How Many Erniangs Are There?

Everyone was shocked. "How can we allow that!" Was their young master going to walk into the wolf's den all by himself? Moqi Feng replied, "Whether you come along or not, the outcome will be the same. If it is a negotiation, we have to show sincerity." The Bailong had no counter to that. Moqi Feng looked at them and sighed silently. Since the docks and the warehouses hadn't blown up, and Island Master He had faked his death, their planted explosives had most likely already been defused. What leverage did he have left? The word "negotiation" was merely something said to appease his clansmen. Think as he might, they had no second way out; their only option was to beg Island Master He for mercy. It truly was the most helpless, most humiliating course of action. Yet whether it was Qiu Hu or the archipelago's other residents, everyone said the island master was very reasonable. He and these four hundred clansmen truly hadn't raised a hand tonight; if he reasoned with the man properly, there might still be hope. It was worth a try—worst case, they would fight to the death. Even in death, he had to know the truth. ... Ye Qing pressed the gourd against the spider demon and shouted the command, crying "Capture!" twice, but Zhu Erniang's stout body remained right where it was, completely undisplaced. What was going on?! The potent poison specially prepared by National Preceptor Shuangye was clearly still in effect, rendering the spider demon utterly immobilized. Why couldn't he pull it inside? Behind him, Hou Er suddenly said, "Knock down the little spiders on its back!" Could these things be interfering? The men sprang into action, tearing off the several small spiders. Ye Qing tried again, but still could not draw it in! Which meant either the magic artifact had malfunctioned, or the spider demon was not "immobilized" at all! Was it waiting for them to walk right into its trap? Sweat instantly beaded on Ye Qing's forehead. He barked, "Fall back, fall back now!" The men had fought together on battlefields for a long time; hearing the order, they retreated instantly without the slightest hesitation. But right at that moment, from the direction they were retreating toward, two clusters of spider silk shot silently from the tree shadows, striking the backs of two teammates. The strike carried immense force, but it failed to stick! One of Ye Qing's subordinates was a wild wolf with glossy, thick fur, yet the silk that claimed to stick to anything slipped right off the wolf's coat. The Beijia squad knew full well they might face Zhu Erniang's spider army, and that the silk was unnaturally sticky, so they had coated themselves beforehand with a special grease—water-resistant and extraordinarily slick. No matter how adhesive the silk was, it couldn't get a grip against the grease. "Behind us!" the two teammates warned the rest. Yet just as they turned around, a faint green light flashed over their bodies, leaving them feeling remarkably fresh and clean. And then, the layer of carefully applied grease was... gone! A cleansing spell. The enemy had actually cast a cleansing spell on them? Back in antiquity, this was a minor art known to every cultivator, completely non-offensive but practical—handy for cleaning clothes, accessories, or tidying up, sparing them the sweat of doing chores. In the present era, who would waste precious true power on tidying up? Disciples were always on hand to do the dirty work. Because it possessed no offensive threat, the squad's protective astral qi hadn't even been triggered. Yet the grit and twigs stuck to them from combat, along with the grease, were wiped completely clean. The one putting the cleansing spell to clever use was naturally Zhu Erniang. It shot out another two strands of silk, targeting two other men to drag backward. The two reacted swiftly as well, not only shouting at the top of their lungs but slashing their blades behind them. Yet the silk possessed astonishing tensile strength, and lacking sufficient origin power, they couldn't cut through it no matter how they hacked. Ye Qing and the others whipped around in alarm, only to see a colossal figure that had emerged from the woods at some unknown moment, pinning their two comrades to the ground and wrapping them into white cocoons. The movements were exceptionally practiced, carrying a sort of brutal grace. Bound fast, their companions had no ability to resist whatsoever. A mountain-like frame, the vivid star map on the abdomen... Who could it be if not Zhu Erniang? B-but how could there be two Zhu Erniangs?! Subconsciously, the men glanced between the giant spider hard at work and the motionless Zhu Erniang behind them. To say they were similar would be an understatement—they were identical! But... but... Ye Qing suddenly realized. "What we were fighting just now was a spider molt! Attack again!" Why was the "Zhu Erniang" behind them so sluggish and stiff, so easy to deal with? The best explanation was that it was merely a cast-off molt! Yu Zecheng had been tracking Zhu Erniang for a long time, and the squad had observed how it migrated with its brood: by filling several cast-off molts with its progeny, thereby piloting the molts forward. However, the progeny's control of a molt was clumsy and wooden. They could never move with the sweeping, aggressive freedom of Zhu Erniang herself; at best, they could stagger and pause, completely lacking offensive capability. Yu Zecheng had originally planned to launch an attack during Zhu Erniang's next migration, only for the demon to flee to this southern island to nest, gain He Lingchuan's protection, and take up permanent residence. And now, Zhu Erniang was using a molt to trick them! When Ye Qing and his men had first spotted the giant spider scuttling in rapidly on its eight legs, seemingly rushing to rescue He Lingchuan, accompanied by a tide of descendants charging recklessly forward, they had assumed without a second thought that it was Zhu Erniang. Who else in this archipelago could have a spider that big, and who else could command so many burrow spiders, other than their target, Zhu Erniang? Never had they expected it to be an empty husk! As for why the empty shell had moved so fluidly just now— Ye Qing recalled the scenes of Zhu Erniang's migrations. A molt stuffed with countless little spiders could barely stand and walk, moving like a stiff zombie. Who could have guessed it could run so nimbly! It turned out Zhu Erniang had been feigning weakness all along to mislead them. Using the molt, it had deceived the eyes of the Beijia operatives, prompting them to unleash a ferocious blitz and dump all their concentrated firepower, only to discover upon closer inspection... Every strike had hit an empty target. Ye Qing's greatest worry was that they had very little of the specialized poison left. Even a goshawk hunted a hare with full strength, to say nothing of facing a great demon like Zhu Erniang. Fearing the dose might fall short, Ye Qing had expended seventy to eighty percent of National Preceptor Shuangye's custom toxin in that single attack. How effective could the remaining twenty or thirty percent be against Zhu Erniang's true body? His heart pounded with uncertainty. But he could not let that worry show. With Captain Yu absent, he had no choice but to command everyone to attack again. Behind him, a teammate swiftly formed a hand seal and hurled a stone sphere toward Zhu Erniang. The sphere was smaller than a palm, glowing with a faint green light, but the moment it touched the ground, its size ballooned rapidly. Within a mere two breaths, it transformed into a stone python a hundred feet long, its girth as broad as a round dining table! This treasure was named "Kunlao," refined from the heart of an aged mountain range. It could take shape upon the ground according to its user's will, unleashing the power latent within the mountain's heart. Though massive, the stone python moved with great agility. Springing off the ground, it lunged directly at Zhu Erniang. The burrow spiders bristled with venomous barbs, yet the stone python feared nothing; Zhu Erniang's brood continued to surge forward like a tide, but they couldn't harm the giant python in the least. The spider dodged twice with a lightness belying its immense weight, then spewed a web at the serpent. The Burrow Spider Queen's web possessed astounding stickiness and resilience, which should have pinned the creature firmly to the ground, but the stone python rolled and sank directly into the earth, leaving the web behind on the surface. A few breaths later, the stone python breached the surface elsewhere, lunging once more for Zhu Erniang. As long as it coiled tightly around the target, the others could find a way to capture it. Just as Ye Qing was about to advance, two sprays of dark red silk shot silently down from the cliff above, sticking fast to the back of his neck and shoulders. He felt only a sudden cold stickiness behind him before his body was hoisted into the air. Disaster! He swung his blade behind him, stabbing it into the rock wall to anchor himself. Yet the creature possessed startling strength; with a fierce yank, Ye Qing's blade dragged across the stone face, throwing up a shower of sparks. As his body was flipped through the air, he looked up and caught sight of a massive body, a rounded abdomen, the vivid star map upon it, and eight long, spiny legs... A-another Zhu Erniang? Ye Qing's mind went completely blank. The spider demon gripping him moved with lethal agility and wielded monstrous strength—there was no way it was a molt. Had his previous deductions been wrong? Just how many Zhu Erniangs were there?! Then, the spider demon's silhouette expanded rapidly in his vision. "Captain Ye!" His teammates shouted in alarm, and two of them rushed to his rescue. With a loud rustle from the thickets behind a boulder, another dark shadow leaped out, flying like a stone from a slingshot. With a heavy thud, it knocked both men flying. The two came fast and were flung even faster; before they could cry out, they were hurled straight off the cliff. Under the dim light, the monster that had joined the fray revealed its true form: Broad-shouldered and powerfully built, it wore bronze-colored armor. Looking at its back, the Beijia operatives had thought it was a bronze-armored guardian summoned by their foe. But when it turned around, it proved to be a giant ape over ten feet tall, its tusks protruding, its face hideous as an evil spirit, and its blood-red eyes glowing faintly in the dark night. Like a human warrior, its vital areas were shielded by heavy plating, yet several hundred jin of armor did nothing to impede its movements. The moment the giant ape appeared, it charged straight for the stone python. Among the adversaries Zhu Erniang had faced, this stone python's attack power was not particularly formidable, but its stone shell was tough, and it was not made of flesh and blood; it feared neither spider venom, nor strong acid, nor spiderwebs. Tonight, Zhu Erniang had run into enemies immune to being bound by spider silk twice in a row. Tangled up by the stone python, it couldn't spare its claws to attack the Beijia operatives. The more Zhu Erniang fought, the more alarmed it grew. The northern demon kingdom had indeed thoroughly analyzed its habits; the weapons they deployed were not earth-shattering, yet every single one countered it directly. A demon kingdom indeed—their understanding of monsters was far deeper than that of humans. Having lived to its age, it understood full well that a magic artifact did not need to be overwhelmingly powerful; so long as it adhered to the principle of mutual creation and restraint, effectiveness was all that mattered. After all, in an environment like this, more powerful artifacts consumed more energy and could not sustain prolonged combat. Had it not accepted He Lingchuan's invitation to settle in the Yangshan Archipelago, its fate tonight would be grim indeed. Just then, the ghost ape struck from an angle, grabbing the stone python's massive head and casually gouging out its two glowing green eyes. "What's the use of gouging its eyes!" The little monkey was still too inexperienced. Zhu Erniang pounced forward and swept up the python's tail, lifting it completely off the ground so it could no longer escape, before instructing, "Dig out its core!" Rich in battle experience, Zhu Erniang had recognized at a glance that the stone python drew power from the earth, and isolating it from the ground was essential to dealing with it. Before its words faded, the giant python whipped around the ghost ape, coiling tightly and squeezing with all its might.