I Won't Accompany You

Yuan Ming tensed his arm, and his muscles immediately bulged. His fist collided with one of the Human-Faced Spider's legs with a muffled bang.

That spider leg, which looked as thin as a hemp stalk, was unexpectedly tough. It did not snap under the heavy blow, merely recoiling sharply inward.

The bizarre human face of the Human-Faced Spider twisted along with it, revealing an expression of intense pain.

Its other spider legs stabbed into the cave walls, brushing past Yuan Ming's sides. Its entire body closed around him like a massive claw.

Before Yuan Ming could resist, its body immediately pressed down against him. The pain vanished from its human face, replaced by a smile with the corners of its mouth split into an exaggerated arc.

That smiling face flipped upward as though it had shifted onto the top of its head.

Below it, a gaping bloody mouth opened, revealing two rows of dense, sharp, slender teeth. A thin, long tongue extended from within and licked toward Yuan Ming's cheek.

Yuan Ming watched helplessly as that somewhat slimy tongue licked his face. Even through the fur of his beast hide, he felt a scorching pain of corrosion.

He braced the longsword with both ape arms, his arm muscles swelling as the strength within him erupted at full force. He tried to force apart the Human-Faced Spider's lock and break free.

The Human-Faced Spider seemed to sense his intentions. It let out a shrill howl, its spider legs contracting with all their strength to trap Yuan Ming tightly as its bloody maw bit down at his head without hesitation.

Yuan Ming tilted his head to one side, but his shoulder was bitten by the Human-Faced Spider's dense teeth, and blood immediately sprayed forth.

Then, a powerful suction force came from the wound. Yuan Ming instantly felt the blood throughout his body rushing toward it, sucked away by the Human-Faced Spider.

The intense pain further stirred Yuan Ming's ferocity. His eyes turned crimson as well. With a low growl, he bit down at the Human-Faced Spider's head instead.

The Human-Faced Spider had not expected Yuan Ming to be so savage. It immediately released him and flashed backward to evade.

Seizing the opening, Yuan Ming did not hesitate in the slightest. He lunged forward, leaped out of the cave, and jumped straight down toward the ground more than ten zhang below.

The Human-Faced Spider pursued him closely.

The instant Yuan Ming landed, he immediately tossed aside the Ancient Bronze Sword, pressed one palm against the ground, formed a hand seal with the other, and shouted:

"Rise!"

The Wood Thorn Technique activated once more. A sharp wooden thorn shot up from the ground, stabbing toward the descending Human-Faced Spider.

The Human-Faced Spider immediately drew in its eight legs, holding its body high above the ground. The wooden thorn could not reach its body, while its slender legs perfectly avoided the thorn's upward stab without suffering the slightest harm.

Yuan Ming cursed. With a glance ahead, he saw Bayin fighting the Unicorn Wolf Spider. One of the latter's spider legs had been severed, and it had already fallen into a disadvantage.

The sole remaining Green Wolf Beast Slave was supporting him from the side. He wanted to step in and help, but his own strength was insufficient, and he did not dare get too close. He could only circle the combatants back and forth, looking flustered and helpless.

"Chief Bayin, he... he's back!" Seeing Yuan Ming leap down from the nearby cliff face and sprint toward them, the Green Wolf Beast Slave hurriedly shouted.

Bayin swung a claw and knocked the Unicorn Wolf Spider back. He stole a glance at Yuan Ming, and the corner of his mouth immediately twitched as rage surged within him.

But immediately afterward, he saw the enormous figure pursuing Yuan Ming. His expression changed drastically, and he cried out in alarm, "A Human-faced Ghost Spider? How did that bastard provoke this damned thing too?"

As he shouted the name of that vicious beast, Bayin could not help greeting eighteen generations of Yuan Ming's ancestors in his heart.

A single Unicorn Wolf Spider was already troublesome enough, yet that fellow had brought in a Human-faced Ghost Spider as well. Both were among the strongest of the first-tier lower-grade ferocious beasts. This was practically an attempt to drag everyone down to perish together.

In that instant, he had the urge to flee. After all, nothing mattered more than his own life.

However, the moment his attention wavered, the Unicorn Wolf Spider's sole remaining foreleg stabbed at him again. As Bayin instinctively blocked it, the leg suddenly withdrew before slashing upward.

Caught off guard, Bayin had a long, narrow wound sliced open across his chest, blood gushing out.

He let out a muffled groan. As he retreated, he pressed hard against his chest with a claw. The muscles in his chest contracted, quickly stopping the bleeding, but the flesh around the wound had already turned bluish-purple. He had clearly been poisoned.

At that moment, the Unicorn Wolf Spider followed close behind and pressed toward him again.

Bayin looked at the Unicorn Wolf Spider closing in step by step, then glanced at Yuan Ming and the Human-faced Ghost Spider, who were about to reach him. His body suddenly lowered close to the ground, avoiding another stab from the wolf spider.

Then he kicked off the ground with both legs and suddenly lunged to the side.

The Green Wolf Beast Slave stared at Bayin lunging straight toward him. Before he could react, Bayin had already seized the long mane at his neck.

"Chief, what are you..."

Before he could finish speaking, a tremendous force lifted him off the ground.

Bayin looked at him without saying a word. Planting his feet on the ground, he suddenly exerted strength with both arms, twisted his waist, and actually swung him around before viciously smashing him backward.

The Green Wolf Beast Slave struggled in terror, but he was already flying through the air with nowhere to brace himself. He could not control his body at all and could only watch helplessly as he was hurled toward the pursuing Unicorn Wolf Spider.

Facing the Green Wolf Beast Slave flying at it, the Unicorn Wolf Spider thrust out a spider leg, piercing straight through his body. Yet at the same time, it was struck by the powerful force of inertia and sent tumbling backward.

Yuan Ming had caught up as well. Seeing this, he hurriedly dodged aside and sprinted past the Unicorn Wolf Spider's flank.

"What a ruthless bastard. He's this vicious even to his own people." He cursed under his breath, then looked back and saw the Human-faced Ghost Spider still relentlessly chasing after him. He immediately accelerated and ran at full speed.

The white ape Yuan Ming had transformed into had limited running speed on the ground. At the Human-faced Ghost Spider's stride, catching up to him was only a matter of time.

Just as he was considering what to do, he suddenly discovered in surprise that Bayin, who was also fleeing ahead of him, was actually slower than he was. His heart immediately leaped with joy.

Gritting his teeth, he clamped the Bronze Longsword in his mouth, swung his arms, and charged after Bayin.

Bayin was panting heavily. Numbness spread from the wound on his chest, while aching pain wracked his entire body. He had never excelled in speed to begin with, and now he was even less able to flee at full speed.

Under ordinary circumstances, he only needed to remain in Honey Badger Beast Slave form and sleep for a night to easily dispel the Unicorn Wolf Spider's poison. But now, it gave him a severe headache.

Just as he was vexed, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

He hurriedly turned around and saw Yuan Ming, with a Bronze Longsword clenched in his mouth, already catching up.

Before he could respond, Yuan Ming flashed to his side, grabbed the Bronze Longsword from his mouth, and slashed horizontally at him.

Bayin hurriedly dodged and shouted angrily, "Are you courting death?"

Yuan Ming did not answer. But every few steps, he would dart over and slash at Bayin once. Though he could not injure Bayin, he prevented him from running at full speed.

Only when the Human-faced Ghost Spider had chased to within three or four zhang of them did Yuan Ming finally stop harassing Bayin, leaving him only the sight of his retreating back as he raced away.

Bayin was burning with rage, yet he had no way to deal with him. If he could, he would have liked nothing more than to tear Yuan Ming apart alive immediately. But if he was delayed and caught by the Human-faced Ghost Spider, he would no longer be able to escape with his speed.

He let out an angry roar, mobilized the spiritual power in his dantian and sent it into his legs, forcibly dispersing the numbness. He began running at full speed again, trying to widen the distance between himself and the Human-faced Ghost Spider.

That explosive burst consumed quite a bit of spiritual power, but the results were obvious. The distance was immediately pulled out to seven or eight zhang.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly saw Yuan Ming ahead crouch down. A faint yellow glow appeared over one of his palms as he pressed it against the ground, and Bayin immediately sensed that something was wrong.

A powerful warning made him instinctively slow down.

At the instant he slowed, the ground before him suddenly shattered. With a crack, a sharp green wooden thorn abruptly stabbed out, rising between the gaps of his clawed toes.

If he had not controlled his speed just now and had been even a little faster, that wooden thorn would likely have pierced straight through his foot.

Though he had not been directly injured, Bayin was still tripped by the suddenly emerging thorn. His body lost balance at once, and he pitched forward.

The instant before he hit the ground, the earth beneath his face shattered again with a crack.

Another sharp wooden thorn suddenly thrust out, shooting straight toward his right eye.

At the critical moment, Bayin swung the palm that had been meant to brace against the ground sideways at the wooden thorn.

With a bang, the sharp wooden thorn shattered into fragments.

As Bayin plummeted, he lacked one hand for support and could no longer maintain his balance. He fell flat on his face.

After that trip and fall, by the time he climbed back up, the Human-faced Ghost Spider had already caught up. Less than a zhang separated them.

"Chief Bayin, I won't accompany you any longer. Enjoy yourself!"

Five or six zhang ahead, Yuan Ming saw this and finally relaxed somewhat. He immediately got up and sprinted forward.

He had already consumed considerable spiritual power earlier, and after using the Wood Thorn Technique twice in succession, he was feeling somewhat weak. If he stayed to tangle with them any longer, trouble might arise.

Yet after running more than ten zhang, Yuan Ming suddenly heard a wild roar behind him.

His steps halted, and he hurriedly looked back. The Human-faced Ghost Spider had already entangled Bayin, and the two had begun fighting once more.

After watching this, Yuan Ming hesitated briefly before running several more zhang toward the valley entrance. He found a huge boulder to hide behind, crouched there, and peered toward Bayin and the Human-faced Ghost Spider.