Buddha-faced Golden Body

"Boss, draining the water is impossible. Leaving aside the fact that we don't have the ability, even if we could pull it off, who knows what year of the monkey we'd have to wait until? We can't afford to wait."

"The worst option won't work either. That woman tried it before, and quite a few people died. It's too dangerous."

"The middle option sounds reliable. If she's willing to lead the charge while we stay outside and break the formation, then let's choose the middle option."

After analyzing the situation, the Liu brothers gave a fairly reasonable answer.

"That makes so much sense."

Zhu Bo rolled his eyes. Hearing you say that was just like hearing nothing at all.

He had thought that two heads were better than one, and that the brothers might offer some constructive advice. Instead, they had said nothing different from what he already knew!

He also knew that the middle option was the best, but would Sister She really be willing to put herself in danger and leave them outside to break the formation?

How could that be possible?

Even a fool knew that the formation was fraught with unpredictable dangers. Once someone entered, it would be like an old man making his own coffin—his life wouldn't last much longer.

"Commander Zhu, have you reached a decision?" Sister She urged.

"We have."

Zhu Bo said sourly, "We'll choose the middle option. You go inside and throw your lives away, while we stay outside and break the formation. We'll split the spoils fifty-fifty."

"Then the lives of the few of us are in your hands, Commander Zhu," Sister She said solemnly.

"Sister She, you mean that?"

"Of course."

"W-wait a moment. Let me think it over."

Zhu Bo was stunned when he heard that. His sarcastic remarks had merely been meant to mock Sister She, and he had never expected her to truly agree.

Now, he was the one caught between a rock and a hard place.

A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. He understood that principle, and Sister She naturally did too. Since she had agreed so readily, she must have something to rely on.

If he backed down out of momentary cowardice and caused this trip into the underground palace to end in vain, then he would have to draw blades against them to gain even a share of the benefits. He would lose both face and profit. That was absolutely unacceptable.

But what if he went inside himself...

What if Sister She was merely retreating in order to advance, deliberately testing him? If he changed his mind and agreed, wouldn't he be falling straight into her trap?

No, that wouldn't do. He absolutely could not make a Wedding Dress for someone else.

Go in together?

Even worse!

"Commander Zhu, have you thought it through?"

Sister She teased him. The more unhurried she appeared, the less Zhu Bo knew how to choose.

"Boss."

At that moment, Liu Xiong secretly tugged at Zhu Bo's sleeve and gave him a meaningful glance.

Big brother, this woman is unfathomable. The two of us will help you!

Through their silent exchange, Zhu Bo instantly understood and came up with a plan. "Sister She, we agreed that both sides would cooperate on this trip. I can't let you be the only one leading the risk. My side has to contribute something too."

"Commander Zhu, you want to enter the formation with me?"

"I'd like to, but I have to stay behind and break the formation."

Zhu Bo shook his head awkwardly. Pointing at Liu Xiong and Liu Meng, he said, "These two brothers of mine will enter the formation with you, Sister She. You should leave two people behind as well."

"Commander Zhu is certainly cautious."

Sister She wore a smile that was not quite a smile. She raised her hand and pointed to two people in the group. "Fat Dragon, Fat Tiger, the two of you stay behind and keep an eye on Commander Zhu. Be careful. If he moves even a fraction too slowly, my life will be over."

Two tall, thin men stepped out from the group. They had long arms and long legs, and both possessed the sort of utterly ordinary features no one would remember.

Truly, they had the most ordinary faces imaginable.

Once the two groups had finished exchanging personnel, Sister She drew a deep breath and had the burly man lead the way. They stepped into the mist one after another. The Liu brothers did not dare linger. Under Zhu Bo's gaze as he silently wished them well, they followed and vanished into the mist.

After everyone had disappeared, Zhu Bo waved and produced a Wolf-tooth Brush. While observing the shifting mist, he wielded the brush across the ground, calculating the positions of the Eight Gates.

The mist transformed without a trace to follow. Amid layer upon layer of murderous intent, not a single path to survival could be found. After only a few breaths, Zhu Bo's cultivation had been rapidly depleted. He stopped with sweat covering his head.

"What a wicked Demonic Cultivator. I've studied Mystic Gate formations for many years. I wouldn't claim to have seen through every formation under Heaven, but I've long since mastered the principles of formation arts. I've never seen a formation this unreasonable. This... this makes no sense!"

Zhu Bo was shocked. "Was the formation art of a thousand years ago far beyond what we have today, or am I simply too ignorant to recognize the principles of this Mystic Gate formation?"

As he spoke, unwilling to accept defeat, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to calculating how to break the formation.

On either side, Luo Ban's eyes widened. He raised a hand to grip his saber hilt and stepped forward, standing in front of Zhu Bo.

Lu Bei's body hair stood on end. He drew his Black Gold Straight Saber to protect himself, yet even so, he still felt several icy gazes settle upon him. The bone-deep chill refused to disperse, and one of his feet had already stepped through the Ghost Gate, with his life in danger at any moment.

He cautiously retreated until he and Luo Ban stood back-to-back. His eyes swept rapidly across the surroundings, but he saw nothing.

"Front, back, left, right?"

"None of them. I'm certain."

"Same here. I'll watch the top. Keep an eye on the bottom."

"Got it."

The two exchanged words rapidly. As an intense sense of danger swept over them, Luo Ban raised a hand, seized Zhu Bo by the collar, and lifted him off the ground.

Fat Dragon and Fat Tiger saw what they were doing. They instinctively assumed that their allies had betrayed them, drew their weapons, and strode over angrily.

At that moment, the void shook without end. An invisible blade struck from behind, piercing Fat Dragon's chest and spraying a great sheet of blood.

Hot blood splashed across his face. Fat Tiger turned deathly pale and ran toward Luo Ban in terror, only to be seized by an invisible force from the void and sent flying into the sky with a whoosh.

It passed straight through the wall.

An illusion formation!

Lu Bei and Luo Ban sucked in a cold breath. They had thought they were safe outside the formation, never realizing that they had already been inside it without knowing.

The two pulled back and plunged headfirst into the mist.

In an instant, the scenery ahead changed drastically. The stone-paved passage vanished, replaced by a gigantic underground cavern a hundred meters long and wide. High above, a giant beast awoke from its slumber, bared its fangs, and revealed that it was enjoying a meal.

It was a giant spider hanging upside down, several zhang in size. Its eyes glimmered with a gloomy light, while a golden human face stood out starkly against its black back.

Unlike the spiders Lu Bei knew, this giant spider ate meat without leaving the broth behind. Its mouthparts took up an astonishing portion of its head, and it was currently holding half a corpse in its jaws, chewing it with loud cracks.

The sound of its chewing made their scalps crawl. It was crisp and crunchy, though no one could tell whether it was Fat Dragon or Fat Tiger.

As it ate, the giant spider crawled unhurriedly toward the space above the three of them.

Luo Ban thrust out a hand. Four flying knives gleaming with frigid light shot out and clanged against the giant spider's body. Sparks burst everywhere, yet not the slightest wound could be seen on it. Instead, the explosion struck the stalactite-like stone spikes hanging nearby, shaking the entire cavern.

"That's a Buddha-faced Golden Body... Spider?!"

Zhu Bo, who had been staring blankly, came back to himself and shouted in disbelief.

Luo Ban's burly body trembled. It seemed he had heard of this spider's fearsome reputation. He tightened his grip on Zhu Bo's collar, turned around, and ran without a word.

At the same time, Lu Bei had already run more than fifty meters away.

[Side Quest: Eliminate the Buddha-faced Golden Body Spider. Rewards will be issued according to contribution.]

The long-awaited Side Quest had finally arrived, yet Lu Bei was not happy in the slightest. After witnessing an explosive spectacle firsthand and hearing the giant spider's resounding name, he knew that this place was no place to linger.

Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, retreat was the best. He had no desire to end up looking like Fat Dragon and Fat Tiger's excrement three days later.