Chapter 350: The Most Dangerous Moment

Two whole hours had passed since the chase for He Lingchuan began. At this moment, the sun had already crossed its zenith and began to tilt west.

There was still no sign of He Lingchuan.

Typically, when it came to manhunts like this one, if you did not catch the target in the first two hours, the odds of catching him afterward dropped straight down.

Another two hours went by, and still the spider army failed to find him.

The thought of the missing molt made Zhu Erniang’s chest feel even more clogged and tight, but her most urgent priority now was to return and rest to treat her wounds.

Especially since the little spiders came back with another report: the boars under King Si Wen were lingering at the border, poking their heads around as if they wanted to come over and see what was happening.

Zhu Erniang had frightened King Si Wen into fleeing her territory earlier. But as stupid as that boar monster was, it did occasionally show flashes of slyness. If it discovered that the Spider Queen and Mountain Monarch Bo had both been battered to the brink, and that she was now too wounded to even stand after killing off the giant snake, then the Demon Nest would be in real danger.

So no matter how unwilling she felt, Zhu Erniang had to begin the return to her nest.

As for the spider army, aside from a few guards staying with her, the rest were still released, sent out across hills and wilderness to continue searching for He Lingchuan.

Halfway through the journey, Zhu Erniang suddenly remembered something and hurriedly dispatched a spider guard to handle it.

Soon, the spider guard returned carrying Tu Zhongli’s corpse, dropping it in front of Zhu Erniang. It also reported that King Si Wen’s offspring had begun cautiously probing into Mountain Monarch Bo’s former territory.

The news of Mountain Monarch Bo’s death would reach King Si Wen within another few hours. When that happened, who knew how the Boar King would react?

Zhu Erniang retrieved Tu Zhongli’s body for one reason: she had several little spiders search him in front of her for something specific.

It did not take long. A mottled spider produced a small flag of cloud-brocade from Tu Zhongli’s sleeve.

Yes, this was the only pass humans could use to leave the Demon Nest Swamp. Zhu Erniang took it for herself and let out a long, slow breath.

Even that kid, He Lingchuan, who’s as cunning as a ghost, still missed this detail.

Without the cloud-brocade flag, he could not leave the Demon Nest Swamp.

Sooner or later, the burrow spiders would find him.

At this moment, the red spider also returned, hopping onto Zhu Erniang’s head and turning back into an eyeball. Zhu Erniang, dragging herself in exhausted steps, slowly climbed down into the sinkhole and returned to the underground palace.

Another report came from the guards: Dong Rui was gone.

While all the spiders had been out chasing He Lingchuan, that man had taken the opportunity to flee.

However, he did not have the token either, so he could not leave the swamp. Sooner or later, the burrow spiders would locate him. Zhu Erniang was too tired to think about why he had run. She simply made her way back to the Demon Nest’s heart chamber.

A corridor that was normally a leisurely stroll now felt interminable.

What was that ferry-crossing ghostspawn thinking, building such a complicated underground palace in the first place?

When Zhu Erniang reached the display chamber, the spider guards withdrew, sealing themselves outside on strict watch.

This was a space she preferred to enjoy alone. Out of habit, she swept it once with her spiritual sense to confirm safety, then spat several strands of webbing to seal the entrance shut.

Inside the chamber, only three molted shells remained.

One had been stolen in Beijia, and another had vanished just now.

The Spider Queen stared at them, grief sinking into her like cold mud. She lay there for a long while before slowly inching toward the wall and positioning herself close beside the remaining shells.

Then, she began to twist, thought it kind of looked like she was dancing, or perhaps struggling. If anyone else had been there, they would have thought she was in terrible pain, because the tips of her legs often bent at unnatural angles, as though her joints were being forced the wrong way.

The process lasted more than fifteen minutes.

Then, the Spider Queen’s back split open.

The fissure widened, widening until it became a hole.

And Zhu Erniang actually then wriggled slowly, inch by inch, backward out of that opening.

The shell remained where it was.

Yes, Zhu Erniang was undergoing another molt.

Once the hard outer shell was shed, her entire body glistened with sticky mucus, and her new shell was extraordinarily soft. Forget blades and weapons—an ordinary human pressing a finger to her could dent her flesh, leaving a hollow that would only slowly rebound.

This was Zhu Erniang’s most painful, most vulnerable moment. She could tolerate no risk. That was why she had sent every spider guard outside to stand watch and sealed the entrance with webbing.

She trusted no one now.

Fortunately, it would only take the time of two cups of tea for her new shell to harden again. Then she would once more be the untouchable greater monster.

But right then, Zhu Erniang suddenly sensed a trace of danger.

One eye located behind her head caught sight of something that should not be there.

A person had appeared by the wall.

The glowspores cast a greenish sheen across his face, making him look sinister.

That person was none other than He Lingchuan.

He wasted no words. He sprang toward the back of Zhu Erniang’s head, agile as a leopard, a dagger clenched in his right hand. He then stabbed hard.

He struck while she was at her weakest, prepared to take her life.

At this moment, Zhu Erniang’s body was stuck, half in and half out. Her new shell was tender. She had no power to resist at all.

He Lingchuan’s strike was just about to land when Zhu Erniang suddenly spat something from her mouth.

She spat out a black sphere the size of an ostrich egg.

The moment it emerged, it moved like a living creature, ramming straight at He Lingchuan.

His body jolted. He twisted away, urgently dodging.

The black sphere did not pursue. It hovered in midair for a heartbeat, then exploded.

Black light burst outward from the blast point, instantly expanding in all directions.

The sound that resulted was not like that of ordinary explosives. There was no earth-shaking roar.

But wherever that light passed, most things silently vaporized.

Even the hardest stone wall was no exception.

He Lingchuan took the brunt of it. Zhu Erniang watched his figure disappear bit by bit into the air itself.

This was annihilation.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Luckily, the halo’s range was not large. It only extended until it was about six to seven meters across before it dissipated on its own, sparing the rest of the cavern.

The display chamber fell quiet again.

Only then did Zhu Erniang finally exhale.

The molting period was her most dangerous time. How could she possibly be unprepared? Using an annihilation pearl on a weak human was an awful waste.

This treasure had been in her collection since the Middle Era. She had once had seven. Two later lost their effect to time, and she had already used four. The one she used just now, that was the last one.

However, Zhu Erniang had lived long enough to understand the one simple truth that no treasure, no matter how precious, was more valuable than her own life.

Trading such a treasure for her survival was worth it.

As she refocused on the work of molting, a figure emerged from deep within the thigh-joint hollow of the tallest molt.

It was a dead angle where even glowspores did not grow. No one, whether they be human or spider, would ordinarily look there.

Besides, he had wedged himself into a recess lined with sharp spines. And the annihilation pearl clearly had not harmed Zhu Erniang’s true body or her molted shells, so he had escaped its reach.

When he had been hiding, he had been like a stone—no breathing, no heartbeat, nothing. He had even managed to evade Zhu Erniang’s senses, including her spiritual sense. Now, the moment he leaped out, his presence was revealed, and Zhu Erniang instantly went on alert.

But he was too fast. Before Zhu Erniang could react, he vaulted onto her head. A cold gleam flashed at his waist. His changdao flicked free and plunged straight into her soft body!

Zhu Erniang’s shriek echoed through the empty stone chamber.

The attacker sneered savagely. “Struggle all you want, but it’ll be of no use. I want you to beg for his life yet hardly keep it and want for death but never be granted it!!”

This man was, of course, He Lingchuan.

She had said those exact words back at the ruins. Now he was returning them, verbatim.[1]

And Zhu Erniang was only halfway through her molt. Her head had come free, but her abdominal segments were still wedged in the hard old shell, stuck awkwardly between in and out. Of her eight legs, only two had managed to emerge.

A moth spun its own cocoon and trapped itself.

Zhu Erniang, molting, had trapped herself instead.

There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to flee. It was an unbearably humiliating moment.

The spider guards outside heard her shriek, but the web sealing the entrance was far too thick, and they could not break through.

So Zhu Erniang could only shout, “Stop! Stop! We can talk!”

The saber’s edge was already pressing down through the crown of her head. Her soft new shell offered no defense. If Fleeting Life drove another third of a meter, it could churn her brain to pulp.

Her final life-saving measure had already been used. For the moment, she had no answer.

Zhu Erniang pleaded, and He Lingchuan paused his blade for a fraction of a breath. He spoke quickly, “If you don’t want to die, swear fealty to me. Bind yourself with an immortal pet contract!”

The one shattered by the annihilation pearl earlier had, of course, been his clone.

Ancient greater monsters had eight hundred schemes in their heads. Even in her helpless molting state, He Lingchuan had not been confident he could secure a one-strike kill. Hence, he had sent a clone to test the waters first.

The test cost him the clone’s life.

Fortunately, it had not been his real body.

A chance to seize an ancient greater monster like this came once in a thousand years. He would not let such a golden opportunity slip. Zhu Erniang had struggled to survive from the Ancient Era until now; her will to live spoke for itself.

The Spider Queen froze, then erupted in fury. “No!”

He Lingchuan pushed the blade forward another few centimeters, applying pressure.

Zhu Erniang gritted through the pain. “I would rather die than be a slave! You can dream all you want of taking me as a pet!”

She had once been an ancient greater monster, and even now she maintained that pride. How could she accept a human master and abase herself?

He Lingchuan whirled. With his other hand, he drew a dagger and stabbed clean through a small spider.

It was one of Zhu Erniang’s eyeballs, quietly transformed, trying to slip behind him for a venomous bite. But at a moment like this, He Lingchuan’s spiritual sense was fully open, his entire mind on high alert. He had been waiting for exactly this kind of dirty trick.

When the eyeball was pierced, Zhu Erniang cried out again, pain lancing straight into her.

He Lingchuan patted the top of her head, looking regretful. “Since you’re so steadfast, then I’m sorry, but it looks like I’ll have to send you on your way.”

Just as he was about to finish the Spider Queen with polite composure, Zhu Erniang blurted, “I won’t acknowledge you as my master, but I can swear I won’t harm you. I’ll let you leave the swamp safely!”

“No, the winner should enjoy a winner’s privilege,” He Lingchuan refused without hesitation. There was no profit in a deal like that. “An ancient greater monster is a treasure from head to toe. I could dismantle you, refine you into artifacts, and sell you for a fortune. If I take your eyeballs to Beijia, maybe I’ll even earn a title and rewards.”

Zhu Erniang trembled, whether from pain or rage, it was hard to say.

“If I live, I can let you borrow my divine technique!” She was still trying to persuade him. “It won’t just make you stronger! At critical moments, it can save your life!”

He Lingchuan chuckled. “You’re at a critical moment right now. Why haven’t I seen that technique come out to save you?”

“I’m exhausted to the bone.” With her vital point in his hands, Zhu Erniang did not bother with empty boasts. “If it were before, then even during molting, you wouldn’t be able to come near me.”

She sighed bitterly and said, “Your luck is very good.”

He Lingchuan smiled. Only he knew that this was far from just the result of luck. This was the result of careful planning. This was not a moment that anyone could get by accident.

“The display chamber was missing one molt earlier. I knew you’d put that shell back on your body.”

When he had entered the chamber with the bandits, he had seen only four molted shells. This meant that one was missing, gone without explanation. King Si Wen had led his entire herd in a riot, and Zhu Erniang had sensed the provocation was not simple. It was now clear that she had donned one of her molts like armor before going out to engage in battle.

1. Note that she had not actually said those exact words, whether it be in Chinese or English. Anyway, what I translated her saying was, “I want him to beg for his life yet hardly keep it and want for death but never be granted it!” Another common translation for the line is “You won’t be able to live, nor will you be able to die.” ☜