Chapter 71
"Hero Lord."
Xi Ze leaned over and gently put his arm around Yael's shoulders, but considering that they were outside, he restrained himself and pulled Yael onto the suspension car.
"How was the counseling? Are you tired?"
Yael briefly described the situation, thought of Vito's words just now, and sensed the spiritual power in the picture again - it was still very full.
The spiritual counseling just now was like bringing a small stream to the dry wasteland, but he himself was a boundless ocean and would not feel any loss because of this.
The situation is still unclear, so it's better not to tell the female insect and make her worry.
Yael stopped talking immediately and said with a smile, "After this, even if it is just driven by profit, there should be many nobles who will waver in their stance."
S-rank male insects are like national treasures, enough to attract countless insects to flock to them, but before confirming the authenticity of this title, too many overly cautious nobles dare not touch it.
But now that Yell has once again demonstrated his absolute strength, those who continue to hesitate and dare not approach will only become laggards who miss the opportunity.
Xi Ze looked at him intently the whole time, with a faint smile at the corners of his eyes. Only after he finished speaking did he reach out and touch his fingertips, exclaiming, "Amazing."
"Even A-level male insects can only guide five high-level female insects a day at most. The Male Protection Association has set a monthly quota of fifty, and few male insects can complete it on time."
However, Yerle completed a task that would take an A-level male insect a month to accomplish in just half an hour. This was really...too terrifying.
Xi Ze stared deeply at the male insect in front of him, and when he looked over, he leaned over and kissed him, then watched a hint of red slowly creep up the tip of his white ear.
"Thank you for your hard work. I'll ask the nutritionist to prepare a dose of energy liquid for you to restore your mental strength."
Yael coughed softly, and suddenly remembered the call that the female insect had made before leaving. He asked casually, and was shocked when he heard the reply.
"Assassinated? And it was the Second Prince who did it?"
The female insect had clearly said before that Felix was the most favored prince. If he had a little talent, he would not have been able to sit in the highest position. After all, he was favored like never before.
"It's probably because we've been pushing the Duke's Mansion too hard lately, and that idiot is getting anxious too."
Thinking of that idiot's forced calmness, Xi Ze sneered.
"But what I didn't expect was that he could be so stupid that he hired someone to kill your Majesty without telling anyone."
Anto, who could have held on for a while, may not be able to survive for long this time.
Fighting secretly and getting the support of His Majesty are two different situations. Maybe I can even get the support of those stubborn royalists. And most importantly -
"What is this?"
Yael touched the female insect's open palm with some curiosity. Inside was a token that had been rubbed smooth, and he could vaguely see the complex patterns on it.
"Simply put, owning this thing gives me the real right to kill traitors first and report later."
First kill him cleanly and then present evidence to expose his crime of treason.
"After this token was cast, it has been passed down through hundreds of generations of kings, but it has only been used twice. This will be the third time."
Xize picked up the token and pressed a certain spot. Soon a crack appeared on the token. After it slid open, a blood-red word "kill" was revealed inside.
He was too lazy to use those conspiracies and tricks, and was even more worried about unexpected changes. Today, he got the token by accident, and things suddenly became much simpler.
Yael looked at him and saw a glimmer of burning fire in those golden eyes.
It was like lurking in the polar night for a long time, and finally finding an opportunity to raise a torch and burn everything to ashes.
I know that there are some things that female insects must do with their own hands, such as bloodbathing the Duke's Mansion, and killing the source of past suffering with their own hands, one cut after another to vent their hatred.
"Be safe in everything."
So Yael just told him to be careful and not to come back injured again, as it would hurt him.
"Okay." Xi Ze whispered, stretched out his hand to cover the back of the male insect's hand, and gently held it between his fingers.
"You too, be sure to be safe and remember to tell me if anything happens."
The car was quiet for a while.
"The military has almost finished its deployment. What are you going to do with the Duke's Palace? Gather evidence and then use the constitution to sentence them?"
After being on the main planet for so long, through the explanation of the female insect and his own experience, Yael always feels that the laws here have become a dead letter. Both power and money are far above the constitution.
"And Kano is an A-level male insect with special immunity. This method should be painless for him, unless..."
He didn't say anything, but Xi Ze already knew what he was going to say next. He squeezed the male insect's hand and said comfortingly, "That's true, but it doesn't matter."
Xi Ze narrowed his eyes slightly, not letting the male insect see the gloom that flashed across his face.
"The Duke's House was once a title conferred by male insects, not the current Duke of Reims."
"The male insect was locked up for three hours for harming the queen and her young, and he died suddenly during those three hours."
Yael realized something and widened his eyes slightly. "It's you?"
He didn't say anything. When Xi Ze came to his senses, he realized what he had revealed. His pupils shrank slightly, fearing that the male insect would feel resentful because of this.
"...I would never do that to you, ever."
Caesar held his hand, leaned over and kissed the back of his white hand lightly, and said almost cautiously.
He looked obviously annoyed. He must have regretted relaxing for a moment and showing his terrifying side in front of the male insect.
Xi Ze pursed his lips, trying to look sincere, but still revealed a hint of confusion. He could only repeat awkwardly, "My Lord, please believe me, okay?"
The female insect in front of him was obviously more powerful than he had imagined, and her methods were extremely cruel. She was not some pitiful creature who needed sympathy.
The one who should feel fear and regret... is obviously the bug who is standing on the opposite side of him.
Yer sighed and pulled his hand away. In the somewhat panicked look of the female insect, he reached out and touched his hair, like a skilled caress.
"I know you won't."
He continued, but he also knew that he had no place in the female insect's plan to kill her.
"As long as you have a way, I guess you won't let me get involved in those bloody things. I will be a strong magnet that can attract the nobles. You can arrange the rest as you wish."
The noble male insects need a strong man to lead them, and the empire also needs such a symbol to gather strength. When he becomes the undisputed strongest, no insect will care if Kano dies.
Both the Xiongbao Society and the emerging aristocracy led by Vito have extended olive branches to him.
Everything is moving in the planned direction. It just needs more time and a little bit of opportunity.
Yael looked at the scenery outside the car window and was a little dazed for a moment.
"...I hope everything goes well."
*
I don’t know if it was due to the spiritual counseling, but after returning home, Yael was always a little uneasy. However, it was not the kind of sleepy fatigue, but he would be absent-minded from time to time.
Nothing else happened today except spiritual counseling, but there is indeed nothing wrong with the spiritual power in the spiritual picture.
He could only attribute it to the fact that it was his first time using his mental power in this way and his body was not well adapted to it, so he went to bed early that night with the female insect in his arms.
Dim stars hung in the pitch-black night sky, their brilliance soon obscured by dark clouds. The moonlight was inexplicably stained with a hint of blood, silently shrouding all things in silence.
Yael did not sleep well.
He could feel his consciousness becoming hazy, drifting with the turbulent mental images, being pulled into one broken memory after another.
“…”
"——Baby!"
A gentle call sounded in his ears, and he suddenly opened his eyes. In a daze, he looked at everything narrow and shaky in front of him.
"Come here, dear, walk slowly..."
Not far away, there was a gentle woman squatting, smiling with her eyes curved. She clapped her hands to attract his attention.
mother.
This word suddenly popped into his mind, and a sense of power suddenly spread throughout his body.
The legs that were originally a little unsteady suddenly took a step forward, then another, and then stumbled forward and fell into that soft embrace.
"Baby can walk now! You are so good and wonderful! Mommy will make you something delicious..."
A voice filled with surprise and joy rang in his ears, and he felt himself being held steadily, lying on that thin shoulder, feeling unprecedented peace of mind.
The sunlight from outside the window poured in through the glass, casting an unknown shadow on the colorful cushion, which swayed and sparkled in the breeze.
It was like some kind of fairy tale scene.
…
"Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling—"
"Finally, winter vacation has begun. Oh my god! I am free! Aaaaaaaa!"
"My mom booked me a ticket for this afternoon, I'm leaving now, bye!"
When the bell rang, the teacher sensed the commotion over the holiday, smiled, and ended the class on time.
It was as if a barrier had been unlocked. The class suddenly became noisy. Students began packing their winter vacation homework into their schoolbags and rushing out of the classroom.
Yael also finished his homework. When he wanted to zip up his bag, he found that his already worn-out bag had another tear. He sighed.
He dawdled for a while until most of the class had left and the monitor was ready to lock the door.
Yael had no choice but to take out a few books, hold the schoolbag in his arms and walk out.
As soon as we left the classroom, the isolated cold wind rushed in, tearing open the thin school uniform jacket that had been washed white, as if it was going to scrape off a layer of flesh and blood from our thin bodies.
"This winter seems to be colder than previous ones. I wonder if there are any thick clothes left in the welfare home..."
他緊繃起身體，抱着書包沖了下去，想要靠着運動屏蔽外界的寒風。
“等等……前面的……停一下！哎喲！”
呼嘯的寒風中似乎夾雜着斷斷續續的呼喊，耶爾慢半拍才回過神來，那聲音好像在喊他。
他停下來轉過頭，看着一個胖胖的老人氣喘籲籲地跑過去，“小同學，等等……”
“校長？”
耶爾有些驚訝地看着他，“怎麽了嗎？”
“福利院那邊打電話給我，說今年遺棄的小孩又多了幾個，沒有你的房間了，補給也不太夠，讓你先去外面想想辦法，看能不能打一下工。”
耶爾怔了一下，卻并不覺得太意外，鞠了一下躬道謝。
“我知道了，謝謝您轉告我，外面冷，您不要在外面停留太久了。”
校長卻沒有立刻離開，看了眼耶爾臉上溫和禮貌的淺笑，和他身上單薄的衣物，突然道。
“小同學，今晚要不要來我家吃一頓飯？”
“不遠，就在學校旁邊而已，先來歇歇腳，再為明天做打算吧。”
耶爾躊躇了一會，看着老人臉上的善意，還是點了下頭，眉眼彎彎地笑起來。
“好，謝謝校長。”
那是一個不大的居民房，一樓的窗戶亮着暖黃色的燈，不過房子裏只有校長和他的老伴一起住。
那個晚上，耶爾吃上了好幾個月來第一頓有肉而且熱騰騰的飯菜，洗了第一個熱水澡。
在那對老夫婦的拌嘴和念叨的背景音中，他拿出寒假卷子開始刷題，第一次意識到在燈光亮的地方做作業會這麽舒服。
“唰唰唰……”
筆尖劃過紙面，發出細微的聲響，和這一室溫暖融化在一起，讓耶爾突然失神了一會，
生活好像也不算太糟糕，至少出路和希望一直在那裏。
現在已經高三了，按他現在的成績能順利考上top1的大學，用獎學金和助學貸款讀完大學，等工作了生活就好起來了。
他始終相信未來會好起來，哪怕曾經一片狼藉，這個世界也總有好心的人在點亮明燈。
他受這些善意照耀幫扶，也渴望着未來成為能幫助他人的人。
一定會好起來的。耶爾抿着笑想，專心下來繼續刷題。
……
“喂！你沒事吧……？！”
“老師！老師！他暈倒了……快來人啊——”
似乎有誰在劇烈搖晃他的肩膀，試圖讓他醒過來，但模糊的視線中浮泛起大片的陰影，心髒劇烈疼痛到近乎撕裂，已經呼吸不上來。
他快死了嗎……
實驗還沒做完呢……
腦子裏閃過最後一絲念頭，視線徹底陷入一片漆黑，就連耳邊混亂的嘈雜聲都聽不到了。
“讓開……要開始心肺複蘇了！”
耶爾再次恢複些許意識時，模糊的視線裏是一片雪白的天花板，已經僵硬了的身體似乎正在飛速移動。
胸口處被大力按壓着，妄圖讓那充血的心髒恢複跳動，一下又一下，和周圍焦灼的哭泣一起，想要将他從死亡邊緣拉回來。
“堅持住！”
而後的一切便像是他的殘魂脫離身體，漂浮在空中所看到的景象，仿佛是真實發生，卻又像是一場颠倒的幻夢。
“他家裏什麽人都沒有了，連狗都死了，哪裏能拿得出錢來，急救費我們還能湊一湊，住icu的錢是真的拿不出來了……”
“那難道就不救了嗎？他是為了這個項目為了實驗暈倒的，再說了，就算只是一個陌不相識的人，也不可能就這麽看着他死！”
“那醫生說了，很有可能是心力衰竭，百分之九十都救不回來了，就算活下來也只能成為植物人……”
手術室外，打急救電話将他帶過來的人正在争吵，卻怎麽也看不清具體的面容，一陣争吵後只剩下死寂般的平靜。
算了，別救我了。
飄蕩的魂魄幾乎要被風吹散，只能勉強保持着清醒，無聲地喃喃道。
死了一了百了也幹淨，實驗沒有他也能進行下去，若是成為大家的負擔甚至拖累就不好了。
困倦一陣陣翻湧上來，恍惚中不知過了多久，他聽見了一道沉穩而熟悉的聲音。
“都別吵了！人，我們一定要救！”
“老師不強求你們幫忙，先把項目申請的資金拿出來墊着，後面怎麽辦就再說，可以嗎？”
“……好，那就先這樣吧，我剛才也是急了，其實沒想不救學長的，抱歉。”
“家屬！家屬在哪裏……沒有家屬嗎？那誰能做擔保人，簽署一下病危通知書？！”
眼前的景象徹底模糊，那道懸浮的意識已經徹底撐不住，微風一吹，便無聲地逸散了。
只剩下一縷附在原來的身體中，将一路下降的心跳堪堪維持住了。
“很遺憾，如果一周內仍然沒有蘇醒，就基本可以确診腦死亡了……”
醫生低了低頭，沉重地向對面的老者宣布這個不幸的消息，同時忍不住暗嘆一聲。
真是可惜了，明明是前途一片大好的俊秀小夥子。
……
激蕩的精神力從懷中的身體裏溢出，因為主體的沉睡而不太受控制，直接撞擊在了西澤的精神圖景上，讓他悶哼一聲。
那精神力仿佛有種奇異的吸力，牽扯着雌蟲的意識讓他無法清醒過來。
而在積蓄到某一條線時，那股恐怖的精神力猛地爆發，甚至扭曲了周圍這一片的空間。
“呃啊……！”
西澤神色痛苦，卻将懷中的雄蟲一寸寸抱緊，全然不顧扭曲的空間擠壓骨骼，發出咔咔的可怖聲響。
一幕幕記憶碎片飛快閃過，好像瀕死前的走馬觀花，但那些景象中都沒有耶爾的存在。
但很快，雌蟲就意識到了——他似乎正在透過耶爾的眼，去觀察和體會着另一個陌生的世界。
還不等他努力保持清醒，想繼續搜尋一下信息，那空間就波動混亂膨脹到了頂點，像是吹到極致的氣球，突然爆炸！
而在那一瞬間，懷中驟然變得一片空蕩。
“？！”
懷中蟲的消失讓他瞬間如墜深淵，西澤被巨大的震恐砸中，硬生生将意識抽離而出，猛地睜開了眼。
眼前仍然是一片昏暗的卧室，耶爾的溫度也還懷裏塞得滿滿當當，一切仿佛都是一場夢。
他喘息急促，感覺自己出了一身的冷汗，卻顧不上劇痛和眩暈，抱着雄蟲起身打開了床邊的燈。
暖黃色的燈光将床頭的黑暗一掃而空，西澤才逐漸緩過神來，等劇烈的耳鳴過後，卻聽到了懷中細微的啜泣聲。
“……”
“雄主？！”
“——耶爾！”
耳邊隐約的呼喊逐漸清晰，終于在喊出名字時将耶爾驚醒。
他有些艱難地睜開了眼睛，才發現眼皮潮濕又腫痛，好像哭了一樣。
但那夢境中的內容在他醒來的瞬間，就好像被一只手悄然抹去，幾個呼吸間就褪色成了一片空白。
只剩下一點情緒殘餘，不是傷心或絕望，而是開心到了極點後的餘韻，讓微熱的眼眶再次泛起一點淚花來。
他慢吞吞地揉着眼睛，看向上方正俯身的雌蟲，聲音沙啞地道，“怎麽了……？”
床頭的燈已經被打開了，暖黃色的燈光将這一片照亮，卻不顯得刺眼，耶爾沒有起身，任憑淩亂的黑發散落枕間，神色有些倦懶。
西澤的手很用力地按着他的肩膀，神情有些慌亂和惶恐，凝視着他半晌後突然很将他緊緊抱在了懷裏。
“西澤？”
耶爾清醒了一些，伸手回報住雌蟲，才發現他的身體竟然正在微微顫抖，仿佛遇見了什麽很恐怖的事一樣。
“……沒事。”
抱了好一會，西澤才勉強緩過神，将燈光又調亮了些。
他伸手碰了碰雄蟲的臉頰，那股冰涼的濕潤感還沒有完全消散，聲音低啞地道，“雄主剛才是做噩夢了嗎？”
剛才雄蟲一瞬間消失在懷中帶來的巨大震恐，仍然沒有完全消散，繩索般緊勒着柔軟的心髒，讓他的呼吸有些急促。
他不敢想象，如果耶爾真的就這麽消失，自己會陷入怎樣的瘋狂，幸好……
幸好。
西澤用力閉了閉眼，垂眸看着懷裏神色茫然的雄蟲，伸手幫他抹去了眼尾一抹細微的濕潤。
耶爾伸手按住雌蟲的手背，下意識蹭了蹭，聞言忍不住笑起來，“不，我剛才做了一個美夢。”
他的眸光在昏聩的燈光下顯得極亮，裏面是不加掩飾的喜悅和開心，像是得到了一直心心念念玩具的幼崽，笑得很甜。
西澤瞳孔微縮。
明明剛才已經哭到細微痙攣，幾乎止不住地發抖，甚至精神力都因為劇烈動蕩而逸散了一瞬，雄蟲卻仍然認為——
“那是個，美夢嗎？”
他喃喃地重複道，卻倏地想起陰差陽錯共享到的夢境碎片，裏面完全陌生卻顯然是第一視角的景象，恍惚間好像明白了什麽。
那裏就是雄蟲的故鄉嗎？
在突然出現在蟲族之前，耶爾生活紮根了幾十年的地方，讓他時刻思念着，甚至想要用自傷的方法回去的……家。
“好困……想睡覺唔……”
The room was brightly lit with warm light, and the male insect in his arms was hugging his waist, nodding sleepily, and the place where he was pressed against felt solid and warm.
Xi Ze felt as if his heart was being torn apart bit by bit, and he was suffocating in pain and sorrow.
If there really comes a day when Yael can freely choose between these two paths, will he choose to stay with him, or... go home?