Chapter 17 : Chapter 17
Chapter 17 - The Adult Cave Spider
Hearing Meiyao speak with such seriousness, Lin Zhi did not dare delay in the slightest. He immediately followed her, leaving the place at once.
After personally witnessing the extreme dangers within the Blackgold Mine, Lin Zhi could not help thinking of little Ji Xueyan. A deep worry rose within his heart. He wondered how the grandfather and granddaughter were doing now.
After following Meiyao through the winding tunnels for quite some time, the two finally stepped into an enormous cavern.
The place resembled a magnificent palace. Several slightly larger glowing stones hung around the upper walls of the cavern, their light illuminating the entire area as brightly as daylight.
Below, a dense crowd of people swung their pickaxes against the stone walls, mining ore. Their baskets were already filled with Blackgold Ore, and it seemed that their harvest had been quite plentiful.
Lin Zhi looked around but still did not see the old man. Just as he was about to ask Meiyao about the old man’s whereabouts—
Suddenly, the stone wall above the cavern collapsed like a breached dam. From the collapsing opening, a pair of enormous eyes the size of locomotive engines appeared.
The moment it saw Meiyao, it smashed through the surrounding rock walls. Its gigantic body surged forward like a moving mountain, forcefully drilling into the cavern and filling the entire space.
More than half of the people inside the cavern were trampled to death in an instant. Wails and screams erupted everywhere.
The massive Cave Spider let out a shrill, mournful screech, like the wailing of something from hell. It was the mother of the young Cave Spider from earlier.
Meiyao’s face instantly turned deathly pale. Ignoring Lin Zhi, she was about to take out the array token of the teleportation formation to escape—
But before she could crush it, the gigantic Cave Spider spat out a web like a net cast across the heavens, instantly enveloping her and wrapping her tightly into a cocoon.
The adult Cave Spider was the undisputed overlord of this place. Its strength was powerful enough to rival the experts of the Barbarian Continent. Naturally, Meiyao was no match for it.
What she had not expected was that the gap between them was so great. She had not even had time to crush the array token before being completely restrained.
It seemed there was no escaping this disaster.
Meiyao’s face turned ashen, and she no longer held any hope of survival.
Even Elder Lie, the strongest person present, could only flee in panic if he faced an adult Cave Spider alone. As for the others, they were nothing more than insignificant ants.
Lin Zhi glanced at Meiyao beside him and saw that she had already been tightly wrapped into a cocoon, unable to move in the slightest.
He did not have time to think.
He grabbed her in his arms, hoisted her onto his broad shoulder, and sprinted away like an arrow released from a bow, rushing toward the path they had come from.
The adult Cave Spider raised a massive appendage and swept it toward Lin Zhi. Wherever it passed, the cavern collapsed in succession.
At the critical moment just before the strike landed, Lin Zhi suddenly stepped into empty air. Carrying Meiyao, he fell together with her into another layer beneath the cavern.
Lin Zhi felt an overwhelming force slam violently into his back, nearly suffocating him. It felt as though his internal organs were about to shatter.
Even the wind generated by the sweeping appendage was this terrifying. If the appendage itself had struck him directly, Lin Zhi would have been crushed into pieces instantly.
Even so, Lin Zhi’s situation was far from good. He gasped heavily, his heart filled with lingering fear.
Such a massive creature—compared to it, the Magic Dog he had killed earlier was nothing. It was not even comparable to a single hair of this Cave Spider.
The collapsed stone walls had completely sealed the escape route.
For a moment, Lin Zhi sank into deep despair.
Fortunately, the tremendous commotion resounded like thunder, attracting the powerful figures around the mine.
Under the leadership of Elder Lie, everyone unleashed their abilities in an attempt to drive the adult Cave Spider away.
The adult Cave Spider was held back by them for the time being and had no opportunity to deal with Lin Zhi and the others.
After adjusting himself slightly, Lin Zhi picked up the fallen pickaxe nearby and tried to peel away the spider silk wrapped around Meiyao.
However, no matter how much strength he used, it was like an ant trying to shake a giant tree—completely futile.
The silk of the adult Cave Spider was clearly incomparably tough. It was far beyond something an ordinary person like Lin Zhi could destroy.
After struggling for a long time, Lin Zhi finally had no choice but to give up.
Grinding his teeth, he hoisted Meiyao onto his shoulder once again and used one hand to painstakingly clear the rubble blocking the path.
Thus, he cleared debris while fleeing at the same time. Before long, Lin Zhi had carried Meiyao a considerable distance away.
Fortunately, he had practiced a Cultivation Technique and possessed a strong body. Otherwise, let alone carrying someone, even escaping by himself would have been difficult.
Gently placing Meiyao from his shoulder onto the ground, Lin Zhi lay down on the floor as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
The intense mental tension and extreme exhaustion he had endured until now had drained him completely. At this moment, he was utterly spent, every ounce of strength leaving his body.
“I… I think we should be safe now…”
Lin Zhi lay flat on the ground in a spread-eagle position, gasping for breath.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
The surrounding stone walls cracked open, and five Cave Spiders the size of adult humans leapt out. Their bodies were identical to the one Meiyao had killed earlier.
Lin Zhi hurriedly stood up, but his entire body ached unbearably. Every muscle trembled with fatigue.
Struggling, he picked up Meiyao again and looked around desperately for an opportunity to escape.
But before he could act, the five Cave Spiders spat silk simultaneously, binding Lin Zhi firmly in place.
Lin Zhi struggled desperately, yet like a mosquito trapped in a spider’s web, his resistance was completely useless.
“Damn it… looks like I’m really done for this time.”
Lin Zhi cursed helplessly, barely able to breathe.
Five spiders surrounded him, their long feeding tubes already revealing their ferocious intent.
“I’ve returned the life you saved me. In the future, stop thinking about my handsome face. Being drained dry isn’t exactly a pretty sight.”
Lin Zhi said this to Meiyao, who was still wrapped in a cocoon, as though offering a final farewell.
After saying that, Lin Zhi closed his eyes and waited for death to arrive.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a burning sensation in the center of his forehead, as if it were being scorched by fire. The pain stabbed sharply into his brow.
“Ah!”
The intense pain forced Lin Zhi to cry out.
Suddenly, something flew out from his forehead—it was the yellow talisman paper.
The talisman fluttered in the air above Lin Zhi and began to burn.
Soon, the black symbols on it transformed into a black human-shaped figure.
The figure extended a palm. At the center of the palm, a black hole appeared out of thin air like a cosmic abyss, sucking in all the surrounding Cave Spiders.
Even the spider silk binding Lin Zhi and Meiyao vanished like clouds scattered by the wind.
In an instant, their immobilized bodies regained the ability to move.
Watching the dreamlike scene before him, Lin Zhi let out a long breath of relief. Yet at the same time, he felt even more frustrated with himself.
He was simply too weak—utterly incapable of resisting anything.
For the first time, a powerful desire to become stronger rose in Lin Zhi’s heart.
He knew that Old Master Ji Qingshan had saved him. But at this moment, he no longer had any strength left and lacked the energy to think further.
After regaining her freedom, Meiyao looked at Lin Zhi.
Although she had been wrapped tightly in silk and unable to move, her consciousness had remained clear. She had watched everything as Lin Zhi carried her step by step while escaping to this place.
Under such dangerous circumstances, it was impossible for Meiyao not to feel moved.
Although she had also saved Lin Zhi earlier, she had done so effortlessly when the situation was fully under her control.
But Lin Zhi had truly risked his life to save her.
Although she did not know what kind of method that talisman had been, judging from Lin Zhi’s calm acceptance of death earlier, it was clear that he himself had not known about it either.
Taking Lin Zhi’s hand, Meiyao crushed the array token.
Amid another wave of dizziness, the two were teleported back to the teleportation array at the entrance of the mine.
“You should go back and rest first.”
Meiyao looked at the man before her and spoke gently. After experiencing everything together, the teasing playfulness she had previously shown had already vanished from her eyes.
“Then… be careful.”
Hearing Lin Zhi’s concern, Meiyao could not help smiling beautifully.
A trace of enchanting charm radiated from her, causing Lin Zhi to stare blankly for a moment as he unconsciously swallowed.
Thinking back to what Lin Zhi had said before he thought he would die, Meiyao could not help developing a strong interest in the young man before her.