章 121: Consultation - Soul and Memories.

Shu He went on to explain his 'condition', but he wasn't too specific in what he said, essentially he mentioned how he had the memories of another person since he was a child, but he didn't explain just what those memories were, or that they we're from another world.

He let his words sink into Jing Yaling while she sat still, pondering for a minute before she started to talk.

"It sounds ridiculous honestly, the idea of reincarnation may be held deep in the beliefs of the people here yet retaining your memories is unbelievable… though there have been stories of reincarnated immortals in the past".

"Immortals?" Shu He asked, slightly shocked; There were people in this world that could reincarnate with their memories?

"Just stories, like I said, no proof, many of them are pieces of fantastical literature made for the entertainment of mortals, others vaguer without much substance behind them, but, well, where there's smoke there's fire" She explained but then sighed "Though, that fire may just be an overactive imagination".

She then looked up at him with doubt "Unfortunately, I can't just believe this without proof".

Shu He leaned back in the chair slightly, slightly frowning "How do you expect me to prove it?"

She shook her head "I don't, there's no way you can unless you can somehow show me your memories".

"Of course I can't" He responded plainly.

"Then, I'll just have to act on the idea that you're telling the truth, maybe I'll see proof down the line… Though if you're lying, whatever we do might get you killed" A dark glimmer shone in her eye as she observed Shu He's reactions.

"That's fine, I'm telling the truth after all" He didn't back down, smiling slightly.

"Good" Jing Yaling shifted her legs, crossing them "If I'm honest, I wouldn't be surprised if you did have another lives' memories, your track record is rather impressive after all; You just succeeded in creating a Tier 1 pill in under a month of training, right?".

Shu He looked slightly shocked "How did you find that out already?"

He had just spent a full month under the tutelage of Tao Ru at the Alchemy Tower, she didn't let him sleep much at all, basically making him practice alchemy 24/7 with small rests in between to restore his Qi levels, she was a surprisingly good teacher so Shu He managed to concoct his first pill on the 21st day, and by the 30th day he had succeeded 12 more times, his success rate just passing 15% right now.

And he had gone home and fell into a deep sleep right after, so it hadn't been long since then.

"Your teacher was bragging that she had a good student to all the elders, it was hard not to learn about it".

"Ah, come to think of it she did leave multiple times when I was performing alchemy…".

He thought back, remembering her sneaking out when he was in the middle of creating a pill with a brooding look on her face.

'Was she putting on an act?' He could see her doing that.

She had told him when he was preparing to leave that he did well, but he didn't have an actual comparison to tell just how well he did.

"Anyway, what exactly was it you wanted to consult me about? It wasn't just to tell me this was it?" Jing Yaling changed the topic.

"Right…" Shu He's expression darkened as he remembered the original reason he came here "It's related actually".

He took a deep breath, trying to recall that name in his mind, yet not matter what he still couldn't.

"Some of my memories have disappeared" He explained, his voice shaking slightly.

Jing Yaling unfolded her legs as she leant forward "Which memories?".

"The ones I've realised so far… the face of my dad and… my name."

"And you definitely had these memories before?" She questioned.

"I'm sure, my father's face was vague in my memories before, but it was there, and my old name…" He grit his teeth and fists so hard his skin began to turn red "I remember remembering them".

"Since it's your name… these memories, are they your 'other' memories?"

Shu He nodded.

"Are you sure your current memories aren't affected either".

Shu He paused for a second, thinking, before he answered "I think so".

"Then, just in case please tell me everything you can remember about your current life" She asked, her expression bordering on grim.

Shu He frowned before he decided to go along with it, he spoke about an abridged version of his life so far from Green-Gate to where he was now including all notable events or people he met, he managed to do so without any trouble.

"No problems?" She asked.

"No, everything came clearly".

She had a piece of paper attached to a board in her hand as she scribbled notes.

"It's definitely your second set of memories then, have you realised anything else missing?".

"Not yet… I can recall everything else pretty easily without trouble".

"So it's just started happening…" The sound of a quill on paper echoed as silence laid between them "Any cause you can think of?" She asked, suddenly looking up from the paper.

Shu He recalled the recent events, his actions in the alchemy division when creating an alchemy gate were one thing but he felt like that wasn't the cause, the only other event that came to mind was…

"My fight with Jin Bao, maybe?".

"That? It was impressive, sure, what exactly do you mean though?" She said with doubt.

"…I can't really explain, but during that fight I exerted myself far beyond my limit". Shu He tried to explain without giving everything away.

Jing Yaling stared deeply at him, tapping the board with the quill "When you say exert yourself, do you mean your core of cultivation?".

"Basically, yes".

'The golden core flame is far beyond my usual limit after all'.

The doctors brows furrowed as she stared at her notes before she stood up.

"Maybe you should know…" She whispered to herself before looking at him "Come with me".

"Huh? Okay…" Shu He, surprised at the sudden change decided to follow along.

She went to a bookshelf near her desk and picked up a book then placed in another location on the shelf, and then another.

"…?" Shu He observed, confused.

She continued doing it until all of a sudden a light shone as all the books lit up, followed by the bookshelf as it began shifting downwards, then the wall behind it shifted downwards revealing another wall that also shifted downwards and so on.

After 30 seconds there was now a staircase leading downwards into darkness before them.

"Come" She said, walking down into the darkness so he followed, it was yet another long winding staircase that went down for multiple stories.

"This sect really likes hidden passageways" He couldn't help but remark.

"They're good at hiding things that you don't want others to see, after all" She replied with a light chuckle.

After a few minutes they arrived in a dimly lit area with vaguely blue tinted brightstones lighting the rooms that were made of uniform grey stone, there were many desks filled with a variety of things like test tubes, thick books, and such.

One thing that caught Shu He's interest was a large jar filled with liquid… and a brain.

Based on the size, it was likely a human brain as well, the glass was engraved with formation lines and metal probes piercing from the outside of the glass to inside of the brain.

"Curious about that?" Jing Yaling asked, seeing him stare intently at it.

"It's… human, right?" He asked.

She glanced at his expression then sighed "It belonged to a mass murderer, if that makes you feel any better".

"Even so…" Shu He still felt like it was wrong, he could tell that the brain was still 'alive', kept so by the formations.

Stripped of a body, senses, but still alive somehow, used as a test subject.

"In this field the most progress is made by the cruellest experiments" She said, her voice filled with melancholy "That's why we justify it by using the cruellest people as subjects, but really it doesn't matter, it weighs on us either way".

Shu He looked at her, seeing the slight bags of weariness under her eyes he understood.

"A necessary evil" He said.

She laughed "It's nothing so grand, we're just humans struggling to understand ourselves and the world around us" reached into a cabinet she pulled out a scroll "But… if these actions can help save many more lives, then it's worth it".

Shu He walked over to her and glanced at the scroll she had pulled out.

She unfurled it on the desk and began to explain "This records an experiment performed many years back by someone on the subject of 'The relationship between souls and memories'".

Shu He's eyebrows rose in shock.

'Someone researched such a thing already?' Maybe this could help him!

"By the time the experiment came about the techniques in brain manipulation had been deeply explored, it was possible to lock someone's memories away, making them 'forget' them by messing with certain areas of the brain, however the researcher here decided to take it a step further".

"Normally, when memories are 'locked' away they won't come back until 'unlocked', but in this experiment the researcher decided to test what happened when he erased the memories completely, it was a task far harder than merely locking them".

'More human experimentation' Shu He's breathing slowed slightly, he wasn't surprised, but he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable.

"The subjects were 10 convicted mortals, in order to erase the memories he forced them to recite their life, stimulating the areas where the memories existed before destroying them surgically being careful not to damage more than needed; Unfortunately 6 of the 10 subjects died during the process".

"The 4 that survived were essentially brain-dead, they had no memories and couldn't even breathe properly on their own, they were essentially worse than new-born infants, they were attached to life support systems to keep them alive, though 1 of them succumbed to death shortly after".

She looked over to Shu He "What do you think happened to the other 3?"

"…Nothing?" He replied, if they lost their memories what could they do?

But she shook her head.

"Their memories returned".

"What?" Shu He was truly shocked "How?"

"I told you the subject right? You should know the three centres of power".

"Mind, body and soul… wait, the soul?" Shu He recited before realising the answer.

She nodded "The three centres of power don't only exist for cultivators, they exist for all humans; It's a natural assumption that memories reside inside the mind (brain), however this experiment proves otherwise".

"There was absolutely no doubt that those memories no longer existed in the mind, yet they came back; This proves one thing, that the memories also exist elsewhere".

"The soul" She said, looking into Shu He's eyes.

There was no shock for him there, after all he had reincarnated; Memories existing inside of the soul would make a lot of sense.

"Why does this mean for me?" He asked, unsure how this helps him.

"You claim to have memories from a former life, and said memories are beginning to disappear; My question is why is it just those memories? Why aren't your current memories being affected?"

Shu He paused and crossed his arms "True… somethings off…"

"The biggest problem is that, only one part is being affected, even though there should only be one part in the first place" She walked up to Shu He, standing in front of him.

Her eyes looked down at his, his golden irises reflected in her dark eyes.

"Shu He, if you want me to help, then there's something very important you need to tell me".