The Insect King's appetite is growing.
The date of offering sacrifices was changed from once every thirty days to once every half a month, and now directly to once every seven days.
Four servants of the god plus countless people hunted animals for it day and night, but they could never fill its bottomless stomach.
When the killing rate exceeds the reproduction rate of animals, the entire ecological chain of the dense forest will have problems. Helemis felt this more directly. He had not encountered large prey for nearly half a month. It seemed that something was quietly extinct in a place they could not see.
The sound of the Insect King rang all night, and Helemis's head hurt all night. The former used this method to force his people to find prey for him, otherwise the pain would gradually increase over time, making them want to smash their heads.
Helemis once witnessed a low-level insect smashing its own head because it could not bear the pain.
The next morning, Helemis had no choice but to put on his robes and go to the temple. He raised his hand to pull the brim of his black hat to the top of his head, covering his long silver hair. Before leaving the cave, he remembered something and looked back at Lin Kong who was still sleeping soundly on the stone bed.
If Helemis knew a creature called a pig, he would definitely think it was very suitable for Lin Kong. Unfortunately, he didn't. He simply thought that the heartless appearance of this prey made Chong jealous.
Helemis originally wanted to wake up Lin Kong, but he gave up because he remembered something. He carved a mark on the stone wall of the cave with his sharp nails and then turned and left.
[You have laid a golden insect egg... It will succeed you as the next insect king... According to the rules of the temple... You should use your own energy to hatch this insect egg... ]
[food…]
Dong Ning hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then slowly spread out his palm, and a tiny amount of blue energy flew to the Insect King: [My King, please enjoy.]
The temple is located on the other side of the mountains. Whenever the sun rises, the palace that appeared at an unknown time will emit a brilliant golden light, which is out of tune with this primitive and backward jungle.
[Dong Ning, where is your food? ! ]
[My king, please enjoy. ]
The Insect King was quite dissatisfied with the amount of food, and his deep voice could not hide his anger: [Donning! I need countless food! Not this amount that is only enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of ants! ]
While paying his respects, Jia Yan glared at Helemis fiercely. Last time, one of his arms was torn off, and it took him a lot of effort to finally grow the limb back. Now he wished he could eat Helemis alive.
[My King—]
Xuebo and Jiayan followed suit and offered the energy they had hunted. The Insect King finished eating quickly, and suddenly realized that there was still a servant who had not moved. It turned its body towards Dongning and swung its tail in annoyance:
Dong Ning was strangled to the point of being unable to breathe. His face flushed red as he spoke with difficulty: [Wang... the large animals in the dense forest are almost extinct... If we continue to hunt them without restraint like this... we won't be able to find any prey when the cold winter comes...]
[Offer the food you brought...]
The Insect King let out an angry scream similar to "hiss", and it directly strangled Dong Ning's neck with its mental power. The latter's body floated uncontrollably in the air, and he struggled violently because of suffocation.
If the insect king can shed its skin successfully, it can gain another 200 years of life.
Helemis spread his wings and flew towards the temple, his speed was so fast that only his afterimage could be seen. When he saw the huge body of the Insect King from afar, he folded his wings and dived down. At the same time, three "whoosh" sounds were heard from the dense forest behind him, and the other three servants also rushed over.
Hearing this, Helemis turned his wrist and a blue ball of light appeared out of thin air in his palm and flew straight to the Insect King.
Xuepo paid no attention to what was happening outside the window. She just lowered her head and quietly tidied her long golden hair to prevent it from falling to the ground and getting covered in dust.
The Insect King had just laid a golden egg. It slowly moved its huge body, feeling increasingly hungry. Its originally white skin was now turning yellow and wrinkled, like a snake about to shed its skin.
But only Helemis knew that this meant that the Insect King was old and his life was coming to an end. In order to prolong his life, he had been devouring food like crazy during this period, trying to get himself back into the molting period.
Dong Ning is the most taciturn of all the servants of the gods. This silence is different from the coldness of the snow-capped mountains of Helemis. It is more like a tiny grass in the soil, bowing its head to survive in the storm.
Four servants of the gods fell from midair, their black robes fluttering in the wind. They put their right hands on their shoulders and knelt on one knee towards the Insect King not far away, expressing their absolute respect and obedience.
Before Dong Ning could finish his words, his figure suddenly flew out like a kite with a broken string, and hit the ground with a loud "bang".
[Dong Ning! You deserve to die! ]
[I am the only king of the temple! Only me!!]
The Insect King's heart was burning with rage, and his mental power was also frantically agitated. The pain in Helemis's heads became even worse, and they could not help but stagger a step, but heard the Insect King giving orders in his mind:
[Kill Dong Ning for me!]
[Kill Dong Ning!]
Xuebo was shocked when he heard this: [King! ]
The four of them grew up together and later entered the temple together. Although they have kept their distance from each other for many years, they are still of the same race. The Insect King should not kill him even for the sake of Dongning's servant!
Jiayan gloated over the misfortune, but Helemis remained indifferent.
The Insect King used his mental power to invade Dong Ning's brain and wanted to strangle him immediately, but he didn't expect Dong Ning to dare to resist.
Dong Ning struggled to resist the Insect King's mental attack while getting up from the ground. He caught a glimpse of the golden insect egg in the deep pit out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, in full view of everyone, he pounced on it and grabbed it in his arms. Then he spread his wings and flew towards the dense forest in the distance with a "whoosh". He disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Jia Yan couldn't help but exclaimed: [King! Dong Ning took away the insect eggs! ]
Every Insect King will lay a golden egg when his life is about to come to an end. If this egg hatches, it will become the next Insect King. As soon as it breaks out of the shell, it will have vast mental power, which will undoubtedly pose a considerable threat to the current Insect King.
The Insect King originally wanted to eat the egg for nourishment, but he didn't expect it to be snatched away by Dong Ning. He was so anxious that he slammed his tail heavily on the ground and shouted angrily: [What are you doing standing there! Hurry up and bring Dong Ning back to me! ]
[Kill him! No matter the casualties!]
Hearing this, Helemis and the others had no choice but to bow and obey: [Yes, my king.]
Dong Ning was too fast, and the dense forest made it hard to find him. Helemis and Xuepo spread their wings and flew up into the sky, following the scent of Dong Ning, but they lost their way in front of a waterfall.
The noisy flow of water diluted the taste.
Jia Yan gritted his teeth and said, [Damn it! Let’s split up and chase after them! ]
Xuebo didn't want to chase him. He lowered his head to fix his beautiful golden hair, muttering: "What's the point of chasing? The Insect King is already using his mental power to control Dong Ning's brain. Even if we don't chase him, he can kill Dong Ning." Jia Yan's face darkened: "Xuebo, you dare to disobey the order of the Insect King?!"
Xuepo had no choice but to look up: [Then tell me, where should we chase? ]
Jia Yan thought for a moment: [You go south, I go east, and Helemis goes west...]
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a gust of wind and was hit hard in the chest. He was knocked back by Helemis and fell to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood unexpectedly: [Poof! ]
[Who do you think you are? How dare you order me around?! ]
Helemis hated it most when someone told him what to do. He looked at Jia Yan coldly, spread his wings behind him with a whoosh, and flew straight to the east.
Dong Ning's territory is in the east, so he most likely fled to the east to hide. Jia Yan simply wanted to capture Dong Ning and take him back to claim credit. Hermes saw through his little plan clearly.
Jia Yan's last injury had not yet healed. When he saw Helemis leaving, he was anxious and was about to fly after him, but was suddenly stopped by Xue Bo: [Where are you going? ]
Jia Yan glared at him: [Of course, we are going to catch Dong Ning! ]
Xuepo tilted her head: [But didn’t you just say that we should split up and chase each other? Now that Helemis has gone to the east, we should go to the south and west, right? ]
Jia Yan choked when he heard this. He was unwilling, but he had to agree. He turned and flew west, while Xue Amber flew south.
Little did they know that not long after they left, a dark figure appeared in the sky. It was Helemis who had returned. He folded his wings and landed beside the waterfall. He stared at the lake surface that was shaken and shattered by the impact of the water flow and asked coldly:
[How long do you plan to hide underwater? ]
No one answered him, only the sound of water rushing down over the rocks from high above was deafening.
Hermes was running out of patience, frowned and said: [I'll say it one last time, come out! ]
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a splash, and Dong Ning, who had just escaped, suddenly emerged from the water. Dong Ning had already taken off the black robe, and he was soaked, holding the golden insect egg in his arms, staring at Helemis with a vigilant expression: [How did you find me? ]
[Nothing to do with you.]
Helemis stood on the shore, like a high god. He slowly stretched out his pale right hand with distinct joints, pointed it at Dong Ning, and asked word by word: [Do you want to hand it over yourself, or do you want me to kill you? ]
Dong Ning was struggling to resist the mental attack from the Zerg King in his mind, and he was already at the end of his strength. His lips were pale and trembling, but he subconsciously hugged the Zerg egg in his arms tightly: [Heremis, you can't destroy this egg, it is the next Zerg King... ]
[Life is limited, and the Insect King has reached the end of its life, but it still wants to use more energy to extend its life. There are fewer and fewer animals in the dense forest. Sooner or later, the gods will punish it...]
[When it is hungry, it will treat its people as food. When the cold winter comes this year, you will all be killed by it...]
Dong Ning's expression became more and more painful, which meant that the Insect King was strangling his brain. He staggered towards the shore, and finally fell at the feet of Helemis with a plop. He grabbed his robe and said weakly: [Helemis, we... we need a brand new king... ]
[Hermes... I think life should not only be about killing and reproduction... I am tired of this kind of life...]
Helemis looked down at Dong Ning, not knowing what he was thinking. When he heard the words, a hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes:
Tired
I'm afraid Dong Ning has lost his mind.
Their lives are used to reproduce and kill, what else can they do? Should they learn from those feathered dragons and eat the grass on the ground
Dong Ning seemed to understand what Helemis was thinking, and he managed to smile: [Hermes... we can also take a look at the flowers on the roadside... the clear water at the bottom of the lake... the sun rising slowly over the mountains... ]
[An ancient saying in the temple says... We must learn something called emotion... Once we learn it... we can avoid destruction...]
Dong Ning is the smartest of the four servants. He was the first to learn "compassion", but he wanted the powerful Helemis to understand this truth even more.
[Please... don't hand over this egg...]
Dong Ning's voice became lower and lower, until he suddenly covered his neck and groaned, and then his eyes widened in horror. An unfamiliar force madly absorbed his vitality, and his young skin quickly shrank like a balloon, and a painful gasp came from his throat.
The Insect King took control of his brain and strangled Dong Ning in just a blink of an eye. His body fell to the ground with a bang, and finally gradually shrank and darkened, turning into a dead branch. When the wind blew, it instantly turned into powder and floated away.
"Wheels-"
The golden insect egg lost its grip and rolled along the grass to Hermes' feet. It radiated golden light under the sunlight, and its vigorous vitality reminded Hermes of the prey he had raised in the cave.
Hermes bent down to pick up the insect egg, weighed it in his hand, and finally turned and left, not heading towards the temple, but towards the cave where he had landed.
He felt nothing about Dong Ning's death because no one had ever taught him "compassion".
When the sun was at its highest point in the sky, Lin Kong finally woke up from his sleep. He stretched out on the bed, and before he fully opened his eyes, he saw a black figure appear at the entrance of the cave.
You don't need to look to know it's Helemis.
Lin Kong was lying on the bed, and asked in a daze: "You are back, have you gone hunting again..."
Helemis said nothing, but threw a warm golden object into Lin Kong's arms. The latter groaned in pain and subconsciously reached out to catch it. When he looked closely, he found that it was a golden egg. He was stunned: "What is this?"
Helemis is very frugal with words: [Egg.]
Lin Kong rubbed his eyes, and happily sat up while holding the egg that was bigger than a basketball. He couldn't hide his surprise: "So you went to get bird eggs for me?! That's great, I haven't eaten eggs for more than half a month!"
Hearing this, Helemis frowned and reached out to hold the egg in Lin Kong's arms: [You can't eat it.]
Lin Kong was unhappy: "Why?"
Helemis coldly reminded: [These are insect eggs.]
"What's wrong with insect eggs? Why can't we eat insect eggs? Insects..."
As Lin Kong was talking, his expression suddenly changed. He suddenly looked up at Helemis, then looked down at the egg in his arms, and stammered, "This... This egg couldn't have been laid by you, right?!"
Helemis: […]
(End of this chapter)