Chapter Fifty-Three: The Iron Spider

Although the toxic mist drifted slowly, it filled the entire width of the cave, leaving nowhere to escape. Even though Sun Licheng possessed immortality, his instincts warned him that a whiff of this poisonous fog might cost him half his life. Watching the mist draw ever closer, Sun Licheng grew desperate; cold sweat began to bead on his brow.

Just then, he heard a roaring jet of air by his ear. Glancing sideways, he saw it was Mr. Nimblehands and his enormous jet nozzle. Sun Licheng’s mind raced; he quickly called Mr. Nimblehands over. Though puzzled at first, Mr. Nimblehands understood after Sun Licheng explained.

“You want me to use the jet to blow away the mist?” Mr. Nimblehands confirmed.

Sun Licheng nodded urgently.

Without delay, Mr. Nimblehands slung his crossbow on his back, planted his eight tentacles firmly on the ground, and positioned his body horizontally. The jet nozzle protruded past his shield, aimed directly at the poisonous fog. He cranked the engine to full power. With a shrill hiss of compressed air, a fierce gust surged forth, driving the mist back toward where it had come from.

The giant spider on the opposite side was dumbfounded. Its trump card had never failed in countless years, yet today, the enemy countered it with a method beyond imagination. Its mind stalled in disbelief. By the time it recovered, the poisonous fog had nearly enveloped it. Sun Licheng watched as the mist wrapped around the spider, and from within came agonized, shrill screams—the spider was not immune to its own poison.

Soon, the spider collapsed limply to the ground. Sun Licheng knew to strike while the enemy was weakened; he seized the moment, brandishing his broad blade and charging forward. With a resounding crash, the blade struck the spider’s head—it sounded like metal meeting metal. To his astonishment, the blow was blocked.

Unfazed, Sun Licheng attacked again and again, his blade flashing in a relentless barrage. Each strike hammered the same spot. At last, the spider let out a piercing screech as its head was split open. Brain matter burst forth, its limbs convulsed—Sun Licheng breathed a sigh of relief. This foe had been formidable; had the spider not been harmed by its own poison, he might have suffered a grievous loss.

Suddenly, Sun Licheng noticed a faint light inside the spider’s head. Delighted, he quickly reached in and withdrew a small green crystal. This was a magical beast!

The battles that followed were much easier. Sun Licheng and his allies fought their way to the third level, the deepest part of the mine. This layer was clearly the spiders’ nest, webs and eggs scattered everywhere.

“What are you doing?” Sun Licheng asked, watching Mr. Nimblehands dart about.

“I’m collecting spider eggs, boss,” Mr. Nimblehands replied. It turned out these spiders belonged to a special kind that could mature into magical beasts. In the era of the Goblin Empire, capturing and taming magical beast juveniles was a key military task. Despite the empire’s fall, Mr. Nimblehands believed this work still held practical value, so he automatically began collecting the eggs.

With victory within sight and only a few spiders left, Sun Licheng let Mr. Nimblehands go about his business. Carefully raising his shield, Sun Licheng began the final sweep.

It didn’t take long—except for a small area, the spiders on the third level were wiped out. Just as Sun Licheng prepared to rest, a deafening, ear-splitting shriek erupted. A colossal spider lunged from the shadows.

Alarmed, Sun Licheng quickly raised his shield. This spider was at least three times larger than the typical ones, its body a blue-black hue as if armored in steel, its fangs the size of doors, snapping constantly—a deadly threat.

There were no pleasantries; the battle erupted instantly. With a heavy thud, one of the spider’s claws smashed into Sun Licheng’s shield. It felt like being struck by a siege hammer, forcing him back several steps.

“What immense strength!” Sun Licheng thought, shocked.

A rapid clatter followed—Mr. Nimblehands, wielding four powerful crossbows, fired volley after volley at the giant spider. The arrows did no harm, merely enraging the beast, which attacked even more ferociously.

Sun Licheng knew he needed to counterattack, at least to disrupt its rhythm. Enduring the pain from the spider’s blows, he swung his blade, hacking hard at the spider’s claw. To his surprise, it was like cutting metal—sparks flew.

“Steel skin?” The name flashed in Sun Licheng’s mind. This formidable innate skill made the creature’s hide as tough as iron, a true tank’s ability. He hadn’t expected to encounter it today.

Unwilling to give up, Sun Licheng hacked madly a few more times, but it was futile—his blade now sported a small notch. Alarmed, he realized that ever since he’d found this blade in the underground tunnels, it had survived countless battles without damage. Yet after just a few exchanges, the giant spider had chipped it.

Before Sun Licheng could regain his composure, the spider spat a glob of venom, narrowly missing him. Watching as the venom ate a large hole in the ground, Sun Licheng broke out in cold sweat—the toxicity far surpassed that of ordinary spiders.

The spider spat a second glob. Sun Licheng raised his shield to block it. After a hiss and a plume of white smoke, the shield’s magical crystal lost much of its shine—Sun Licheng was truly terrified.

He wanted to retreat, but the spider had him tightly cornered. He hoped Dogmeat could fire a shot, but with the two so close, Dogmeat couldn’t find an opening and barked anxiously.

“What should I do? What should I do?” Sun Licheng’s heart raced in panic.

“If only I had a legendary blade,” he thought, grumbling as he took another heavy blow.

Suddenly, inspiration struck—he did possess a magical weapon, though it was smaller. “Jadebreaker,” he silently recited, tossing aside his broad blade and drawing the Jadebreaker dagger from his tunic.

At that moment, the spider’s massive claw swept down again. Sun Licheng blocked with his shield and instinctively slashed with the dagger. The spider screamed, and a claw as thick as a spear fell to the ground.

Seeing the dagger’s effectiveness, Sun Licheng’s courage soared. Shield raised, he charged at the spider. Sensing danger, the spider spat more venom and retreated—fear had entered its heart.

Sun Licheng would not let it escape. He sped up, shoulder braced against his shield, and rammed the spider’s body. With a dull thud, the spider staggered; the crystal on his shield suddenly dimmed. At that instant, Sun Licheng hurled a lump, smashing it against the spider’s compound eyes. The object burst, releasing viscous fluid that coated two of the spider’s eyes.

The spider’s vision went black, and pain shot through its eyes. It was the leftover gall of the giant black fish they had used for bombs, thick and sticky, intensely irritating. Sun Licheng had thrown it as a hidden weapon onto the spider’s eyes.

Unable to withstand such agony, the spider panicked, exposing a vital weakness. Seizing the chance, Sun Licheng blocked with his shield and forced aside two claws, then leapt to the spider’s head. He stabbed fiercely with Jadebreaker. Blood welled from the spider’s four compound eyes—the beast was blinded.

Driven mad by its blindness, the spider lashed out at everything in the cave, but Sun Licheng, Mr. Nimblehands, and Dogmeat had already retreated a safe distance, watching the chaos as if viewing a play.

Finally, the spider’s strength ebbed, and its movements slowed. Sun Licheng gripped Jadebreaker and approached.

Hearing his footsteps, the spider whimpered, signaling surrender. But Sun Licheng would not spare it; blinded, the spider was now worthless, and after their life-and-death struggle, he had no faith in leaving an enemy alive.

Easily parrying the spider’s feeble attacks with his shield, Sun Licheng stepped to its head and plunged Jadebreaker in deeply. With a weak, dying shriek, the spider collapsed, its limbs twitching briefly before lying still.