Chapter 198 Amnesia

Exposed.

I sighed inwardly, knowing that hiding it any further would only make it more suspicious and might even lead to unnecessary conflict.

But since I decided to let Xiaobai deliver the information, I was already prepared to be exposed.

I slowly walked out from the window glass, raised my hands to indicate that I was unarmed, and said in a calm voice: "Don't be nervous, I mean no harm."

When I fully revealed myself, my face exposed to the sight of the three of them—

Time seemed to suddenly stop.

The wariness on the handsome man's face froze instantly, replaced by an extreme, incomprehensible shock.

His eyes were wide open and his mouth was open, but no sound came out. His expression was as if he had seen someone who could never appear.

"Ji... Ji Ling...?" He finally squeezed out two breaths from his throat, full of disbelief.

Song Nanxing's expression wasn't much better either.

His body tensed noticeably beneath his windbreaker, and his sharp eyes darted back and forth across my face, as if trying to determine if this was some kind of sophisticated illusion or disguise.

His brows were tightly furrowed, and he blurted out: "...Fuck! What the hell?!" It was still the familiar tone, but it was full of horror and confusion.

Even Chen Yubing, who had always remained calm, suddenly tightened his fingers on the hilt of the knife, his knuckles turning white.

A huge wave of emotion surged in her cold eyes, a mixture of shock, confusion, vigilance, and an extremely complex, almost unidentifiable glimmer.

She stared at me intently, as if she wanted to see through me from inside out.

"Ji Ling...?" Chen Yubing's voice was still cold, but with a very subtle, barely perceptible tremor. "You're still... alive?"

Above the desolate industrial ruins, a thin mist slowly drifted between us.

The atmosphere was strangely awkward for a moment and no one spoke.

…

After a few seconds, I coughed dryly and said hello to them:

"Um...long time no see."

My eyes swept across the three of them, lingering for a moment on Chen Yubing's cold, inquiring face, then passed over Song Nanxing's face, which was filled with disbelief. Finally, they landed on the man who first called out my name.

The shock on his face hadn't faded yet, and his eyes were a mixture of ecstasy, confusion, and an almost fragile uncertainty. It was familiar.

This face, this temperament, and even the "Ji Ling" he blurted out just now, all gave me an undoubted sense of familiarity.

I'm sure I know him, we fought side by side and our relationship seemed... pretty good?

But when I tried to recall the specific details about him, my mind seemed to be covered by a layer of frosted glass, and everything became blurry.

I can't remember the man's name, but I'm sure he once fought alongside me, but the details are all in vain.

It's a side effect of the Illusion Crystal. It tampered with part of my memory, and regarding this person, it seems that this is exactly the area that was replaced.

Hopefully nothing important was forgotten...

My pause and the flash of confusion in my eyes did not escape their eyes.

The joy and uncertainty on the man's face froze in an instant, slowly transforming into a deeper confusion and hurt.

He seemed to sense my unfamiliarity, took a half step forward, and spoke uncertainly, "Ji Ling? Don't you recognize us?"

Even the two people next to him cast inquiring glances.

Song Nanxing crossed his arms, his sharp tongue still intact, but his tone was much lower than usual: "Hey, what's going on? Don't tell us you're playing some old trick of amnesia? Or..." His eyes became sharper, "You're not Ji Ling at all?"

Chen Yubing didn't say anything, but she still didn't let go of her hand on the hilt of the knife. Her eyes were scrutinizing, capturing every subtle change in expression on my face, trying to judge the authenticity.

I took a deep breath, suppressed the slight embarrassment of forgetting acquaintances, and tried to keep my voice steady: "I remember you. Chen Yubing, Song Nanxing..."

I looked at the man with anxious eyes and paused: "...You, don't remember."

"Don't remember?! I'm Jiang Wang!"

There was incredible urgency in his voice, and even a hint of imperceptible grievance.

"I did have some accidents."

I carefully chose my words, avoiding mentioning the "illusion crystal," which couldn't be mentioned for the time being. "Part of my memory has been affected. Some people and things have become blurry. Especially... things about you."

I pointed at him, my tone filled with genuine apology and helplessness. "I'm sorry. I know we were supposed to be comrades, but I can't remember too many details right now."

Jiang Wang was completely stunned, as if he had been punched in the face. He opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. He just looked at me with a complex expression that was a mixture of shock, loss and a hint of disbelief.

Song Nanxing also put away his sarcastic expression, frowned, and exchanged a solemn and confused look with Chen Yubing.

Amnesia? This kind of plot is ridiculous, not to mention them, even I find it ridiculous.

While it's not completely impossible in a doomsday world with all sorts of weird abilities and side effects, it's particularly strange and unacceptable for it to happen to a teammate they thought was already dead.

"Accident? What accident?" Chen Yubing finally spoke again. His voice was still cold, but his intention to ask was very obvious. "What happened after you stopped the Apocalypse Cult ceremony that day? We all thought you..."

She didn't finish her words, but I could roughly guess: she thought I was dead.

The thin mist flowed silently. I took a deep breath of the not-so-fresh air and spoke slowly. My voice was particularly clear in the silent ruins:

"After that battle, I almost died, but when I woke up, I was still in the stronghold of the Apocalypse Sect." I chose to start from a node that they all knew. This is the real beginning.

"The Apocalypse Cult captured me twice, both times for the Divine Descent ritual. The replica we fought last time was essentially a cover they used to delay the Bureau's progress so they could secretly relocate after their experiment failed."

"Gali's power is indeed far beyond my imagination. The backlash brought by the God's Descent Ritual almost destroyed my spirit. This is why I said that there is a problem with my memory. I found that some of my memories have been replaced." My tone is sincere, but very natural and reasonable. I blamed all the side effects of the "illusion crystal" on the God's Descent Ritual.

It doesn't matter anyway, it's all Gali's fault.

"What?!" Jiang Wang screamed in surprise, Song Nanxing's face instantly turned ugly, and Chen Yubing pressed the hilt of the knife even tighter with his fingertips.

Even Song Nanxing's face didn't look good.

“But I still observed something.”

I opened my mouth and decided to reveal the more important points.