Dark Spider Mother

The scenery around Dark Street blurred and shifted; the once merely aged Dark Street rapidly became dilapidated.

Large swaths of black, scorched marks spread outward, emitting a burnt stench.

The next moment, piles of construction debris appeared in Dark Street, looking as if they had been drenched by rain, forming brownish-red puddles as a metallic, fishy odor surged into his nostrils.

Lin Ye looked ahead, and accompanied by the sound of paw pads slapping the ground, a black cat slowly walked out from the shadows.

Its size was larger than an ordinary cat, approaching that of a yellow dog.

Its fur was matted, sticking to its body in clumps, and its teeth were bared, dripping with saliva.

Its eyeballs were a cloudy, pale blue, and its expression was ferocious.

It let out an unintelligible hiss from its mouth; it sounded nothing like a cat, but rather like a zombie monster from a movie.

Before he could react, a patch of black mist drifted over and coalesced into text before his eyes.

[Achievement Triggered: Pursuit of the Dark Predator]

[Achievement Description: The Dark Spider Mother has developed an appetite for you.]

[Unlock Conditions]

1. Explore this area to over 10% (7%)

2. Kill one Cat-type Spider Puppet (Incomplete)

3. Escape the "Flowing Shadow: Dark Predator" (Incomplete)

[Achievement Rewards]

1. Potential Point x3

2. Yin-Attracting Constitution +1

The black text dissipated, and Lin Ye's gaze fell onto the back of his right hand.

The number of lit scales on the Ouroboros mark remained unchanged; it was still 52.

"In other words, even if I haven't fully lit it up, other places similar to that church will still find me."

"Flowing Shadow... Shadow Realm... Since the Monument distinguishes between them, they must belong to different types of things."

He thought of the title of that webpage.

"It is not you chasing the Flowing Shadow, but the Flowing Shadow chasing you."

"So, what are the entry conditions? An altar? Nighttime? A remote location? Or... the Yin-Attracting Constitution?"

"Although they are different types of things, they can both grant the Yin-Attracting Constitution, which means there must be some kind of connection?"

Looking at the black cat monster in front of him, his gaze turned cold.

Cat-type Spider Puppet, this must be the thing.

Although it was larger than a normal cat, it wasn't that big; if it was just one... it wouldn't be hard!

The moment this thought flashed through his mind, another commotion arose behind the black cat, and four more Cat-type Spider Puppets slowly walked out from the shadows.

The five Cat-type Spider Puppets twitched their heads slightly, their pale, lifeless eyes staring at Lin Ye, seemingly judging the strength of their prey.

Lin Ye narrowed his eyes and slowly shifted his feet, moving toward the construction debris on one side.

Seemingly having sensed the prey's intent to attack, the five Cat Puppets let out low hisses and lunged forward.

With their limbs pounding the ground, their bodies turned into streaks of black shadows, their movements agile and ghostly.

Lin Ye's pupils constricted, and without a moment's hesitation, he rolled on the ground, his right hand seizing a long, thin, rusted iron rod and swinging it fiercely toward the front.

"Bang--!"

The rusted iron rod slammed solidly into the torso of one Cat Puppet, causing its body to fold at a ninety-degree angle before it was sent flying backward.

[Explore this area to over 10% (Completed)]

[Kill one Cat-type Spider Puppet (Completed)]

Before he could pull his hand back, another Cat Puppet leaped up.

Baring its fangs, it hissed and bit down hard on his forearm, the scent of blood spreading.

Lin Ye's expression turned savage; his left hand slammed down, gripping the Cat Puppet's eye sockets, and with a burst of strength in his knuckles, both eyeballs instantly burst.

He yanked it hard and slammed it directly onto the ground.

With a heavy stomp, the Cat Puppet's head cracked with the sound of breaking bone, killing it instantly.

But the next moment, he felt pain in his lower leg; another Cat Puppet had bitten down hard.

Before he could react, two more Cat Puppets lunged from the left and right, their black claws stained with blood, clawing toward his throat.

In an instant, Lin Ye's heart hammered wildly, and time seemed to enter slow motion.

He frantically searched for a countermeasure in his mind while his hands never stopped moving, swinging the rusted iron rod toward the head of the Cat Puppet on the left.

"Bang!"

The rusted iron rod descended, leaving a visible dent in the head of the Cat Puppet.

But immediately after, Lin Ye was knocked to the ground by another Cat Puppet, his iron rod clattering away to the side.

In an instant, the Cat-type Spider Puppet biting his calf released its grip, and together with this Cat Puppet, it lunged toward Lin Ye's neck.

Lin Ye violently rolled to his side, locking his arm around the neck of one Cat Puppet while clamping his legs around its body.

With a powerful thrust of his waist and abdomen, he flipped upward, ripping the Cat Puppet's head and throat out by force, sending black blood spraying everywhere.

"Hiss--!"

The other Cat Puppet let out a sharp screech, its front claws raking across Lin Ye's chest, shredding his shirt and leaving deep, bleeding gashes.

Tossing the severed head aside, Lin Ye grabbed the last Cat Puppet by the fur on its back and hauled himself up with brute force.

He knelt on the ground, head bowed, gasping for air as he choked the life out of the Cat Puppet, pinning it firmly to the floor.

The Cat Puppet struggled and shrieked, while the sound of rhythmic thumping echoed from both ends of the Dark Street.

Over a dozen Cat Puppets slowly emerged from the shadows, surrounding him from front and back, trapping Lin Ye in the center of the Dark Street.

"Snap!"

Following the sound of breaking bone, the neck of the Cat Puppet under Lin Ye's hands snapped backward, and it went limp, its tongue lolling out and its eyes bulging wide.

Releasing his grip, Lin Ye knelt on the ground, his arms hanging limply at his sides as if he were completely drained, his heavy breathing gradually fading away.

The Cat Puppets on either side cautiously stepped forward, emitting low growls, their saliva dripping onto the ground.

Just as they were certain their prey had no strength left to resist, Lin Ye's body suddenly began to tremble slightly.

A shivering, shrill laugh rang out, echoing through the Dark Street.

Lin Ye's trembling body shook more and more violently, as if he were suppressing something.

A few seconds later, he slowly raised his head, his eyes clear and piercing, and he grinned, his two rows of white teeth stained with blood.

He grabbed the nearby Cat Puppet corpse and hurled it forward, then surged up with it, snatching the discarded rusted iron rod to charge forward fiercely.

The Cat Puppet opposite him tilted its head and swayed, dodging the flying corpse, only to see a boot sole rapidly enlarging in its field of vision.

"Bang!"

Accompanied by the sound of snapping bone, Lin Ye stomped on the Cat Puppet's face, breaking its neck backward.

He swung the rusted iron rod horizontally, smashing it into the neck of another Cat Puppet.

Snapping necks—this was the most efficient way to kill that he had discovered.

"Hiss--!"

"Hiss... hiss..."

A chorus of screeches erupted in the Dark Street as the Cat Puppets launched their attack on Lin Ye one after another.

It was unclear how much time had passed when Lin Ye stepped on the head of a Cat Puppet, his hands locking onto its jaw.

"Rip--!"

With the sound of tearing flesh, the Cat Puppet's body was forcibly ripped in two from the jaw.

Blood splattered in an arc, and viscera spilled messily across the ground.

Grabbing the rusted iron rod to prop himself up, Lin Ye knelt on one knee, gasping for air, surrounded by a vast pile of Cat Puppet corpses.

In the distance, a few remaining Cat Puppets stared fixedly at him, their pale, turbid eyes lifeless, their feet shifting back and forth, not daring to approach.

"Clang! Clang!"

A sound of metal clashing echoed from outside the Dark Street.

At the same time, the black mist in the Dark Street grew thick, and the surrounding scene seemed to recede and blur, the sounds gradually fading into the distance.

Lin Ye raised his head, wiped the blood from the corner of his eye, and looked toward the outside of the Dark Street.

Within the mist, a huge, beautiful figure vaguely appeared, though its lower body was the terrifying shadow of an eight-legged spider.

Through the haze, one could even faintly see sharp, spike-like protrusions on its exoskeleton.

"The Dark Spider Mother, is it..."

Before he could clearly see the face of this beautiful yet terrifying figure, the mist gradually dissipated, and the surroundings returned to their original state.

[Escaped "Flowing Shadow · Dark Predator" (Completed)]

"Clatter!"

Lin Ye released the rusted iron rod and collapsed onto his back.

"Monument, unlock achievement..."

The next instant, thick mist surged from the Ouroboros mark on the back of his hand, and a chill spread throughout his entire body.