Bai Zemin headed for the first door head on. Toward the room that clearly had once belonged, or perhaps still belonged, to a girl.

His footsteps stopped inches from the door and his eyes lingered on the nameplate for what seemed like an eternity. Even though that immature and hesitant young man he used to be died in the apocalypse to forge the iron will that allowed him to survive so many dangers to this day, Bai Zemin found himself hesitating as to whether or not to open the door.

In the end, his curiosity as well as his strong heartbeat won out.

He simply had to see it... even though deep inside him there was a voice telling him not to.

Finally, with a soft creak, the rustic wooden door slowly opened backwards.

Boom...

Bai Zemin felt as if a bomb exploded in his head as he froze staring at the scene in front of him with wide eyes and dilated pupils.

The room beyond the wooden door was simple, but for some strange reason it was the most luxurious and beautiful room Bai Zemin had ever seen in his entire life. Not even the rooms in the royal palace of Hero City were as beautiful as this one.

The wooden floor was covered with a soft velvety carpet of deep purple. The only window through which the starlight that illuminated the interior entered was lightly covered by a semi-translucent purple silk curtain. The only single bed in the center of the room was appropriately spread with purple sheets and the closet located in the opposite corner was hand carved using purple wood.

The noble and elegant purple color was everywhere in different shades, and the beautiful pale starlight only added an immortal charm to the already beautiful scene.

Bai Zemin's mind fell into chaos.

I... I remember this... This room is hers...

But who is she...? I don't remember... I know it but when I try to think about it I feel like my head is about to burst... I...

This fragrance...

Bai Zemin walked with robotic steps towards the wardrobe, and with trembling hands opened the nearest door.

Dresses. Many dresses.

Purple summer dresses, purple winter dresses, purple princess dresses, purple gothic-style dresses, purple elegant dresses, purple dignified-looking dresses...

Bai Zemin saw what were at least 50 purple dresses made of different fabrics all properly and neatly hung on hooks inside the wardrobe. Furthermore, each and every one of these dresses were small so only a girl with the body of a little girl of maybe 12 or 13 could wear them.

Without realizing when, his fingertips gently touched the edge of one of the dresses and a set of letters automatically flashed on his retina.

Purple Phoenix Immortal Dress -

Rank: 8

Physical Defense: 125.000

Magical Defense: 153.000

...

In normal times Bai Zemin would have recoiled in shock at the sight of such a priceless treasure. This was particularly so considering that each of the dresses was more or less similar in terms of quality.

However, his expression did not change at all and his heart was not moved in the slightest.

It was as if seeing Rank 8 defensive clothing was something normal and not at all uncommon to find anywhere.

With his face drenched in tears, Bai Zemin gently caressed each dress for a long time without the slightest intention of taking them for himself.

He knew about these dresses.

He had definitely seen these dresses before.

Bai Zemin would even be willing to bet his life that he knew the owner of this wardrobe.

Even though his heart was sure and ached so much, his mind was nothing but a haze of confusion and chaos.

No matter how hard he tried, all Bai Zemin saw was pure darkness.

There were no sad or happy memories, there was nothing.

If there was a seal on his memories or something then that would be acceptable to him.... But Bai Zemin saw no seal or anything similar.

It was then that he suddenly remembered the words Sirius said to him back then when they first met in that world of darkness.

"I cleared my own memories...

" Bai Zemin muttered with a stony expression as the tears continued to fall unimpeded.

Sirius said that Bai Zemin was once someone terrifying to the point where he didn't even have any doubts when he erased even the slightest trace of his past memories and feelings.

Sealed memories could be released.

Broken memories could be repaired.

But things that were removed, completely erased, could never be recovered.

Because something that was deleted without a trace could never be returned.

Bai Zemin didn't know if his past self considered all possibilities when doing what he did, but he did know that unless he really had no other choice he would never do something like deleting his memories.

"Feeling this soul eating hollowness like a black hole is even more terrifying than feeling the explosion of the fleshly body a hundred times.

" he muttered under his breath and then walked out of the room with heavy steps.

With a heart as quiet as a stone statue, Bai Zemin opened the door to the next room and calmly observed the interior.

The room of the person whose initials were LLY was much simpler compared to the room of the person named Luo Ningshuang. However, Bai Zemin felt a suffocating pressure just standing at the entrance.

If Luo Ningshuang's room conveyed peace, elegance, and nobility; then LLY's room conveyed no feeling other than oppression.

Bai Zemin opened the wardrobe and was not surprised when he saw about a dozen pure white robes and pants. Additionally, all these men's clothes were Rank 8 treasures just like the purple-colored dresses in the next room.

Of course, all the robes and pants were small so only a 13 or 14 year old could wear them.

Unlike when he stayed several minutes in the purple room, Bai Zemin felt no particular attachment to this place even though he felt a lot of familiarity that he tried to ignore. However, just as he was about to leave something happened that made him frown.

His blood began to rush within his veins with the force of a torrent and it even struggled uncontrollably when Bai Zemin activated Blood Manipulation to calm it down. Besides, every time he took a step out of the room his blood roared with greater intensity as if it was screaming at him not to leave.

Turning his head back towards the inside of the room, Bai Zemin looked over his shoulder as his outstretched hand gripped the door handle tightly. His eyes red from crying and his blood-colored pupils stared intently at the stone bed.

There was nothing there, but Bai Zemin for some reason could not take his eyes off the white stone bed.

Suddenly, a flash of purple lightning-like sparkle crackled out of his body and shot out toward the stone bed. Bai Zemin stood dumbfounded as the stone bed exploded into thousands of tiny pieces. The small white stones flew everywhere, hitting the wooden walls and ceiling before falling to the ground with thudding noises.

His pupils contracted to the size of needles as a scroll as black as the night cloak floated silently where the stone bed used to be.

Not knowing why or where those words came from, Bai Zemin muttered with wide eyes in a tone of voice that only he could hear.

"Demon God Cosmic Heavenly Art...

"

For an instant it felt as if something or someone else took control of his own body. Bai Zemin only felt his right arm reaching out forward, and as if answering his call the ink-black scroll floated silently towards him.