Mao Yijun stared at the back of Su Xia in utter shock, mouth agape, the other servants having a similar look on their faces. The only one who remained calm was Madam Hou Lin, a small smile on her lips as she watched her master leave. After he had left, she turned her attention to the other servant, clapping her hands and saying, “Prepare a room for Yijun’er at once! I shall see to his bathing.”

That snapped the others out of their stupor and all of them hurried to do as they were told. Madam Hou Lin nodded, satisfied, and turned back to Mao Yijun, speaking gently, “Don’t worry, Yijun’er. I’m sure you will have a pleasant time here. It seems that Young Master has had some sort of revelation since I’ve been gone.”

Mao Yijun only nodded mutely, unable to bring himself to say anything, his thoughts in disarray. This wasn’t how it went last time! Mao Yijun was able to retain his memory from Su Xia rewinding time only because he was able to set up a protective barrier in time. If one were not able to do it in time, they were bound to forget everything and be rewound without any memory of the ‘future’.

Not only that, but Mao Yijun was almost certain he had taken Su Xia’s soul and properly ate it at that time, effectively destroying it for good. No matter how much one were to rewind time, if they were to lose their soul, they would cease to exist in any timeline. Mao Yijun had destroyed Su Xia’s soul, digesting it just before the time rewound, so how was he possibly still alive? Did he not actually get to destroy it before the time rewound?

Fine, he could understand that, as, at that time, he was rushed and was only able to messily search for it. However, that didn’t explain the other’s sudden change in character. If Su Xia were to successfully rewind time, he wouldn’t have been affected as he was the one to activate the spell, automatically disqualifying him from losing his memories. Did the spell mess up? Was there an error somewhere?

Again, that would be fine as it would only serve to help Mao Yijun if that were to be the case. However, not only did he not seem to recognize Mao Yijun, he even acted politely towards him, something even the other servants seemed surprised by. What had actually happened during the time traveling process? What happened to Su Xia, and why had he suddenly changed? Even if he forgot all of his previous memories, he still wouldn’t be as agreeable as he was just then!

Was this all a ruse? Perhaps Su Xia did remember him and instead of outright killing him just wanted to mess with him and cause him to lose his mind before finishing him off? That does sound like something he would do… Because Mao Yijun was sent back to his eight-year-old body, he no longer had the skills he once did when he was in the Martial Arts Sect. However, this was an easy fix; all he had to do was start the Demonic Arts cultivation sooner and thus speed up his strength building.

He was brought out of his musing by a splash of warm water. He shivered and blinked the water from his eyes, looking up and seeing Madam Hou Lin smiling down at him.

“I’m sorry, did I startle you? You seemed quite lost in thought…” She said ever so gently, not once raising her voice.

Mao Yijun numbly looked around to see he was in the bathroom, clothes tucked away neatly in one corner and standing in the middle of a barrel of warm water. How he hadn’t noticed he was even in the barrel before Madam Hou Lin dumped a bucket of water on his head he didn’t know. It seems that he lacked awareness and that only strengthened his resolve to begin training as soon as he was able.

“My goodness, you poor thing,” Madam Hou Lin cooed, scrubbing the dirt from his skin and hair. “Look how dirty you are. I’ll get you cleaned up and looking brand new, alright?”

Mao Yijun nodded, staying silent. He was perfectly capable of bathing himself! However, he would never voice such things in front of Madam Hou Lin; she was the only one to show him any sort of warmth in his previous timeline and didn’t wish to upset her. After a lot of scrubbing and dowsing him in water, Mao Yijun was finally picked up out of the barrel and dried off, given a fresh pair of clothes and then followed Madam Hou Lin to the kitchen.

A savoury scent wafted through the air, causing Mao Yijun’s stomach to growl, loudly. His face flushed as the other occupants of the room turned to look at him. Madam Hou Lin smiled sympathetically while Qin Hong bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Su Xia remained stoic, no emotion flickering on his face as he stared silently at the child. Mao Yijun frowned; he didn’t like how emotionless this Su Xia was.

Su Xia from before was easy to decipher, as his emotions usually shone in his eyes, his facial expressions also betraying him every once in a while when he thought no one was looking. However, this Su Xia was different; not only did his facial muscles not move, his eyes revealed an empty nothingness, void of any internal emotion. It was honestly somewhat disturbing.

“It seems that you’re quite hungry,” Su Xia finally said, catching the child’s attention. “That’s good. I’m just putting the finishing touches, so wait for a little bit longer, okay?”

Mao Yijun nodded and was placed on a chair, Madam Hou Lin also told to sit down as well as Qin Hong. “I need differing opinions,” Su Xia had said when asked.

After a few extra minutes, three bowls were placed on the table, one in front of each person. “We didn’t have too many ingredients so all I could make were simple noodles…” Su Xia admitted almost shyly, refusing to look any of them in the eye.

Madam Hou Lin simply smiled, reassuring her young master, “This is more than enough for us servants, Young Master.” Before, Su Xia wouldn’t have even bothered learning where the kitchen even was, much less bother learning how to cook. It seems that he is keen on pleasantly surprising her today.

Qin Hong stared at the noodles hungrily, drool already dripping from his lips. “We can eat this, right, Young Master?”

Su Xia raised an eyebrow, as if to say ‘why else would I give it to you?’ Apparently that was enough for him and Qin Hong gave his thanks before rushing to eat, slurping at the noodles boorishly. His eyes lit up and he beamed at the young master, happily exclaiming, “This is delicious! Have you been secretly practicing when no one was looking, Young Master? I refuse to believe this is your first time cooking!”

By this time, Mao Yijun and Madam Hou Lin had also begun to eat and Mao Yijun was tempted to agree with him; while extremely simple, the flavour was nothing he had ever tasted before and delighted his taste buds beyond belief. However, Mao Yijun knew this wasn’t the case as Su Xia from before never once stepped foot in the kitchen, always leaving the cooking up to Madam Hou Lin.

Madam Hou Lin simply enjoyed the food before her, taking her time to enjoy the barrage of flavours she had never tasted before and savor every last bite. Su Xia didn’t reply but Mao Yijun could have sworn he saw a flash of relief pass through the other’s pale eyes before returning to normal. The three servants finished their meal, Su Xia not moving from his spot as he watched them eat, never speaking a word as Qin Hong praised his cooking to the Heavens and back.

“You must cook more often, Young Master!” Qin Hong blabbed for the third time, smile never fading once since eating. “I could live off those noodles for the rest of my life, you know!”

Su Xia hummed noncommittally, neither confirming or denying Qin Hong’s request. Mao Yijun watched the interaction silently, feeling even more restless than before; even if Su Xia was only doing this to mess with his head, why bother making him food as well? Not only that, but he didn’t seem the least bit upset with Qin Hong’s constant chattering, in his ‘previous life’ making it very clear that he hated being bothered.

“Madam Hou Lin,” Su Xia spoke up, placing the last bowl he washed to be dried. “Take Mao Yijun to get familiar with the layout of the building and the servants. After that, take him to his room to rest for the day.”

“As you wish,” she replied with ease, taking the child’s hand and leading him out of the room.

Qin Hong’s voice drifted further and further away the farther they walked, something Mao Yijun was grateful for. He never was good with constant noise. Madam Hou Lin introduced him to the rest of the servants, Mao Yijun not even bothering to remember their names, and showed him around the building, the layout he already knew by heart. The front half of the building held the kitchen, living room, and two empty rooms where the back half consisted of the servant rooms. Su Xia’s room was on the utmost left of the building, the only room in that section of the house.

It was an awkwardly built building, as if thrown together haphazardly without much thought. If Mao Yijun were to base that thought on the Master and Mistress that owned this building, he would say it was a fair enough assumption. Speaking of the Master and Mistress, he hardly saw them after the Mistress had quite literally picked him up off the street and tossed him to Madam Hou Lin to be Su Xia’s newest servant.

Mao Yijun didn’t have a positive opinion on them upon first meeting them but, after Su Xia left to train at the Earth Sect, he was only treated worse than ever before as the servants left behind were integrated into the main house. Because of his weak stature, Mao Yijun was ultimately the scapegoat for any problems that arouse and was thoroughly beaten within an inch of his life on a daily basis. Needless to say, the Master and Mistress, as well as their other children, were even worse than the other servants, who only had the gall to beat him because of their masters’ lack of care for him.

Madam Hou Lin, at that time, was the only one he could trust and constantly stood up for him, ultimately dying at the hands of the Mistress from a brutal lashing after she tried to defend him from being blamed for breaking a prized pot. Mao Yijun had lost it then and brutally murdered the entire Clan then and there, having been practicing the Demonic Arts for a few years prior during his free time.

After that, he stayed in the household, as it was fairly far away from the nearest village and surrounded by a thick bamboo forest. He practiced the Demonic Arts regularly, letting the hate in his heart drive him forward and making it a goal to kill off every remaining member of the Su Clan, doing just that for the next ten years before waiting for the next hundred years for the next Sect trials, revenge boiling in his blood to kill off Su Xia, the last remaining survivor of the Su Clan.

He would have succeeded, too, if it weren’t for Su Xia pulling out the elusive Phantom Hourglass, the rarest artifact in the Liang Continent, hell, maybe in the entire world! How he found it, Mao Yijun didn’t know, but what did know was that it kept him from fulfilling his revenge, only making him hate Su Xia even more. Even just remembering that self-satisfied smirk before time rewound pissed him off! May he be cursed to die a painful death a thousand times over!

As he silently cursed Su Xia in his heart, Mao Yijun was brought to the room that would be his, the exact same one he remembered from last time, but this time it was cleaned out and tidied beforehand. Madam Hou Lin smiled gently down at him, patting his head lovingly as she said, “This is your room, Yijun’er. Everything in here belongs to you now. Don’t be afraid to ask for anything else, alright?”

“Yes, Ayi,” Mao Yijun said politely, his words earn a slow blink of surprise but she simply smiled and pat him on the head once more, saying, “Just get some sleep, okay?” and leaving.

Mao Yijun watched her leave and, once she closed the door, quietly followed her out. He wasn’t the least bit tired, and he needed to figure out why Su Xia was acting the way he was. He followed Madam Hou Lin to the kitchen, hovering outside the door as she met up with Qin Hong, barely able to catch their hushed conversation.

“Is that true?” He heard Madam Hou Lin gasp quietly.

“Yes. It seems this fever has messed with his memories, as he wasn’t even able to remember his own name upon waking up.” Qin Hong replied.

Hou Lin: “I see… Poor thing, must have been so confused.”

Qin Hong: “I’m not sure how long this will last, but I’m hoping that, after such a life threatening illness, he’ll stay as humble as he is now.”

Hou Lin: “My, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? I’ve never seen the Young Master so interested in something other than books for a long time, so it was a surprise to see him enjoying himself while cooking.”

Qin Hong: “I still can’t believe that Young Master made it all by himself, even if I saw it with my own two eyes! Hopefully it gives him something to do other than…”

Hou Lin: “Ai. All we can do it wait and see…”

They continued to talk but Mao Yijun had already returned to his room, mulling over the words he had managed to overhear. Apparently Su Xia had been infected by a fairly serious fever, causing his memories to become muddled and thus ineffective. Not only that, but he apparently had humbled himself and didn’t throw any sort of tantrums, but this was, presumably, only the first day. Su Xia might be more relaxed now, but, if and when his memories do return, Mao Yijun was more than certain he would return to the cold-hearted abuser he once was before.

Mao Yijun crawled into bed, the warmth of the blanket on top of him making him question if this was even the same timeline as before since he wasn’t even gifted a bed to sleep on the first time around. However, he couldn’t allow himself to become soft; he would need to start practicing his Demonic Arts cultivation as soon as possible for when Su Xia regained his memories. Just then, a thought crossed his mind; couldn’t he use this to his advantage?

Until Su Xia regained his memories, he was a fairly level-headed person and didn’t seem to mind doing things he would have otherwise thought as unnecessary or not worth his time. Couldn’t Mao Yijun coax him into helping him with his cultivation by having him bring him certain items and the like? It was worth a shot, either way. With that in mind, Mao Yijun closed his eyes and allowed the sweet embrace of sleep to envelop him.

Ozmafia

HI! GUESS WHO WOKE UP LATE THEN P MUCH FORGOT ALL ABOUT UPDATING THIS ON TIME? THIS LOSER, THAT'S WHO. For real, tho- I'm so sorry. QwQ Better late than never tho, right?