"Nice work."
Liu Qingling nodded in approval at Xu Ai.
More than a dozen mangled pig-like monsters lay around them.
"Sis Ye gave great orders."
Xu Ai smiled. This was her first time working with them, and it had gone smoothly. They had wiped out the whole One-horned Wild Boar pack in no time.
Ye Yu nodded, then said:
"All right, save the praise for later. Qin Yi and Jun Xia, keep watch. Everyone else, hurry up and collect the materials. Then we leave at once."
"Got it."
Yu Fei grinned as she pulled out a harvesting knife and began collecting the valuable parts from the One-horned Wild Boars.
Xu Ai had experience from Hen Ren's side, so she worked quickly too. Before long, they had all finished and moved to another location.
Ye Yu checked the time.
"It's nine p.m. We need to hurry."
They had been following the highway, and the area around them was still desolate and exposed—not a suitable place to settle down.
The group picked up the pace. They encountered several more monsters along the way, and Xu Ai killed them with practiced ease, wasting no time.
Fortunately, the military base was close to the city. Once Xu Ai and the others sped up, they soon reached a residential complex.
The complex stood thirty stories tall, towering over the nearby buildings.
"This used to be one of our most frequent resting spots. Be careful when we go in, especially around corners and other places you can't see."
Liu Qingling said this for Xu Ai's benefit.
As they climbed the building, Qin Yi led the way with her shield. Jun Xia, Yu Fei, Xu Ai, and Gu Zizhen followed in the middle, while Ye Yu and Liu Qingling brought up the rear.
Suddenly, a One-horned Wild Boar silently charged out of the hallway entrance and slammed into Qin Yi.
Qin Yi stepped back half a pace and swung her shield up from below with practiced ease, flipping the boar over. She then plunged a knife into its neck as a flying dagger shot into its eye.
The One-horned Wild Boar twitched, then went still.
"Let's hurry upstairs."
Qin Yi shoved the boar aside and quickly ran up the stairs.
The sound of the boar hitting the floor had been loud in the stillness of the night. It would surely attract plenty of monsters. After all, monsters ate other monsters too.
They soon reached the twentieth floor. They found a room whose door wasn't too badly damaged and went inside, making it their resting spot for the night.
"Let's rest for a bit."
Liu Qingling brought over a chair and sat by the window, watching outside.
As night deepened, some nocturnal creatures began to emerge, including cat-like and rat-like monsters. Even monsters evolved from bats and owls could appear. They were extremely dangerous.
"Hm?"
Ye Yu was watching outside from the other side of the room when a faint sound of surprise escaped her.
"Sis Ye, what's wrong?"
Xu Ai was resting nearby. Hearing Ye Yu's quiet exclamation, she couldn't help asking.
Ye Yu didn't answer Xu Ai. Instead, she looked toward Liu Qingling and spoke softly.
"Captain, come over quickly. There's a Golden Silk Demon Spider."
"What!?"
Liu Qingling jolted and hurried over to look downstairs. A golden spider, roughly three or four meters long, was clutching a web-bound monster and feeding on it.
"Monster General Level. It should be between low and intermediate."
The others gathered around too, peeking at the spider monster.
"We're so lucky! We actually found a spider monster!"
Xu Ai didn't know much about monsters, but she could tell from her sisters' excited expressions that this spider was valuable.
"It's normal that you don't know much about it, Xiao Ai. These monsters are extremely rare, so there's no need for schools to teach about them."
Seeing Xu Ai's puzzled expression, Yu Fei explained:
"The Grand Nirvana affected more than just animals. It affected insects too. But compared to animals, insects weren't affected enough to cause major changes to the environment. Most of them only grew a little bigger. A one-millimeter ant might grow to two or three millimeters, but that didn't make much difference. Insecticide could still kill them."
"But not all insects were like that. Some mutated too much and grew as large as big animals—or even bigger. Like that spider..."
"Sis Fei, spiders aren't insects..." Xu Ai interrupted.
"I know, but I'm used to saying it that way."
Yu Fei glared at Xu Ai, then shot another look at her sisters, who were trying not to laugh.
"That spider evolved from an ordinary golden silk spider. It's called a Golden Silk Demon Spider, and it's an extremely rare monster. Every part of it is valuable: its spinnerets, venom sac, fangs, and legs are all precious materials. An Intermediate Beast General is worth as much as a high-level Lord Monster."
Liu Qingling added:
"But it's also very difficult to deal with. Golden Silk Demon Spiders have an incredibly sharp battle instinct—spider sense, I think it's called. Anyway, they always manage to dodge attacks one step ahead.
"Their claws and fangs are poisonous, and they can also shoot sticky webs to hinder their opponents.
"They're extremely agile too, whether they're chasing something or fleeing. A Monster General-level Golden Silk Demon Spider can't beat a Lord-level one, but hunting it is harder than hunting most Lord-level monsters."
Liu Qingling hesitated, unsure whether they should attack. After all, the Golden Silk Demon Spider below was a Monster General-level monster.
"Should we go for it?"
Ye Yu asked for everyone's opinion. Hunting this Golden Silk Demon Spider was as difficult as hunting a Lord Monster, and the strongest among them—Liu Qingling and herself—were only approaching War God Level.
"Of course we should! We hardly ever get a chance to find such a rare monster."
Yu Fei put away her sniper rifle and took out her heavy machine gun. There was no point trying to aim at such a massive spider that could dodge and evade. Only suppressing it with firepower would work.
The others were interested in the spider too, and they all agreed.
It wasn't that they couldn't beat it. The question was whether they could catch it!
Xu Ai certainly wouldn't refuse either.
This was her first time encountering this type of monster. Even the original story didn't feature many monsters, and most of them were common animals.
"All right. Qingling, take the lead. Xiao Fei and Xiao Ai, come with me. Qin Yi, you and Xiao Xia and Xiao Zhen, flank it from behind. I'll go to the rooftop alone to watch the situation and coordinate. I'll also keep it from escaping up the wall. Xiao Zhen and Xiao Ai, protect Xiao Fei and Xiao Xia."
After Ye Yu assigned everyone their tasks, Liu Qingling led the others quickly down a different stairwell, while Ye Yu left the group and ran straight to the rooftop.
When they reached the first floor, Qin Yi, Jun Xia, and Gu Zizhen left the group and circled around from the other side. Liu Qingling led Xu Ai and Yu Fei toward the Golden Silk Demon Spider from the front.
As Xu Ai and the others neared its location, the Golden Silk Demon Spider seemed to sense them. It stopped eating and looked over.
"Move!"
Liu Qingling charged forward with her Willow Leaf Blade.
The Golden Silk Demon Spider looked at her impassively and swung both forelegs at her.
At the same time, Qin Yi and the others took their positions across the street and attacked the spider with their shields.
As if sensing them, the Golden Silk Demon Spider swept one of its hind legs back at Qin Yi.
Liu Qingling easily sidestepped the counterattack, while Qin Yi raised her shield and took the blow head-on.
Though hunting a Golden Silk Demon Spider was as difficult as hunting a Lord-level monster, that only meant it was hard to kill. It didn't mean the spider was a Lord-level monster. Its strike couldn't shake Qin Yi at all.
Yu Fei raised her heavy machine gun. With the strength of a War General, she easily aimed at the spider's head and squeezed the trigger.
The heavy machine gun had a special silencer, so it made no sound. But even without looking, the Golden Silk Demon Spider could sense the danger and quickly used its claws to block the bullets.
Bullets capable of piercing an Intermediate Beast General's defenses couldn't even scratch its claws!
Jun Xia's flying daggers shot toward the Golden Silk Demon Spider's abdomen, forcing it to use another claw to fend them off.
Under such a fierce barrage, the Golden Silk Demon Spider grew impatient. It let out a piercing shriek, then began shooting web after web from its rear at the group of young women...
Xu Ai and Gu Zizhen stepped forward. Xu Ai cut the web in two with her sword, while Gu Zizhen knocked it aside.
The sticky web landed on the ground. Qin Yi could withstand it, but Liu Qingling, who had to dodge the attacks, was in trouble. She had to avoid the Golden Silk Demon Spider's attacks while also making sure she didn't step on any scattered webs.
Jun Xia watched the webs on the ground, growing annoyed. She sent several flying daggers after the Golden Silk Demon Spider's spinnerets, forcing it to swing its hind legs even faster.
Despite everyone working together, they weren't making any headway. Only then did the Golden Silk Demon Spider realize it couldn't take down these prey. It finally decided to retreat.
Once it made up its mind, the Golden Silk Demon Spider shot out a mass of webs, scattering them irregularly across the ground and walls.
"Everyone, be careful! It's trying to escape!"
Liu Qingling's eyes narrowed as she stepped up her attack. Qin Yi also charged at the Golden Silk Demon Spider behind her shield.
"Tsiii!"
The Golden Silk Demon Spider let out a piercing shriek. It swung two legs at Liu Qingling and Qin Yi, while the other two quickly knocked Jun Xia's flying daggers aside.
Taking advantage of the opening, the Golden Silk Demon Spider dug in with its four long legs and leaped onto the wall of a tall building, then quickly climbed upward.
"Damn it!"
Yu Fei swept the area with her machine gun, but it was no use.
Sticky spiderwebs covered the nearby walls, so Xu Ai and the others couldn't chase after it.
Only Yu Fei's machine gun and Jun Xia's flying daggers continued to pursue the Golden Silk Demon Spider.
"Xiao Yu, keep an eye on it. We'll go up through the building next door."
"I just happened to run into it!"
That was what Ye Yu said, but in truth, she had noticed the Golden Silk Demon Spider trying to escape. She had leaped from the roof of the thirty-story building, using window ledges and air-conditioning units to break her fall as she descended. At the last moment, she slashed at the Golden Silk Demon Spider as it climbed up.
The Golden Silk Demon Spider wasn't so easily caught. After blocking Ye Yu's slash, it didn't linger. It shot a lump of sticky white web at her, then sprang away on its eight long legs and fled...
Before you continue