Everything prepared, Rrakavasha officially began the clinical trial.
While checking the integrity of his own memories and creating a digitized backup, he discovered a surprising fact.
"My memories... actually have missing sections?"
Moreover, from a digitized perspective, the residual traces of artificial concealment were fairly obvious.
Who had tampered with his memories?
Rrakavasha temporarily paused his actions, frowning in contemplation.
A Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection? Or a Cremator?
Unable to find many clues, Rrakavasha didn't dwell on it excessively. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he attempted to restore those sealed memories.
The entire process went unexpectedly smoothly.
The moment everything returned, Rrakavasha's face was unreadable.
...
The next morning.
Rrakavasha slowly opened his eyes.
A stabbing pain emanated from deep within his brain, dispelling drowsiness at the fastest possible speed.
His gaze swept across his surroundings, feeling something strange.
What had happened yesterday...?
He'd gone to the back mountain for fertilization, sudden rain fell, Clarice came with an umbrella, and then...
Mrs. Durand's treatment session ended. After leaving medical instructions for her, he had personally conducted the clinical trial.
Right, that's how it went.
But why... did his subconscious feel like something was missing?
What were the experimental results, and why did his head hurt?
When had he come to the window?
Looking down, several wine jars for storing plum blossom wine sat beside him.
The jars were now completely empty, scattered haphazardly across the floor.
The familiar zhongruan lay at his side; it was supposed to be hanging on the wall.
Rrakavasha grabbed the empty jars one after another and sniffed them.
...All the highest vintage. Drinking this much, he'd definitely gotten completely drunk.
Something was wrong.
He'd always been disciplined. Even if the clinical trial results were disappointing, he wouldn't drown his sorrows.
"Hmm?"
Rrakavasha moved his wrist, only then noticing his other hand clutching a piece of paper. The handwriting was incredibly familiar.
His own writing.
"Clinical trial completed perfectly. Can completely cure Mrs. Durand's amnesia."
Rrakavasha confirmed this was definitely his handwriting, but why write it down, and why have no memory of writing it?
Even less did he know why he reminded himself this way.
Staring at that line, Rrakavasha discovered there was content on the back.
Turning his wrist, he took in every word.
"This is..."
Still his handwriting, but the content seemed like... incomplete song lyrics?
He stared at the lyrics absently for a moment, then suddenly picked up the zhongruan and played the melody he'd created long ago, humming softly.
The words and music melded together seamlessly.
"As I thought, I wrote this too..."
Rrakavasha tried to recall when this melody was born, but his mind stabbed with pain again.
The specific date remained quite hazy.
"Long ago, before I'd graduated...?"
Rrakavasha continued playing and singing, body and mind gradually sinking into the lingering sorrow within the song.
Until he sang to the incomplete section of the chorus, a line he'd blurted out without thinking brought the melody to an abrupt halt.
"..."
He froze.
Clearly, he hadn't thought it through. Why could he so naturally fill in the missing line?
Looking at the final few lyrics, Rrakavasha understood three lines were still missing.
Try again.
The melody resumed.
"Drunk beneath heaven's watch, dare I ask, do you know?"
The lyrics should have ended there, yet Rrakavasha didn't hesitate in the slightest, completing the remaining gaps in one breath.
"This life, suddenly looking back, waiting till death, would you stay with me..."
"Sighing that deep affection is known, love finally becomes union..."
The song ended.
Rrakavasha gazed at the instrument in his hands, silently savoring it for a long while.
Ruan Mei was skilled at many instruments, xiao, dizi, qin, se, zheng, ruan, pipa, and more... Among them, she particularly favored the ruan.
Through constant exposure and diligent practice during leisure time between coursework, Rrakavasha could perform duets with his mentor without holding her back.
All these years, whether playing masterpieces from predecessors or his own compositions, they'd all been in the style she loved.
But this song he'd just performed...
It overflowed with heart-wrenching regret, impossible to separate from the theme of love.
"The final three lines I filled in clearly contradict the previous verses' meaning, slightly departing from the original intent, yet..."
"...They fit surprisingly well?"
And how could he... how could he unconsciously create such a song?
This wasn't the style Ruan Mei loved.
The successive waves of strangeness crashing into his heart left Rrakavasha increasingly confused.
Why were memories forgotten?
Knowing they'd be forgotten, why leave himself reminders?
Or perhaps, had someone from a certain Path faction acted against him?
Rrakavasha hung up the zhongruan and returned to the treatment room, searching for any possible traces.
Unexpectedly, on the control panel of the equipment used to treat amnesia, black text on white paper.
"A warning to myself: Don't seek the forgotten memories. When my lifespan ends, all memories will return as scheduled."
Rrakavasha tore up the paper and checked the other facilities; all showed no abnormalities.
Reviewing last night's clinical trial records, everything appeared normal and consistent with the conclusions in his mind.
As things stood, it was sufficient to cure Mrs. Durand's amnesia with a ninety percent success rate.
The remaining ten percent was reserved for risks not yet overcome.
Before the day of his promise to Clarice arrived, that ten percent risk must be eliminated.
With this in mind, Rrakavasha chose to heed yesterday's version of himself and stopped pursuing the temporarily forgotten memories.
He only needed to wait.
"Cough, cough..."
Waves of weakness swept through his entire body.
Rrakavasha's appearance rapidly aged, his full head of black hair turning ash-white. With a heavy cough, he spat out some blood.
For elderly short-lived species, bodily organs would synchronously deteriorate and age.
The closer to one's final day, the weaker one's functions became.
"Seems like... I'll need to take medication twice a day from now on."
Dragging his weakened body to the encrypted safe, he retrieved two pills and swallowed them.
"By the last thirty days of my life, taking four pills daily will probably increase to eight pills daily..."
Rrakavasha sighed inwardly, hesitating before deciding not to return the medication to the safe this time.
He'd finally reached the stage where he needed to carry it with him to prevent emergencies.
Yu Qingtu could visit him whenever she pleased, coming and going freely.
Once she learned of his predicament, even if she didn't take action herself, she'd likely notify Ruan Mei.
Rrakavasha didn't want his corpse after death to become one more piece of fuel driving his mentor into madness.
He couldn't stop Ruan Mei, but at least... he could choose not to add to the momentum.
As the medication took effect, he returned once more to his youthful appearance.
...
Days passed one by one, Rrakavasha's daily rhythm continuing as always.
Clarice's visiting frequency also increased somewhat; he could see her every few days now.
The bigger change was that sometimes when he played the zhongruan, he'd unconsciously switch to that song's melody and unknowingly begin singing it.
Three days before Mrs. Durand's follow-up appointment, with the sky just beginning to brighten, Rrakavasha woke from light sleep.
He picked up Little Orange, who was sleeping curled on his chest, and gently placed the cat into the warm blankets.
Getting out of bed for a simple wash, he took the medication to maintain his youthful appearance, his gaze drifting toward the window.
Snow had arrived quietly during the night, draping all living things in silver.
"A few days earlier than usual."