After being dismissed by the Headmaster, the Teachers and students found themselves reappear in amongst the wildflowers close to Leon's home. The paper talismans that formed the Headmaster's temporary array, crumbled to ash before them. They were no longer welcome to use this gateway to the old man's home. The Teachers then bid goodbye first, but not before Volun insisted they visit the Beast Taming School after sunrise the following day.
The two youths said nothing in refusal; the Headmaster had left them with much to think about, having added parting words for them both.
Perhaps influenced by these words, after the Teachers left, Jin Li scooped Leon into his arms and strode back into Leon's humble hut, which they now knew once belonged to a school gamekeeper, though that was sometime ago. The door swung shut behind them and Jin Li took the time to lock it before kissing Leon into a breathless stupor. By the time Jin Li's moment of possessiveness and anxiousness passed, Leon could only lean against him weakly, listening to the loud beats within Jin Li's chest.
"Jin Li," Leon whispered, pressing his hand against the same firm place he leaned upon. "Are you w-worried ab-bout what the H-Headmaster said?"
"This Lord is not worried," Jin Li denied, whilst in contrast, his embrace tightened about the other. "This Lord will protect what is his, there is no need to worry about it."
"N-n-not worried," Leon replied, "b-but, I d-don't understand either. What d-did he mean b-by c-cauldron?"
"You must become stronger, Jin Li," The Headmaster had told him. "Leon will need to rely on you in the future. Celestials were also coveted as cauldrons."
Jin Li was not unaware of the nastier side of cultivating; the strong stepping upon the weak, survival of the fittest, the overwhelming desire for power and immortality... if one was not bothered about things such as morals and ethics, one could rise rapidly along this path. However, this usually lead to Cultivators falling upon the devils' path and becoming demons. A person with a celestial root was an extreme temptation to Cultivators, especially demons. For that person could help the other become much stronger via blood and physical relations, which included Dual Cultivation, but did not necessarily have to be.
Although Jin Li never intended to use this ability for himself, he'd not even known Leon could be 'used' this way, he also couldn't deny that Leon's spiritual energy had helped stabilise his own. Leon had simply become even more precious within Jin Li's heart and the thought of him being ripped away was simply unfathomable. It hurt.
Of course Leon was now his Dao Companion, other righteous Cultivators night grumble and curse that Leon was his, but the majority would leave them be... Although a few might patiently wait until Jin Li was no longer an obstacle... Jin Li sneered inwardly. Such could dream! However demons were not the same, if they knew, if there was the chance... therefore the Headmaster's words for him were not without reason.
"Do not worry about it," Jin Li said finally, not wanting to taint his alchemist with the ugly truth. "You are not a 'cauldron'. You are mine." He gently, but firmly tugged Leon's chin in order to make their eyes meet. "Say it."
Leon smiled, reassuringly and murmured obediently; "I am yours."
"Good," Jin Li replied, before a frown settled upon his brow as he considered the parting words of that old man towards Leon.
"Worry no longer about your identity," the Headmaster had said. "Your past, your present, your future, they all belong to you. You are you and always have been."
"What did that old man mean about your identity?" Jin Li asked Leon finally.
"Oh," Leon's eyes lowered and he took a deep breath, recalling his promise to himself. "There was j-just one m-more secret I had n-not t-told you. I was waiting f-for the right t-time." He then explained, slowly and surely, how he was not from this place, how he had lived somewhere else and lived as someone else and in that world he had closed his eyes to sleep only to reawaken here and possess this body, the body of Leo.
Jin Li listened patiently and did not interrupt up until the point he was finished telling his tale, but his response was unexpected. "Impossible."
"W-What?" Leon queried, startled. Did Jin Li think he had lied?
"I said it is impossible," Jin Li repeated. "For you to possess another's body and for no one to realise it. It's impossible. If you had truly possessed a living body, then there would be an echo, a remnant of the soul that yours had forced out. Two souls cannot co-exist in one vessel, there would be a victor and a loser. You are here, therefore if this had occurred, you could be considered the victor, but there is no sign of a previous occupant."
"P-perhaps he w-went willingly?" Leon suggested.
"Unlikely," Jin Li disagreed. "From what you have said, this Leo loved his life and being an alchemist, just as much as you. And if he had died before you came to possess his body, then there would also be signs, remnants of his existence. Also, a soul that possesses the dead at best would become a Jiangshi, at worse a corpse puppet." The first was an undead monster starving for life, the second was as worded, a corpse made into a puppet whose strings were pulled by someone else.
"Then.. w-what am I?" Leon murmured, confused.
"Exactly what the Headmaster claimed," Jin Li chuckled and tugged the white strands of Leon's hair. "You are you. You went through a deviation, did you not? I can't comprehend, this Lord has never experienced issues... at least until falling through the realm tear..." these few words were muttered bitterly. "Regardless, this Lord has never experienced a deviation whilst cultivating. However, I have heard that such can cause a great strain upon one's body, mind and soul. This white hair is just one possible aftereffect, but one's meridians can be effected, one's core and innersea. I have heard a person went mad after failing to cultivate safely through a bottleneck and another's soul was ripped from his body during tribulations. The path to immortality is not for the faint of heart.
"This Lord believes that your deviation caused you to forget who you were and awaken that who you once were, in a different incarnation. You are this Leo, who you thought you possessed and he is you."
Leon had to process his words for several minutes, before a tremor rippled through his body and a weight lifted from his shoulders. Jin Li felt his lover relax completely into his embrace. "That is g-good. G-great!" Leon's lips crept upwards in a delighted smile. "D-do you think I m-might regain m-my m-memories? As Leo I m-mean?"
"Cannot say," Jin Li replied, moving to what he considered a more comfortable position, one in which his hands could just happen to wander freely. "However, Cultivation tempers your mind and body over time. It is not impossible to claim that you would regain those memories in later stages. Do not think to much upon it. Whether you are Leo or whether you are Leon, I was meant to find you and you me."
"En... um Jin Li?"
"What?"
"C-can we n-not... we n-need to visit the B-Beast T-taming school t-tomorrow...ah!"
"And?"