The Bridge Was Gone

When they had first left the city, Cen Zhao had still been thinking about that package of braised meat.

Once he actually set foot on the mountain path, he no longer had time to think about it.

The rain had stopped, but mud covered the ground. Even where someone ahead had just pressed it firm, the next person's shoe could sink halfway in. Relying on his great strength, Pei Chuan had laughed at the others for walking slowly at first. Then one of his shoes came off in the mud, and he stopped laughing.

Xu Sheng turned around at the front of the group.

"Want me to carry you?"

Pei Chuan had one foot planted on a rock and was straining to pull his shoe out. He immediately shook his head.

He already knew Xu Sheng could carry people.

But the thought of a big man like him dangling from someone else's hand like luggage made him feel he would be better off retrieving his shoe.

Xu Lizhi had worked up a sweat on his forehead, but he still held the meat buns Uncle Qiao had given him in his arms.

Xu Sheng took them from him and stuffed them into his own pack, then lifted the little fatty across a mud pit while he was at it.

"I can walk," Xu Lizhi said.

"I can see that. I was worried you'd drop Uncle Qiao's meat."

The little fatty looked down at the muddy water and immediately decided he had a point.

They reached the waystation before dark.

When Sun Cheng, the man in charge, heard they had come to patrol and provide support, he hurriedly cleared out rooms, heated water, and cooked. Hearing that the two teams had fifteen people between them, he looked visibly relieved.

In recent days, more and more guests had been seeking lodging there: people going out to gather herbs, people making deliveries, some hurrying along the road, and others waiting for the water to recede. All of them were crowded into this one place.

Rather than going inside first, Xu Sheng went with Sun Cheng to look around the back courtyard.

The line for drying wet clothes was full, and half the woodpile was damp. Two wheels in the corner were still sturdy, and several old door panels lay beside them.

"Can those be used?" Xu Sheng asked, pointing at the panels.

"Yes. They were taken down when the building was repaired. We haven't chopped them up for firewood yet."

"Don't chop them up yet. Keep them."

Sun Cheng didn't know what he intended to do, but agreed anyway.

Xu Sheng then asked about the nearby roads.

The main road was deep in mud. The smaller path passed over Bluestone Gorge, and people had still been using the wooden bridge yesterday, but no one had brought back any word today. Sun Cheng was somewhat worried as he spoke of it.

Xu Sheng exchanged a look with Meng Xingzhou and immediately told Chen Che to check along the road, only to inspect the bridge and not venture deep into the woods on either side.

Chen Che had barely left when a man came stumbling through the courtyard gate.

His trouser leg was torn, and mud stained his shoulder. He tried to take another step at the gate, but his legs suddenly gave way.

Meng Xingzhou reached out and caught him.

"What happened?"

"Bluestone Gorge... the bridge collapsed!"

The newcomer was panting hard. He accepted some water but took only one sip before grabbing Meng Xingzhou's arm.

"Captain Zhao and the others are still on the other side. There's a spider in the woods. It's venomous, and it's already hurt someone!"

Xu Sheng came over at once.

"How many people?"

"Seven, including me. My name's Tao Qing. I was with Zhao Feng, escorting four herb gatherers and a cart driver back. When the cart reached the bridge, a web suddenly came down over us from the trees. Captain Zhao held it off and told us to retreat onto the bridge first, but then the water..."

At that point, Tao Qing anxiously wiped his face.

The mountain runoff had already loosened the bridge. When the people crowded onto it, the current swept away a section of the wooden supports on the waystation's side, and the bridge deck went down with them.

Some managed to retreat to the far bank, but one herb gatherer was caught between the dangling planks and ropes.

Zhao Feng had been poisoned, but he had still held on and urged the others toward a protruding stone ledge, while he guarded the outside.

Tao Qing had taken advantage of the confusion to circle around by a shallow stretch farther downstream. But the water was still rising. The place he had crossed on his way back might no longer be passable.

"What kind of spider?" Xu Sheng asked.

Tao Qing shook his head, then seemed to remember something and hastily gestured.

"Black. It had a white patch under its belly, like a human face, and its legs were very sharp..."

Xu Sheng's heart tightened.

A Man Faced Demon Spider.

He had studied it carefully in the Soul Beast materials he had borrowed only a few days ago. He hadn't expected to run into one so soon.

He asked for a clearer description of its general appearance, but didn't dare determine its age from a single panicked account. He only had Tao Qing point out where the attack had happened.

Meng Xingzhou also sensed something was wrong. He tossed his rain cape to Tao Qing, then turned and called to his companions.

Xu Sheng wasted no words, pointing at the door panels from earlier.

"Old Lu, Pei Chuan, bring two. Take a stretcher, ropes, and the medicine box as well."

Xu Sheng took the medicine box he had just put away in his personal storage inventory and handed it directly to Lu Song.

"You'll be in charge of this when we reach the river. While I'm on the river, don't wait for me to come back before looking for medicine."

Lu Song took it and moved several rolls of commonly used bandages to the top. Seeing this, Meng Xingzhou also had Lin Huai keep the spare ropes close at hand, in case they split up with everything in the hands of the same person.

That was why Xu Sheng had been thinking about a shared storage device. No matter how convenient a player's own slots were, Ji Juechen couldn't open his and take things out for him.

Seeing that they were leaving, Sun Cheng hurriedly asked if he should call for more people.

"Yes. Send word to the nearest deacon's post. Tell them the bridge at Bluestone Gorge has collapsed, someone has been poisoned, and they're trapped on the far bank by a Man Faced Demon Spider. Ask them to send someone who can treat poison injuries as soon as possible."

Once Xu Sheng had made everything clear, he held out a hand to Tao Qing.

"Can you still show us the way?"

Tao Qing nodded vigorously and pushed himself up to leave.

But Xu Lizhi hurried after him first and pressed a Recovery Big Meat Bun into his hand.

"Eat while you walk. Catch your breath first."

Tao Qing looked at the bun, then at the little fatty, and his eyes suddenly reddened.

All the way here, he had feared that if he returned too late, he wouldn't even be able to bring back their bodies. Now someone had responded, and someone else had already picked up a stretcher. As the effort that had been keeping him going slackened, his hands began to tremble beyond his control.

"Thank you... thank you."

"Don't just thank me. Eat."

Xu Sheng steadied him and handed him over to Wen Zhao, then went to the front.

The group hurried along the mountain path. Before they saw the bridge, they heard the water.

At that moment, Chen Che came back from ahead.

"It's down. There are six people on the other side. Five are crowded on a stone ledge, and the other is hanging by the bridge, not far above the water."

As he spoke, he looked at Tao Qing.

"The one guarding the outside can still move, but something's already wrong with half of his arm. I didn't land directly. There was movement in the woods nearby."

Xu Sheng nodded and quickened his pace.

After they rounded the rock face ahead, the mouth of the gorge finally came into view.

Muddy water rushed below. One end of the broken bridge rested on the bank, while the other had fallen over at the water's edge, where the current slammed it repeatedly against the rocks.

Several herb gatherers huddled together on a stone ledge jutting out from the far bank. A Soul Master in blue-green clothes knelt on one knee in front of them, a broken short blade in his hand. His back still bore the appearance it had taken on after his Beast Martial Soul possessed him.

He had evidently seen the people on this side too.

His mouth moved, but they couldn't make out what he was saying.

The next moment, the bushes to the side suddenly rustled.

A pitch-black spider leg slowly emerged from behind the leaves.

Lu Song instinctively raised his shield, and Meng Xingzhou gripped his Purple Lightning Bamboo.

But Xu Sheng first looked beneath the broken bridge.

The herb gatherer hanging among the ropes was clinging tightly to a plank, one shoe already swept away by the water. Each time the rope swayed, his body slipped a little farther down.

They couldn't just stand on this side staring.

Xu Sheng turned to Xu Lizhi and held up two fingers.

"Xiaolongbao, make two first."

Then he beckoned to Chen Che.

"You deliver the rope. I'll go get him."