Chapter 155: Trade

"One more isn’t too many, one less isn’t too few," Zharok said.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Iris climbed onto the handcart, her face flushed red.

Ethan took a seat as well, Zharok gripped the handles.

"Let’s go."

The handcart moved forward rapidly, unused to the bumpy ride, Iris swayed unsteadily.

Seeing this, Ethan reached out to steady her and smiled. "Hold on tight here."

"Okay, thank you." Iris lowered her head with a blush and whispered.

Liora watched her curiously. "What’s wrong?"

"...I I’m worried I’ll be a burden to you all, if we encounter danger, what should I do..."

"Don’t worry, meow, we aren’t that weak, you don’t need to be afraid, meow~"

"But..."

"What you should be worried about right now is Lady Alina, not us, even if we can’t win, we can still run, but if we fail, Lady Alina will be in danger."

"Th that’s true..." Iris lowered her head, her mood turning somewhat despondent.

Seeing this, Liora took her hand and comforted her. "Don’t worry, everything will be alright."

Iris looked up and smiled at her.

"We’re almost there, prepare to get off." Just as Zharok said, the Purple Forest had appeared before them.

The handcart slowed and stopped, Ethan jumped down. "Everyone, prepare for battle."

They jumped off the cart, drew their weapons, and stood ready.

Ethan picked up the megaphone and bellowed toward the Purple Forest. "Human Faced Spider, I wish to speak with you, if you are willing, please show yourself."

Echoes reverberated from deep within the forest, however, other than that, there was no movement.

Ethan had fully expected that the other party wouldn’t show up so easily, so he wasn’t disappointed, he continued to shout into the megaphone.

He shouted for what felt like half the day, just as his throat was about to give out, Zharok suddenly warned, "It’s coming out."

Ethan lowered the megaphone and looked toward the forest.

He saw a massive figure slowly emerging from the depths of the forest, it was a gigantic spider — its size even larger than their cabin, it swung its thick chelicerae, snapping the trees blocking its path in half as it marched toward them.

’So this is the Human Faced Spider.’ Looking at this massive, pitch-black creature, Ethan’s heart filled with awe.

Just then, he noticed a person sitting on the spider’s head, it was a woman with a graceful figure, short black hair, and pointed ears, her eyes, like those of a reptile, glinted with an eerie light, she wore a long white dress and was observing Ethan and his group with great interest.

"So noisy, do you have a death wish?" With a sharp shout, she slowly raised her right hand.

Seeing this, Ethan hurriedly pulled out the necklace the giant dragon had given him.

Upon seeing the necklace, the woman’s expression softened slightly. "How do you have that thing?"

"Pardon me — are you the Human-Faced Spider?"

"That is correct, I am."

Ethan stared at her in astonishment.

Seeing his reaction, the woman frowned. "What? Do you think I shouldn’t look like this?"

The moment her words fell, she waved her hand lightly, a strand of white spider silk shot out, striking a rock beside Ethan, with a slight beckoning motion, the rock flew into her hand.

She gave it a light squeeze, and the rock was instantly corroded to nothingness.

"I have undergone many moltings to attain this form, is it so strange?"

"No, not strange."

"Enough, you woke me up early in the morning, so you’d better have a reason, if your reason fails to satisfy me, I will kill you all and feed you to my pet."

A terrifying aura of pressure instantly enveloped Ethan and the others, this pressure was even stronger than that of the giant dragon, truly fitting for a powerful magical beast that had existed since the dawn of the Great Forest.

Suppressing the fear in his heart, Ethan swallowed hard and said, "I want to make a trade with you."

"A trade? What trade? Are you a lapdog for the forces of Chaos? I advise you to give up on that idea, I have no interest in you people, although I devoured a Chaos Fragment and obtained immense power, my survival until now has relied entirely on my own abilities, I have no intention of serving some bullshit Chaos."

"No, that’s not it, meow~"

"You aren’t here to persuade me to join the forces of Chaos? Then what are you looking for me for?"

"I want to trade with you for the method of growing Doll Grass."

"Doll Grass?" The woman paused, then she clapped her hands.

The giant spider spat out a strand of silk from its mouth, she slid down the silk thread, landing gracefully in front of Ethan, bending down, she examined him with keen interest, her reptilian eyes narrowing. "You... are a human?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how Doll Grass grows?"

"I heard it requires your aura."

"Correct, so you’re suggesting I visit your fields every day to release my aura? What a fantasy."

"I can pay you."

"Do you even know what I want?"

"Why don’t you tell me?"

Seeing Ethan refuse to budge, a playful smile curled the Human-Faced Spider’s lips, Zharok stood beside him, knuckles cracking, ready to charge, this only made her smile wider.

"If you hadn’t brought that necklace, I would have killed you and fed you to my pet long ago, but since you have Granny Dragon’s approval..." She flicked out her tongue, licked her lips, and stared at Ethan.

"Very well, I happen to have a special fondness for fine food, can you cook a meal that satisfies me?"

"That’s one of my specialties."

Hearing Ethan say he was good at cooking, the Human-Faced Spider looked intrigued. "Oh? So confident?"

She reached out and gently stroked his cheek, her nails were razor-sharp — one scratch could inflict lethal poison, but Ethan’s expression didn’t change, he stood there as if he didn’t sense any danger at all.

Satisfied, the Human-Faced Spider giggled, stepped back, and asked, "What kind of dish do you plan on making?"

"I don’t like eating the meat of wild beasts, and blood doesn’t interest me either, let me think..." Her gaze fell on Iris.

"How about you make me an elven dish?"

Iris went white and gripped the hilt of her sword.

The Human-Faced Spider burst out laughing and waved her hand. "Hahaha, I’m joking, don’t be scared, why would I eat elves? I’m not like my pets — they’ll eat anything."

"Ha... hahaha..."

"I want something sweet, delicious, and melts in the mouth, well? Can you make it? If you can’t, then we have nothing to talk about."

"I can make it."

"What? Really?" Her eyes widened.

Ethan extended his hand. "Give me a little time, I guarantee you’ll get the most delicious meal you’ve ever had."

"Quite the big talker, fine — I’ll give you one day, don’t disappoint me."

With that, the Human-Faced Spider climbed back onto the giant spider, turned, and vanished into the forest.

Watching them leave, Zharok let out a long sigh of relief, he patted Ethan’s shoulder. "What do you plan on making?"