Chapter 297 - The Scum Is Roundabout

"Watch out!" Cheng Sheng called out and jumped on Sha Yan, pushing him out of the way while he kicked the large boulder when it reached them, using it to propel themselves in avoiding it. "Ha." He breathed when they fell to the ground, a few meters away from the boulder. "Are you alright?" he asked Sha Yan. 

Sha Yan coughed amidst the smoke of dust around them when the boulder hit the ground and the ground shook. He blinked and stared at Cheng Sheng. "I'm… alive?" he muttered under his breath and looked at Cheng Sheng. 

"En." Cheng Sheng nodded and helped Sha Yan up. "Just now, your mind was confused and you acted like you were possessed." He told him. 

Sha Yan's face paled. "It's the Shashan Pass." He said. 

"Huh?" Cheng Sheng looked at him. "Earlier, you told me that there was no Shashan Pass. Now, you are telling me that there is?" he said. 

"You've misunderstood me." Sha Yan sighed. "What I meant earlier is that, when we arrived, there is no Shashan Pass." He said. "There are no Twin Sand Mounds either." He added. 

"Then, what the hell happened?!" Cheng Sheng asked. His patience is thinning. "Stop being roundabout!" he said. 

Sha Yan flinched. "Yes, yes, yes." He hurriedly nodded. "Before the large group left the Stop By Town, there's already a rumor passed around." He said. 

"What is it?" Cheng Sheng asked. 

"The Sand Sea Mountain, where the Ni Lai Gate is." Sha Yan answered. Seeing the irritated expression on Cheng Sheng's face, he immediately spoke in one breath. "The Sand Sea Mountain is a mountain that, even though its name, isn't made of sand but of a solid ground. Or else, how can it hold such a large number of boulders of rocks? Especially the heavy gate Ni Lai Gate." He said. "But, that's not the main topic. It is about the Twin Sand Mounds, and the Shashan Pass." He looked at Cheng Sheng. 

Cheng Sheng looked at the two mountains on both sides, then the ground beneath him. 

"Shashan Pass meant 'sand mountain' pass. It is the road leading to the Sand Sea Mountain." Sha Yan said. "However, as I've said earlier out of my panic and fear while in agitated state, the Shashan Pass' real meaning is 'killing mountain' pass. Also, I have said earlier that there was no Shashan Pass. I am not lying." He looked at Cheng Sheng's eyes. "When we arrived in this area, we didn't see a pass. Since there are no mountains around." He told him. 

Cheng Sheng held his breath. 

"However, if the Shashan Pass doesn't exist, as well as the Twin Sand Mounds, then how did the rumor come about?" Sha Yan continued. He is smart. If there is a rumor, then there's definitely something or someone started it. 

A rumor is a mixture of lies and truth. Which is which, it is for you to find out. 

"It was said that before our group, there is another group who went to the Ni Lai Gate." Sha Yan spoke. "And, it was said that they have found the Shashan Pass and the Twin Sand Mounds. But, when our group arrived at the Sand Sea Mountain, we didn't pass by any mountains. We didn't see the Shashan Pass, not the Twin Sand Mounds." He explained. 

"But, we found the Shashan Pass and the Twin Sand Mounds. We've arrived here." Cheng Sheng said. 

"En." Sha Yan nodded. 

Cheng Sheng frowned. Suddenly, he heard Sha Yan grunted. He turned and saw Sha Yan's body fell to the ground. He raised his head and saw Fei Yin and Wu Yuan. 

"How long do you want to play this game, shidi?" Fei Yin asked as he and Wu Yuan placed Sha Yan to the side, making him lean on the wall. Then, Fei Yin took out a Night Pearl and placed it in front of them. 

The surroundings were illuminated, revealing the mountains between them. "The Twin Sand Mounds are real, as well as the Shashan Pass." Cheng Sheng said. "Sha Yan is lying when he said there is no Shashan Pass, nor the Twin Sand Mounds. What the first travelling group saw is real." He said. 

"Wasn't my father and uncle Jing with Sha Yan?" Wu Yuan asked. "A mere illusion can't trick their eyes." He said. 

"That confirms my conjecture true that Sha Yan – " Cheng Sheng said and looked at Sha Yan sleeping. " – is confused." He said. "His mind is confused." He told them. This is the reason why he had Fei Yin and Wu Yuan leave to secretly attack him and Sha Yan so that he could induce Sha Yan's memories. 

"Was it because of the illusion of the Shashan Pass?" Wu Yuan asked. 

Cheng Sheng shook his head. "What I meant 'confused' is, he has an amnesia." He told Wu Yuan. 

"How did you know he has an amnesia?" Fei Yin asked. Even Jing Xian didn't find out that Sha Yan has an amnesia. 

Cheng Sheng smiled. "I was observing the locals' behavior before I approach them. It was the same for Sha Yan." He answered. "I saw him cleaning and arranging his wares twice or thrice. After he cleaned one to two pieces, he would go back to the first. Then he'd repeat his actions to his other wares until he had cleaned them all. Only then he would stop, or when someone disturbs him from what he is doing." He explained. 

Wu Yuan's eyes brightened. "Junior Cheng is indeed impressive." He said, a faint smile on his lips. 

Fei Yin smiled, full of pride as he looked at Cheng Sheng. That's my lover! 

Cheng Sheng saw Fei Yin's eyes and he smiled back, before his smile faded when he looked at Sha Yan. "We have to know what happened in the past through his memories so we could have a clue for our next step." He told them. 

They nodded. "Do you know a way on how to evoke his memories?" Wu Yuan asked. 

Cheng Sheng made a pause. He looked at Fei Yin. Before, he used his divine power on Luo Shi. However, he can't do that in front of Wu Yuan. "No." he answered. "We can only wait until Sha Yan wakes up." He sighed. 

"But, what if he wakes up still confused?" Fei Yin asked and stared at Cheng Sheng. 

Cheng Sheng's eyelids lowered. "I could only use the Forget Me Not Potion." He said in a low voice. 

Fei Yin fell silent. Wu Yuan noticed that there is something wrong. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Is the Forget Me Not Potion dangerous?" he asked. 

Cheng Sheng didn't answer. Fei Yin answered for him. "It is." He said. 

Wu Yuan looked at him, urging for him to continue. 

Fei Yin sighed. "Although the name sounds simple, but its effect isn't." he said. "The Forget Me Not Potion will make the person remember all of his memories – " he looked at Wu Yuan. " – including the ones he doesn't want to remember anymore, and the fears he have in them." He said. 

Wu Yuan froze. "That worse?" he said and looked at Sha Yan. 

"Not only that." Fei Yin said as he also looked at Sha Yan. "It will be the worst for those who have a problem in their brain. For example – " he said. " – amnesia." 

Wu Yuan sharply inhaled. 

"If a person who is suffering in amnesia will drink the Forget Me Not Potion, they would feel their brain throb, before it slowly begins to ache until they would feel like their brain would explode." Fei Yin said. "The Forget Me Not Potion will stimulate the nerves on his brain. And, since the nerves on his brain are connected to all of the nerves on his body, not only he will feel extreme headache, but his body would also feel like they were being pricked by thousands of needles, and feel between hot and cold intermittently." He added. 

Wu Yuan's body trembled in fear. "It was like qi deviation… that feeling." He muttered. 

"Yes." Fei Yin said. "But, it would be worse if a cultivator would drink the Forget Me Not Potion." He said. 

Wu Yuan looked at him. 

"The cultivators' senses are heightened after their body was transformed by the qi they are cultivating inside their body." Fei Yin said. "If an ordinary person would feel like he's in hell after he drank the Forget Me Not Potion, what would it be if a cultivator would drink it?" he asked. 

Wu Yuan's pupils constricted. "This devious… ehem." He coughed when he saw Cheng Sheng's somber expression. Suddenly, he remembered something. "How did you know its effects?" he asked as he looked at Fei Yin. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Could it be, you…" he said. 

"Of course not!" Fei Yin said. 

"Then, how… did he - ?" Wu Yuan asked and looked at Cheng Sheng. 

"Of course he didn't!" Fei Yin said. 

"Then… how…?" Wu Yuan asked, confused. 

"I just guessed!"