Vivian carefully tried to recall her memories before she shook her head. "I have no impression."
"Do you remember what happened before you slept 300 years ago?" Hao Ren felt like he was now a psychologist. "After you were done with the vengeful spirit, you went into hibernation because of drowsiness. Do you have any impressions of those days?"
Vivian's brows were knitted together as she struggled to recall. After a while, she shook her head. "I still don't have any impressions. But I'm sure I forgot about some details before I slept, including giving this box to Pavel. I only remember that I was tired and sleepy after defeating the vengeful spirit. The only thing on my mind that time was to find a quiet place so that I could sleep. I still vaguely remember handing two pieces of stone to two minions, but I have no idea under what circumstances they were given those stones, and what other items I've also given out. I totally have no impressions whatsoever."
Hao Ren drew on the table with his finger and summed up the information revealed by the manuscript as well as the clues he gathered. "Now, let's talk about what we know. Just like you said, you had two types of sleep; one where you went to sleep on your own to get through hard times. Let's not talk about this type for now. The other type is the drowsiness where you couldn't help but sleep, resulting in a substantial weakening of your power and amnesia. This type of sleep has one thing in common: you experienced a state of irritability, and it was usually followed by a fight. Sometimes you didn't even remember who you were battling, nevertheless you had to fight with someone before you exhausted yourself and fell asleep. After waking up, you forget about whatever happens earlier, especially the negative emotions. You've only learned from the manuscript that you were plagued by those negative emotions after waking up."
Vivian gently nodded and pointed at a sentence near the end of the manuscript. "I left some comments here, which should have been written 700 years ago. It says 'I' was confused. A detailed investigation was carried out 700 years ago but it failed to explain the matter. So I decided to set aside the truth for the time being, and concentrated on keeping a record of every sleep and waking, hoping to accumulate enough information to crack this strange phenomenon in the future."
"Besides, there was one more thing in common before you slept, but I don't know if this clue is important or not," said Hao Ren. His hands locked together under his nose and his face was serious. "It was only after the restoration of your strength that you started another hibernation. The manuscript mentioned that in more than one occasion after your 'full recovery of strength', you decided to take on a journey or do something. But every time after that, you became restless and looked for fight."
Vivian blinked. "Is my passive sleep related to my recovery of strength? As soon as I recover my full strength, I'll immediately feel drowsy again?"
"It's just a guess." Hao Ren scratched his chin, his face gloomy. "Anyway, I feel that something is amiss. Your condition... is a bit worrying."
"I'm worried too," said Vivian, pursing her lips anxiously. "I don't even know what's going on with me... For the first time ever, I'm beginning to feel that my forgetfulness is bad. I've been used to the forgetfulness, but now I feel that the most troublesome thing in the world is to have forgotten what I've forgot. I've forgotten that I've forgot what I forgot..."
Hao Ren was stunned, drawing with his finger for a long while trying to figure out what she was saying before he finally looked up. "I think the most troublesome thing in the world is to understand what you've just said."
Revealing her fangs, Vivian said, "I suddenly feel helpless. I can't believe that I've lost control of it."
The two of them remained silent for a while before Hao Ren suddenly broke the silence by asking, "You feel sleepy now?"
"A little." Vivian took a little stretch. When she saw Hao Ren's reaction, she laughed. "Don't worry. It's just normal drowsiness. I think there's still some time before the next sleeping cycle hits, at least after my strength has recovered to its heyday. The symptom of my passive sleepiness is very obvious, and you should be able to notice any abnormal emotions from me. Remember to remind me, maybe... just maybe, this time I can be controlled."
Hao Ren laughed, confidently patting himself on the chest. "Don't worry, I have high technology—if I can't figure it out, I can ask the goddess to treat you. Like the old saying goes, 'prolonged illness makes the patient a good doctor'. Raven 12345 has had several thousands of years of brain damage; treating your amnesia will just be a walk in the park."
Vivian almost freaked out, thinking that the goddess could not even cure herself, what made her capable of treating others? But at the end of the day, the vampire maiden still feared the goddess, so she did not say it out loud.
However, judging from Raven 12345's magical power, Vivian's faith in the goddess had increased a little. As incompetent as Raven 12345 was, she was still a goddess and should have no problem treating a mortal.
If her "amnesia" was really an illness.
The two of them continued to discuss the contents of the manuscript as well as the discrepancies between what Vivian recalled and the contents of the manuscript. Finally, they found out that Vivian's amnesia had a strong pattern. She would forget everything about the "negative emotions before the hibernation". The records of these negative emotions in the manuscript were all written before her sleep, and they were copied again word-for-word after she woke up. For now, there was no discrepancy between her memory and the contents of the manuscript. Also, the authenticity of these records was unquestionable: Vivian would absolutely not be wrong about her own blood.
Apart from that, there was not much progress made.
Luckily, although Vivian had completely forgotten about the manuscript, she had found it again somehow—it was the luckiest moment for this poor, 10,000-year-old vampire.
Looking at the small wooden box, which had been ripped apart on the table, Hao Ren could not help but say, "Why did you hide the manuscript in the interlayer of the box? Had we not ripped it apart today, I'm afraid no one would ever find it."
Vivian was not surprised. "It's a safety measure. A 300-year-old jewelry box is still a box no matter how exquisite it is. It wouldn't attract attention when placed alongside your grandmother's old dowry. But it's very different for a well-preserved manuscript from the Ancient Egyptian Era—the fabric is unknown, the ink is unknown, the text is unknown, and carbon isotope detection can trace it back thousands of years ago. Who would dare let it be exposed on the outside? But then, I didn't know that Pavel could live until now. I must have been worried that his descendants would be unreliable, so I hid the manuscript within the wooden box."
Hao Ren was silent for a moment, but suddenly, he stared into Vivian's eyes. "No matter when your next sleep is, we have to find a way to solve this problem now. I don't want to suddenly find you in hibernation and can only say hello to you after a couple of centuries."
"Me too." Vivian smiled. "And, it's hard to find a good life like the one I have now... I don't want to forget about everything this time."
The two of them found the atmosphere a bit dull. Hao Ren steered the conversation away as he pointed at the blood-red crystal that was there with the manuscript. "What is this again?"
"I don't know. There's no mention about it in the manuscript." Vivian caressed the crystal with her hand. "But, I have a feeling that this thing is a condensation of my blood. The time of its making should be 300 years ago. I must have forgotten to record it down. If it's been kept till this day, it has to be something useful, " Vivian said, shoving the blood-red crystal into her pocket.
Then, she looked up at Hao Ren. "Enough about me. You came here for something?"
"Oh, I wanted you to see the lifeblood." Hao Ren passed a tube of the lifeblood sample to Vivian. "Part of the samples are being nurtured in the spacecraft lab. Please help to study this sample with your Blood Magic and see if you can find a way to contact the goddess. I've been staring at this thing for a long time, but I haven't been able to figure out its relationship with the brainwaves."
"Is it urgent?"
"Not at all. Stuff about the Plane of Dreams are all part of a big project." Hao Ren waved his hand. "Take your time."
The two of them chatted for a while before Hao Ren left the basement and returned to his room.
He looked out of the window and stared at the moonlight in a daze. He then summoned the MDT that was projecting a movie for him on the table. He said, "Write a report to Raven 12345."