Chapter 140
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Trampling (5)
“Could you step back a bit?”
“Pardon?”
“Please step back.”
“Ah, yes.”
Zhuge Soso gave an awkward smile and retreated.
She had wanted to help Four Thousand Four. But when he refused her with a cold gaze, how could she not feel out of place?
She was a daughter of the Zhuge family.
It wasn’t just that she excelled in strategy. Her martial arts were also at a considerable level, even if she rarely clashed directly with others. She wasn’t the type to be a burden to anyone.
Yet to Four Thousand Four, she had become one.
Four Thousand Four frowned slightly as he watched her step back.
Why wouldn’t he want her by his side? He’d even create an opportunity for it on purpose if he could.
He liked being with her.
He liked the fragrance she exuded.
Every word she spoke, every action she took, carried that scent. A fresh, pure aroma.
But right now, she was the worst kind of enemy.
With her nearby, he couldn’t help but look at her. He had no choice but to.
All his senses focused on her alone.
Her fragrance, her movements, her voice... It was as if the world was crafted to make him see only her.
Just like moments ago.
Like how his head had automatically turned the instant she approached.
How could he fight the Killing Venom Spiders like that?
She was the one he wanted closest, but right now, she needed to be farthest away.
Thwip! Thwip-thwip! Thwip-thwip-thwip!
Pebbles shot toward the black spiders dropping from the trees.
One pebble per spider.
Under normal circumstances, with so few spiders, it would be a fight they could handle. But now, the situation was entirely different. The whole forest was crawling with them, and they had only a handful of pebbles.
Worse, the black spiders moved freely.
They couldn’t just sweep them aside like obstacles. No sooner had he killed one than another took its place.
He needed to move fast.
Wide-area kills on the spiders, maximum speed on the advance!
‘Not sure if it’ll work, but...’
Four Thousand Four pulled a single pebble from his satchel.
Normally, he’d wedge five or six between his fingers. But this time, just one—the roundest, smoothest he could find.
Crunch! Crumble!
The pebble turned to powder in his grip, then scattered into the air.
Pew-pew-pew-pew! Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Black spiders rained down in clusters. Leaves riddled with holes fell with them.
Whoosh!
Four Thousand Four darted into the cleared space.
‘This guy!’
Zhuge Soso furrowed her brow.
The spiders were falling like a downpour.
Countless ones, from who-knows-where, plummeting down.
Swish! Swish-swish-swish!
The Zhuge warriors swiftly moved to safety.
Relief flickered in their eyes. There were many spiders, but Four Thousand Four was handling them effectively.
They felt they might just make it out of the forest unscathed.
Zhuge Soso thought the opposite.
Four Thousand Four needed a different approach. Breaking through the Venom Spider Forest with martial arts alone was impossible.
His internal energy would soon run dry. The pebbles would give out. How long could he keep up Shadowless Step? The forest was vast and endless. Charging through it by force...
‘Was this the only way? Heh.’
Zhuge Soso let out a wry chuckle as her thoughts trailed off.
Four Thousand Four was a man true to his instincts. What he was doing now wasn’t from any strategy—it was pure instinct. The best he could do in this moment.
From a strategic viewpoint, he was using an escape method with clear limits. And those limits would soon become reality, blocking their path.
But that was then. For now, this was how he escaped.
‘I couldn’t solve it with my head, so I relied on him... only to judge his actions with my mind. I handed it over because my brain couldn’t handle it. Heh!’
It was a problem wisdom couldn’t solve.
She had to trust him. Follow without question.
Swish!
She pressed close behind Four Thousand Four’s back.
She resolved not to watch what he did. Seeing would make her think, and she’d start picking apart right from wrong in his moves.
“Hup! Hah!”
Four Thousand Four exhaled roughly.
Like pouring water into a bottomless jar... Kill them, and more kept coming endlessly.
Fortunately, no one had been bitten by the Killing Venom Spiders yet.
His pebble dust spread wide and far, covering all the Zhuge warriors with room to spare. At least for now.
“I need a break.”
Four Thousand Four said to Zhuge Ming.
“Just keep going like this?”
Zhuge Ming stepped forward at once and asked.
“Please.”
“That’s no problem.”
Zhuge Ming bent down and picked up a suitable stone to crush.
Pfft! Hiss! Pew-pew-pew-pew!
A cloud of stone dust billowed into the air.
The black spiders descending on webs weren’t all that fast. A small mercy—their nature favored stealth over speed.
Up front, Zhuge Ming crushed stones into dust and flung it like hidden weapons.
In the rear, Four Thousand Four did the same.
The protected Zhuge warriors in the middle shielded the sky with small bucklers.
So far, they were advancing smoothly.
Pop!
Four Thousand Four caught a sharp, intense whiff of poison.
It was so overpowering that his head snapped back instinctively. That’s how strong it was.
‘Poison!’
The thought surged up.
Poison! Nothing else came to mind. Not what kind, not how it would attack... No time for details. He moved on instinct.
Whoosh!
Four Thousand Four broke from the group and dashed sideways.
Zhuge Ming and Zhuge Soso froze for a split second.
The area he headed into was untouched by them. A spider-infested zone, no protection, no Shadowless Step—just a blind sprint.
What now? Follow him?
Urk!
Four Thousand Four, racing swiftly, let out a faint groan and faltered.
‘I got hit!’
No one watching could miss what happened to him.
His movements slowed dramatically.
He’d been bitten by a Killing Venom Spider.
A bite paralyzed the whole nervous system. You stayed alive but couldn’t move.
Then the spiders descended, sucking up the liquified flesh.
Four Thousand Four was succumbing to paralysis.
“Why the hell...?”
Zhuge Ming stared in disbelief.
Four Thousand Four was in dire straits, but rescue wasn’t possible. They could run to him, but not like that. They had to scatter dust ahead to clear spiders. Charging in without was suicide.
And Four Thousand Four knew that better than anyone. So why charge in blindly?
“Why’s he doing something so stupid...”
“Didn’t he look urgent?”
“No idea. Too busy throwing this stuff.”
Zhuge Ming said, hefting more dust.
‘Poison...’
Four Thousand Four gritted his teeth and took one step, then another.
The poison ahead was far deadlier than any spider venom.
He’d smelled it. But no one else had. They showed no reaction—not even Mian Sosal, the strongest among them, who looked baffled.
Only Four Thousand Four had caught the scent.
‘Soon... Soon... Death.’
He clenched his jaw, fighting the spider’s anesthetic.
He hadn’t even considered a bite. He’d forgotten the spiders existed entirely. The looming poison had consumed his mind.
Even now, paralyzed body and all, his head held only that poison scent. The spiders were erased from his thoughts.
An unstoppable deadly toxin was coming.
Smelling it meant it had already been dispersed. No question of if—it was done.
“Urgh! Heh-heh!”
Four Thousand Four mustered all his strength for one more step.
Water! He needed water!
“Follow him!”
Zhuge Soso felt a chill of foreboding.
She saw nothing. Smelled nothing. Felt nothing.
Just Zhuge Ming and Mian Sosal flinging dust like weapons. Spiders dropping limply... So weakly, she doubted if these were truly the fearsome Killing Venom Spiders.
They were, though.
Four Thousand Four was suffering greatly—a man who hid pain well.
Spider venom didn’t hurt; it just numbed. Yet he showed agony because he was resisting it. Thrashing against paralysis.
Why he’d forgotten the spiders he’d spotted first, she didn’t know. But something ominous was happening.
Pew-pew! Pew-pew-pew!
Zhuge Ming flung dust at once, veering toward Four Thousand Four’s path.
He felt his body pitch forward. Then a cold chill rushed in.
Splash!
A stone hitting water? He heard the sound.
But strangely, he felt no water. No sensation of it touching him.
His eyes saw water.
Left eye on trees, right on a submerged stone.
He was immersed in water.
‘Why can’t I feel the water? What’s wrong?’
Four Thousand Four tried to move. His body wouldn’t obey, like it wasn’t his.
‘Heh! The spiders...’
Only now did he realize he’d been bitten.
Too focused on water to think... But yes, bitten. That’s why his body ignored his will.
Right eye saw flowing water. But no sound. No spray crashing on rocks.
All senses paralyzed except sight.
Swish!
Zhuge Ming scooped up the collapsed Four Thousand Four.
“They say you can drown face-down in a puddle. Never believed it till today.”
The stream Four Thousand Four had fallen into was shallow. A mere mountain trickle. Yet he’d face-planted and stayed put, unmoving, on the brink of suffocation.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Zhuge Soso’s mind.
“Poison! It’s poison!”
“What!”
“Soak in water—now!”
Zhuge Soso hastily stripped off her outer robe, dunked it, and covered her nose.
No poison sensation. But if Four Thousand Four had fought to reach this stream... One explanation: block breathing with water!
The Zhuge warriors moved quickly, orderly.