After the blue dog fox wolf was kicked into the river by the body double, it quickly aroused the gold level magic beast hidden beneath the water’s surface.
The evil wolf struggled, vanishing below the water with startled howls and waves of blood.
The surface of the river quickly recovered its tranquility.
Witnessing everything, the body double’s heart shook: “What the hell is this place?!”
Feeling horrified, he started to look around until he finally turned to face Zi Di: ““Where am I?”
Zi Di was also stunned by the python vines, and her heart jumped upon hearing the body double.
The dangerous blue dog fox wolf had been vanquished in a thrilling and unexpected manner. Now the major uncertainties and dangers came from the body double, her savior.
Problems arose with the memory crystals, and Zi Di needed to probe how the body double was doing.
“My Lord!” Zi Di’s endless emotions resembled a terrified kitten as she pounced the body double.
The body double looked at the girl, and for a moment, he was at a loss.
“Thank goodness, my Lord, you finally woke up!” The girl emotionally hugged the body double tightly, “Lord, you woke up!”
The body double patted her shoulders, then he proceeded to push Zi Di away slightly.
Zi Di raised her head to look at the body double, emotions and pleasant surprise exhibited themselves in her speech.
The body double looked at the girl in his arms and her heart seemed to miss a beat.
Her delicate face was full of tenderness, her eyes were slightly red, and she was crying. She had a pair of beautiful purple eyes that were reminiscent of amethyst, adding a touch of charm to her brilliance.
“Excuse me… who are you?”
Zi Di immediately showed a perfect stupefied expression.
Her eyes couldn’t help but open wide as she looked up at the body double motionlessly.
They looked at each other for a few seconds.
Zi Di’s face gradually revealed her surprise and worry, she then introduced herself at once: “I am Zi Di, your Lordship. I am your fiancé.”
“Fiancé?” The body double frowned.
“Zi Di……” The body double savored the name.
As the young man started to think deeper, his eyebrows started to furrow: “Wait a minute, I……who am I?”
Zi Di’s heart thumped: “Most of the memories weren’t instilled? He doesn’t know his own identity?”
“You’re Zhen Jin, you are Baron Zhen Jin. My goodness, your Lordship, have you forgotten your own identity?” The girl promptly reminded him, the impatience and restlessness on her face actually matched the emotions in her heart.
“Zhen Jin, I am Zhen Jin? Why do I not remember anything?”
“Heavens, why would this happen!?” Zi Di’s pulse sped up as she began to lie.
“Lord, maybe… your head has been hit violently, causing you to have amnesia temporarily. There have been similar cases in the past”
“Lord, we suffered a shipwreck a few days ago. There had been a violent storm, the ship capsized, and the survivors fled to this island….. there are many missing people including you. I followed the clues deep into the rainforest when I found you Lord, you were in a coma and I have tried numerous ways without being able to successfully wake you up.”
Saying that, she changed the topic and began to say some truths.
“Wait, maybe it's because my means of waking you up had been destroyed while it was waking you up. If that's the case then I’m really sorry, my Lord. I had no other choice at that point in time.
Zi Di pointed her finger at Zhen Jin’s body double’s chest, there were still many crystal fragments attached to it.
The body double lowered his head and saw the crystal fragments adhering to his chest, “So, you were the one that woke me up?”
Then the young lady informed the body double of what she had been through in detail and that she had the idea and took the risk of using the white crystal to treat the body double.
Mixing truths and lies made it harder for others to see through the falsehoods.
Furthermore, the memory crystal fragments were scattered around them, forcibly masking the truth would only make it a flaw. Calling it the medicine Angel’s Tears and making it known willingly gave him a sense of magnanimousness while being a way to probe him.
“I didn't realize that it was so dangerous before, thank you. Umm…. Zi Di.” The body double complimented.
Zi Di’s heart relaxed, but she remorsefully whispered: “But Lord, you may have lost your memories because of this”
The body double immediately comforted her: “It’s not your fault, Zi Di. On the contrary, I would also like to thank you. If you didn’t make such a wise choice, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have woken up in time. Then I would have been eaten by the giant wolf at that moment. Let’s set the problem concerning my memory aside for now. What we need to do now is to leave this dangerous place.”
“Excellent!” Zi Di’s spirits were raised as she temporarily stabilized the body double.
“Please wait a moment. Maybe these fragments will have some assistance towards recovering Lord’s memories in the future.” Before leaving, Zi Di gathered the memory crystal fragments.
Who knows if Zhen Jin died in the shipwreck, furthermore the memory crystal equipment also might have been destroyed. The shipwreck had happened to suddenly, the men and supplies Zi Di had gathered was already her limit.
As for these memory crystal fragments, Zi Di felt they would be very useful in the future.
“Lord, please let me check your body,”
“I’m a low-level magician. Although I can’t use my magic now, I still have all my knowledge.”
Before departing, Zi Di put forth a suggestion.
The body double accepted her examination.
The body double was intact and had no injuries, at the same time, there were no signs of beastification, this allowed Zi Di to breathe loosely.
“He accepted my examination, indicating that I have obtained his tentative trust. Accelerate Zi Di, and everything will develop well!”
“Zi Di, how old am I?” The body double inquired during the examination.
Zi Di inevitably muttered in her heart: “I’m afraid only War Merchant and Jian Zuan know your real age.”
Her mouth said: ““Lord, you are sixteen this year while I am fifteen.”
“So, am I a magician? What type of strength do I have?”
Lord, you practice battle qi, you are a templar knight!”
“Templar knight?” The body double suddenly became absent minded.
Zi Di’s heart shook: “What happened?!”
After a few breaths, the body double’s spirit returned.
“Lord, did you remember anything?” Zi Di’s face held expectations as her heart prayed the instilled memories weren’t disorderly.
“I remembered the moment I solemnly swore to become a templar knight.” The body double answered.
Lord, maybe you can try and see if you can use any battle qi?”
“No, I do not have any memories concerning battle qi, I didn’t even notice any traces of it in my body and I don’t know how to use it.”
The body double’s answer allowed Zi Di to immediately understand the state of the body double’s memories.
“Perhaps the time has not come yet. But it doesn’t matter, Lord. At least this proves that your memory can be restored! It will... just take some time.”
Zi Di consoling the body double also consoled herself.
“Currently, it seems the memory imbuing was merely stopped midway, causing him to be incapable of recalling them.”
“But when he recalls them, it is very natural, and the body double doesn’t doubt them at all.”
“Maybe he can recall crucial memories soon. Maybe this environment can’t prohibit silver level battle qi!”
Originally, Zi Di was in despair, but the body double awakening gave her new hope.
At the same time, she didn’t abandon her guarded heart. If slip-ups appeared in the body double’s memories, Zi Di lost her guarantees, she couldn’t say for sure if the body double would act maliciously upon discovering Zi Di had deceived him about his true identity.
After the two rested for some time, they set off.
On a riverbank mound, the two found a possible place to cross the river, but they needed to build a small bridge.
The body double began to break a tree, but the tenacious branches caused him to fail: “I’ll try again, I’m sure I can break it!”
Zi Di calmly observed and said to herself: “The body double has gone through War Merchant’s designs and modifications; he is a silver level cultivator, and his body should also be on the level of a silver level knight. But at the same time, he is also a half beastman capable of beastification. The body double doesn’t know how to do that though. Only when he is confronted with death, and forced to act against his will, can he beastify!”
“However, a silver level knight’s strength can’t break these branches. There are issues with this tree!”
While pondering, Zi Di said:” Lord Zhen Jin, these mounds are rather weird. The soil is reddish brown, and the trees that grow on it seem to be more resilient than normal trees.”
Following this, the gold level artificial magic beast, the gigantic lava turtle, appeared.
In order to drink water, it fought a python vine until finally swaggering off.
In that short moment of seeing a gold level existence, Zi Di’s heart turned ice-cold.
“I greatly underestimated Mystifying Monster Island.”
“With my strength alone, I cannot explore this place. The concealed magic beasts want my life!”
“Alas……although War Merchant’s inheritance is immensely valuable, I cannot get a share.”
This opinion had been growing in Zi Di for the last several days.
The gold level magic beasts and magic plants, today’s near death experience, as well as the sixteen dead guards, caused her to finally change her plans.
“This island’s animals and plants are extremely weird; this is my first time seeing any of them. We had better leave this place without delay.” Zi Di said to the body double.
The two easily crossed the river and continued through the rainforest.
“Oh, right, Zi Di.” The body double took the initiative to ask, “What’s my skill level like?”
“My Lord, the public thinks you have the abilities of an iron level.”
“The public thinks?”
“Yes. Your Lordship usually displayed iron levelled abilities. But from my guess, it is definitely not the case, because the reason for crossing the sea this time was to fight for the White Sand City Lord’s seat. A city lord must have at least silver level cultivation in order to serve the public.”
Zi Di was already ready for this question, thus her answer flowed easily.
The speculation abilities the body double displayed also made Zi Di more vigilant.
Not long after, the two came to the place where the blue dog fox wolf killed the final two guards.
“Ahh, be careful!” Zi Di’s warning came too late, the body double was still wounded by the blood-streaked snake.
Zi Di used medicine to heal the body double’s injuries.
“Fortunately, the thorns did not have poison! Sorry my Lord, I have hurt you. I should have warned you sooner.” The girl felt guilt and remorse.
She was worried the body double would hear mistakes; therefore, she concealed a lot of information.
The body double was wounded, causing her to realize that she had to state some information to him.
This was undoubtedly a test for Zi Di.
If she contradicted herself and said something wrong, the body double would doubt Zi Di. If there were too many doubts, perhaps in the end, her life wouldn’t be taken by a magic beast, but by the young knight before her.
“No, he simply isn’t any kind of knight!”
“He was transformed by War Merchant and his memory was tampered with, there is essentially no difference between him, the evil wolf, and that blood-streaked snake.”
“He is a beast that I am only deceiving for the time being, nothing more.”
“Perhaps in the future, he will realize this, open his beastly mouth, and devour his deceiver!”
Notes
TLDR, book 1 is the product of Zi Di dealing with her fuckups, ambition, and trust issues as much as its 866 dealing with the aftermath, his trust issues, and mental problems. As it will soon be clear, there is a distinct lack of trust in this world. Only through actions and consistency can trust be forged and maintained, and as the present shows, the survivors only trust one person to lead them.