Pillar of Yita

In the canyon forest, towering white spires were piling up, which were actually cocoons clustered by spiders, with the lower layers densely covered by cobwebs across the forest floor like a layer of cotton. These creatures hidden in the shadows were extremely sensitive to vibrations, and once the group moved among them, the ground immediately erupted with swarms of gray bugs of all sizes scurrying out from under the webs, forming a spectacular scene.

Some of them, in their panic, even climbed onto the group’s boots, causing the ladies to scream and fling these harmless little things away in fright.

Of course.

Mainly Elisa and Gita.

Even Fang Hong couldn’t help but get goosebumps watching this scene.

However, this wasn’t the most troubling; the most headache-inducing was that bugs of various sizes would occasionally fall from the tree canopy above, suddenly landing on shoulders, hair, or even inside collars.

Although everyone had applied a layer of repellent before setting out, preventing the spiders that accidentally fell into collars from burrowing inside or biting unexpectedly.

But still, that furry feeling was truly unforgettable.

Only Miss Tata remained indifferent, calmly watching a large abdomed spider fall on Fang Hong’s shoulder, not far from her, struggling for a while but eventually rolling off.

Meanwhile, Nini curiously grabbed the back leg of a white-browed spider, rendering it helpless no matter how much it struggled—

”Nini, let it go.”

Fang Hong said helplessly.

He wasn’t concerned about the little creature’s freedom but rather worried as Nini was sitting by his collar, and the thing was about to be tossed inside by her.

Only then did Nini obediently let go, allowing the poor spider to roll down in a panic and hastily flee to the ground.

The Little Dragon Soul raised its little face, seeking praise in a childish voice: ”Papa, Nini listened.”

”Yes,” Fang Hong sighed, ”Don’t provoke them.”

He and Hilveld were guarding Gita on either side, with Luo Hao holding a shield above Gita’s head to prevent Miss Natural Historian from hitting a breaking point.

In fact, she was already too scared to walk.

Luckily, in the team, the newly joined Luo Hao, Hilveld, and Xiangzi were indifferent to these spiders. Luo Hao ignored them, Miss Ship’s Officer looked used to it—being the daughter of the Great Explorer, what scenes hadn’t she seen?

As for Xiangzi, he was picking up two fist-sized Tube Nest Spiders from the ground, carefully comparing which one was bigger to keep as a magic pet.

Until Elisa couldn’t bear it and issued an ultimatum, only then did he reluctantly let the two spiders go.

However, after the nerves of people are stretched to the limit, they gradually become numb.

Initially, when they first ventured deep into the canyon forest, even Fang Hong felt uncomfortable. But after walking for a while, although occasionally startled by a spider descending on silk from above, more often than not, he began to ignore the spiders landing on his shoulder.

After all, these little things posed no threat to them—

Of course, the bigger guys here were a different story.

About twenty minutes after progressing, Fang Hong stopped.

For he saw strands of web as thick as yarn starting to appear between the fallen tree trunks on both sides—webs that ordinary spiders absolutely couldn’t weave, clearly revealing the identity of their owner—the Panier Cunning Spider.

Panier Cunning Spiders only web around their nest margins, indicating the group has at least entered the domain range of a spider colony.

After stopping, he first released the Clockwork Fairy.

Though it was merely a reconnaissance mission, he prudently released as many as seven, as whether the Clockwork Fairies would get stuck on webs in this area was sometimes entirely a matter of probability. In fact, he had lost a third of the Clockwork Fairies on his prior attempts.

But not long after releasing the Clockwork Fairies, Fang Hong was taken aback:

Because when he had the Clockwork Fairy delve into the nest, the first thing he saw wasn’t the Panier Cunning Spider.

It was a group of people.

To be precise, these were familiar faces. Perhaps due to the sparsely populated wilderness, far from civilization where even adventurers were difficult to encounter, the opponents had not deliberately hidden their identity, allowing Fang Hong to immediately recognize them—it was the Dragonfire Guild.

He remembered the guild robes of this guild deeply, making a mistake unlikely.

Moreover, given the Stargate Port was openly pursuing them at the moment, it was unlikely anyone would deliberately disguise as members of this guild, right?

What further confirmed his suspicion was that not long after, he spotted the ’long-separated’ Big Sister among them.

However, she seemed to alertly cast a magical barrier, causing the Clockwork Fairy to be detected right after entering. A magic guide conductor, looking back in this direction, fortunately, Fang Hong withdrew quickly, preventing his Clockwork Fairy from being discovered.

Noticing the anomaly, Big Sister immediately asked: ”What’s wrong?”

”Nothing.” The magic guide conductor shook his head.

”Are there giant spiders behind?”

”Probably not.”

”Be careful,” Big Sister then said, ”It should be hiding in this area; it is very cunning, so be cautious not to let it cut off our retreat.”

Only then did the magic guide conductor nod.

Listening to this conversation from afar, Fang Hong’s suspicion grew, pondering what these guys were doing here instead of chasing after Nikopolas. Or were they referring to ’it,’ the Dragon’s Witch who fled all the way here from Fanric?

But why would the Dragon Witch mingle with these spiders?

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