Chapter 951: The Hidden Reef

But with the massive stone ceiling above, He Lingchuan realized he was still inside a mountain cave. It was just that the cave entrance opened into the sea, forming a calm water area similar to a "sea pool." Sunlight shone down through a high, slanted erosion hole above, illuminating a school of fish in the water. This place was not easy to descend to from the mountaintop, unless one performed a high dive from that erosion hole.

There were quite a few Cave Spiders here, busy stacking rocks one by one into the sea and then binding them with spider silk.

"What are they doing?" He Lingchuan saw a natural barrier reef extending into the seawater; the Cave Spiders seemed to be extending it further.

"Building a fish trap." Zhu Danniang didn't speak, but Zhu Erniang's voice came from behind. "After the tide recedes, fish and shrimp will be left inside."

He Lingchuan turned his head and saw Zhu Erniang's dark, massive form emerging from behind a solid rock: "Leaving two spider webs at the mouth of the trap saves us from having to go into the sea to catch fish ourselves."

He Lingchuan gave a thumbs up: "Brilliant! Have you lived by the sea before and caught sea fish?"

In the Demon Nest Swamp, Cave Spiders could only cast nets into the lake and wait for fish, but the seaside had tides. Once the tide receded, the fish were automatically blocked by the nets, saving time and effort.

Moreover, the size of the spider web mesh could be adjusted; if the fish were too small, the Cave Spiders were too lazy to catch them.

"Of course." They were thousands-of-years-old demon monsters; what kind of places hadn't they stayed in?

Each ferocious giant spider was as big as a wooden house. With two standing together, twenty-four eyes staring at someone, anyone would feel immense pressure in front of them.

Only He Lingchuan was an exception.

He found a relatively flat rock, brushed off the sand, and sat down:

"How has Erniang been these past few days?"

"Quite good, quite busy." Zhu Erniang had been busy building a new home and had no time to stop.

New terrain, new caves—they needed to be adapted to local conditions and designed entirely anew.

Zhu Danniang had offered a few suggestions beforehand, but Zhu Erniang had her own ideas and didn't adopt any of them, which angered Zhu Danniang so much that she stopped helping and went out to play by herself.

Although both sisters were called "Cave Spiders," Zhu Danniang's requirements for a living space were clearly not as high as her younger sister's.

Forget it, anyway, Erniang would leave a good room for her; she would just be a hands-off manager.

"Being busy is good." He Lingchuan sighed, taking four or five jars of aged wine out of his storage ring, each sealed with red silk. "This is the best wine from Blade Harbor, a housewarming gift for you both."

He remembered that Zhu Erniang loved drinking the most; back in the Demon Nest Swamp, she would trade with human merchant caravans for wine.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten Zhu Danniang's share.

The two giant spiders each hugged a large jar, and without even opening the seals, they poked their mouthparts directly into the sealing mud and began to suck.

This action was chilling; after all, they did the same when eating prey. He Lingchuan could hear gurgling sounds from the bottom of the jars—the sound of the wine rapidly reaching the bottom.

Zhu Danniang was more refined, but Zhu Erniang finished two jars of fine wine in the blink of an eye before tossing the jars aside: "The taste is just so-so."

"A large plum forest and wild cherries were recently discovered on Dragon Spine Island; perhaps next year we can brew our own wine." After the pleasantries, He Lingchuan got to the point. "Danniang said you had an important matter to discuss with me after I came to the island?"

Zhu Erniang gave a hum: "When I settled in the eastern part of the Mou Nation, Beijia found me; I moved once, but only had peace for a little over a month."

Zhu Danniang couldn't help but say: "The island is hidden; if you move here, can they still find you?"

This time, He Lingchuan and Zhu Erniang spoke in unison: "Yes!"

Zhu Danniang and the Soul-Seizing Mirror: "..."

The Soul-Seizing Mirror immediately shouted in He Lingchuan's arms: "Hey, hey, what should we do now!"

After the Great Havoc in the Heavenly Palace, they had hidden and dodged, even going so far as to cross the ocean to this unfamiliar place—wasn't it all to avoid Beijia? They had only just arrived at the Yangshan Archipelago, and Zhu Erniang had already been exposed. What to do! Would it attract a fatal disaster? "Your sisters' settlement on Pan Si Island is indeed hidden; it's isolated from the world, in the vast sea. But even if you can hide for a while, in the future, as the products of the Spider Cave are sold continuously, there's no guarantee Beijia won't notice." He Lingchuan analyzed truthfully, "The Yangshan Archipelago and Blade Harbor will both be bustling ports, with cargo ships coming and going. Zhu Erniang's fluorescent spores and aphid sugar are unique skills; you won't find many others like them in the whole world."

Zhu Erniang: "Correct, that is exactly it."

"If someone with intent wants to find you, they can still follow the vine to find the melon." He was also saying this to the Soul-Seizing Mirror, "Don't underestimate Beijia."

Once the business started, the subsequent impact would be beyond his control.

That was what he said, but Zhu Danniang still saw him looking calm and composed: "Aren't you worried?"

"What's the use of worrying? Should I stop working just because I'm afraid Beijia will show up? The Yangshan Archipelago needs to develop, and it must utilize Erniang's products; we cannot give up eating for fear of choking." He asked Zhu Erniang, "When you previously settled in the eastern part of the Mou Nation, how did Beijia find you?"

The eastern part of the Mou Nation was far from Beijia; the latter's reach was long enough.

"I first lived in the Lingdong Grand Canyon in the eastern part of the Mou Nation, but I didn't get along well with the local demon monsters. I wanted to be closer to the trade routes, but even the most desolate places have owners. So..." Zhu Erniang said, "We fought a few times."

Her fungal mats were exceptionally rich in production, and it was best to trade with humans to exchange for the fine wine, medicinal herbs, and various cultivation supplies she needed.

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose; the blessed land was occupied by those with virtue, and it didn't matter who came first or last—this seemed very reasonable to demon monsters.

"Did the Mou Nation not care?"

"They cared, saying I hadn't obtained official permission." Zhu Erniang said gloomily, "While we were arguing about this, several of my offspring suddenly went missing."

After all, in the wilderness, it wasn't strange for little spiders to go missing for various reasons. However, "losing several every day, this matter was suspicious. Later, I used the 'All-Seeing' method and discovered that those who kidnapped my offspring were a team of people; the exact number was unknown, but there were both humans and demon monsters."

"All-Seeing" was the Cave Spider Queen's innate divine ability, which was to share vision and hearing with her offspring. Both Danniang and Erniang had limitedly shared this divine ability with He Lingchuan, which was why he could use the eyeball spiders.

"After they caught my offspring, someone even asked, 'These things don't talk, can we be sure they are Cave Spiders from the Demon Nest Swamp?'"

Spider demons in the wild were not uncommon, but those who could say the name "Demon Nest Swamp" mostly knew Zhu Erniang's origins.

"A white bird said it had seen me crawl onto the ground, and there was a star map on my abdomen, so it should be correct."

"These guys wanted to execute my offspring on the spot! Through the mouths of my offspring, I asked them what kind of sacred beings they were." Zhu Erniang's tone was cold, "Their leader said, 'Any target wanted by Beijia cannot escape even if they flee to the ends of the earth. If Beijia wants to find someone, they will definitely be able to find them!'"

"I asked them what they wanted, and these people told me to come out and meet them, and then they killed several of my offspring."

Zhu Danniang interrupted: "Did you go?"

"No."

"... There were only a few of them." Her younger sister had a spider army under her command; what was there to be afraid of?

Zhu Erniang retorted: "They dared to stand at the edge of my territory and clamor; do you think they came without preparation, just sticking their necks out?"

Zhu Danniang was displeased: "Then we still can't let them go!"

"I didn't pay attention to them at the time, but I placed spider scouts around to monitor them." Zhu Erniang ignored her sister and only said to He Lingchuan, "These guys have some skills; several times they cleared out my scouts."

"I didn't go either; they stayed until it was almost dark and then left. After this incident, they disappeared for several days, and I didn't take it too much to heart." So what if they were people from Beijia? This place was a hundred and eight thousand miles away from Beijia; the army couldn't cross over. Besides, half the canyon was Zhu Erniang's territory; anyone who dared to walk into the spider nest would be devoured by ten thousand spiders and sucked dry like jelly.

So Zhu Erniang wasn't too worried at the time.

Zhu Danniang asked curiously: "Then why did you move?"

"I have business dealings with humans, you know that." Zhu Erniang said, "Later, when I was trading with a merchant caravan, poisonous smoke suddenly emerged from the supplies I had just moved into the cave. In a fit of rage, I killed them all!"

He Lingchuan gave a hum; this indeed fit Erniang's style of doing things.

"I traded four more times afterward, and three times there were slip-ups, so I had to pause." Zhu Erniang was also quite depressed herself, "It spread in the human world that I was randomly eating people in the Lingdong Canyon, and the Mou Nation officials immediately sent people to question me."

"I said Beijia's rivals had followed me, but they didn't care and just told me to move away as soon as possible." The Mou Nation officials already had opinions about her seizing territory and occupying the canyon, and seeing her kill people, they had to take action.

"I was too lazy to argue with them, so I simply moved to Butterfly Valley, hundreds of miles away."

A strong dragon doesn't suppress the local snake.

Officials were officials; if she offended the officials, she couldn't stay. This was a lesson she had learned from the Panlong Wasteland over a hundred years ago.

"As a result, I only had peace for a little over a month before these Beijia people found me again and have been waiting for opportunities to hunt my offspring." Zhu Erniang sounded very annoyed, "I had the Mirage Demon release fog, but it couldn't stop them. Among them, someone was probably an official of the Mou Nation and could see through the mirage fog with their primordial power!"

"I sent out spider guards to clear out the enemies, but these guys laid down very vicious formations and traps, causing the spider guards to suffer heavy losses..." Zhu Erniang's voice was filled with anger, "However, in several skirmishes, I also eliminated many of their men, but their leader is no less alert than you—"

This "you" referred to He Lingchuan.

When she first fought He Lingchuan, this guy was slipperier than a loach; she couldn't catch him at all!

He Lingchuan grinned at her, tilted his head, and made a spiral upward gesture with his left hand near his ear, indicating he was "very honored."

"—They have many formations and magic treasures; twice I trapped them, but they both managed to escape with their subordinates." Zhu Erniang threw out a few copper talismans, which clattered and bounced on the reef, "One time they used this."

He Lingchuan picked up a golden copper talisman and examined the delicate and exquisite patterns on it: "Small Mountain-Moving Formation? Whoa, wealthy and imposing."

These were the copper talismans that made up the Small Mountain-Moving Formation; the craftsmanship was extremely complex, and they were of great value themselves.

(End of chapter)