Being heartless can sometimes be considered an advantage. At least in adversity he can live happier than others. Lin Kong is a vivid example.
When Helemis was practicing, he could also kill time by entertaining himself. Occasionally, he would go out through the cracks in the stone cave and take a walk outside. He could also pick up a few frozen birds, bring them back, cook them simply, and roast them for a delicious meal.
That day, Lin Kong was sitting by the fire in a daze. He habitually glanced at Helemis's situation, but saw that the light blue mental barrier in front of the other party seemed to be cracking, and his expression changed.
During the training process, the energy in Helemis' body was in a manic state, and the mental barrier gradually weakened due to too many shocks. When he began to absorb the blue bead refined from the king insect, the barrier suddenly made a crisp cracking sound:
“Click—”
“Click—”
There were bursts of shattering sounds, and cracks spread everywhere like a spider web. Finally, it could not withstand the powerful mental aftermath and shattered into pieces with a loud bang.
"boom!"
Lin Kong was unable to dodge and was directly hit hard against the stone door by the powerful spiritual aftermath. He fell to the ground with a muffled groan, his face pale with shock as he shouted: "Heremis!"
Helemis breathed heavily, and finally with a low roar of pain, he threw Lin Kong heavily to the side.
The blue bead still retained a trace of consciousness belonging to the king insect. After being sucked into Helemis' body, it frantically fought for control of his brain. The two emotions of "hunger" and "hunting" flashed through his eyes one by one, turning him into an emotionless beast.
Shit! He hasn't left yet!
Lin Kong turned around to look at Helemis in surprise, only to see that the other party had teleported in front of him at some point, and grabbed his throat with his right hand without any warning. Unlike his usual bluffing, this time he really used ruthless force.
Helemis could no longer recognize Lin Kong at this time. He stared at the prey in front of him with a cold gaze. He instinctively wanted to absorb the other party's vitality, but for some reason, he was unable to do it. There was always an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
When Lin Kong saw Helemis's pupils that were as sharp as needles, he realized something was wrong. He quietly moved to the gap in the stone door, intending to go out and hide first. However, Helemis waved his sleeves, and the stone door in front of him suddenly made a loud bang, directly blocking the exit.
"Well!"
Lin Kong: “?!!!”
"Cough cough cough cough!"
He was the only living thing in the cave.
Helemis looked around with a cold expression, and finally set his sights on Lin Kong.
Helemis stared at the black-haired, black-eyed prey in front of him with a strange look. He slowly tilted his head, and because he had not moved for a long time, the bones at the back of his neck made a teeth-grinding creaking sound.
Helemis couldn't help but frown. He had entered a half-insect state, with insect patterns on the sides of his cheeks faintly visible. Two groups of mental forces were fighting madly in his mind, one clamoring to kill Lin Kong, while the other was desperately trying to stop him.
Lin Kong's face flushed red and he couldn't even utter a complete sentence. Although he had already prepared himself to die at the hands of the other party, being strangled to death was too painful.
Hearing this, Helemis suddenly opened his eyes. His eyeballs were bloodshot and his pupils had shrunk to the size of needles. It was obvious that he was out of control. His sleeves moved without wind and a cold murderous aura instantly spread in the cave.
"Her... Hermes... It's me... cough cough cough cough..."
Lin Kong managed to escape, holding his neck and coughing loudly. He raised his eyes with difficulty, only to see that Helemis's right hand suddenly grew into a sharp claw, piercing into his heart fiercely, trying to use the pain to regain consciousness.
"Let go...let go..."
Lin Kong groaned in pain, and a feeling of suffocation and dry heaving surged in his throat. Out of his instinct to survive, he struggled frantically, but the hand on his neck was as motionless as if it were made of cast iron.
"Speak to me, Hermes?"
Lin Kong had a bad feeling. He staggered to his feet, holding his chest. He retreated without leaving a trace and tentatively called out, "Hermes? Are you awake?"
The breath is familiar, the face is familiar, the voice is familiar...
Lin Kong screamed, "Hermes!"
He rolled and crawled forward to catch the other's shaky body, but Helemis' torture did not lessen in the slightest. Veins bulged on his forehead, blood had stained his black robe, and he struggled violently on the ground.
[Lin Kong!]
Helemis' voice was hoarse, and sweat was dripping down his forehead. He looked at the black-haired and black-eyed Lin Kong in front of him, and squeezed out a sentence with difficulty. His face looked a little ferocious for a moment: [Get out! ]
Helemis obviously underestimated the power of the king insect's mind. He felt that a strange consciousness was invading his brain, and all his actions were completely out of control.
Helemis opened his right hand, which was covered in sticky blood, and used the last bit of his mental strength to push the stone door outside the cave open a crack. The stone moved with a loud bang, and the cold wind instantly rushed in, directly blowing out the burning fire.
In the end, Helemis still couldn't bring himself to kill the prey. He also didn't want to become a puppet controlled by the Insect King's consciousness. Blood flowed out of his chest, soaking his divine robe. The wind and snow from the mountains and forests howled in, making his whole body cold.
Lin Kong was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and quickly hugged Helemis in his arms: "If I don't leave, where can I go? Aren't you practicing? Why did you suddenly become like this?!"
"Heremis, say something! How can I save you!"
Helemis opened his scarlet eyes, his pale face was covered with bloodstains, he gasped heavily, making a sound like a bellows, and still pointed to the cave entrance with difficulty: [Go...]
[Leave here...] Whether going to the stream, going deep into the jungle, or looking for those low-level tribal insects, Lin Kong will always find a way to stay alive. If he stays here, he will only be devoured by himself, drained of his vitality and turned into one of those dry and ugly corpses in the corner of the cave.
Lin Kong felt cold all over, but he couldn't tell whether it was because it was too cold outside or because his heart was cold. He had finally found a companion like Helemis who depended on him for life, but now the other party was on the verge of life and death and might go crazy and kill him at any time.
“I won’t go… I won’t go…”
A layer of snow fell on Lin Kong's head and shoulders, and he shivered from the cold. He hugged Helemis tightly, his eyes felt sore for some reason, and he raised his hand and wiped his eyes fiercely:
"Where can I go if I leave? Do you think everyone will hunt for me every day like you do?"
"Are you sick? Tell me, how can I save you?!"
Helemis gasped weakly. His spiritual power was extremely abundant, but he had no self-awareness. It was running wildly in his meridians, causing him to sweat profusely in pain: [That bead... ]
Lin Kong's heart tightened when he heard this: "What bead? The blue bead refined by the young king insect?"
Helemis closed his eyes in pain: [There is a trace of the King Worm's consciousness left inside... It is trying to control my body... ]
[Lin Kong... leave here...]
[Otherwise I will really kill you...]
When he said the last sentence, Helemis' eyes suddenly became cold and cruel, as if he didn't recognize Lin Kong anymore. He pinched his throat viciously as before, with undisguised murderous intent in his deep eyes.
The strength of that hand tightened and loosened, and it was obvious that Helemis could no longer control himself. If he delayed any further, Lin Kong might really be killed on the spot.
Lin Kong seemed to understand something after hearing this. Helemis would soon be controlled by another strange consciousness and would no longer recognize himself. He should have run away, but his legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead and he could not move at all.
When faced with a life-or-death situation, people will burst out with unimaginable courage and do many things they would not dare to do before. Since you are going to die anyway, why not give it a try
But Lin Kong looked at Helemis's bloody chest and hesitated for a second...
"just kill me!"
Lin Kong chose to just give up! He closed his eyes with a fearless attitude and buried his face tightly in Helemis's arms.
Why are you running away? Why are you walking away
Lin Kong didn’t think he would meet another Helemis, nor did he think he had the energy to look for another golden thigh.
People's minds are limited, and their desire to survive is also limited. When Lin Kong first came to the dense forest, he had actually thought about dying. Compared with the scarce food and dangerous environment, the loneliness of not being able to find any one like him was the most heartbreaking.
He had spent countless energy and efforts to get to where he is today with Helemis, and Lin Kong could no longer devote the same energy to treating others.
"just kill me!"
"Didn't you say you wanted to die with me? I agreed!"
Lin Kong shouted loudly, but in fact he was so scared that his whole body was shaking, and he didn't even dare to open his eyes. The only thing he could do was to hold Helemis tightly in his arms, as if this would make the other party softer, just like when they first met, Lin Kong hugged Helemis's thigh and begged for mercy, and the other party really didn't kill him.
Helemis didn't expect that Lin Kong would dare to die with him. His bloodstained hand had already sunk into the flesh of his neck, but it finally loosened. He roared in pain, and suddenly lowered his head and bit his wrist hard, with such force that the bone was visible.
Lin Kong was shocked when he noticed Helemis's action, and quickly pried open his mouth: "Why are you biting yourself?! If you want to drink blood, bite me. Anyway, you saved my life!"
"I don't blame you, really, I don't blame you!"
Lin Kong knew that Helemis didn't want to attack him and that's why he kept hurting himself. He felt so upset that he didn't know what to do. He could only hug Helemis tightly and put his hand into his mouth: "Don't you want to drink blood? Drink mine."
Lin Kong's blood was extremely alluring, and it was different from any animal in the jungle. Helemis was already distracted, and he accidentally bit Lin Kong's palm when his teeth collided. His eyes darkened, and he couldn't help sucking the sweet blood hard, and his pupils became redder and redder.
Lin Kong's face turned pale with pain, but he resisted the urge to struggle. He rested his chin on the top of Helemis' head and kept whispering to him, "Shh, it's okay, it's okay..."
"Hermes, you are so powerful, you will definitely not be controlled by the Insect King. This winter is not over yet, we can't die here..."
"We can't die here..."
Lin Kong's voice seemed to have magic. Helemis's originally manic mental power suddenly calmed down. He bit Lin Kong's palm tightly. As blood continued to flow in, his body underwent some changes that he himself did not realize.
In the earliest recorded history of the Zerg, their ancestors divided their lifespans according to their mental strength levels. They underwent a molting period of 200 years and could live up to 600 years. However, they had no reproductive ability at that time and could only rely on the Zerg King to continuously lay eggs to expand their race.
Later, their ancestors learned to mate in pairs and reproduce on their own. The race also had gender distinctions: female, male, and sub-female. However, due to the difference in genes, their lifespan also changed, and was only 200 years at most.
It is difficult to describe whether this is a degeneration or progress.
The Zerg gave up their long and endless lifespan in exchange for the continuation of life from humans, as well as emotions, language and knowledge that cold-blooded animals do not have.
However, these historical materials were completely lost in a war and have long been unable to be studied by later generations.
The wind and snow stopped overnight, and the mountains and forests were completely silent.
Lin Kong remained motionless in that position, and Helemis gradually became quiet. The only source of heat for them was probably the bead dug out from the throat of the red-bellied bird, otherwise they would have frozen to death long ago.
(End of this chapter)