ICAWZ Chapter 218

This unexpected turn of events really caught Hermes off guard. Although he had initially been quite indifferent toward the golden egg—he even said that if it died, he’d just eat it—the act of secretly burying it underground still showed his selfish motives.

Whether for exploitation or research, one thing was clear: it definitely wasn’t meant to end up crushed underfoot like this.

Especially with Lin Kong standing nearby, craning his neck to watch the spectacle, looking thoroughly pleased.

Hermes expressionlessly retracted his foot. With a flick of his wrist, the golden egg was drawn from the ground into his palm. The top had already been crushed halfway, and faintly, the thin white membrane attached to the eggshell could still be seen.

Lin Kong felt that the egg was probably done for. On Earth, if a chicken egg was crushed to this extent, it would be immediately scrambled with tomatoes. Curiously, he leaned in and asked, “What should we do?”

Hermes glared at him with eyes sharp as blades. How was he supposed to know what to do?! He had never hatched an egg before!

Hermes directly threw the egg into Lin Kong’s arms, brushed his sleeve, and left the cave, leaving behind a few words laced with suppressed anger: [Do whatever you want!]

Lin Kong caught the egg with one hand and muttered to himself, “Why are you taking it out on me? It’s not like I crushed the egg. I told you from the start, it shouldn’t be buried underground…”

Hermes suddenly turned around and glared at him. Lin Kong immediately switched his expression, smiling innocently and showing a harmless face: “You should go and come back quickly. Don’t stay too long, the moon’s about to come up.”

Hermes had quite a regular routine. Choosing a creature like this as a partner wasn’t so bad—at least he never had to worry about him going out and causing trouble at night.

Lin Kong placed the egg on the ground. His first instinct was to just throw it away. If it had been a bird’s egg, he could’ve eaten it, but a zerg egg? He really couldn’t bring himself to do that. Yet, staring at the golden, shining eggshell in front of him, he hesitated.

Hmm… it does look like it might be worth something?

Lin Kong wasn’t sure if Hermes really meant “do whatever you want” or if he was just saying it out of anger, so he didn’t dare make a move. When Hermes returned from the creek, he saw Lin Kong crouched on the ground, poking at the egg every now and then, only to quickly retract his hand as if he’d been electrocuted.

Hermes walked over, frowned, and kicked the egg, seemingly intending to crush it with his foot. Lin Kong hurriedly stopped him, “Hey, don’t step on it yet! What if it hatches?”

Hermes coldly dismissed the idea: [Impossible. Without the Zerg King’s nourishment, this egg won’t hatch.]

Lin Kong asked, “Why?”

Hermes lowered his gaze: [Taking care of this egg requires a massive amount of life force, so throughout history, only the Zerg kings have been able to nourish it with their own bodies. When the egg hatches, it marks the Zerg King’s death.]

Lin Kong cautiously asked, “Well then, why don’t you return the egg to the Zerg King?”

Hermes stared at him expressionlessly, saying nothing.

Lin Kong belatedly understood: “…This egg is something you stole, so you can’t return it?”

Hermes snorted coldly, which was as good as an admission.

Lin Kong thought to himself that he might as well destroy all evidence. How low could Hermes sink, even stealing something like an egg? He really had no ambition. He struggled to pry open the eggshell along the crack, hoping to see what was inside. However, he accidentally cut his thumb on the sharp edge and quickly pulled his hand back. “Ugh… this eggshell is way too hard. How did you manage to crush it?”

Lin Kong tightly covered his hand, blood dripping down between his fingers, a few drops falling onto the eggshell. Suddenly, the thing wrapped in the white membrane inside the egg twitched for a moment. The bloodstains quickly faded, as though something had absorbed them.

But Lin Kong was too focused on the pain to notice this, and even Hermes had his attention on Lin Kong’s hand. Frowning, he grasped Lin Kong’s wrist, seeing that the wound was fairly deep. He immediately released a thin blue thread of life force, which attached to the injury. In just a few seconds, the wound had scabbed over.

It was Lin Kong’s first time receiving such treatment, and he couldn’t help but feel a little flattered upon seeing it. “Isn’t life force hard to hunt? Why did you use it on me?”

Hermes gave him a long, unreadable glance and replied, [What if you die?]

In Hermes’ mind, this prey was incredibly fragile—he had seen too many animals stumble and injure themselves, their wounds rotting and leaving them unable to hunt. They either died from illness, starvation, or were abandoned by their kin. He didn’t want Lin Kong to die because of something like this.

Lin Kong thought to himself, If I die, then I die. It wouldn’t be a loss for Hermes. But for some reason, when he met the other’s persistent, serious gaze, those words just wouldn’t come out. In the end, he touched his nose and muttered softly, “…Thank you.”

Lin Kong felt a little embarrassed.

Hermes, however, had no sense of romance. Seeing that Lin Kong’s wound had already scabbed over, he returned to the stone bed to meditate and cultivate. As he passed by the zerg egg, whether out of spite or for some other reason, he kicked it toward the corner of the cave, sending it crashing into the stone wall with a sharp “thud.”

Lin Kong was startled. He had thought the egg would be shattered by the kick, but to his surprise, it merely rolled once across the ground and then came to a stop, the cracked part remaining completely still.

If he had to describe it, it was like a piece of deformed steel—though cracked, it was certainly not something that could be shattered with a light kick.

Lin Kong felt that the egg was rather strange, but Hermes paid it no mind, letting it lie in the corner, gathering dust like trash.

Before long, half a month had passed.

During this time, Lin Kong took advantage of the sunny weather to lay out the cleaned animal hides and sun-dry them to kill any bacteria. He then borrowed some tools from the Zerg tribe in the village and cut the hides into appropriate sizes, neatly laying them out on the stone bed.

Hermes still went hunting every day, but he deliberately brought back some of his kills to throw at Lin Kong—fish, chickens, and even large prey turned into mummified carcasses. Seeing this, Lin Kong couldn’t help but feel that if he didn’t work hard to stay alive, he’d be letting down his ancestors. So, he had no choice but to get up and seriously process the chunks of meat, sun-drying them in the hottest part of the day to extend their shelf life.

Lin Kong’s survival skills were practically non-existent, but with Hermes’ help, he managed to accumulate quite a bit of provisions. The pieces of dried meat, originally the size of mahjong tiles, shrank by half after being sun-dried, but they still looked surprisingly plentiful at first glance.

The only downside was that the lighter had run out of fuel. If Lin Kong wanted to make fire in the future, he’d have to do it the old-fashioned way, by drilling wood. So, collecting firewood became a task he had to take on. Before long, the empty cave was packed to the brim, which gave him a sense of security.

“I’m exhausted…”

After confirming that there was no extra space left in the cave to store anything, Lin Kong finally stopped his hamster-like hoarding behavior. He lay down on the soft animal hide bed and couldn’t resist rubbing against it. Though it wasn’t as comfortable as silk sheets, it was still a thousand times better than lying on stone.

Hermes had never really understood the concept of “comfort.” As long as he had a place to sit and cultivate, that was enough for him. The wind and rain outside didn’t affect him at all. But who would dislike living in a comfortable place?

When they went to sleep that night, both of them felt something strange. Perhaps it was because the cave felt so much like home, warm enough that not even the slightest cold breeze could get through.

Lin Kong placed the night pearl at the corner of the bed. With the faint light, he could see Hermes’ well-defined nose bridge and jawline as soon as he lifted his eyes. Unable to resist, he reached out and gently touched the other’s nose tip, which was illuminated and gleaming, only to receive a warning glance in return.

Hermes was still as cold as a stone, only when he was on the bed did that poker face become a little more animated.

Lin Kong wasn’t afraid of Hermes at all now. In the darkness, he pressed the other beneath him. With a flick of his fingers, he skillfully released the bindings of the black robe. As he spoke, the warmth of his breath was particularly clear: “Is this bed comfortable?”

Hermes gave a noncommittal response. He lifted his chin slightly, and when he lowered his gaze to glare at the other, there was always a sense of superiority: [Will you survive this winter?]

Lin Kong wasn’t quite sure. “I should be able to.”

Hermes didn’t like such an ambiguous answer, so he frowned and bit Lin Kong. The prey’s beautiful lips immediately swelled, leaving a clear bite mark.

Lin Kong had a very good temper; he was rarely seen angry. He touched his swollen lower lip and smiled as he asked Hermes, “Do you want me to kiss you?”

The almost flirtatious question, coming from him, was unusually serious.

Hermes paused for a moment upon hearing this, then simply replied with an emotionless “Mm.”

He did.

Lin Kong’s kiss made him feel comfortable, and doing that sort of thing felt even better. In front of this prey, Hermes had gradually lost the usual wariness of a beast. Whether the other was touching him or kissing him, there was no thought of resisting.

Upon hearing that, Lin Kong’s chest trembled slightly, as if he were holding back a laugh. He lowered his head and kissed Hermes gently, all the while thinking to himself about which position they should try tonight. This zerg had no sense of shame and was quite cooperative in bed—aside from getting angry at first, he was basically quiet afterward.

Hermes was kissed into a daze by Lin Kong, and out of habit, he reached out to hold him. From time to time, a low, husky moan would escape his throat—surprisingly sensual—but no matter how many times it happened, it was always just those two words:

“Lin Kong…”

Lin Kong.

Those were the first human words he ever learned. Even though he later picked up quite a few more under Lin Kong’s halting instruction, these two words were the ones that stayed with him most deeply.

Lin Kong had a strange feeling that something inside him had shifted. At first, he did these things with Hermes to please him. Later, it was a way to release stress. But now… now, he suddenly couldn’t quite explain it anymore.

Tonight, the blood moon hung in the sky—a night when, for all of the zergs, it was still forbidden to wander freely.

Lin Kong originally wanted to lie in bed a little longer, but worried about soiling the animal pelts beneath them, he simply wrapped Hermes in the ceremonial robe and carried him to the stream for a bath.

The moment they entered the water, Lin Kong clearly felt that the temperature had dropped more than just a little—it was a sign that the weather was turning colder. He couldn’t help but shiver and asked Hermes, “Are you cold?”

Hermes didn’t feel much of anything. His pale body was hidden beneath the black robe as he pulled Lin Kong down into the water with him. His silver hair floated on the surface, rippling gently with the current.

[Not cold. It only gets cold when winter comes.]

Lin Kong’s face twitched at those words, suddenly feeling like he was doomed. “Don’t you people have anything here that can boil water?”

Hermes didn’t understand what he was talking about and frowned. [Boil water? For what?]

Lin Kong roughly gestured as he explained, “Something that isn’t afraid of fire and can hold water. Like a fruit shell, or an animal shell—anything like that.”

In a primeval forest, there was no point hoping for something like an iron pot—finding even two coconut shells would be a blessing.

Although Hermes didn’t need to eat, he had at least lived in the dense forest for many years. As soon as Lin Kong mentioned it, he remembered a type of tall fruit tree on the other side of the mountain. The fruit it bore was pitch-black and harder than stone—even large predators couldn’t bite through it. After thinking for a moment, he said:

[There is. I’ll take you to find it tomorrow.]

Hermes had been unusually easy to get along with lately, and Lin Kong was starting to feel a little unaccustomed to it. He swam over to Hermes, his eyes sparkling with affection, and teased, “Hermes, you’ve been so good to me, I almost think I’m starting to like you.”

Hermes paused for a moment. [Like?]

Lin Kong kissed him lightly. “You still don’t understand, do you? But honestly, I don’t really understand the word either. I’ll explain it to you some other time, if the opportunity comes up.”

After every time, Lin Kong would help Hermes bathe and clean him, his movements gentle and patient. It was one of his few virtues. Then he would wrap Hermes tightly in the black robe and carry him back to the cave, to keep him from being scorched by the moonlight.

At these moments, Hermes would seem particularly quiet, particularly docile.

“It’s getting late. Let’s sleep.”

When Lin Kong finally crawled into bed, he felt like he had come back to life. He turned over, ready to close his eyes and fall asleep, but suddenly, in the darkness, a sharp “crack” echoed, causing his body to stiffen.

Lin Kong: “?”

The sound… it was so familiar.

Hermes, with his sharp hearing, immediately detected the source of the sound. His gaze hardened as he turned his head toward the corner of the cave. There, in the shadows, was a dirty egg, twitching slightly in the darkness.

“Crack—”

This time, the sound was even clearer.

Hermes clearly saw a crack appear in the center of the eggshell, as if something was desperately pushing outward. He shot up from the bed with a swift motion, his expression a mix of confusion and suspicion.

Lin Kong also sensed something was wrong. Without thinking, he asked, “Is that egg about to hatch?”

Hermes coldly uttered: [Impossible.]

This egg hadn’t been fed any energy, so how could it possibly hatch?! After saying that, Hermes threw off the covers and walked over to the corner of the cave, intending to investigate. However, the crack in the egg was growing larger, and through a thin white membrane, he could even see something wriggling inside. It was clearly not a dead egg.

Lin Kong followed him over to check the situation. He squatted down beside the egg, his expression a little conflicted. “Could it be that a zerg’s going to crawl out of it?”

At the same time, he couldn’t help but sigh internally. If only it were a cat… At least in the dead of winter, he could hold it and warm his hands.

Hermes didn’t speak, as what was happening in front of him clearly surpassed his understanding. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter, lost in whatever thoughts were racing through his mind.

Lin Kong squatted on the ground for about ten minutes, half curious, half afraid. He watched, wide-eyed, as the eggshell’s white membrane was pecked open, and then a white, plump worm, larger than a palm, slowly crawled out. Its body was surrounded by a rich blue glow, symbolizing its powerful psychic energy and abundant vitality.

If the life force of an ordinary prey was like a grain of rice, then this one was more like a bowl of white rice.

It was Lin Kong’s first time witnessing an egg hatch, and naturally, he was a bit excited. He quickly nudged Hermes with his arm. “Hey hey hey, did you see that? It hatched!”

The big white worm looked quite pretty, and from the looks of it, its body felt plump and soft. Lin Kong had always wanted to keep a pet, but unfortunately, he couldn’t even beat a wild chicken in the dense forest. This worm wasn’t too big or too small—just the right size to keep as a pet.

“Hermes, if this worm isn’t poisonous, can we keep it?”

“There’s a pit in the cave, we can leave it there to sleep.”

“After all, it’s your stolen… ahem, found egg. Now that it’s finally hatched, it’d be a shame to just throw it away.”

Lin Kong knew that keeping a worm as a pet was a bit strange, but for someone who spent every day either eating or sleeping, and was slowly being driven mad by boredom, it felt like the perfect mental remedy.

After saying that, he turned his head to look at Hermes, waiting for his reaction. “What do you think?”

Hermes didn’t speak. Instead, without a word, he grabbed the plump white worm, brought it up to his face, and scrutinized it carefully. His brows furrowed uncontrollably, then…

“Crack!”

Without warning, Hermes tightened his fingers, swiftly killing the worm. His expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, “We can’t keep it.”

He opened his palm to show Lin Kong the now motionless white worm and calmly uttered two words: “It’s dead.”

Lin Kong: “…”

 

 

 

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