Yet above loomed a colossal stone ceiling, and He Lingchuan realized he was still inside a cavern. It was just that the cavern mouth opened directly into the sea, forming a calm pool akin to a tidal basin. Daylight spilled down through a high erosion shaft slanted overhead, illuminating schools of fish swimming in the water.
Reaching this place from the hilltop was practically impossible on foot—unless one fancied a high dive right through that erosion shaft.
Quite a few burrow spiders were busily working here, stacking boulders into the sea and binding them with mesh bags of webbing.
"What are they doing?" He Lingchuan noticed a natural barrier reef extending into the sea, and the burrow spiders seemed to be extending it further.
"Building a tidal weir." Before Zhu Daniang could answer, Zhu Erniang's voice drifted over from behind. "When the tide recedes, the fish and shrimp will be trapped inside."
He Lingchuan turned and saw Zhu Erniang's massive, obsidian form emerging from behind the solid rock. "Leaving two webs at the weir's opening will spare us having to dive into the sea to catch fish ourselves."
He Lingchuan gave a thumbs-up. "Brilliant! Have you lived by the sea and fished before?"
Back in the Demon Nest Swamp, the burrow spiders could only cast nets into the lakes and wait for fish. But by the sea, there were tides. Once the tide went out, the fish were automatically caught behind the netting, saving both time and effort.
Moreover, the mesh size of the webbing could be adjusted—the burrow spiders couldn't even be bothered to catch fish that were too small.
"Of course." They were thousands-of-years-old demons; what sort of place hadn't they lived in?
Each hideous giant spider was as large as a wooden house. Standing together, twenty-four eyes glaring down, anyone would feel immense pressure before them.
He Lingchuan was the sole exception.
He found a relatively flat boulder, brushed off the sand, and sat down. "How have you been these past few days, Erniang?"
"Good. Very busy." Zhu Erniang had been constantly working on her new home, without a moment to stop.
The new terrain and new caverns required fresh designs tailored to the local landscape.
Zhu Daniang had offered a few suggestions beforehand, but Zhu Erniang had ideas of her own and rejected every single one. Zhu Daniang had been so annoyed that she refused to help at all, going off to amuse herself instead.
Even though both sisters were "burrow spiders," Zhu Daniang was clearly far less demanding about her living quarters than her younger sister.
Oh well. Erniang would set aside a nice room for her anyway, so she might as well be hands-off.
"Busy is good," He Lingchuan sighed with a chuckle. He produced four or five large jars of aged wine from his storage ring, each sealed with red silk. "This is the best wine in Blade Harbor, a housewarming gift for you two."
He remembered that Zhu Erniang loved drinking; back in Demon Nest Swamp, she had traded with human caravans specifically for wine.
Naturally, he hadn't forgotten Zhu Daniang's share either.
The two giant spiders each cradled a jar. Without even bothering to unseal them, they thrust their mouthparts straight through the clay seal and began sucking it down.
The action was enough to send a chill down one's spine, as that was precisely how they fed on prey. He Lingchuan could hear a few gurgles from the bottom of the jars as the wine vanished in a flash.
Zhu Daniang was relatively refined, whereas Zhu Erniang finished two jars of fine wine in the blink of an eye before tossing the jars aside. "Passable."
"A large grove of plum trees and wild cherries was just discovered on Longji Island. Perhaps next year we can brew our own wine," He Lingchuan said. Having finished the pleasantries, he cut to the chase. "Daniang said you wanted me on the island to discuss an important matter?"
Zhu Erniang grunted in acknowledgment. "When I settled in eastern Mou Kingdom, Beijia tracked me down. Even after I relocated, I only had peace for a little over a month."
Zhu Daniang couldn't help chiming in, "An island at sea is hidden. Now that you've moved here, can they still track you down?"
This time, He Lingchuan and Zhu Erniang answered in unison: "Yes!"
Zhu Daniang and the soul-snatching mirror: "..."
Immediately after, the soul-snatching mirror yelled from He Lingchuan's chest, "Hey, hey, what do we do now?!"
After wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Palace, they had gone through endless lengths to evade pursuit, not hesitating to cross the vast ocean to this unfamiliar place, all to hide from Beijia!
They had barely arrived at the Yangshan Archipelago, and Zhu Erniang was already exposed. What were they going to do?!
Would this bring fatal disaster upon them?
"It's true that you two sisters settling on Pansi Island offers good cover—it's isolated from the world, surrounded by the boundless sea. But even if it works for a while, once Pansi Cave's specialty goods are sold outward in a steady stream, it's virtually impossible Beijia won't notice," He Lingchuan analyzed honestly. "The Yangshan Archipelago and Blade Harbor will both be bustling hubs with merchant ships coming and going from north and south. Meanwhile, Zhu Erniang's fluorescent spores and aphid sugar are unique specialties; you won't find anything like them in many places across the world."
Zhu Erniang said, "Exactly. That's the truth."
"Anyone with a mind to search will eventually follow the clues right to our doorstep." He was addressing the soul-snatching mirror as well. "Never underestimate Beijia."
Once business got underway, the ensuing ramifications would be beyond his control.
Despite his words, Zhu Daniang saw that he still appeared completely composed. "Aren't you worried?"
"What's the use of worrying? Are we supposed to stop doing anything just because we fear Beijia might come knocking? If the Yangshan Archipelago is to develop, we must rely on Erniang's goods. We can't give up eating for fear of choking." He asked Zhu Erniang, "When you were in eastern Mou Kingdom before, how did Beijia find you?"
Eastern Mou Kingdom was a great distance from Beijia; their reach was extraordinarily long.
"At first, I stayed in Lingdong Grand Canyon in eastern Mou Kingdom, but I didn't get along with the local demons. I wanted to be closer to trade routes, but even the most desolate spots already had owners. So..." Zhu Erniang said, "we had a few fights."
Her mycelial mats produced exceptional bounties, which were best traded with humans in exchange for the fine wine, medicinal herbs, and various cultivation resources she needed.
He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. Fortunate lands belonged to whoever was strong enough; demons certainly didn't care about who arrived first. That was quite in character for demons.
"Did the Mou Kingdom authorities not intervene?"
"They did. They claimed I hadn't obtained official permission," Zhu Erniang said glumly. "While that dispute was still being argued, several of my offspring suddenly went missing."
Out in the wild, it was hardly strange for little spiders to go missing for various reasons. However, "a few went missing every day, which smelled suspicious. Later, I used Shared Sight and discovered that the ones abducting my offspring were a group of travelers. The exact number was unclear, but there were humans as well as demons."
"Shared Sight" was an innate divine ability of burrow spider queens, allowing them to share sight and hearing with their offspring. Both Daniang and Erniang had shared a limited form of this ability with He Lingchuan, which was how he could use the eyeball spiders.
"After capturing my offspring, someone even asked: 'These things can't speak, so how can we be sure they're burrow spiders from Demon Nest Swamp?'"
Spider demons were not uncommon in the wild, but anyone who could name "Demon Nest Swamp" almost certainly knew Zhu Erniang's background.
"A white bird spoke up, saying it had seen me emerge onto the ground and that I had a constellation pattern on my abdomen, so it couldn't be wrong."
"Those fellows wanted to execute my offspring on the spot! Speaking through my offspring's mouth, I asked who the devil they were." Zhu Erniang's tone was chilling. "Their leader said that anyone wanted by Beijia couldn't hide, even at the ends of the earth. If Beijia wants to find you, they will find you!"
"I asked what they wanted. They demanded I come out to meet them, and then they slaughtered several of my offspring."
Zhu Daniang chimed in, "Did you go?"
"No."
"...There were only a few of them." Her sister commanded an entire spider army—what was there to fear?
Zhu Erniang retorted, "They dared to clamor at the edge of my territory. Do you think they came unprepared, acting recklessly without a plan?"
Zhu Daniang said displeased, "Still, you shouldn't have let them off!"
"I ignored them at the time, but I posted spider lookouts around to keep watch." Zhu Erniang ignored her older sister and addressed only He Lingchuan. "Those fellows had real skill. Time and again, they eliminated all my scouts."
"I didn't go out, and they left when dusk drew near. After that incident, they vanished for several days, and I didn't think too much of it." What if they were from Beijia? This place was countless leagues from Beijia; an army couldn't march over. Besides, half the canyon was Zhu Erniang's domain; anyone daring to step into the spider nest would be swarmed by tens of thousands of spiders and sucked dry like jelly.
So at that time, Zhu Erniang hadn't been overly worried.
Zhu Daniang asked in surprise, "Then why did you move?"
"I do business with humans, as you know," Zhu Erniang said. "Later, while trading with a caravan, toxic smoke billowed out of the supplies just as they were brought into the storage cave. In a fit of fury, I killed them all!"
He Lingchuan murmured an assent. That certainly matched Erniang's style.
"Afterward, I traded four more times, and mishaps occurred during three of them, leaving me no choice but to halt trade." Zhu Erniang was quite frustrated herself. "Word spread through the human world that I was slaughtering and devouring people indiscriminately in Lingdong Canyon, and the Mou Kingdom authorities immediately sent envoys to demand answers."
"I told them my enemies from Beijia had tracked me down, but they didn't care and simply ordered me to move out as soon as possible." The Mou Kingdom authorities had already taken issue with her seizing territory and occupying the canyon; seeing her kill humans, they were compelled to take action.
"I couldn't be bothered to argue with them, so I relocated to Butterfly Valley several hundred li away."
Even a mighty dragon could not crush a local snake.
The authorities were the authorities; once she crossed them, she could no longer stay. That was a lesson she had learned more than a century ago in the Panlong Wasteland.
"Yet after barely a month of peace, those Beijia people tracked me down again, constantly waiting for chances to hunt and kill my offspring." Zhu Erniang sounded thoroughly irritated as she recounted it. "I had the mirage demon release mist, yet it couldn't stop them. One of them seemed to be an official of Mou Kingdom, capable of using origin power to see through the mirage mist!"
"I sent out spider guardians to wipe out the enemies, but those fellows had laid down truly vicious arrays and mechanisms, inflicting heavy casualties on the spider guardians..." Zhu Erniang's voice seethed with anger. "Still, over several clashes, I eliminated quite a few of their men. Yet their leader was no less sharp and slippery than you—"
The word "you" referred to He Lingchuan.
Back when she had clashed with He Lingchuan, this fellow had been slicker than a loach, impossible to catch!
He Lingchuan grinned at her, cocking his head and making a spiraling upward gesture beside his ear with his left hand to signal that he was "honored."
"—they carried so many arrays and magic artifacts that twice when I trapped them, he managed to escape with his men." Zhu Erniang tossed out several bronze talismans, which clattered and bounced on the rocks. "On one occasion, they used these."
He Lingchuan picked up a bright yellow bronze talisman, scrutinizing the delicate, exquisite patterns upon it. "A lesser mountain-moving array? Whoa, deep pockets."
These were bronze talismans used to form a lesser mountain-moving array. The craftsmanship was exceedingly complex, and their intrinsic value was substantial.
Chapter 931