Facing Ye Tiancheng's question, Bai Long was momentarily at a loss for how to explain. After all, Ye Tiancheng appeared to have completely forgotten about his own affairs. Therefore, Bai Long needed some proof to gain his trust.
Bai Long didn't know what to say. However, Bai Long couldn't refrain from mentioning these matters. If she didn't remind Ye Tiancheng, her master might not wake up anytime soon and would continue to be deceived by that woman. Bai Long was somewhat troubled.
After thinking for a moment, she hesitantly began, "I'm not sure how to prove it, so I can only tell you what I know, and you can judge for yourself. It's a long story."
Ye Tiancheng replied, "It's fine, we have plenty of time anyway."
Bai Long twitched her lips. There wasn't much time left. Although time could be manipulated in Xiao Jing City, lingering too long in any place wasn't a good thing. It was better to resolve the troubles here as soon as possible.
Bai Long then said to Ye Tiancheng, "Then listen to me."
"I haven't been with you for very long. It was recently when you were searching for something, and you happened to save me and granted me a fortuitous encounter. Seeing your great potential, I decided to recognize you as my master and form a contract with you as repayment."
"Because we formed a contract, I can reside within your body."
"However, while residing in your body, you must awaken me before I can be summoned. But because you were tricked, you probably don't remember me at all, so you haven't summoned me. It took me a lot of effort to remind you just now."
Ye Tiancheng recalled. He asked, "Was it the time my wrist first felt hot?"
Bai Long nodded. "Yes."
"If I hadn't reminded you, you would have ended up living with that wicked woman. By the time you woke up, it would have been too late to regret it!" Bai Long said, crossing her arms defiantly and looking at Ye Tiancheng.
Ye Tiancheng could only offer a wry smile and say, "Then thank you."
Bai Long replied triumphantly, "That's only right!"
After concluding that topic, Bai Long continued. Bai Long said, "Besides me, there's also the spirit of a divine artifact residing in your body, Master. However, it's quite silent and mostly sleeps. It seems to be sleeping now as well, but that doesn't seem to be the main point right now..."
"Hmm, the little fox, which is your younger brother, Master, isn't your biological brother. However, your bond is no less than that of biological brothers. There seems to be some problem with his soul. You never elaborated on the specifics before. Anyway, this trip, besides the item you need to collect, is also to help him gather soul fragments."
"This task requires helping some deceased individuals fulfill their unfinished wishes, and then having them willingly give up their soul fragments to succeed."
"Then, most recently, you helped a deceased person fulfill their wish. However, before you could complete the last remaining wish of that person, they had already dissipated. But you believed that a promise must be kept, so you decided to undertake this task."
"This is why you came to this village."
Hearing this, Ye Tiancheng fell into deep thought. Ye Tiancheng asked, "So, according to what you're saying, I'm not from here? And therefore, I absolutely couldn't have been childhood sweethearts with Aya?"
Bai Long shook her head vigorously. Bai Long said, "How could you and that wicked woman Aya be childhood sweethearts, Master! You've only known each other for a day in total, definitely not more than two days!"
"Before, when that Aya saw you, she always said how handsome you were. So that's what she was planning. This woman... bah!" After a few complaints, Bai Long remembered she was getting off track and steered the conversation back.
Bai Long continued, "In short, Master, you decided to fulfill your promise."
"Then, that person's wish was to return to their hometown, to be with their parents. And that person's hometown is here, from the western village. So you came here based on the description that person gave before they dissipated."
"Everything went smoothly before. You successfully buried that person next to their parents. There was no one left in that person's family."
"Then, you and the little fox wanted to leave."
Hearing this, Ye Tiancheng felt that the problem likely occurred during their departure. Then, Ye Tiancheng heard Bai Long say, "You indeed intended to leave, but after finishing the task, although everything went smoothly without any mishaps, it was already very late by then."
"That Aya came to persuade you to stay, saying that it was difficult to travel at night in the mountains and that you should rest for a night before leaving."
"After thinking about it, Master, you felt that it made some sense. Traveling at night was indeed inconvenient, so you agreed and stayed at Aya's house."
At this point, Bai Long stopped. After waiting for a while and not receiving Bai Long's continuation, Ye Tiancheng took the initiative to ask, "And then?"
Bai Long spread her hands, shrugged slightly, and said, "And then there was no then."
Ye Tiancheng looked at Bai Long, puzzled. Bai Long continued, "You, the little fox, and the bird stayed at Aya's house, and then Aya did something to you. When you woke up the next day, it was what you remember from this morning. Nothing else."
Only then did Ye Tiancheng understand why Bai Long said there was no then. It was because after he agreed to stay, he was plotted against.
It sounded a bit unbelievable. What was Aya's motive for forcing him to stay and fabricating a husband identity for him? It couldn't be love at first sight, that would be too absurd.
Bai Long looked at Ye Tiancheng with a hint of teasing and said, "Don't say it, Master, your face does have some capital. You were even taken as a bandit chief's husband."
Ye Tiancheng was speechless. Even if he wanted to refute, the facts were laid out before him, and he couldn't argue.
Ye Tiancheng asked incomprehensibly, "Then what's her motive?"
"Aya looks good too, and there are many young people in the village who are also good-looking. Aya shouldn't lack suitors, so why did she choose me?"
Bai Long replied, "How would I know?"
"Perhaps Aya just likes your type, or maybe she finds outsiders novel, having seen everyone else grow up here and grown tired of them?" As Bai Long spoke, she suddenly paused, looked sharply at Ye Tiancheng, and asked, "Does what you're saying mean you believe me?"
Because of Bai Long's teasing, although Ye Tiancheng already believed her for the most part, he still said with some difficulty, "I'm skeptical."
Bai Long snorted with dissatisfaction, "If you don't believe me, then stay here and be their bandit chief's husband!"
If Bai Long was telling the truth, then Ye Tiancheng definitely didn't want to stay and be Aya's husband. He certainly wanted to figure out his true identity and return to his own life.
Ye Tiancheng asked Bai Long, "Then what did Aya do? I still can't remember anything about the past. I can't recall anything. Do you know how I can recover?"
Bai Long shook her head. She was also quite puzzled. Bai Long said, "Honestly, I don't quite understand what's going on. When exactly were you affected? Everything just happened without any warning. And today, because you forgot me and never summoned me, I couldn't come out to remind you."
"Later, I took a risk to remind you once. Fortunately, you weren't foolish enough to reveal this situation to that Aya."
Ye Tiancheng smiled and said nothing. Although his instincts and subconscious came inexplicably, Ye Tiancheng had always believed that his senses wouldn't go wrong without reason. Therefore, he would follow his feelings at times. Ye Tiancheng felt that acting on his intuition was the safest course of action at times.
Bai Long asked Ye Tiancheng, "If you believe what I've said, then Master, shouldn't we leave this place quickly? It's too strange here, and the people here have such peculiar methods. If we stay any longer, who knows what else might happen."
After hearing Bai Long's suggestion, Ye Tiancheng pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
Bai Long looked at Ye Tiancheng in disbelief and said, "You're not thinking of leaving because you find that Aya beautiful and can't bear to leave such a beautiful wife, are you?!"
Ye Tiancheng gave Bai Long a helpless look. Ye Tiancheng said to Bai Long, "I haven't even spoken yet, why are you in such a hurry? That's not what I mean."
Bai Long asked confusedly, "Then what do you mean?"
Ye Tiancheng felt that the white dragon he contracted with had quite a temper, was impatient, and didn't think much. However, Ye Tiancheng patiently answered Bai Long's question.
Ye Tiancheng told Bai Long, "We haven't even figured out what methods they used to tamper with our memories, and my memory hasn't recovered. I can't remember most of my past. What's the point of leaving in this state?"
"Moreover, perhaps they have control methods. Since they can make us lose our memories, they can also prevent us from leaving."
"The one who tied the bell must untie it. To solve the problem, you need to find the source. If I leave directly like this, and my memory never recovers, what should I do? This will definitely cause big problems. I can't just leave crudely."
Hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, Bai Long felt that there was some truth to it. Therefore, Bai Long could only say, "Alright, but you need to be more careful this time and don't get caught again."
"It's not good for me to appear frequently and stay outside in this state. I can only be your trump card. But if you are discovered to be acting strangely, and your mind is further brainwashed, and you forget me again, the situation will be very troublesome."
Ye Tiancheng nodded and said, "I understand."
"Then are you going back into my wrist?"
Bai Long said to Ye Tiancheng, "What else?"
Then, Bai Long's figure turned into a beam of light and burrowed into Ye Tiancheng's wrist. Ye Tiancheng looked at his wrist for a long time without speaking.
After thinking about it, he indeed felt that he should remind himself. If something unexpected happened later, and he forgot what had just happened, he should find a way to remind himself. Thinking this, Ye Tiancheng began to observe his surroundings.