"..." Bai Junjun hesitated slightly, realizing she had asked an ineffective question. She gave a light cough to cover her embarrassment.
"Xiao Shan, do you remember where you came from?"
Xiao Shan paused, then silently shook his head.
"Then... do you remember your parents?"
Bai Sasa joined the conversation as well.
Xiao Shan remained silent, still shaking his head.
"So... what do you remember?"
"I don’t remember anything," Xiao Shan answered seriously.
The sisters exchanged glances, finally understanding what was off about Xiao Shan.
Xiao Shan had actually... lost his memory.
"Is it... because you hit your head on a stone in the river?"
Bai Sasa looked at Xiao Shan’s head worriedly, but his forehead was smooth, showing no signs of injury.
"It could be temporary amnesia caused by post-traumatic stress disorder."
"?" Bai Sasa was confused. What?
"It’s a psychological abnormal response, commonly known as PTSD, a state of mental imbalance after trauma."
"???" Bai Sasa was even more baffled.
Bai Junjun sighed, "In short, let’s just say Xiao Shan is overly distressed, and it has made him sick in the head."
"!" Bai Sasa finally understood.
Speaking of which, the Bai siblings were no strangers to Xiao Shan’s predicament; they too had experienced the pain of losing loved ones, and their journey had been even more convoluted than Xiao Shan’s.
Amid the chaos, the clan of nearly a thousand people began to crumble bit by bit.
From guards to servants to kinsmen, nursemaids, mistresses, brothers, and sisters, they fell one by one by their side, dying at their feet.
Bai Lingyu had not enjoyed any of the Bai Yang Clan’s privileges. She had to start fleeing for her life shortly after she learned to walk.
However, it was unclear whether they were too busy fleeing to grieve or if the Shi clans were inherently cold-hearted.
In any case, faced with death too many times, they gradually became numb.
But it was understandable why they felt differently.
The daily lives of noble ladies and young masters were attended by nannies and maids; the mistresses and even the nursemaids did not have to lift a finger, whereas it was different for Xiao Shan. Every bowel movement, every urination was taken care of by Madam Liu, and usually, it took Madam Liu’s coaxing before Xiao Shan would agree to sleep.
The emotional investment was different, so naturally, the trauma left behind was different too.
"Will Xiao Shan recover?" Bai Sasa was a little worried.
"It’s up to him. If he wants to remember, he naturally will. If his subconscious doesn’t want to remember, he might never recall anything his entire life."
In fact, in the later stages of The Apocalypse, amnesia triggered by traumatic disorders was rare; after all, people had become numb. Living one day at a time, who cared if yesterday was painful?
"It’s better if Xiao Shan doesn’t remember," Bai Junjun remarked sentimentally. "Sometimes, it’s happier to forget than to remember."
Bai Sasa fell silent, thinking it over and finding some truth in her words.
"Who knows how they are now."
Remembering the chaos on the bridge gave Bai Sasa a pang of anxiety.
Seeing their eldest sister fall into the water, she and Bai Lingyu had not hesitated to jump into the river, too; she wondered what Old Uncle Qiu thought when he saw them all diving in.
It’s also unclear how long they were unconscious here, and whether it was still the same day outside.
"They should be fine."
The commotion caused by Li Wenli’s abrupt action must have forced Zhou Tao to give up the pursuit and return to provide support.
As long as Old Uncle Qiu and the others ran fast, they would make it to Biluo.
"Once we find Xiao Yu, we’ll go to Biluo to find them," Bai Junjun promised.
Bai Sasa stared at Bai Junjun for a long moment before nodding, "Okay, once we find Xiao Yu, we’ll go back to find Old Uncle Qiu."
Xiao Shan gnawed on a frog leg while listening to the two of them whispering back and forth.