Chapter 553: Kristin, Bursting with Debuffs

Ji Ming never expected that the treatment, just begun, would already bring such a weighty harvest.

But following the work habit he'd developed after months of practicing medicine, Ji Ming still set aside the magical signal and first checked Ke Li Si Ting's head.

The result of this look was shocking—Gu gu, a huge chunk of her memory had been completely deleted!

Moreover, judging from the similarly altered and edited connection points at both ends, it happened to be the segment covering her audience with the emperor and being ennobled as a countess.

Although Ji Ming's colleague here is fairly skilled at messing with people's brains, the handling of the key part is still somewhat unfamiliar and rough.

For example, he knows that after deleting a segment of memory he should fill it with a brand‑new memory, so as to prevent Ke Li Si Ting's intuition from sensing something off.

But this memory fragment is riddled with holes, its details and logic completely wrong, and the whole plot structure is so slapdash it's almost unbelievable.

As a result, not only did Ji Ming, an expert in this field, instantly spot this terribly ugly patch, but Ke Li Si Ting's intuition kept warning her to beware of a bad person.

But the warhorse girl is really slow‑witted, just like a college dormmate—even when the morning alarm wakes you up, she's still sleeping like she's been knocked out…

Besides that, on Ke Li Si Ting's body and in her memory, Ji Ming also discovered many hidden ailments and tampering.

Injuries and sickness are easy to talk about—war always involves bleeding, you just treat it—but the faint curse wrapped around her body is rather abstract.

Because this curse is less about control and more about usurpation.

Its caster actually wanted to seize Ke Li Si Ting's control over activating her own bloodline to enter the Primordial Form.

In other words, they wanted to turn her into a biological nuclear bomb with the launch code in their own hands!

"Gu gu, if I hadn't given Ke Li Si Ting a check‑up this time, wouldn't she turn into a Primordial Heavenly Horse the next time we meet?"

Ji Ming let out a long sigh, and could only treat Ke Li Si Ting like an antivirus program that had just finished a full scan—doing what needed to be done and undoing what needed to be undone.

But as a responsible doctor, he didn't destroy this usurpation curse outright; instead, he detached it entirely and studied it carefully.

As a result, he found that this casting method and operation seemed somewhat familiar.

This is…

!!!

AdaiEr's bloodline curse!

An exquisite curse structure, a simple yet effective arrangement, and a covert, silent harmful operation that follows its target from afar.

Furthermore, considering that curse‑masters' inheritance is definitely low‑grade no matter what, it is itself extremely rare, and only wealthy households can afford to keep them.

This thing is either a brand‑new masterpiece by the very curse‑master who previously harmed AdaiEr, or a fellow disciple of that master—and their skill is only higher, never lower.

Damn, no wonder the Third Prince can support Ke Li Si Ting so much, even taking her to Huiguang to show off—turns out he got hold of her backup hidden energy!

Out of caution, he gave Ke Li Si Ting another full scan, confirmed there was no residue, and then lifted the mental control he had placed on her.

"Hmm…"

Ke Li Si Ting lowered her head, then lifted it again, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Ah? Is it done?"

"If you mean the treatment, then yes, it's indeed finished,"

Then Ji Ming was seen shaking his head like an old Chinese doctor.

"But if you mean your physical condition, then it really couldn't be worse."

"?"

"Come, look at this."

Saying this, Ji Ming produced the nuclear launch code grafted onto a tree‑person bonsai and showed it to Ke Li Si Ting.

She doesn't understand curses, but she could only sense a faint malice wrapped around it.

"This is…"

"It's the curse that unconditionally controls beastfolk into entering the Primordial State—oh, I just discovered it on you."

"Ah!!"

Ji Ming knows how to produce dramatic effect; when he said that, it scared the warhorse girl half to death.

"Don't be afraid, it's a seed‑type curse; it needs time to mature, and it's not yet complete."

"Oh, that's alright then…"

"However, considering its current state, if I hadn't removed it, it would probably hatch into its full form before long."

"!!!"

It's truly cruel—Ke Li Si Ting has been tormented by Ji Ming's playful malice into stuttering.

"So… who… is this… ah, never mind, you don't have to say it—I already know."

Whoever possesses such means and such ruthlessness could still have the chance to impose such a complex curse on her.

Who could possibly meet all these conditions at once? Naturally, only the Third Prince.

Moreover, she knows what happened on the barbaric plains—rumor has it that bunch of idiots, like dominoes, fell one after another into atavism, and in just a few days they killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Likewise a beastfolk, likewise a beastfolk warrior with some ancient bloodline, Ke Li Si Ting, while shocked, could not help but feel a lingering fear.

She never expected her fear to be justified this time—for she might very well be the next one!

Thinking this, she rose up like a mountain and paced irritably along the forest path.

"Ya Ge Luo! I'm still his lifesaver, after all—I knew that damned prince couldn't be trusted!"

Seeing Ke Li Si Ting grit her teeth, Ji Ming merely sighed.

"When you hold a position and manage its affairs, the imperial family suffers the most—even if I were in your place, I wouldn't dare use you, a foreign race, if I couldn't catch hold of your leverage."

"Bastard, you cold‑hearted man, even now you won't speak up for me!"

But Ke Li Si Ting instinctively wanted to retort, only to find she couldn't really pick out any fault.

All she could do was let out a cold snort.

"Believe it or not! Worst case, I'll switch allegiances and serve someone else!"

"If you defect, it really comes down to just three paths."

Ji Ming seemed not to have heard her anger, and instead began counting on his fingers.

"The first option is the visibly Second Prince; he should have thrown you an olive branch, right? And if you defect to him, it would also count as heavily humiliating the Third Prince—roughly equivalent to starting out with a high-value letter of recommendation."

"The second option is the Eldest Princess, the strongest among the three heirs; although she cherishes her reputation and rarely shows herself, that doesn't mean she isn't pulling strings behind the scenes, and the Prince Consort is right here at the banquet—he can immediately put you in touch."

"The third option is the Northern Border nobles; although you are a newly minted small baron without backing, you could seek out those small families whose fortunes have declined but whose reputation remains, marry into them, then launch a domestic intrigue mode, gradually usurping their connections and capital..."

Ke Li Si Ting couldn't listen anymore.

"What? I don't want to marry into a family at all! I..."

She raised her hand and banned the pathetic third option, hesitated a moment, then turned back to the first two.

"The Second Prince really did tell me he'd keep a spot for me, but his main connections aren't actually in the Northern Border; they're mostly in the business sector, leaving little room for me to make an impact."

"If I really had to choose, I actually prefer the Eldest Princess a bit more; she opens doors to talent, and it seems she's lacking a suitable mid-level commander, so she'd likely be willing to take me in..."

These words don't sound like something Ke Li Si Ting could say; it appears that the adjutant and the Shuang Ju Ren, this loyal pair of staff officers, have indeed put in the effort.

It seems that even before setting off for the Northern Border together with her as commander, they had already researched which faction to join after earning military merit.

But plans can't keep up with changes; the sudden tightening of the war and the forced entry into danger led them to mistakenly join the Third Prince's faction—a passive decision.

Thus, the indecisive Ke Li Si Ting was already hesitant at first, and now reconsidering only deepens her dilemma.

After long contemplation, she still lowered her voice and asked for help.

"Ji Ming, what do you think..."

But what she got in return was Ji Ming's exclamation of surprise.

"You really want to?"

"Huh?"

"You, you really are..."

Ji Ming laughed and cried at once.

"This is clearly a path with no retreat, so those three options actually don't exist!"

He also stood up and walked over to Ke Li Si Ting, who was frozen in place.

"Because unless one has boldness and magnanimity, no one would accept a traitor, even if he defects to his own side!"

【Oh wow, starting to praise himself】

"Or put another way, you've come this far, and your title already bears the label of the Third Prince's faction—yet you're still thinking of retreating, or even switching sides?"

"Sigh, you! You're really too indecisive!"

Ke Li Si Ting was already dazed, so naturally she could only ask another question.

"Then what should I do?"

"Don't rush; I still have something here for you to look at."

Ji Ming then took out the magical signal that had been captured from the start and displayed it before Ke Li Si Ting.

"This is something that sprang directly from your mind after I hypnotized you—guess where it went?"

As for the answer to this question, Ji Ming had actually examined it thoroughly before waking Ke Li Si Ting.

Good news: the signal felt familiar to Ji Ming as well, likely coming from an old acquaintance.

Bad news: therefore he can be certain that the signal's source has nothing to do with that sorcerer!

So besides the Third Prince's lineage, there should be another group monitoring Ke Li Si Ting's situation.

"Ah???"

If Ji Ming's earlier words were meant to scare Ke Li Si Ting to death, now it's about scaring her back to life.

——I clearly have no problem, I know nothing, yet I'm inexplicably being toyed with as a lab rat by two factions.

"I don't know! Where did it go?"

"Ha, I wouldn't have thought of it either, but who made me—or rather, who made you so lucky?"

As his natural enemy, there aren't many Deep Forest people who feel familiar to Ji Ming.

After recalling the Third Prince, the Forest Church, and even those resistance elves hidden deep in the Deep Forest underground who had gone mad, he found a clue in the corners of his memory.

"Lionheart King!"

"From the traces left on this magical signal, it should be a warning-type magic that the Lionheart King secretly placed on you!"

"Once someone rashly intrudes into your divine sense, it will be instantly triggered, flying back like a carrier pigeon to warn him!"

Ke Li Si Ting felt her head was a tangled mess, but to keep up with Ji Ming's pace she still forced her thoughts to turn.

"But what does the Lionheart King mean by doing this? I'm just a petty baron."

Indeed, although that segment of her memory was truly deleted, even Ji Ming couldn't restore it to clarity.

But it can be confirmed that if she really saw something she shouldn't have, it definitely wouldn't be limited to just this small patch of altered memory.

Because that's too gentle!

Given the Deep Forest Royal Family's ruthlessness—so vicious they don't even blink when killing their own kin—the Warhorse Maiden should have long since died by suicide from an arrow in the back.

So...

Is the Lionheart King afraid that Ke Li Si Ting, as a beastfolk commander, would use her strong intuition to notice clues, so he simply went all out, deleting and rewriting that memory?

Unfortunately, information is lacking, and Ji Ming isn't omniscient, so much more cannot be truly deduced.

On the other hand, one thing can be further confirmed: the Deep Forest Royal Family likely has deep ties to the remnants of the Dark Flame from ten thousand years ago.

Otherwise, with their methods and abilities, Ji Ming really can't imagine how they could live under the same roof and still not notice each other.

But this matter involves too much, the situation is urgent, and the fewer people who know, the better; therefore Ji Ming didn't tell Ke Li Si Ting all of this information.

He merely told her that the Deep Forest Royal Family is sinister and deceitful, father and sons all a pack of white-eyed wolves, and even if they had a life-saving favor, they wouldn't grant her trust.

Given the current situation, it's likely just being used as a beastfolk mercenary to oppose the Beimosi Khanate in the north, and sooner or later it will end with the hunting dog being cooked after the hare is dead.

But.

Ji Ming has an underground city and a small boss as a retreat; wanting to quit the Holy Light Church or the Hui Guang Kingdom is just a matter of saying so.

Even if there are losses, they are completely acceptable losses.

But for Ke Li Si Ting, who has longed for fame and fortune since childhood and finally sees a glimmer of hope, this is not the case.

Not everyone in this world has the courage to start over; asking her to give up what she has struggled to obtain is truly too difficult.

Ke Li Si Ting is like that by nature; Ji Ming, who has seen too much of the world's vicissitudes, can also understand this mindset—it's only human.

He then stopped advising, merely earnestly telling this foolish spy novice the principle of "think of danger, think of retreat, think of change".

He then also told her that staying there wasn't bad either; he himself had some connections in the Deep Forest, his official rank was not minor, and when necessary he could look after her a bit.

"What?"

Ke Li Si Ting was still reading the ancient wisdom from another world when she heard Ji Ming actually say he had connections in the Deep Forest.

"Besides me, who else do you have connections with? Who?"

Ji Ming laughed heartily.

"You don't need to know; someone like you, a fool, might slip up, you just need to know that you have someone above you."

"... Hmph."

Ke Li Si Ting was today numbed by Ji Ming's beating and education, but who made her indeed embarrass herself today? She could only reluctantly accept it for now.

(End of chapter)