Chapter 13: Insight
In the darkness, the giant spider lay quietly prostrate on the ground. After detection, Su Xiao learned that this monster was called the "Dragon-Hunting Spider," with all other information showing as question marks.
One thing Su Xiao could confirm was that, let alone the fact that he currently only had Dragon-Slaying Flash while all his other equipment was sealed in his storage space, even if he were fully equipped, he wouldn't be a match for this creature.
If Su Xiao remembered correctly, the Dragon-Hunting Spider was a creature from the depths of the Black Abyss. This creature liked to dig nests, then lie in ambush at the nest entrance, secreting special fluids through organs beneath its head to lure in flying dragons from the Black Abyss. It was practically a sure catch every time.
The orthodox name for this creature was Dragon-Hunting Spider, but in some places, it was also called the Throat of Anyu.
The order in which Monde and the others had left the room earlier was quite interesting.
First was that seemingly inscrutable old man. He was the first to leave the room and encountered the Dragon-Hunting Spider. Because of his incorrect response, he met a tragic end.
The second to leave the room was Monde, who had the strongest defense among everyone present. He ended up getting beaten twice and then hung up. In reality, Monde was misled by the old man's death.
As for Shuang Yue and Nita, as soon as they stepped out of the room, they encountered the Dragon-Hunting Spider and saw Monde already hanging. These two were wise enough not to resist, so they weren't seriously injured before being hung up.
The fifth person to leave the room was the female spellcaster, Dilin. She went the other way but hadn't gone far before discovering it was a dead end.
Dilin had no choice but to turn back, and thus she also encountered the Dragon-Hunting Spider. She originally intended to quietly slip past it, but after just a few steps, she was caught in a web trap. The Dragon-Hunting Spider hadn't been asleep at all; it was merely luring Dilin closer.
This wooden corridor, nearly ten meters wide, could only be traversed straight ahead, and the only passage was blocked by the Dragon-Hunting Spider.
Su Xiao looked up at the darkness above. The possibility of jumping over it wasn't great, and the Dragon-Hunting Spider was clearly not an enemy that could be forcefully confronted.
From the attitude of the Queen of Agony, Anna, earlier, and the fact that the Death House had been chosen as the venue for the Strongest Warrior Battle, it was clear that the Death House was not a place of certain death. It was indeed fraught with danger, and a single wrong decision could lead to death, but it wasn't an unsolvable situation.
Su Xiao took a step back, his gaze fixed on the Dragon-Hunting Spider ahead.
The moment he stepped back, the Dragon-Hunting Spider's armored leg lifted. This giant spider, even when prostrate on the ground, was nearly five meters tall. It had twelve red compound eyes, with the two in the center being the largest, the ones on the sides gradually decreasing in size, and the two at the edges only the size of a fist.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider had eight legs. The six hind legs were covered in steel-needle-like stinging hairs, highly venomous. The two legs near its head were armored limbs, with a metallic texture to their shells and tips like two curved blades, equipped with backward-facing teeth to prevent prey from escaping.
Once caught by a Dragon-Hunting Spider's pounce, it would be a rather despairing experience. Its armored legs would sink deep into the prey's body, and the backward-facing teeth on those legs made it easy to tear the prey apart.
On one of the Dragon-Hunting Spider's armored legs were two small characters carved: "Life·Death." They were very hard to spot; Bubu Wang had to get close to observe them.
After learning about the small characters on the Dragon-Hunting Spider's leg, Su Xiao was completely certain that this giant spider was, to some extent, an ally. Without it, there was a high probability they couldn't pass through this wooden corridor.
Su Xiao slowly raised his right arm. A miraculous scene occurred: the Dragon-Hunting Spider also raised its right armored leg.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider was mimicking Su Xiao's movements. It felt like it was just incredibly bored.
Based on Su Xiao's speculation, killing the Dragon-Hunting Spider this way wasn't realistic. However, this could be exploited. The success rate wasn't very high, but it was worth a try, since he had already determined what the first test of the Death House was: observation.
Su Xiao's gaze shifted to the female spellcaster, Dilin, and he took a few steps forward.
Almost simultaneously, the Dragon-Hunting Spider also stepped forward, coming to a stop behind Dilin.
Su Xiao swung his right arm downward, and the Dragon-Hunting Spider's armored leg stabbed toward Dilin. Just as Dilin was about to dodge, the curved-blade-like armored leg abruptly stopped, less than half a meter from her head.
Cold sweat trickled down Dilin's cheek, but she smiled. She had been gambling just now, betting that the Dragon-Hunting Spider wouldn't kill her.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider crawled toward Su Xiao. Su Xiao raised his left arm; he didn't want to be hung upside down.
Thirty seconds later, Su Xiao was suspended in midair by spider silk wrapped around his left arm, right next to Monde, who was hanging upside down.
"I thought you had a way."
"You're overthinking it."
Su Xiao said this because Monde had overlooked the earlier clues. Pointing this out to him now was pointless.
"You seem smarter than me."
"That's your illusion."
As Su Xiao spoke, he looked up at the darkness above. If he wasn't mistaken, the Dragon-Hunting Spider wasn't an enemy. Otherwise, Monde and the other four wouldn't have survived until now. The old man who died had fallen victim to habitual thinking: when facing a Dragon-Hunting Spider, you must never run, as that would provoke the creature's wild instincts and trigger its hunting response.
A figure hanging upside down swayed in front of Su Xiao. It was Dilin, also hung up.
Su Xiao began to wait. Before long, Bubu Wang, who had been blending into the environment, appeared below Su Xiao.
Bubu Wang leaped up, bit onto a dangling spider silk strand, and actively hung himself up.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider looked up at Bubu Wang, a hint of confusion in its eyes, but it didn't attack him.
After waiting about half an hour, the Dragon-Hunting Spider began crawling deeper into the corridor, and the spider silk wrapped around Su Xiao's arm also moved along with it. Hasty crawling sounds came from the darkness above. If Su Xiao guessed correctly, there was a smaller spider up there, crawling along the ceiling.
Rustling sounds came from all around. A closer look at the walls and floor revealed they were covered in transparent worms.
Baha had spatial abilities, so Su Xiao hadn't let it get hung up by the spider silk, keeping it as a backup measure.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider would crawl for a while and then stop. The transparent worms on the walls clearly posed no threat to it, but seeing these worms made Shuang Yue's face turn pale. Since childhood, she had feared these dense, soft-bodied creatures.
About ten minutes later, the wooden corridor came to an end, and a nearly four-meter-tall wooden door appeared ahead.
With a crackling sound, the spider silk binding Monde snapped, and he landed.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider's twelve compound eyes stared at Monde. Monde looked around, and finally, this guy took off one of his shoes and tossed it in front of the Dragon-Hunting Spider.
Bang!
The Dragon-Hunting Spider's armored leg struck at Monde. Monde blocked it with both hands, the wooden floorboards creaking beneath him.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider hooked its other armored leg, pulled the wooden door open, and then tossed Monde inside.
Monde grunted and disappeared into the darkness. If it had been Nita, taking that hit would have at least resulted in severe injuries, possibly even instant death.
Crackle, crackle...
All the spider silk snapped, and Su Xiao landed steadily. He crouched down and used his finger to draw a circular mark on the floor, while Bubu Wang happened to squat beside him, blocking his hand.
Once the circular mark was complete, the Dragon-Hunting Spider showed no reaction. Seeing this, Su Xiao knocked on the wooden floorboards.
Thump~
The Dragon-Hunting Spider's armored leg knocked on the wooden wall. Su Xiao nodded thoughtfully and walked over to the wall the Dragon-Hunting Spider had struck.
A sliver of Banishment cut Su Xiao's index finger, and blood seeped out. He used his finger to trace a circular mark on the wooden wall.
This circular mark wasn't something Su Xiao had imagined out of thin air. It was the mark engraved on the armrest of the metal chair he had been sitting on earlier. It was a hint, easily overlooked.
As Su Xiao traced the circular mark on the wooden wall, his health rapidly decreased. After consuming a total of 30%, the tracing was complete.
The moment Su Xiao finished drawing the circular mark, the wooden wall where the mark was located sprouted branches and leaves. Green leaves intertwined together, and finally, a translucent green fruit grew.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider crawled over to Su Xiao. Su Xiao picked the fruit from the wall and tossed it to the Dragon-Hunting Spider.
The Dragon-Hunting Spider lifted its head, opened its large mouth full of sharp teeth, swallowed the green fruit in one gulp, and then tapped the nearby floor with its armored leg, signaling Su Xiao to wait here.
"Um... may I ask, how did you do that?"
Nita looked at Su Xiao with eyes full of longing.
"Use your imagination."
Su Xiao leaned against the wooden wall and lit a cigarette.
"I... I can't imagine it."
Nita felt utterly despairing. Aside from being completely bewildered, she had no other feelings.