When Chen Fan woke up again, he had no idea how long had passed. The first thing he saw was the same damp, eerie cave. His first instinct was to get up and stagger toward the exit.
However, stepping outside the cave brought no relief. A heavy pressure still weighed on his chest. The scene before him was a paradise for human-faced spiders—webs stretched across every corner, and pairs of eerie eyes peeked out from holes in the walls, sending shivers down his spine.
Suddenly, something caught his eye—a bundle of webbing to his left, next to which lay a notebook.
"Written language in the Xiansheng World?" His curiosity piqued, he picked up the notebook and flipped it open.
To his surprise, the pages were filled with strange, tadpole-like symbols. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make sense of them.
"Weird. Didn't Zhou Yihe say that the celestial language of Xiansheng World doesn't need to be learned? Why can't I understand a single word?"
Unable to decipher it, he tucked the notebook away. Then, using the Wu Gang Axe, he sliced open the silk cocoon, only to find it empty. The owner of the notebook had likely already been devoured by the human-faced spiders.
Chen Fan had always held deep respect for life and death. Forcing himself to stand straight, he solemnly bowed to the empty cocoon in respect.
With his flashlight in hand, he wandered alone through the spider's lair. The walls teemed with human-faced spiders, all watching him as if ready to pounce. Yet, they hesitated, seemingly afraid of the sachet he carried.
"What's in this thing?" Chen Fan muttered, glancing down at the sachet. He had tried opening it several times before, but no matter how much force he used, it wouldn't budge. Perhaps that old man really was some kind of immortal. Either way, this sachet had saved his life today, and for that, he was deeply grateful.
"Huh? What's that?"
The beam of his flashlight revealed a faint glow in the distance. A few human-faced spiders were guarding something.
"Zhao Gu was right—where there are powerful monsters, treasures are sure to be found."
As the light shone on them, the spiders bared their fangs, their bristles standing on end. But when Chen Fan took just two steps forward, their aggressive stance faltered. The creatures scurried back into their burrows.
"This sachet is a real lifesaver."
Meeting no resistance, Chen Fan approached the glowing object and brushed aside the webbing. A brilliant light illuminated the entire cave before quickly dimming. He picked up the object—it was just an ordinary-looking pearl filled with some kind of liquid.
"I can pick it up easily, so it's probably not some powerful celestial artifact." He sighed, disappointed, and slipped the pearl into his pocket.
After searching the cave for a while, he found no exit. His frustration grew, but he knew he couldn't give up now. He still had to find Feiyi, and his father hadn't awakened yet. He had to press on.
"Looks like I'll have to go up."
Scanning the surroundings, he picked a larger opening in the dirt wall and began climbing. The tunnel was stifling and smelled awful, but the faint light ahead gave him hope.
This time, the human-faced spiders didn't retreat. They were everywhere, some right next to his feet.
"Would 'Five Gods' work on them?" he mused, summoning a bottle of Five Gods Mosquito Repellent.
Slowly, he extended the bottle toward a nearby spider.
Hiss!
He pressed the nozzle, releasing a mist. The spider tilted its head, seemingly confused.
Then, without warning, it let out a furious screech and raised its front limbs aggressively.
"Whoa! Chill, bro. It's just a little spray!" Chen Fan muttered.
But the spider screeched again, poised to leap at him. Alarmed, he quickly held up the sachet. The spider hesitated and stepped back, though its eyes still burned with hostility.
"Alright, I won't try that again." Not wanting to push his luck, he picked up his pace.
The tunnel wasn't very long, but it felt like an eternity. After about ten minutes, he finally reached the end. The human-faced spiders were nowhere to be seen.
He climbed through another opening in the dirt wall and spotted a familiar figure sitting nearby—Zhao Gu.
"Zhao Gu!"
He rushed over and tapped her on the shoulder, but she didn't respond.
His heart sank. Moving to face her, he saw that her complexion was pale.
"Zhao Gu! What's wrong?"
Hearing his voice, she slowly opened her eyes and gave a faint smile.
"Chen Fan, you're really hard to kill."
"Of course! I'm the protagonist—I don't die that easily! Come on, I'll protect you."
Chen Fan grinned and extended his hand to help her up. Zhao Gu rolled her eyes and ignored it, instead pushing herself up. She took a step, but her legs gave way.
Chen Fan caught her just in time. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Just fought through a lot of tough monsters on the way and took some hits." She waved off his concern. Then, as if to emphasize a point, she added, "Don't overthink it. I brought you in, so I'll take you out."
Chen Fan smirked. "Zhao Gu, don't tell me you have a thing for me?"
"Ridiculous! I'm an immortal. Love and relationships are a waste of time."
"Really?"
"Really. End of discussion."
"Fine, let's go."
Supporting Zhao Gu, he led her forward, only to be stopped by a nearly vertical dirt wall.
"How do we get up there?" Chen Fan frowned.
"I'm not fully recovered yet. We'll have to wait for my master and senior brothers." Zhao Gu sighed. "At least I cleared out most of the monsters here… Wait, do you hear that?"
A faint rustling sound echoed from the distance. It grew louder, closer—and there were many of them.
"Oh no," Zhao Gu's expression darkened. "Human-faced eight-legged mites."
Chen Fan tensed, gripping the sachet and pulling out the Wu Gang Axe. But if the creatures swarmed him, he wasn't sure he could fend them off.
Just then, another sound came from above. Before they could react, something heavy crashed down from the top of the wall.
A bizarre creature landed in front of them—it had the body of a wild boar but four chicken-like claws.
Chen Fan barely had time to react before the creature, startled, turned tail and bolted—BANG!
It ran headfirst into a stone pillar and collapsed, unconscious.
Chen Fan: "...???"