Chapter 891: Anchor Point

"What?"

"I'm really scared that my memories might disappear," Bai Yang said. "I've never felt this way before. In the past, I just kept giving myself subtle suggestions day after day, but now I'm actually afraid... There are so many things I can't forget, and so many people I have to remember..."

That familiar feeling came back... Bai Yang was starting to say things that I needed to think carefully about to understand.

"I don't really get it... Bai Yang," I said. "You're already a 'Di Ji Sheng Xiao' now... Logically, there shouldn't be any chance of 'losing your memory,' right? You'd either continue to 'Jin Sheng'... or..."

"Turn to ash and scatter to the wind"—I couldn't say it out loud, but Bai Yang must have guessed.

"What if I want to become something outside of the 'Sheng Xiao'?" Bai Yang asked. "I'm genuinely a bit scared... Yan Zhichun, I'm walking a path that no one in this world has ever taken before. I have no idea what's waiting for me ahead on this road."

"I-I understand..."

Lu Xun once said that there are no roads in this world until people walk them, and then they become paths.

But if it's a pitch-black direction, and only one person is fumbling forward in the dark... is that even a road?

"So, how can I etch memories into my heart?" Bai Yang asked again.

"Bai Yang... Asking me about this... isn't it a bit..."

"No, I think you can help me figure it out," Bai Yang said. "You once solved a huge problem for me without even realizing it."

"Me...?" I was a little confused. The only time Bai Yang had needed my help was when he was searching for a 'face,' but I hadn't been the one to find it.

"Yes..." Bai Yang extended his hand, covered in white fur, and pointed to his temple. "That's 'knowledge storage.'"

I paused slightly. "You probably have more knowledge than I do now... But you got it all from reading books yourself..."

"But you taught me a simpler way to remember things—by organizing them with the names of various effects and theorems. That way, I only need to remember a few words to access the whole chain of knowledge."

I felt like Bai Yang was overestimating me. Even if he didn't know the names of those effects and theorems, it wouldn't have stopped him from coming up with the knowledge on his own.

"So, do you have any other simple methods for storing memories?" Bai Yang said. "Something like effects, laws, or theorems—ways to hold onto important memories through small things."

"Well..." I thought it over carefully. I realized I had actually made a conscious effort to learn memory techniques before.

But my reasons were totally different from Bai Yang's... I had a bad memory as a kid, which made my grades suffer, so I took the initiative to learn how to improve it.

Did Bai Yang really need these memory methods, though?

"Bai Yang... I'm not sure if this will work for you..." I said quietly. "If you want to remember something important, you could try the 'Mao Dian Ji Yi Fa'—linking other things to the important events you experience. That way, when you see those things later, they'll trigger the memory from that time."

"Other things...?" Bai Yang looked at me. "For example?"

"For example..."

I looked around the room for a while but couldn't find anything to use as an example.

Then, suddenly, I thought of something and reached out to knock on the desk in front of Bai Yang.

"Knock knock knock!"

Bai Yang's expression changed noticeably when he heard the sound.

"For instance, this sound," I said. "You could knock on the desk during something important, so next time you knock, you'll remember what you were doing last time."

"So that's what 'Mao Dian Ji Yi Fa' is..."

Bai Yang nodded after hearing it. He didn't seem like someone who had just learned something new; more like he had just found out the name for something he'd been using all along.

"Bai Yang... Have you been using this method already?" I asked.

Bai Yang didn't answer. He just sighed and said, "Yan Zhichun, what if there's nothing around me I can use as a 'mao dian'? What if I can't even knock on a desk?"

"Well..." I thought for a moment and replied, "What kind of situation would you be in when you need to set up a 'mao dian'?"

"For example, in a dream," Bai Yang said.

In a dream...?

"Actually, you can use imagined associations too."

"Imagined ones?"

I turned my head and noticed a cartoon sheep pattern on Bai Yang's desk.

"What's this...?" I picked up the cartoon sheep and saw that it was made of fabric.

"A 'client' left it here," Bai Yang said. "She said she found it on the road and thought it suited me, so she brought it as thanks for me saving her life."

I shook my head helplessly and moved the cartoon sheep closer, tucking it into the pocket of Bai Yang's suit jacket.

"What are you doing?" Bai Yang frowned as he looked at his suit.

I had to say... Bai Yang's stern face paired with that cartoon sheep made for an oddly strange sight.

"Bai Yang, you and this cartoon sheep don't match at all," I said.

"Do I even need to say that...?" Bai Yang replied, puzzled.

"So, this could be a 'mao dian' too," I said. "I don't know if this example helps, but you don't usually wear clothes with cartoon patterns. But if one day in a dream, you suddenly find yourself wearing a shirt or suit with cartoons, you'd immediately realize something's seriously wrong..."

"Oh...?" Bai Yang narrowed his eyes slightly after hearing that, then nodded. "Any other examples?"

"Uh... There are... um..." I really couldn't think of any more. "Bai Yang... What is it you need to remember? I think it's better to analyze it based on the specific situation."

"I..." Bai Yang hesitated for a moment and said, "I need to remember a flawless symbol. She appears with 'Xia' and disappears with 'Xia.' She is pure white, serene, and perfect. Her appearance will lead us to see the end of everything."

I looked troubled after hearing that. Bai Yang's description was a bit too abstract.

What exactly was he trying to remember?

Some kind of flawless "symbol"?

"At first, I want this symbol to carry me forward bravely. Then, I want it to plunge me into despair. Afterward, it will make me feel that something's seriously wrong. Finally, she will lead me to the end."

Bai Yang finished and looked at me. "How can I accurately and separately remember the different states at different times?"

Oh my god... Was Bai Yang really not overestimating me?

This was clearly beyond what I could answer. Bai Yang seemed to be revealing part of his plan to me, but every part was so abstract!

For some reason, though... I had a feeling I'd read about a situation like this in some book.