Chapter 52 : The Spider Siblings’ Confusion
Chapter 52: The Spider Siblings’ Confusion
“Th-this… Fellow Daoists Luo, why did you come down the mountain at this time?” Long Tao squeezed through the crowd and, with great difficulty, made his way to the spider siblings’ side, lowering his voice as he asked.
The spider siblings were clearly extremely unaccustomed to such a noisy marketplace.
Surrounded by countless gazes filled with curiosity, fear, and probing scrutiny, they appeared rather awkward.
Luo Yusi even subconsciously wanted to use her forelimbs to hide herself, but her size was simply far too conspicuous.
Although the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect maintained fairly amicable relations with the southern Myriad Demon Mountains, with some superficial alliance agreements, and there were quite a few Demon Race disciples within the sect, two half-human, half-spider demons suddenly appearing in Qixia Town—a place dominated by mortals—inevitably caused a stir.
“Fellow Daoist Long? That’s wonderful!” Seeing Long Tao, Luo Yunluo’s eyes seemed to light up as if he had spotted a savior.
“Yusi and I are really… far too eye-catching here. Could you… help us find a somewhat more secluded place?”
This was something Long Tao naturally could not refuse.
Being quite familiar with the alleys of Qixia Town, he forcibly led the two siblings through the growing crowd of onlookers and hid them in a remote corner behind an abandoned old well.
Broken odds and ends were piled up there, and it was usually a place rarely visited.
“Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Long,” Luo Yunluo said, his massive spider lower body appearing somewhat cramped in the narrow space, yet he still cupped his hands in thanks at once.
“It’s nothing much. But the two of you siblings going out together and even coming to the town—that’s really rare.
Did something happen?”
“Sigh… Fellow Daoist Long, you should have heard about the opening of the Azurewood Demon Forest Secret Realm in the southeast, right? Not to boast, but among our Spider Spirit clan, what we excel at most is operating in dense forest environments.
In addition, using poison and antidotes is our specialty.
So we thought of coming down the mountain to purchase a batch of specific medicinal ingredients to formulate some highly effective antidotes and miasma-avoidance pills, and then apply to the sect to see if we could join the secret realm exploration team.”
“……”
He had never imagined that his own act of hoarding and price-gouging would, by a twist of fate, drag these two good neighbors into it! Yet upon closer thought, it was entirely reasonable.
A place like the Azurewood Demon Forest was practically their home ground! Unless they encountered an opponent who utterly crushed them in realm, the so-called venomous insects and ferocious beasts inside probably would not be enough in front of these two.
“It’s just that we didn’t expect…” Luo Yunluo’s tone grew even more dejected.
“We don’t know who it was, but someone actually learned of the secret realm’s opening in advance and bought up large quantities of several key herbs on the market ahead of time.
We ran to several shops and couldn’t buy much stock at all… We could only think of trying our luck at more places, and the result… was what you just saw.”
After hearing this, Long Tao could only keep his head lowered desperately, afraid that the extreme guilt written all over his face would be caught by the siblings.
Thankfully, thankfully! When he and Dong Jiayuan had gone on a shopping spree during the day, both of them had been careful to use disguises.
Otherwise, they would probably already have been blacklisted by every shop in the entire town.
He forcibly steadied himself, doing his best to make his tone sound natural and full of confidence.
“Hey! There’s absolutely no need for you two to torment yourselves like this! With your special identities and your one-of-a-kind abilities, you can just apply directly to the sect! Being selected for the exploration team is definitely a sure thing!”
“Th-this… we also know the sect lacks disciples like us,” Luo Yunluo said, revealing a helpless, bitter smile.
“But even if there are few, there are still some.
And those of the same kind—whether in seniority or cultivation—are mostly stronger than the two of us… So if we don’t find a way to prepare some ‘knocking bricks’ that can demonstrate our value in advance, I’m afraid we really won’t have any advantage at all…”
Hearing this, the small sense of guilt Long Tao felt from having unintentionally harmed his friends grew even stronger.
Hoarding goods to profit from price differences was not exactly an honorable act to begin with, and it had indirectly caused these honest siblings to make a fool of themselves in public…
An idea flashed through his mind at once.
“Why belittle yourselves? Your advantages don’t need to be proven by those medicinal ingredients! How about this… This isn’t a good place to talk.
Let’s first return to our residence on the mountain.
Once we get there, I’ll write a proper résumé for you siblings, helping you organize and package your strengths and specialties!”
The siblings exchanged glances.
A few traces of hesitation and confusion showed in their compound eyes, but at present they truly had no other options.
In the end, they nodded.
As for Long Tao, aside from making up for the guilt in his heart, he also felt that if this pair of siblings could join the team, perhaps they might even look after him a bit once inside the secret realm.
……
After returning to the small courtyard the three shared, Long Tao briskly lit an oil lamp on the stone table in the yard, spread out paper, ground ink, and struck a pose as if preparing for a major undertaking.
“Fellow Daoists Luo, do not belittle yourselves,” Long Tao said seriously as he picked up the brush.
“Your advantages are far more outstanding than you imagine—absolutely not something ordinary members of your kind can compare to.”
“Really?” A glimmer of hopeful light flashed in Luo Yunluo’s eyes.
“Then… please ask Fellow Daoist Long to enlighten us.”
“First,” Long Tao said, tapping the brush tip lightly in the air as he began analyzing, “previously, Fellow Daoist Yusi once acted as my guardian while I broke through, and you mentioned that you siblings had also acted as guardians for other disciples before.
Look—this is your first major advantage! Being able to act as guardians means, firstly, that you have an extremely thorough understanding of the human cultivator’s bodily meridians, the operation of foundational cultivation methods, and even the potential risks that may arise; secondly, it shows that you have engaged in deep cooperation and interaction with human disciples within the sect, and that you know how to coordinate, rather than working behind closed doors alone.”
“Th-this…” Luo Yunluo pondered carefully, several of his legs shifting slightly.
“Although it sounds a bit like self-praise… it is indeed true.”
“Exactly!” Long Tao clapped his hands together.
“Think about it—secret realm exploration, especially elite teams organized by the sect—do they really value nothing but detoxification and pill-making abilities? Don’t forget, the first batch going in are all the peak prodigies of the various peaks. Who among them doesn’t carry several protective artifacts bestowed by their masters, or detoxifying spirit pills? Those things may not necessarily be inferior to what you can temporarily concoct.”
“Th-this…” The siblings were momentarily left speechless.
“What truly earns the high-levels’ regard and the teammates’ trust is mutual coordination and trust!” Long Tao said firmly.
“Inside a secret realm, dangers lurk everywhere and conditions change unpredictably. A person who is strong but solitary, unsociable, and unable to communicate and cooperate effectively with teammates may instead become the team’s weak point—or even a disaster! But someone who understands their teammates, knows how to cooperate, and can even act as a guardian and safety net at critical moments—that is who the team truly needs!”
He dipped the brush in ink again and had already begun writing energetically on the paper.
“Therefore, the focus of this résumé should first and foremost heavily emphasize your many successful experiences acting as guardians for human disciples! Slightly… yes, appropriately polish it—emphasize the depth of your understanding of the sect’s mainstream cultivation methods, as well as your seamless coordination and tacit cooperation with human disciples! Then list all the team-based missions you’ve participated in before, regardless of size, to prove your teamwork experience.
Only at the end should you briefly mention your auxiliary abilities in toxicology and medicine-making as a supplement.”
The siblings exchanged looks.
Although they felt that Long Tao’s words sounded somewhat… overly ‘aggressive,’ they had no better option at the moment.
They could only choose to trust him, answering whatever questions he asked and cooperating to the fullest.