Chapter 344: Spider Molt in Hand

What is this? "Poisoned?"

Another bandit pointed at the molted skin and said, "There's something on it... a red spider!"

Under the light of the glow-spores, everyone squinted and looked. Indeed, a red spider, slightly smaller than a bowl, stood on the mountain-like molted skin.

The bandit who had just climbed up was probably ambushed by it. Small as it was, it was incredibly venomous.

Sixth Brother's eyes darted. He pointed at another molted skin and said, "Don't fight it, get another one!"

It was a good suggestion. Another bandit grabbed a cloth bag and started climbing the slightly smaller molted skin. Halfway up, he suddenly heard someone below shout, "Careful, the red spider is gone!"

"Gone?" It might have jumped onto the second molted skin. The molted skins were large, casting significant shadows, making it very difficult to spot the small red spider hidden within. They also noticed its astonishing speed; human eyes couldn't keep up. The second bandit took precautions and moved as slow as a snail, yet he was still hit. After being ambushed, he tumbled down.

Meanwhile, a bandit silently threw a grappling hook towards the top of the smallest molted skin. It hooked easily, and he swiftly climbed up the rope. He moved as nimbly as a monkey, with almost no pauses, climbing to the top of the molted skin in one fluid motion.

"The bag!"

Everyone was overjoyed and quickly threw the bag up, only then realizing something was wrong: "Huh, this... this doesn't seem to be one of us."

The person kept their head down, their face hidden in the backlit shadow, making it impossible for anyone to see clearly. But he moved incredibly deftly, fitting the snakeskin bag—no, the Qiankun Bag—neatly over the head of the molted skin. It was hard to tell if the snakeskin bag had grown larger or the molted skin had shrunk, but either way, it fit.

With a rustle, the person jumped to the ground. The molted skin was gone; he held a bulging snakeskin bag.

The red spider jumped over but missed, so angry it let out a human-like cry: "He Lingchuan, you're looking for death!"

The person who had appeared out of nowhere was He Lingchuan. The bandits, as if waking from a dream, lunged to snatch the bag, but He Lingchuan evaded them with his Swallow Reversal technique. That wasn't a swallow; he was as slippery as an eel!

He Lingchuan then produced another grappling hook, swung through the air, made a large circle in the grotto, and jumped onto the largest molted skin, attempting to put the snakeskin bag over it. "Hmm? It doesn't seem to fit." He tried twice more, but it still didn't work. It was full; he couldn't put any more in. Even so, the capacity of this snakeskin bag was far greater than the immortal ring he wore.

The red spider darted over, sneering, "You dare collect my ancient true body with just a broken snakeskin bag?"

"I was just trying it out," He Lingchuan said, dodging. "Hey, I'm on your side, aren't I? Without the snakeskin bags, they won't be able to steal your true body!"

The bandits below heard this and snapped out of their daze. "The one talking to this guy is that big female spider outside!" Sixth Brother yelled, "Run!"

Lord Boshan's "lure the tiger away from its mountain" ploy wasn't fully effective. While Zhu Erniang's main body was outside, she had left a clone to guard her molted skin. She had to keep an eye on it personally to feel at ease. The bandits knew that these demons always had strange and bizarre spells. If the small spider discovered them here, the Spider Queen would likely rush in soon! They were obedient, abandoning the two injured men and turning to flee.

The red spider, however, did not give chase. It merely stared at He Lingchuan and said, "Put it back!"

He Lingchuan shrugged, walked over, and shook the bag downwards. The molted skin appeared out of nowhere, back in its original spot. "Returned to its rightful owner," he said, jumping down from the top of the molted skin. "Do you want to come with me to chase those thieves?"

The red spider snorted, "The snakeskin bag? Give it to me!"

He Lingchuan tossed the bag to it. For some reason, as soon as the snakeskin bag touched the spider's leg, it shrunk until it disappeared, presumably collected by the red spider. Then it jumped onto He Lingchuan's shoulder, letting him carry it out of the cave entrance to pursue the bandits.

Outside the cave entrance, He Lingchuan stopped, looking left and right.

The red spider impatiently asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Which way did they go?"

"West!"

"Which way is west?" This underground palace twisted and turned, with no sunlight, so who could tell which way was "west"?

"Left!"

"Oh, right!" He Lingchuan then gave chase.

"These bandits were sent by Lord Boshan to steal your molted skin," he asked while running. "You're a spider, he's a snake. What use is your molted skin to him?"

"I am an ancient demon immortal. My molted skin contains a trace of the power of creation, which creatures like them, these muddled demons, ardently seek. Furthermore, my abdominal pattern is a natural divine artifact; they wish to steal it to comprehend the mysteries of the heavens and stars." The red spider was full of disdain. "Dull, stupid creatures! Are they even worthy?"

He Lingchuan understood. "So the nobles of Beijia Kingdom who stole your molted skin had the same intention?"

The red spider snorted. So that was it. No wonder the divine bone necklace coveted this treasure too. It was picky; it wouldn't consume anything less than excellent. He Lingchuan asked again, "I remember you originally had five molted skins here. Why are there only four now?"

Zhu Erniang originally had six molted skins, accumulated from ancient times as her family's inheritance. One was stolen in Beijia Kingdom, so there should still be five. But He Lingchuan had just counted, and there were only four.

"Where did the other one go?"

The red spider calmly replied, "None of your business."

So it wasn't lost; it was being used for something else, He Lingchuan mused.

Along the way, they met several spider guards. They were about to turn hostile but immediately calmed down upon seeing the red spider on He Lingchuan's shoulder, obediently following behind. After turning a few corners, the red spider suddenly said, "Go find Dong Rui."

"Huh?" He Lingchuan was puzzled. "We're about to catch them."

"Go!" The red spider's tone was dark and cold.

It stood on He Lingchuan's shoulder, and fearing it might bite him, he had no choice but to turn and run towards Dong Rui's workshop. Fortunately, it wasn't far. In just over ten breaths, He Lingchuan arrived at the workshop.

Dong Rui was hunched over his desk, writing and sketching. Hearing the commotion, he looked up, a bewildered expression on his face. "What is it?"

"Zhu Erniang is here to see you," He Lingchuan said, pointing to the red spider on his shoulder, secretly exhaling in relief. Dong Rui had just piloted the demon puppet to drop him off outside the exhibition room and then slipped back, so time was tight.

"This is Zhu Erniang?"

The red spider coldly said, "Didn't you hear the commotion outside?"

"I did," Dong Rui replied, unconcerned. "What does that have to do with me?"

When he was immersed in his work, this man truly paid no attention to anything outside. The red spider had nothing more to say. To He Lingchuan, it said, "Go chase the bandits." And to Dong Rui, it commanded, "You come out too!"

From here to the molted skin exhibition room, there was only one path with no forks. Seeing Dong Rui here with her own eyes reassured her, proving that neither human had plotted against her molted skin. Her main body was fighting fiercely with two great demons outside, and the underground palace was short-handed. She couldn't afford to leave a demon puppeteer here any longer.

What it didn't know was that just as it and He Lingchuan left the exhibition room, another He Lingchuan suddenly emerged from behind the molted skin that had been released from the snakeskin bag and recovered! He wasted no time, pressing the divine bone necklace directly onto the molted skin. The divine bone glowed red with pleasure, and the incredibly hard molted skin suddenly collapsed. It was as if it were a sculpture made of sand; one tap and it disintegrated. But this "sand" did not fall elsewhere; instead, it was sucked into the wind-eye within the divine bone. The speed was astonishingly fast; in just three to five breaths, the enormous molted skin vanished, leaving the area completely clean, without even a trace of debris. Immediately after, "He Lingchuan" disappeared on the spot. The divine bone necklace, with no one holding it, began to free-fall. But before it hit the ground, it too vanished.

The exhibition room remained quiet as always, simply missing one molted skin. In fact, when He Lingchuan put the molted skin back, he also released a clone, instructing it to hold his divine bone necklace and hide behind the molted skin. The molted skin was so massive and stood against the wall that its shadows were more than enough to hide several people. The red spider's attention was entirely focused on He Lingchuan's main body; it would never have noticed an extra "person" behind the molted skin. He stood still for a few breaths after exiting the cave, waiting for his clone to retrieve the divine bone necklace and absorb the essence of the molted skin. A clone would automatically disappear if it moved twelve *zhang* away from him; as for the divine bone necklace, it was an item that couldn't be discarded—it would automatically return to him if it went too far. This theft was completed without anyone knowing.

He Lingchuan let out a breath, feeling content! This was his first time using the clone technique in reality, not for combat or monster slaying, but for thievery—proving that with a good idea, the uses of supernatural powers are diverse. Zhu Erniang's molted skin, coveted by so many demons, was undoubtedly a good item. It didn't matter if he couldn't comprehend its use; the divine bone necklace had a need for it. He had left with the red spider, so it had no reason to suspect him. Moreover, Dong Rui remained in his workshop and was not the thief either. In this chaotic battle of demons, it seemed he was the one who benefited most, gaining the greatest reward. Provided, of course, that he had a chance to safely leave the swamp.

He quickly caught up with the bandits. He dealt with two, Dong Rui handled one, the red spider itself bit down three, and the rest were annihilated by the spider guards who arrived upon hearing the commotion. Only a trembling Sixth Brother remained. This was because the red spider had said to leave one alive for interrogation. So the spider guards sprayed him with webbing, tying him up, and then tossed him back into the wine cellar.

When He Lingchuan rushed to the entrance of the underground palace, he detected an increasingly strong scent of green grass, like walking through a freshly harvested wheat field. This scent should have been refreshing, but upon smelling it, he couldn't help but yawn. If humans reacted this way, spiders, with even less resistance to such a smell, naturally staggered as they walked.

The red spider coldly said, "This must be Lord Boshan's trick. It often devises ways to teach its subordinates to devour my offspring." The snake also creates a wide variety of poisons; otherwise, Zhu Erniang wouldn't have developed a new demon art to expel and discard poisons into her eyeballs, once and for all.

He Lingchuan thought to himself, "You, old one, are no less capable. Spiders also treat captured small snakes as a delicious meal. You two are like neighbors who never meet but fight every time you do."