Chapter 188: Exploring the Consciousness [3]

Chapter 188: 188: Exploring the Consciousness [3]

The memory changed again.

This time, Lin Xuan was no longer experiencing the memory through the eyes of its owner.

He had become an observer.

He stood silently within a familiar scene, watching an older version of himself sitting beside an adult Lin Zhaoyue.

The two of them were having a conversation.

Lin Xuan tried to listen, but no matter how hard he focused, he could not hear a single word they said.

Their mouths moved, their expressions changed, and occasionally one of them would laugh, but their voices remained completely beyond his reach.

The memory soon ended and another memory appeared.

Again, the old Lin Xuan was sitting with Zhaoyue and they were talking.

And once again, Lin Xuan could not hear them.

Memory after memory passed before his eyes.

Some showed the two of them sitting together.

Others showed them walking through the Lin Family estate or speaking privately in secluded places.

Yet every time, Lin Xuan remained nothing more than a silent observer, unable to hear what they were discussing.

He did not know how many memories he had witnessed before another one finally appeared.

This time, the old Lin Xuan was lying peacefully on a bed.

His hair had already turned white, and his face carried the marks of countless years.

Soon he closed his eyes and passed away peacefully.

Lin Xuan stared at the scene in silence.

Then the surroundings changed once more.

It was grand, it was huge, a newborn child had appeared within the Lin family.

The world moved rapidly around him as years passed in an instant.

The child grew older and Lin Xuan saw the familiar face.

It was the original Lin Xuan, except he was much younger.

Lin Xuan’s expression changed.

The original Lin Xuan had not merely lived his life once. He had died, returned to the past, and begun his life again.

The original Lin Xuan had also regressed...

The memories continued to move forward.

At first, everything seemed normal. The memories aligned with what Lin Xuan had inherited when he arrived in this world, and nothing appeared out of place.

Then something changed.

The scene shifted to a memory from when Lin Zhaoyue was seven years old.

The young girl entered his room and politely asked whether he was free to play with her.

The original Lin Xuan stared at her.

An expression Lin Xuan had never seen on his face appeared in his eyes. Confusion and fear overlapped, leaving him momentarily unable to speak.

Then Lin Xuan heard the original Lin Xuan’s voice.

Not from his lips, but from deep within his mind.

She’s not my daughter! Where is my daughter?

The anguish in those thoughts made Lin Xuan’s expression change.

Is this punishment for changing the fate of my clan with the knowledge of the future?

The original Lin Xuan stared at Zhaoyue for a long moment before finally forcing a weary smile.

"I’m sorry, dear, but Father needs to finish this first. Can we play later?"

Zhaoyue’s expression dimmed slightly, but she obediently nodded.

"Alright, Father."

She turned around and quietly left the room.

Lin Xuan remained silent as he watched the memory fade.

His expression gradually became solemn.

From that moment onward, the relationship between the original Lin Xuan and his daughter had slowly begun to change.

The memories continued on rolling.

Within the memory, the original Lin Xuan kept searching for ways to strengthen the Lin Family and lead the clan toward a better future, but there was only so much he could accomplish with the resources available to him.

So he turned to the very person he shouldn’t have turned to.

In his previous life, he had been betrayed by the person he trusted most.

Yet in this life, that same person still held an important position within the Lin Family.

Lin Xuan found himself growing increasingly frustrated as he watched the memories unfold.

You were betrayed by him once. Why are you still trying to change him?

The answer never came.

Instead of plotting to remove that person from the clan, the original Lin Xuan kept searching for ways to reform him, hoping that he could turn him into someone worthy of the trust he had once placed in him.

The more Lin Xuan watched, the more difficult it became for him to understand.

The original Lin Xuan continued working harder and harder for the clan.

He devoted himself to strengthening the family, securing resources, planning for the future, and preventing the tragedies he remembered from happening again.

He became so consumed by the clan that, at some point, he failed to notice something happening right beside him.

Lin Zhaoyue had stopped calling him Father.

She had begun calling him Patriarch.

"Patriarch."

The young girl’s voice sounded within the memory.

The original Lin Xuan did not even look up.

He continued working through the matters before him, completely absorbed in the affairs of the clan.

He did not correct her.

He did not ask why she had changed the way she addressed him.

He simply continued with his work.

This Lin Zhaoyue is not my Lin Zhaoyue.

The thought had become something he repeated again and again.

She’s not. She’s someone else. I don’t have to get close to her. The clan is more important.

Those words continued flowing through his mind, again and again, until they seemed to have become a part of his very being.

The clan was important.

That was the thought that consumed everything else, even his daughter.

The memories soon came to an end, and Lin Xuan found himself back inside the empty room.

He looked around at the countless memory cores that had gradually dissipated, leaving only the five sealed cores behind.

Lin Xuan remained silent for a moment as his gaze settled on the five remaining memory cores.

He had learned far more than he had expected, but he still did not understand the entire story.

If he wanted to know the truth, he would have to uncover the rest of the original Lin Xuan’s memories.