Chapter 201: The Suicide Bomber

"Ten days? Why should I wait another ten days?" Zhu Erniang laughed. "Dragging your thousand-plus people and hundreds of livestock to be fertilizer will mean my children have something to eat this winter!"

"Zhu Erniang, think twice." General Nanke said sternly. "Even if I suffer a defeat in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest today, Panlongcheng will come to seek justice later. If you don't think for yourself, you must think for your hundreds of thousands of descendants. Aren't you afraid they will be wiped out, root and branch?"

"Lowly commoners like ants, you dare to be presumptuous in front of me? I was here before there was a Panlongcheng; when Panlongcheng is gone, I will still be here!" Zhu Erniang said coldly. "Doesn't your Panlongcheng rely on General Hong for support? General Hong, heh! I actually know what kind of thing it is! You bunch of fools recognize a thief as a mother without knowing it; sooner or later, you will be squeezed dry of your last drop of blood marrow! Begone!"

She roared the last word, making everyone's hearts jump. Immediately after, the ground rumbled, and something roared from the other side of the mountain.

General Nanke turned back in shock, only to see a water dragon roaring from the mountain stream, with white waves two or three zhang high.

A flood!

The army was stationed in the middle of the river valley; nine out of ten wouldn't be able to escape.

This old spider monster pretended to answer General Nanke on the surface, while secretly casting spells to draw water.

In his anxiety, General Nanke glanced at Zhu Erniang on the small hill, turned his head to whisper a few words to the sparrow hawk on his shoulder, and handed over a small bundle.

Since Zhu Erniang appeared, he had an idea.

The sparrow hawk grabbed the bundle and flapped its wings to fly up.

Then the water dragon arrived, rushing toward the soldiers; the raging fire wall was scattered with one slap! The Yuan power on the Panlongcheng soldiers had the effect of reducing and offsetting demonic arts acting directly on themselves. But the flood summoned by the spider monster was a genuine river disaster; how could human bodies withstand it?

There were no pursuers behind, so He Lingchuan and the others slowed their horses and breathed a sigh of relief.

Those spiders could originally chase people for eight streets, but now they only chased for less than three hundred zhang before returning, clearly their primary task was to guard the nest and they didn't dare to be too far from it.

Convinced of this, the group turned their horses and climbed toward the top of the slope along the forest. This could save detours and save time.

Standing at the top of the slope and looking down, the cave entrance was like a bloody mouth, always waiting for fools who didn't open their eyes to jump in.

He Lingchuan noticed that the brocade covering the exit was still bulging and fluttering, clearly there was wind from bottom to top. The group also heard the woo-woo sound of the wind, blowing their hair.

How could there be wind underground? Unless there was another exit.

Liutiao used some means to avoid the perception of the spider guards, and this detour was safe. The group was about to mount their horses and continue galloping, but they didn't expect something to fly from the northeast and circle the cave entrance several times.

As an archer, Liutiao's eyesight was up to par, not to mention the fluorescent lighting. She stared for two eyes and said: "It's a sparrow hawk."

This creature flew as fast as an arrow during the day and could be called a small bird killer, but its night vision was mediocre. Now it wasn't dawn yet, and it was circling above the cave entrance; it didn't look right at all.

Sun Jiayuan suddenly said: "It's still holding something in its claws!"

The sparrow hawk circled twice, as if it had finished reconnaissance, and then suddenly climbed more than a hundred zhang, then dived straight down! This was like an arrow leaving the string, so fast it left a residual image in mid-air.

It didn't touch the ground before flying away obliquely, but the thing in its claws was accurately thrown toward the cave entrance.

A large piece of brocade shook violently, shimmering.

Now, everyone could see that this sparrow hawk was here to find trouble with the spider nest.

Then, a cluster of brilliant fireworks exploded at the cave entrance.

The group held their breath and waited.

After a while, the mountain wind blew away the smoke and dust, and He Lingchuan let out a low "Eh."

That brocade, which could dance lightly with the wind and seemed like it could be poked through with one finger, was actually intact! This thing was actually explosion-proof?

The sparrow hawk was also a bit confused and flew down to check the situation.

The surrounding spider guards had gathered, angrily spraying spider silk at it, interfering with its actions.

The sparrow hawk turned and flew away, and everyone felt a bit disappointed; this was a lot of thunder but little rain.

Fortunately, it soon returned and circled again, as if looking for an angle.

This time, Liutiao finally saw clearly: "It's holding a signal arrow in its claws!"

Everyone's faces were solemn.

How could an ordinary sparrow hawk use human things? And civilians didn't necessarily have this thing.

The sparrow hawk adjusted the angle and threw it again.

This time, the signal arrow still couldn't pierce the brocade and enter the cave.

The sparrow hawk let out a frustrated cry.

It flew a few more circles in the air, as if thinking of a way, but immediately flew toward them.

The group looked at each other—was this discovered?

Sure enough, the sparrow hawk flew to the branch above Liu Tong and landed, speaking in human language: "Panlongcheng patrol guards?"

Liu Tong remained cautious: "Who are you?"

"I am General Hong's messenger." The sparrow hawk replied. "The spider monster leader Zhu Erniang triggered a flood in the river valley, drowning our army! The war situation is unfavorable to us, so General Nanke specifically ordered me to blow up the King's Nest to resolve the crisis at the front line."

It had reconnoitered the terrain earlier and discovered the location of Zhu Erniang's nest. After all, the spores here would glow, which was too eye-catching from the sky. Clearly, this monster was bold and skilled, believing that no natural enemy dared to come and harass it.

Sun Jiayuan immediately said: "A few months ago, I followed General Hong on an expedition, and I seem to have seen this sparrow hawk."

"But the satin-like spider web is too flexible, and the signal arrow I threw cannot penetrate it." The sparrow hawk flapped its wings. "The front line is in an emergency; you must help me!"

Although it was fast, its volume was too small. Wasn't it like a moth throwing itself into a net when it pounced on that brocade, no matter how beautiful it was, it was essentially a giant spider web!

"How to help?" Liu Tong said uncertainly. "Should we try shooting arrows too?"

He saw clearly that the signal arrow was stuck on the web before it could explode.

"If you fly a few circles in the sky and look at a few more angles, you will find that this is not one spider web, but at least thirteen or fourteen layers stacked on top of each other. If forced open, there should be gaps between every two layers. Otherwise, how could the spider queen, being so fat and big, come in and out freely without tearing the web eyes?"

So that was it. Looking at the spider web again, everyone had to admire Zhu Erniang's weaving skills; thirteen or fourteen layers of spider silk stacked together were only as light and thin as one layer.

"If we pass through the spider web and then throw the signal arrow, it has fire bombs attached, maybe it can ignite the nest, just like what the Baling people did." He Lingchuan whispered. "Looking at the brocade, the spider queen cares about this cave entrance; perhaps it will stop the battle and rush back."

Then General Nanke's siege would be resolved.

Although their army was bait, they really didn't want to be swallowed by spiders or Baling people.

But wanting to drill into layers of spider webs was not the sparrow hawk's specialty. In this specialization, those with wings were not as flexible as those with hands.

No wonder it had to ask the group for help. The patrol guards looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

Who would go?

Could they come back if they went? Who knew what the nest covered by brocade as beautiful as sunset looked like? What if it didn't burn?

Liu Tong glanced at the thin man. Among the team, he was the most agile and the best candidate to enter the pit.

But the thin man kept his mouth shut, not saying a word.

With the main force fighting hard and the front line losing, their team happened to be near the spider queen's nest, so they had to complete the mission no matter what. Liu Tong sighed secretly and was about to speak when suddenly someone said: "I'll go!"

Everyone turned their heads to look; it was actually Sun Jiayuan standing in the back row.

His companion pressed his shoulder and said tightly: "Hey!"

Among their team, Sun Jiayuan was not the one with the highest cultivation, nor the one with the best agility.

Sun Jiayuan asked Liu Tong: "If I die here, can I be reported as a martyr?"

Liu Tong nodded: "Of course, this is a great achievement." If successful, it could be said that one person saved the entire army.

For soldiers who died or were disabled, Panlongcheng had always provided heavy compensation; if a soldier was posthumously named a martyr, their family would enjoy very high treatment and benefits in Panlongcheng, not only with guaranteed food and clothing, but starting with a set of tin houses, free schooling for children, and consolation subsidies during festivals.

In short, there was basically no need to worry about the aftermath.

The thin man, who had too many family members, was an exception.

Sun Jiayuan's face was solemn: "Good, please bear witness for me!"

Since someone volunteered, Liu Tong also breathed a sigh of relief, first arranging for the merchants to go to a relatively safe open space in the rear, and then the group discussed the combat plan.

All nine members of He Lingchuan's main team were alive, and counting the seven comrades rescued from the spider mouths earlier, there were a total of sixteen people who could fight.

And there were seven or eight hundred spiders near the nest, including more than twenty large spider monsters.

Everyone had to cover Sun Jiayuan, who was entering the pit, so that he could successfully complete the mission of blowing up the giant nest.

Undoubtedly, in the world of giant webs, spiders must be more flexible than humans. So even if the group could repel the spiders' attack, Sun Jiayuan had to find a way to walk on the spider web.

Earlier, everyone had seen with their own eyes a fox bat fly down onto the brocade, and just by the tip of its wing lightly touching the spider web, it was stuck fast and could never escape.

This web was 99% woven by the spider queen Zhu Erniang herself, and its power could not be underestimated. She dared to leave the nest and travel far, clearly also very confident in this web.

If Sun Jiayuan didn't think of a way to move freely, then this action would be throwing himself into the net rather than throwing a bomb.

"The best way to prevent sticking is to apply oil." He Lingchuan stroked his chin and said. "Who among you has oil on you?"

"I only have a small bottle of fire oil." Liutiao said with a straight face. "Not good, he still has to throw the signal arrow, what if he accidentally lights himself..."

That would be a human sacrifice.

"Then mud should work too." He Lingchuan pointed to the west. "There was a large patch of mud where we climbed ashore just now. Brother Sun, how about you go there and roll around? Try to be as muddy as possible, the thicker the better."

This inspiration came from the wild boar they caught. It was rolling on the river beach at that time, covered in silt. Although it was the pig's nature, could you say this wasn't the survival wisdom of living in the spider queen's territory?

Everyone thought about it and felt it made sense.

Sun Jiayuan turned and walked back, and the patrol guards also mounted their horses, not a single one left behind.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 202 =====