Chapter 608: Soulless
"They are still alive."
While their group was busy struggling to maintain control of the beast horde that was attacking them ferociously, Hei Gou was feeling more and more influenced by the heavy grief and despair that shrouded the bodies of the beasts.
Although he did not pause his actions as he cut down one beast after another, he still did not manage to protect his mind from the despair that was surrounding him.
He could feel the grievances that these beasts had, but he also knew that there was no way he could stop and try to speak with them to find out the cause for their lack of control over their own bodies.
Also, even though they were still alive, the festering flesh on their bodies was clearly infected and inflamed. They would not be able to survive for long either way, so killing them might even lessen the amount of pain they would have to go through.
The insects and bugs were not much of an issue, as their intellect was already very limited, so although they were confused, he did not sense much suffering from them; however, the larger beasts were truly in agony.
Xue Wei frowned as he looked at Hei Gou. He had sensed that something was amiss with his friend, and after hearing his explanation, he understood that the problem was much more intense than he had initially expected.
"How do the rest of you feel?" he suddenly called out as he randomly threw away another inscription that exploded upon colliding with the swarm of wasps that were charging ahead.
Luoluo and Bai Tianyi both heard Xue Wei's question, but neither of them felt any different; even Ling Xiao mainly snorted as he answered, "I feel disgusted. The beasts are pretty gross with all this rotten flesh, and the bugs are nauseating, so I hope they can all die as soon as possible."
While Ling Xiao's disgust was obvious from his words, there did not seem to be any actual discomfort in his expression, and Xue Wei narrowed his eyes as he looked at the many beasts again.
Hei Gou's mental state was clearly wrong, and even he could feel some discomfort, but as to where these feelings came from, he did not know.
"Beasts!"
Suddenly, Xue Wei called out a word that did not seem to have much of a connection with anything, as the rest of his friends were unaware of how he wanted them to react, but even so, they did not lose their grasp of the overall situation.
"There is something wrong with this forest and it will influence beasts! Hei Gou is already infected in one way or another. His mind is slowly being overwhelmed by the despairing beasts, and if he is allowed to keep being shrouded in this gloom, he will definitely become the same as them!"
Although Xue Wei was not completely certain about his theory, it was the one that made the most sense. Only he and Hei Gou were influenced by the strange feeling surrounding them, and Hei Gou was a Primordial Beast, while he was a Sovereign Beast.
It was reasonable for him to be less influenced by the creatures around them as he was a natural emperor of the beasts, and the deaths of common citizens wouldn't matter much to such a noble figure.
Hei Gou was different. While he was not among the most basic Fierce Beasts, he was still merely a Primordial Beast, and he was thus much more affected by the despair.
"Have you guys realized that even after we kill these beasts, there does not seem to be any soul leaving their bodies?
"Although they are clearly alive, their bodies seem soulless, and even the air is devoid of any soul power."
Luoluo was looking around as she spoke. She was not aware if this observation was of any use, but she still felt the need to mention it.
Hei Gou's eyes widened as he looked around. He had never been skilled in Spiritual Cultivation, but he could still sense if there was spiritual energy around, and Luoluo was correct. Not even one of these dead beasts had released any soul power.
Did this mean that the bodies, which were acting like puppets, were actually without a soul? Had their souls been taken away, and their bodies left to become a tool for hunting down the troublesome intruders in the forest?
This would also explain why the emotions were still present, as the bodies would maintain the state of mind that the soul had at the time it was dragged away. Such despair had to be overwhelming, and thus, Hei Gou was also affected by the remnant emotions.
"Hei Gou, go to the center. You will not keep facing these beasts head-on, Instead, you will focus on tossing inscriptions at the larger hordes of bugs and insects."
Xue Wei felt that if Hei Gou continued to battle against these beasts, the lingering emotions might overwhelm him, and such terrible negativity could truly harm him for good.
He had already lost his memories, so Xue Wei was not willing to allow for his mind to be injured further.
Hei Gou did not pretend to be a hero either. He quickly retreated until he was standing in the middle of the four fighting comrades, witnessing how all of them killed off any beast that might try to approach him.
The overwhelming gloom and depression that had swept over him previously slowly disappeared, but Hei Gou was not able to pay attention to these emotions as he kept his eyes open and focused on the largest swarms of insects to kill, one group after another.