He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He felt a sharp pain in his head and looked toward the girl who was calling him. His vision was blurred and unclear, but then he began to see clearly. It was a girl wearing a maid's uniform, and he began to remember her face.
"Isn't this the maid who used to serve me? What was her name… Lor? Laura? I don't remember. But how did she become young? Wasn't she a married woman with three children?"
Memories began to flow into his mind, but he was not in a good state to think clearly because of the headache.
"Ah!"
"Young master, are you alright? Shall I bring you some water?"
The maid's voice was annoying, so Lang Biol only nodded his head. The maid hurried away, and after the pain calmed down, he looked around. His room was filled with scrolls, drawings of swords, and some books on the table. The place was not strange to him. It was his childhood room. But he was certain that he had been in the forest, stabbed in the heart, and had fallen into the ocean. Then he remembered that jewel-like pill he had swallowed, and also his master's words about that blue pill. When he realized what he was thinking, he quickly stood up, grabbed a small mirror, and looked at his face. It had not changed much, but he looked younger now. His eyes were larger, and there were no longer any scars on his face. His face was completely clean and flawless. He looked at himself with admiration, then remembered… he had gone back in time. Everything was complete chaos. The maid entered carrying a cup of water.
"Here you are, young master. Do you feel better?"
"Yes, I am fine, but…"
He was about to ask her what year it was, but he realized that would be suspicious, so he chose to ask in another way and took the cup.
"Is… is my mother here?"
The maid thought he missed his mother, so she looked sad and answered:
"No, the madam has not returned yet."
"I see. Did Leon go with her?"
"Yes, young master Leon went with her. Isn't that wonderful? It is the first time young master will see his grandfather."
Lang Biol was about to ask more, but when she said that, he remembered that the first time was when he was fifteen and Leon went with his mother. He looked at the maid and spoke calmly:
"Alright, you may leave now."
The maid was shocked and looked at him with concern. She had served him for five years, and Lang Biol had never asked her to leave before; she always left on her own. There was only one reason for him to say that—he wanted to cry without anyone seeing him. The maid looked at him with even greater sadness and left.
Lang Biol did not understand why she looked at him that way, but he ignored it. After she left, he placed the cup on the table and looked at the mirror again, thinking. He had believed that old man gave him an ordinary pill. Who would have thought it was the "Dragon Time-Reversal Pill," a legendary pill that exists only in fantasy books? But why did the old man not take it himself? This question echoed in his mind. Thinking about it made him remember something in the past…
They were standing on the edge of a mountain watching the sunset. Lang Biol was smiling happily, his face filled with peace. He was watching the waves of sunlight reflected on the water, making it look like pieces of jewelry. He was eighteen years old. The old man looked at him, smiled, and decided to ask him a question he would later regret.
"Bioln, what would you do for your future disciple?"
When Lang Biol heard the question, he looked at him for a moment, then closed his eyes for five seconds, and suddenly opened them.
"I will teach him everything I have learned."
The old man: "And what else?"
Lang Biol: "I will feed him, give him water, and make him live in a clean place."
The old man: "And what else?"
Lang Biol looked at him with slight tension.
Lang Biol: "I will protect him."
The old man: "And what else?"
Lang Biol was surprised. He had nothing to say and felt that the old man was trying to make him look foolish or was teasing him. He looked at him in annoyance. The old man sighed when he noticed that Lang Biol did not know the answer.
"To protect him, feed him, and take care of him is the duty of any ordinary teacher. But the true teacher who loves his disciple is the one who sacrifices himself for that disciple and does anything for him, even if he is harmed. He must care about him more than himself and think of him before thinking of himself."
Lang Biol looked at him in surprise, then turned his eyes toward the sun and spoke:
"Alright, I understand. Then I will not take a disciple in the future."
The old man was shocked and asked, "Why?" But the answer was worse. Lang Biol smiled playfully and said:
"Because I cannot love anyone more than myself, hahahaha!"
And before he could finish laughing, the old man struck him with his stick again…
Those beautiful memories were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. Lang Biol thought it was the maid, so he allowed them to enter, but the one who entered was a young man with white hair and blue eyes. Lang Biol's eyes widened. It was his third brother, the person who had stabbed him in the heart.
"Father asked me to tell you that breakfast is ready."
Lang Biol did not care about what he said and began thinking. He did not understand. He had never done anything bad to his third brother, so why did he kill him? Lang Biol did not respond to Lang Liu, which increased his brother's anger, and he looked at him with disgust. Lang Biol hated that look and imagined beating him to death, but he forgot to reply, so Lang Liu turned and left.
After he left, Lang Biol tried to calm himself. "It's fine. If I do not beat him now, I will do it one day." Remembering that he had returned in time brought back the happiness he had lost because of his third brother.
The maid came to help him get ready, but Lang Biol, who always dressed himself, refused her help. After putting on his clothes and tying his hair, he went to meet his family, whom he had not seen for a long time. As he walked, he smiled remembering his master and thanking him for that pill. But the smile quickly faded, replaced by strong determination. He would not care about the consequences of changing the future; he would do what he wanted. Surely, his master knew this, so it was inevitable. He smiled a wicked smile.
When he reached the dining hall, the first thing Lang Biol looked at was the food. There was a lot of it, and in many varieties. His brothers looked at him strangely, but he ignored them, sat immediately, grabbed the chopsticks, and began eating quickly. His father was surprised by Lang Biol's behavior; he had not even greeted him. Everyone was watching him, but Lang Biol was not truly with them; he was eating without thinking about anything else. When a person has not eaten for five days and suddenly finds all kinds of food in front of him, of course he would not think about anything.
His father spoke with slight tension:
"Lang Biol… are you alright?"
Lang Biol looked at him in shock. He had completely forgotten about his father and was eating carelessly. He tried to control his hunger and spoke after swallowing another bite:
"Yes, I am fine."
His father did not believe that lie, so he asked in another way:
"Why did you not greet us?"
Lang Biol, his mouth full of food, felt confused and tried to remember.
"What greeting are you talking about?"
His brothers were even more shocked, and his father became more tense. He looked at the maid, who was also surprised, and asked her, "What happened to him?" She was about to say that he felt dizzy, but Lang Biol shot her a warning look.
"No, nothing happened to him. Young master must have simply forgotten the greeting."
Lang Biol did not understand why his father was making such a fuss over a simple greeting. His father tried to change the subject.
"I will go to your grandfather's house after breakfast. Your grandfather wants to see you, but if you are tired, you may rest."
He thought that Lang Biol was pretending to forget the greeting and acting tired so he would not have to go.
"No, it's fine. I am fine. I will go with you to see my grandfather."
His father was shocked that his son agreed so easily. But if he wanted to go… then why did he behave like that a moment ago?