As dusk fell, Mo Xuan pulled Mo Li through a forest of dead trees, and the fallen leaves under their feet made a tiny crackling sound.
This area of dead wood, known as the Ghost Finger Forest, was once one of the habitats of the black-bellied silk spider. Now, only dry and twisted tree trunks remain, like countless desperate fingers reaching towards the sky.
"Watch your step."
Mo Xuan reminded in a low voice, pushing aside a bunch of dry bushes.
Under the moonlight, several corpses of the same species, with the spider silk drained away, came into view.
They maintained a half-human, half-spider form, with their abdomens neatly cut open and their eyes staring blankly at the sky.
Mo Li suddenly covered his mouth and his shoulders trembled violently.
One of the corpses was still wearing the familiar light green Luo skirt. It was her childhood playmate Qingluo. On her left wrist was the spider silk bracelet that Mo Li gave her last year.
"It's the method of Jinguang Temple."
Mo Xuan dug his nails deep into his palms, and blood oozed out from between his fingers.
"They used soul-soothing nails to fix it and extracted the main thread while it was still alive."
She couldn't continue speaking, so she bent down, took off her black cloak, and gently covered Qingluo's distorted face with it.
Suddenly, there was a sound of metal clashing in the distance, and the two sisters immediately hid in the shadows.
A group of monks in gray tights passed through the woods. The leader was carrying a constantly squirming monster-catching bag that could hold living creatures, and faint whimpering sounds came from inside.
"A good catch today! Three untransformed spiders." A scarred monk shook his bag. "It's a shame we didn't find any transformed ones. I heard an adult Black-bellied Brocade Spider can produce top-grade Mysterious Night Silk, which sells for a higher price."
"What's the rush?" another person sneered. "I heard that Cihangzhai captured a pregnant female and locked her in a cold iron cage, extracting her silk every day. The silk is stained with blood and is said to be called Black and Red Gradient. It can be sold on the black market for one thousand divine stones per roll."
The sound gradually faded away, and Mo Li's pupils had completely turned into the compound eye structure unique to spiders. The eight small pupils shrank to the size of a needle tip under the moonlight.
"Sister, I'm going to kill them!" Her voice hissed with venom.
Mo Xuan grabbed the spider silk that was about to shoot out.
"Calm down, that's the Spider Hunters' bait team, and there are at least three Divine Lords following behind them."
She forced her sister's trembling body into her arms and said in a trembling voice.
"Do you remember how your mother died?"
These words were like a bucket of cold water.
Three months ago, their mother deliberately exposed her whereabouts to divert pursuers in order to cover the tribe's evacuation.
Three days later, they found their mother's shaved head at the foot of the cliff.
Those monks even took her human hair after she transformed, because it was also a good material for making silk.
Mo Li suddenly began to retch violently until he vomited out a ball of mucus mixed with blood.
This is the physiological reaction of the black-bellied spider when it is extremely sad. After the mucus falls to the ground, it immediately condenses into a small web covered with blood patterns.
Mo Xuan looked around vigilantly, then helped his sister wipe the corners of her mouth and took out a dark purple crystal from his arms.
"See how many of our kind are still alive."
The crystal stone is the soul-reflecting stone given to them by the clan leader before his death. It can sense the breath of fellow clan members within a radius of a thousand miles.
At this moment, there were only a few scattered spots of light flickering inside the stone, and one of them was rapidly dimming.
"Five miles southeast!"
The two men didn't bother to hide their tracks and swung at high speed using the spider silk that had been laid out between the tree trunks.
The hem of Mo Li's skirt was torn by a branch, revealing the incompletely transformed fur on her legs. The continuous escape made it difficult for them to maintain their perfect human form.
When they arrived, they saw only traces of a fight and several pools of foaming blood.
A broken spider leg was hanging on the branch, and the cross section was so neat as if it had been cut off instantly by a sharp weapon.
The light spot on the Soul Reflection Stone has gone out.
"Black Iron Blade."
Mo Xuan picked up a piece of debris that was shining with cold light, and his voice was a little cold.
"The Imperial Demon Suppression Bureau has also gotten involved."
Her voice suddenly choked, because under the fragments was half a familiar tortoise shell, which was used by the oldest woman in the tribe, Granny Mo, for divination.
Mo Li suddenly pounced on a bush not far away and dragged out a dying little spider from it.
It is only the size of a palm and has a heart-shaped white spot on its abdomen.
"Ying'er!"
Mo Li held the little spider in the palm of his hand. Six of its eight legs were broken, and the remaining two were twitching convulsively.
The little spider smelled a familiar scent, struggled to spit out a bloody thread, and gently wrapped it around Mo Li's finger. This was the way the young black-bellied spider expressed affection.
"Who did it?"
Mo Xuan continuously injected his demonic power into the little spider's body, but its life was still rapidly fading away.
The little spider's fangs moved, and it used its last bit of strength to write three words on Mo Li's palm.
"Jinshan Temple." Mo Li's voice was terribly cold. "Those bald asses who claim to be saving all living beings!"
Ying'er suddenly convulsed violently and her body began to become transparent.
When a young spider dies, it will turn into a pool of colorless mucus and return to the world. Not long after, a crystal drop of water slipped from Mo Li's fingers.
The sound of horns was heard in the distance, and countless torches lit up in the woods.
Mo Xuan pulled her sister up.
"It's an encirclement formation!"
She slit her wrists and drew a complex rune in the air with her blood.
The blood turned into dozens of blood-red spiders, running wildly in different directions.
"Follow the blood spiders; they'll create false trails."
The two sisters rushed towards the only gap without fire. Mo Li looked back as she ran and saw that the forest where they had lived for nearly a hundred years was being devoured by torches, and the unique sweet smell of burning spider silk wafted in the air.
When they finally shook off their pursuers and hid in a damp cave, Mo Li could no longer hold on and revealed her half-spider form.
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