Bai Jie had just been about to dodge when he suddenly recalled what had happened earlier when Long Hai's black blood landed on him — it had been absorbed.
He decided to take a risk.
Swoosh!
The essence blood immediately splattered across Bai Jie's body. Crimson and gold patterns now both adorned the ink-black spider's surface — bewitching and sinister.
Bai Jie's heart tightened sharply. Fortunately, the system notification came through just in time:
[Dominion contract force from sorcery detected. Automatically neutralized by Talent: Spirit-Devouring Body. Essence blood and its spirit essence have been seized.]
Oh? This time it was [Spirit-Devouring Body] that kicked in?!
Immediately afterward, Bai Jie felt a pure and immense power surging into his body.
His vitality rose from 15 to 16!
Zheng Yueling, on the other hand, after casting the spell, suddenly wilted. Her complexion instantly turned deathly pale.
Several seconds later, the connection Zheng Yueling had anticipated failed to manifest. Doubt flickered in her eyes.
"Why isn't there any response? Could there be something wrong with the art of controlling gu?" Zheng Yueling murmured to herself.
Hsssss.
All at once, numerous strands of spider silk shot from within the terrarium — aimed directly at Zheng Yueling.
The witch hadn't even had time to show surprise before her body reacted. She wielded the dagger and swung at the incoming silk.
But what happened next once again defied Zheng Yueling's expectations. The spider silk, upon touching the dagger, didn't snap — instead it quickly coiled around it. In the blink of an eye, the dagger was wrapped in a layer of silk.
Not only that — even more silk began winding around Zheng Yueling's dagger-wielding wrist.
"Nyx?!" Zheng Yueling cried out in shock.
Finding herself unable to cut through the bindings, she tried to tear the silk apart with sheer strength — but an immense force pulled from the far end of the threads, and she couldn't break free.
It was as if what was wrapped around her hand wasn't spider silk, but taut, solid rope.
And what's more, she discovered that the harder she struggled, the more the silk sank into her skin like blades, carving bloody lines that grew deeper and deeper.
"Nyx! What do you think you're doing?!"
Zheng Yueling shouted — while at the same time, a strange pink-purple glow flickered in her eyes.
[Unknown spiritual interference detected. Blocked.]
The gold-patterned laser snake-devouring spider's spinnerets continuously fired out Bladed Spider Silk — but the silk wasn't coated with venom.
"What exactly are you doing?!" Zheng Yueling kept shouting.
The pink-purple light in her eyes grew brighter and brighter, while deep within them, there was also a trace of fear and panic.
[Unknown spiritual interference detected. Blocked.]
[Unknown spiritual interference detected. Blocked.]
[Detected...]
"How?!"
Zheng Yueling stared in disbelief at the spider that refused to obey her commands.
She watched as it spread its long spider legs and slowly climbed up the wall of the terrarium, transparent fluid secreting from its massive fangs.
"You wretched beast — are you trying to kill your own master?! I raised you for nothing!"
By now, Zheng Yueling's arms had been firmly bound by spider silk, pressed tight against her upper body, completely immobilized.
Bai Jie silently shook his head. I do want to kill you — but now is not the time.
Zheng Yueling was a visible thread running through the series of disappearances. Following that thread could pull out even more people.
Truth be told, his instincts told him that devouring Zheng Yueling would grant him enormous improvement.
But he chose restraint.
This was the confidence and awareness of a mature hunter — that his prey could never escape his grasp.
Back when Zheng Yueling had toyed with him like this, it had only been about a week ago. Now their positions had reversed. Bai Jie had become the hunter who could decide her life.
He leaped down from the terrarium and landed on the wooden floor.
This was the first time since his reincarnation as a spider that he had stepped on something other than soil.
Bai Jie experienced the joy of freedom — a soul-shivering bliss surged through his heart.
This exhilaration even surpassed the emotions he'd felt during his last evolution.
Feeling the texture beneath his feet, he was suddenly struck by a sense of unreality.
He looked up at Zheng Yueling. Without jumping, he was exactly at the height of her calf...
This angle was way too humiliating... there seemed to be a specific term for it.
Ignoring Zheng Yueling, Bai Jie passed right by her and headed toward the windowsill.
"Where are you going? Come back!"
Under Zheng Yueling's astonished gaze, Bai Jie leaped — and without looking back, jumped down from the windowsill.
He was free.
More importantly, the Bai Jie of now possessed the formidable power to defend that freedom.
Zheng Yueling actually could have chased after Bai Jie — only her upper body was restrained; her legs could still move.
But deep down she knew — she couldn't do anything to this spider, this venomous creature she had witnessed growing with her own eyes.
"Where exactly did it go wrong?"
A thousand thoughts tangled in her heart.
Zheng Yueling went to great trouble, searching through a drawer to find a lighter, and laboriously pressed the button...
Fortunately, the spider silk was flammable. But it still took nearly a dozen minutes of burning before the silk on her body completely fell away.
"It seems I'm still not strong enough. I can't even handle my own pet. I need to restart the hunt..."
"Nyx, you are mine. You can only belong to me. I will find you..."
In the empty, wrecked room, where sunlight could not reach, the woman murmured to herself.
...
Night fell. Lights shimmered into brilliance. Below the men's dormitory at Xingchuan University.
Chen Zhang had just returned from the Gaia Technology branch and was about to head upstairs to his dorm room when his body suddenly stiffened.
After quickly returning to normal, he feigned calm and approached that enchanting silhouette.
"Oh, Chen Zhang — it's you. We meet again." The pretty girl smiled.
She wore light makeup and lipstick of an unidentified shade. Her skin was like polished jade, all the more alluring. A hip-length miniskirt paired with glossy black stockings and short boots. Her heavy perfume mixed with a provocative sensuality.
"You're... Wang Miaoyin?" Chen Zhang fished the name out of his memory.
She was the one who'd called him out, that day, for tailing Zheng Yueling.
Why was she here, beneath the men's dorm? Waiting for a boyfriend?
Confused, he nevertheless politely said: "Hello."
Then he moved to step past Wang Miaoyin toward the dorm entrance.
"How are things with you and Senior Zheng?" Wang Miaoyin suddenly said.
Chen Zhang whipped his head toward her. Her eyes were full of ambiguity and teasing.
"You misunderstand. I don't have those kinds of intentions toward her."
Chen Zhang calmly explained, then asked in return: "You're here because...?"
"Oh, me? I'm waiting for someone. You actually know him... look, there he is!"
As she spoke, Wang Miaoyin's face suddenly lit up with delight, and she waved and smiled off to the side.
Chen Zhang followed Wang Miaoyin's gaze — and froze.
The newcomer was fair-skinned and slightly plump, his hair neatly parted. It was actually his roommate — He Jun.
"Yo, Boss Zhang, you're here too."
He Jun greeted him, then raised a smug smirk and positioned himself at Wang Miaoyin's side.
"Sorry for the wait. Let's go." He Jun gazed at Wang Miaoyin with infatuation, his face glowing.
"Hmph. You made me wait so long. So tell me — how are you gonna make it up to me?"
Under Chen Zhang's dumbfounded stare, Wang Miaoyin's lily-white arm hooked around He Jun's. Her autumn-pool eyes, framed by deep purple eyeshadow, looked both exquisitely refined and seductively captivating.
Ignoring Chen Zhang, now a mere single dog, the two chatted and laughed as they walked away, side by side.
The class beauty of the New Media program — the person she'd come to the dorm building to wait for — was actually his roommate He Jun?!
Chen Zhang felt the world had grown somewhat unreal. And Wang Miaoyin seemed off too.
He shook his head, driving the random thoughts from his mind. He'd stop thinking about Wang Miaoyin and He Jun.
Because he needed to prepare properly for tomorrow's plan.