Chapter 325: Willing to Serve Second Lady Loyally

"It's a great honor to meet you today!"

"You're an interesting young man, and you speak well. Stay and pass the time with me, then." After all, life in the swamp was monotonous; having someone to talk to and relieve boredom wasn't bad. Madam Zhu climbed over a broken log as if it were flat ground. "As for you—"

She slowly approached, and the pressure on Dong Rui was palpable.

Seeing He Lingchuan's expression of someone enjoying a show, he quickly leaned over and whispered, "Hey, figure out a way to save me!"

"Aren't you a demon puppeteer who specializes in subduing demons?" He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow. "There are many demons here; are you helpless?"

Dong Rui cursed him internally, thinking, *Why bring that up? Are you trying to get me killed by these demon claws?*

Madam Zhu's hearing was astonishing; she had accurately caught the words "demon puppeteer." Her eight claws splayed out, and her body immediately grew in size, her voice rising by several octaves: "You are *the* demon puppeteer? The one who captures demons and transforms them into puppets?"

"He's talking nonsense, he's slandering me!" Dong Rui declared righteously. "I've never heard of such a title, nor would I ever do something so universally condemned by gods and men!"

*This old demon lives in an unfrequented swamp; how can she be so well-informed? And she's heard of my name as a demon puppeteer?*

"You're not?"

"I really am not!" Dong Rui pointed at He Lingchuan, scolding him. "We have a feud; this bastard wishes me dead."

"What a pity," Madam Zhu sighed. "Then you're useless. My children, eat him."

He Lingchuan almost stumbled with laughter: "I've been trying to save you, you know?"

The small spiders nearby were already eager.

In this swamp, edible things were limited to a few dozen types: frogs, mice, snakes, turtles, cicadas, fish. Occasionally, wild boars or rabbits would provide a decent meal, but there were too many spiders and the prey was too small to go around.

Humans were the tastiest, tender and springy, a taste that could be savored for years.

Seeing the spider horde surge forward like a tidal wave, Dong Rui was dumbfounded and immediately changed his tune: "I am! I am! I am Dong Rui, the demon puppeteer, and I am willing to serve you, Second Madam!"

Madam Zhu raised a front claw and wiped her large, watery eyes. The spider horde immediately halted, the two foremost spiders just half an arm's length from Dong Rui.

He Lingchuan stood by with folded arms, echoing what all the spiders were thinking: "Didn't you just vehemently deny it?"

*This brat is getting back at me!* Dong Rui suppressed his anger: "I thought you were trying to harm me. The demon race has always hounded me, even issuing several wanted posters for me."

A wise man knows when to yield. He then turned to Madam Zhu: "Just give the word, and I will do my utmost."

He would certainly not say he'd "spill his guts and brains."

Madam Zhu slowly took two steps forward: "I heard that the demon puppets you create can counteract primal energy?"

As soon as she said this, both understood.

So this was what Madam Zhu had been preoccupied with.

Indeed, no rogue demon living in the deep mountains and vast swamps like her wouldn't want to find a way to counter primal energy.

If they could contend with primal energy, what would they fear from human armies?

He Lingchuan was even more aware of Madam Zhu's glorious past. An ancient demon immortal like her, still alive but relegated to a remote, unfrequented place, must have accumulated immense resentment.

This was where Dong Rui's value became apparent.

With life and death hanging on his answer, Dong Rui decisively replied, "That's right! Demons modified by me can achieve it!"

He looked at Madam Zhu's imposing, rounded figure, his eyes gleaming: "The better the fundamental quality and the more resilient the life force of the demon, the easier it is to succeed."

To be able to modify such a powerful demon would truly be the pinnacle of his career; just thinking about it filled him with excitement!

"If they survive, that is." He Lingchuan interjected, pouring cold water on his enthusiasm. "Madam Zhu, you should know that this fellow experimented on over thirty subjects and only succeeded with four. The failure rate is as high as ninety percent."

"Oh?" Madam Zhu's voice turned cold again. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Mentioning only successes and ignoring probabilities usually meant trying to swindle someone out of their life or money.

Dong Rui glared at He Lingchuan. *This fellow is truly heartless!* Earlier, they had conversed within the jellyfish...

...with such candidness! Now, they were back on land, and he was disowning him!

"Second Madam, you're overthinking it. We can conduct repeated experiments until it's absolutely foolproof before applying it to you!" he said cautiously. "After all, your advantages are unparalleled, something other demons don't possess, like all these..."

...offspring? ...consumables?

The surrounding spiders were watching him intently. He didn't know how many could understand human speech, so he didn't dare continue.

Madam Zhu waved a front paw without much thought. This was her territory; she could change her mind at any time, so there was nothing to dwell on.

With the leader's decision made, the spider horde quickly dispersed.

*Well, no chance to improve our meals today.*

Madam Zhu pointed a front claw at Dong Rui: "Didn't you say you needed to experiment? Go now."

*She's quite impatient,* Dong Rui thought with a wry smile. "It can't be done that quickly. It requires experimentation, preparation, and observation, at least two months..."

"Hm?" Madam Zhu's front claw lightly touched the ground, instantly creating a pit over three feet deep.

"...If you cooperate with me, perhaps it could be shortened to around forty days."

"What do you need?"

"A clean room to use as a laboratory. I'll give you a list, and you'll need to gather the herbs according to the requirements. For the first batch, find seven spider demons, ranging from weak to strong." Dong Rui switched into professional mode. "Oh, and also get me some food—I need meat and fish, especially fish roe, that's good for the brain. And sweet berries too."

*Humans are iron, food is steel; without eating, one can't work well.*

Madam Zhu stared at him for a long moment before asking a large, brightly colored spider nearby, "Did you get all that down?"

"Yes, I did."

"Go do it." *Though my children are loyal, they are naturally a bit slow-witted, not as nimble as humans. Alas.*

With the crisis temporarily averted, Dong Rui suddenly felt an urgent need to relieve himself and quickly found a dense patch of grass to do so.

Halfway through, someone came over whistling, stood next to him, and "watered the flowers" too.

Could it be anyone else?

Dong Rui said coldly, "You little dog, you tried to steal a chicken but lost your rice instead. Just wait, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

With just the medicines he carried, he could kill this brat a hundred times over.

He Lingchuan reminded him, "You just swore an oath not to lay a hand on me before we leave the swamp."

Dong Rui chuckled, "I don't even need to do it myself. I just need to tell Madam Zhu that the experiments require human hearts, livers, spleens, stomachs, and kidneys, and then I can watch you get vivisected."

He Lingchuan glanced back. *Well, well, well,* three spiders were trailing them, keeping watch. Being stared at by thirty-six eyes simultaneously showed how "at ease" Madam Zhu was with them.

"So you're resting easy now?" He Lingchuan chuckled. "If you fail, how will you escape alone?"

"..." Dong Rui was speechless. "What, am I supposed to count on you?"

"At least for now, we need to be on the same page, don't we?" He Lingchuan sighed. "Madam Zhu is a rare ancient grand demon; her intentions are not simple. Do you think you can easily escape her?"

"What did you say?" Dong Rui asked, his face aghast, almost shaking himself. "There are still ancient demons alive?"

He quickly regained his composure: "Just hearsay. You're not really claiming to have inherited a family record from your ancestors, are you? Ancient legends passed down through generations are often distorted."

"Do you think I'm just talking?" He Lingchuan said with a serious expression. "I genuinely recognize her, and I know exactly why she survived and didn't disappear with the immortals."

"Survived from antiquity, survived from antiquity!" Dong Rui murmured, repeating it several times, a fanatical light in his eyes. He couldn't help but rub his hands together eagerly.

He Lingchuan thought, *This isn't good. Don't pique this guy's interest so much that he decides to live in the swamp forever, dedicating himself to Madam Zhu.*

Then he himself would be in danger.

Dong Rui continued muttering to himself: "Perhaps this is what I need, perhaps what's missing..." He said a few words He Lingchuan couldn't quite catch, "...it's right here! This is truly a turning point, a turning point!"

He impulsively raised his fist, and He Lingchuan quickly...

...dodged, fearing he might splash on him.

*Ugh, how disgusting.*

"Don't cross me again, and I'll spare your life!" Dong Rui said to He Lingchuan with a serious expression. "Once we're out, we can go our separate ways, but here, we must cooperate fully. Let's both make a blood oath!"

"Fine!" He Lingchuan was always pragmatic and wouldn't quibble over his tone. He was the first to make a sincere blood oath, swearing on his father's life.

Seeing that He Lingchuan's oath contained no empty words, Dong Rui made one too.

Trapped in the enemy's lair, the two humans were forced to ally.

They exchanged smiles, each filled with contempt for the other.

After finding clear water to wash their hands, they asked the spider horde for food.

This was the territory of the Cave Spiders; there was no reason for guests to hunt for themselves.

He Lingchuan then realized that the Cave Spiders were truly a diligent and simple demon race. It was one thing that they had previously run a ranch in Ghost Needle Stone Forest, raising aphids as "dairy cows." Now, living in the swamp, they even knew how to weave large nets to farm fish.

Their spider webs were impervious to water and fire and incredibly tough. They could occupy an open body of water and engage in cage aquaculture, specifically selecting three or four types of fat, herbivorous fish to raise.

Furthermore, the spider demons would dispatch guards to take turns watching the fishponds, preventing birds from stealing fish.

Birds died for food, and unlucky water birds often ended up as meals for the spiders.

He Lingchuan also saw vast stretches of reeds in the swamp, swaying elegantly in the wind, looking beautiful even though it wasn't autumn.

He then learned that these were also cultivated by the Cave Spiders. Reed shoots were edible, and anything not eaten could be fed to the fish.

*Adapting to local conditions!* These Cave Spiders had truly maxed out their farming talent.

The spider guards ambled to the fishponds and soon returned with several large fish, as well as some crabs and shellfish.

There was even a large black fish, over a meter long, full of vigor, that must have been secretly feasting on fat carp in the net cage for a long time.

He Lingchuan looked at it, intensely missing the boiled fish seasonings from his own grand restaurant. Wasn't black fish the best ingredient for "boiling fish slices"?

Unfortunately, conditions in the swamp were rudimentary, so he and Dong Rui could only build a fire and roast everything.

Their only consolation was that his storage ring was never short of salt, cumin, and chili powder.

The aroma of fish filled the air. He Lingchuan picked up a piece of fish, silently turning his back to Dong Rui.

He simply couldn't eat while facing that man's face.