Chapter 760: Intelligent Ants

Qi Xia furrowed his brows and slowly stood up.

The situation before him seemed a bit strange.

In his memory, "Luo Yi" had never actively slapped at windows; they mostly avoided living people.

And now, with a campfire burning steadily in the room, it was hardly a place that "Luo Yi" would enter. So, what did this persistent slapping mean?

He turned back to look at Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin, who were both sound asleep, apparently exhausted and undisturbed by the slapping sounds. So, he had to walk over to the window himself to check.

In just the time it took for those two steps, that pale hand slapped at the window twice more.

Qi Xia narrowed his grayish-white eyes and looked down. This was his first time observing a "Luo Yi" up close.

Its appearance was no different from other "Luo Yi."

Its eyes were two pitch-black holes, and because the eyes had been gouged out for so long, the surrounding areas were covered in wrinkled, puckered skin.

Its mouth was wide open, clearly showing that its teeth had been pulled out, with only a stub of a tongue left, and even its nose and ears had been cut off. Its smooth skull had no protrusions, looking like a skeleton with dried, shriveled skin stretched over it.

It had no hair anywhere on its body, just skin tightly clinging to the bones.

At that moment, it stared with its eyes wide and mouth agape, lifting its head as if "meeting" Qi Xia's gaze.

Qi Xia could clearly see that its face was covered in dried bloodstains.

Who would have thought that in "Zhong Yan Zhi Di," the thing that looked the most terrifying on the outside had endured suffering that others here could never fathom?

Qi Xia gazed at the "Luo Yi" through the glass, unsure if it had a visual system or if it had even noticed him.

But the "Luo Yi" seemed to sense something. It slowly lifted its head, its wide-open mouth emitting sounds like the chirping of insects.

Then, it slowly raised its pale, emaciated arm. This time, instead of slapping the window, it just pressed its dust-covered palm against the glass.

Qi Xia found its behavior quite intriguing and reached out his own hand to press it against the glass.

Their hands slowly met through the glass, and in an instant, both pulled back.

Qi Xia felt the bone-chilling cold from the palm on the other side of the glass.

The "Luo Yi," as if burned, carefully retracted its palm to its chest.

Its hand was as cold as a corpse.

"Who are you...?"Qi Xia asked softly.

The "Luo Yi"'s eyes widened further, and then it tried to reach out again.

Qi Xia knew the other likely had no visual system and was just acting on instinct, so he wasn't sure what he might touch. The sudden temperature of that hand must have startled it too.

Seeing it press its hand against the glass again, Qi Xia grew even more curious.

Why was this "Luo Yi" different from the others?

What made it special?

Thinking of this, Qi Xia reached out again, pressing his hand against the other's.

This time, the "Luo Yi" didn't pull back, as if feeling the warmth of Qi Xia's palm through the glass.

Its strange face shifted with various expressions, but without eyes or other features, Qi Xia couldn't decipher what those odd expressions meant.

"Are you looking for me?"Qi Xia asked.

The "Luo Yi" kept its mouth open, its hoarse throat producing sounds like crickets rubbing their wings, but it couldn't form a coherent word.

Qi Xia pondered for a moment, then simply unlocked and opened the window. The "Luo Yi" retracted its hand the instant it felt the window move.

Its reaction was truly like that of an insect.

Qi Xia stepped forward, placed his hand on the windowsill, and leaned down to stare directly at the "Luo Yi."

The creature, part human and part insect, lay on the ground outside the first-floor window. Now, with even the glass barrier gone, it made no other moves—it didn't reach out again or try to flee.

"Can you not see me or hear me?"Qi Xia asked.

He knew its ears had been cut off, but now it seemed its entire auditory system had been destroyed.

The "Luo Yi" lifted its head and turned it uncertainly, then crawled forward a step.

After a long silence, it tentatively extended its hand and slowly reached out.

Qi Xia watched the "Luo Yi" closely, feeling an indescribable strangeness about it.

If it were human, he could at least guess its motives, but what exactly was this thing now?

In less than three seconds, that trembling, pale hand reached toward Qi Xia.

It was kneeling on the ground, raising its once-broken arm high, creating an eerily bizarre scene.

Qi Xia quietly followed the hand's path and roughly understood its target.

It wanted his eyes.

"Strange..." Qi Xia murmured to himself, "Aren't you all searching for 'Chou Ma'? Why target my eyes?"

As the fingers, like frozen twigs, neared his eyes, Qi Xia suddenly grabbed the other's wrist.

The "Luo Yi" was startled by the scorching heat and couldn't pull its hand back right away.

Its expression changed dramatically, as if analyzing the situation.

"Wait..." Qi Xia said, "I think I've fallen into a misconception."

The "Luo Yi," after a moment of panic, suddenly used a great deal of force to yank its hand back. At that moment, Qi Xia realized something.

"It's me who's misunderstood..." Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes and said softly, "I assumed that once you became 'Luo Yi,' you must have lost your reason, but 'Qing Long' never said he took away your reason—he only said he destroyed your senses and implanted an 'idea' in your minds."

The "Luo Yi" extended its other hand and rubbed its wrist, as if feeling the lingering heat.

"So, you are conscious...?"

Even as he said this, Qi Xia could hardly believe it himself.

But the other clearly made movements that "Dian Ren" couldn't, reacting to external stimuli and even having their own thoughts and judgments.

"This is truly eye-opening. I knew you had it rough, but I didn't realize it was this bad."

Looking at the "Luo Yi" crouched on the ground, its throat making faint rustling sounds, a hint of pity appeared in Qi Xia's eyes.

What a tragic creature this was?

"The 'Dian Ren' here have all their senses but no reason," Qi Xia said quietly. "But you’ve been stripped of all your senses, yet your minds are clear...? You're far more pitiful than the 'Dian Ren.' Is this the fate of those who served those two?"