Chapter 326 - 325: What a Twisted Fate

Chapter 326: Chapter 325: What a Twisted Fate

Before they fell unconscious, they were in the main channel of the Hanhe River, swept downstream by the raging current.

Now, it was as if the two of them and a giant jellyfish were in the middle of a swamp. All around them was a lush jungle of aquatic plants. Above them, tall stalks and dense branches allowed only occasional, palm-sized glimpses of the sky.

A few dragonflies flew past the giant jellyfish. They were longer than his middle finger.

The channel the jellyfish passed through would narrow and widen unpredictably.

’Huh, wait a second. We’re deep in the swamp now. The water’s calm, with no wind or waves. How is the jellyfish still moving at a steady pace?’

Expressionlessly, Dong Rui pointed downward.

Hee Lingchuan looked down and was startled.

It turned out the giant jellyfish wasn’t just drifting with the current. It had another power source—

Tangled beneath the jellyfish was a dense mass of eels. There were dozens of them, at least. The thinnest were as thick as a fist, while the most robust one had a midsection as wide as a bucket, rivaling a python.

Hee Lingchuan was immediately reminded of his favorite dish: stir-fried eel. ’Mmm... how many platters could all these make? The aroma, the spice, the glistening oil...’

While he was busy drooling over their bodies, the swarm of eels didn’t seem to have any friendly intentions toward them either. Some pulled from the front while others pushed from behind, dragging the jellyfish deep into the foliage at a considerable speed.

It was just that Hee Lingchuan hadn’t taken a close look when he woke up, assuming it was just aquatic plants brushing past underneath.

"Where have we floated to? Where is this swarm of eels taking us?"

’Come to think of it, it’s not dark underwater. In fact, there’s a faint glow seeping through.’

"You’re asking me? Who should I ask?" Dong Rui sounded annoyed. ’If only I’d woken up earlier and killed this Hee fellow, I could have escaped to shore by now.’

Hee Lingchuan rubbed his nose. "I need to relieve myself." He’d been holding it in for over a dozen double-hours; he was desperate.

Dong Rui was aghast. "Don’t do it in here! Wait until we get out!" ’We’re in a sealed sphere of water together, have some decency!’

Hee Lingchuan drew his Floating Life Blade with a reverse grip. "There only seems to be one Demon among these eels, and it doesn’t look too tough." ’That should make things easy.’

Dong Rui suddenly exclaimed, "Look! I think I see buildings up ahead!"

In the ambient light from the sky, the two of them saw a long beach ahead. A string of buildings made of stone and shells lined the shore, the tallest reaching three stories.

However, the houses looked long abandoned; grass and vines were their new tenants.

Dong Rui had spotted them at a glance, thanks in no small part to the clam shell decorations on the roofs. The oily sheen inside the shells reflected the light, making them quite conspicuous.

Just as Hee Lingchuan was about to slice open the jellyfish and head ashore to investigate, the swarm of eels—their porters—suddenly slithered up the jellyfish’s body, enveloped it completely, and began dragging it under the water!

"Wait," Dong Rui said, his curiosity far more piqued than Hee Lingchuan’s. "It looks like they’re taking us somewhere. Just hold it for now."

"Where else? To be served up on a platter." Despite his words, Hee Lingchuan put away his blade for the time being. As their perspective shifted underwater, the view actually became much clearer.

The swamp floor, they now saw, was covered in a dense, soft, and clean carpet of slender aquatic grasses, resembling a vast meadow. The fruit of these grasses looked like pearls and emitted a faint blue glow, attracting schools of fish that swam about playfully.

Hee Lingchuan even saw a few turtles paddling clumsily past. ’The ecosystem here is pretty healthy,’ he thought.

But as the swarm dove deeper, Hee Lingchuan saw even more of the stone-and-shell houses—

identical to the ones on the shore.

Except this underwater expanse was far grander. There were at least two or three thousand buildings, their designs more varied and intricate, suffused with an exotic charm. Bathed in the light of the glowing aquatic plants, the scene was so beautiful it looked unreal.

The tallest structures here were over five stories high and truly magnificent. The jellyfish had just grazed the eaves of one such high-rise.

Of course, the place was now a habitat for the Water Race; fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish were the only ones coming and going.

Dong Rui was genuinely astonished. "There’s a whole town hidden beneath this swamp?"

Hee Lingchuan pointed ahead. "If we don’t make a move now, it’ll be too late."

A pitch-black expanse loomed ahead, apparently the eels’ destination. The two had no intention of just waiting around foolishly to see what would happen.

’The sightseeing tour is over.’ Hee Lingchuan flicked his blade, slicing a long gash across the top of the giant jellyfish.

The creature’s skin looked transparent and fragile but was actually incredibly tough. Even with the Floating Life Blade, cutting it felt like slicing through a thick tarp. It was clear how the giant jellyfish had managed to survive the pounding currents and the prodding of curious Water Race creatures on its journey; it had its own defenses.

The two of them squeezed through the opening and struggled toward the surface.

The eels realized two of their prey had escaped. While most continued to drag the jellyfish, thirty or forty of them turned and gave chase, snapping their sharp fangs at the two men, trying to herd them back.

Their mouths were full of sharp teeth, and they bit viciously, tearing out chunks of flesh with every snap.

Dong Rui took a bite to the ass and YELPED, the pain so sharp it made his leg go numb.

As more eels closed in, with the one as big as a Giant Python joining the fray, Hee Lingchuan decisively pulled something from his robes and sprinkled it directly into the water.

Dong Rui saw a pale yellow cloud spread from Hee Lingchuan’s position. The relentlessly pursuing eels reacted as if struck by lightning, scattering in an instant and fleeing for their lives, not daring to look back.

’What was that stuff? It was so potent!’

A dozen breaths later, the two men surfaced and scrambled onto Changtan.

The moment they were on shore, Dong Rui asked, "What was that stuff you released?" Due to the nature of his profession, he had a keen curiosity about all things related to powders and pills.

"A fragrance." Hee Lingchuan held out his hand. "The antidote? Give it here."

"What antid—" Dong Rui remembered the lie he’d told when he was about to suffocate. "Oh."

Back then, to save his own skin, he had told Hee Lingchuan the fluid inside the jellyfish was poisonous.

"It’s not poisonous."

"You tricked me?" Hee Lingchuan cracked his knuckles.

"Hold on, hold on!" Dong Rui suddenly pointed behind Hee Lingchuan. "Hey! Look behind you! A Spider Demon!"

"Demon, my ass!" The words had barely left Hee Lingchuan’s mouth when he felt something was wrong, because round, rolling figures were also emerging from the ruined house behind Dong Rui.

Not pigs, but spiders.

The small ones were only the size of oranges, while the large ones were as big as millstones.

He glanced back and saw the Spider Swarm pouring in from all directions, surrounding them. The sound of innumerable legs rustling through the grass was a continuous, scalp-numbing SCRITCH-SCRITCH.

’No, wait. Correction.’

The size variation within the Spider Swarm was huge. Two Giant Spiders emerged from behind the tall grass, each one larger than a full-grown wild bull!

Every bristle on their eight long legs seemed to radiate killing intent.

’But... why do these spiders look so familiar?’

Dong Rui’s eyes darted around frantically. "Where’s that fragrance? Use it again!"

’There are way too many spiders here, thousands of them at least!’

’If I remember correctly,’ he thought, ’a nest of Earth Cave Spiders has a caste system, just like ants. Some spit acid, some specialize in grappling, and others are venomous. They’re incredibly difficult to deal with.’

In the blink of an eye, the ground, the trees, and the vines were a writhing, crawling mass of spiders.

It was enough to make someone with trypophobia pass out on the spot.

"They’re damp." The fragrant balls, a specialty of the Red Cliff Road Sand Bandits, had gotten wet in the water. They wouldn’t be very effective now. In his head, Hee Lingchuan was calculating the odds of successfully diving back into the water.

’Son of a bitch. I dreamed these spiders could cast webs. They’d better not net me in mid-air!’

’So unprofessional!’ Dong Rui cursed silently. Just as he was about to pull out some of his own tricks to poison the spiders, a colossal figure emerged from the tallest building.

It clambered down the dilapidated wall. Despite its immense size, its movements were unnaturally nimble; it landed without a sound.

The contrast was positively ghostly.

Dong Rui immediately pointed, his voice choked with fear. "The Spider Queen! We’re screwed! This is an entire Earth Cave Spider Swarm!"

’So that’s it,’ Hee Lingchuan thought. ’No wonder these spiders looked familiar. I’ve seen their kind before in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest.’

"One gets tired of eating fish. A change of pace is good now and then." A chilling voice echoed as the Spider Queen moved through the dappled shadows of the trees onto Changtan, revealing her true form.

At a glance, Hee Lingchuan cried out involuntarily, "Second Madam Zhu!"

This Spider Queen was exceptionally robust, as large as a house. Her eight long legs resembled massive pincers, making her look like a specially enlarged and reinforced version of a coconut crab. She had twelve large eyes, each one a gleaming, black orb.

A coat of stiff, coarse hair made her look especially sinister.

And yet, she was also beautiful. On her abdomen was a naturally formed Star Map, so exquisite and magnificent it looked as if the heavens themselves had been laid across it. Unfortunately, most who saw it were already on the verge of death.

Hee Lingchuan recognized that Star Map. It was the one on Second Madam Zhu!

That’s right—the leader of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest Earth Cave Spider Nest, the powerful Spider Queen who, in reality, had killed General Nanke of Panlong City!

He never would have imagined that after leaving the Spider Nest, he would meet Second Madam Zhu again in the real world.

’A gap of more than one hundred and fifty years... What kind of twisted fate is this?’

’I’m so screwed. With Second Madam Zhu here, my Water Escape plan is shot. How the hell am I supposed to get away now?’

Second Madam Zhu had been salivating over these two morsels of fresh meat. Hearing his cry, she paused, all twelve of her large eyes fixing on Hee Lingchuan. "You know me?"

"I..." ’Of course I know you,’ he thought. ’We were face to face just like this in the Spider Nest. Except back then, you were furious because I’d burned down that underground farm you worked so hard on.’ "...My ancestor was fortunate enough to see you in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. He was so awestruck that he wrote of the encounter in a book for his descendants to read. He made special mention of the brilliant star chart on your abdomen!"

"Oh?" Second Madam Zhu’s interest was piqued. "And what did your ancestor do?"

"He lived in Wutu City and was a traveling merchant in the Panlong Wasteland. He often had to stop over in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest during his journeys. You restrained the Earth Cave Spiders from eating humans, which was a great convenience for traveling merchants. My ancestor was eternally grateful!"

The lies flowed effortlessly from Hee Lingchuan’s mouth, his eyes filled with reverence. Watching from the side, Dong Rui almost believed him.

Almost.

If he didn’t know just how treacherous the Hee father and son were.

But with the two of them now trapped deep in the Spider Nest, Hee Lingchuan’s approach was the correct one.

There looked to be several thousand spiders in the vicinity. There was no way the two of them could fight them off alone.

"Otherwise, how could someone as young as me possibly know your name upon first sight?" ’General Nanke’s entire squad was wiped out by this powerful Spider Demon. What chance would the two of us have against her?’ While flattering her to stall for time, Hee Lingchuan frantically wracked his brain for a way to survive.