Chapter 128 Spider 15
The mayor returned home and closed the door. He took the hot water his wife offered him and drank it all in one gulp. The warm water barely dispelled the chill. He'd done this kind of thing so often that his heart had gradually hardened.
"That child. About the same age as our daughter."
"But she's not our daughter. She's not from this town either." The mayor put his arm around his wife's shoulders and cuddled up to her on the sofa. "If it's not her, it has to be someone else in this town. I'm the mayor of Blackwater Town, the head of their family. I have to do everything in my power to ensure their safety."
"I understand," the mayor's wife choked with tears, "I just hope the blood and flesh of outsiders can calm their wrath. We've been law-abiding for generations and have never done anything bad. I just hope they... leave here. Otherwise, our lives, the lives of everyone in this town..."
Besides the natural fear and awe of spiders, a touch of self-blame and guilt lingered on the faces of the couple, now over fifty years old. This emotion was faint, quickly dissipated by the mayor's wife's choking sobs.
The mayor's eyes were clouded as he listened to his wife's sobs. He vaguely recalled the despair of those young people before their death. Even more deeply moved was the disbelief, the feeling of betrayal from their loved ones. But there was no other way. If he didn't sacrifice the outsiders to the hungry spiders, the citizens of Blackwater Town would suffer.
Ten fingers are of different lengths. Furthermore, these young people from outside the area are incomparable to the residents of Blackwater Town. He should protect his fellow townspeople.
The only thing he could do was sacrifice the flesh and blood of these young people. If there was one person he felt sorry for, it was the Lin family's eldest son, who often appeared in his dreams at night. Before being snatched away by the spider, his despair and confusion, his empty eyes, felt like a knife constantly stabbing him in the heart.
The mayor knew it was hopeless but still tried to comfort her: "It will be fine..."
…
The corridor was silent at night. Xu Zhao caught up on his sleep during the day, and when night fell, he would push one foot against the bed and wipe the blood off the blade with a dry tissue. The blade shone with a cold light, illuminating his dark eyes.
Boom boom boom.
Footsteps were heard.
Two tall and strong men appeared in the corridor.
Two people were walking one in front and one behind. The person behind started arguing with the person in front.
"Lian Jinguang, don't go too far." It was Lin Jindong's voice.
"What's wrong with me? I just made a suggestion, the mayor agreed, and the townspeople agreed. What's the point of you holding on to that incident now? Do you want our entire town to die?"
"If it weren't for Xiaoyue, you would have died! Yet you proposed tying him up and offering him to the spider... Even Jinguang, you don't even feel the slightest bit of guilt."
Lian Jinguang's voice became louder: "If it weren't for my opinion! Everyone in the town would have died! You would have died too, how could you still be alive now?"
Lin Jindong: "Keep your voice down."
Lian Jinguang scoffed, "No need. What's the use of a hairless girl hearing it? You sealed the window, so she can't escape. She'll just feed the spiders tonight. I don't think you even need to use the knockout drug. Just put it in a bag and throw it in."
Lin Jindong: "It hurts a lot. She's still a child, so she'll suffer less if she faints."
Lian Jinguang's eyes flashed with ferocity as he dragged his broken leg and limped towards the small room at the end. "She's going to die anyway. Whether it hurts or not is none of my business. The more she screams, the more the spider might sense our sincerity, and maybe she won't come back again!"
After days of living in a cramped apartment, Lian Jinguang felt a suffocating anger build up in his chest. Especially since the original proposal to tie up Lin Yue and offer him to the spider had been overwhelmingly accepted. Yet, whenever they saw him, they were met with condemnation and contempt. Why? He was the one who had proposed it, he was ungrateful, and had harmed Lin Yue. But the townspeople, including Lin Yue's biological father, either agreed or remained silent. Could that have been the end of the matter?
No one is cleaner than anyone else.
The town's tasks were all done to avoid Lin Jindong, sympathizing with his loss of his son. However, when the mayor assigned a new task,
Lin Jindong took the initiative to propose to team up with Lian Jingguang.
We're all human, and we all have soft hearts. Even if it's a little numb, I couldn't bear to personally snatch the little girl alive and throw her in front of the spider. Besides, doing such a thing is too risky. What if the spider goes crazy and eats everyone who comes in its way?
Lin Jindong took the initiative to propose, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Both of them held hand towels soaked in knockout drugs. If they covered their mouths and noses, they would quickly pass out. Lin Jindong tried to take action several times, but even when Lian Jinguang opened the door, he couldn't move, his eyes filled with sorrow, almost tears welling up.
The door opened. Xu Zhao hid behind it, pressed against the wall. Gripping the hilt of his knife, his palms dripping with sweat, his heart pounding.
It was actually true—I had thought it was just her guess, not something to be taken seriously. Lin Yue had grown up in Blackwater Town, with his biological father by his side, and so many other elders who had lived with him for years. How could it be possible? How could it be possible?
Lin Yue's clear eyes, always filled with tears, emerged. Just yesterday, he had tugged at her clothes and asked if she would come again. When she was squatting on the beam and jumping to the ground, he ran over to catch her, and the moment he was hit in the chest, he showed an expression of unbearable pain.
He said it didn't hurt, but his movements showed the pain was extreme. His frail body was covered with hideous scars. If Xu Zhao had such scars, she wasn't sure she could survive.
I thought being abandoned by the townspeople was the cruelest thing that could happen to me.
But he didn't expect that he would be tied up and sent to the spider's mouth!
Xu Zhao's eyes were sore, and she felt the blood surging violently, as if it was about to break through the barrier of flesh and blood. All kinds of emotions accumulated into tremendous anger, overturning her rationality.
Lian Jinguang walked to the bedside and lifted the quilt: "Where is the person? Where did he go?"
The blade stabbed his neck, and Xu Zhao stood nearby.
"I'm here. What are you doing in my room so late?"
Xu Zhao stood in the dim light, looking frail and short compared to the towering Lian Jinguang. Lian Jinguang ignored him, using his fingertips to separate the blade pressing against his neck. He snorted and chuckled, "From the looks of you, I'm sure you heard our conversation. I won't waste words with you. Choosing you to be offered to the Spider is a great honor... This is a great deed that saved lives."
"Put the knife away. Little girl, have you ever touched a knife? Don't hurt yourself, hahaha."
The streets were quiet.
A tapping sound was heard.
That was the sound of the spider's legs hitting the ground.
Lian Jinguang frowned, "Alright. I won't waste my time with you. Even if you beg me, it's useless."
He shook the sack. The reason they put the person in the sack was to avoid seeing the desperate pleading look in the person's eyes before dying, and it also made it easier for the two of them to carry it and throw it in front of the spider. With food, the spider wouldn't pay attention to them.
Thinking of this, he chuckled.
It wasn't him who died anyway. He was lame, and he had to endure the insults and mocking looks of the townspeople, as if he had done something unforgivable. Malice was hard to keep out of his heart, and when he saw the frail and thin Xu Zhao, the resentment welled up undisguisedly.
He vented all the grievances and resentments he'd endured recently: "...Some people are hypocritical, like the mayor. He offered you to the spiders, yet he pretended to be a good guy and wanted to use anesthetic to knock you out, saying it wouldn't hurt. But screw it, whether it hurts or not is none of my business. That kid didn't use anesthetic back then, and I didn't think it was a big deal. You're a woman, and women are always fussy. You complain about the slightest injury. I want to see how loud you can get today."
Throw away the sweat towel you are holding.
"No more anesthetic for you. Enjoy your spider's meal!"
Xu Zhao listened expressionlessly to the man's chatter. The fruit knife in her right hand was merely a cover; Lian Jinguang easily brought the blade to bear on the side of Xu Zhao's neck. The sharp, bloody blade scraped her skin, leaving a shallow mark.
Her strength was incomparable to Lian Jinguang's. Although the man had a broken leg, he raised his arm to reveal his bulging muscles, and his hand clamped around her right arm like a beast's claw. Xu Zhao couldn't break free, but her original intention was not to subdue him by force.
A needle.
There was a thumb-high amount of black liquid inside.
It was the venom extracted from the two fangs that Xu Zhao broke off.
Compared to using them as weapons, extracting venom was clearly more effective. The needle pierced Lian Jinguang's skin, and she quickly pressed down, allowing the venom to seep in a little. Feeling the hand restraining her arm loosen, Xu Zhao put the needle back into her pocket like a treasure.
Lian Jinguang opened his eyes wide in fear and uttered intermittent moans: "You...you injected something into me, what are you going to do...what are you going to do..."
Xu Zhao ignored him.
After a few seconds, Lian Jinguang couldn't utter a complete sentence.
Xu Zhao shook the sack off the ground. As he put the sack inside, he said, "Lin Yue saved you, didn't he? How did you repay him? You let him be taken away by the spider. The pain is so intense, just thinking about it makes my body break. How dare you... How dare you?"
Lian Jinguang whimpered a few times.
Xu Zhao didn't look at him. "I should apologize to you for what I'm about to do. But when I think about it, there's nothing to apologize for. I treated Lin Yue as a friend, and you hurt him and made him become like that. I, I'm very sad... I can only trouble you to experience the pain he once went through. I hope you can repent before you die."
Xu Zhao crouched on the ground. Her hands trembled as she packed the sack. Just a few days ago, she had been an ordinary person in a peaceful world. She had never imagined she'd find herself in the bizarre Blackwater Town, home to terrifying spiders. The people here, driven to survive, had become ugly and filthy. What was the difference between them and spiders? She didn't dare kill spiders, so she could only attack their innocent, weaker cousins.
The noise caught Lin Jindong's attention.
He opened the door and looked at Xu Zhao.
Xu Zhao silently clenched the syringe in his pocket. Fortunately, there were still some left, enough for one more.
Lian Jingguang noticed Lin Jindong's arrival and struggled, making a whimpering sound.
Lin Jindong is his hope. He will definitely be able to catch that hateful Xu Zhao and rescue him!
but--
Lin Jindong turned around with his back facing the room.
"Hurry up. The spider is coming."
…
Xu Zhao didn't want to be so extreme, but the man's complacent and guiltless tone made her feel uncomfortable, and she felt it was not worth it for Lin Yue. In a moment of impulse, she put the man into a sack.
Lin Jindong's disregard made Xu Zhao even more unrestrained. He kicked the sack out the door and Lin Jindong dragged it onto the empty street.
Lian Jinguang's limbs were paralyzed, trapped in a rough sack. In a trance, amidst the clatter of footsteps, he recalled Lin Yue, blood-soaked. The frail young man, at that moment, seemed radiant with golden light. The townspeople's praise and gratitude, fleeting glances at him, then turned to sighs and contempt. The anger and resentment that filled his chest over his broken leg gradually transformed into a shameful, dark thought.
A mouse hiding in a gutter looks up and sees a clean and beautiful bird bathed in golden light. Even if the kind bird brings food to the mouse and saves its life, the gratitude in its heart will never outweigh the hidden jealousy.
It wants to pull the bird into the gutter.
Stain the clean feathers of a flying bird. Plucking its wings that fly freely, making it become as dirty and disabled as itself...
The venom was a small dose. Lian Jinguang slowly regained consciousness, but when he freed himself from the sack, he saw two ferocious, enormous fangs. Glistening liquid dripped from its teeth onto the ground, soaking the soles of his feet.
“Ah!!! Help!!!”
The call for help failed to attract help from his companions. The residents of Blackwater Town stared angrily at Lian Jinguang, who was being bitten by a spider. The same question lingered in their minds - why not Xu Zhao?
Only Lian Jinguang's family rushed out. As Lian Jinguang was dragged by the spider, leaving only a winding bloody trail, they rushed to the door of the hotel and cursed.
"You did it! Why was my son the one who died... It should have been you, it should have been you! I want you to pay with your life!"
Xu Zhao didn't stay on the second floor. The windows were nailed shut, leaving her with nowhere to retreat if anything happened. As Lian Jinguang's family members crowded around, pushing open the hotel door and shoving toward her, she swung her knife.
While they were hiding, I left the hotel by following the wall and stood on the street.
The noise soon grew louder, and even Jin Guang's old mother sat on the ground in agony, her eyes gazing as if she wanted to tear Xu Zhao's flesh off. Pointing at her youngest son, she said, "Go, catch her and throw her to the spiders to make Jin Guang pay for his life!"
Xu Zhao gripped the hilt of the knife. "It's someone else who died, you can just stand by and watch. But now that it's one of our own, you have to fight to the death. More than one person in this town has said that spiders are gods, and your son is lucky to have been chosen by them. You're crying here, aren't you afraid of provoke revenge from the gods?"
The old mother choked.
Xu Zhao gripped the hilt of the knife. The moonlight was faint, and her eyes were even fainter, a chill emanating from them. She slowly stepped back, observing the situation around her. Once she was a safe distance away from Lian Jingguang's family, she spoke coldly, "...His life was stolen. Returning it now is the right thing to do."
"You're talking nonsense!" Lian Jinguang's younger brother cursed.
How much criticism had Lin Yue, that foolish boy who didn't care about his own life, endured since his death? His family wasn't well off to begin with, and since the spiders had attacked, they hadn't had minced meat in ages. When they finally managed to have a good meal, if the neighbors saw them, they would always be accused of being ungrateful.
Lin Yue willingly saved people. He deserved to die, so why should they be grateful?!
Xu Zhao snorted coldly.
The night wind blew, bringing with it the smell of blood. The old mother, who had collapsed to the ground, almost lost her breath when she smelled it. Like a madman, she pointed at Xu Zhao's position and said, "You, you, and you, go capture her! She should have been sacrificed to the spider! I want her dead now. Catch her quickly, my poor son!"
Xu Zhao had no intention of reasoning with them, nor was a head-on confrontation going to work. She gripped the hilt of the knife, and as the man and woman chased after her, she turned and ran towards where the spider had left.
No one could have imagined that Xu Zhao would actually run towards the fork in the road.
It was a very dangerous place, with a forest full of spiders nearby, and a dilapidated, empty thatched house with white spider silk all over the ground.
No one dared to set foot there.
Is she trying to kill herself?
Lian Jinguang's family members cursed loudly: "Don't chase her! She ran away because there were spiders all over the place. She ran over on her own!"
"The spider that ate her brother might still be nearby. She will definitely be eaten by that spider!"
"That's it. That's it."
"She will not die a good death. She will get her retribution tonight."
Xu Zhao didn't dare stay in the town any longer, fearing she'd be caught in her sleep and thrown into a sack to feed the spiders. She ran forward, her path thick with blood. The curses faded behind her, gradually becoming inaudible.
There were too many hidden dangers in moving forward in the dark. And who knew if there were any spider silk entangled in the air? She was afraid of running too fast and slicing her throat the moment she hit someone. Xu Zhao slowed down; her luck wasn't exactly good.
That curse had come true. The spider that had eaten Lian Jinguang stopped in front of her. A faint moonlight shone down, and Xu Zhao saw a single eye on the top of the spider, twice the size of a human eyeball, glued to her body.
The blood-stained tentacles rubbed against each other twice and walked towards her.
Xu Zhao turned and ran.
Then he cursed softly.
Deep in the forest, two spiders came.
She still had a choice: run to the thatched hut where Lin Yue was. She had seen Lin Yue's ability to kill spiders... but there were three of them, and he hadn't recovered yet. Could he possibly fight them? Xu Zhao didn't dare gamble, and she didn't want to put others' safety at risk because of her own actions.
Then we can only go ahead with it.
The worst that can happen... the worst that can happen is death.
It's nothing.
Xu Zhao gripped her knife tightly, her other hand gripping a stone. Her palms sweated with nervousness. The increasing number of spiders brought a stronger stench. She stepped back, her ankle colliding with the stone. Unknowingly, her ankle was slashed by spider silk that crossed the road, and blood dripped. But she didn't feel it.
At that moment, a strand of white spider silk, soft and clean, carried the bitter aroma of herbs, swirled around her neck. Then, another strand entwined itself around her wrist, which was gripping the knife handle. And yet another gently pressed against her cheek, which had been cut by the blade, as if being licked by icy water.
Xu Zhao was stunned. Lin Yue's figure slowly approached, a thin chest, powerful legs, and a round, plump, spidery belly. A faint, white spider silk lingered in the air. Then, Xu Zhao saw Lin Yue lower her body and suddenly leap towards the spider in front of her.
The tentacles pierced its head and chest, killing it easily.
This is a unique hunting method of the tarantula. It doesn't rely on a web, waiting for prey to come to it. Instead, it relies on its powerful, well-developed leg muscles to zero in on its prey, leap high, and kill with a single strike.
He used the same method to kill the remaining two spiders that tried to escape, dragging them to Xu Zhao's presence. His bare chest looked even whiter in the moonlight, and the splattered scarlet blood looked like blooming flowers.
He lowered his head. His gaze fell on Xu Zhao's scarred legs, then her wrists. He only dared to raise his gaze to the level of her waist and abdomen, and then he dared not raise it any further.
"Xu Zhao."
His eyelashes trembled. He wanted to smile, but the grievances overflowing in his chest threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't help but pinch his fingertips. He quickly raised his eyes and looked at her. The moment they met, tears welled up uncontrollably.
He pursed his lips and asked weakly, "Why did you come just now?"
It was as if the five senses that had been blocked were completely untied. The inevitable scratches during the running and the swollen ankles caused by the force were no longer something Lin Yue could endure with tears in his eyes.
Xu Zhao swayed. Her arm was supported, and Lin Yue held it. Just as he was about to let go, Xu Zhao swayed again, and he quickly grasped it. The arm in his palm was slender, warm, and covered with scratches. He held it carefully.
"You're seriously injured. I still have some medicine left from the medicine you brought the day before yesterday. Can I apply it on you?"
It was a very strange feeling. Before meeting Lin Yue, Xu Zhao had always been able to endure any injury, no matter how severe it was. But when he saw him, especially his worried gaze, the pain he had been able to endure suddenly felt amplified a hundredfold.
Xu Zhao nodded.
Then, Lin Yue said "sorry", bent down, picked her up, and walked towards the thatched hut.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
