, he allowed his son to help him walk slowly home.

Under his family's care, Zhang Zhongliang's episodes became less frequent, and he gradually began to remember things.

But he felt uneasy in this home. His daughter-in-law treated him poorly and always argued with his son. Recently, he'd even noticed signs that their fights had become physical.

His only comfort came from being with his grandson. The little boy loved listening to his stories, and as he grew, he even started asking why.

With nothing better to do, he loved taking his little grandson, Zhang Wenda, for walks. Whenever they passed a malt candy vendor, he'd hear his grandson's sweet, pleading voice and break into a happy smile.

"Alright! Grandpa will buy it! Grandpa will get it for you!"

He walked down the road, holding his little grandson. He was walking along when he suddenly stopped. He saw a flashlight in a nearby young man's hand, and a nostalgic expression crossed his face.

"Grandpa?"

"It's nothing, my dear grandson. Let's head home." He lifted his grandson into his arms and headed for home.

"Grandpa, do I have a grandma? All the other kids have grandmas."

"You do, of course you do. Your grandma passed away a long time ago," he said, carefully watching the puddles on the ground to avoid them.

"Was my grandma pretty? Was she as pretty as Xiaopang's grandma?"

Zhang Zhongliang stopped walking. "Sigh… back in those days, nobody cared about 'pretty' or 'not pretty.' A matchmaker would set you up, and you'd get married in a daze. Once you were married, it was for life. You couldn't get a divorce, no matter how bad a match it was. Getting divorced meant you'd be scorned by everyone."

"To be honest, your grandma…" He trailed off, his expression complicated. Finally, he just shook his head. "Never mind. Let's not talk about it. It's all in the past."

Time trickled by. His precious grandson grew a little older, and soon he was starting kindergarten. As a retiree, it was his job to pick the boy up from school each day.

Watching his grandson grow day by day, he felt his mind grow clearer. He didn't forget things as easily anymore. Yet, that nagging feeling of having forgotten something important still surfaced from time to time.

It was another Tuesday. As usual, he went to pick up his grandson as the sun was setting. Once he had the boy, he listened to him chatter away about all the little things that happened at school.

"Grandpa! If I finish my homework early today, can I go play in the square with you?"

"Yes, of course you can."

He watched his grandson with a warm smile. When he spotted someone on a bicycle selling candied haws, he immediately picked the boy up and headed over. "Come on, Grandpa will buy you a treat."

"Yay, yay!" Seeing his grandson so excited, his own face crinkled into a happy, wrinkled smile.

"I'll take one with hawthorn and orange. How much?"

"You got it, sir. Fifty cents. I'll pick out the biggest one for you."

Zhang Zhongliang lifted his coat and pulled a large, cloth-wrapped bundle from an inner pocket. He unwrapped it layer by layer, finally revealing the small-denomination bills tucked deep inside.

He had a pension, but the family was struggling. Both his son and daughter-in-law had been laid off, so most of his money went to help them with household expenses. He also collected cardboard and bottles to sell, which gave him a little pocket money. It was just enough to buy his grandson a snack every now and then.

Just as he took the candied haw and handed over the purple fifty-cent bill, his gaze drifted past the treat and toward the nearby square.

When he saw a few people with aluminum pots on their heads, his expression froze. Images from the past flashed through his mind.

'That's not right. I know Qi Gong. I'm supposed to know Qi Gong! I dreamed about it… I'm supposed to know Qi Gong!'

He looked down at his hands and squeezed them hard, only to find that his Qi Gong was gone.

As memories he'd long forgotten came flooding back, he looked around in terror. He had lived here for a long time, yet everything around him suddenly felt completely alien.

The objects were the same, but something about them was clearly different.

"This is wrong! This isn't where I live! Something is wrong! How am I here? How am I so young?!"

Zhang Zhongliang looked down again at the boy he knew as his grandson, his voice trembling as he spoke. "My dear grandson, Grandpa can't pick you up from school anymore. Grandpa has something more important he has to do! Grandpa has to go now… Grandpa has to go!!"