Chapter 201: I am here

He asked in surprise, "Why are you following?"

"We need backup personnel," Liu Tong said. He was a meticulous person; if Sun Jiayuan failed, someone would still need to take over his task.

So, a dozen or so people rushed to the riverbank, rolled thoroughly in the muddy ground, coating themselves with three layers of mud inside and out. When they stood up, they were unrecognizable, with only their eyes visible.

Even Willow did the same, rolling in the mud without a care.

He Lingchuan also filled his waterskin as he went.

The thin man spat out a mouthful of foul, muddy water. "Ugh, it stinks!"

He didn't even dare to imagine what else might be in the mud.

Everyone returned to their original position, which was closest to the giant nest. Sun Jiayuan slung his bow and arrows over his back and nodded to Liu Tong. "Ready."

A dozen or so mud-covered figures simultaneously charged forward, but they stopped when the spiders approached.

A strange scene unfolded: when they stopped, the cave spiders passed right by them, completely ignoring their presence.

Right, the strong smell of mud on them completely masked their human scent.

The cave spiders, accustomed to the smell of earth, naturally showed no reaction.

"Go!"

Without another urge from Liu Tong, Sun Jiayuan sprinted to the edge of the nest, did a front roll, and descended, covering his face and tucking in his legs.

The brocade looked magnificent, but like ordinary spiderwebs, it had sticky beads every half-palm's distance, and their adhesive power was astonishing. Anything that brushed against it would lose a layer of skin and had no way of breaking free.

However, Sun Jiayuan was covered in several layers of muddy skin, still dripping wet. With each layer of spiderweb he rolled through, he lost a bit of mud, allowing him to descend layer by layer by gravity.

Willow glanced back during a lull in the fighting and exclaimed with delight, "This plan can work!"

In just a few breaths, Sun Jiayuan had descended through seven or eight layers of spiderwebs. Once he breached the final defense, he could throw the fire bombs into the nest.

The spider-demons also sensed something was wrong and swarmed from all directions. The group threw out the insect repellent bottles they had prepared, gaining as much time as possible.

The insect repellent smoke was highly effective; ordinary spiders would twitch their legs and die within two steps of smelling it. However, the spider-demons guarding the nest clearly had greater tolerance; they simply shook their heads and charged forward, holding their breath.

Their specialty was clearly silk spraying, but this time, He Lingchuan, Liu Tong, and the other mud-covered figures had an advantage—the webs couldn't drag them away.

Liu Tong couldn't help but urge loudly, "Sun Jiayuan, hurry up!"

The spider-demons were thick-skinned, strong, and had many tricks, but their numbers were limited. The patrol guards could easily handle two against one. However, the insect repellent bottles wouldn't burn for long. When they ran out, small spiders would swarm everywhere, infiltrating every crack, and even defensive qi fields wouldn't be able to withstand them.

It was a race against time, but Sun Jiayuan didn't reply.

"Sun Jiayuan!" Liu Tong called out a few more times.

The luxurious brocade covered the entrance to the underground nest, making it impossible for anyone to see what was below.

As everyone grew anxious, Sun Jiayuan's voice came from below, sounding somewhat distant: "The space down here is huge, and there are many more layers! I have to go down further..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly let out a piercing scream, "Ah—!"

"It's an ambush! There's a spider army! Get out of here!"

Then came a loud explosion, and firelight emanated from beneath the brocade.

The patrol guards' hearts sank.

Sun Jiayuan was likely gone.

Someone at the edge of the brocade swung their saber, hacking fiercely. As expected, the spiderweb, which appeared light and airy, was actually tougher than hundred-year-old vines. Even a refined steel blade imbued with elemental power could only snap a few strands.

And there were still a dozen or more layers of webbing covering the nest.

To know what was happening below, another person would have to go down.

Sun Jiayuan had likely met with disaster, so should they continue?

If they retreated now, what about the main force?

Even if General Nanke managed to gather the remaining troops and escape, outside the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, the Baling people were waiting to ambush them!

A step forward led to a mist, a step back to an abyss, and they had to make a decision immediately, right now!

Several people spoke up simultaneously: "I'll go!"

There was Liu Tong, Gate Plank, and two other patrol guards.

The mud on them hadn't dried yet, so they could all take over Sun Jiayuan's unfinished task.

He Lingchuan felt a surge of admiration. In terms of elite training, these patrol guards were indeed not as good as the Great Wind Army; but in terms of courage, the Blackwater City army, the supporting forces, and the Iris Kingdom officials he had seen were not even fit to tie their boots!

The thin man hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, "I-I'll go!"

The Sparrowhawk flew over, its talons still clutching the satchel.

"No, I'll go!" As it flew over He Lingchuan's head, he waved to it, "Give me the fire bombs!"

His advantage was unique; no one could compare.

The Sparrowhawk dropped the satchel. He Lingchuan caught it, pulled out a few signal arrows, turned, and ran towards the spider nest entrance, tossing the remaining ones to Liu Tong. "If I fail, you take my place!"

As he passed Willow, he also grabbed the lamp oil hanging from her waist.

"What a brave man!" He Lingchuan hadn't been with the team for long, and Liu Tong hadn't expected him to volunteer so readily. He was visibly moved. "Leave your last wishes; we will do our best to fulfill them!"

He Lingchuan's decision was a matter of life and death, but everyone had their desires, and according to the tradition of the Coiling Dragon City army, the living should try their best to fulfill the wishes of the dead.

"No need!" He Lingchuan poured water from his waterskin over his head, wetting the mud on his body even more. He employed the Swallow's Return technique, gracefully dodging several intercepting spider-demons, then rushed to the edge of the nest and, like Sun Jiayuan, jumped directly down.

Others watched as the brocade billowed, swallowing He Lingchuan. Only his voice came from below: "Buy me a drink at the Heaven Frost Tavern when you get back!"

Liu Tong shook his head. "This boy!" He was so sure he wouldn't die that he didn't even leave any last wishes?

But He Lingchuan's optimism infected the patrol guards present. Everyone's spirits lifted, and the atmosphere of anxiety and confusion diminished.

Just a few breaths later, they heard He Lingchuan exclaim in surprise, "There's a whole different world down here, like a forest!"

Gate Plank and the thin man exchanged a look in the midst of their busy actions, both seeing each other's bewilderment.

Had He Lingchuan hit his head? What kind of forest could there be underground?

"I don't see Sun Jiayuan!" He Lingchuan's voice continued to carry up. "I've set it on fire! Madame Zhu is surely suffering heavy losses!"

The thin man rushed to the edge of the nest and looked down, indeed seeing a fiery red glow flickering beneath the brocade canopy, as if a raging fire had been lit. Yet, with the brocade acting as a barrier, he couldn't even feel a trace of heat.

The fire-resistant properties of the spider silk were truly astonishing. If He Lingchuan hadn't gone down to start the fire directly, even if the Sparrowhawk had dropped an arsenal from the sky, it likely wouldn't have helped.

The nest burning successfully, the thin man was overjoyed. "He Lingchuan, come up quickly!"

"The spider army is climbing out!" He Lingchuan's voice was urgent and firm. "Retreat quickly, get out of here!"

The thin man froze. Suddenly, a colossal spider-demon emerged from the billowing brocade and lunged at him through the air!

This creature was as large as a goat, and its eight legs could leap two *zhang* (approximately 6.6 meters) in a single bound, nearly crushing the thin man.

He had never seen a spider capable of such leaps, and its speed was incredibly illogical.

Fortunately, he himself was remarkably agile; he awkwardly rolled to dodge and shouted, "Spider-demons are climbing up, over a hundred of them!"

Indeed, behind the jumping spider was an entire army of spider-demons, all large, with varied patterns and colors, but all surging towards the nest entrance along the webbing, clearly enraged!

The largest one was bigger than a grizzly bear, with a colorful, iridescent body that immediately marked it as formidable.

Only then did everyone understand that the Spider Queen had left her elite guards to protect the nest, which explained why she could leave with such peace of mind.

These powerful creatures were likely instructed to guard the underground nest and not venture out, which was why they only rushed out to confront the arsonist after He Lingchuan set a massive fire.

Over a hundred powerful, well-rested, and aggressive large monsters were too much for a dozen patrol guards. In the blink of an eye, two men were knocked down and dragged screaming into the nest.

After catching their prey, these spiders reverted to their classic predatory technique: pinning the victims to the ground, rolling and kneading them, and then wrapping them in layer after layer of sticky webbing, quickly turning them into two "rice dumplings."

"Damn it!" Their teammates' cries abruptly faded. Willow, furious, took down two silk-spinning spiders with two arrows. But the spider swarm surged forward like a tide, about to close in.

Even worse, the insect repellent bottles she had thrown out were about to burn out, and the small spiders were stirring, eager to attack.

If they didn't leave now, they would simply become prey. Liu Tong, covered in sweat, grabbed Willow's arm and shouted, "Retreat, retreat quickly!"

Willow called out He Lingchuan's name one last time towards the cavern.

The massive hole gave no response.

Gate Plank pressed on her shoulder and said in a deep voice, "He's not coming back! If you don't want to die, leave quickly!" With the cavern on fire, the Spider Queen would likely rush back, and this place was no longer safe.

He and Liu Tong each took one of Willow's arms and quickly ran towards the back of the slope.

The horses were hidden there; mounting them quickly offered hope of escape.

Just then, fireworks lit up the sky again.

In his haste, Gate Plank glanced back and was overjoyed. "Fireworks outside the Stone Forest! Perhaps reinforcements have arrived!"

The fireworks were very far away, though also in the northeast direction. Judging by the distance, they should have exploded outside the Ghost Needle Stone Forest.

The reinforcements they had awaited all night had finally arrived.

The Great Wind Army advanced to Wei City.

Just as General Hong had predicted before the battle, the several dozen miles from Puxi Gully to Wei City were traversed pleasantly, with no soldiers sighted, only two large vultures circling in the sky.

Commander Sun personally drew his bow and shot one down.

Except for night owls, birds of prey generally had poor night vision, which didn't improve much even after becoming demons. During the day, it would have had no trouble avoiding this fatal arrow.

The other was startled and flapped its wings, ascending sharply, no longer daring to fly low.

Wei City was quiet at night, with only four or five specks of red light on its gates, as if the city guards were lax.

However, just as the Great Wind Army began its assault, a volley of arrows rained down from the city gates. Immediately after, horns blared in the wilderness, and an army charged from behind the Great Wind Army!

It was an ambush.

These Baling people had been ambushing in the wilderness for most of the night, enduring wind and sand, and daring not to light fires. Their eyebrows, beards, and collars were covered in frost, and they attacked with a belly full of resentment.

Every soldier of the Great Wind Army took up their bows and first unleashed two rounds of concentrated fire on the ambushers.