Since killing the Ice Demon required Forbidden Blood Magic, Zhe Zilin decided to learn it now.
After all, he had a secret martial arts manual in hand, plus the “Wizard’s Potential” buff that allowed him to master any magic at a glance.
No matter what spell it was, he could learn it in a short time.
However, he did not want Ailia to know about the existence of the magic book for the time being.
He found an excuse to sit down, opened the magic book inside the system, and began studying Blood Magic.
Time passed second by second. Relying on the talent of “Wizard’s Potential,” Zhe Zilin rapidly mastered the basic chapter of Blood Magic.
[Acquired Forbidden Technique: Blood-Devouring Slash]
[Trait “Wizard’s Potential” completely negates the 100% backlash and mental erosion effects of Blood Magic]
[Technique Characteristics: Can condense a blood blade by relying on one’s own essence blood, sever the origin of ice, and inflict true armor-piercing annihilation damage on Ice Demons. Currently the only technique capable of completely killing an Ice Demon]
Zhe Zilin’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
He quietly suppressed the restless blood qi within his body.
His expression remained calm and lazy, revealing not the slightest trace of having practiced a forbidden technique.
He lifted his eyes and glanced at Ailia not far away.
Perhaps because he had been too focused on studying Blood Magic, he had not noticed that Ailia had been observing him the entire time.
When their gazes met, Zhe Zilin was slightly startled.
“You’ve… been watching me the whole time?”
Ailia did not try to hide it. She nodded honestly.
“From the moment you pretended you needed to rest, my eyes never left you. I’ve been watching you sit there in a daze the entire time.”
Calling it a daze was an understatement.
Zhe Zilin’s expressions had been extremely vivid.
Learning magic for the first time, it was inevitable that he would feel excited, to the point of forgetting to manage his facial expressions.
Ailia inexplicably found it amusing and turned her head to laugh several times.
“Ed, what were you thinking about?”
Zhe Zilin let out a soft “ah,” his expression unchanged. He deliberately curved the corners of his lips in a casual manner. “Nothing much. Just pondering how to deal with the Ice Demon.”
“Pondering?”
Ailia smiled lightly upon hearing this and slowly walked in front of him.
Her eyes looked straight at Zhe Zilin, her gaze direct and serious.
“But your expressions didn’t look like you were pondering at all. Sometimes excited, sometimes solemn, the emotions in your eyes fluctuating heavily.”
Ah, was it that obvious?
Zhe Zilin’s heart paused slightly.
Then he chuckled softly, raised his eyes to meet her gaze, and spoke in a loose, casual tone, perfectly recreating his usual lazy and indifferent manner.
“I’m used to looking like this when I’m pondering things.”
Ailia slanted a glance at him.
Looking at Zhe Zilin’s clumsy acting, she pressed her lips together and smiled, no longer pressing the matter.
Zhe Zilin suddenly came back to himself. “You’ve learned how to tease me?”
The corners of the girl’s eyes curved into shallow arcs. Her normally cool brows and eyes gained a few extra traces of lively playfulness.
“It’s your expressions that were truly comical. You can’t blame me.”
Ever since she learned that Zhe Zilin would not leave, the layer of mist that had long covered Ailia’s heart gradually dispersed, and her smiles became more frequent than before.
Zhe Zilin watched Ailia covering her face as she laughed and thought that the other party was still only a young girl, at an age that should have been pure and carefree.
She had simply experienced too much in the past, which was why her face so often carried a gloomy expression.
He did not mind being teased by her this once.
“When you were with me before… were you also like this?”
Ailia fell silent. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted.
“Hey, don’t say anything about waiting for me to remember it myself one day. I’m asking about the present Ailia, not the past one.”
Ailia pondered for a moment.
“The days I spent by Ed’s side in the past were the happiest days of my entire life. New and interesting things happened every day, and my mood was beautiful every single day.”
She lowered her lashes. Her tone was soft yet earnest, without the slightest hint of perfunctoriness.
“I still remember when we were in the Eastern Plains. In late spring the mountains were covered in flowers of every color. When the wind blew, fragrance drifted across the entire wilderness. Every day you would weave a different flower crown for me. Back then the first thing you did every morning was search for dragons. You said that if you could ever tame a giant dragon, you would take me to roam the world, free and unrestrained.”
Ailia slowly lifted her eyes. The past scenes were as clear as if they were happening before her.
That was the period of time she cherished most.
Word by word she recreated the ideals Zhe Zilin had spoken with his own mouth back then, her tone lingering and nostalgic.
“You hated the rigid laws of the Church. You loathed the rules that divided good and evil and arbitrarily judged heretics. The you of that time was open and upright, clean and free. Every day by your side was interesting.”
A cold northern wind gently brushed past, scattering the stray strands of hair by her temples.
The girl’s brows and eyes softened, filled with longing.
That was the most perfect Ed in her heart—one who yearned for the wilderness, held firm to his true self, was open and upright, and hated all that was evil and filthy.
Zhe Zilin’s throat tightened slightly upon hearing this. His expression darkened.
“The current me is different from before, isn’t it?”
Having lost his memories and forgotten so many experiences, a person’s personality would naturally change as well.
Zhe Zilin often wondered whether the current him was vastly different from the image that existed in Ailia’s and Osha’s hearts.
It was only that memory had added points in their hearts, making the two of them unable to forget.
He merely possessed the identity of Leibang Ed. Osha and Ailia only liked him because of that identity.
Zhe Zilin lowered his eyelids.
His expression remained as usual, yet he could not completely hide the self-denial that leaked from his eyes.
Ailia stared at him blankly.
The gentle longing that had just filled her eyes completely dissipated, replaced by fluster and a faint, hard-to-detect ache in her heart.
She instinctively stepped forward and gently grasped his wrist.
Her palm was warm, the force firm yet gentle.
“Do you still remember that time in the castle when you threatened to die just so you wouldn’t have to drink the medicine? You always wanted to escape. You yearned for freedom—that was true in the past, and it remains true now even after losing your memories.”
“You are you. No matter what you have experienced, you have always been that gentle Ed.”
“Whether it is the humorous and interesting Leibang Ed who wanted to be the freest person in the world, or the careful and cautious Ed of the present who has endured many hardships yet still carries that same gentleness in his eyes—I will fall in love with you again and again.”
Ailia’s fingertips paused slightly, yet she still did not release his wrist.
The faint light in her eyes was firm. “I believe Osha thinks the same way.”
The warm touch was firmly locked around his wrist. The girl’s strength was soft, yet it carried an unshakable certainty.
Word by word, she completely shattered the self-abasement and self-denial that had long occupied Zhe Zilin’s heart.
His entire body stiffened slightly.
His chest felt as though it had been wrapped in a warm current.
So it had never been attachment to the filter of the past, nor obsession with the old outer shell.
Zhe Zilin reached out and ruffled Ailia’s hair.
“Thank you, Ailia.”
He gathered all the emotions in his eyes and once again curved his lips into a calm smile.
“All right. It’s almost dark. I should move as well.”
Zhe Zilin turned and walked toward the door. Just as he was about to leave, Ailia’s voice came from behind him.
“Be yourself, Ed!”
Those were the words Zhe Zilin had said to Ailia countless times in the past.
Now she returned them intact to the present Zhe Zilin.
“All right!”