Chapter 16: Is Shizun Satisfied Now?

With his hair properly tied up, Lin Chuyun instantly felt much lighter on his feet. At first, Feng Xixing led the way, but it wasn’t long before Lin Chuyun was in front, even turning back to urge his little disciple to hurry up.

After descending the mountain, Lin Chuyun followed the path towards the village. However, Feng Xixing didn’t head for the village, turning in the opposite direction instead.

“What are you doing over there?” Lin Chuyun asked, confused.

Feng Xixing curved his eyes, keeping a secret. “Getting justice for Shizun.”

Justice? Justice for what?

Puzzled, Lin Chuyun followed behind Feng Xixing. Before long, another mountain came into view. All the trees on it had withered, leaving only dead trunks. Occasionally, large black birds swooped down, tearing at the decaying animal carcasses on the ground.

Before even getting close, Lin Chuyun caught a whiff of a putrid stench.

He stopped decisively, absolutely unwilling to take another step. “Disciple, what are you doing here?”

Feng Xixing said, “This is that Demon Spider’s nest.”

Lin Chuyun understood. Indeed, that Demon Spider had come from this very direction.

Thinking of the enormous Demon Spider from last night, Lin Chuyun still felt a lingering fear. If Feng Xixing hadn’t arrived in time, he would likely have been devoured completely. But hadn’t his little disciple already taken care of that Demon Spider? Why come to this desolate mountain for justice?

Lin Chuyun was still puzzled when Feng Xixing in front of him tapped his finger on his storage bag. A flash of spiritual light appeared, and the Demon Spider’s corpse was casually tossed onto the ground.

The Demon Spider had died a miserable death. With a single glance, Lin Chuyun saw that over half its legs were missing, and its body was riddled with holes. In comparison, the minor damage he’d done to the spider’s eyes was truly insignificant.

The instant the corpse appeared, a shrill, mournful wail erupted from the barren mountain. The sound was like the howling of ghosts and wolves, unbearably grating. Moreover, as the sound grew sharper, the stones around them began exploding one after another.

Feng Xixing flashed in front of Lin Chuyun, erecting a barrier of spirit power to block the flying stones. Looking at his well-behaved disciple, Lin Chuyun mentally beat up Original Host for the countless time—what a blind fool!

When the surroundings quieted down, Lin Chuyun raised his eyes to look at the barren mountain.

Things he’d overlooked before now became clear. The dead trees on the mountain weren’t just withered; they’d been corroded by poison. The bodies on the ground were all bound by purple-black spider silk. He’d thought those were large black birds, but they were actually black Demon Spiders perched on the ground.

This was clearly a Demon Spider nest.

And at the mountaintop, a colossal Demon Spider, several times larger than the others, was slowly crawling out from behind the mountain.

“That’s the Female Spider,” Feng Xixing withdrew his spirit power, taking the time to explain to Lin Chuyun. “This type of Demon Spider is called a Human-Faced Ghost Spider. The fur on its abdomen forms a human face. They’re highly toxic and live in groups. A spider colony has only one Female Spider; the rest are Male. To the Female, the Males are merely tools and food for producing offspring. She doesn’t care if they live or die.”

Lin Chuyun looked at the Female Demon Spider. She certainly didn’t seem like she didn’t care if this Male was dead.

“Right,” Feng Xixing added, as if just remembering something. “This one wasn’t a Male Spider. It was a Female Spider that hadn’t reached maturity yet.”

“In other words… the next leader of this spider colony.”

Lin Chuyun silently processed Feng Xixing’s words in his head, then looked at him expressionlessly. “So, you killed her daughter…”

Feng Xixing nodded obediently.

“And then you specifically came to her lair and dumped her daughter’s body on the ground…” Lin Chuyun continued, still expressionless.

Feng Xixing looked the picture of obedience. “Does Shizun feel a bit more relieved now?”

Lin Chuyun: “…”

Whose little menace is this? Please, someone take him back!

As they spoke, the massive Female Spider charged down the mountain in a rage, stirring up dust and debris all the way, followed by a swarm of smaller Male Spiders. It was an exceptionally spectacular sight.

Watching the mountain and plains teem with Demon Spiders, Lin Chuyun had no time to scold his disciple. He could only grit his teeth, grab Feng Xixing by the back of his collar, and shove him behind him. “No more nonsense, run!”

Caught off guard, Feng Xixing stumbled from the push. Turning his head, he saw Lin Chuyun take two steps forward, gripping a green Spirit Sword tightly in his hand.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, recognizing it as Lin Chuyun’s life-bound spirit sword—the Azure Wood Sword.

Lin Chuyun possessed Wood-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, and the Azure Wood Sword was forged from the heart of a millennium-old green wood tree, tempered with a High-grade Wood Spirit Stone. It could even be considered an Earth-grade Magic Treasure.

It was just a pity that Lin Chuyun’s talent was so poor, he couldn’t even unleash half the sword’s power.

“Hah…” Lin Chuyun exhaled a soft breath, his gaze fixed intently on the Female Ghost Spider charging down the mountain.

He absolutely dared not look back now, afraid that the Ghost Spider would seize the moment he turned to attack. He could only pray inwardly that Feng Xixing would heed his words and run far away.

As for himself…

Anyway, even if he really got hurt, he’d just be ejected from the Thunder Echo Grotto by the formation. At worst, he’d just turn into a cat right in front of Zhu Yan. He refused to believe Zhu Yan would eat him.

With that thought, Lin Chuyun calmed down a little.

The Female Spider seemed to sense a hint of danger and slightly slowed her forward charge. However, under her command, the Male Spiders continued their mad rush towards Lin Chuyun.

Last night, Lin Chuyun had been a cat the size of a palm, so the Demon Spider had looked terrifyingly large. Now he was in human form. The Demon Spider that had seemed so gigantic last night—well, it was still gigantic, but at least the size difference wasn’t as huge.

And these Male Spiders were actually a bit smaller than the Female Spider. With this comparison, Lin Chuyun was even less fearful.

When the Male Spiders drew near, Lin Chuyun didn’t hesitate. He leaped up, landing lightly on the back of the lead Demon Spider. The Spirit Sword in his hand swiped at just the right moment, directly blinding the spider’s eyes.

Enraged by the acute pain, the Demon Spider rammed around wildly, trying to shake the Human Cultivator off its back. The previously orderly formation instantly dissolved into chaos. These Demon Spiders were inherently ferocious, only obeying commands under the Female’s suppression. Now that the Female was too far away, her control was greatly weakened.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Lin Chuyun blinded several more Male Spiders. Then, pinching a hand seal, the Azure Wood Sword flashed with spiritual light and came to rest under his feet, lifting Lin Chuyun into the air.

Below, the Male Spiders were in complete disarray. More and more of them ignored the Female’s commands, attacking everything around them indiscriminately. The first few Male Spiders had already fallen under the assault, likely not much longer for this world.

Seeing that the Male Spiders no longer had the attention to spare for him, Lin Chuyun breathed a sigh of relief. But just as he turned, something flashed abruptly before his eyes.

“Lin Chuyun!” A hand forcefully grabbed Lin Chuyun’s wrist, yanking him back fiercely.

Stumbling back two steps from the force, Lin Chuyun turned, furious. “Why are you still here?!”

Feng Xixing’s expression was dark, his grip on Lin Chuyun’s wrist tightening. The pain made Lin Chuyun frown involuntarily. “Let go!”

It hurts!

Feng Xixing took a deep breath, slowly easing his grip, but didn’t release Lin Chuyun’s wrist.

Lin Chuyun assumed he was regretful, knowing he’d caused trouble, which explained the expression. His tone softened a bit. “It’s fine, don’t be afraid. Shizun can handle this.”

Feng Xixing lowered his eyes, shielding them behind his fringe. Only after making sure Lin Chuyun was unharmed did he slowly release his hand.

Lin Chuyun raised his hand to look. A ring of red marks had appeared where his wrist had been gripped. If someone who didn’t know better saw it, they’d think he’d been imprisoned.

So, what was that thing just now?

Lin Chuyun turned back, his eyes meeting the Female Spider not far away. The spot where he’d just been standing was now tightly encased by a ghostly purple spiderweb. Inside the web, several Male Spiders were being corroded by the silk’s poison, struggling but gradually succumbing as the toxin choked them.

The remaining Male Spiders huddled fearfully in the center of the web, too terrified to move.

Lin Chuyun sucked in a breath of cold air. If Feng Xixing hadn’t pulled him away just then, he would have either been corroded into a pile of White Bones or torn apart and devoured clean by the Male Spiders in the center, not even bones left behind.

“Disciple…” Lin Chuyun felt a bit cowardly. He carefully tugged on Feng Xixing’s sleeve. “What if… we just slipped away?”

This Female Spider was far too poisonous. And what was key—she was both ruthless and toxic, not caring in the slightest for the lives of these Males. If they really got tangled up with the Males, it’d probably be a fight to the death for everyone.

Feng Xixing looked down at the two fingers pinching his sleeve, thought for a moment, and decided not to brush Lin Chuyun off. His cold gaze rested on the Female Spider for a long while, but then he suddenly smiled at Lin Chuyun. “Shizun, do you want to vent some anger?”

Lin Chuyun’s face instantly went blank. “No. Stop. You behave yourself!”

Another wave of Demon Spiders and your teacher will toss you to them as a snack!

Feng Xixing only smiled. With his other hand, he retrieved something from his storage bag. Lin Chuyun peeked out from behind him to look. It was a pitch-black egg.

“What… is that?” Lin Chuyun asked blankly.

“An egg from that Human-Faced Ghost Spider.” Feng Xixing protected his palm and the eggshell with a layer of Ice Qi. The egg of a Human-Faced Ghost Spider was poisonous too.

Lin Chuyun blinked, sorting out the family relations. “So… the Female Demon Spider’s granddaughter?”

Feng Xixing paused at this logic, then considered it. “Seems… it might be?”

Over there, the sight of the spider egg made the giant Female Demon Spider even more agitated. But this time, she didn’t dare approach. Even the Male Spiders retreated under her command.

“A Human-Faced Ghost Spider can only lay one Female Spider egg in her lifetime,” Feng Xixing explained, seeing Lin Chuyun’s confusion. “The Female only lays a Female egg when her life is near its end, or when she’s about to die. This Female Spider is dying, so she laid that other Female Spider, wanting to pass on the leader’s position to her…”

“And you killed her,” Lin Chuyun finished casually.

He didn’t find Feng Xixing particularly cruel. After all, this was how the Cultivation World worked. If Feng Xixing hadn’t killed that Demon Spider, he might have been the one to die.

“Then, that Demon Spider, just before dying, laid this egg.” Feng Xixing looked ahead. The Female Spider paced back and forth restlessly but dared not make a move.

Although the egg of a Human-Faced Ghost Spider was poisonous, it wasn’t sturdy. One slip of Feng Xixing’s hand and it would shatter instantly.

Lin Chuyun fully understood. This egg they were holding now was the only one that could inherit the leader’s position. If this egg died too, and given that the Human-Faced Ghost Spider couldn’t lay another Female egg, when she eventually died, the colony would be completely leaderless.

Wasn’t this called… holding the spider egg hostage to command the Demon Spiders?

“Want… exchange…” A sound almost like human speech came from within the Female Spider. The voice was wavering and unsteady; if it weren’t broad daylight, Lin Chuyun would’ve thought he was seeing a ghost.

Feng Xixing ignored her, turning to Lin Chuyun with an obedient look. “Is Shizun satisfied now?”

Lin Chuyun: “…Yes.”

Yes, very satisfied. His anger was well and truly vented.

Hearing Lin Chuyun’s answer, Feng Xixing’s expression finally softened. The tear mole at the corner of his eye flickered, its color slowly fading.