Reborn as a Mantis

Chapter 1: Reborn as a Mantis

Silence, nothingness, confusion, daze.

It seemed he had dreamed for a moment, yet it also felt as if an entire century had passed. Chen Lin's consciousness gradually came to.

"Am I dead?"

Blinding sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead. Chen Lin instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Chen Lin's eyes widened. He stared at the "hand" before him in shock, his pupils contracting.

It was covered in sharp, jagged edges like wolf's teeth, with the perfect curve of a folded sickle. No matter how he looked at it, it wasn't a hand a human should have.

W-what is this?!

Chen Lin jolted. His two pairs of powerful hind legs braced against the ground, thrusting his body nearly upright. The threadlike antennae atop his flat, triangular head sprang up, and his two bulging compound eyes constricted sharply.

This? These are my hands?!

Horrified, Chen Lin was no longer in a daze. He was fully awake.

Then, inherited memories from his bloodline surfaced in his mind. And then the fact that left him wanting to cry but without tears stared him in the face.

I... I've actually been reborn as a mantis!

※※※※※

On the yellow-and-green fallen leaves, a "giant" ant, glossy and jet-black, came scuttling over. It was a full fist-sized, its long, slender antennae sweeping back and forth as it searched for food.

Chen Lin remained perfectly still, his two great scythes folded against his chest. His emerald-green body blended seamlessly with the leaves, and his huge compound eyes fixed on the approaching meal. Every movement the ant made was crystal clear to him.

"Whoosh!"

In a flash, Chen Lin's forelimbs shot out like arrows. He hooked and curled them, effortlessly sweeping the fist-sized ant into his mouth. He chewed it up, then spat out its head, apparently finding it too hard.

"Tastes all right, but there's barely any meat."

He licked his scythes, still unsatisfied. This was the fourth day since Chen Lin had reluctantly accepted his identity as a mantis. For the past four days, he had roamed this vast forest day and night, exploring everything around him.

"I wonder where this place is. Some prehistoric jungle on Earth that's never been discovered? Or... is this not Earth at all?" Chen Lin raised his head and tilted it, looking around freely. He gazed at the towering trees and withered vines overhead. Faint light seeped through the leaves that blotted out the sky, and a sudden loneliness and desolation welled up inside him.

Everything here was very much like Earth, but the creatures living here were several times larger than their Earth counterparts. Chen Lin himself, for instance, stood over a meter tall when upright. And that was nothing. He had witnessed some bizarre creatures wandering through this forest.

For instance, a giant serpent with terrifying wings had roared past on a gust of bloody wind, crushing a white ape nearly two zhang tall into pulp. A huge, three-headed bat had dived down and torn apart a massive wild ox in an instant with its sharp teeth. Even more horrifying, Chen Lin had once watched a dead, silent tree suddenly open a humanlike mouth and bite the head off a giant eagle that had been resting there. Scarlet blood dripped relentlessly down the trunk. It was unnerving beyond words.

Over the past few days, Chen Lin had roamed the forest day and night, but he had never once dared to let his guard down. Every step was like treading on thin ice, for fear of provoking some terrifying, strange creature.

Besides the terror of the creatures, the memories inherited through his bloodline had taught Chen Lin that the species living here all had long lifespans. Take mantises, for example. On Earth, a mantis could survive for six to eight months. Here, however, mantises could live for six to eight years. It wasn't an especially long time, but neither was it short.

"Forget it. Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it. I just don't know if I'll ever make it out of this forest. If this is Earth... will I ever see those old friends again?"

Chen Lin thought wistfully, feeling lost and bewildered for a moment.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, the air split with a sharp whistle, and a bone-chilling killing intent swept toward him. Chen Lin jolted. His keen instincts from his previous life as an agent kicked in, and without a second thought, he ducked!

"Crack!"

A dead branch behind him was cut clean through. Chen Lin's eyes turned cold. With no time to turn around, he sprang up on his hind legs. His body twisted and bent in midair, both scythes guarding his chest as he braced for what came next.

Only after landing did Chen Lin see who had attacked him.

A mantis—one of his own kind.

Chen Lin's gaze turned even colder as he warily watched the unwelcome visitor.

The mantis opposite him was even larger than Chen Lin, a full five chi long. Its pair of scythes gleamed with a chilling light, and strange, fine red lines, as faint as gossamer, grew across them. Its cold compound eyes bulged as it stared at Chen Lin.

Cannibalism!

Mantises were cold-blooded creatures, with violence and cruelty hidden in their blood. They were combative and merciless.

Chen Lin tilted his head. Even now, the back of his neck felt cold. If he hadn't reacted in time, he'd have been decapitated and swallowed as a tasty meal. The thought sent a sudden killing intent surging through him.

"A little mantis nearly took my life. If those bastards from Hidden Thorn found out, they'd laugh their heads off!"

The other mantis had failed to kill Chen Lin in one strike, but it didn't attack again. That was simply the nature of mantises: if the first strike missed, they waited for an opening—calm, cruel, just like assassins.

Unfortunately for it, its opponent this time was an odd combination: a mantis body occupied by human intelligence.

After a long standoff, Chen Lin never moved an inch. His whole body was without a single opening. The mantis opposite him seemed to have run out of patience. After a long time spent in brutal fights, it had a vague sense that Chen Lin would not be easy to deal with. At last, it decided to give up on this decent meal.

Its wolf-toothed, saw-edged hind legs slowly spread apart, and it took a small step backward.

"Trying to leave? Heh."

Chen Lin sneered inwardly. Just as the other mantis had retreated three steps, he suddenly spread his wings!

"Whoosh!"

His elegant form darted forward, his gauzy wings unfurling wildly like sails catching the wind.

Sky-Piercing Cannon, Thunderclap from Flat Ground!

Chen Lin was skilled in martial arts. Though his body had changed, his techniques remained. His powerful legs sprang forward, piercing clouds and splitting mist. In the blink of an eye, he was upon his opponent, both great scythes hacking toward its neck, intent on severing its head!

The other mantis reacted quickly, arching its waist and narrowly dodging the strike. At the same time, Chen Lin's attack stirred its vicious nature. Its two sharp scythes pressed forward instead of retreating, crossing into a circle and sweeping together in a scissor-like strike meant to cut Chen Lin in half!

It had launched a fierce, swift counterattack!

Drunken Step of the Single-Handed Toast!

The instant his body touched down, Chen Lin's slender waist swayed like willow branches in the wind, like a drunkard staggering sideways. He bizarrely evaded the opponent's lethal strike.

Azure Dragon Probes the Water!

Suddenly, his swaying body came to a halt. Before the other mantis could react, Chen Lin lunged forward. One serrated scythe flickered in a feint, while the other drove forward with a chilling gleam.

"Pfft!"

Beneath the scythe, a needle-sharp hook suddenly stabbed through one of the opponent's compound eyes and pierced straight through its head!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The other mantis didn't die right away. Its scythes stabbed and swung wildly like spinning wheels as it struggled in its death throes.

One Last Strike, Yellow Dragon Spirit Turn!

Chen Lin's waist moved like a serpent, his legs swift as the wind. He brought his supple, fluid movements to the fullest, brushing past the other mantis's swinging scythes before turning and slashing hard!

"Pfft!"

The opponent's triangular head was cut off in one stroke. Its forelimbs flailed a few more times, then slowed and finally fell still.

Chen Lin had used three schools of martial arts—Lost Track Step, Drunken Fist, and Dragon Claw Hand! His movements had flowed like water, uncanny and unpredictable, with endless variations.

Clutching the other mantis's mutilated corpse, Chen Lin gobbled it down.

He didn't notice that, at the very instant the other mantis died, a faint black glimmer, almost impossible to see, drifted up from its corpse and disappeared into Chen Lin's body.