Chapter Fourteen: The Spider's Lair

  After Hong Luolan left, Lei Ga was unable to fall asleep again.

  Outside the cave, the cold wind howled, and it was at least four or five hours before the sun rose again. But Lei Ga felt no fatigue. As soon as he closed his eyes, a naked Hong Lulan appeared in his mind, her slender hands seemingly caressing his lower body, making him involuntarily harden.

  Lei Ga moistened his dry lips, put on his clothes, placed the Cang Huan sword in front of him, and tried to clear his mind of distractions. He sat cross-legged, waiting quietly for the arrival of dawn.

  When the first ray of sunlight shone through the broken branches into the low cave, Leiga took a light breath and picked up the Qinghe sword to walk out of the cave.

  After being entangled by the Red Spider Lily, his task of clearing the Magic Spider's lair had fallen far behind. Although he had severely damaged the Magic Spider group the day before, making it impossible for them to immediately organize a living force to attack Fenglin Village, the sooner he finished this task, the sooner Leiga could take on the next bounty mission.

  Money is a very important thing everywhere. As a bounty hunter, not only can he guarantee Lega's basic living needs, but also allow him to hone himself through bounty tasks.

  He must seize the time to improve his abilities. Red Lolan's impact on Leiga was huge, she and Leiga were of similar age, but her strength was a whole level higher, and with just one night's effort, she became an apprentice hero, while he was still just a fourth-class warrior who nobody would give a second glance on the street.

  Can't be suppressed by women anymore...

  Lei Ga put the Cang Hui sword back on his back, picked up the old black hood, and walked towards the depths of the dense forest with a firm pace.

  The scent of the demon spider had long been impossible to track, but Leiga had already grasped the general direction of the demon spider's nest. Following the turbulent river water upstream would never go wrong.

  The ground was covered with pine needles and branches blown down by the wind, like a thick brown-green carpet, but soaked through with the thin dew of dawn. The fallen leaves crunched beneath one's feet, while bare oak trees, tall birch trees, and dense rows of fir trees stood nearby.

  The further up the river valley, the more slippery the ground became, and the atmosphere grew stranger. The vast forest seemed to be devoid of any living creature, except for a few instances where crows flew over, perched on treetops, and let out ominous cries.

  The crows under the sky seem to have a similar appearance. It's reasonable to say that seeing crows in an area called Crow Ridge isn't a strange thing, so at first, Leica didn't pay much attention to it. But after repeated instances, he gradually realized that what he saw was likely the same crow, which had been following him and seemed uninterested in anything else except staring at him.

  The grey heron had once warned him that crows were intelligent creatures, they understood life and death, and would stare intently at the dying, for they could eat fresh meat at any time.

  Lei Ga smiled faintly at this thought. He didn't believe what Cang Yi said, if that old man was really so wise, he wouldn't have died without knowing anything...

  Lei Ga no longer paid attention to the ravens circling above his head, but instead focused on the road beneath his feet.

  After walking for several hours, the crow that had been following him with great difficulty finally reluctantly disappeared from Lega's line of sight after they had completely left the territory of Wuya Ridge.

  Lega had already caught the scent of decayed sulfur, he steadily made his way through a stand of white birch trees upstream of the river and climbed up a slope of sandstone.

  A gloomy cave appeared before him, the entrance of which was shrouded in thick spider silk, as if the demonic spiders had long been prepared for his arrival.

  This made Leiga slightly puzzled. The demon spider was formidable, but at most it was just a low-intelligence creature of the demon clan, how could it be clever enough to guard against his arrival?

  Maybe it was just a coincidence. Leiga didn't think much about it, and instead pulled out the Cangjian sword from behind him, slashing open the thick spider silk barrier at the entrance of the cave.

  A wave of damp and pungent rot immediately hit him in the face, forcing Lega to wrinkle his nose and retreat several steps.

  After a few minutes, when the smell of rot had dissipated somewhat, Leiga slowly walked into the demon spider's cave with the Cangjian sword.

  The cave was very deep, but Leiga could still see a faint light. The stone walls grew some self-luminous fluorescent grass, which was a kind of herb with no medicinal value, but for tailors, it was an excellent item to deceive the lordly nobles and empty their purses.

  Lei Ga wanted to collect some fluorescent grass to take away and exchange for money, but collecting herbs required specialized tools. He tried to pull out a plant with his hand, but the fluorescence of the grass immediately went out, completely turning into worthless roadside weeds. Lei Ga let out a faint sigh, and could only throw away the wild grass in his hand, grasping the Cang Hu sword tightly as he continued to explore inside the cave.

  The two sides of the cave were piled up with layers of skeletons, including sheep, deer, bears, but more human skeletons - these demonic spiders had the same taste as the legendary demons, and they all treated humans as the most delicious snacks.

  The musty smell in the cave also comes from these remains. Some corpses were only eaten halfway, while some were left for too long and became bloated and smelly. These "food" are probably just used to feed the newly hatched little spiders, while those with attacking ability will choose to go to human settlements to hunt in groups.

  Lei Ga held his breath and stepped over the ground littered with severed limbs, continuing to search for the shadow of the demon spider.

  After turning a corner, the cave suddenly became spacious.

  Over a hundred white spider eggs stood in piles on the ground, each one taller than knee-high. Next to the spider eggs, two brown giant spiders lay dormant. They sensed Rega's invasion and immediately sprang into action with their eight long legs, propping up their stout abdomens, raising their heads and letting out a sharp, shrill cry. Their voices darted back and forth between the rocky walls, apparently warning other giant spiders to prepare for battle.

  Lei Ga noticed that the two demonic spiders were significantly larger than those that had attacked Feng Lin Village, and it was clear that they had been chosen to guard the most important spider eggs. This once again proved that he was facing an opponent with a high level of intelligence.

  If these demon spider eggs are allowed to hatch, the small village of Fenglin will not be able to satisfy their appetite. The entire Crow Ridge will likely face destruction, and it won't take long for the entire Four Kingdoms Continent to be in peril. Perhaps, the legendary Demon Clan will also seize the opportunity to invade. By then, finding a tavern to post a bounty quest might become difficult - these spider eggs must be eradicated.

  One of the demonic spiders opened its foul-smelling mouth and suddenly spat out a thick strand of spider silk at Leiga.

  Lei Ga swung his sword without hesitation, cutting off the spider silk, and in a flash, he rushed to the front of the demon spider, his Qinghe sword stabbing straight into its swollen belly.

  This giant spider moved slowly and clumsily, unable to dodge Rega's attack. The Cyan Sword inserted into the spider's abdomen without surprise, but the spider immediately exploded, splashing thick green venom everywhere.

  Lei Ga was shocked and hastily retreated, raising his black cloak at the same time. The green spider venom left a large wound on the cloak, fortunately without hurting the skin.

  And the spider eggs around the explosion point, after being splashed with green toxic liquid, began to dissolve one by one. Some newly formed small spiders trembled and walked out of the mother's sticky body, but didn't take a few steps before completely collapsing to the ground, motionless.

  Rega's fear had just subsided when another demonic spider took the opportunity to spray out thick spider silk, entwining his legs and pulling him to the ground. Rega hastily swung his sword in response. The Azure Sword had already absorbed the first demonic spider's magical blood, producing a sword aura that was enough for Rega to cleave through the air and cut off the spider silk.

  The demon spider saw that its web was broken and hastily burrowed into the ground, leaving behind only a few hard stone blocks at the original location.

  Lei Ga didn't pursue further, but instead turned around to deal with the pile of spider eggs. He started recklessly chopping, not sparing any intact egg sacs.

  Over a hundred small spiders crawled out of the mother's liquid, some had already taken shape, but ultimately could not escape the slaughter of the Azure Sword. Those that were still unformed either died directly or were trampled flat by Rega as he passed by.

  While he was killing indiscriminately, a dozen or so demonic spiders rushed from the depths of the cave. The leader was the one that had been beheaded by Lei Ga in Fenglin Village, which was considered relatively weak among the demonic spider group at that time, but now it has become the largest one among this group of demonic spiders - apparently, other demonic spiders were just hatched yesterday.

  "There were only a few left from the beginning."

  Lei Ga smiled coldly and held up the scorching Cang Xue sword, leaping into the midst of the demonic spider swarm.

  The newly born demonic spiders launched a frantic attack, but they had no combat experience at all. Just as Lega was about to take them down one by one, the ground beneath his feet shook violently, making it hard for him to stand steady.

  The giant spider that had burrowed underground earlier re-emerged and once again wrapped Lega's legs with its thick web, pulling him to the ground.

  "How cunning!"

  Lei Ga became increasingly suspicious that this tactic was not something a few brainless insects could come up with, he didn't have time to think more, first dodging the pounce of several magic spiders, then using the Qinghe sword to cut off the spider silk wrapped around his feet, quickly getting up and rushing towards the burrowing magic spider.

  That demonic spider intended to resort to its old trick, rapidly burrowing into the ground, but Leiga's Cyanine Sword was now sharp enough. He thrust the sword completely into the area where the demonic spider had dived underground. After a brief moment, a muffled cry came from beneath the earth, followed by an explosive shockwave.

  Several young demonic spiders rushed up, and Leiga showed no mercy. With a few swings of his sword, he cut them all in half. In the end, only the demonic spider with its broken forelegs was left, retreating while shrinking back, its complex mouthparts wriggling anxiously, as if hoping that Leiga could spare it once again.

  Lei Ga shook his head, indifferently raised the Cang Yue sword, and slashed down. The demonic spider didn't even struggle before being split in two.

  All the demonic spiders died, but Leiga furrowed his brow. He had thought that the Azure Sword would burn them to ashes as before, but this time it only cut them in half. He lifted the scorching sword, puzzled, and found that some of the severed spider silk still stuck to the blade, hindering its power...

  This doesn't seem like a good omen.