Chapter Thirty-One: Spiders Roaming, Cicadas Transforming (Part I)

Load the bullets, insert them into the barrel, install the spring...

Thud!

A heavy collision echoed from outside the cabinet, as if something had burst through the front door and stormed into the classroom, immediately followed by the sound of fine, multi-jointed legs skittering across the floor.

Judging by the distribution of the sounds, there were at least three spiders.

Ye Jiaying’s face turned deathly pale. Instinctively, her mind conjured the image of the person she had seen trapped in a cocoon, being hauled away to some unknown destination.

Even so, she did not scream. Instead, she forced herself to stay calm. She shifted her hand holding the phone slightly upward, using her fingers to cover the flashlight on the back of the device, leaving only a faint sliver of light for Yuan Zhixia to assemble the firearm.

With her other hand, she tucked away irrelevant items like the buzzer alarm and pepper spray back into her backpack, slowly pulling the zipper shut.

The sound of the spiders' legs grew closer.

Yuan Zhixia gave Ye Jiaying an appreciative look and silently accelerated her movements. She finished assembling the pistol and finally pulled out a titanium alloy silencer disguised as a water bottle filter.

The front of the silencer featured openings connected to internal baffles. When fired, the combustion gases would pass through these baffles, losing their force before venting out the front. This design not only suppressed the sound but also prevented the backflow of gas from blowing onto the shooter.

Like the rest of the weapon, this silencer was something Yuan Zhixia had custom-made using a metal sintering printer.

With the silencer attached, the pistol was fully combat-ready.

Yuan Zhixia gripped the pistol with her right hand, supporting it with her left, and signaled with her eyes for Ye Jiaying to turn off the flashlight and put in the foam earplugs for both of them.

The wooden cabinet plunged into total darkness, save for the sound of legs drawing ever closer outside.

Creak—

A limb hooked the cabinet door open. The moment the light from outside spilled in, Yuan Zhixia pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

The bullet left the chamber, erupting with a violent roar within the semi-enclosed space of the cabinet. Even with the silencer and foam earplugs, their ears rang intensely.

The unknown creature struck by the bullet had its head caved in, green fluid splattering everywhere. Its eight legs shriveled into a ball by instinct as it rolled backward.

It was called an "unknown creature" because it was not merely an oversized version of a common Earth spider. Its joints were thicker, it possessed gill-like respiratory organs on the sides of its abdomen, and the iridescent patterns on its head vaguely outlined the shape of a human face.

From any angle, it was not a species that could have naturally evolved in Earth’s ecosystem.

"Run!"

Yuan Zhixia kicked open the cabinet door and bolted out of the classroom, with Ye Jiaying close behind.

The two spider-monsters that had been searching the front of the classroom immediately gave chase, their speed easily matching that of a human sprinting at full tilt.

Perhaps lured by the gunshot, or perhaps because the spider-monsters possessed some form of remote communication, more spiders began crawling across the webs outside in the corridor.

Dark, dense shadows blotted out the sunlight, and the air was filled with the rustling sound of countless legs.

Suppressing their terror, the two sprinted down the hallway. Through the windows, they could see their classmates in the classrooms, still shrouded in shadows, dozing through their lunch break, completely unaware of what was happening in a world separated from them by a thin veil.

Reaching the end of the corridor, they dashed down the stairs to the first floor.

By now, at least six spider-monsters were in pursuit. Seeing that they were about to be overtaken, Yuan Zhixia holstered her Glock into her tactical vest and grabbed a glass Coca-Cola bottle, biting the cap off with her teeth.

This bottle was actually a Molotov cocktail, filled with a brownish, flammable liquid disguised as soda. A soaked strip of cloth was glued to the bottom of the cap, and a piece of sandpaper along with a match was stuck to the top.

Yuan Zhixia pressed the match head against the sandpaper with one hand, and it ignited instantly. She flipped the cap, lit the cloth, and spun around, hurling the bottle hard against the floor.

Crash!

The glass shattered upon impact with the floor tiles. The splashing fuel ignited immediately, forming a wall of fire that temporarily blocked the spiders' pursuit.

Firing, running, descending the stairs, throwing the Molotov—it all happened in little more than a minute. Yuan Zhixia had executed the optimal solution within her power.

But when she turned to look at the exit of the teaching building, a sense of despair crept into her heart.

The Science Building, adjacent to the teaching building, was almost entirely covered in webs. Dozens of spider-monsters outside the building had sensed the commotion; some were rappelling down from the rooftop, others were crawling along the exterior walls, and some were pouring out of classrooms to swarm toward them.

With ambushes in front and a fire wall behind, there was nowhere to hide. Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps thundered at the end of the corridor.

A figure burst through the locked doors of the teaching building, leaping off the walls, sprinting through the wall of fire, and dashing past the two stunned women, charging straight into the center of the spider swarm.

"Watch out—"

Yuan Zhixia only had time to shout a warning before she saw the man flick his wrist, extending a bizarre bone blade resembling a folding knife. With a backhand swipe, he sliced the spider-monster lunging for his face in two.

His twin bone blades slashed and hacked, slaughtering the spiders at close range. After repeating this a few times, the spider-monsters ceased their suicidal charge; even those blocked by the wall of fire scattered and fled, disappearing from view.

Drip, drip.

Green blood fell from the bone blades onto the floor.

The unremarkable man in black—or rather, Li Sheng, who had altered his facial features using worm genes—tilted his head slightly. With a blank expression, he said to Yuan Zhixia and Ye Jiaying in a gravelly voice, "Five million, three hundred eighty-six thousand, eight hundred seventy-seven yuan and thirty-two cents."

"Uh?"

"You two owe me that much money."

Li Sheng pulled a pre-prepared alcohol wipe from his pocket to clean the filth off his bone blades. He strode ahead, his tone cold. "Keep up. Don't die before you pay your debt."

...

Who on earth was this guy?

Yuan Zhixia and Ye Jiaying exchanged glances as they followed behind.

The stranger in black seemed unusually familiar with the situation. He showed no signs of panic, confusion, or helplessness, instead leading the way through the web-choked campus with steady, determined steps.

Furthermore, the bone blades extending from his wrists didn't look like sleeves-swords or folding knives. They looked more like... an organ.

And as for that five-million-plus figure, how on earth was it calculated?

As if sensing their confusion, the man said coldly, "Last year, the average monthly living expenditure per capita in Yin City was 4,375 yuan. With an annual inflation rate roughly calculated at 2.5%, assuming you start working at twenty-two, retire at fifty, and work for twenty-eight years, the total amount is 2,693,438.66. Multiply that by two, and you get 5,386,877.32. That is the price for your lives."

Life... money?

Yuan Zhixia pursed her lips. From an economic perspective, the calculation was extremely crude.

When determining the inflation rate, one had to choose a price index to represent changes in the general price level—be it the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), Retail Price Index (RPI), Consumer Price Index (CPI), or GDP deflator. The differences between these methods were significant. Calculating based on the ten-year average CPI yielded only 2.6%, whereas calculating based on the M2 growth rate minus GDP growth could reach as high as 4.6%.

Moreover, using monthly per capita living expenditure instead of net disposable income to calculate a "life price" was hardly reasonable.

However... given the current life-or-death crisis, they were in no position to haggle.

Yuan Zhixia carefully flashed a gentle, eight-toothed smile, appearing completely non-threatening as she said sweetly, "Kind benefactor, what should we call you?"

...Sister, please be normal. You're wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a gun you clearly built yourself; why are you putting on this 'sweet girl' act?

Li Sheng screamed internally but maintained his cold, serious expression, saying indifferently, "Just call me Dazai Osamu."

"A great name," Yuan Zhixia praised. "'The Rites of Zhou: Offices of Heaven, Grand Minister.' The duty of the Grand Minister is to manage the six canons of the state and assist the King in governing the nation."

Li Sheng glanced at her coldly. "It has nothing to do with that. It’s just a nickname. I have a cousin named Little Dazai Osamu, and another cousin named Taizai Osamu."

...Why don't you say you have a brother named Little Bastard Dazai and another named Great Overlord?

I really like that line from Taizai Osamu's *No Longer Human*, but honestly, kid, you've clearly never seen a real gangster. Do you want to step outside and test your luck against me?

Yuan Zhixia’s expression stiffened, and she gave a mindless nod.