"Bing'er, can you hear me?"
Chu Xiu felt strangely as though he were in another space, separated from the rest of the world by a thin membrane.
Shui Bing'er said, bewildered, "I can hear you, but your voice sounds a little distant. Still..."
Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin stared at the skirt of leaves floating in midair, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"What is it?"
Chu Xiu had not realized his leaf skirt could not turn invisible with him. He followed their gazes downward and finally spotted the problem.
"Damn it. My Concealment Ability only works on my body? It can't hide anything else?"
Chu Xiu did not care whether he could wear leaves while concealed.
The problem was that if he could not even hide leaves, he certainly could not hide a weapon.
He had thought his Concealment Ability would let him strike down other Spirit Beasts in a single blow while invisible. Now that seemed out of the question.
"A Spirit Beast's abilities are meant for its own body, and Spirit Beasts don't wear clothes. I think it makes sense."
Shui Bing'er covered her mouth as she laughed.
Chu Xiu dropped his concealment. Not being able to carry a weapon while hidden was disappointing, but the ability was still extraordinary.
After all, concealment was an innate ability that required no Soul Power.
In other words, if he wanted to, he could remain hidden for the rest of his life. He could even stay concealed while asleep.
Unless he was caught in an unexpected clash, it made him almost impossible to kill.
"Chu Xiu, what's going on with her?"
Shui Bing'er quietly moved beside Chu Xiu and glanced at Ah Yin.
After testing Ah Yin's sincerity, Chu Xiu had already agreed on a story with her. He answered without hesitation, "Bing'er, Ah Yin hid an important ability from us."
"What ability?"
Shui Bing'er looked puzzled.
"Her Martial Soul. Like mine, it's a Body Martial Soul. Hers is a Nose Martial Soul, though. She can pick up faint scents that even canine Spirit Beasts would miss."
Chu Xiu said with a straight face, "Ah Yin caught the scent left by the Man Faced Poison Spider and deliberately led us here."
Shui Bing'er was surprised to learn that Ah Yin also had a Body Martial Soul.
But something else concerned her more.
"Why did she lead us here? She was clearly trying to get us killed."
Chu Xiu sighed and looked at Ah Yin.
"You explain it yourself."
Ah Yin had never lied before. Nervous, she said hesitantly, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. I only wanted to die here myself."
"Why would you want to die?"
"And if you wanted to die, weren't there other ways? Why bring us along?"
Shui Bing'er fired off one question after another.
Ah Yin fidgeted before answering, "Because I didn't have the courage to do it myself. And I warned you to walk behind me, but you wouldn't listen."
"I'd already made up my mind. That's why I apologized to you after the Spider Web caught us."
Shui Bing'er remembered that Ah Yin had indeed apologized after they were caught in the web.
So Ah Yin had not been targeting her or Chu Xiu.
Once she understood that, some of Shui Bing'er's hostility faded.
But she was not ready to let the matter go.
"You still haven't said why you wanted to die," Shui Bing'er pressed.
"I'll explain that."
Chu Xiu cleared his throat and said solemnly, "Just before Ah Yin was transported here, her man abandoned her. So... there you have it."
Chu Xiu shrugged, deliberately taking a jab at Tang Hao in front of Ah Yin.
Shui Bing'er could not understand it.
A man had abandoned her. Was that really enough to make her want to die?
Yesterday, when Chu Xiu had left her on the beach and taken Ning Rongrong into the mountains, she had felt a little down too. But she had not wanted to die over it.
Besides.
Even if Ah Yin could not accept it, she should punish the man who had abandoned her.
Why punish herself?
"Um, Bing'er, there's something I need your opinion on."
Chu Xiu suddenly looked embarrassed. With an awkward laugh, he said, "Ah Yin's ability would help us a lot, so I want her to stay alive. But she's a bit insatiable. She can't go a day without a man."
At his explanation, Ah Yin's face instantly turned bright red.
This was not what they had agreed on. Chu Xiu had not asked her permission to say any of that.
Shui Bing'er's mouth fell open in shock.
She looked at Ah Yin. How could such a dignified, beautiful, gentle woman be like that?
"Ah Yin, is what Chu Xiu said true?"
"I, I..."
How could Ah Yin bring herself to admit it?
Beside her, Chu Xiu warned her with a pointed double meaning, "Think carefully before you answer, Ah Yin. Otherwise, the next time you need my help, I'll have no reason to say yes."
Ah Yin understood what he meant. Swallowing her embarrassment, she answered:
"He isn't lying. I'm that kind of woman."
Shui Bing'er had no words.
The contrast between Ah Yin's appearance and her confession was too much.
Chu Xiu pressed her. "Bing'er, tell me what you think. If you agree we need Ah Yin, I'll make the sacrifice."
"Otherwise, we can leave her here to fend for herself."
Shui Bing'er gave Chu Xiu an exasperated look. He had made what he wanted obvious enough, yet he still wanted to act as though he was making a noble sacrifice.
"Rongrong was right. You're a big pervert."
Shui Bing'er gave a soft huff, then turned to Ah Yin and sighed. "Ah Yin, I don't understand how much a man means to you. But if we're going to survive here together from now on..."
"Please keep your emotions under control. Don't do anything as extreme as you did today."
Ah Yin understood that Shui Bing'er had accepted her.
She hurriedly nodded:
"I understand. What I did was wrong, and I've reflected on it."
With Ah Yin's situation settled, the three of them headed back.
Before long, they reached the beach.
Qian Renxue and Ning Rongrong were bickering again. When they saw Chu Xiu's group return early, they stopped arguing and went to meet them.
"Wow! What a huge spider!"
"Idiot. That's a Man Faced Demon Spider. How can a Soul Master not recognize such a common Spirit Beast?"
"Heh. Of course I know what a Man Faced Demon Spider is. My third brother got his Second Soul Ring from one."
"All right, you two, stop arguing."
Chu Xiu cut them off and dropped the Man Faced Demon Spider's corpse from his shoulder onto the sand.
Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin each carried another piece of its body. Green slime covered them both.
"Ugh, that's disgusting."
Ning Rongrong looked repulsed. "Spider Spirit Beasts don't even have meat. Why bring it back?"
"Who says it's useless just because it has no meat?"
Chu Xiu smiled. "This Man Faced Demon Spider's mouthparts are incredibly sharp. A curved blade made from its fangs would be even sharper than a Bone Dagger made from a Netherworld Wolf."
"And its Silk Sac contains Paralytic Toxin. Just a little could paralyze many ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts with no resistance to poison."
"We'll be counting on this spider when we clear out the nearby Spirit Beasts."
Before you continue