Baili Weisheng puzzled over it for a long while, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember what he’d done between Yuqiong Mountain and the events of yesterday.
He racked his brain, and he could recall everything that had happened in the prison cell the day before, and he could recall the events in the cave at Yuqiong Mountain, working together with Xuanyuan Lige to deal with Meng Duo’er.
But he simply couldn’t remember what had happened in between—that stretch of memory seemed to be blank.
If Jun Beiyue hadn’t asked, Baili Weisheng wouldn’t even have noticed. He looked up at Jun Beiyue and Xiong Xiaobao with suspicion, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
“Uncle Scholar, don’t tell me…” Xiong Xiaobao also looked at him with suspicion.
“Elder Jue, take a look at him,” Jun Beiyue said flatly.
Jue Mingzi checked his pulse several times but found nothing unusual. “His pulse is quite steady, nothing abnormal. As for memory—that’s hard to say.”
“Tch…”
Baili Weisheng sat down, rubbing his temples, and shot Xiong Xiaobao a glance. “Kid, during this time, I didn’t do anything embarrassing, did I?”
Xiong Xiaobao immediately recounted everything that had happened during that period, and only then did Baili Weisheng relax, waving it off indifferently. “As long as I didn’t do anything degrading, that’s fine. Everyone forgets things now and then in life, don’t they?”
But then, on second thought, he slapped his thigh and added, “What a shame, though—you all actually fought against Nanzhao? Argh, what a pity I don’t remember it.”
Since this guy had forgotten everything from that period anyway, as long as he still remembered who he was, nothing serious could come of it.
Seeing that Baili Weisheng was fine, Jun Beiyue and Jue Mingzi went off to find Ziqing, leaving Xiong Xiaobao alone to keep him company.
The moment the door closed, Xiong Xiaobao grinned mischievously at Baili Weisheng.
“Heh heh.” Baili Weisheng grinned right back.
“Uncle Scholar, do you really not remember anything at all?” Xiong Xiaobao asked, clearly skeptical.
“What do you mean by that?” Baili Weisheng raised an eyebrow, crossing one leg over the other, a teacup dangling from his lips, looking utterly nonchalant.
Xiong Xiaobao looked him up and down and said, “You really don’t remember, on a certain dark, murderous night, with the wind howling and fires burning… you… you…”
Xiong Xiaobao deliberately trailed off, keeping him in suspense.
Of course, Baili Weisheng was an old hand at this game. He let the boy dangle the bait, raising an eyebrow with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, thinking: go ahead, kid, keep spinning your tale.
Seeing this, Xiong Xiaobao wasn’t in any hurry either. He took a sip of tea and said, very seriously, “You told me a secret.”
Baili Weisheng pursed his lips, gesturing for him to continue.
“You said you like…” Xiong Xiaobao trailed off with a long sigh. “Ah, what a pity—the person you like doesn’t like you back!”
At these words, the corners of Baili Weisheng’s mouth froze. Unconsciously, he straightened up, sitting bolt upright.
While he’d lost his memory, had he said something to this kid that he shouldn’t have?
Or had this kid tricked something out of him that he shouldn’t have said?
He couldn’t possibly have actually told this kid that he liked…
Now that he thought about it, there did seem to be a faint, hazy impression somewhere in his memory—of having asked someone about liking a certain person.
The moment this crossed his mind, Baili Weisheng immediately smacked his own forehead.
Matters of the heart—he hated that kind of thing most of all!
It was just a bit of amnesia—why did it have to bring so much trouble along with it?
Annoying!
Seeing Baili Weisheng’s reaction, Xiong Xiaobao was delighted. He mimicked Baili Weisheng’s earlier pose, crossing his legs and leaning back against the couch, sipping his tea leisurely.
Baili Weisheng said nothing, his eyes narrowing into thin slits as he slowly closed in.
Just as Baili Weisheng was about to get right up in his face, Xiong Xiaobao immediately sat up straight and said seriously, “You told me to keep it an absolute secret. Since you don’t remember it now anyway, I’ll just pretend I never heard it. Don’t worry, I’ve decided I won’t tell anyone—no matter who tries to bribe me, I won’t say a word!”
Now Baili Weisheng understood completely. He pulled back and sneered coldly, “Kid, this scholar has only just barely gotten his memory back, and you’re already trying to blackmail me? Have you sold your conscience to the dogs?”
Xiong Xiaobao smiled, looking helplessly sincere. “Heh heh, Uncle Scholar, how would I dare blackmail you? I’m being completely honest, baring my heart to you. Even though you don’t remember what you told me, I’ll definitely keep good track of who you like… that woman!”
Baili Weisheng sneered. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll silence you for good?”
Xiong Xiaobao immediately stretched his neck out. “Here, go ahead and kill me.”
Baili Weisheng grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, then set him back down, looking thoroughly displeased. “What exactly will it take for you to tell me who I said I liked?”
At this, Xiong Xiaobao looked genuinely shocked, his eyes wide. “No way, Uncle Scholar—you remembered who you liked while you’d lost your memory, but now that your memory’s back, you don’t know who you like? Don’t tell me you like so many women that you don’t even know which one you were talking about!”
Baili Weisheng was thoroughly tangled up by Xiong Xiaobao’s nonsense. He grabbed the boy’s collar and said coldly, “You little brat, if you keep running circles around me, don’t think I won’t go straight to your father and swear that I, Baili Weisheng, will personally guarantee I’ll help his son become the youngest emperor on the entire continent of Longyuan!”
The reason Xiong Xiaobao kept dancing around the subject was precisely to get Baili Weisheng to fulfill his earlier promise—to help him refuse the throne.
“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you right now!” Xiong Xiaobao was genuinely frightened now.
Baili Weisheng raised an eyebrow and waited. This little rascal, daring to play tricks on him.
But to his surprise, Xiong Xiaobao said timidly, “Uncle Scholar, I was lying. You never told me anything at all.”
At these words, Baili Weisheng’s grip went slack, and he released the boy.
Xiong Xiaobao added timidly, “Uncle Scholar, you… you’re not actually in love with someone you’re too embarrassed to admit to, and that’s… that’s why you’re acting so guilty?”
Baili Weisheng didn’t react at first, but a moment later he understood, and smacked Xiong Xiaobao hard on the head. “What do you mean, ‘someone I’m too embarrassed to admit to’?”
“No, I mean, do you… do you… do you actually like someone?” Xiong Xiaobao asked, suddenly serious.
Only then did Baili Weisheng realize the trap he’d fallen into, his gaze shifting evasively, clearly lacking conviction. “Like, my ass… I don’t think much of any woman in this whole world. What does a little kid know anyway.”
Grumbling loudly, he made to leave, but just as he reached the door, he turned back. “Hey, that Meng Duo’er—is she doing alright?”
Xiong Xiaobao looked at him and didn’t answer.
“What’s wrong?” Baili Weisheng asked, suspicious.
“You said even while you’d lost your memory, you still didn’t like her that way. How could she be doing alright?” Xiong Xiaobao shot back.
“I… what did I do to her?” Baili Weisheng asked.
“She wanted to stay, but you didn’t keep her—instead, you sent her away,” Xiong Xiaobao answered honestly. That Meng Duo’er liked the scholar was already common knowledge to everyone.
Hearing this, Baili Weisheng laughed lightly. “I thought it was something serious. It’s fine, we probably won’t cross paths again anyway. No need to worry about her.”
Xiong Xiaobao thought the same—he genuinely felt Meng Duo’er couldn’t win over Uncle Scholar; they simply weren’t from the same world.
“Uncle Scholar, once my mother’s situation is sorted out, let’s go to Nanzhao together. That girl is waiting for you there! I want to see the poison den too.”
“Baili Xiaosheng?” Baili Weisheng asked.
“Mm-hm.” Xiong Xiaobao nodded seriously.
“Heh, that little brat dares to threaten me. Let her keep waiting, then!” Having dealt with Xiong Xiaobao, Baili Weisheng was in good spirits, humming a little tune as he strolled out.
Xiong Xiaobao scowled. “Is this really how a master is supposed to act?”