After gathering, the archers quickly drew their bows, followed by the shooting of several arrows.
Without exception, they all flew towards Chén Jǐng.
Although the bows and arrows didn't seem capable of harming him, Chén Jǐng still dodged them, caring about his clothes.
"They can see me?" Chén Jǐng grew more curious.
Despite calling them the Moling Tribe for so long, their fundamental race was actually Qi Star people, with no other differences besides being shorter.
In such a dark night, without special organs, it was impossible to see anything.
Assuming these Moling Tribe members possessed this ability, why was it only the ones holding bows and arrows who found him?
As the archers aimed at him in unison, those holding spears were guarding the surroundings.
While it wasn't impossible that only those who could see in the dark could be archers, when combined with previous observations, Chén Jǐng could only conclude that these Moling Tribe members could not see him in the dark.
"Interesting. Is it Biological Radar?"
Chén Jǐng harbored a suspicion that there was a blood relative here.
That blood relative possessed an organ similar to Biological Radar, and its detection range was wider than his own.
It had discovered him in advance, but it was clever enough not to approach immediately. Instead, it dispatched these Moling Tribe members to attack him in a hunting manner.
Even more so, it could, through some means, let the Moling Tribe members know his location.
And these Moling Tribe members were extremely obedient to that blood relative.
"Parasite? Virus? Or..."
"Ika?!"
After many possibilities flashed through his mind, Chén Jǐng placed his suspicion on Ika.
This was because Ika's appearance was very similar to Chén Jǐng's. If the faith of this group of Moling Tribe members was devout enough, then if a blood relative appeared who resembled Chén Jǐng, meaning similar in appearance to Ika, they would most likely worship him.
Treat him as a god.
Thinking of this, Chén Jǐng suddenly smiled.
He could find out the truth with just a gamble.
It wasn't really a gamble, though. This group of Moling Tribe members posed no real threat to him.
He took off his goggles and walked towards the Moling Tribe members, step by step.
The crunching sound of his high mountain boots on the snow amplified the tension in the dark night.
Of course, only the Moling Tribe members were tense.
To cope with their fear, the Moling Tribe archers frantically shot their arrows, but for Chén Jǐng, dodging these arrows was effortless.
As his figure emerged from the darkness, the light of the fire illuminated his face.
Chén Jǐng took off his hat.
His face in the firelight was so majestic!
The Moling Tribe members felt terror.
Trembling, they dropped their ropes and weapons, all kneeling on the snow and shouting.
"Ika!"
Chapter 36 Noxisd
"Blood relative, you are truly clever!"
A deep voice echoed in Chén Jǐng's mind through the information network as he accepted the Moling Tribe's prostration.
"Oh? Why do you look at me like that? I saw mockery in your eyes."
The voice spoke again as Chén Jǐng turned towards the direction the Moling Tribe had come from.
Indeed, Chén Jǐng's expression carried clear mockery.
"You seem surprised? Why?" the deep voice spoke again.
This blood relative's intelligence far surpassed Chén Jǐng's imagination!
Was it a life form at the middle school evolution level?
Or someone who had reached the peak of the elementary school level?
For a moment, Chén Jǐng felt an urge to leave quickly. But as soon as the thought arose, he dismissed it.
Its detection range exceeded his, and its intelligence was not low. Why would he run!
"Blood relative, are you trying to escape? I can see your hesitation."
The voice suddenly became agitated!
"Blood relative, I consider myself quite intelligent for this evolutionary stage, but your intelligence seems to be no less than mine! Do you know? Loneliness! I am so lonely!"
"My current evolutionary stage does not allow me to reach higher-level blood relatives! And the blood relatives at this stage, in my eyes, are like… crawling creatures that have just gained intelligence!"
He spoke with increasing excitement.
"They are still keen on devouring each other. I know this is instinct, and I cannot avoid it. I would also kill you without hesitation, but look at you, your intelligence."
"Your hesitant steps perfectly demonstrate your intelligence! If it were some mindless creature, they would have undoubtedly sought me out and tried to devour me the moment they heard my voice."
"But you are thinking! You are thinking! My blood relative!"
"Do you know? I desperately want to find a blood relative to converse with! Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Noxisd! Honestly, I don't know how this name came about, but there's always a designation."
"Blood relative, what is your name?"
"Cough! Uh! Uh!" Chén Jǐng constantly adjusted his newly evolved vocal cords.
"Damn it, why are you so talkative?" The voice wasn't particularly pleasant, but at least it let Noxisd know his thoughts.
Hearing Chén Jǐng's reply, Noxisd cheered excitedly!
"Intelligence! Blood relative! See, if it were another blood relative, they would never use such a tone! Although I don't know the meaning of that interjection, I can sense your disdain for me. Disdain, such a complex emotion! In fact, I'm not that talkative. It's all because of you, blood relative! No, it's because of intelligence!"
"I have been lonely for too long, blood relative. We followed the steps of higher life forms and came here. Ever since I gained intelligence, I have been captivated by this wonder. But my evolutionary level is too low; all blood relatives at my level cannot understand me! Do you know? That kind of solitude drove me mad."
Chén Jǐng remained silent, unsure how to converse with Noxisd.
Noxisd considered himself lonely.
His intelligence far exceeded what life forms at this level could exhibit; his more complex thought processes meant he couldn't converse with those of lower intelligence.
It was like asking a university student to teach a primary school student a high school math problem.
The primary school student wouldn't grasp the concept, and the university student might have forgotten their high school math.
Ultimately, their modes of thinking were on different wavelengths.
If it were Chén Jǐng, he would have given up long ago.
But Noxisd was different; he craved conversation.
He yearned to converse with intelligent beings.
For him, even the faintest collision of thoughts was an incredibly beautiful resonance.
However, in reality, at his evolutionary level, no blood relative's thoughts could collide with his.
As soon as Noxisd spoke more than ten words, the other blood relatives found it somewhat incomprehensible.
This was undoubtedly painful for Noxisd.
He needed intellectual exchange, not a mental overtaking.
Repeated failures in conversation had led Noxisd to despair.
He had almost abandoned the information network.
And in these secluded mountains, he encountered a different intelligent life form.
This time, he had become a god.
His thoughts directly became the thoughts of the Moling Tribe.
Once again, Noxisd was on the verge of despair.
And now, Chén Jǐng's arrival made him feel what true communication was.
He was eager to pour out his heart to Chén Jǐng.
In every word from Noxisd, Chén Jǐng could feel the emotions contained within.
It was precisely this powerful emotional contagion that made Chén Jǐng unsure how to communicate with Noxisd.
"Blood relative! Can you come and see me?"
Suddenly, Noxisd made a strange suggestion.
"You don't need to worry. In fact, I cannot defeat you at all. Look at you, you have such a strong physique! And me? To seek wisdom, I have dedicated all my evolutionary capabilities to my brain."
"Blood relative, I pose no threat to you. If you don't believe me, please wait where you are, and I can come to you. You can catch a glimpse of me from afar to see if I pose a threat. It's just that I walk very slowly; you'll have to wait a long time."
"Can you, blood relative?"
Chén Jǐng didn't remain silent; he responded to Noxisd's plea quickly and affirmatively.
"I can come and see you. I have a similar detection method to yours; I can see your appearance from 1500 meters away."
In the cold wind, Chén Jǐng spoke in a language the Moling Tribe people couldn't understand.
But this only made the Moling Tribe members more terrified.
In their eyes, how could the words of a god be understood by a mortal.
Noxisd, hearing Chén Jǐng's reply, became even more excited.
"Blood relative! My dear blood relative! Your intelligence brings me joy, and your trust in me deeply moves me."
Chén Jǐng moved quickly.
As the Moling Tribe's village appeared within the detection range of the Biological Radar, a slender figure also appeared.
That brain, disproportionate to his body, made Chén Jǐng recognize his identity at a glance.
Noxisd.
He had a human-like appearance, but his mouth was a bird's beak, and his slender body was adorned with thin wings. He pulled at the furs the Moling Tribe worshipped, wrapping his body tightly in thick pelts.
Even so, the biting cold wind still made him shiver.
Chén Jǐng was stunned.
This was the price of pursuing wisdom.
Noxisd had dedicated everything to wisdom, and in return, he received this frail body.
So thin, as if a single slap could end his life.
Gazing from afar at the life form seeking warmth in the cold wind, Chén Jǐng suddenly didn't know how to respond.
He let down all his guard: "Noxisd, you should go back. I see you. Your body is not suitable for moving in this temperature; you'll freeze to death."
"Noxisd, that's my name. I am Jing."
Chapter 37 Inheritance
The cold wind could not stop Chén Jǐng.
As he walked into the Moling Tribe village, all the Moling Tribe members prostrated themselves and shouted in unison.
"Ika!"
"Did you see? Even though they possess intelligence, I still cannot converse with them. To communicate with them, I even specially learned their language. But the result was very disappointing," Noxisd said, standing at the entrance of the wooden house, looking at the Moling Tribe members with disappointment.
But soon, he became excited again.
"But your arrival has made me feel intelligence again. Jing! Come in quickly! I truly cannot withstand this cold wind."
It was warm inside.
The Moling Tribe's reverence for Ika led them to offer their best to Noxisd, but this Ika seemed indifferent to them.
Perhaps Noxisd was too sensitive to the cold; even with the heated kang burning brightly, he wrapped himself in the blankets.
"Jing, try this. I think you haven't replenished your fluids for a long time. I know you can eat snow to hydrate, but why not try this?"
Noxisd skillfully poured water from a bottle. Under the continuous heating of the kang, the water was still warm.
"You don't need to worry about any toxins; I wouldn't be that foolish. Our digestive systems are capable of breaking down most substances, even minerals."
"Noxisd, I'm very curious," Chén Jǐng said, holding the bowl. "Do you truly have no intention of consuming me?"
Noxisd was very honest: "No, I do. In fact, the moment I saw you, I had a strong desire to eat you. But later, when I saw you take off your hat in front of these intelligent beings, and they addressed you with the words they use to call me, that desire vanished."
Chén Jǐng silently drank the water from the bowl.
This was the first time Chén Jǐng had eaten warm food since arriving here.
"It's been a long time since I felt this way," he couldn't help but exclaim.
"What's wrong?"
"Just remembering some things from a long, long time ago."
Noxisd paused for a moment and slowly put down the bowl in his hand.
"Jing, what are your thoughts on intelligence?"
His gaze was filled with anticipation; this was the question he had been pursuing.
"Intelligence?" Chén Jǐng pondered for a moment and gave his answer.
"In my opinion, intelligence is something every life form possesses, regardless of status."
Noxisd smiled. Although he had a bird's beak on his face, he was still smiling.
"Jing, do you remember when our intelligence hadn't awakened yet? Deep underground, do you remember? That world illuminated by lava."
"No, I don't. My intelligence was born three months ago; it was instantaneous, yet I felt as though a long time had passed. It's a very strange sensation," Chén Jǐng stated earnestly about his feelings during his rebirth.
That peculiar sensation of time being both ancient and fleeting.
Noxisd nodded: "Alright. Actually, my intelligence was born underground. I personally experienced higher life forms gathering a large number of us with low evolutionary levels. Then, they led batches of us, like me, to the surface. After that, they returned underground."
"My intelligence wasn't high back then. Although I couldn't understand the actions of the higher life forms, the instinct of life compelled me to follow them."
Noxisd's eyes were filled with memories.
"Why did those higher life forms do that? If they could survive underground, what was their purpose in going to the surface?" Chén Jǐng asked, confused.
"Perhaps it was for evolution, but I don't know the real reason," Noxisd shook his head. "Although I once conversed with a higher life form, our exchange did not involve this matter."
"A conversation? Higher life forms noticed us?" Chén Jǐng couldn't believe it.
He had always felt that higher intelligent life forms were arrogant.
"Yes, I remember it clearly. That higher life form called himself Noy. Perhaps my name was also derived from him."
"Noy? What did he say?"
Noxisd glanced at Chén Jǐng: "He said, 'Look, Nokmar, this little fellow has developed intelligence ahead of time. I hope he can persevere to the end. I'm quite looking forward to it.'"
"My intelligence wasn't high at the time, but I posed a question to him, asking what intelligence was."
"Noy told me that intelligence is the most precious thing for every life form. It is precisely because of intelligence that life appears extraordinary. The conversation with Noy is perhaps the reason I have been desperately seeking intelligence."
Noxisd spoke about this experience with great seriousness.
"This is also my view of intelligence all along. And your view of intelligence also makes me feel radiant. Yes, every life form possesses intelligence."
He pointed to the wooden door: "Those intelligent beings worship me. Although they disappoint me, to repay them, I also guided them in finding prey in this snow, the wisdom of hunting."
"Although those blood relatives cannot understand my words, I must admit that they do possess intelligence, the wisdom of combat. But this is not what I seek."
"However, you can no longer pursue wisdom now," Chén Jǐng said, looking at the frail body, unable to comprehend Noxisd's actions.
He was too thin.
He couldn't even cross a mountain.
"Yes, Jing. Ever since I followed the guidance of life and attempted to cross the ridge, I knew my journey had ended. I could not proceed further," Noxisd said with emotion.
"But I believe I have witnessed the most beautiful things. Perhaps my life was never meant for devouring blood relatives."
"Why didn't you enhance your body first? Instead, you solely evolved your brain."
"Perhaps this is my mission? Perhaps this is the meaning of my life? I'm not sure."
The two blood relatives suddenly fell silent.
"But don't you feel regret? You can't go any further, and your intelligence will be buried in this snow. No one will remember you, remember that an exceptionally intelligent being was born here."
Noxisd nodded: "Of course. I have so much regret. But Jing, you will remember. You will remember that there was once a life named Noxisd here. He developed intelligence, and he desperately searched for wisdom."
Chén Jǐng sighed.
"Why don't you try to advance further? You can have these Moling Tribe members help you cross the mountains. Even if you die on the road in the end. You were willing to sacrifice everything to