Chapter 76 The Best Hunter in the Village

Hypnosis is a common element in literary creation, and its extent varies depending on the genre. A yellow-skinned monster with a pendulum in the bushes can only put its opponents to sleep for 1-3 rounds at most, while a bald man in a metal helmet can control an entire army with the help of his equipment.

Chu Hengkong always thought that such convenient and fast abilities would only appear in virtual works, but today he was once again taught a lesson by the all-encompassing Shendongjie.

Eyeball Monster Finder sat on the hypnotized giant spider's head, proudly entangled his short tentacles with each other: "Have you seen the true power of my uncle Finder?"

"Quite practical." Chu Hengkong carefully examined the spider's condition. "Does it require the help of mucus to move?"

"Strictly speaking, it requires 'contact', either physical contact or visual contact. But that's too dangerous, so I'm used to using mucus for indirect hypnosis." Vander explained happily, then hesitated, "It's not that I'm intentionally hiding it, but you know, this thing is..."

"I understand." Chu Hengkong nodded.

Among the many dangerous abilities, hypnosis ranks highly. Its very existence can erode trust between people, and the mere ability to use it can spark endless suspicion. Who knows if your actions are being manipulated? Who can guarantee that your current thoughts are truly your own?

Fander was a careful observer, so he naturally understood these concerns. Therefore, he quickly began to talk: "This ability is actually not that convenient. It doesn't take long to take effect. It can only take effect on an object once in a short period of time. The more complex the command, the worse the effect... In short, what I want to say is..."

"It's okay, I believe you." Chu Hengkong said without even looking up, "This ability is practical. I'll find an opportunity to develop it later."

"Oh." Vander twisted his tentacles back and forth, "You're quite nice."

It was a little touched. In this dangerous place, being told "believe" was a rare comfort. Little did Chu Hengkong know that he hadn't thought that much. He truly thought that the eyeball was as timid as a mouse. Even if it had ten thousand guts, it wouldn't dare to use hypnosis to launch a sneak attack...

Besides, he is a veteran killer and has information. How could he be hypnotized?

He drew his rock blade and made a test cut on the spider's carapace. The ordinary blow was instantly deflected, the recoil causing his knuckles to numb slightly. Chu Hengkong shook his wrist, channeling his will into the blade, and raised it to strike again.

This time, the blade penetrated nearly halfway into the armor, but still failed to completely destroy the spider's armament. The mechanical spider's six legs began to stir wildly, as if waking from hypnosis. Chu Hengkong released his blade and thrust out his palm. As his palm touched the outer armor, his entire body suddenly sank. The concentrated force of his palm penetrated the spider's body, causing it to explode!

Sparks exploded from the mechanical spider's body, and its compound eyes flickered several times before completely shutting down, becoming motionless. Vander clapped his short tentacles, "Excellent skill."

Chu Hengkong traced the cut marks on the spider's armor with his fingertips, inch by inch, simulating the situation in his mind. This spider's shell was incredibly hard, impervious to ordinary attacks. At close range, it would require at least a no-return attack to break it. To break this shell, the ideal method would be to use the internally detonating Chaos Star, but Luo Ye had just returned to his roots yesterday, so he couldn't use it for a while...

If it weren't for Vander, it would have been a lot of trouble to kill the spider.

"You just gave me that look that said 'This guy is surprisingly useful,' didn't you?" said Vander.

"You're quite useful." Chu Hengkong chopped off a spider leg with his knife and placed it on the Silver-Eyed Book, but no words appeared. He put the book away and quickly dismantled the mechanical spider. Chu Hengkong was just thinking about how to move the behemoth back when he looked down and saw that the smaller spiders were still alive and kicking, but now that their main body was dead, they were running around like headless flies.

"Fander." Chu Hengkong seemed to be thinking, "Can your hypnosis be used on multiple targets?"

"If they're just small fry, it's fine. What's the matter?"

·

Two hours later, Yingshi Town.

Qi Su sat at the edge of the Sakura Dragon statue, tapping the stone steps with her short staff, her face filled with visible anxiety. Xiang Fuzi stood beside her, offering solace, "Qi Su, I see that Brother Chu's skills are remarkable. He must have inherited the true teachings of the Dragon Country. There's no need to worry..."

"It's just a particle, what's the point of passing on the true teachings?" Qi Su gritted his teeth anxiously. "What builder can beat those... things! Besides, he's just a skilled craftsman! These idiots have no clue what they're doing. They even dared to put a spider hunting book on the board. From now on, any new commissions must be reviewed by me first. No more outrageous things like this!"

Xiang Fuzi nodded in agreement, but she was thinking that it was you who had saved her face that morning, and now she was blaming you. At this time, a townsman came over with a look of excitement on his face: "The stranger has returned."

"Oh... I'm glad you're okay..."

Qi Su breathed a sigh of relief, patting her flat chest. She jumped off the statue, straightened her coat, and, as if changing her expression, returned to her arrogant, self-righteous demeanor. Xiang Fuzi snickered behind her. Qi Su didn't notice as she slung her short staff behind her back and headed for the town exit like a leader reviewing achievements.

"Huh, such a simple task took almost a whole day. You outsiders are really—what the hell did you two do?!"

Qi Su let out a trembling scream, and many of the onlookers joined in. From the west side of the town, smoke and dust billowed as a large group of spiders formed a large column, marching in unison. A small portion of the group consisted of magical spider puppets resembling small steel balls, while the majority were small, native mechanical spiders. They were carrying stones, mushrooms, grass stalks, and other items, and a dozen or so in the middle worked together to carry the remains of a large spider.

Chu Hengkong and Fander sat on the spider's corpse and waved to everyone: "Mission accomplished."

"What on earth did you do to make the hunting mission become like this?!" Qi Su screamed at a higher decibel.

"Hehehe, Shanyan has a clever plan~" Finder jumped out of his pocket and waved his tentacles at the spiders: "Thank you for your hard work, put down the goods and disperse."

The spiders sorted the debris into categories. The hypnotized ones fled, and the original puppets returned to Chu Heng's empty box. The townspeople happily rushed over, picking up the various items without a word before turning and running, as if they were afraid someone else would steal their mushrooms. Qi Su stood there speechless, like a sapling blown by the wind.

Chu Hengkong didn't care and said with his head down, "I have completed what I promised. May I ask who forged the equipment?"

"I'll do it..." Qi Su looked like he was about to collapse, "Just leave it to me..."

Chu Hengkong looked at the pile of corpses that looked like abandoned tanks, and then looked at the little girl in front of him who was not even as tall as a spider's legs. He felt deeply skeptical about the so-called equipment manufacturing.

·

Another half hour later, in Qi Su's studio.

"Big Squid, give me that head. Chop the front claws into smaller pieces; the current size is too inconvenient."

Chu Hengkong handed the spider head over, curiously observing Qi Su's movements. The little girl was tapping a piece of the spider's armor with a short staff. With each tap, tiny words flashed from the staff tip and sank into the armor, looking like some kind of mysterious magic.

Fander watched with great interest, nodding from time to time. Chu Hengkong picked it up and asked, "Do you understand?"

"It utilizes the engraving technique of 'secret texts,' which is similar to the talismans of Longquan Township, but the principles are different," Fander explained. "Talismans utilize the qi and blood of martial artists, while secret texts are used to activate the power of materials, environments, or totems of faith. One focuses on internal cultivation, while the other draws on external forces."

Qi Su didn't even raise his head: "It's no use telling him this. After all, he's just a stupid barbarian who practices martial arts. He can do nothing but fight."

"Indeed, the path to unity is full of muscle brains... Ugh!"

Fander shook his head, showing the superiority of a cultured person. Chu Hengkong pressed him down on the table and said, "I don't understand what this has to do with the 'bitter staff'. Can you, the bitter staff, use your staff to project words?"

"Alas, barbarian squid." Qi Su sighed, "What do you think is the difference between 'stone' and 'staff'?"

Chu Hengkong thought for a while: "One is round, and the other is long."

"Okay, zero points, failing." Qi Su threw a piece of scrap material over. "The correct answer is, one is 'material' and the other is 'tool'. This is the essential difference between particle 1 and particle 2."

Materials and Tools... Polishing Stone into a Cane? So...

"The condition for upgrading a cornerstone to a staff of pain is to forge the extraordinary item you upgraded from into a personal relic?"

"You only understand now, what a fool." Qi Su plucked off the spider's eyes. "So we all have the ability to create extraordinary items—relics, in your terms. The secret scripts I'm good at are just one method. Other Bitter Staffs naturally have their own methods, just like you barbarians have different ways of punching."

Chu Hengkong pondered for a moment, frowned, and asked, "Then if someone uses a high-level relic to upgrade a cornerstone, how can it be transformed into a staff of suffering?"

"If you're that stupid, there's no hope~" Finder said sarcastically, "The path to advancement is to surpass yourself again and again. You have to surpass the limits of your current particle before you're qualified to move on to the next particle. You overestimated your own abilities at the first particle and set an extremely difficult level. If you can't get past it for the rest of your life, you're doomed! Why are you hitting me?"

Chu Hengkong smashed it onto the table with a backhand punch. Qi Su glanced at him and asked, "Do you have such a friend?"

"Yeah. It's a special situation."

"Don't think about the future in special circumstances. Just be happy with the present."

She opened a drawer and pulled out a bead containing a stream of water. It was the same bead Chu Hengkong had given her yesterday. With a tap of her short staff, the bead shattered, and a swirling stream of water gushed out, sweeping through several pieces of processed material, leaving behind a golden streak resembling sunlight.

The color quickly faded. Qi Su picked up the material and examined it for a moment, nodding with satisfaction. "It's worthy of being Master Huilong's invention. The purity of the divine power is truly high."

"...divine power?" Chu Hengkong frowned.

"Only your Trend City can utilize divine power so easily. In the past, when we borrowed Lord Yinglong's divine power, the light ritual would take us half a day to prepare, which was very troublesome." Qi Su explained happily, "In the field of developing divine power, Lord Huilong is a well-deserved genius... Oh, excuse me, you should know more about this than me. How do you usually use the flow beads?"

Comrade Killer, watching the man sizing up the treasure, felt a rare awkwardness. He coughed and said, "I usually use this to buy hamburgers."

"Oh, I see. To buy... what did you say?!!"

Qi Su's voice rose several pitches, and she nearly smashed the materials in her hands. Chu Hengkong helplessly explained, "I have a lot of beads..."

"Do you know what this is?" Qi Su jumped onto a chair and grabbed his collar. "This is the crystal of divine power! It's one of the few universal energy sources that can be used safely without worrying about pollution! It's needed to create relics and hold ceremonies, including the teleportation array you'll use to leave later! You're using something so precious to buy hamburgers?!"

"It's also used to buy fried dough sticks in the cafeteria..." Chu Hengkong sensed murderous intent in the man's eyes, and felt even more insecure. He quickly added, "This is our currency. As a senior detective, I get a very high salary..."

"How could that stupid dragon use the crystals of divine power as currency!" Qi Su cried out with his head in his hands.

Fander shook his head repeatedly: "The great genius of the Ancient Dragon Clan turned into a stupid dragon in half a minute. Where is the respect? The Lord God will be angry."

"Ah, my head hurts... You guys in Fashion City, from top to bottom, are all devoid of common sense. Don't talk to me..."

The little girl turned her head in anger and pounded on the spider's steel plate as if to vent her anger. Chu Hengkong couldn't help but worry about his mission reward. He reached into his pocket and felt for the handful of flowing beads he had brought with him. That was originally the money he had planned to use to pay for the barbecue with Ji Huaisu.

No wonder every tourist in Huilong City keeps their eyes glued to the Liuzhu. It seems the city is quite developed. From Qisu's tone, the teleportation array also relies on it. I need to put this thing away first...

At this moment, Qi Su made a loud "bang" sound, and it seemed that the job was done. She threw a glove at him in a bad mood: "Try it, your reward!"

She fashioned a gauntlet from a single piece of spider shell, inlaid with three pairs of miniature spider legs, each made from parts of a mechanical spider's six legs. Between the knuckles were two recessed "slots," one of which housed a spider eyeball that glowed faintly green.

Chu Hengkong tried on the retractable fingers and found them to be a perfect fit. Qi Su rested his chin on his hand, complacent. "You already have a nice set of light armor, so I made you a little something. These gloves are imbued with the spider's thoughts, and they increase the damage they inflict on 'bound enemies.' Not a bad reward for a slimy squid, right?"

"It's a decent weight, quite good." Chu Hengkong nodded with satisfaction. "There's still one groove left, right?"

"When you hunt other exotic beasts, I'll make them into beads and inlay them on you, so you don't have to wear a bunch of inconvenient things all over your body." Qi Su sat back in his chair. "Now let's go back to the church! It's getting dark, and I need to rest too."

Chu Hengkong thanked him, put Fander in his pocket, and walked out happily. After Fander walked away, he whispered, "This girl is quite amazing."

"how?"

"It's good enough for a normal bitter staff to be able to use one or two secret codes, but this girl can use them to the fullest, which is quite remarkable." Fander said seriously, "To put it in an analogy you can understand, it's as amazing as learning a thousand sets of Longxiang boxing in one breath."

"I learned 3,000 sets in one go."

"Why don't you say you're the Master of Piaomiao Life?" Fander sneered, "How can such a great genius hide in this small, shabby place...it's really strange..."

Chu Hengkong didn't find it all that strange. This ghost world was vast, and geniuses were as numerous as the birds in the forest. Returning to the church, he smelled a fragrant aroma. Brother Bernfar told him the townspeople had brought him some gifts. He returned to his sleeping hut and found a whole row of decorations on the table: a donkey and pony woven from grass leaves, small statues carved from pebbles, and a delicious-smelling pie stuffed with mushrooms and fruit pulp.

Vander cheered, grabbed a piece of pie, and began to devour it with his tentacles. Chu Hengkong took a bite and found that the seasoning was light, but the harmony between the ingredients was excellent. He also cut some of the eel from yesterday and paired it with the mushroom pie to enjoy a delicious meal.

"These people from God's Country are really weird." Vander sighed sincerely, "Have you ever seen such weird guys before? They asked us to pick up things, and then they made the things and gave them to us. They don't eat themselves, but they can make pies."

"They are a pretty good bunch of weirdos." Chu Hengkong thought thoughtfully.

He took off his gauntlet and placed the first relic he had found locally on the silver-eyed book. The words appeared quickly, but this time the longing was confusing:

【Iron Spider Gauntlets】

Rating: 2

[Origin: Senluo Secret Realm - Netherworld Kingdom]

[Effect: The hand armor made with secret writing skills has different abilities depending on the secret writing beads embedded

Currently using secret code slots: 1/2, current effect: slightly increases damage to bound enemies]

[Missing: Overnight, a huge hole appeared in the sea

It's like a natural barrier that divides the ocean. Will we be unable to catch fish in the future?

As I was thinking this, a demon appeared from the sea.

Chu Hengkong and Fan De stared at the appraisal document together, both of them confused.

"Is this longing Qi Su's or Spider's?"

"The relic's power comes from a spider, so the longing should belong to it..." Finder was also a little confused. "I guess this spider used to live by the sea, and because it couldn't eat fish, it ran to the plains... right?"

Chu Hengkong had a vague feeling that it wouldn't be that simple, but for the moment, he had no other ideas. Seeing that it was already nightfall, he put away the large book, went to practice boxing outside the church, and then quietly rested.

It was late at night and the night was gloomy.

A low tremor came from afar, spreading across the earth and into the town. The brass chandelier in the church swayed, and the candles flickered.

Chu Hengkong sat up alertly, picked up his rock knife, and put on his clothes. He saw the firelight illuminating the dark stone chamber. A monk holding a torch stood at the door, half of his face hidden in the shadows.

"The shadow giant is coming to attack the town." Brother Bernfar said.

(End of this chapter)