156: The wronged little mantis

The word 'Help' surprised Xie Ning.

"Don't be so surprised. Although experiment subject no. 0 is called a Yao Beast, it actually holds a human Soul, so it's not strange that it can write," the Ice Blade Woman explained.

Only then did Xie Ning realize the truth.

If Yang Kai could still write even after turning into a Fierce Demon, there was no reason the other experiment subjects couldn't.

Xie Ning walked up to experiment subject no. 0 and leaned in for a closer look.

Inside the round container, a snake, about two meters long and as thick as a wrist, was coiled up. Its entire body was deep blue like an Ice Crystal, making it look quite beautiful, but its condition was poor right now. Its Ice Crystal-like body was covered in fine cracks, and it looked listless. On its small head, two large eyes, very similar to human eyes, blinked as they watched Xie Ning.

Around the container, some Life Energy was slowly being injected to repair its body, but it seemed highly resistant to this repair, preventing the energy from entering its body.

Xie Ning followed the tube and realized that this Life Energy actually came from other imprisoned Yao Beasts.

Just then, the System chimed, and the snake's attributes appeared.

[Yao Beast Name] Ice Crystal Snake (Life Mutation)

[Yao Beast Grade] extraordinary peak

[Yao Beast Rank] Silver Level 1

[Yao Beast Attributes] Nature, Ice

[Yao Beast Weakness] Fire

[Yao Beast Status] Weakened

[Yao Beast Talent] Ice Healing

[Yao Beast Introduction] Experimental composite. After absorbing a large amount of Life Force, its own Ice attribute mutated, turning it into an Ice-type Yao Beast specializing in healing.

[Evolution Path] 1 path

Just as Xie Ning finished reading its attributes, Little Mantis tugged at his clothes.

"What's wrong?" Xie Ning asked, puzzled.

Little Mantis: "Can we save them? I can't break these things."

"Mhm, no problem." Xie Ning said, patting Little Mantis on the head, then looked at the Ice Blade Woman. "Do me a favor and let them out."

The Ice Blade Woman was puzzled: "Why go through all this trouble? It's not like you haven't killed Yao Beasts before."

"Killing is different from imprisonment. Among Yao Beasts, the strong prey on the weak; being killed by a stronger one or killing a weaker one is the natural order. But being imprisoned until death is a humiliation for them, worse than a quick death."

Xie Ning translated Little Mantis's words and then gave the Ice Crystal Snake an 'OK' gesture.

"I get it." Saying this, the Ice Blade Woman went to the Control Panel, took out a Square Instrument, and connected one end to the console. Xie Ning didn't know what she pressed.

A few seconds later, the liquid in the Glass Columns confining the Yao Beasts was gradually drained, and the Glass Columns slowly lowered, revealing the Yao Beasts themselves.

Before Little Mantis could rejoice, an ear-piercing sound rang out.

Beep—Beep—Beep—

"What's going on?"

Xie Ning quickly asked.

The Ice Blade Woman shrugged: "What else could it be? They were barely clinging to life. That Nutrient Solution was all that kept them alive. Your little guy was right to want to save them, but once it's drained, they're dead."

"What!" Xie Ning was startled and quickly looked at the exposed Yao Beasts.

Sure enough, the eyes of these Yao Beasts, which had just opened, gradually dimmed, and they only managed a half-hearted growl.

Little Mantis clutched Xie Ning's clothes with its claws, and its voice rang out in his mind, questioning Xie Ning.

"They were imprisoned for too long; they are already dead."

After Xie Ning finished speaking, Little Mantis's grip on his clothes visibly froze, only loosening after a few seconds. It touched five Yao Beasts, all of which were motionless.

Little Mantis slowly squatted down, its Energy Fluctuations extremely unstable, and its claws clenched tightly.

Xie Ning sighed, squatted down, and hugged Little Mantis, whispering, "This isn't your fault. It's the fault of those people outside. If you feel bad..."

Before he could finish, tears streamed down Little Mantis's eyes. It hugged Xie Ning, burying its head in his chest, and a sound of wailing rang out in his mind, like a child.

The Ice Blade Woman watched this scene without speaking.

Although she couldn't empathize, she knew it was best not to provoke them at this moment.

There was one more person who watched the entire process alongside her.

It was inside the Glass Container, its gaze shifting back and forth between Xie Ning, Little Mantis, and the dead Yao Beasts. Then, it tapped the Glass Container again.

Knock, knock, knock~

Xie Ning and Little Mantis turned their heads to look.

"Huh, why aren't you dead?" Xie Ning asked in surprise.

The Ice Crystal Snake rolled its eyes in a very human-like manner, and its tail wrote: "You guys drained the Nutrient Solution, I'm suffocating! Hurry and save me, I don't have the strength to get out!"

The final exclamation mark was written huge.

"First, a warning: I can let you out, but if you dare treat me like the farmer who saved the snake and bite me, don't blame me for eating Snake Soup," Xie Ning warned, suddenly remembering something before lifting the lid.

Hearing this, the Ice Crystal Snake seemed annoyed and hastily wrote with its tail, "You're the snake..."

Halfway through writing, it suddenly became a little depressed, scratched out the words, and changed it to another sentence: "Got it, now hurry up and save me."

Seeing this, Xie Ning finally opened the lid and carefully lifted the Ice Crystal Snake with both hands.

Only upon touching it did he realize that the Ice Crystal Snake's condition was also very poor.

The dense cracks on its body made it look as if it would break with the slightest pressure, and its breath was faint, like a wisp of smoke, ready to vanish at any moment.

"You clearly have a healing Talent, so why don't you heal yourself?"

Hearing this, the Ice Crystal Snake just twitched its tail.

Little Mantis also quickly gathered around, afraid to touch it lest it injure the Ice Crystal Snake.

For a while after that, the Ice Blade Woman took out a strange green box and began tinkering with it, while Xie Ning climbed onto the Medicine Cabinet, searched for a pile of Medicinal Ingredients, and used the instruments there to quickly make a batch of Healing Medicine to apply to the Ice Crystal Snake.

"You actually know how to make Healing Medicine? You're not secretly a Breeder, are you?" the Ice Blade Woman joked while taking a break from her work.

Xie Ning replied, "Maybe."

"I hope not, or you'd be neglecting your proper duties." The Ice Blade Woman stopped her work and then asked, "Who gave you the Bracelet on your wrist? It looks unusual."

"Just a regular Defensive Bracelet, a bargain I found at a two-dollar store on the street," Xie Ning shrugged, but his brow clearly furrowed slightly.

The Ice Blade Woman said, "How lucky."

"It is."

After that, the two didn't speak. Seeing that the Ice Crystal Snake's injuries had stabilized after applying the Healing Medicine and were beginning to repair slowly, Xie Ning stopped watching it and turned his attention to Little Mantis.

While Xie Ning and the Ice Blade Woman were busy, Little Mantis sat beside a dead Golden-Horned Rhino and didn't move for a long time.

It had killed plenty of Yao Beasts and Demon Tamers Beasts in previous battles, but Xie Ning had never seen it react like this.

Xie Ning sighed, took out a bottle of intermediate energy potion, and, using the column for cover, fed it to Little Mantis.

Xie Ning hadn't seen much of Little Mantis's battle today, but there was no doubt it had been extremely perilous.

A Bronze Rank 8 creature forcefully resisting a Gold Level 3 creature—this was unimaginable before. If it hadn't activated its Dual Talents, it might not even have dodged a single attack from the Soul Hunting Dread Cat.

Although its achievements were impressive, maintaining its Talent for so long placed a significant burden on it. Fine cracks reappeared on its Silver Armor. While not numerous, they were a warning that its body had reached its limit. If it continued fighting, whether its body could endure was unknown.

After consuming the energy potion, Little Mantis's injuries began to slowly heal, and Xie Ning felt slightly relieved.

Just as he was about to comfort Little Mantis, a 'hiss' sounded. The Ice Blade Woman closed the green, suitcase-like box, placed it in the corner, and covered it with a cloth.

"Done. We only have 15 minutes left. We need to hurry and leave."