Chapter 326

"You little boy are interesting, and you speak well, so stay and keep me company to pass the time." After all, days in the swamp were monotonous, and having someone to talk to and relieve boredom wasn't bad. Zhu Xiuer crawled over a piece of broken wood as if it were flat ground, "As for you—"

She slowly approached, and the pressure was already on Dong Rui.

Seeing He Lingchuan's expression of watching a good show, he hurriedly leaned over and whispered: "Hey, find a way to save me!"

"Aren't you a Puppet Master specializing in treating demons?" He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, "There are so many monsters here, and you are helpless?"

Dong Rui cursed inwardly at the little brat for bringing up the one thing he shouldn't; did he want to use the demon's claws to kill him?

Zhu Xiuer's hearing was amazing; she had accurately captured the three words "Puppet Master," spread her eight claws, and her figure suddenly grew a size larger, even raising her tone by three or four degrees: "You are a Puppet Master? That Puppet Master who specializes in capturing monsters and transforming them into puppets?"

"He is talking nonsense, he is framing me!" Dong Rui said righteously, "I have never heard of such a title, and it is even more impossible for me to commit such an act that angers both gods and men!"

This old monster lived in a swamp where human footprints were rare; how could it be so well-informed as to have heard of his great name as a Puppet Master?

"You are not?"

"I am really not!" Dong Rui pointed at He Lingchuan's nose and cursed, "We two have a grudge, and this bastard wishes I were dead."

"What a pity." Zhu Xiuer sighed long, "Then you are useless. Children, eat him."

"?!"

He Lingchuan almost laughed until he fell over: "I have been saving you all along, you know?"

The small spiders on the side had long been eager to try.

There were only a few dozen things to eat in this swamp—frogs, mice, snakes, turtles, cicadas, and fish; occasionally, there were wild boars and rabbits to satisfy their cravings, but there were too many spiders and the prey was too small, not enough to go around.

Humans were the best to eat, tender and springy; one taste and they could remember it for years.

Seeing the spider swarm surging like a mountain and sea, Dong Rui was dumbfounded and immediately changed his tune: "I am, I am! I am the Puppet Master Dong Rui, willing to serve Zhu Xiuer as a dog or horse!"

Zhu Xiuer raised her front claws to wipe her watery large eyes, and the spider swarm stopped; the two in front were only half an arm's length away from Dong Rui.

He Lingchuan stood by with his arms crossed, asking the question in all the spiders' hearts: "Didn't you just deny it vehemently?"

This kid was taking revenge on him! Dong Rui held back his anger: "I thought you wanted to harm me; the demon race has always been hunting me down, and even sent me several wanted posters."

A hero doesn't suffer immediate losses; he then turned to Zhu Xiuer: "If you have any instructions, I will certainly do my best."

He would absolutely not say he would give his all.

Zhu Xiuer slowly stepped forward two more steps: "I heard that the puppets you create can resist Yuan power?"

Once these words were out, the two understood.

It turned out this was what Zhu Xiuer was thinking about day and night.

Indeed, for a wandering demon living in deep mountains and great marshes like her, there wasn't one who didn't want to find a way to resist Yuan power.

If one could contend with Yuan power, why fear human armies?

He Lingchuan was even clearer about Zhu Xiuer's glorious past. How much unwillingness was accumulated in the heart of such an ancient demon immortal who lived until now but could only reside in a place where human footprints were rare? Dong Rui's value was thus reflected.

With his life hanging on a single answer, Dong Rui decisively said: "That's right, monsters transformed by me can achieve that!"

He looked at Zhu Xiuer's sturdy and round figure, and his eyes lit up: "The better the base material and the more resilient the vitality of the monster, the easier it is to succeed."

To be able to transform such a powerful monster? It was truly the peak of his career; just thinking about it made his heart race!

"If you can survive it, that is." He Lingchuan poured cold water on the side, "Zhu Xiuer doesn't know, this guy made over thirty experimental subjects and only succeeded in four; the failure rate is as high as ninety percent."

"Oh?" Zhu Xiuer's voice became cold again, "Do you want to kill me?"

Only mentioning success without talking about probability was either cheating for one's life or cheating for money.

Dong Rui glared at He Lingchuan; this guy was truly heartless. Earlier, when the two were talking in the jellyfish, it was so sincere! As soon as they got ashore, he didn't recognize him anymore! "Zhu Xiuer is overthinking it; we can test repeatedly until it is foolproof before using it on you!" He said cautiously, "After all, your advantages are unparalleled and not possessed by other monsters, just like so many of these..."

Offspring? Consumables?

The surrounding spider swarm was eyeing them covetously; who knew how many could understand human speech? He didn't have the courage to continue.

Zhu Xiuer didn't think much and waved her front claws. This was her territory; she could go back on her word at any time, so there was nothing to struggle with.

The leader made a decision, and the spider swarm had to disperse sullenly.

Well, no chance to improve their diet today.

Zhu Xiuer pointed her front claw at Dong Rui: "Didn't you want to experiment? Go now."

This one was also impatient, Dong Rui smiled bitterly: "It can't be that fast; it requires testing, blending, and observation, at least two months..."

"Hmm?" Zhu Xiuer's front claw landed lightly on the ground, poking a hole over three feet deep.

"... If you cooperate with me here, perhaps it can be shortened to about forty days."

"What do you need?"

"A clean house to use as a laboratory. I will list you a sheet, and have the herbs prepared according to the requirements; for the first batch, bring seven spider demons, with their strength ranging from weak to strong." Dong Rui entered professional mode, "By the way, get me something to eat; it must have meat, fish, and shrimp, preferably fish roe, as that nourishes the brain. Hmm, and there must be sweet berries."

People are iron, food is steel; if you don't eat, you can't work hard.

Zhu Xiuer stared at him steadily for a good while before asking a colorful large spider on the side: "Did you write it all down?"

"I wrote it down."

"Go do it." The children, although loyal, were born a bit silly, not as agile as humans, sigh.

The crisis was temporarily lifted, and Dong Rui felt his bladder couldn't take it anymore, so he hurriedly found a deep patch of grass to relieve himself.

He was halfway through watering the flowers when someone came over whistling, stood in a row with him, and watered the flowers together.

Could there be any other "person"?

Dong Rui said coldly: "You little dog, stealing a chicken only to lose the rice. Just wait obediently, I will make you wish you were dead!"

Just with the medicine on his body, he could kill this little brat a hundred times over.

He Lingchuan reminded him: "You just swore an oath earlier that you wouldn't make a move against me before leaving the swamp."

Dong Rui chuckled: "I don't even have to do it myself; I just need to tell Zhu Xiuer that the experiment requires human heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys, and I can sit and watch you get dissected alive."

He Lingchuan looked back; good heavens, three spiders were trailing behind them, keeping watch. Being stared at by thirty-six eyes at the same time showed how much Zhu Xiuer didn't trust them.

"So you're sitting back and relaxing?" He Lingchuan laughed, "If you fail, how will you escape alone?"

"..." Dong Rui was speechless, "What, are you expecting me to rely on you?"

"At least now we have to think as one, right?" He Lingchuan sighed, "Zhu Xiuer is a rare ancient demon; her mind is not simple. Do you think you can easily escape from her hands?"

"What did you say?" Dong Rui looked shocked, almost shaking onto himself, "There are still ancient monsters now?"

He calmed down in a blink: "Just hearsay. You didn't really inherit a family letter from your ancestor, did you? Ancient wonders passed down to this day have long been distorted."

"You think I'm just saying it?" He Lingchuan looked serious, "I really recognize it, and I know very well why it could survive and not disappear along with the immortals."

"Surviving from ancient times until now, surviving from ancient times until now!" Dong Rui repeated it to himself several times, a fanatical light in his eyes, unable to stop himself from rubbing his hands.

He Lingchuan secretly thought it was bad; don't hook this guy's interest, making him live in the swamp from now on, single-mindedly guarding Zhu Xiuer.

Then he himself would be in danger.

He only heard Dong Rui talking to himself: "Maybe this is what I need, maybe the missing part..." He said a few words that He Lingchuan couldn't hear clearly, "... is right here! This is truly a glimmer of hope in the darkness, a glimmer of hope!"

He raised his fist impulsively, and He Lingchuan hurriedly dodged, fearing he would splash onto himself.

Hey, so dirty.

"Don't go against me again, and I will spare your life!" Dong Rui said to He Lingchuan sternly, "After we get out, we can show our own abilities again; here, we must cooperate fully, let's all swear a blood oath!"

"Fine!" He Lingchuan had always been pragmatic; how could he care about his tone, and he was the first to take his father's life to swear a sincere blood oath.

Seeing that there were no empty words in his oath, Dong Rui also swore one.

Trapped in the enemy's nest, the two humans had to form an alliance.

The two looked at each other and smiled, each feeling disdain for the other.

After finding clear water to wash their hands, the two asked the spider swarm for food.

This was the cave spiders' territory; how could there be a reason for guests to hunt for themselves?

He Lingchuan then discovered that the cave spiders were truly a hardworking and simple demon race; it was one thing that they opened a ranch in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest to raise aphids as dairy cows, but now living in the swamp, they even knew how to weave large webs to raise fish.

Their spider webs were impervious to water and fire, with amazing toughness; occupying a stretch of open water was enough to engage in net-cage aquaculture, and they specifically chose three or four types of herbivorous fish with delicious meat to raise.

Moreover, the spider demons had to dispatch guards to take turns watching the fish ponds, so as to prevent birds from coming to steal fish.

Birds die for food; unlucky water birds often became the spiders' meal because of this.

He Lingchuan also saw patches of reed marshes in the swamp, bowing their heads in the wind, elegant and otherworldly; even if it wasn't autumn, it was still very beautiful.

Then he learned that this was also planted by the cave spiders. Reed sprouts were edible, and what they couldn't finish could be used to feed the fish.

Adapting to local conditions; these cave spiders truly had their farming talents maxed out.

The spider guards swayed into the fish pond, and before long, caught a few large fish, as well as some crabs and shellfish.

There was actually a large black fish here, over a meter long, full of life; who knew how long it had been stealing fat crucian carp in the net cage.

He Lingchuan looked at it, missing the boiled seasonings of his own large restaurant immensely. To make boiled fish fillets, wasn't black fish the best ingredient?

Unfortunately, conditions in the swamp were simple, and he and Dong Rui could only roast everything over a fire.

The only thing to be glad about was that his storage ring was never short of salt, cumin, and chili powder.

The fish fragrance overflowed; He Lingchuan grabbed a piece of fish and silently turned his back to Dong Rui.

Facing that face, he really couldn't eat.

(End of Chapter)