“Strange.” The body double inspected the blood-streaked snake’s carcass, “Where is this magic beast’s crystal core?”
Zi Di explained: this island had strong magic beasts, but none had magic cores inside them. Perhaps because of this, these magic beasts never displayed any proto-magic.
Explaining this, Zi Di’s mind suddenly flashed with inspiration.
“Hold on, maybe the prohibition environment here was meant for these magic beasts!”
“These magic beasts were made by War Merchant, their internal magic power is probably unstable, therefore they can only exist in a magic prohibition environment.”
“If the prohibition environment disappeared, because of their unbalanced magic power, these magic beasts would die and even explode.”
The more Zi Di thought the more she felt her guess was correct.
Since landing, she witnessed many remodeled magic beasts.
“If these magic beasts were this powerful, then War Merchant would have sold them as weapons at an earlier date.”
“But he didn’t do that.”
“This proves these magic beasts have a fatal flaw and cannot see widespread use.”
Zi Di glanced at the body double, motivated by her safety, she didn’t say anything about this guess.
Zi Di pitied herself secretly: “The magic prohibition environment might have always existed; I must have gotten special treatment when I came to Mystifying Monster Island with Jian Zuan.”
“Crucially, I don’t know the limits of the magic prohibition environment. Is the body double’s silver level cultivation blocked? He can’t use battle qi, but is it because of his lost memories?”
“In short, he is the key to my survival, I had better stabilize him first!”
Night, next to a bonfire.
Zi Di gazed at the new arm guard and sighed: “If only your Lordship had this iron arm guard earlier then the blood-streaked snake would not have hurt you.”
The body double moved involuntarily and could not help but reach out and stroke Zi Di’s hair.
Zi Di shivered.
“Mm...my Lord. “ Zi Di bowed her head, Zhen Jin’s actions seemed to scare her, causing her to breathe like a nervous kitten.
She really was scared, because she suddenly thought of something: “Zhen Jin was a womanizer, did the body double inherit that attribute of his?”
“During today’s cautious journey through tonight, there was only me and him.”
“If he really wanted to try something with me, I am incapable of resisting and there is no one around to save me!”
But the body double quickly retracted his hand and faintly inquired: “Zi Di what kind of person do you think I am?”
This was a difficult question to answer.
If the answer wasn’t good, it would show flaws.
Zi Di subconsciously controlled her breathing as her mind whirled with thoughts, then after carefully considering her words, she responded: “Lord Zhen Jin, I do not know much about you.” (By setting the tone first, I can avoid many detailed questions.)
“But based on the rumors, your Lordship was not close to women and was a loner. Even when something big happened you do not show emotions.” (With this expressed opinion, I hope it can reduce your attempts on me!)
“You spent most of your time at the temple as a serious and silent ascetic. Also, your food, your clothing, and even your every move was elegant and calm like a rich noble.”
“Although you had few friends you were very helpful, protected the weak, and helped the poor. The lower class admired you my Lord.”
“My Lord, when you suddenly moved your hand and successfully entered the White Sands City Lord’s competition you surprised the other templars.”
Zi Di’s words did their best to create the perfect image of a templar knight.
Since his memory was lost, this process could mold and contain him.
As for the future, Zi Di couldn’t do much to prevent the body double’s suspicions when he learned the truth after returning to human society. Actually, even if he had doubts, Zi Di explained it in a sentence——“Lord Zhen Jin, I do not know much about you.”
The body double didn’t doubt himself, and because of Zi Di’s words, he quickly sketched the figure of a sophisticated youngster in his heart.
Just as he was about to inquire about more things, fire-poison bees suddenly invaded!
“How is there a fire-poison bee swarm here?!” Zi Di’s heart was almost startled into confusion.
She no longer had loyal guards at her side, only a body double with lost memories and an unknown morality.
Under the threat of death, if the body double abandoned Zi Di and ran away, Zi Di wouldn’t find it strange.
“My life now depends on him.” At that critical moment, Zi Di’s mind flashed, “I’ve got a solution!”
"These are fire-poison bees! My Lord, we need to run!”
“Go quickly Lord!!” Zi Di shouted urgently, revealing a deathly spirit.
“Lord, you must run. I have a potion that can detoxify me!” Zi Di urged again.
“You should escape! I can deal with the fire-poison bees.” The body double chose to stay behind and stopped Zi Di from going forward.
Zi Di secretly relaxed and breathed.
But quickly, the body double sank into a bitter struggle against the attacking bees.
“Don’t tell me today is my foreordained time of death?”
As Zi Di despaired, the body double suddenly used the Hundred Needle Wind battle art.
“This is?!” Zi Di lifted her head, pleasant surprise and shock mingled in her expression.
The body double’s counterattack allowed her to see hope.
“This is indeed worthy of your Lordship! “I Di blurted, cheering for the body double.
One by one, the fire-poison bees fell to the ground, the Hundred Needle Wind battle art had restrained them considerably.
“Lord...” As Zi Di was protected, she looked at Zhen Jin’s back, her eyes reflecting the dying campfire, yet shined brightly.
“It seems the memory crystal has at least imbued him with some details, but they need strong stimulation or relevant triggers.
“He continued to protect me; he must have believed my words without a shadow of doubt.”
“In the short term, he is still reliable.”
“Dammit, he has been hibernating for too long. He has too much poison, even if I have medicine, I cannot save his life.”
Standing behind the body double, Zi Di continued to cautiously watch with increasing concern.
Finally, as another fire-poison bee swarm invaded, the body double knew he couldn’t fight, thus he could only take Zi Di’s hand and escape.
The two ran through the dark jungle.
“My Lord let me stay. I can distract…..” Zi Di was short of breath.
“Shut up!” The body double suddenly turned to Zi Di.
The girl cried as she crashed into the body double’s arms.
The next moment the girl was spun around, and her vision shifted.
When she came to, she realized she had run into the body double’s arms.
Zi Di pressed into the body double’s wide chest, because of his intense movements, she sensed his strong male odor.
She had never been hugged by a young male!
In her field of view, there was a dark shadow attacking her.
It was rainforest branches and vines.
Because she collided with the body double, they knocked into and broke several branches and vines.
“Is this……the feeling of protection?” An indescribable feeling rippled through Zi Di’s heart.
But quickly, she sorted her mood and calmly fished out a potion bottle. With the help of the firefly-like glow inside, she did her best to help the body double distinguish a path.
Then, she used another potion in an attempt to slow down the pursuing fire-poison bee swarm.
Then teleportation occurred, but in their nervous state, the body double and Zi Di didn’t sense it.
Finally, forced by the fire-poison bee swarm, they had to flee into a cave.
The fire-poison flared up, putting the body double in a precarious situation.
Zi Di gradually gave into despair.
Relying on his last thread of clarity, he weakly said to Zi Di: “Go, escape now.”
But the girl fiercely shook her head, her eyes tearful as she resolutely said: “No my Lord! I will not abandon you. It was with great difficulty that I found you and reached this point. We cannot give up now!”
(Without you, body double, how can I escape this island alone? At worst, I’ll die here! I simply lost my gamble, I underestimated Mystifying Monster Island and I underestimated War Merchant; thus, I will accept this conclusion gracefully.)
Something unexpected happened.
A monkey tail brown bear felt its territory was being encroached on as the fire-poison bee swarm charged into the cave.
Zi Di and the body double were safe temporarily, but the body double’s situation grew worse, putting him on the edge of death.
The body double tried to drive her away again, but Zi Di shook her head and refused: “Facing Zhen Jin again, Zi Di shook her head: “I will not go. I will not abandon you. My Lord, I may be able to concoct a potion, surely I can create the correct potion! We still have a chance. We can’t give up!”
“Faster, faster, move a bit faster!”
Zi Di shouted in her heart as she took out every potion she had.
In order to save time, she immediately dumped a potion onto the ground, corroding a small hole.
“Simple medicine cannot save the body double; I can only use temporary and targeted potions with stronger effects!”
“Zi Di, step on it!”
“You must succeed in saving the body double, only then can you keep living and have a chance of escaping this place!!”
The girl moved with unprecedented nimbleness as she quickly churned through the barbarian race’s medicinal knowledge she knew by heart.
Soon after, she began to mix many of the potions together. Then she took out many dried herbs and roots from her bosom and crushed them into a powder. Afterwards she poured them into the hole.
Gurgle…..
The potion in the hole began to bubble with curling fumes.
Zi Di knew her hope of survival depended on whether she could do this.
Immense pressure was forced onto her, and she wept as she mixed the potion.
In order to pursue a ferocious medicinal effect, she had to take a risk and threw in many berserk potions. She was uncertain, but she knew doing anything else was hopeless.
Thankfully, the potion she mixed succeeded in waking up the body double and eliminating most of the fire-poison in his body. But at the same time, the large amount of berserk potions used as ingredients also squeezed the body double’s vitality.
After the medicinal effects waned, Zi Di was not sure if the body double would live or die.
The body double wanted Zi Di to flee the cave, resulting in them seeing the fight between the scaled leopards and the monkey tail brown bear.
Because beast groups were blocking them, the body double and Zi Di failed in escaping, forcing them to return to the cave.
The monkey tail brown bear returned triumphant and gorged itself on ore to heal itself.
Faced with a difficult choice, the body double remembered another of Zhen Jin’s memories, then, duty bound to not turn back, he finally decided to charge at the monkey tail brown bear.
A bitter close quarters fight!
He was fighting for their lives.
The body double’s arm was completely snapped, both arm muscles were minced, his body suffered many fractures, and his internal organs were severely bleeding.
The monkey tail brown bear’s talons punctured the body double’s belly and nailed him to the ground. The boiling talons instantly cooked his intestines.
Finally, the body double and the monkey tail brown bear tore at each other, resulting in mutual destruction!
“Both, both of them died?!”
Zi Di sat in a daze, for a good while her body shivered until she suddenly woke up.
She rushed to the body double’s corpse and inspected his heart. After confirming his death, Zi Di’s mood became very complex.
First was shock.
She had never witnessed such a bitter fight so closely.
Soon after it was appreciation.
“He died for me.”
“He resembles one of those heroic knightly martyrs. No, War Merchant once said, he was silver level knight before his transformation!”
“I should have trusted him more.”
Finally, it was loneliness and dread.
“Now……only I am left!”
The body double woke up, but after one day and one night, he died.
On the massive Mystifying Monster Island and trapped in a dense forest filled with endless magic beasts, as the last one alive, Zi Di felt very lonely.
Where should she go? How could she keep on living?
Zi Di didn’t have answers or directions, and desperation enveloped her.
She foolishly sat down and leaned on the body double’s corpse, recalled her entire life, thought of her father’s animosity, and the shipwreck.
She was sometimes angry, sometimes hateful, sometimes remorseful, and sometimes incredulous, it felt she was in a dream.
In the end, she was merely a fifteen year old girl!
She curled up her body, put her arms around her legs, and sensed this cave would be her grave.
Time quietly passed; it was unknown how long had gone by.
Zi Di suddenly raised her head, her face still had tear stains, but her eyes had steadied themselves again!
“No, these aren’t my final moments. I can’t give up just yet!”
“Even if I am alone, I still have hope of escaping this place.”
“No matter how small that hope is, I will do my best to seize it.”
Zi Di revitalized her fighting spirit, then she firmly wiped away her tears and began to act.
The first thing she needed to do was gather materials for medicine.
In this magic prohibition environment, medicine helped her the most. Especially the medicine in the barbarian race’s leather book.
However, as she knelt down to gather blood from the monkey tail brown bear corpse, she heard a soft echo.
Zi Di’s heart jumped, she turned around at once and saw the body double coming to.
Strong shock suddenly attacked, causing her heart to cry out in surprise: “Impossible, he was definitely dead!”
Death and rebirth?!
For a moment, Zi Di couldn’t believe her eyes.
Because this place had no magic or divine spells, what could resurrect him?
“Hold on.” Suddenly, her mind flashed, “The body double was personally modified and transformed by War Merchant, from his own mouth, War Merchant admitted he was his magnum opus!”
“Don’t tell me, this is one of the effects of War Merchant’s transformations?”
“Thinking carefully, it seems very possible! War Merchant wanted to use the body double to replace Zhen Jin, and even used a Gold Queen Bee bloodline. He used all of his strength to transform him, thus the body double having the ability to revive is very reasonable.”
After two breaths, Zi Di finally reacted.
The girl immediately hurried over to the body double’s side and shouted in pleasant surprise: “My Lord?! Lord Zhen Jin, you woke up!”
Notes
You know when I made a Vulkan joke back in chapter 10, I didn’t think he’d literally have perpetual abilities that can revive him from the dead. Then again, I also made a Gelt joke too, and War Merchant turned out to have a spell that turned people into gold. This just confirms IB is just Chinese Warhammer Fantasy, with the Sheng Ming Empire being some alternate version of Cathay.