Chapter 340

Thinking of this, He He Lingchuan couldn't help but sigh; it seems Lady Mitian's relationship with other deities is truly not very good.

Back to the Demon Nest Swamp, did this gluttonous monster finally grab the treasure?

He He Lingchuan did not know. However, since the Moon God was very likely Panlong City's Lady Mitian, what the gluttonous monster obtained was at least not the Great Fang Hu.

If it got the treasure, how did it handle it? He He Lingchuan remembered the various anomalies in the Demon Nest, as well as the small grave in the "atrium."

Just then, human voices seemed to come from afar.

He He Lingchuan was startled; this was the deep part of the Demon Nest Swamp, the territory of great demons. Yet he indeed heard human voices again, as well as the snorting of horses and the creaking sound of wheels rolling over stones on the ground.

Afterward, He He Lingchuan saw swarms of spiders crawling over from the water's edge, walking on their eight legs toward the source of the sound.

There was nothing to wait for, so he followed closely behind.

At this time, the flood of the Hanhe River had long since drained, and the water level in the swamp was slowly dropping, with large areas of land appearing, though it was muddy and difficult to walk on.

At this moment, a human caravan was dragging their belongings toward the ruins of the Jiana tribe, which was also the largest open space in Zhu Yao Erniang's territory.

Two spiders were leading the way in front, while the rest circled around the team as if watching the fun, but they would not come forward to hurt or eat anyone.

This caravan consisted of more than forty large carts, and there were actually thirty or forty sheep following behind, but the number of people was small, only about thirty. As soon as He He Lingchuan saw the deep ruts, he knew the cargo was heavy; sometimes when the wheels got stuck in the mud and couldn't be pulled out, there were spider guards circling to the back to help push the carts.

How attentive. Clearly, this team was able to pass through the Demon Nest Swamp not only because the Mirage Demon let them pass, but also because they had obtained Zhu Yao Erniang's permission.

He He Lingchuan noticed that the tops of the first and last carts had thick spider webs, and the patterns woven were also relatively special, looking like tangled balls of yarn. He couldn't understand what they meant, but in the eyes of the spiders, they were perhaps the password for passage.

The ruins of the Jiana tribe were very close to the Demon Nest. When the team arrived, Zhu Yao Erniang also moved out of the Demon Nest, slowly walking down the slope to the front of the team:

"What is going on, why did you change people?"

Two people came up to meet it; one was a strong man in his thirties, wearing the best fabric in the whole team, probably the leader.

The other was over fifty, with a face full of dust, looking like an experienced old steward.

The steward stepped forward and bowed: "Spider Queen, my master is seriously ill this year and cannot come in person, so this trip is handled by his nephew, Tu Tu Zhongli."

He was a frequent visitor who followed the caravan in and out of the Demon Nest Swamp, having been here more than seven or eight times, so Zhu Yao Erniang could recognize him at a glance.

A familiar face is a living signboard.

But Steward Zhao still held up a small flag: "This is the token you bestowed; please take a look!"

The flag surface was shimmering with light; it was the cloud brocade that Zhu Yao Erniang was good at, so it could naturally recognize it at a glance.

Tu Tu Zhongli was all smiles and bowed deeply: "Spider Queen, please forgive us; my uncle has an abdominal tumor and cannot get out of bed, let alone travel over mountains and through water, so I had to come to pay my respects to you!"

Having said that, he waved his hand toward the back.

The others hurriedly pulled away the oilcloth on the first five carts, revealing rows of black jars underneath. Each jar was half a person tall, with a narrow mouth sealed with red cloth.

"These are all good wines brewed from the Xiyao Mountain spring, and the quality is even better than the last batch."

Zhu Yao Erniang walked to the first large cart. It didn't need to smash the mud seal; it just stuck its mouthparts directly into a large jar and sipped for a good while.

This action gave Tu Tu Zhongli a big fright; he hadn't expected Zhu Yao Erniang to... without even saying hello.

Fortunately.

"Hmm, not bad." This wine was passable.

It waved its claws, and a group of large spiders ran over, carrying the wine jars on their backs and moving them into the Demon Nest. If they were afraid the wine jars weren't stable, they just sprayed a few puffs of spider silk, which was guaranteed to be stickier than any glue.

Zhu Yao Erniang loved to drink, and there was a special wine cellar in the Demon Nest.

It walked two steps and suddenly asked: "Why is there the smell of human blood on the carts and on you?"

Everyone was startled. Tu Tu Zhongli laughed: "You wouldn't know, but it's not peaceful outside the swamp right now. We encountered a gang of robbers before we came in, and we barely managed to fight them off! Otherwise, this trip would have been for nothing."

Afterward, the things on the other dozens of carts were also uncovered. Besides some miscellaneous goods, what attracted He He Lingchuan's attention most were countless coarse cloth bags.

He had transported grain before; this kind of bag had poor sealing and couldn't even hold grain. But here, thirty large carts were loaded with coarse cloth bags, each of which could hold at least two people, and now they were all bulging, filled with things.

What was inside? Fortunately, Zhu Yao Erniang soon solved his confusion.

This giant spider demon swiped casually, and the bag under its claw broke, revealing the inside—

"Yellow soil?"

What was inside the coarse cloth bags was actually the most common yellow soil? There were chunks, loose pieces, and a little bit of grass roots mixed in, but it looked exactly like dried yellow mud.

Zhu Yao Erniang even stirred it with its claw and even tasted a little bit: "This batch has a bit too many impurities."

"You know, salty clay is like this." Kicked by Tu Tu Zhongli's heel, the steward hurriedly said, "It's no different from what was sent before; it was all dug from the same area. The quality fluctuates, probably because it has rained too much recently."

"That is your business." Zhu Yao Erniang said bluntly, "Quality down, price down."

The steward opened his mouth to argue, but Tu Tu Zhongli interrupted him: "It's okay, it's okay, this time it's our fault; we'll go by your price. We'll give you the dozens of sheep in the back as compensation."

Zhu Yao Erniang gave a hum, waved its claws again, and its subordinates swarmed up, emptying the carts and taking the sheep away.

They were tired of eating the prey in the swamp, so they finally had a chance to taste some fat little sheep for a change.

Zhu Yao Erniang said coldly: "Same as before, you will stay at the Jiana tribe ruins tonight and don't wander around. Otherwise—"

The steward nodded repeatedly: "We understand, the jungle is not safe, we understand!"

He He Lingchuan tugged at the spider guard beside him and asked: "What is this salty clay used for?"

If it was used to grow fungus mats, it seemed a bit too little.

"This is one of the baits for the aphid cattle." The spider guard said in a muffled voice. This human had been walking around the camp for more than half a month and often chatted with them, so it answered subconsciously. Besides, it didn't know how to lie yet. "Only after eating salty clay will they lay eggs."

He He Lingchuan gave a long "Oh."

He had heard that birds and beasts would gnaw on certain soils to supplement nutrition, but he didn't expect the aphids here to need it too. It could be seen that the cave spiders were truly experts in animal husbandry, even managing the prenatal and postnatal care of the aphid cattle clearly.

Now he probably understood why the moist jungle environment here seemed more suitable for cave spiders, yet Zhu Yao Erniang's offspring were not as numerous as in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest.

The output of salty clay was probably one of the important factors.

The Panlong Wasteland had abundant output, so there were many aphid cattle to support, and the spiders had plenty of food.

The Demon Nest Swamp probably produced very little salty clay, so the cave spiders had to rely on purchasing it from the outside, which limited their population.

It was already dark. According to custom, the human caravan would stay in the swamp for one night and leave with their goods tomorrow morning.

He He Lingchuan, a living human, was mixed in with the spider group, truly deserving the name "He standing in the spider group." These travelers only needed to sweep their eyes over to see him.

Therefore, after the team disbanded on the spot, Tu Tu Zhongli walked over, his eyes full of doubt: "Brother, how should I address you?"

"He."

"How did you end up in the cave spider's nest?" Tu Tu Zhongli asked the steward on the side. "Steward Zhao, didn't you say that the Demon Nest Swamp is off-limits to the living?"

"Uh, logically speaking, that is the case." Steward Zhao said carefully, "However..."

"The Hanhe River flooded, and I was washed in. During this time, the cave spiders have too much food, so they didn't eat me. But I can't get out either." He He Lingchuan sized up Tu Tu Zhongli. "Brother Tu, what is your main business?"

"Me?" Tu Tu Zhongli laughed. "I just do some trading with my uncle."

"I thought... this physique is sturdy, almost catching up to mine; it looks like one punch could kill a cow."

He had practiced martial arts for many years to have such a vigorous spirit; what about this guy? He looked at Tu Tu Zhongli's posture; he was at least a martial artist with the aura of a bandit—

Since the encounter in Immortal Spirit Village, He He Lingchuan had become exceptionally sensitive to the aura of fierce bandits.

Tu Tu Zhongli smiled. "Everyone says so. What do you do?"

"Mercenary, I do work for money." He He Lingchuan asked, "I heard the Demon Nest Swamp is surrounded by mirage fog; how can you come and go freely?"

Tu Tu Zhongli gestured toward Steward Zhao, who immediately said: "My master saved a few cave spiders in the market a few years ago; they were all very large, and the hunters said they were caught in traps set outside the Demon Nest Swamp, wanting to kill them to sell their materials. My master heard that these giant spiders could speak, so he couldn't bear to see them killed and bought them to release them."

"A few days later, the Spider Queen sent giant spiders to find us, saying it wanted to do business with my master." Steward Zhao swallowed. "It originally sent giant spiders into the swamp to look for a kind of salty clay. If we could supply it long-term, it could guarantee our freedom to enter and exit the swamp—of course, only for my family; outsiders entering here are just looking for death."

"So that's it; one good turn deserves another." He He Lingchuan nodded, knowing in his heart that this Steward Zhao had omitted many details. For example, why Tu Tu Zhongli's uncle had specifically brought the giant spiders to be released outside the Demon Nest Swamp, and why the Spider Queen could find them so easily.

It could be seen that when this old guy saved the giant spiders, he had already smelled a huge business opportunity, which was not necessarily purely "couldn't bear to see them killed."

At this time, the caravan picked up dead branches and fallen leaves and began to set up a fire to cook.

Following Zhu Yao Erniang's order, the spiders very generously sent over large fish raised in the swamp.

(End of chapter)