Chapter 36: Spider Wanderings and Cicada Transformations (Part 6)

A storm of spider-monsters descended like heavy rain.

Li Sheng lunged forward, his mantis-blade appendages slashing in rapid succession, cutting down every spider-monster that closed in on him. He stomped against the ground and vaulted into the air, kicking off the roof of an exhibition electric vehicle to leap onto the second floor.

The corridors ahead and behind were blocked by spider-monsters. His ears were filled with the skittering of their legs and the clacking of their chelicerae.

Whoosh!

An icy draft swept from behind his head. Li Sheng side-stepped to dodge a sneak attack, then stepped forward to crush the creature underfoot. Foul-smelling green fluid splattered, coating the expensive jacket in the neighboring Armani store like an explosion of slime.

Another spider-monster lunged at him. He extended ant-like hairs from beneath the skin of his arms, grabbed the creature’s head with one hand, and pinned it against a metal railing, grinding it forward until it was shredded into nothingness.

He fought his way to the center of the hallway, vaulted over the railing, and plunged his bone blades into the side of an escalator to swing himself onto the third floor. He repeated the process, flipping up to the fourth and fifth floors.

While most spiders in nature spin silk webs, a few are exceptions.

Jumping spiders, for instance, specialize in stealth, pursuit, and leaping.

The flower spider changes its color to match its environment, searching for and preying on pests on cotton plants, leaf by leaf and flower by flower.

Wolf spiders are apex predators for their size; some specialize in burrowing, like the cave wolf spider or the *Lycosa* species, while others are wandering hunters, or even water-walking species like the *Dolomedes*.

Possessing the ability to actively hunt, they have no need to weave sticky webs and wait for prey.

The Ink-Colored Spider is no different. As an apex predator, the webs at the top of its nest lack stickiness; instead, they resemble steel mesh, providing a firm, stable surface.

"We meet again."

The Ink-Colored Spider raised its abdomen, colors flowing slowly across its body as it activated its power of information pollution once more.

Li Sheng squeezed his eyes shut and slightly lifted his shoulder.

The Hercules beetle resting on his shoulder received the command, immediately unfolding its elytra to take flight. Having hatched only after absorbing two "Lord of Insects" blood ambers, its explosive power and agility far exceeded any other species within its order.

It performed a barrel roll in mid-air, easily avoiding the small spider-monsters lunging at it, and slammed directly into the back of the Ink-Colored Spider.

Like human brains and surveillance cameras, the Hercules beetle had no resistance to the Ink-Colored Spider's information pollution. In its perception, the spider did not exist; there was only air ahead. Therefore, Li Sheng had not ordered it to attack the spider directly, but rather to collide with the injured, silk-wrapped area on its back.

The Hercules beetle, native to places like Guadeloupe and Dominica in Latin America, usually lives in trees, feeding on tender leaves, fruit, and sap. During evolution, males developed exaggerated, horn-like protrusions and powerful, clawed legs to defeat rivals during mating season.

At this moment, the beetle’s horns and long legs became entangled in the silk, anchoring it firmly in place despite the spider's frantic thrashing.

That was enough.

Through his profound, intuitive connection with the beetle, Li Sheng could sense its location. He opened his eyes slightly, his gaze unfocused. He stopped looking and stopped thinking about anything related to the Ink-Colored Spider. Only one thought remained in his mind:

Attack in that direction.

He bent his knees, muscles coiled, and with a heavy stomp, he launched himself like an arrow released from a bow, landing at the entrance of the sixth-floor cinema.

In the real world, the cinema was screening the latest Marvel movie. A standard, cliché oversized promotional poster hung on the exterior wall, featuring the busts of a dozen superheroes he couldn't name. Below the poster, fashionably dressed men and women picked up their 3D glasses and walked into the hallway, laughing and chatting as they searched for their theater.

Li Sheng landed in the middle of the crowd. Through his blurred vision, he could not see the shadow of the Ink-Colored Spider at all. Relying on his instincts, he slashed his bone blades, tearing the giant poster to shreds, unsure if he had struck his target.

The position had shifted!

The intuitive sensing suddenly began to drop.

Li Sheng followed, flipping over the railing and falling from the sixth floor to the front of a toy store on the third. His two bone blades acted like guillotines, sweeping across the store and slicing both the display shelves and a family that had come to buy toys into pieces.

Objects damaged in the Shadow Realm would quickly recover. Li Sheng rampaged through the mall like a runaway tank, destroying everything indiscriminately, chasing a target that did not exist.

Thud!

Li Sheng was inexplicably sent flying. Blood suddenly erupted from his left flank, the wound deep enough to expose bone. Had he not just absorbed the genes of the Hercules beetle and grown a lightweight carapace, this strike alone would have been fatal.

***

"Huff..."

On the subway platform, Yuan Zhixia slowly exhaled, clutching a modified handheld radio. The carriage was just a step away.

Ding.

The doors slowly closed, but she did not step inside. Just a second before they shut completely, she tossed the radio and her phone into the train.

The train started, gradually accelerating as it pulled away from the platform. According to the electronic sign, the next train would not arrive for at least four minutes.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you leaving?" Yang Ling asked anxiously.

The roar of battle faintly drifted from the direction of the mall, echoing through the tunnels with a low, rumbling sound.

"I want to be selfish for once, too," Yuan Zhixia said without looking back. She pulled the zipper of her backpack, took out a drone that was damaged but still barely functional, removed the green laser sight from her pistol, and taped it under the drone's movable camera.

Ye Jiaying stood hesitating for a moment, then gritted her teeth and followed.

As they reached the underground parking garage, Yuan Zhixia suddenly looked puzzled and turned to ask Ye Jiaying, "Did you hear something?"

"What sound?"

"Forget it. I must have misheard. Take this. You operate the drone. I've already set the program; it will automatically detect and track the most prominent heat source—that big spider."

Yuan Zhixia threw the controller to Ye Jiaying and knelt down, taking out various items from her bag:

A smoke grenade using white phosphorus as a smoke agent;
A magnesium-powder stun grenade disguised as a Pepsi can;
And the final Molotov cocktail.

"I don't know if this method will have any effect on information pollution, so the radio and phone might have to serve as our insurance."

Yuan Zhixia pulled the slide of her Glock to check the chambered round, speaking to herself: "The subway train takes six minutes to get from here to the Pujiang Branch. Once it arrives there, outside the so-called Shadow Realm, the phone will have a signal. It will automatically dial the police station according to the emergency program I wrote, and the voice software will relay the geographical coordinates I entered: this mall. The radio is just a backup option."

"I repay every kindness and every grudge. That Mr. Dazai Osamu saved me twice—once at school, once on the highway. I can't just leave him here."

Yuan Zhixia stood up, holding her pistol with both hands. Her petite frame contained a fierce will and resolve, her eyes cold and steady. "So, I will provide help to the best of my ability."

"I understand."

Ye Jiaying took a deep breath. She didn't actually understand the specific situation, nor why "Dazai Osamu" had suddenly turned back, or why Yuan Zhixia was choosing to stay.

However, as her gaze swept over Yang Ling, whose face was now partially covered by spider-monster features, she realized she couldn't just walk away either.

Ye Jiaying held the controller and moved the joysticks. The drone slowly ascended, flying along the passage and into the mall.

The controller's screen immediately projected the scene inside: Li Sheng was acting like a madman, slashing at empty air one moment and dodging the next.

The spider-monsters in the nest, seemingly aware that the drone was an intruder, began to leap and pounce toward it.

Ye Jiaying maneuvered the sticks, causing the machine to drift left and right, barely avoiding the attacks. Simultaneously, the pre-set heat-tracking program caused the drone to automatically adjust its posture, aiming the camera at the largest heat source in the room.

The laser sight taped beneath the camera cast a brilliant green beam, illuminating that very direction.