After the Immortal Disappeared

Furthermore, General Nanke had discovered that the Baling Army had not followed them into the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. Therefore, the Panlong City Army needed to change its strategy: gather together to leverage their numerical advantage and resist the Earth Cave Spiders’ attacks.

"There’s an exit, but the river doesn’t flow that way," the guide said, mentally calculating the distance. "After we go ashore, we’ll still have to walk for several miles to reach the rendezvous point marked by the signal flare. From there, it’s another ten-odd miles to the northeastern exit."

The Ghost Needle Stone Forest was quite vast.

"Damn it," Liuu cursed. "If we can fight our way out of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, we might be able to break through the Baling People’s encirclement early."

"Perhaps the Baling People have already set a trap." Hee Lingchuan scanned their surroundings. "If I were General Nanke, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to leave the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. The Earth Cave Spiders are tough opponents, and the Baling People don’t want to risk coming in here either."

"If only we could find a way to deal with these Earth Cave Spiders." Liu Tong frowned. "This damn place always makes my skin crawl."

The light was dim, so they couldn’t clearly see the spiders’ specific movements, but they could hear the RUSTLING of their long legs scraping across dead leaves and branches. When all those sounds came together, it was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

One of the merchants couldn’t help but ask, "Are these things going to follow us the whole way?"

How could anyone dare go ashore with that waiting for them?

No one had an answer to that question. They could only take it one step at a time.

The Patrol Guard, Sunx Jiayuan, happened to be walking beside Hee Lingchuan, his wrists and neck covered in multiple spider bites. Hee Lingchuan glanced at him and suddenly asked, "How did you lose your fingers?"

He had noticed that Sunx Jiayuan was missing the little finger on both hands.

While others had ten fingers, he only had eight.

Sunx Jiayuan didn’t say a word.

Just as Hee Lingchuan thought the man wasn’t going to answer, he finally spoke. "A few years ago, two mantises became demons after consuming Emperor’s Liquid. Their blades were very sharp."

Hee Lingchuan let out a long "Oh."

’What a coincidence. A Mantis Demon cut off the little finger on both hands? And it just had to be the pinkies, the fingers that least affect one’s work and combat ability?’

It seemed this man had a story, but Hee Lingchuan didn’t press for details.

Before long, the wind carried the smell of smoke and char.

The farther they went, the thicker and heavier the smell became, making everyone choke and cough repeatedly.

They even saw a large patch of jungle by the river that had been burned bare.

Now, it could only be called the remains of a jungle. There was nothing but charred wood and blackened earth, and the soil had even been burned into crystalline matter.

The closer they got to the center of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, the more gruesome the scene became.

"This is not good," Liuu murmured. "The Baling People set fire to the forest. They probably burned down the Earth Cave Spiders’ main nest. No wonder the spiders are so furious."

These Spider Demons probably couldn’t tell the difference between the Baling People and the people of Panlong City. As far as they were concerned, humans had burned their nest, so humans were the target of their revenge.

She rolled her eyes at the merchant who had spoken earlier. "See? They’re on a rampage because their Spider Nest was destroyed. Under normal circumstances, any guide could lead the way without a problem."

The merchant was at a loss for words. Sunx Jiayuan shot her a grateful look, then cursed at the merchant a few times, finally venting his earlier frustration.

This time, the man didn’t dare to talk back. He was still counting on the Patrol Guards to get him out of this danger zone.

After wading through the water for another hour, the number of destroyed jungle patches and burrows began to dwindle. According to the guide, they were now approaching the center of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, a place the Earth Cave Spiders never allowed humans to get near. In the past, merchant caravans traveling through the Stone Forest wouldn’t have dared take this path.

The Earth Cave Spiders here were more numerous and larger. Hee Lingchuan occasionally spotted a few massive figures among the swarm, but the light was too dim to see them in their entirety.

Seeing the spiders on the bank gathering in greater numbers, even starting to pile on top of one another, Liu Tong’s heart began to pound. He finally gave the order to extinguish the torches.

Hee Lingchuan’s group waded forward in the darkness.

However, after the torches were out, the commotion on the bank did indeed lessen. Although they had over a dozen eyes, most of the spiders could only perceive changes in light. Their eyesight was actually very poor, and they relied mainly on their sense of smell and hearing to move.

The group continued onward. Along the way, they came across a half-grown wild pig standing in the middle of the river, drinking. Judging by its size, it weighed about a hundred pounds at most and had probably been frightened down into the water by the spider swarm.

Hee Lingchuan had Door Panel capture the pig alive. They tied its four hooves with rope, threw it onto a horse’s back, and stuffed a cloth in its mouth to prevent its piercing squeals from echoing in the quiet night.

After another two hours of travel, they reached the end of this leg of their journey—

Another deep pool.

Directly above it was a waterfall fifty feet high.

The cliffs were steep and perilous. Even if the Patrol Guards could climb them, the merchants and their carts could not. So, continuing upward was unrealistic. Their only option was to go ashore here and head east to General Nanke’s designated rendezvous point.

Over the past four-plus hours, the Command Arrow signal flares had appeared three more times, guiding the warriors in the darkness.

Along the way, the group had passed through several turbulent stone beaches, getting soaked to the bone. Perhaps the roar of the rushing water masked the sound of their advance, as the number of spiders tailing them gradually dwindled.

By the time they reached the deep pool, there were no more spiders on the bank.

The guide estimated the distance, his face beaming with joy. "Just a couple more miles at most, and we’ll rendezvous with the main army!"

Of course, he meant a couple of miles in a straight line.

’Better be cautious.’ The shadows of the trees on the bank swayed ominously. Who knew what monsters might be hiding in there? This was where the wild pig came in handy.

Hee Lingchuan removed the gag from its mouth and untied it. As soon as its four hooves hit the ground, before it even had a chance to stretch its limbs, the creature splashed through the water and charged toward the shore.

CRACKLE, SNAP! It broke numerous branches as it fled, and its indignant grunts faded into the distance.

The group stood in the river, holding their breath and listening intently.

There was no rustling sound of spiders on the bank. In the distance, the wild pig was still running wildly, apparently having met with no misfortune.

Only then did Liu Tong give the order: "Ashore! To the rendezvous point!"

No one dared to delay. After getting ashore, they spurred their horses into a gallop and headed east.

***

「The northeastern River Valley of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, where the signal flares had been launched.」

General Nanke’s forces were regrouping here. Over the past several hours, more than 1,300 people had successively arrived, including over nine hundred Panlong Soldiers and more than four hundred merchants and travelers.

Although everyone who arrived looked battered and weary, covered in wounds and with cobwebs in their hair, they had miraculously managed to save seventy percent of their goods.

This place had now become the liveliest spot in the entire Ghost Needle Stone Forest. The commotion from the Command Arrows launching into the sky had been so great that all the enraged spiders were converging on this location.

Standing in the River Valley and looking out, one would see a sea of black spiders so dense that not an inch of open ground was visible.

The river at the bottom of the valley flowed in an "L" shape and was at least eight feet deep. The Panlong City Army had already discovered that the spiders dared not enter the water, so General Nanke had temporarily set up his main camp in the center of the River Valley, right at the corner of the "L".

This way, with the river protecting their rear, the army only had to focus on dealing with the enemy in front of them.

To deal with these pervasive spiders, General Nanke’s solution was to build a wall of fire.

Driven by the Spider Demons, the vast numbers of Earth Cave Spiders could temporarily suppress their fear of fire, but they possessed no fireproof Divine Techniques. A good roasting would still kill them, char them, and make them smell... fragrant.

While killing spiders, the Panlong City Army hastily chopped down a dozen or so large trees—the more lush and leafy, the better—then doused them with kerosene and set them ablaze.

WHOOSH! The flames surged skyward.

Using this method, the Panlong City Army hastily constructed a fire wall over ten feet wide. The raging flames formed a barrier that most spiders could not cross.

With deep water behind and a wall of fire in front, the temporary camp was safe for the time being.

However, General Nanke had years of battlefield experience. He ordered his men to create an opening in the northernmost section of the fire wall, no more than four or five feet wide.

The moment the spiders outside saw the opening in the fire wall, they charged straight for it without a second thought!

They crashed against the opening like surging waves against a shore, but the Panlong Army held the line, spearing every spider that came through. The spider corpses were then thrown into the fire wall as extra fuel.

There were occasional casualties, but it was nothing compared to their earlier desperate flight.

General Nanke’s confidant asked, confused, "General, why don’t we seal the fire wall completely?"

That way, the soldiers wouldn’t suffer any more casualties.

"These Spider Demons aren’t stupid. If there were no gap, they would find other ways to break through, and we’d be exhausted trying to deal with them." Seeing the situation gradually coming under his control, General Nanke finally had a moment to take out his Water Bag and quench his thirst, also giving a little water to the black-spotted Sparrowhawk perched on his shoulder. "It’s better to open a gap ourselves and funnel them all here. That way, the rest of the fire wall will be secure."

The difference between what is controllable and what is not—that is both an art and a matter of timing. Otherwise, with less than a thousand soldiers against hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of spiders, they wouldn’t be able to hold out, even with the protection of their Primordial Power.

General Nanke looked at the Sparrowhawk. "You said before, how long until the reinforcements arrive?"

"Before dawn," the Sparrowhawk said, preening the feathers on its back. "Soon."

It had flown from Puxi Gully to Panlong City to call for reinforcements, then flew back to the Ghost Needle Stone Forest to report, rushing to complete a large triangular route.

In another hour, the sky would begin to lighten.

General Nanke looked to the northeast, his expression grave. Even if they broke out of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, a vicious battle awaited them. The Baling People would surely have an ambush waiting at the exit. That was why, despite the great danger within the Stone Forest, he insisted on waiting here until dawn. The best-case scenario would be to coordinate with the reinforcements from within and without, catching the Baling People in a counter-encirclement.

’Just have to hold on for another hour.’

He was also somewhat dissatisfied. "If the Red General had been willing to send some troops over, I would’ve sent these Baling People packing home long ago!"

"The Red General said the original operational objectives remain unchanged."

A commander’s orders must be obeyed. General Nanke grunted heavily.

***

After running in silence for half an hour, Liu Tong suddenly held up a hand. "Stop! Something’s up ahead!"

Everyone dismounted and proceeded slowly, pushing aside the dense foliage. The view before them suddenly opened up.

Beyond this stretch of low woods was a vast, open hillside, a stark contrast to the oppressive closeness of the jungle.

At the top of the slope stood a centuries-old tree with lush branches and leaves, while the hillside itself was covered in a fine, velvety grass—tender green, smooth, and clean, as if someone had meticulously cared for it.

The deepest parts of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest were rarely visited by humans. The only ones who could have tended to it like this were... the Spider Demons?

The reason they could see the hillside so clearly at night was thanks to the scattered points of white light dotting the slope.

These clusters of light were larger than pomegranates, their color a pearly white. The light wasn’t soft, but it was very bright.

Door Panel said in a low voice, "Those are fluorescent spores."

They were growing in clusters around a massive cave.