Luo Luo could feel the fair-faced man’s grip on her wrist.
His hand was heavy, his knuckles hard—there was no way he had let go. So how had he suddenly vanished?
Her drowsy mind snapped awake.
She realized his presence was gone. The air was cold, carrying a faint, musty odor of decay. The bed beneath her was icy.
Spider silk. It was happening again.
Her exposed face, neck, and the backs of her hands tingled unnaturally, a subtle but relentless itch—layer upon layer of it.
When she inhaled, it felt like fine gauze was drifting into her nostrils.
Luo Luo held her breath and cautiously cracked her eyes open.
A blur of gray filled her vision. As she focused, she saw countless uneven gray columns stretching before her.
The moonlight from the window was gone. The bronze lamps in the chamber had been snuffed out. Outside, the once-vibrant crimson blossoms of the courtyard were now mere silhouettes of ash and shadow.
She was alone on the bed.
And above her… something loomed.
Her pulse quickened.
A gust of wind rattled the open bronze lattice windows, their hinges groaning with rust and age.
The thing above her shifted, distracted by the noise.
Seizing the moment, Luo Luo widened her eyes and looked up.
As her gaze traveled upward, the gray columns around the bed took shape—massive, segmented legs.
Dull as death, their joints bristled with dense, frost-black bristles.
Higher still, a swollen abdomen quivered.
Before she could even think, What a monstrous spider— her vision was filled with a face.
A woman’s face.
Pale as plaster, its eyes were veiled under thick, milky membranes.
Then, with a slow turn, those eyes locked onto hers.
Boom.
The sound of thunder exploded in Luo Luo’s skull.
What the hell is this?!
A sudden rush of wind—
Her skin prickled, her jaw clenched. She rolled aside just as—
Clang!
The spider-woman’s first foreleg stabbed down like a blade, piercing straight through the bed where she had lain, sparks of bronze flying from the impact.
As the creature wrenched its leg free, Luo Luo pushed off with one hand, darting between two other massive limbs. She landed on her feet, drew her sword Qiushui with a metallic ring, and leveled it at the monstrosity.
Her skin still crawled.
A quick glance confirmed it—spider silk.
Damp, gray, and filthy, patches of it clung to her everywhere.
On the bed, the spider-woman turned its head slowly, fixing its gaze on her.
Instead of attacking, it opened its mouth, its body trembling as it unleashed a shrill, ear-splitting shriek.
"Aaaah—skreeee!"
The sound hit Luo Luo like a physical force. Needles of pain stabbed her temples. Her vision warped, swelling and shrinking violently. A high-pitched whine filled her ears. Her chest heaved, blood churning.
Her skin tightened. The musty stench of decay filled her lungs.
Her mind wavered. The world swayed. Nausea clawed at her throat.
Poison!
As the spider-woman shrieked, its eight legs bent, coiling like springs.
Luo Luo’s expression hardened. Before it could leap, she kicked back, flipping through the open window. With a flick of her sword, she propelled herself onto the courtyard wall.
Crash!
The spot where she’d stood was gouged into deep trenches.
A cloud of gray dust billowed, obscuring the creature.
Luo Luo scanned her surroundings.
The colossal Jianmu tree loomed in darkness—no lights, no people.
She recognized this place. It was where she’d claimed first place in the preliminary rounds—the now-sealed forbidden realm, Jianmu’s Shadow Domain.
This thing can drag people into the Shadow Domain?!
No wonder the victims vanished in broad daylight, only to reappear dead on Yue Wugou’s bed.
Shadow Domain! Li Zhaoye! I’m in the Shadow Domain!
The spider-woman squeezed through the bronze window frame, its bloated abdomen squelching obscenely against the edges, like a grotesque birth.
With a heavy thud, it landed in the courtyard and lifted its pale, lifeless face toward Luo Luo on the wall.
Before it could shriek again, she vaulted down.
The soundwave crashed against the wall, reverberating through the metal with a deafening hum.
Her vision swam once more.
Everywhere she looked—the sky bridges, the trees, the structures—all were draped in spider silk, reeking of that faint, rotting dampness.
Then, a chill crawled up her spine.
She whirled around.
Behind her, countless webs writhed and twisted, knitting together into broken, withered spiders. They surged toward her like a tide, countless legs skittering.
Swish!
Her sword flashed, cleaving a fist-sized spider in half. It dissolved into strands of silk, drifting to the ground—only to reform instantly, rejoining the horde.
They screeched, their tiny voices merging into a cacophony of nails on glass.
Luo Luo’s pupils constricted.
They can’t be killed.
She’d never seen anything like this.
If she couldn’t fight, she’d flee.
Gritting her teeth, she backpedaled, then flipped off the sky bridge.
Her sword Qiushui gleamed beneath her feet, catching her midair.
The pursuing spiders tumbled over the edge, plummeting into the abyss below.
She exhaled sharply—
Then froze.
A rustling sound rose behind her.
She turned, horrified.
From the higher bridges, endless strands of silk dangled, each one crawling with gray spiders.
No escape above. No retreat below.
Luo Luo sucked in a sharp breath and shot forward on her sword, weaving through the closing net.
"Skree! Skree-skree!"
The spiders’ cries surrounded her—front, back, left, right, above, below.
She was adrift in an ocean of them, waves of gray crashing down relentlessly.
Dodging took its toll. Her spiritual energy drained rapidly. A clawing cold seized her heart.
After what felt like an eternity, dizziness overwhelmed her.
She crashed onto a bronze platform adorned with golden flowers, bracing herself on her sword, panting.
The screech of metal filled the air as spiders clawed their way up the platform’s edges, closing in.
With a swing, she unleashed a crescent of sword light.
The blade’s energy sliced through the swarm, severing them at the waist—but the silk simply scattered, then reformed.
"This isn’t right…"
A realization struck.
She bit down hard on her tongue.
Pain flared, sharp and bright. Her mind cleared instantly.
When she looked again, the platform was empty.
No spiders. No tide.
Hallucinations. From the poison.
In the far distance, the shrill cries of the spider-woman echoed faintly as it climbed through the complex terrain, pursuing its prey while toying with her through illusions.
Luo Luo’s heart stirred. Silently reciting the Clarity Mantra, she swiftly darted across the celestial corridors, heading straight for the place where her junior sister had disappeared.
Thud!
She came to a stop and scanned her surroundings.
Sure enough, the floor and railings of the celestial corridors bore numerous sword marks.
Luo Luo crouched down and reached out to touch them.
Embedded deep within the grooves were strands of rotting spider silk, crumbling to dust at the slightest pressure.
She had found it. Her junior sister had fought here.
She must have been trapped in the same illusions, slashing desperately at spiders that refused to die.
Steadying herself, Luo Luo raised her gaze and followed the trail of battle ahead.
North—where junior sister vanished.
The further she went, the fainter the sword marks became.
From these traces, Luo Luo could vividly imagine what had happened to Jiang Ling—spiders that couldn’t be killed, her spiritual energy rapidly depleting, her sword swings growing weaker and weaker until the relentless tide of spiders drove her into a large courtyard.
Luo Luo rushed into the courtyard. The footprints left in the dirt were crooked and unsteady—by the time Jiang Ling had stumbled here, she was in terrible shape. She had been using her sword as a crutch, dragging it through the mud, leaving behind triangular clumps of upturned earth.
Her heart sinking, Luo Luo tightened her grip on the Autumn Water Sword and burst into the side chamber.
Jiang Ling threw her entire weight against the door of the side chamber.
Her hands trembled so violently that she fumbled several times before managing to slide the copper bolt into place.
Clang!
Finally, it locked.
She collapsed weakly to the floor, covering her mouth to stifle her coughs, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Tears silently spilled over the back of her hand.
Senior Brother… I might never see you—any of you—again.
Outside the chamber, a dense, rustling noise rose like a tide. Shadows crept upward, swarming over the door and windows before her.
Trembling, she stared at the copper bolt.
Though rusted, it still looked sturdy.
Holding her breath, she groped for her sword beside her and clutched it with both hands.
Skitter… skitter… skitter…
Hiss—hiss—hiss—
The entire exterior of the chamber was now covered in spiders, enough to drown her.
She pointed her shaking sword at the copper bolt, eyes fixed on it.
The bolt didn’t budge.
But the situation hadn’t improved—through the gaps in the door, strands of spider silk began oozing in.
Liquid-like silk spread and pooled, forming one spider after another at her feet.
She was forced to retreat, step by step, until her back hit the bed at the far end of the chamber.
Spiders surged toward her, crawling into her sleeves, under her collar, beneath her robes.
Reason shattered. She let out a piercing scream, clawing and tearing at her clothes, desperate to rip the spiders out.
Shreds of fabric littered the floor and bed as she tore them away.
The spiders spewed thick, sticky threads, binding her arms and legs.
Panicked, she thrashed wildly on the bed, slapping at the spiders crawling over her with one hand while weakly swinging her sword with the other.
These spiders couldn’t be killed—the more she fought, the more there were.
In her frenzied struggle, soon not a single scrap of clothing remained intact on her body.
Then, in an instant—her body stiffened like clay.
A spider had burrowed inside her.
Trembling, she looked down. A distinct, moving bulge swelled rapidly across her abdomen.
A scream of utter despair tore from her throat.
With shaking hands, she gripped her sword and plunged it into her stomach. Squelch. Blood sprayed.
She could no longer feel pain. She yanked the blade free and stabbed again, chasing the creature.
Her ribs groaned under the strain as the spider crawled toward her heart and settled there.
Her pupils dilated, crimson as blood. With both hands, she raised the sword—and drove it toward her own heart.
"Goodbye, Senior Brother…"
Clang—!
A blinding streak of light shot forth, knocking the bloodied sword from her grasp.
Jiang Ling’s vision blurred. In her daze, she thought she saw a flash of autumn-water blue.
Luo Luo lunged to the bedside. As she looked down, the illusions and reality overlapped before her eyes.
Found her!
In the illusory vision, her missing junior sister was covered in swarming spiders, their bodies burrowing into hers—a horrifying sight that would drive anyone to madness, to stab at the creatures invading their flesh.
So this is how the victims died.
Luo Luo’s temples throbbed. Rage burned in her chest.
Steadying herself, she pulled a robe from her Qiankun pouch and draped it over Jiang Ling. Then, she rummaged through Zhao Yu’s pouch, grabbing every pill she could find and shoving them into the dying girl’s mouth.
"Don’t you dare die!" Luo Luo shouted at her. "Your senior brother is looking for you—how could you leave him like this?!"
Jiang Ling’s lips twitched faintly.
Luo Luo sealed her pressure points to stem the bleeding, then pressed her fingers to Jiang Ling’s wrist, channeling spiritual energy into her in torrents. "Think of the person you love! He’s waiting for you! Think of all the words you never got to say—wouldn’t it be a waste to die now?!"
The pulse beneath her fingertips grew weaker.
Jiang Ling’s body trembled, her eyes glazing over as blood trickled from her lips.
She had never dared to tell her senior brother how she felt…
What a pity…
Luo Luo pressed her lips together, withdrew her hand, and summoned the Autumn Water Sword back to her grasp.
Clang!
She spun, kicking off the bed, and swung the blade in a fierce arc.
The sword met the spider-woman’s razor-sharp leg as it struck through the window.
Fury blazing, Luo Luo leaned into the blade, forcing it back with all her strength.
Screech—clang!
Sparks erupted along the limb. When she reached the joint, Luo Luo twisted her body and slashed downward!
This strike carried the full force of her spiritual energy.
The Autumn Water Sword resonated with her will, its icy edge concentrating into a single, unbreakable point—a slash of absolute sharpness that cleaved straight through the spider’s weakest point.
A metallic explosion rang out.
The recoil sent a shockwave through Luo Luo’s body, numbing her hands. She swallowed the metallic taste in her throat.
She shielded Jiang Ling with her own body, taking the brunt of the blast.
Her hair and robes whipped back as she raised her sword, slicing through the shattered window fragments—and a severed spider leg—that hurtled toward her.
She had done it. She’d cut it off!
Thick, blackish blood gushed out. Outside the window, the spider-woman let out a piercing shriek.
Luo Luo’s vision swam as the illusions surged again.
Gritting her teeth, she charged straight through the curtain of gray spiders dangling from the window frame.
Her skin crawled with an indescribable itch.
Landing, she steadied herself, lifted her sword—
The spider-woman stood in the courtyard, its abdomen convulsing, milky-white eyes bulging from their sockets. Its severed left leg twitched as dark blood dripped to the ground.
It stretched its mouth wide in a howl, the corners splitting to its ears.
Luo Luo’s head buzzed.
With a battle cry, she raised her sword and struck!
Her foundation was solid to begin with, and after surviving the Illusory Dream of Floating Life, her skills far surpassed those of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.
Dodging the spider-woman’s slashing limbs, she closed the distance in a flash—and drove her sword straight into its abdomen!
Clang—hiss.
It felt like stabbing into a sheet of hardened iron.
Luo Luo pressed down on her sword with all her strength.
"Zzzzt—thud."
It pierced through!
She drove it in all the way, then swiftly withdrew the blade and leaped back.
From the wound, a gush of foul black blood sprayed out. Had she not dodged quickly, it would have drenched her head and face.
Luo Luo let out a light exhale.
This monster was only good at poisoning and conjuring illusions to intimidate—its actual combat prowess seemed mediocre at best.
Wounded, its screech grew deafening.
Luo Luo's blood churned, nausea rising as layers of hallucinations clouded her vision.
The worse she felt, the fiercer she fought.
Gripping her sword, she lunged forward again, stabbing wildly into the spider-woman's vulnerable abdomen.
Black blood splattered everywhere as if from a ruptured oil barrel.
Enraged, the creature lashed out with bladed limbs sharp enough to slice through solid metal walls.
Though in poor condition, Luo Luo had long grown accustomed to dodging that man's sinister sealing threads. Repeated cuts and pain had honed her reflexes to razor sharpness.
She twisted and weaved—ducking, bending—each movement barely evading the slashing limbs.
With a backhanded motion, she plunged her sword in again and again.
The courtyard was now slick with black blood, the spider-woman's bristling fur standing on end.
In agony, it gaped its maw and roared at Luo Luo in furious accusation.
Luo Luo had never cared for honorable combat. Seizing its momentary distraction, she swung her sword and severed its leg!
"Crack! Crack-crack!"
Sparks flew as blood cascaded like a waterfall.
The spider-woman gradually "knelt," none of its eight limbs left intact.
Luo Luo leaped into the air with a vicious laugh. "You picked the wrong prey!"
One foot planted on the back of its skull, the other stomping its shoulder, she gripped her sword with both hands and drove it straight down.
"Crunch."
The blade pierced through its nape and out its throat!
She yanked the sword free, landed lightly, and sheathed it with a resonant clang.
The spider-woman collapsed slowly, black blood gushing from its mouth.
Waves of sinister energy seeped from its body as the milky-white film over its eyes receded.
Luo Luo's mind cleared abruptly.
The hallucinogenic spider venom dissipated, revealing pupils and whites in the creature's eyes.
It blinked dazedly, mouth opening to emit a faint breathy whisper.
"I offered my life... to you... Did you... expose the truth?... Do people know... Yue Wugou killed... killed..."
Its gaze drifted skyward, as if addressing someone unseen.
Luo Luo had been about to leave when the words struck her like lightning. She dropped to her knees beside it.
"Wait—are you Yue Wugou's mother-in-law?!" Luo Luo stared at the spider-woman's face, pupils trembling.
The creature heard her but lacked strength to respond, eyelids sliding shut for the last time.
An icy chill settled in Luo Luo's chest.
She drew a deep breath, stood, and strode toward the side chamber.
Overthinking helped nothing now. The priority was getting her junior sister out for medical aid—there might still be hope.
After one step, she froze.
Goosebumps erupted down her spine as primal instinct and terror rooted her in place.
Her teeth chattered involuntarily, producing faint clattering sounds.
Body rigid, she turned her head mechanically.
Blood-red silk strands descended from the sky, attaching to the spider-woman's corpse.
Head. Torso. Eight legs.
Like a macabre marionette, the corpse twitched to life—its impaled head lolling grotesquely, severed limbs rising and falling with eerie rhythm.
Each movement carried a horrifying cadence that made flesh crawl.
Slowly, it raised one dripping forelimb and thrust toward Luo Luo.
Her pupils contracted as she screamed internally: Move! Move! Dodge!
Yet her body refused, statue-still as if carved from stone.
This was suppression.
The crushing pressure of an ancient demonic entity.
Gripping her sword hilt, Luo Luo strained to draw the blade inch by inch.
Her arm shook violently, the metallic tang of blood filling her mouth from bitten gums.
"Hum... hum... clang!"
With every ounce of strength, she angled the sword defensively—too late.
The blade missed by a foot as the spider limb advanced inexorably toward her heart.
Eyes wide, Luo Luo watched its approach as time seemed to thicken like sludge, immobilizing even her fingers.
The stench of death loomed closer.
"Wheeeeng—"
The howling winds stilled abruptly across the desolate landscape.
Then—
A sound like shattering glass resonated through every corner of the world.
As if space itself fractured, a figure materialized before Luo Luo.
He pulled her into his embrace, spinning them both clear of the killing strike.
"Thuck."
Glancing down, he flashed her a lazy grin. "Perfect timing, wouldn't you say?"
Luo Luo stared at him, lips pressing into a tight line.
Blood seeped in a growing stain beneath his shoulder—having taken the heart-piercing blow meant for her.
With a backhanded motion, he whipped out sealing threads, binding the spider limb before yanking hard—
"Twang! Twang-twang!"
The appendage shattered into fragments.
Sleeves billowing, he teleported them both, evading the marionette spider's tidal wave of attacks before alighting on a high bronze platform.
Setting her down, he steadied her with one hand, about to casually tell her to stay put and not interfere—when he noticed her gaze fixed on his wound.
Her lips quivered, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Tch." His grin widened. "Why the tears? Weren't you desperate for this lord's soulblood?"
He dabbed two fingers at the injury, tilting his head with exaggerated generosity. "Here's your chance. Take it!"
Luo Luo: "..."
