Rip-off

The spider nest was located at the very end of the withered woods.

The two men followed the silk threads on the ground until they reached a recessed opening in the rock face.

The entrance was blocked by a thick, dense layer of spider silk.

Behind the web, green toxic mist rolled and churned within the gaps.

The second-rank monster Phantom Face Spider had not yet moved against Zhou Kuang.

It lay in the center of the web, the woman's face on its back keeping its eyes closed.

Its eight strange eyes stared fixedly outside the cave; no one could hope to sneak in unnoticed.

"It's still guarding the entrance."

"That beast! It's become even more cunning than it was five years ago!"

Lu Qingshan said.

Li Pingsheng pulled him back to the pile of rocks upwind.

He activated the Breath Concealment Art, suppressing his heartbeat, breathing, and the fluctuations of his blood energy.

His entire presence vanished, his eyes locked firmly on the web a hundred paces away.

Martial Wisdom talent activated.

In his vision, the concentration and flow of the pink spores in the air, the vibrations of the web, and the breathing of the Phantom Face Spider were all clearly visible.

He immediately understood the reason.

This beast was extremely greedy for fresh, potent blood energy.

The reason it wasn't in a hurry to eat Zhou Kuang now was that it wanted to use Zhou Kuang as bait, guarding the surroundings while waiting to hook a larger prey!

An idea popped into Li Pingsheng's mind.

He crouched down, pulled a short blade from his waist, and scraped some toxic sap from a rotten wood stump.

Then, he plucked a few pitch-black poisonous mushrooms from the edge of a rock crevice.

Finally, his eyes drifted to a cluster of thorny branches broken by Zhou Kuang, with a single drop of dark blood hanging from them.

Li Pingsheng carefully caught the drop of blood with a leaf.

Rotten wood sap, poisonous mushrooms, and Zhou Kuang's blood.

With the three items in his palm, he triggered his Martial Wisdom talent, and dozens of formulas flashed through his mind in an instant.

He exerted force with his fingers, exhaling a bit of true energy, and rapidly kneaded the three items into a ball according to the ratio.

Before long, two black pills the size of fingernails lay in his palm.

Pseudo-Blood Incense.

This item had no blood energy of its own, but once crushed, its contents would react within the toxic miasma, mimicking blood energy ten times more potent than that of a True Person.

Li Pingsheng handed over the pills: "Brother Lu."

Lu Qingshan understood with a single glance.

He nodded and took the pills.

He took a deep breath, forcing all the remaining strength in his body into his right fingertips.

He aimed at a patch of mudflats a hundred paces away.

He remembered that it was the den of a first-rank monster, the Iron-Armored Boar.

He flicked his finger.

The black pill traced an arc through the air, whistling as it shot into the distant mudflats.

The next second, the Pseudo-Blood Incense shattered in the mud.

A scent of potent, fresh blood energy mixed with the sweetness of spores exploded outward, spreading through the entire forest.

The Phantom Face Spider, which had been lying on the web, shuddered.

The woman's face on its back snapped its eyes open and let out a sharp screech.

This blood energy was more than ten times stronger than the one in the cave.

Was it a trap?

Or was it meat?

In the end, the beast's greed won out.

The benefits of devouring one strong target were far greater than devouring ten weak ones.

It could no longer hold back; its eight legs pushed off the web, and its massive body lunged toward the scent of blood energy, carrying a gust of foul, fishy wind.

As soon as the Phantom Face Spider left the web, Li Pingsheng shouted: "The opportunity is here, let's go!"

He charged out immediately.

[Wind Treading] talent activated.

He tapped his toes against the web for leverage, carrying Lu Qingshan through the toxic mist and diving deep into the spider cave.

The movement was so fast it left no trace, the exact inverse of how the Phantom Face Spider had rushed out.

The cave was pitch black, the air thick with a foul stench of rotting matter mixed with a cloying sweetness, and the ground beneath their feet felt sticky.

"We must not make any loud noises."

Lu Qingshan said, "There's no telling when that beast might return."

Using the light from the cave entrance, the two squeezed through a narrow stone crevice.

The space ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a massive Limestone Cave, with piles of white sacs of all sizes hanging from the walls.

Right there in the jumble of rocks at the center of the spider nest, they saw Zhou Kuang.

He was still alive.

But at this moment, Zhou Kuang was bound tightly in thick spider silk, unable to move an inch.

The flesh from his knees down was gone, leaving only two white bones pitted and scarred by corrosive venom.

He was struggling just to breathe, clearly on the verge of death.

Hearing footsteps, the dying Zhou Kuang forced his swollen eyelids open.

When he saw that it was Li Pingsheng and Lu Qingshan, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

An indescribable sense of absurdity, resentment, and unwillingness surged up, driving him to use his final ounce of strength.

He roared: "You... why... why..."

"Why didn't that beast catch you two?! Why only me? On what grounds! Why!!"

"This isn't fair, both of them are useless trash, why didn't the beast catch them instead of me?"

The roar echoed throughout the cave.

Li Pingsheng's brows furrowed tightly.

This idiot!!

With that shout, the spider that had realized it was tricked would return immediately.

He glanced at Zhou Kuang, who was struggling desperately in the silk, and turned to Lu Qingshan.

"This fool has summoned the monster back; that beast will be here any second. You hurry back to the rock crevice outside the entrance and hide. I'll grab the Red Marrow Vine and leave."

Lu Qingshan, however, shook his head.

He pulled three black nails and a packet of powder from his robes.

"Armor Piercing Nail."

He smiled and said:

"Brother Li, five years ago, I was a cowardly deserter. I didn't have the guts to fight this beast, didn't find the Red Marrow Vine, and watched my sister... die of illness in her bed."

"I haven't gone a single day in these five years without regret."

His eyes were filled with a desperate, ruthless resolve.

"Today! Even if I die! I will die right here!"

"At the very least... I'm going to tear a piece of flesh off this beast!"

"You go find the Red Marrow Vine, I'll... hold it off for you!"

This thought had been weighing on his heart for five full years.

"Brother Lu!"

Before Li Pingsheng could stop him, a "swish-swish-swish" scraping sound came from outside the cave.

The sound drew closer, moving at a terrifying speed.

The Phantom Face Spider had returned.

"Get out of the way!"

Li Pingsheng yanked Lu Qingshan aside, and the two dove into the shadow of a stalactite.

The next second, a violent gust of wind whipped through the air.

A massive, dark object slammed into the center of the cave with a "boom."

The entire spider nest shuddered.

Eight legs smashed eight deep craters directly into the ground.

It had realized it was being played; the scent of blood and qi was a fake.

With nowhere to vent its rage, its eyes locked instantly onto the writhing Zhou Kuang on the ground.

Seeking out Zhou Kuang to vent his anger.

His two legs shot out like spears, pinning the struggling Zhou Kuang firmly to the ground.

"Ah--!"

As the venom poured in through his legs, Zhou Kuang's entire body convulsed violently, letting out a miserable shriek.

Driven mad by the pain, Zhou Kuang knew he was done for.

He used his final breath to grin toward the spot where Li Pingsheng was hiding:

"Unfair!!"

"Li Pingsheng! You're clearly just a piece of trash! Hahaha!"

"Even if I... even if I die, I'm taking you down with me!"

"Aren't you so damn tough? If you've got the guts... kill this Tier 2 monster!"

"If you can kill it... I... before I die... I'll call you Daddy!!"

Li Pingsheng: "You really are a piece of work..."