Chapter Eighteen: Seeing Through Life and Death

  "Where is this? Am I dead? Where's Xiao Lang?" Helianuo gradually felt his consciousness awakening, but he had no idea where he was or whether the terrifying palm of the giant bear had ended his journey in this world. Everything was so mysterious and chaotic.

  With great effort, she opened her heavy eyelids. As the scene in front of her changed from blurry to clear, He Lian Nu was shocked to find herself back at the He Lian Manor. The high roof, simple yet not solemn decorations, and servants dressed in traditional purple attire of the He Lian family hurried about, everything seemed just like seven years ago, equally peaceful.

  Khaleno was struggling to distinguish whether everything in front of him was a real scene or his own illusion, when suddenly, a hoarse and thick voice sounded behind him: "You still have the face to come back!"

  He Lian hastily turned around, only to see He Lian's tall and majestic figure standing proudly, with a face full of disappointment and discontent.

  "Grandfather? Grandfather, you're still alive!", Helian Nuo excitedly rushed over, but Helian Zong was pushed away by him. Helian Nuo couldn't help but be stunned, unable to understand why his usually kind grandfather would reject him at this moment.

  "Grandfather, you?", Helianuo asked tentatively.

  "Don't call me Grandfather! I don't have a grandson like you, and the Helian family doesn't have an unworthy descendant like you!", Helian Zongheng said loudly, his tone filled with anger. "It's been seven years, exactly seven years since the downfall of my Helian family. You, the direct descendant of my Helian family, the noble bloodline of the ancient sacred tribe, why haven't you set foot on the path to revive our Helian family? Have you forgotten who your mother died for?", he said, and then turned around and ignored Helian Nuo, walking out with big strides.

  "Grandpa!! I haven't forgotten, I really haven't forgotten!", He Lianuo loudly called out as he tried to chase after him, but found that his feet seemed to be fixed in place and couldn't move. Just as he was getting anxious, a familiar sigh suddenly sounded from behind him.

  "Mother?" Helian Nu heard the voice and quickly turned his head, only to see Nan Huan Yue's slender figure gazing at him with tears welling up in her eyes. "Mother!", Helian Nu called out again, but Nan Huan Yue turned away and said calmly: "Don't call me mother anymore. Seven years ago, I sacrificed myself at Luoshui Lake to protect you, hoping to leave a legacy for the Helian family. But over the past seven years, you've been so disappointing. Although your father is foolishly loyal to Tian Shuang, he's still a great man, and your two brothers are also outstanding men. What about you? You only know how to indulge in pleasure and leisure, without any regard for the Helian family's great revenge. I'm extremely disappointed in you!" After finishing her words, she didn't even look at Helian Nu again, but instead turned away with a wave of her sleeve and left.

  "Mother, mother!" Hellen cried out in a hoarse voice, but didn't have the courage to chase after her. Towards this gentle yet resilient mother, Hellen had always felt immense gratitude and guilt, and had always thought that she was the person who loved him the most in this world. He never expected that he would disappoint the person who loved him the most, and Hellen's heart ached to the point of madness.

  "Ano, don't be afraid, I'm here!", suddenly, a cold yet subtly affectionate voice sounded in Helianuo's ear, and Helianuo, like a drowning person grasping for the last straw, hastily stretched out his hands to search for the source of the sound. Soon, a pair of rough large hands tightly grasped Helianuo's searching hands, and he finally let out a sigh of relief, slowly opening his eyes.

  By the faint light, Helianuo saw that it was indeed Helian Shang who held his hand, and the familiar furnishings around him told Helianuo that this place was indeed the Tianlang Cave. Helianuo looked around with difficulty, but did not see the figure of Little Tianlang anywhere.

  "Don't worry, Little Wolf is injured but not life-threatening. Tianlang is treating it right now. It's you who almost lost your life to Giant Bear's claw. If we hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid...", He Lian let out a sigh of relief and gently stuffed He Lian Nuo's hands into the beast skin he was wearing.

  Looking at He Lian Shang's still icy face, He Lian Nuo felt a warm current rising in his heart. In the past seven years, he had grown from an infant to a mischievous child, but He Lian Shang seemed unchanged, still as cold and unapproachable as ice. The only difference was that he spoke more now, from rarely saying a word every few days to being able to converse with him. He Lian Nuo knew that the man in front of him had come to regard him as his own son.

  "Originally, the mother of Tianlang had returned, thinking that with her taking care of him, little Tianlang would definitely be fine." Putting down his last bit of worry, Helianuo finally relaxed and lay down on the bed. But as soon as he relaxed, his originally numb body suddenly transmitted a sharp pain. Helianuo gently lifted up the animal hide covering his body and discovered that his chest was tightly bandaged, with faint bloodstains seeping out, clearly indicating that the injury was not light.

  Watching Helian'nuo panting and taking cold air, Helian Shang hurriedly helped him lie down and cover the beast skin: "Don't move around. When Tianlang returned to the cave that day, we saw you and Xiaotianlang didn't come back for a long time, so we were about to go out and look for you, but heard the distant roar of soul beasts continuously. Tianlang heard that there must be a fight over there and was worried that you would be in danger, so he carried me along the roar and rushed quickly. When we arrived, we saw a giant bear pouncing on you. Although Tianlang's speed was swift and unparalleled, and he went forward to repel the giant bear, the bear's claws still swept across your chest. Fortunately, you were raised by Tianlang's milk since childhood, and your body is stronger than ordinary people. Otherwise, this palm would have taken your life. From now on, remember not to wander around randomly. Don't think that the area near the Tianlang cave is safe, it's just that other soul beasts are afraid of Tianlang and don't dare to get close. This place is deep in the Youyue Forest, and even I don't dare to run around randomly."

  "I got it, little uncle. I'll be more careful in the future. But when I gain power one day, I must find that giant bear and kill it to avenge today's humiliation!" Helian Nuoer was still childish at heart, thinking only of killing the giant bear to avenge himself and Little Tianlang.

  He Lian was injured and heard the words, smiled, and took out a palm-sized irregular yellow ball from his pocket, saying lightly: "I'm afraid you won't have this opportunity. Tian Lang saw that Xiao Tian Lang and you were seriously injured, and he was already heartbroken and almost crazy. How could he let go of that giant bear? Consider it unlucky for the bear. At this moment, the giant bear has become Tian Lang's food. This is what the bear left behind, take it."

  He Lian took the yellow orb, feeling that it was not as cold as ordinary stones, although it was very hard. However, when he held it in his hand, there was a strange soft and warm sensation. The orb was semi-transparent, and through its surface, He Lian could see a tiny shadow of a giant bear inside, vividly lifelike, as if it were about to pounce on him. He Lian's curiosity arose, and he asked He Lian Shang: "What is this? Why is there a shadow of a giant bear inside?"

  "This is a good thing, this object is called the Beast Soul Pearl. You should know that the soul beasts are divided into ten levels, but only the eighth level and above soul beasts can produce such a treasure after death. The Beast Soul Pearl stores about 80% of the power of the soul beast when it was alive. It may look ordinary now, but as long as it meets the right person or someone with fate, they can absorb the soul from the Beast Soul Pearl and become stronger with its power.

  Soul beasts above the eighth level have unimaginable strength, and ordinary human strongmen are almost unable to hunt them down. However, even when an eighth-level soul beast dies, there is less than a 1% chance of producing a Beast Soul Pearl. In fact, only when the soul beast was in an extremely special state before death can it produce a Beast Soul Pearl.

  The most important thing is that it's very hard to find a body that can completely merge with the Beast Soul Pearl. Moreover, the Beast Soul Pearl has its own consciousness and will not merge with someone unless it wants to. There's a saying on the Youyue Continent: 'The Beast Soul Pearl chooses its master, not the other way around.' That's the principle."

  After hearing Helian Xiong's explanation, Helian Nu finally understood how precious the small thing in his hand was. An eighth-grade soul beast could almost walk horizontally in most areas of the Youyue Forest. Yesterday, it was the giant bear who underestimated him and unfortunately encountered the sacred beast Tianlang; otherwise, he would have had no way to survive. Little uncle said that this beast soul pearl can only be produced under extremely special circumstances. It seems that the Lidi Bear King's beast soul pearl in his hand was produced due to yesterday's giant bear's rage. He just didn't know if he could merge with this precious beast soul pearl. At the moment, he couldn't bear to put it down, and he wanted to absorb the power within the soul pearl for his own use.

  It seems that Helian No has seen through Helian's thoughts, and Helian Wound strikes mercilessly: "You might as well give up on merging with this Beast Soul Pearl. When the Beast Soul Pearl encounters someone it deems suitable for merging, the virtual image inside will automatically light up. In my opinion, I'm afraid you don't have that chance."

  He Lianuo hastily brought the Beast Soul Pearl in front of him, and saw that the virtual shadow inside the pearl was still appearing and disappearing from time to time, without any change. It made sense, after all, the giant bear died because of himself, how could he be willing to merge with himself? At this moment, he threw the pearl to the side of the bed in disappointment, thinking that maybe he could exchange it for something else when he encountered a suitable opportunity. His younger uncle said that the Beast Soul Pearl was extremely precious, and it should be able to exchange for many good things.

  Kerlin was having his own daydream of making a fortune, only to feel something hot and wet licking his face back and forth. He turned his head to see Xiao Tianlang's front paws grasping the bedside, with wounds wrapped in animal hide on his body, excitedly licking his own face with his tongue. Seeing that his partner in life and death was fine, Kerlin immediately threw his daydream of making a fortune far away, hugging Xiao Tianlang's head and rubbing it back and forth, as they both laughed and played happily together.

  He Lian was frowning, about to remind He Lian Nuo to pay attention to his injuries, but when he lowered his head and saw the tears in He Lian Nuo's eyes and Xiao Tian Lang's excitedly wagging tail, he swallowed back the words of caution that were on the tip of his tongue. He turned his head to look at Tian Lang, who was lying quietly by the door watching the two little ones, shook his head helplessly, and walked out.

  This world, after all, still has some things that are more precious than life.