Spider's Kiss

"What's on this island?" Yang Yi asked coldly.

The only reason he hadn't shot Hu Wei dead was to ask him this question.

"If I tell you... will you let me go?"

Hu Wei sat slumped on the ground, raising his head with difficulty to look at Yang Yi.

"You can trust me!" Yang Yi lowered his gun.

"Liar! Those are clearly the eyes of a killer!" Hu Wei began coughing, seemingly struggling even to speak.

Yang Yi frowned. He really hadn't intended to spare Hu Wei.

"You're good. I admit defeat, so I won't trouble you to do it! As for what's on the island... I'll leave you to see for yourself!" Hu Wei laughed sinisterly, his mouth full of blood, a mass of crimson.

"What do you mean?"

Hu Wei didn't answer. Instead, he pulled a cleaver from behind his waist.

Yang Yi immediately grew alert and raised his gun to aim, but didn't fire.

Because Hu Wei had already killed himself.

He was decisive, using the last of his strength to plunge the blade into his throat without a moment's hesitation.

This guy... was ruthless too!

Although he couldn't see it, Hu Wei's log still updated.

[You have died. Oath prerequisite quest failed. Completion: 6/10...]

Two orbs of light dropped beside him, presumably the drops left after a player's death.

Yang Yi was just about to collect them when he sensed something wrong.

He heard a rustling sound, as though many things were crawling.

And the sound was coming from Hu Wei's corpse!

The next second, Hu Wei's corpse moved, shuddering as if in convulsions.

At the same time, countless fingernail-sized spiders crawled out of the wounds and orifices of his corpse.

What the hell?

[You were startled. Sanity decreased by 5.]

Yang Yi pulled the trigger. To be safe, he was still using the immensely powerful cannon mode.

Boom!

The shot packed astonishing power!

Hu Wei's corpse and the cabin door were blasted apart, and a large hole was torn in the hull, letting sunlight stream in.

The recoil sent Yang Yi flying into the wall.

"What are you doing? He's already dead!"

Su Na ran over, looking somewhat displeased.

Had that shot been a little lower, it would have blown a hole in her beloved Witch Laboratory.

"There were spiders inside him. A lot of spiders!"

Yang Yi explained.

Remembering what he'd just seen still left him shaken.

In his nightmare, he'd met the same end as Hu Wei!

But how could spiders emerge from inside a person?

Su Na looked toward the wreckage.

"Spiders? Where? Why don't I see any?" She scanned the surroundings.

"Aren't they right there?"

Yang Yi pointed at the debris nearby, then suddenly froze.

He could swear there had been spiders on the floor just now. They were tiny, but very conspicuous.

Yet now, there was nothing on the floor except scraps of flesh, broken planks, and splattered blood!

"I definitely saw spiders just now..." Yang Yi said with certainty.

"Enough. Do you realize your arm is dislocated?"

Yang Yi's left arm hung limply at his side, his shoulder joint out of place.

Fortunately, Su Na was a medical student. Although orthopedics wasn't her field, she was a rare all-rounder, and in no time, she had popped Yang Yi's left arm, dislocated by the recoil, back into place.

He was still searching for traces of spiders.

"That's impossible. I definitely saw spiders!"

Suddenly, his nose itched, and a little blood trickled out. He had probably been injured by the Flintlock's recoil.

But the itching wouldn't stop, as though something was crawling inside. Yang Yi couldn't resist picking his nose, and actually dug out a black spider the size of a grain of rice.

[A spider crawled out of your body. Sanity decreased by 10.]

Startled, Yang Yi immediately crushed the spider and continued picking his nose. Fortunately, there wasn't a second one.

"There really was a spider. When did you breathe it into your nose..."

Su Na bent down and picked up the spider's corpse from the floor.

"Breathed it in?"

Yang Yi didn't think it was that simple. This spider had definitely crawled out from inside his body!

He immediately checked his status.

Status: injured "Human figure with limbs spread, back and left arm pale yellow"

Sanity: 85/100

Energy: 94/100

Vitality: 93/100

Everything was normal up to that point, but after his talents, there was another status.

[Spider's kiss: a gift from the Spider Mother Goddess. Spiders will crawl out of your wounds from time to time, but you'll soon get used to it!

Can unlock an oath prerequisite quest. Spider-type Otherworldly Demons' hostility toward you -100%.]

"When did this status appear?"

He immediately checked his activity log.

[You have obtained spider's kiss.]

Judging by the time, it must have happened the instant Hu Wei died!

"As soon as he died, this status transferred to me?" Yang Yi narrowed his eyes.

Su Na wasn't afraid of spiders and was about to walk into the sunlight to examine it closely.

But unexpectedly, the spider vaporized and vanished the moment sunlight touched it.

Yang Yi noticed this too. He immediately walked over and gripped Su Na's hand.

"It actually disappeared?" he said incredulously.

"Let go. You're hurting me!" Su Na said in displeasure, pulling her hand back.

But Yang Yi paid her no attention, his mind racing.

This status definitely had something to do with Hu Wei's death.

After he died, a new successor would appear...

"Su Na, check your status panel. See if there's a negative status called spider's kiss!" Yang Yi reminded her.

She checked immediately, then shook her head. "I don't have it."

It looked like this curse only targeted one person!

Combined with Hu Wei's recent behavior... the answer was all but obvious!

This spider's kiss was connected to the island!

"Let's get out of here first!

My Flintlock has a twelve-hour cooldown after using cannon mode! And there's a big hole in the Nightmare Star that needs repairing!" Yang Yi gave the instructions.

Su Na nodded and began gathering the spoils with Yang Yi.

They set the matter of the spiders aside for now. They had to deal with the aftermath of the fight first.

The two orbs of light Hu Wei had dropped were collected. One had fallen into the sea.

They contained 1,250 Conch Coins and the recipe for the Tinder Wool Sweater, respectively.

[Tinder Wool Sweater: requires Tinder Wool Spider wool ×100. (One adult Tinder Wool Spider can yield 8-12 units of wool.)]

The Tinder Wool Grass had been something Hu Wei made up entirely.

There must have been monsters called Tinder Wool Spiders on that island!

What surprised Yang Yi even more was that players actually dropped recipes when they died!

At that thought, he turned to look at Su Na.

This woman had a special talent that allowed her to create unique recipes.

If she died, would the recipes she'd created drop too?

That would be dangerous. It would make her an easy target!

Yang Yi immediately warned her, "Su Na, don't sell the potions you make, and don't give them to anyone else either!"

"You mean they're all for you to drink, then?" Su Na replied.

"Uh... let's discuss that another time!" Remembering that bottle of excitement potion he couldn't bite through, Yang Yi suddenly felt a little queasy.

After cleaning up the battlefield, the two found three pieces of equipment and items in total!

[Name: Spiderweb Gloves]

[Type: treasure]

[Quality: good]

[Description: enhances grip, allowing you to climb rock faces without getting stuck to spider silk.

That's right, with these, you can scale walls and leap across rooftops!]

[Name: Delicious Chef's Knife]

[Type: relic]

[Quality: fine]

[Description: a sharp cleaver. Anything it cuts becomes exceptionally delicious and highly addictive. A favorite of those with anorexia!

The deliciousness effect lasts 5 days. Only has a localized effect on excessively large objects exceeding 3 cubic meters.]

[Name: Healing Spray]

[Type: consumable]

[Quality: fine]

[Description: spray onto wounds to accelerate healing. Uses remaining: 3/10.]

Yang Yi picked up the chef's knife, which was no more than thirty centimeters long.

"Getting cut by this knife makes you delicious?"

His expression was a little odd as he caught a sweet scent in the air.