ICAWZ Chapter 145

They were in a sunken mountain hollow, with snow that had already reached up to their knees. Ah Sui couldn’t understand why he had to hide in the dense forest. He was flustered and helpless, saying, “Why… why do I have to hide in there?”

In the wilderness, Ah Sui had no idea where to find a doctor, but he certainly couldn’t just stay here and wait to die. After speaking, he struggled to push aside the thick snow on the ground, intending to carry Blairand. However, the female zerg suddenly shoved him away and growled in anger, “Didn’t I tell you to hide in there and not listen?!”

Blairand’s sanity was nearly gone. He lowered his head in pain, gripping the snow on the ground tightly, his veins bulging on the back of his hand. Finally, he lifted his gaze to look at Ah Sui.

In the darkness, Blairand’s eyes had completely turned crimson, with a fine, net-like pattern spreading across them. His cold, indifferent stare fixed on Ah Sui, and the gentle smile from before was gone, replaced by the chilling gaze of a predator eyeing its prey.

Ah Sui was stunned.

Blairand gritted his teeth and spat out two words: “Hide inside…”

Ah Sui felt as if the Blairand in front of him seemed completely unfamiliar, and he was so frightened that his mind went blank. Instinctively, he obeyed the command, stumbling and running to hide behind a large tree deeper in the dense forest, his heart filled with an overwhelming sense of unease.

Blairand watched as Ah Sui’s figure disappeared from his sight, and only then did he suddenly lose strength, collapsing to the snow with a loud thud. He tumbled down the slope, letting out a painful groan, and then his back arched as his body underwent a drastic transformation amid a faint white glow.

The wind howled through the forest, carrying countless snowflakes with it.

Ah Sui’s back was pressed tightly against a withered tree. His hearing had always been sharp, but now all he could hear was the deafening sound of his own heartbeat. Several times, he almost couldn’t stop himself from turning around to check on Blairand, but in the end, he held himself back.

He couldn’t look.

He couldn’t look.

Blairand had told him not to turn back…

When Ah Sui became anxious, he had the habit of biting his fingers. He lowered his head, biting at his frozen fingertips, not even noticing when he drew blood. He couldn’t understand why the female zerg had told him not to turn back.

The night was cold, and Ah Sui’s legs had already gone numb. His pants were soaked through with snowmelt, and every moment felt unbearably long. Yet, behind him, everything remained eerily silent, with not a sound to be heard.

No, he had to take a look.

Blairand was injured—what if something happened?

In the end, Ah Sui couldn’t hold himself back and stepped out of the forest. He walked unsteadily, with each step more difficult than the last. The cold wind whipped against him, stinging his eyes to the point that he could barely keep them open. Only a cold, bright moon hung high in the sky, casting a pale glow over the snow-covered ground, making everything shine with a ghostly light.

Ah Sui struggled to climb up the slope, trying to find Blairand’s trace in the vast expanse of white snow. However, in the hollow below, he noticed a deep pit that hadn’t been there before. When he lowered his head and saw what was inside, he froze in shock, rooted to the spot—

A massive arthropod was quietly lying in the pit, its body coiled.

Its shape resembled that of a butterfly, six legs firmly planted on the ground, while its translucent wings spread out like those of a dragonfly, shimmering with iridescent colors. When they trembled gently in the snowstorm, they resembled delicate and pure camellia petals, fragile yet radiant.

However, such a beautiful creature possessed a pair of sharp forelimbs, their steel-like sheen gleaming under the moonlight. Its head was adorned with two black antennae, and its dark blue compound eyes were mysterious and inscrutable, silently radiating an aura of danger that made one hesitate to approach.

Its size was immense—so large that if Ah Sui stood in front of it, he would have to strain his neck just to take in its full form.

Thud—!

A muffled sound suddenly came from the snow slope. Ah Sui’s face turned pale with fright, and he collapsed to the ground. He had been terrified of insects since he was a child—caterpillars, butterflies, anything insect-like. Now, suddenly faced with a creature that was a grotesquely enlarged version of an insect, it was no exaggeration to say that his soul nearly left his body in fear.

Such a huge insect…

Ah Sui couldn’t stop himself from shaking for a moment, especially when the creature sensed the movement behind it. It turned in the snow, making a rustling sound as it fixed its gaze on him. Ah Sui almost burst into tears. In his panic, he waved his hands frantically, saying,

“Y-you… don’t come any closer…”

“I beg you, don’t come closer…”

Ah Sui spoke while hurriedly backing away, but he couldn’t even summon his lightness skills. All he could do was crawl desperately, using both hands and feet to scramble further. He stumbled and fell after every few steps, his face smeared with snow and tears, looking as pathetic as could be.

Seeing this, the creature seemed to struggle, its body shifting as if it wanted to chase him, but for some reason, it hesitated and didn’t move. Its wings fluttered weakly for a moment, and beneath them was a patch of congealed blood, though the snowstorm covered it, making it hard to see clearly. The creature’s blue compound eyes reflected Ah Sui’s terrified, fleeing figure, and for a brief moment, they dimmed in the snowstorm.

Ah Sui crawled a long, long way. The shock from earlier began to wear off, and his mind started to clear a little. He suddenly remembered something, and without thinking, he stopped running, staring blankly behind him—

Could that massive arthropod just now… have been Blairand?

Boom!

This thought struck Ah Sui like a thunderclap, hitting him with a heavy blow. He couldn’t believe it, yet he couldn’t deny it either. Just a few days ago, the doctor had warned him that Blairand’s mental state was extremely unstable, and that he could enter an insect-like state at any time. Now, with the appearance of an insect in the snow, there was no doubt—it had to be connected to Blairand.

What should he do? What should he do?

Although Ah Sui was terrified of insects, he couldn’t just leave Blairand alone, especially since he was injured. Clutching the long sword tightly in his arms, he swallowed his fear and shakily began to crawl back, leaving a long trail of footprints in the snow.

The massive creature remained where it was, motionless. Due to the sunken slope, its body was mostly covered by the snow, leaving only its translucent wings and head exposed. The black antennae twitched faintly in the wind.

Ah Sui didn’t dare crawl in front of it. He carefully circled around, making his way to the back. With desperate determination, he stared at the creature’s wings for a long while, and finally, in utter despair, he realized that it truly was Blairand.

Ah Sui was on the verge of tears.

In fact, he was already crying, but his face was covered with snowflakes, making it hard to tell.

Ah Sui lay beside the deep pit, his eyes red as he looked at Blairand. His voice was filled with fear and helplessness:

“Blairand… can you turn back, please…?”

This insect wouldn’t speak to him like Blairand did, nor would it smile at him with the same tenderness. Ah Sui wanted to leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Instead, he stayed there, talking to the creature desperately, his voice trembling:

“Please turn back… I’ll carry you to see a doctor…”

“You’re too big now… I can’t carry you…”

Ah Sui had never felt so desperate before. He saw the bloodstains at the base of the insect’s wings and shakily crawled over to check its wounds. He discovered that Blairand had several deep gashes on his back, but they had no medical kit, no doctor, and a whole group of pursuers behind them. There was simply no way to treat the injuries.

Ah Sui didn’t know where he found the courage, but he forced down his fear and crawled to the bottom of the deep pit. He set his long sword aside, closed his eyes and turned his head, trying his best to ignore the creature’s primal form. Then, he reached out and clutched the cold, hard abdomen of the insect, attempting to pull Blairand out of the pit.

“Hiss——!!!!”

The insect let out a piercing scream as it was tugged at the painful spot. Its wings suddenly flared open, and its cold blue compound eyes locked onto Ah Sui, who was so frightened that he fell to the ground. The creature’s sharp forelimbs plunged into the earth, gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

At this moment, Blairand may have lost all rationality. The beastly instincts remaining within him would drive him to hunt smaller creatures when he was in an extremely weakened state, using them to accelerate the healing of his wounds.

Given their respective sizes, Ah Sui was now the “weaker creature.”

However, Ah Sui had no idea how dangerous his situation was. Terrified, he instinctively crawled several meters away, but then suddenly remembered Blairand was still behind him. With a pitiful look on his face, he crawled back, like a lost puppy with no home.

“Don’t be scared… I’ll take you to see a doctor…”

Ah Sui wiped his tears away, then, with trembling hands, he clutched the insect’s abdomen and pulled with all his strength, trying to drag it out of the pit. The insect’s antennae picked up the familiar scent of pheromones in the air. Though it appeared extremely agitated, it only let out a threatening hiss and didn’t strike.

Ah Sui dragged the insect out of the pit, half-pulling, half-dragging it. He was so cold that even speaking had become difficult. He was about to contact Xu Cenfeng through his wrist terminal to find a doctor, but just then, a roar of starship engines echoed from the distance. To his horror, over a dozen pitch-black military ships appeared on the horizon.

“Suspicious traces of interstellar pirates detected below. All units, land and search!”

The commander in charge of hunting down interstellar pirates had noticed something unusual on the thermal scanner beneath the snow and immediately ordered the starships to land. However, when they began their search on the snowy ground, they were shocked to discover a massive insect at the base of a nearby slope. Its body was snow-white, with wings that shimmered in the light—undoubtedly a Southern female zerg.

The leading captain’s expression shifted slightly as he saw this: “Not good, it’s Major General Blairand!”

He recognized Blairand’s wings, with a faint golden edge along the border. Just as he was about to approach to confirm, the zerg seemed to sense the unfamiliar presence and immediately became agitated. Its sharp forelimbs swung violently through the air, and the force of the wind sent the surrounding military insects retreating in fear.

“Captain, Major General Blairand has entered the insect-like state! He won’t let us get close!”

“There are two suppressants left on the starship. Go get them!”

“Yes, sir!”

The team member hurriedly returned to the starship, carrying a medical kit, and inside, there were just two vials of light blue enhanced suppressants left. The captain ordered the surrounding military zergs to disperse, then tossed several sleep smoke grenades near Blairand. Once the agitated zerg fell into a semi-conscious state from the drug’s effect, the captain covered his mouth and nose and approached to inject the suppressant.

Ah Sui hid in a nearby winter tree, using the snow and leaves to mask his presence. He had seen the military zergs approaching earlier and, not daring to leave Blairand alone, he had no choice but to climb up into the tree to remain hidden.

The sleep smoke below hadn’t dispersed yet, and Ah Sui anxiously covered his mouth and nose, daring not to make a sound.

What should he do? The military zergs below seemed to be Blairand’s comrades. Should he go down?

But he was an interstellar pirate now. What if he was captured and locked up? Xu Cenfeng and Quike were still missing, and he needed to find them first before making any decisions.

Ah Sui, in a panic, looked down cautiously, but as a flash of white light passed by, he saw the massive insect below silently transform into a humanoid shape. The figure was strikingly handsome, with slightly wavy golden hair—none other than Blairand.

The military zergs carefully lifted the severely injured and unconscious Blairand onto a stretcher, preparing to leave. However, just as they were about to move, one of them accidentally kicked something. Looking down, they discovered it was a long sword.

One of the military zergs bent down and picked up the sword. “Huh, how did a sword end up here?”

Ah Sui, hidden in the tree, was startled. This was bad—he had rushed up the tree earlier to hide and completely forgot to bring the sword with him!

“Forget about that, hurry up and contact the military doctor! General Aks has been waiting for news about Major General Blairand. We need to head back and report!”

The military zergs were busy tending to Blairand’s injuries and didn’t linger any longer. They assumed the sword was his, so they took it with them back to the starship. Soon after, they all left together.

Ah Sui stayed hidden in the tree, waiting silently. It wasn’t until half an hour later that he finally descended. When he landed, his legs were stiff and numb, causing him to stumble and fall flat on his face with a loud thud. By the time he got up from the snow, his hair was in disarray, looking like a mess.

Ah Sui looked around in a daze, only to realize that he was the only one left in the vast wilderness.

What should he do now?

 

 

 

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