If the protagonist were still human, facing this situation, he would close his eyes to alleviate the fear before death.
But now, the protagonist is just an ant without eyelids. He can only watch the victorious mantis holding two huge scythes high and approaching him step by step. The protagonist's pair of compound eyes already reflected the terrifying figure of the mantis.
Not only did the protagonist's limbs become numb and uncontrollable, but his brain also seemed to be twitching. At this time, the protagonist had no idea of continuing to struggle, resist or escape. It was as if the brain had acquiesced to the arrival of death and forcibly cut off control of the body.
Some animals, such as rabbits, when faced with an inevitable death outcome, such as being kissed by a wolf, will actively cut off control of their bodies due to stress reactions and die, which is commonly known as "scared to death." This avoids extreme pain before death.
At this time, the protagonist is in this situation. Although deep in his soul, he is still struggling to survive, but his brain and body have abandoned his will, unable to move, and unable to think about how to survive. The brain is just filled with a variety of complex emotions. The most disgusting thing is that his intuition has not been deprived, and he can only watch the god of death with the scythe approaching him step by step, and the footsteps sound like a drumbeat urging death.
"Why did I come to this world...why. If I died in my previous life, I will die, and I have to be reborn to suffer in this life."
"It doesn't matter if you are reborn. It doesn't matter if you are reborn in any dynasty. Humans are the primates of all things. Very few people will be killed by other creatures."
"Why ants, ants, ants! A mantis is about to take my life. It's just a mantis. I killed so many mantises when I was a kid. Twist off their heads, tear off their wings, and keep them in bottles. Forgot to starve to death.”
"Now I'm going to be killed by a mantis, a mantis that humans can easily destroy. I'm going to die. Is this retribution?"
"Who will save me, those damn soldier ants? How did you protect me? Why are you still lingering in the distance? Go away, Lambowan, where are you? Come and attract the mantis away." You are just ants, go and die, I don’t want to die! I hate these ants!"
Although he has lost control of his brain, the protagonist's emotions and thoughts are extremely intense. These emotions come together and can only be summarized in one word, that is "unwilling".
Yes, unwilling. I am not willing to die inexplicably in my previous life, and I am not willing to suffer the same fate again in this life without living for more than a few days. He was unwilling to be reborn as an almost useless ant, and even more unwilling to die at the hands of a mantis. The faces of all the time-travelers will be completely humiliated by themselves.
The praying mantis walks very slowly, or the protagonist feels that it walks very slowly, because the swaying branches, the falling leaves in the wind, and the howling wind, all the sights and sounds seem to be slowing down. This slowness only tightens the protagonist's fearful heart little by little.
The praying mantis has already walked in front of the protagonist, and in its ferocious compound eyes, the protagonist can see his embarrassment and motionless appearance.
"I'm going to die, so come on. I hope it won't hurt too much." The protagonist felt tears in his eyes. Do ants also shed tears? : "Ah, I remember. I was hit by a car in my last life. It hurt and was so cold at that time..."
The mantis had already raised its huge scythe. At this time, in the dim sky, there was a strong beam of light that broke through the thick clouds and turbid atmosphere, shining straight on the small area where the protagonist was.
"This is the Tyndall effect." The protagonist thought to himself: "It's so beautiful!"
The scythe stopped falling, and Mantis's head suddenly turned 90 degrees to the right. He suddenly saw something, and he even gave up paying attention to the protagonist for a moment.
The protagonist cannot turn his head, but the compound eye on one side can just observe that range.
What attracted the mantis's attention was a slowly crawling caterpillar half a meter away, a caterpillar with few hairs. The protagonist recognized it, and it was the caterpillar he led his subordinates to hunt.
It turns out that when the protagonist faced the praying mantis, he faced west. After avoiding the first attack, the protagonist ran away to the south. He was chased by the praying mantis again, so he turned to the northeast and ran back and forth. From the beginning, he plucked the caterpillars. The hairy place is not far away.
As for that caterpillar, although it was bitten fiercely by many soldier ants, it was still huge and was not seriously injured. It's just the insect's instinct that makes it simply fake death when it feels it can't escape. Even when the soldier ants plucked its hair, it was still in a state of suspended animation and did not recover. Now after a while, it felt that there seemed to be no movement of ants around it, so it quietly woke up and prepared to slip away.
The ants indeed had no energy to care about this cunning caterpillar, but this unlucky caterpillar was targeted by a more terrifying hunter.
Although the protagonist, the male ant, is a better hunting target than the soldier ant, when compared to this caterpillar, it seems completely inconspicuous. This caterpillar is fat, white and tender, with delicate flesh and rich in energy. It is as attractive to a praying mantis as candy is to a child. Moreover, insects are naturally more sensitive to moving objects. At this time, the protagonist is already on his back and unable to move, while the caterpillar is slowly and firmly crawling away.
Therefore, in contrast to the two sides, when the protagonist is about to face death, the mantis turns its head and changes its target.
The mantis spread its wings again and flew into the sky. The protagonist also realized what was going on and hurriedly wanted to escape. However, the ant's body still refused the brain's command and remained motionless.
Although he had just escaped death, if he could not escape, then the danger would not have been exposed.
