Chapter 1031

Seeing Chen Ang agree so readily, a smile finally appeared on Shi Ya's face. She hurriedly stood up and headed to the kitchen. Qing Mei, feeling embarrassed to just eat for free, stood up and followed to help.

The two women worked together and soon had lunch ready. Shi Ya raised a few "gugu" chickens in the courtyard, and they were already quite plump; using them to treat her life-saving benefactors was naturally the best choice.

The steaming hot meal was set before him, and the alluring aroma made Chen Ang's appetite stir. He picked up his chopsticks, eager to taste the dish.

He saw that the gugu chicken had been cooked with plenty of shiitake mushrooms, and the layer of greasy chicken fat had been skimmed off clean. The soup was rich and delicious; Chen Ang took only one sip before he couldn't help but praise it.

"What did you add to this? It's so fresh and sweet; I've truly never tasted this flavor anywhere else." Chen Ang asked curiously. His sincere expression made Shi Ya unable to bear not answering properly.

"It must be the shiitake mushrooms. I picked these fresh mushrooms myself. The mushrooms in this forest are fresh and taste better than those from other places, though there aren't many of them. If you like them, how about I take you to pick some next time? The flavor is quite excellent."

Shi Ya explained, though she didn't pick up her chopsticks. While helping Chen Ang serve rice, she began to speak about her real business.

"Actually, I don't live here alone. My boyfriend lives with me, but a few days ago, he was snatched away by a Nightmare Spider."

"Quite a few people here have been snatched away by that Nightmare Spider, so I would like to ask for your help to catch that creature. Didn't I see you break its leg earlier? I assume you should be able to deal with it, right?"

Chen Ang was indifferent. Chewing on the chicken, he asked, "So, you want me to go save people?"

"That's about it, but I don't know where that creature lives. Although it always appears in the forest, anyone who has ever reached its lair has basically been wrapped into a twist by its spider silk, so I'll have to trouble you to search the surrounding area."

"If that's the case, it really won't be easy. If we can't find it, can we stay here? Or are there other places to stay nearby?"

Chen Ang considered problems quite comprehensively. Although he hadn't truly thought about the possibility of not finding the creature's lair—after all, the opponent was so unguarded in this place that he figured he wouldn't need much effort to find its cave—there was always a "what if." If they were unlucky, this matter would be hard to say.

"Of course! I'm already thankful to heaven that you're willing to help. I happen to have a spare room here; I'll go tidy it up for you right now."

As Shi Ya spoke, she ran toward the room. Chen Ang didn't have time to stop her. Since she was so enthusiastic, he would let her be. For now, his most important task was to fill his stomach so he would have the strength to give that spider a good beating later.

Such monsters were rare. With so much spider silk, he thought he could use it to make a better backpack later; perhaps it would even have a larger capacity.

By the time Shi Ya finished tidying up, they had finished eating. After a simple afternoon nap, Chen Ang finally got up and followed Shi Ya to search the forest.

Worried about danger, Chen Ang didn't bring Qing Mei, letting her stay in the house to rest. And he didn't know until he looked—once he did, he discovered that the forest was full of traces of the Nightmare Spider.

"With so many traces, it would be hard not to find it. But it's injured now, so it's probably resting in its cave. If we just keep searching along this path, we should be able to find it."

Chen Ang reminded Shi Ya. She nodded nervously but showed no intention of backing down, continuing to move forward with Chen Ang.

The two moved forward, and the traces of the Nightmare Spider became increasingly obvious.

The Nightmare Spider was, after all, the hegemon of the forest, and it made no attempt to conceal its movements. It shouldn't be difficult for them to find the creature.

This Nightmare Spider didn't actually devour humans directly; its main food source was the nightmares of various animals. The more humans and animals it collected, the stronger its abilities became. However, this was all hearsay, as Chen Ang hadn't truly felt the opponent's strength during today's encounter.

He estimated that to kill the opponent, one punch of the Death Dragon Arm would suffice.

Chen Ang thought indifferently. Unexpectedly, just like that, the two arrived outside a hidden cave. They saw that the entrance was completely covered in spider silk, with many animal carcasses stuck to it, having been dead for who knows how long.

It was unlikely any animal would dare to barge into this death trap like they did. Chen Ang directly raised the Holy Light within his body, attempting to illuminate the cave with the radiance.

His behavior naturally left Shi Ya shocked.

"Are you of the Purification type? But you don't look like it. Your attack power earlier didn't look like a Knight's at all."

"When did these things become so strict? If you don't broaden your perspective, I'm afraid the road ahead will be quite difficult."

Chen Ang kindly reminded Shi Ya. Such words were quite harsh to Shi Ya's ears. After all, what was the use of being powerful?

Didn't she still need him to help repair the teleportation array?

Every profession has its specialty.

Thinking this, Shi Ya felt a bit better. Without further ado, she silently followed behind Chen Ang. Before long, they saw several human-shaped cocoons wrapped in spider silk.

Seeing these, Chen Ang naturally asked, "Should we let them out? But they are likely still in nightmares; I'm afraid even if we save them, we won't be able to wake them up."

"Of course we have to save them! Otherwise, how would I know if A-Bang is inside?"

Shi Ya's emotions became quite agitated. Thinking that her lover might finally return to her side, she was genuinely excited. But this spider silk couldn't be broken by her attacks alone.

She looked at Chen Ang with expectant eyes. Regarding this, Chen Ang had to sigh, directly revealing his Long Zhao and slashing fiercely at the silk. He did manage to break a few strands; after all, there were people wrapped inside, so he didn't dare use brute force. But his Long Zhao was already among the hardest objects in this world.

Even so, he couldn't deal with the spider silk easily, which was enough to show its toughness.

After much effort to tear open the spider silk, the person inside disappointed Shi Ya.

"It's not him. But I've seen this person before; he's a resident of the city. Let's put him in a safe place first. I assume that damn spider won't really do anything to him."

Chen Ang nodded, and the two continued to search. But after searching through dozens of people, they still hadn't found the figure of Shi Ya's boyfriend. Even Chen Ang couldn't help but feel a bit exhausted. As they continued forward, they heard the movements of the Nightmare Spider.

"Not good, that thing seems to have sensed us. There are spider webs everywhere here; I'm afraid it will find us soon." Chen Ang revealed his long spear, ready for battle.

Shi Ya, however, didn't know where to hide.

Once Chen Ang was prepared, the Nightmare Spider arrived beside them. It radiated an aura of rage and lunged directly at Chen Ang.

Seeing this, Chen Ang naturally wouldn't be lenient, raising his spear and thrusting it toward the creature's eyes.

With a "puchi" sound, the eyeball instantly burst, and thick smoke diffused from it, directly blocking the two's vision.

And it was easy to guess that this smoke likely contained gas that could induce nightmares; one careless breath and they would be hit.

Therefore, Chen Ang simply grabbed Shi Ya and sprinted toward the depths of the cave.

For some reason, the number of people imprisoned here was actually small.

"Wait, stop! That must be the cocoon!" Shi Ya suddenly shouted.

Although she was already dizzy and confused, she would never misidentify the accessory she had given Chen Ang.

It was a silver keychain, currently lying beside a cocoon. Since she said so, Chen Ang could only attempt to break open the cocoon while observing if the spider was chasing them.

It was said that these nightmares happened unconsciously. Having just inhaled that smoke, he didn't know if they had been hit; perhaps all of this was just their hallucination.

Chen Ang's mind wandered, but Shi Ya quickly discovered that the person here was indeed her good-for-nothing lover, and she threw herself directly at him.

It was at this moment that the Nightmare Spider quietly struck.

"Yo, trying to sneak attack? Then I think you should ask if I agree." Chen Ang sneered, rotating the long spear in his hand and attacking the spider again.

This time, the spider learned to be smart and retreated in a hurry.

Facing it head-on, Chen Ang discovered that the leg he had previously removed had now regrown. He figured that must be its weak point.

Facing such a thing, Chen Ang naturally wouldn't have any thoughts of cherishing the fair sex. His only thought was to quickly resolve this thing so he could go save the two guys who had fallen into a deep sleep nearby.

Using the Ripping Claw and Death Dragon Arm in turns, he made the spider retreat repeatedly. At this point, the opponent finally understood that it was no match for Chen Ang!

However, it was clearly too late!

Chen Ang leaped up, using the stone wall as a stepping stone. He flew onto the spider's back, raised his spear, and thrust it fiercely into its brain. Only then did the spider collapse completely.

"Done. Who would have thought this thing would be a bit troublesome to deal with." Chen Ang pulled out his spear and muttered.

After this period, he had become accustomed to fighting monsters like kneading tofu. Suddenly encountering one that required serious moves, he naturally felt it was troublesome; after all, this would wear down his weapon.

Putting away the spear, Chen Ang approached the two. He saw Shi Ya's brows tightly locked, wondering what unpleasant thing she was dreaming about. Chen Ang tried calling out to her, but it had no effect, so he could only carry them outside the cave first.

As for those trapped here, except for those who had been imprisoned for too long and had become corpses or white bones, he released everyone.

As for how to save them, he felt that wasn't a problem he needed to consider. As long as they were sent outside the city, their respective families should come to claim them.

Doing all this alone was naturally difficult. Fortunately, there was a cart near Shi Ya's house, so he simply stacked the people he had rescued onto the cart like Jenga and pushed them outside the city.

Seeing so many missing persons, the guards at the city gate widened their eyes.

"Are all these people rescued by you?"

"If not me, then you? Didn't you refuse to let me into the city? Then I'll leave these people to you."

After being rejected last time, Chen Ang had no intention of entering the city, and he was also afraid of being disturbed by the people inside. After all, he had done a big thing this time.

Hearing Chen Ang say this, the guard clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

Without paying further attention to these people, Chen Ang returned to Shi Ya's residence. The two were still sleeping soundly, clearly experiencing painful dreams.

"Do you have a way to break the Nightmare Spider's nightmare?" Qing Mei asked curiously, knowing that it wouldn't do for these two to keep dreaming.

Regarding this, Chen Ang could only lean closer to the two, then took out a bead he had dug out from the Nightmare Spider's body.

"It's said that holding this allows one to see their dreams. Perhaps I can bring them out of the dream."

As for those in the city, they could only pray for their own luck.

Thinking this, Chen Ang closed his eyes, and images immediately appeared in his mind.

He saw a group of women standing beside the man, and every one of those women was ugly to the point of being outrageous. The man wanted to escape, but his hands and feet were tied, and he could only struggle in pain.

"No, you didn't look like this before! It's not like I don't pay, and I'm a regular here; how can you fob me off with this kind of goods!"

Although the situation was tragic, for some reason, Chen Ang really wanted to laugh.