Breaking the Cocoon

Doctor Cai's double pupils continuously flashed with near-astonishment.

The special ability granted by her identity plate had rooted her in toxin research for many years, earning her remarkable achievements.

Her abilities, knowledge, and experience had given her ample confidence in the field of toxin research. There were already very few situations that could move her.

Yet the scene before her not only moved her, but also made her incredibly tense, excited, and feverish all over.

All the toxins in Jiang Qian's body had converged in his heart. Following the flow of his blood, they slowly and precisely gnawed away at the Spider Cocoon growing on the surface of his right ventricle.

The instant the two streams of toxins came into contact, Doctor Cai's scalp went numb.

And that sensation continued to intensify within her...

Visible to the naked eye, the flesh where the Spider Cocoon connected to the heart was taking on an eerily dark hue. Jiang Qian's heart rate accelerated, while the Spider Cocoon alternately shriveled and swelled with each beat, as though something were about to emerge.

"Blood pressure, 160 over 90!"

"Heart rate, 110!"

The medical staff beside her verbally reported Jiang Qian's current readings.

His blood pressure had clearly risen, and he was tachycardic.

"Doctor Cai?" The staff waited for Doctor Cai to issue emergency orders.

But Doctor Cai merely gripped the controls of the miniature device tightly, staring unblinkingly at the Spider Cocoon's condition to ensure that, should Jiang Qian fail, she could minimize the losses immediately!

If there was still a chance to do so...

Jiang Qian's eyes were tightly shut, his hands clenched at his sides as he used Spirit Vision to direct the toxic currents within his body.

His focus was absolute! He treated every breath as the moment that would decide victory.

Outside the glass wall, Lan Junxian stopped pacing and stared coldly at the teeth-grinding scene on the monitor.

Everyone's nerves tightened further and further!

Suddenly, the violently swelling Spider Cocoon on the screen visibly stalled!

It seemed as though some line of defense had been breached. Then, the Spider Cocoon gradually weakened in the standoff. As toxic blood soaked into it, the signs of life within the cocoon also steadily faded...

He succeeded! He had begun absorbing the Spider Cocoon—it was unbelievable... Doctor Cai was so excited she nearly cried out, her eyes swiftly growing wet.

Yet her hands did not relax on the equipment. Instead, she desperately restrained the inexplicable joy rising within her.

It was the joy of witnessing a vivid life on the brink of death save itself!

She had also been fortunate enough to observe, at close range, the methods of attack used by hundreds of toxins—countless syntheses and decompositions, dilutions and neutralizations... It was like watching a full-scale, disciplined military exercise, flawlessly coordinated and effortlessly executed.

Then, the damaged tissue was rapidly metabolized away, and all the readings gradually returned to normal ranges.

"He succeeded..."

Doctor Cai's voice trembled with the release of pressure.

All the medical staff, who had been under extreme tension, sighed in relief at the same time. A glow of human kindness appeared on every face.

Outside the glass wall, Lan Junxian took off his glasses and rubbed his dry, aching eyes from staring too long. Then he hurriedly put them back on, bracing a hand against the glass door as he watched Jiang Qian closely.

Jiang Qian still lay on the operating table with his eyes tightly shut and brow furrowed...

His readings had clearly all returned to normal, yet Jiang Qian still had not opened his eyes.

"Doctor Cai, what's wrong with Jiang Qian? Why hasn't he woken up?" Lan Junxian asked cautiously.

There was a problem with that question.

Because Jiang Qian should have remained conscious throughout the entire process, including now.

Only then did Doctor Cai shift her gaze away from the display and notice Jiang Qian's pale face and still-tense body.

Her gaze snapped back to the monitor, her double pupils locking onto the "remains of the Spider Cocoon" once more!

The moment she focused, the Spider Cocoon, which should already have died, suddenly ruptured. Inky fluid surged out, carrying a half-crippled little spider with it.

Jiang Qian's eyes flew open!

At the same time, his hand reached toward his chest—but experienced medical personnel stopped him, pinning him down tightly!

"Jiang Qian!" Doctor Cai exclaimed.

Jiang Qian opened his eyes to narrow slits, revealing a pair of purple pupils.

"She's here..."

After saying that, Jiang Qian closed his eyes.

Then, as though another soul had come alive within Jiang Qian's body!

Using Jiang Qian's body, "she" let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Oh my, you official people really are hard to deal with! Are you ever going to stop?"

The operating room fell deathly silent as the medical staff retreated one after another.

The air was filled with an eerie, terrifying presence.

Only Doctor Cai remained firmly at her post, but the equipment in her hands was useless against the current situation.

"Peacock Spider?"

Outside the glass wall, Lan Junxian suddenly understood!

At the decisive moment when poison had been used against poison to catch her off guard, Jiang Qian had originally had the chance to rapidly break down the Spider Cocoon and consume Peacock Spider's living toxins completely.

But he had actually followed Lan Junxian's theoretical hypothesis and attempted to establish a mental connection with the Spider Cocoon!

That was what gave the Spider Cocoon's owner an opportunity to counterattack.

"Y-you are... Peacock Spider?"

Cold sweat slid down Doctor Cai's fair neck and over her body, burning hot with agitation.

At that moment, "Jiang Qian," possessed by Peacock Spider, was trying to rise from the operating table...

"Ah~ If you keep this up, Brother Jiang is going to die. Let me see what useless treatment you've been giving him..."

The purple pupils abruptly shifted toward the high-definition display above and to the side.

On the display were the remains of the little spider, eroded and corrupted by toxic blood.

"Her" pupils dilated, then abruptly contracted!

"You people?!"

This was Ayiguli's only medium of contact with Jiang Qian!

And it had almost been destroyed...

The purple pupils flickered uncertainly. After a brief struggle, those eyes returned to calm.

"Shangyuan Garden, Number 52, the northern suburban villa district of Jintian City!"

After Jiang Qian fully stated the location, he quickly added, "There's a woman and a child in the garage. The child is locked inside a car, and their vital signs are weak."

This was the information he had obtained through Spirit Vision after syncing senses with Peacock Spider.

Lan Junxian raised his phone. "Xiao Jing, you heard all that, right?"

A girl's cold reply came through the receiver. "Received."

Jiang Qian's gaze clouded over again as Peacock Spider's remaining will made its final desperate struggle.

Not long after.

"You set me up?!" Ayiguli's voice was instantly filled with furious rage. "Then keep coming to die!"

"A setup? Sorry, this is a legal hunt."

Lan Junxian put away his phone and stared coldly into those purple eyes. "The person heading out to hunt you is named Ye Xiao Jing. Perhaps you've never heard that name, but you should at least know her record of hunting Spider Cards."

"Phantom Wolf Spider, Southern Ridge Black Widow, Desert Mad Dog, and Fire Rose..."

He leisurely listed the names that had died beneath those twin blades, until he heard that familiar title from the other party—a title that filled him with pride as well—

"Withered Leaf Mantis... Ye Xiao Jing?"

A vicious glint flashed through the purple pupils. "Today, I'll make you lose those famous twin blades! Ahahahaha..."

Watching her arrogant display, Lan Junxian suddenly felt a faint unease.

Her wild laughter echoed through the operating room, accompanied by warning alarms from the monitoring equipment.

All of Jiang Qian's readings surged again!

Lan Junxian had already rushed into the operating room, but there was nothing he could do against Peacock Spider's consciousness. Doctor Cai likewise dared not act rashly.

At that moment, a shadow crawled out from beneath the operating table and slowly climbed onto Jiang Qian's body.

The shadow had hollow eyes and the appearance of a dried corpse. It slowly embraced Jiang Qian, who was fighting Peacock Spider for control of his body, then burrowed into those purple eyes.

The entire operating room suddenly turned cold.

Before Lan Junxian and Doctor Cai could understand what eerie event had occurred, Ayiguli reacted first.

"So cold... What is this?"

"Damn it! Who's touching me?!"

And as the Spider Cocoon was about to be completely consumed, Peacock Spider's consciousness finally weakened.

The eerie atmosphere in the operating room, chilling enough to make one's spine crawl, seemed to leave along with Peacock Spider's "departure."

Jiang Qian abruptly opened his eyes and, supported by Doctor Cai, gasped for breath.

The little black porcelain figurine hidden in his pocket had vanished without a trace.

Lan Junxian also rushed to the operating table and asked with great concern, "Jiang Qian, what did you do? Where's Peacock Spider?"

After catching his breath, Jiang Qian curled his lips into a smile. "I saw she was single, so I introduced her to an old friend. They're probably enjoying some quality time together now..."