Chapter 948

There were mountains and lakes on it, shaded by green trees, and its main landscape consisted of many porous caves, while flat land was rare. Although the scenery was beautiful, it was not very suitable for human production and labor. Zhu Erniang focused on inspecting several rift valleys. To humans, those were rugged and barren places, with nothing but hard rock and sea wind, and ordinary people would fall to their deaths if they were not careful. But Zhu Erniang gave a solid "not bad" evaluation.

These underground holes were interconnected, dark, and damp, but better ventilated than the demon nest, making them very suitable for the breeding of fungal mats and aphid cattle.

There was fresh water on the island, as well as the clay needed by the burrowing spiders.

The more complex and varied the terrain, the larger the activity range of the burrowing spiders. Humans would only see Silk-Spinning Island as a flat plane, but for the spider colony naturally skilled at climbing, this was a three-dimensional kingdom with several layers up and down! This was much larger than Zhu Erniang's territory in the demon nest swamp, and better than the canyon in the eastern part of the Mou Kingdom, and the entire island was enjoyed exclusively by the two sisters.

They quickly selected a valley at the southern end of the island, which was obscured by dense jungle; one wouldn't even discover the deep pit here without walking inside. To the north, there was a freshwater stream, and to the south, there was a backwater bay about two zhang deep, where the seawater became calm upon entering, making it easy to gather fish nests, which was suitable for the burrowing spiders' fishing operations.

The spider demon sisters quickly inspected the area, wandering back and forth in various cracks and holes, and finally said in unison:

"This is the place."

Zhu Xiuer was a straightforward person, and she was even more happily saying to Zhu Erniang: "Sister, we have a home."

This place looked like it would be suitable for long-term living, and from now on, it wouldn't matter who wanted to drive them away.

Zhu Erniang pointed to the largest crack: "Go in!"

The spider molts lined up and went in. Walking inside, it was a huge water-eroded karst cave, which could easily accommodate even the largest fairy molt.

"This place is indeed very good." Zhu Erniang did not hesitate to express its satisfaction, "What other requirements do you have?"

It could communicate with Zhu Xiuer in real-time and had already heard about the situation in the Yangshan Archipelago from its sister. Of course, this kid wouldn't insist on giving it an island for no reason; the two sides had already agreed on some conditions.

Finally, they got to the point. He knew that there was no need to beat around the bush with a pragmatic great demon like Zhu Erniang.

He Lingchuan said solemnly: "In addition to the exclusive agency for spider demon products we agreed upon beforehand, there is another urgent matter at hand that I must ask Erniang to help with."

"Hmm, go ahead." Zhu Erniang was a tenant now, so of course, it had to be a bit more polite to its landlord.

So He Lingchuan briefly explained the shortage of manpower during the palm harvesting season, and then said: "This autumn's harvest is of vital importance; please help me, Erniang!"

"Can do." Zhu Erniang agreed very readily: "Like the other agreements, pay in profound crystals."

Demons living in the wilderness had no use for silver; it had already agreed with He Lingchuan beforehand that the output of the spider nest would be sold by him, but the final settlement would be in profound crystals.

In the past, when it traded with humans in the demon nest swamp, it was barter; but here, it only wanted profound crystals.

He Lingchuan was overjoyed: "As expected of Erniang, straightforward!"

This was equivalent to the burrowing spiders being employed by him.

Everyone else found it strange; what way could this big spider have to solve the problem of manpower shortage?

But just as this thought emerged, everyone heard a rustling sound coming from inside the crack, like wind blowing through fallen leaves.

However, where would there be fallen leaves inside a karst cave?

Afterward, dense swarms of burrowing spiders emerged from the crack.

The largest were like galloping horses, and the smallest were not even the size of a human palm.

The scene was like an overflowing fountain, and even the color of the rock itself was covered by the black and white spotted spiders.

A fountain made of spiders! Facing such a formation, except for Dong Rui and He Lingchuan, everyone else couldn't help but take two steps back, feeling a chill in their hearts.

So many burrowing spiders!

It turned out that Young Master He hadn't recruited just two, but a whole big nest, thousands upon thousands! There was also a faint white mist drifting out from the crack, which didn't dissipate in the wind and became thicker and thicker.

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui knew at a glance that the Mirage Demon had also come!

It had left the demon nest swamp with Zhu Erniang and ended up following it here.

The two looked at each other and said nothing.

The fewer people who knew the secret of the Mirage Demon, the better.

These spiders were arrogant, bypassing the crowd to continue moving forward; some went to cut branches and leaves, some sprayed spider silk, and others picked up the debris in the crack and threw it away.

As soon as they landed, the cleaning work of the new nest began immediately, which could be called clear division of labor and seamless cooperation, not even a bit worse than worker ants.

Seeing this, everyone realized and probably guessed what they could do. Sure enough, He Lingchuan rubbed his hands and said: "Then the palm harvesting on the four islands, including Dragon Spine Island, will be left to Erniang."

These six islands were all former no-man's-lands covered by baleful energy, and the hired workers refused to go up no matter what.

Dong Rui shouted shamelessly in his heart; they had only developed fourteen islands in total, and this guy let the burrowing spiders be responsible for nearly thirty percent, especially since Dragon Spine Island was huge.

He Lingchuan understood his expression and rolled his eyes.

What was the big deal? The exclusive product agency agreement he signed with Zhu Erniang was actually a consignment agreement, meaning he only gave money—no, paid profound crystals—after he sold the products for Zhu Erniang.

This saved him from occupying funds and accumulating inventory in his own hands.

Then, they entered the cave, isolating the sunlight.

Every zhang, there was a glowing fluorescent spore above, making the originally dark underground nest clearly visible.

Spider webs were wrapped everywhere.

He Lingchuan had seen this set many times in the demon nest swamp and didn't feel strange at all.

The residence chosen by this pair of sisters was a water-eroded cave, with big caves inside small caves; after walking through one, there was another, and it connected to a sea-eroded cave toward the shore. According to Zhu Xiuer, the expansion project here had just begun; they wanted to expand and widen until the entire underground nest was accessible in all directions, allowing both giant spiders to move freely.

Calling it a residence, He Lingchuan scratched his head; this was an underground fortress/maze! In terms of sturdiness, it didn't seem to be much different from the former demon nest swamp. Ordinary people would be dizzy after two or three turns upon entering. He didn't know how these burrowing spiders recognized the way.

"So where is Erniang?"

"In the bay."

Zhu Xiuer led Island Master He through many twists and turns, even making him dizzy, before he discovered that the sky was bright in front of him; it turned out he had crawled out of a sea-eroded cave, and one more step would lead him into the seawater as clear as glass—

The cool breeze blowing on his face carried the salty smell of seawater, and they arrived directly at the bay.

(End of chapter)

He Lingchuan turned around and said to the crowd with high spirits: "Let's go back too!"

Two days later, Min Tianxi, the former leader of the Erdao pirates and now the captain of the Erdao team, asked to see He Lingchuan, saying there was good news.

1 qing = 100 mu, 400 qing = 26 square kilometers.

I see that most people have no concept of the number 26 square kilometers; for example: the Forbidden City is said to have 9000+ rooms and an area of 720,000 square meters, which is 0.72 square kilometers.

The flat size of Silk-Spinning Island is about 36 Forbidden Cities.

(End of chapter)