Chapter 138 Spider 25
Towering ancient trees blocked out the sun. Xu Zhao had walked this path many times, knowing where the trees were sparse and even more so where spiders were spotted. She followed the path through the woods, cocking her neck and shouting at the people behind her, "Do you have any sense of reason? You were the ones who started this evil intention! With a knife at my neck, do you expect me to shed tears of gratitude?"
Xu Zhao ducked down to squeeze through the narrow crack in the wood. His arms rubbed against the tree trunk, and his thin clothes couldn't protect his skin from the damage. His skin felt burning and painful.
The deeper we went, the more sunlight was blocked by the large leaves, and everywhere there were spider webs, some hidden and some obvious, thin and delicate, looking like ordinary spider webs. But the deeper we went, the more things changed...
"Kill a man, pay with your life! Talk to us!" The eldest brother of the Lian family, his eyes red, waved away the drooping branches. With a sudden effort, he lifted the broken branch and threw it forward. "If you, the scourge, hadn't come to Blackwater Town, how could these things have happened? You deserve to die! I'll sacrifice you to the spider. You should repent and be grateful... When I catch you, I'll tie you up and throw you into the spider's mouth!"
Xu Zhao's body was covered in golden and white spider silk, his heart pounding. A huge cocoon hanging from a branch fell before his eyes. He took a quick glance and saw a dying wild boar struggling in the cocoon made of spider webs, but unable to escape.
The stench filled the air. Unable to find solid ground, Xu Zhao suppressed his nervous heartbeat, sweat forming on his palms. "...It's still unclear how the spiders appeared! If those tour groups were truly capable of creating something like this, how could they have been killed by you? All this talk of disaster and sacrifice? They're all just excuses..."
The road ahead was blocked by a giant spider web. Xu Zhao stopped and looked back at the two people chasing him: "...Look carefully at what's ahead. Are you not afraid anymore?"
A spider web. Countless insects and two or three birds fluttered their wings, their necks raised high, their voices hoarse and weak. If a person were to run into it, the situation wouldn't be much better; the consequences would be the same.
The two brothers of the Lian family swallowed their saliva at the same time and paused. The eldest brother of the Lian family remembered his brother's miserable plight and glared at Xu Zhao: "Don't talk nonsense. You killed my brother, so you must pay for his life... Brother, it's daytime now. Even if they encounter spiders, they won't attack. Go over there, we'll surround her and see where she can run!"
Xu Zhao narrowed her eyes and stepped back, her back almost touching the web. The threads were covered with blister-like bumps—hard to see with the naked eye. She lifted the golden thread stuck to her sleeve, wrapped her fingers around it, and casually touched it, testing to see if it would stick.
"Uncles, you all know the whole story. If I hadn't done that, I would have been the one put in the sack... I had no choice! Don't arrest me, let me go. Do you want us all to die here?"
"How can we all die here? As long as we capture you, bring you back, hand you over to the mayor, and offer you to the spider again at night to avenge my brother... No one in our town will die. As long as we kill all of you outsiders, we will all survive!"
Xu Zhao took her fingers away, and the herbal fragrance dispelled the nausea brought by the fishy smell. In the dense and somewhat eerie dark forest, the smell seemed to form a thin film around her body, and she felt an inappropriate sense of peace and calmness.
"...Uncles are too naive." Perhaps it's not naivety, but rather an unrealistic straw grasped at in desperation. Unable to confront the inhuman, they reach out their evil hands to their weaker, more innocent brethren, eager to use them up and find freedom. But who knew that as long as there's comparison, there are countless weaklings. It was her, and it would be him too.
The two Lian brothers, flanking Xu Zhao, approached her. Where else could she escape? Ahead lay a bumpy path, and behind her lay a spiderweb. They were sure to catch her.
The eldest brother of the Lian family suddenly clamped his hand on Xu Zhao's arm. The girl's arm was so thin and small that he could break it with just a little force. He smiled sarcastically: "...Don't be unconvinced. I'm telling you the truth. The person you're looking for is already dead. We sent all the people in the tour group to the back mountain and fed them to the spiders. Judging from your appearance, you must be looking for someone very important. You will be reunited soon. There's nothing wrong with that."
The man next to him laughed: "...You should be grateful to us!"
Suddenly, a gust of wind rustled the towering ancient trees, and a drop of bright liquid fell on Xu Zhao's wrist. The strong stench of water made her frown with nausea. At the same time, a suffocating fear welled up in her chest. The spider was coming.
It wasn't the daylight that limited their hunting, but the sunlight. At this moment, the dense foliage obscured the sunlight, and the forest was gloomy. Perhaps it was hiding overhead, or perhaps just off to the side. Xu Zhao couldn't see it, and the grip on her wrist was so tight that it must have pinched her red.
The pain was bearable. She pulled the corners of her mouth, revealing a strange, inexplicably creepy expression: "Uncle, let me go. I hear the sound of spiders. If I don't run away now, I won't be able to escape."
Finally caught her, how could we possibly let her go? The eldest brother of the Lian family looked furious and said to his second brother beside him, "Lock her up at home. Mom's condition will improve when she sees her. Wait a few days, and when the spider comes again, throw her out. This is the last outsider in Blackwater Town. If the spider eats her, maybe it will let us go..."
The second brother of the Lian family agreed, "Brother is right. The mayor told us all before that if you want to get something in return, you have to pay. We have offered so many sacrifices, and we have many of our own people too... I believe that soon, it will be a good time for our town!"
The two of them were chatting and laughing, discussing how they would vent their anger after bringing Xu Zhao back. Suddenly, a force of gravity pulled them down, causing them to stumble and fall backward uncontrollably. "Ah! Ah! What's going on? Are you an idiot? You can't even stand steadily. These spider silks... why are these spider silks so sticky! Brother, help me!"
"Brother, I'm stuck too! I can't get out!"
Xu Zhao rubbed her bruised arm. Her clothes were torn by the gravel on the ground, soaked with blood, but she gritted her teeth and endured it. The impact of the three people falling to the ground didn't even break the spider silk! It remained firmly fixed between the two thick old trees. The slender spider silk stretched taut, pulling into long thin threads and falling to the ground. The spider silk was elastic, and birds and insects were freed from the sticky spider silk because of the elasticity, and soon disappeared.
"Brother, brother, look how she left! Hey, it's you who fell and implicated us, hurry up and get us out of here, how can we get rid of these annoying spider webs, come and help..."
"Me?" Xu Zhao rolled onto the clean grass, curled up her knees, and waited quietly for the pain to subside. She didn't dare relax, staring vigilantly at her surroundings, waiting for food. She laughed sarcastically, "...I told you to let me go, but you didn't listen. Uncle Lian, do you think I'm crazy? Did I rescue you just to catch me and feed me to the spiders?"
When Xu Zhao left the shack, she was covered in golden and white spider silk. Lin Yue's spider silk had shielded her from the sticking, but her arms and legs were still stained with a few tiny, broken strands of spider silk.
With a foul smell, she wrinkled her nose, supported herself on the ground with both hands, and slowly stood up.
At the same time, a rustling sound was heard. Suddenly, a spider silk fell from the empty place in front of him, and the other end stuck to the spider's body. It waved its two huge fangs, secreted liquid, and slowly landed on the spider web.
The shiny black spider's single eye stared intently at its prey stuck in the web—two sturdy human men, and a sweet-smelling human woman next to them.
But her scent wasn't just sweet; it also contained a mixture of fear, dread, and greed. The spider frantically moved its eight legs, clattering against the ground. Its tentacles pierced the thigh of the closest Lian's second brother.
"Ah!" The second brother of the Lian family screamed, "Help... Help, brother, I don't want to die, save me, it hurts so much..."
This was the perfect time to escape. Xu Zhao had neither the extra compassion nor the extra energy to die. She barely supported her wounded body to stand up. The moment she walked, she felt a sharp pain from her skin cut by the gravel. This was nothing, but her ankle was probably injured, and she walked unsteadily.
Dodging the feeding spider, Xu Zhao suddenly felt a strand of spider silk drift before her eyes. Oh no! It was secreted by a giant spider, and the silk, stained with a sickening smell, blew towards her on the wind and quickly stuck to her.
When he fell on the spider web, Lin Yue's aura almost disappeared. The spider silk was entangled, and it was impossible to tell which was Lin Yue's silk and which was the spider's silk.
The eldest brother of the Lian family, lying in the spider web, had obviously given up struggling. Seeing Xu Zhao trying to escape, his eyes were filled with resentment and anger. Now that he saw that she still couldn't escape the spider's prey, he suddenly let out a cruel laugh: "Hahahahaha, no one can escape! Don't even think about escaping!"
Xu Zhao remained relatively calm. She kept quiet and ran a few steps forward, only to be caught in the spider silk and unable to move. She stopped where she was and quickly searched her mind for a solution to her current predicament. As she thought about it, the spider silk wrapped around her body became increasingly dense, gradually covering Lin Yue's breath, and the faint herbal scent disappeared.
The stench assaulted Xu Zhao's senses, and her face flushed crimson. Finally unable to hold back, she inhaled a large, unpleasant gulp. The odor shattered her remaining will to survive. In this desperate situation with no possibility of escape, she felt her willpower slowly festering.
How could he possibly escape? No matter how strong his will and courage, humans are so fragile and insignificant in the face of creatures beyond nature. The screams of the Lian family's second brother faded away, and the footsteps of death drew closer and closer to Xu Zhao. She sniffed the odor that filled her nostrils, wishing she could just run into a wall and die right then and there.
The wailing of the eldest brother of the Lian family pulled her back from her wandering thoughts. Seeing him frightened and terrified, mixed with the pain of self-blame for being unable to save his brother, Xu Zhao could actually feel the creeping wisps of jealousy. This strong emotion burned like a raging fire. She curled her fingertips, bit her lip, and stared at the eldest brother of the Lian family with wide eyes.
At the beginning, the spider bit the second brother of the Lian family, and the eldest brother of the Lian family screamed and cursed. But when it was his turn to be caught by the spider, the pain that seemed to be torn apart by his heart stopped. He stared blankly at the remaining traces of the second brother of the Lian family, shedding tears one after another.
Regardless of the moral character of the Lian family, after Lian Jinguang's death, there were family members who felt sorry for him and brothers who risked their lives to avenge him. This included the eldest and second Lian brothers, whose deaths at the hands of a spider will not be forgotten; their families will remember them and mourn them.
Xu Zhao has nothing.
She clenched her fingertips tightly, looked away, and became almost a stiff stone statue entangled in the spider silk.
Another rustling sound echoed. Xu Zhao didn't even look up. What difference did it make if there was one more spider or one less? She was someone whose life would be forgotten even after death. The overwhelming loneliness overwhelmed her, and in this overwhelming emotion, she lost her instinct to survive.
The eldest brother of the Lian family suddenly cried out in surprise: "...Lin Yue, you are Lin Yue? You are still alive!"
Dense shade enveloped Lin Yue's pale, frail form. Without sunlight, his skin was a veritable porcelain white, with pale blue veins visible on his forehead. Legs wrapped in cracked, worn skin weakly supported his upper body, leaving sparse spider silk trailing behind, a faint golden hue, wherever he walked.
A breeze laced with the bitter fragrance of herbs blew over. Xu Zhao's cocooned body struggled slowly twice, her eyelids fluttering slightly as she met Lin Yue's dark gaze. She thought it was a hallucination before her death. He was still shedding his skin, languidly sleeping in the net. How could he possibly reach her in time? This was a scene from a TV drama. She didn't believe she had such good luck.
Xu Zhao's face was also entangled in spider silk, and the feeling of suffocation almost made her faint. The spider silk binding her mouth was suddenly pulled apart by an external force. It didn't hurt much. Lin Yue carefully pulled the spider silk apart: "...I'm sorry. Xu Zhao, are you uncomfortable?"
Xu Zhao blinked, the prolonged lack of oxygen leaving her speechless. It took a long time for her to regain her composure. In her mind, she completed Lin Yue's incoherent words. What he meant to say was: "Xu Zhao, I'm sorry. I came late and caused you harm." But this incident had nothing to do with him. Why should he blame himself?
"Why are you here?"
Lin Yue should have been sleeping in his net bag by now. Without the noise of the Lian brothers, the environment was quiet and he should have been shedding his skin in peace. Her eyes flickered to his chapped lips and the dry skin clinging to his legs. She couldn't help but feel distressed.
Xu Zhao was wrapped in a ball of spider silk. The smell was unpleasant, the scent of a male spider. Lin Yue's fingers tugged at the spider's thread, exerting a little force, and the thread snapped. He lowered his eyes, his thick lashes masking a gloomy mood, and said, "...I woke up when I heard a sound, and you weren't beside me. I chased you out. But it was too late."
Xu Zhao's scent reassured him. As soon as she left, he opened his eyes anxiously and looked around for her, but he didn't see her. He was so panicked that he seemed to have lost his mind. After calming down, he followed the scent and rushed here.
If he had been a few steps later, the consequences would have been unimaginable. His violently beating heart hadn't yet returned to normal, but the expression on his face no longer showed panic, but gentle and calm.
Lin Yue's palms secreted a fragrant oily substance, which was smeared all over Xu Zhao's body. The oily substance dripped like a drizzle, washing the spider silk. In the blink of an eye, the stench that made people want to kill themselves was instantly replaced by a sweet smell that made people dizzy.
Xu Zhao sat stiffly on the ground, head tilted back, letting Lin Yue move. She felt her eyes moisten and tried to wipe them away, but her arms were too stiff to move, so she simply ignored it.
"You're still shedding your skin. Is it okay for you to come out like this?"
Lin Yue patiently untangled the spider silk that had entangled her. When Lin Yue arrived, the giant spider had already climbed to the top of the ancient tree with its prey and was staring at him warily.
The eldest brother of the Lian family cried for help: "...Lin Yue, please save me! Please save me quickly! I am your Uncle Lian, please hurry up and chase this spider away..."
Lin Yue turned a deaf ear and methodically tore the spider silk apart: "No problem." He answered softly, his fingertips touching the bloody wound on Xu Zhao's arm. His eyes darkened, and he continued to tear the spider silk as if nothing had happened.
When encountering difficulties, Xu Zhao was used to solving them on her own, and had no experience relying on others. Lin Yue looked young, and even though his arrival at this moment brought great comfort to Xu Zhao, she always remembered that when Lin Yue was a human, he was not an adult.
Lin Yue was clearly not as flawless as he'd claimed. His legs seemed slightly stiff as he moved. How could he have shed his skin without any progress after so many days? Xu Zhao looked at his face. It was pale and thin, with veins visible, clearly enduring pain.
She said, "You shouldn't have chased me. Even if, even if the spider ate me, it wouldn't matter. We just met by chance. There's no need for you to hurt yourself for me. Look at your... your legs. Can you still walk?"
Lin Yue pursed his lips, his movements stiff, and suddenly looked up. His eyes turned red without warning, and tears appeared in them.
Xu Zhao opened his mouth. Why was he crying?
Lin Yue placed his fingertips against her face, and said in a slightly aggrieved tone, "Xu Zhao, you are the most important."
…
Xu Zhao was carried back by Lin Yue.
He looked frail, like he could fall at the slightest gust of wind, yet when he held her, he was steady, like a straight, green tree. She could smell Lin Yue's bitter fragrance again, and compared to the joy of surviving the disaster, the words "You are the most important" clearly shook her even more.
Nestled in the young man's arms, Xu Zhao unexpectedly developed a sense of dependence. This feeling, when it arose, brought with it a double exhaustion, both mentally and physically. She fell asleep in Lin Yue's arms! She didn't even have the decency to ask him to put her down and walk on her own...
The moment he returned to the thatched hut, Xu Zhao opened his eyes. "...We're back? Lin Yue, thank you. Put me down. Don't worry. If something like this happens again, I'll definitely wake you up first. I'll never take risks alone. Get back into the net bag."
She was worried that his molting process would not be completed smoothly.
Lin Yue hummed, his eyelashes trembling. He grasped her crotch and thighs with his fingertips, curling up involuntarily. Xu Zhao's warmth lingered on them. In the corner, a golden net bag was placed, emitting a soft and warm scent.
Xu Zhao was half-conscious. As she rubbed her eyes, the world spun. When she came to, she was surrounded by an intricate web of spider silk. Behind her was Lin Yue's cool chest and the strange, unfamiliar feel of a spider's body.
Lin Yue actually brought her into the net bag!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
