Chapter 1252: [Giant Spider] (Part 2)

The giant spider's silk spat out dragged him down, Lu Qingyuan cried out as he fell onto the spider, he was only five feet from Hu Xiaotian, and due to the impact of his fall, their bodies bobbed up and down on the spider.

Lu Qingyuan was terrified for no reason; compared to Hu Xiaotian, who didn't know where this spider came from, he was even more afraid, for this spider was a venomous creature his master Bei Ze Lao Guai had kept for many years; he wasn't even sure how old the spider was, but by the time he entered the sect, it already existed; when he first saw it, it was only the size of a human face, and over the years it has continually grown, now its body diameter alone is about five feet, its long legs are horrifying, and the reason it could grow so huge is entirely due to having consumed countless poisonous substances over the years.

At first glance the spider is black, but upon close observation one would discover its body bears colorful dark patterns; for now it seems not to be attacking the two people's **, merely lying still at the far end of the spider.

Hu Xiaotian saw Lu Qingyuan's harming others ultimately harming himself, he couldn't help feeling somewhat pleased, he opened his mouth in a silent smile.

Lu Qingyuan naturally knew what he was laughing at; his mood now was a mix of regret.

Hu Xiaotian sent a mental transmission: 'I am an ugly hunchback; I doubt it's interested in me, you have delicate tender flesh, it seems you are exactly to its taste.'

Lu Qingyuan dared not speak, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down from tension; he struggled desperately, but the spider silk's stickiness was enormous, and moreover their bodies hung in midair with nothing to push against. Lu Qingyuan could only move his left hand; Hu Xiaotian fared worse—his hands and feet were bound by the silk, unable to move at all.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Don't move; if you move again, you'll attract it.' As soon as his words fell, the spider indeed moved one of its claws.

Lu Qingyuan was frightened and immediately stopped moving.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'We're now like grasshoppers tied to the same rope; let's set aside our grudges and first escape, then talk—how about we shake hands and make peace?' His gaze fell on Lu Qingyuan's left hand.

Lu Qingyuan's face was full of suspicion; he secretly thought this fellow might be up to something. He did not extend his hand, trembling as he said: 'What... idea do you have?' If he could escape alive, he would rather not bother Hu Xiaotian again.

What ideas could Hu Xiaotian have? He whispered: 'You should know its temperament; do you know any weaknesses it has?'

Lu Qingyuan shook his head and said: 'Its shell is harder than metal, its strength is endless; its venom is unparalleled, it basically has no weaknesses.'

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed that this fellow's words were all nonsense, yet he also felt secretly alarmed; just then the spider began to slowly approach Lu Qingyuan, who was frightened out of his wits. He never expected to be favored by this hunchback, and the spider also seemed to disdain his ugly appearance. Evidently it had taken a liking to himself.

Seeing the spider draw nearer, Lu Qingyuan panicked and struggled desperately toward Hu Xiaotian's position; seeing Hu Xiaotian's right hand within reach, he lunged and grabbed it, intending to drag Hu Xiaotian over and throw him at the spider to use as a human shield—but he never expected that the instant he seized Hu Xiaotian's palm, he felt a powerful suction emanating from Hu Xiaotian's palm, and his internal energy began to flow continuously into Hu Xiaotian.

Lu Qingyuan's heart pounded with alarm. Only now did he realize he had fallen into Hu Xiaotian's trap; Hu Xiaotian had just taken the initiative to show friendliness and even proposed shaking hands and making peace, but in fact he wanted to lure Lu Qingyuan's sole movable hand close to himself, so that he could use the void ** to draw out this fellow's internal energy; although Hu Xiaotian didn't know whether gaining this bit of internal energy would help him break free, in the present situation any extra strength meant a greater chance of escape.

Lu Qingyuan, being shrewd and cautious, had not initially fallen for Hu Xiaotian's scheme, but seeing the spider approach him, in his panic he tried to drag Hu Xiaotian behind him as a shield—only to find this played right into Hu Xiaotian's hands. His internal energy surged like a breached river, and his body was pulled toward Hu Xiaotian by the powerful suction.

Although the spider silk was extremely sticky, it deformed due to the change in their positions.

Seeing Lu Qingyuan suddenly pulled toward him by Hu Xiaotian, the giant spider thought someone was trying to contest its prey, and it suddenly sped up, raising its two long legs and viciously stabbing them into Lu Qingyuan's chest and abdomen. Poor Lu Qingyuan, though versed in martial arts, could not move his hands or feet, and his internal energy continued to be drained by Hu Xiaotian; his body swiftly grew weak and powerless, and as he watched those two legs, sharp as swords, thrust toward him with no way to dodge, they pierced his chest, and the spider's two fangs sank viciously into Lu Qingyuan's neck. Hu Xiaotian, witnessing this gruesome sight, was also shocked—now it was Lu Qingyuan's turn, and next would be himself.

At this moment, as the giant spider drew near, all the weight concentrated on their position, causing the spider to undergo severe deformation, sinking deeply downward centered on them; yet the spider silk remained tough, and even deformed it would not break. Hu Xiaotian noticed the Wind-Slaying Blade not far from his left hand; he strained to stretch out his fingers, his middle finger barely touching the blade's hilt.

The spider's fangs severed Lu Qingyuan's neck; by this time it had already wrapped Lu Qingyuan's body completely in silk, forming a huge bright-white cocoon. Having finished its work, it began to slowly move toward Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian's whole body was drenched in cold sweat; he had hoped that after absorbing Lu Qingyuan's internal energy he could break free of the spider, but the added internal energy was still insufficient to let him escape.

The spider moved at a very slow pace, as if this ugly hunchback failed to stir its appetite; Hu Xiaotian's fingers, though touching the hilt, were still a hair's breadth away from gripping it, while he watched the spider slowly raise its foreclaw; Hu Xiaotian's Dantian Qi Sea had formed a void-like abyss, as if it could contain a hundred rivers, and the palm of his left hand finally burst forth with a strong suction; the Wind-Slaying Blade stuck to the spider trembled violently, and as the distance closed, Hu Xiaotian's hand finally managed to seize the hilt.

In the flash of lightning and fire, his internal energy shifted from intake to outflow, and his inner breath poured continuously into the blade; the Wind-Slaying Blade, infused with internal energy, seemed to suddenly gain vitality, the scale patterns on its blade flashing like a dragon trapped within, struggling to break free.

The giant spider had already raised its foreclaw to its highest point, intending to repeat its former tactic and pierce this hunchback with a pigeon-chested, hunchbacked, pot-bellied ugly fellow using its blade‑sharp foreclaw.

Hu Xiaotian gritted his teeth, his internal energy surged into the long blade, transforming into a biting blade aura; although the Wind-Slaying Blade's sharp edge could not cut the spider silk, the tough silk proved fragile before the frigid blade aura, which easily severed the silk. Hu Xiaotian's heart leapt with joy; he exerted himself to swing the long blade, tearing a large hole in the spider, and his body fell downward through the ruptured opening. The giant spider evidently had not anticipated this change; before it could launch its final attack, it saw the prey's body plummet straight down through the hole.

Hu Xiaotian's body had not completely freed itself from the spider silk; his legs remained entangled, and after falling through the torn opening he ended up upside‑down, head below feet.

The giant spider spat out a long thread, intending to bind Hu Xiaotian's neck; Hu Xiaotian raised the Wind-Slaying Blade and swung with all his might, finally succeeding in cutting the silk beneath his feet, and his body continued to fall downward. At this moment he realized a horrifying problem: he did not know how deep this pit was, and falling headfirst like this would likely smash him to pieces.

Hu Xiaotian's worry did not last long; after having fallen just two zhang, the spider shot out another strand of silk, which stuck to both of his feet.

Hu Xiaotian hung upside down in midair; he lowered his gaze and saw that the distance from his head to the cave floor was still about five zhang, which would have been a relief, but looking upward he saw the giant spider already descending rapidly along the silk.

Hu Xiaotian roared: 'You wretched creature, you dare to bully me!' Gripping the Wind-Slaying Blade with both hands, he bent his body forward and swung a fierce blow at the spider; the strike carried great momentum, and now that his hands had regained freedom he ought to have exerted even greater force, but the actual swing failed to achieve the expected effect—this time he did not even manage to project his blade aura outward.

The spider had already drawn near, raising a pair of long legs like cleavers and thrusting them forward, where they clashed with the Wind-Slaying Blade with a resounding 'Dang!' Hu Xiaotian could scarcely believe his eyes: his all‑out strike, plus the Wind-Slaying Blade's edge that could cut iron like mud, actually failed to sever the spider's two claws, sending sparks flying. Nevertheless, despite not cutting the claws, Hu Xiaotian's heavy blow also slammed the spider loose from its silk; the giant spider's millstone‑sized body was knocked airborne, but immediately it shot out a strand of silk that attached to the cavern wall, its body sticking to the silk and spinning like a screw, thereby dissipating the force of Hu Xiaotian's heavy strike.

Hu Xiaotian stared at the monster, his scalp tingling; 'Holy shit!' Bei Ze Lao Guai actually kept such a monster in this cavern—impervious to blades and spears.

After enduring Hu Xiaotian's heavy blow, the spider evidently realized his prowess; this time it did not rush to approach him, but continuously spat out silk, targeting not Hu Xiaotian himself but forming a crisscrossing web beneath him.

Hu Xiaotian gazed at the giant spider, silently reminding himself to stay calm; the reason he had escaped the binding at the brink of death earlier was solely due to the external release of blade aura, and now only an intangible blade aura could cut the silk and free him. Unfortunately, his success rate in projecting blade aura was extremely low.

The giant spider blocked Hu Xiaotian's rear, not hurrying to approach him, and exhaled a pale‑green mist.

Hu Xiaotian deduced that the mist must be highly toxic; the spider must have been frightened by his earlier strike, so it dared not launch a close‑range assault. Hu Xiaotian held his breath, forced himself to dismiss distracting thoughts, and focused all his mind on the blade in his hand. The inner breath of his Dantian Qi Sea continually expanded; after amassing abundant, vigorous energy, he channeled it into his arm—this time he would land a decisive strike.

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