After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 347: Chapter 346: Erniang’s Fury

To guard her home, Second Madam Zhu had sealed the cave entrance with a spider web when she left the Underground Palace to fight the two demons. It was three layers thick, so dense that not even her own offspring could squeeze through without getting stuck.

But by the light filtering in from outside, Hee Lingchuan could see figures moving beyond the web.

Tuu Zhongli and his men had come carrying wide wooden planks taken from a large cart. They now shoved the planks upright into the spider web one by one, letting them stick. People could then pass between the planks; it was a tight squeeze, but it kept them from touching the web.

To keep their hands and feet from getting stuck, they did as Old Sixth had and threw sand onto the web until the pure white strands were turned a dusty yellow. After testing it with their blades, they finally ventured in.

By his calculation, Old Sixth and the others had been inside for too long; he didn’t know what trouble they might have run into. This was, after all, a notorious Demon Nest, so Tuu Zhongli had no choice but to go in and provide backup.

But just as four or five of the bandits squeezed inside, they came face-to-face with Hee Lingchuan and Dong Rui.

”Hey!” Hee Lingchuan waved at them. ”What took you so long?”

”What’s going on?” Tuu Zhongli’s gaze darted about uncertainly. ”Where’s Old Sixth? What are you doing here?”

”Waiting for you, of course.” Hee Lingchuan shrugged. ”Old Sixth is lonely in the wine cellar. He’s waiting for you to keep him company.”

The moment he heard the words ”wine cellar,” Tuu Zhongli knew his secret was out. With a fierce snarl of ”Kill them!” he was the first to charge, raising his blade to strike.

Before Hee Lingchuan could even move, the Red Spider on his shoulder leaped into action. Tuu Zhongli reacted quickly. Seeing a red shadow lunge at his face, he dodged instinctively. As a result, the bandit standing behind him had it land on his face. He let out a short, sharp cry, then collapsed and began to convulse.

There was a Mage in Tuu Zhongli’s crew who, without a second thought, spat out a mouthful of True Flame.

His skill was considerable. The flame shot out over three feet long, its blue color indicating potent firepower. An ordinary spider roasted by such a flame would have been burned to a crisp.

But what kind of creature was the Red Spider? The Spider Silk it spat was impervious to both fire and water. To it, this mortal flame was no more than a warm sauna.

It didn’t dodge or evade, simply jumping at his face once more. This Mage, however, was at least equipped with two Amulets, which activated in succession and repelled the small Red Spider.

Dong Rui produced a Golden Bell from somewhere and began to shake it, sending out a clear ringing. The Mage instantly felt dizzy and disoriented. He was halfway through a hand seal for a Technique when he froze, allowing the Red Spider to bite him on the lip. He couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

Meanwhile, Tuu Zhongli had engaged Hee Lingchuan in close combat, cursing as they fought. ”I made you a generous offer to join me, so why are you trying to harm me instead!”

’Because you have no chance of winning, my friend,’ Hee Lingchuan thought to himself.

He discovered the bandit leader’s combat prowess was impressive. His style was methodical, his ruthless attacks delivered with a clean efficiency. He seemed like someone who had served in the military.

The military trained in the art of killing, which valued speed, precision, and ruthlessness over flashy, elaborate moves.

Tuu Zhongli, however, was finding the fight bitter. This opponent who had appeared out of nowhere had a bizarre style of Swordsmanship, each slash seeming to weave an invisible net of Qi Force that threatened to trap him. His opponent was clearly stronger than him. If he stayed any longer, he’d be a sitting duck.

Just then, several Spider Guards appeared at the end of the tunnel, all of them burly and thick-waisted!

Tuu Zhongli lost all will to fight. Feinting with his axe, he threw a handful of something that was not quite sand and not quite mist, then turned and fled.

Hee Lingchuan gave chase at once. But not even the Red Spider on his shoulder noticed him secretly tossing a small object into a corner of the tunnel, right into a recess just behind the Underground Palace’s exit.

The spiders in the Underground Palace didn’t notice either. After the Golden Bell rang, a Spider Guard emerged from Dong Rui’s workshop and headed down the path toward the Demon Nest’s exit.

They were all spiders, and this particular Spider Guard was of a higher rank, so no one tried to stop it.

The bandits outside heard the commotion in the cave and didn’t dare advance any further. Tuu Zhongli scrambled out of the cave. He heard the screams of his men behind him but didn’t dare look back, leading his remaining followers to climb the tree roots and escape the Celestial Pit.

At this point, the Civilized King and Lord Boshan were still locked in a desperate struggle with Second Madam Zhu, but they were already showing signs of defeat. The Civilized King, the least subtle of the two, saw the bandits fleeing and anxiously demanded, ”What happened?”

Hadn’t they paid such a heavy price, even going so far as to turn against Second Madam Zhu, the overlord of the swamp, all for a specific outcome?

The bandits didn’t answer, simply focusing on climbing the vines.

Hee Lingchuan and the Red Spider were in hot pursuit, and the bandits at the rear fell one by one.

Dong Rui stopped once he was out of the Celestial Pit. As a Demon Puppet Master, he lacked Hee Lingchuan’s speed and strength, so he took the chance to slack off and slip away to a spot halfway up the slope.

As he walked, he shook the Golden Bell a few more times. The sound pierced through the web of the Underground Palace, reaching the ears of the Spider Guard Demon Puppet.

It reached the entrance of the Underground Palace and stopped.

Back on the battlefield, Lord Boshan hadn’t gotten the answer he wanted. Fearing the bandits had succeeded only to be chased down, he decisively abandoned his fight with Second Madam Zhu and turned to pursue Hee Lingchuan and the bandits instead.

The Civilized King was left to face Second Madam Zhu alone and found himself under immense pressure. He held out earnestly for a while, but the spider venom began to take effect. His head swam, and he felt as if Second Madam Zhu’s eyes had multiplied into seventeen or eighteen.

Knowing he would die if this kept up, the Civilized King finally howled, turned, and fled.

His followers quickly scrambled to keep up.

After the chaotic battle, six or seven members of the wild boar clan lay dead on the field. Their losses were not insignificant.

Second Madam Zhu thought for a moment, then gave up on the Civilized King and went after Lord Boshan instead. ’That damned snake is full of wicked schemes; he’s the bigger threat. I’ll let the stupid pig live for now and deal with him later.’

Meanwhile, after chasing the others to the ruins of the Jiana Clan People, Hee Lingchuan changed direction and slipped into a seashell-shaped house.

The Red Spider urged him, ”Keep chasing! Why did you stop?”

Hee Lingchuan ignored it and pressed himself against a wall.

Barely two or three breaths later, a behemoth charged past the house, kicking up fallen leaves from the ground with a WHOOSH.

Hee Lingchuan peeked out the window, just in time to see Lord Boshan retreating into the distance.

He was moving at least sixty miles per hour.

’I don’t have any deep-seated grudge against these Great Demons of the swamp. Why would I chase them relentlessly?’

Of course, if he wasn’t going to chase, someone else would.

A few breaths later, Second Madam Zhu’s massive form arrived. Just as she was about to cross the ruins in pursuit of Lord Boshan, a Spider Demon suddenly emerged from the entrance to the Underground Palace, hissing urgently.

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t hear its voice, but Second Madam Zhu’s colossal body screeched to a halt. Her eight legs pivoted, and her head swung around to the window of the seashell house. Her voice was filled with the simmering fury of a gathering storm.

”Who stole my Relic Shell!”

Her rage made her body seem to swell in size, and her eyeballs bulged even more.

’Huh? The little spiders in the Underground Palace discovered the stolen Relic Shell already?’ Hee Lingchuan looked directly into her suddenly crimson eyes, showing only confusion, not fear. ”I put your Relic Shell back in its place. Didn’t you see it with your own eyes?” He pointed to the Red Spider on his shoulder.

The Red Spider was a small Clone of Second Madam Zhu, and they shared a field of vision. So, of course, Second Madam Zhu had also seen everything Hee Lingchuan did in the display room.

”One of the Relic Shells is missing!”

Hee Lingchuan feigned even greater surprise. ”We’ve been together the whole time, so it definitely wasn’t me who stole it. Besides, your Relic Shells are huge. Who could possibly move one of those!”

Each Relic Shell was a size larger than the current Second Madam Zhu. Besides her, no one knew how such a large object could be moved through the narrow passages of the Underground Palace. Most Storage Rings in existence today had small capacities, with rare exceptions being negligible. Even the Immortal Ring in Hee Lingchuan’s possession couldn’t possibly fit an entire Relic Shell.

’No, wait, there was one other person who knew—’

Hee Lingchuan feigned a sudden realization. ”Of course! Could it be that Lord Boshan sent a Snake Demon to sneak in a second time? Think about it, he didn’t say a word and just took off like a shot.” ’Unlike the Civilized King, who was honest and simple-minded enough to ask if they’d succeeded.’

Second Madam Zhu’s claws dug violently into the ground.

Lord Boshan!

She had seen with her own eyes that the Snake Skin Bag could hold a Relic Shell. If Lord Boshan could make one, who was to say he couldn’t make a second!

’He used the bandits as bait to distract the spiders, while secretly sending a smaller snake inside to steal it, didn’t he?’

What a brilliant plan to lure the spiders from their mountain! Second Madam Zhu let out a long shriek and strode off in pursuit of Lord Boshan.

She moved as fast as lightning. Hee Lingchuan saw red spots, bright as fresh blood, appear on the Giant Spider’s body. He knew Second Madam Zhu’s fury had been completely ignited; she had to find Lord Boshan and demand ”justice.”

But Lord Boshan couldn’t give her that, could he? ’Alas,’ Hee Lingchuan subconsciously patted the Divine Bone Necklace on his chest.

’It’s fine. As long as I’m not the unlucky one.’

To avoid suspicion, it wasn’t a good time for him to return to the Underground Palace.

He turned his head and saw Steward Zhao and the others, who had been hiding in the woods on the slope, being driven out by Spider Guards. Dong Rui was trailing behind them.

They looked like legitimate merchants. They knew about the Mirage Mist surrounding the Demon Nest Swamp, and with their passage flag stolen by Tuu Zhongli, they were trapped. They couldn’t get out, but they didn’t dare wander far either.

The boars and snakes near the Demon Nest had all fled. As the spiders were clearing the battlefield, they cleared out the merchants as well.

Spiders large and small surrounded them. Although their eyes showed no change in expression, Steward Zhao could feel a raw, fierce killing intent from their restless agitation.

The Spider Demons were all enraged, looking like they wanted to suck the merchants dry.

Just as Steward Zhao was trembling with anxiety, Hee Lingchuan walked over. The spiders on the path parted to let him through.

Of course, Steward Zhao didn’t know Hee Lingchuan was just a fox borrowing the tiger’s might; the Spider Guards were making way for the Red Spider on his shoulder. Thinking this man must be deeply trusted by the Spider Queen, he immediately dropped to his knees with a THUD and stammered, ”Your Excellency, please see the truth! We are victims too! Those bandits killed our master!”

The moment he knelt, the dozen or so people behind him all followed suit.

”What was your master’s surname, exactly?”

”Gan!” said Steward Zhao. ”Our master’s surname was Gan.”

”Why were you mixed up with the bandits?” Hee Lingchuan asked, then suddenly said, ”Wait.” He turned and ordered a Spider Guard, ”Go bring the prisoner from the wine cellar.”

The Spider Guard received its instructions from the Red Spider and complied.

A few moments later, the bandit Old Sixth was dragged out by two Spider Guards and thrown onto an empty patch of ground.

He was wrapped in webbing so tightly he looked like a cocoon, unable to even bend his knees. A spider pulled the webbing from his face, revealing a terrified expression.

Looking at the spiders around him, he instantly understood his predicament. He answered all of Hee Lingchuan’s questions without hesitation, being remarkably compliant.

Combining the answers from both sides, Hee Lingchuan pieced together the general story:

As expected, this was all Lord Boshan’s conspiracy. Second Madam Zhu wasn’t chasing the wrong person—or rather, the wrong snake.