Chapter 00202: I Am Here!
# I Am Here!
Chapter 202
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 202: I Am Here!
He wondered, "What are you all following me for?"
"We still need backup."
Liu Tong was a meticulous person; in case Sun Jiayuan failed, someone had to take over his task.
Thus, more than a dozen people rushed to the riverbank, rolling around in the muddy ground, wrapping themselves in three layers of mud.
When they got up, they looked completely unrecognizable, with only their eyes peeking out.
Even Liu Tiao was the same, rolling in the mud without a care.
He Lingchuan also took the opportunity to fill a water pouch to the brim.
The thin man spat out a mouthful of foul, muddy water: "Pah, it stinks to high heaven!"
He couldn't even bear to think about what else might be in that mud.
The group returned to their original position, which was closest to the giant nest.
Sun Jiayuan strapped on his bow and arrow, nodding to Liu Tong: "I'm ready."
The dozen or so mud-covered figures simultaneously exerted their strength and sprinted forward, but they would stop when the Earth Spider approached.
A strange scene unfolded: when they halted, the Earth Spider passed right by them, treating them as if they were invisible.
Indeed, they reeked of mud, completely masking their human scent.
The Earth Spider, which was accustomed to the smell of soil, naturally had no reaction.
"Go quickly!"
Without needing Liu Tong to urge them again, Sun Jiayuan dashed towards the nest, performing a forward roll and curling up to slip underneath.
The brocade looked splendid, but like ordinary spider silk, it had sticky beads every half a palm's distance, with an especially astonishing stickiness.
Anything that brushed against it would lose a layer of skin and have no way to escape.
However, Sun Jiayuan was wrapped in several layers of mud, still dripping with moisture.
Each time he rolled over a layer of spider silk, he shed a bit of mud, and he continued to fall downward under the force of gravity.
Liu Tiao took advantage of the moment when they were distracted by the enemy to look back and exclaimed joyfully, "This plan can work!"
In just a few breaths, Sun Jiayuan had fallen through seven or eight layers of spider silk.
As long as he broke through the final line of defense, he could throw the fireball into the nest.
The spider demons sensed something was off and surged in from all directions.
The group threw out the prepared insect repellent bottles, seizing every moment they could.
The insect-repelling smoke was very effective; ordinary spiders would stumble and retreat after catching a whiff, but the spider demons guarding the nest clearly had a higher tolerance, shaking their heads and charging forward.
Their specialty was obviously the silk-spitting, and at this moment, He Lingchuan, Liu Tong, and the other muddy figures took advantage of this, as the webs couldn't drag them away.
Liu Tong couldn't help but shout loudly, "Sun Jiayuan, hurry up!"
The spider demons were thick-skinned and strong, with many tricks up their sleeves, but their numbers were limited.
The guards could easily handle one against two.
However, the insect repellent bottles wouldn't burn for long, and soon, the small spiders would swarm in from every direction.
Even with protective qi, they wouldn't be able to withstand it.
It was a race against time, yet Sun Jiayuan did not respond.
"Sun Jiayuan!" Liu Tong called out several more times.
The luxurious brocade covered the entrance to the nest, obscuring the situation below.
As everyone grew anxious, Sun Jiayuan's voice came from below, sounding somewhat distant: "The space down here is too vast, and there are many more layers! I have to go down..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly let out a loud, piercing scream: "There’s an ambush, and a spider army! You all hurry and leave!"
Then there was a loud explosion, and flames burst forth from beneath the brocade.
The hearts of the guards sank.
Sun Jiayuan was likely done for.
Someone was at the edge of the brocade, swinging a knife with all their might.
Sure enough, the spider silk looked light and airy, but it was more resilient than a hundred-year-old vine.
Even a blade infused with elemental power could only sever a few strands.
They had to remember that there were still more than ten layers of silk above.
What was happening below? They would need to send someone else down to find out.
Sun Jiayuan had likely met with misfortune; should they continue?
If they retreated like this, what would happen to the main force?
Even if General Nan Ke could gather the remnants and escape, there were still the Ba Ling people lying in wait outside the Ghost Needle Stone Forest!
One step forward was a fog, one step back was an abyss, and they had to make a decision right now, immediately!
Several people spoke in unison: "I'll go!"
There were Liu Tong, Men Ban, and two other guards.
They were still muddy and could take over Sun Jiayuan's unfinished task.
He Lingchuan felt admiration.
In terms of elite troops, these guards were indeed not as good as the Great Wind Army; however, in terms of courage, they were unmatched compared to the Black Water City army, the Support Army, and the officials of the Yuan Kingdom—he wouldn't even be worthy to carry their boots!
The thin man hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said, "I, I will go!"
The sparrow hawk flew over, its claws still clutching the package.
"No, I will go!" Just as it flew over He Lingchuan's head, the latter waved at it, "Give me the fireball!"
His advantages were unparalleled; no one could compare.
The sparrow hawk dropped the package, and He Lingchuan caught it in his hands, pulling out a few command arrows from within, then turned and dashed towards the entrance of the spider nest, tossing the rest to Liu Tong: "If I don't make it, you all take my place!"
As he passed by Liu Tiao, he also snatched the oil flask hanging from her waist.
"Good man!" He Lingchuan had not been in the team for long, and Liu Tong did not expect him to take the lead.
She was moved at once, "Leave a last wish; we will do our best!"
He Lingchuan's actions were uncertain in life and death, but everyone had their desires.
According to the tradition of the Panlong City army, the living should try to fulfill the wishes of the dead.
"No need!" He Lingchuan poured water from his pouch over his head, wetting the mud on his body a bit more.
He performed the Swallow Return Technique, deftly dodging several intercepting spider demons, and rushed to the edge of the nest, jumping down just like Sun Jiayuan had.
The others saw the brocade surge, swallowing He Lingchuan, and only his voice came from below: "Go back to the Tianshuang Tavern and buy me a drink!"
Liu Tong shook her head: "This kid!" He was so sure he wouldn't die that he didn't even leave a last wish?
But He Lingchuan's optimism infected the guards on site, lifting their spirits and diminishing the anxious and confused atmosphere.
Just a few breaths later, they heard He Lingchuan's astonished voice: "There’s a hidden world below; it seems like a forest!"
Men Ban and the thin man exchanged glances, both realizing the other's confusion.
Had He Lingchuan hit his head? What kind of forest could there be underground?
"I didn't see Sun Jiayuan!" He Lingchuan's voice continued to rise, "I set the fire; Zhu Erniang must have suffered heavy losses!"
The thin man rushed to the edge of the nest and looked down, indeed seeing a blazing red light flickering beneath the brocade, as if a great fire had ignited.
However, the brocade blocked it, and he couldn't even feel a hint of heat.
The fireproof effect of this spider silk was truly remarkable.
If He Lingchuan hadn't jumped down to set the fire directly, the sparrow hawk could have dropped an entire arsenal without it having any effect.
The nest was successfully set ablaze, and the thin man rejoiced: "He Lingchuan, come back up!"
"The spider army is coming out!" He Lingchuan's voice was urgent and firm, "You all hurry and retreat, quickly!"
Retreat?
The thin man was taken aback as a massive spider demon suddenly emerged from the rolling brocade, leaping towards him!
This creature was as big as a goat, and with a single jump, it covered two zhang, nearly crushing the thin man under its weight.
He had never seen a spider that excelled at jumping, and its speed was unreasonably fast.
Fortunately, he was also quite agile himself, rolling away just in time and shouting, "The spider demons are climbing up! Over a hundred of them!"
Yes, behind the jumping spider was a whole army of spider demons, all of them large and varied in color and pattern, surging towards the nest entrance along the spider silk, clearly furious!
The largest one was bigger than a brown bear, its body a riot of colors, clearly not something to be trifled with.
Only then did everyone understand that the spider queen had left her elite guards in the nest to watch over it, which was why she could leave with peace of mind.
These big treasures had likely been ordered to guard the nest and not venture out, so it was only after He Lingchuan set a great fire that they charged out to confront the arsonist.
Over a hundred well-rested, trouble-seeking monsters; a dozen guards could not withstand them, and in the blink of an eye, two were knocked down, screaming as they were dragged into the nest.
Once these spiders caught a person, they would revert to their classic hunting methods, pinning their prey to the ground and rolling them around, wrapping them in layer upon layer of sticky spider silk, quickly turning them into two rice dumplings.
"Damn it!" The cries of teammates suddenly diminished.
Liu Tiao was furious, shooting down the silk-spitting spider with two arrows.
But the tide of spiders surged up, about to close in.
Even worse, the insect repellent bottles she had thrown were about to burn out, and the small spiders were stirring restlessly.
If they didn't leave now, they would be delivering themselves as food.
Liu Tong was sweating profusely, grabbing Liu Tiao's arm and shouting, "Retreat, quickly retreat!"
Liu Tiao shouted one last time towards the nest, "He Lingchuan!"
The massive hole gave no response.
Men Ban pressed on her shoulder, speaking in a deep voice: "It's too late to find him! If you don't want to die, hurry and go!" The nest was on fire, and the spider queen would likely return; they couldn't stay here.
He and Liu Tong each took one of Liu Tiao's arms and quickly ran towards the slope.
The horses were hiding there, and if they mounted quickly, there was hope for escape.
At that moment, fireworks ignited in the sky.
Men Ban turned back to take a look, overjoyed: "Fireworks outside the Stone Forest! Perhaps reinforcements have arrived!"
The location of the fireworks was quite far away, although still in the northeast direction.
Judging by the distance, they should have exploded outside the Ghost Needle Stone Forest.
After waiting for a whole night, reinforcements had finally come.
The Great Wind Army attacked Wei City.
Just as General Hong had anticipated before the battle, the journey from Puxiang Valley to Wei City was quite pleasant, not encountering a single soldier, only two large eagles circling in the sky.
Sun Duwei personally drew his bow and shot one down.
Aside from the night owl, the nocturnal vision of birds of prey was generally poor, and they hadn't improved much after becoming demons.
During the day, it shouldn't be a problem for them to avoid this deadly arrow.
The other one, frightened, flapped its wings and soared higher, no longer daring to fly low.
The night in Wei City was quiet, with only four or five red lights on the city gate, as if the city guards were lax.
However, as the Great Wind Army began their assault, a wave of arrows rained down from the city gate, followed by the sound of horns blowing in the wilderness, as a troop surged in from behind the Great Wind Army!
There was an ambush.
These Ba Ling people had been lying in wait in the wilderness for most of the night, enduring the wind and sand, and they didn't dare to light a fire, so frost hung on their eyebrows and clothing, bringing with them a belly full of grievances to attack.
Every soldier of the Great Wind Army took out their bows and first unleashed two rounds of concentrated fire at the hidden troops.
(End of Chapter)