Chapter 621: Epilogue: Torrent of the Times

Li Xiaoxin had completely forgotten him, yet a final, tiny trace of warmth remained.

This was somehow more tragic than being forgotten completely.

"We promised we’d go to the Arctic to see the whales, to the Antarctic to see the penguins, and travel around the world..."

"The Celestial Pool Realm is so fascinating. You said you wanted to see the Sea World, so I pulled some strings. I got us the first batch of travel permits, and we could have used them next year. It was supposed to be our wedding anniversary gift..."

"We still haven’t been to the Beast God Realm or explored any Secret Realm ruins. We promised we’d live our lives to the fullest, just the two of us, before having children and welcoming a third member to our family..."

"There’s still so much we haven’t done..."

The black-haired woman listened to all of this, looking somewhat bewildered.

She didn’t remember any of it.

Soon, Li Xiaoxin’s condition deteriorated to a critical point.

"The patient’s lesions could spread rapidly at any moment, which could lead to her death."

The female physician from the beginning shook her head regretfully. "And before that, she will completely lose all cognitive function as her brain ceases to operate. At that point, the patient is, in the eyes of the law, already dead. We recommend one final treatment... and then we leave the rest to fate."

The man with red-rimmed eyes listened to the news in silence. He thought he had already accepted it, but tears still welled up uncontrollably, blurring his vision. Lin Yuanming’s fists were clenched so tight, but he felt no pain, only an irrepressible chill.

It was already the end of September. The summer flowers had all wilted. At this northern hospital, the leaves outside the window had begun to wither and fall. A gust of wind would send them dancing in swarms through the air.

Of course, those were the resolute leaves, falling when their time came without the slightest hesitation. But there were always some leaves that withered gradually. They remained on their branches but had already started to turn yellow. Even when they finally dried out completely, they still refused to fall.

But how was that any different from the leaves that had already fallen?

And how was a person who had lost all their memories any different from one who had died?

Lin Yuanming thought he would burst into tears, crying like a coward once again. But instead, he stood up and spoke to the somewhat startled physician in a terrifying voice he’d never used before, "...Is there really no other way? Even if we have to turn her into a Witch Demon, an Undead, a zombie... Aren’t there any Secret Techniques like that?"

"Those are all illegal. And there’s no guarantee they would even work."

The physician could see Lin Yuanming was becoming paranoid, but she knew this was a man tormented by grief, so she didn’t press him. Otherwise, those words alone would have been enough to earn him a visit from the Security Bureau. "Even a Soul initially needs to read the information of ’memory’ from the brain, but Xiange’s brain function is almost completely gone. Before her illness, her Soul wasn’t strong enough to access memories on its own. This means that even if she were converted into one of those Undead Creatures, Xiange would be doomed to lose all her intellect, leaving only an empty shell or a witless Soul behind."

"Mr. Lin, a mere shell, or a mere Soul, is not human. According to current standards, one must have a complete mind, paired with either a complete body or Soul, to be considered human."

"A body and a Soul are optional conditions. But the mind... to put it bluntly, memory and wisdom, an independent, self-aware subject of thought—that is the essential component."

And that was precisely the most crucial part that Xiange was missing.

The physician had intended to use these words to shatter Lin Yuanming’s desperate fantasy—it was for his own good. Even if he went mad and attacked her, though she looked old, she had actually practiced a Cultivation lineage specific to physicians. Taking down a dozen young men would have been no problem at all.

But just as she was about to say so, a voice—somewhat unfamiliar, yet with a hint of familiarity—came through the earpiece she always wore, which was connected to the hospital’s administrative center.

It was the voice of the Plague Saint.

"Hello, Physician Zhang Ruzhen, ID 0011482. The patient you are currently seeing—is she suffering from an ’unidentified degenerative central nervous system disease’? With severe, life-threatening memory impairment?"

It was an exceedingly polite young voice—the voice of the current Plague Saint. Who in the medical department didn’t know it? Physician Zhang immediately replied, "Yes, that’s correct."

’Hmm, memory impairment, brain lesions, memory nearly gone... but the Soul is intact, and the body’s vital signs are still relatively normal. So it’s simply a loss of mind?’

’Not a case of natural decay. And there’s a will to live, on the verge of death... at least her husband seems willing to try anything... It looks like she meets the requirements. Time to notify that good friend of mine.’

Physician Zhang could faintly hear a series of muffled sounds from the other end of the line. Then, Lin Yuanming was startled by his phone ringing. He looked at the screen.

The caller ID read, ’0-0-0’.

A number that, according to urban legend, was a direct line to the Thirty-Six Saints Central Committee.

Confused, he subconsciously answered the call.

A voice, so calm it was devoid of any emotional fluctuation, spoke.

"Hello, Mr. Lin."

"I have a proposal that can cure your wife."

...

「September 28, 2016, 7:51:11 PM. The soul digitization experiment begins again. Subject: Li Xiaoxin.」