Chapter Thirty-Four: The Spider Monster Attacks

Huang Xiaoxue’s transformation left everyone utterly stunned. Not only those nearby, like Wang Qingshan, but even Shen Lie, who stood at a distance, was left speechless, his mouth agape. In the blink of an eye, a young and beautiful girl had become a savage black-furred dog. If this was the price of awakening, no one would be willing to pay it, no matter how powerful the ability gained.

But Huang Xiaoxue’s shocking transformation was not yet complete. As she crouched on the ground, she suddenly threw her head back and let out a guttural howl. Her body convulsed violently, and a gaping wound tore open at her neck. From within, fleshy buds seemed to force their way outward, until, beside her original head, a new one began to grow.

The new head was smaller than the original, but its eyes gleamed with cruelty and coldness. Both heads scanned the surrounding crowd, and suddenly, the newly grown head opened its mouth wide. A beam of black light shot forth, striking Wang Laoben, who stood just a few paces away. Instantly, a bloody hole appeared in his chest, and he collapsed in terror and unwillingness.

“Run! Run for your lives!” someone shrieked, the first to regain their senses. At once, everyone around broke into a terrified sprint, desperate to avoid the fate that had just befallen Wang Laoben.

The two-headed monster that Huang Xiaoxue had become let out an exhilarated screech and leapt into the air, soaring more than three meters high. Her hands—or rather, her forepaws—gleamed with razor-sharp light. In a flash, she brought down a young man who had only managed to take a few steps. As his screams rang out, one of the heads opened its gaping jaws and bit off half of his skull, chewing voraciously while scanning for its next victim.

By now, everyone could see that Huang Xiaoxue’s transformation was not a true awakening but a descent into monstrous, mindless savagery. And this abnormal awakening seemed even more powerful than a normal one. Terror-stricken, the crowd fled in utter panic and madness.

Shen Lie remained motionless. For one thing, he was standing far enough away that the creature hadn’t noticed him yet; for another, he had noticed something intriguing.

He saw that Wang Qingshan and his daughter had started backing away even before the monster attacked, as if they had sensed the danger beforehand. He recalled that it was Wang Qingshan’s daughter who first noticed the threat. The moment Huang Xiaoxue picked up the Phantom Mushroom, the girl shuddered and quickly tugged at her father’s arm. Wang Qingshan immediately began edging away, and after Huang Xiaoxue’s transformation, he was the first to withdraw.

Wang Qingshan moved with remarkable speed. Even while dragging his daughter, he had already run farther than anyone else and was now practically out of sight.

Shen Lie observed all of this, and some suspicions began forming in his mind. But now wasn’t the time for investigation. In the span of a few dozen seconds, four or five more people had fallen prey to the two-headed monster. He grabbed Zhang Jing’s hand, and they quickly retreated from the scene.

The two of them ran for a while and then climbed into the car they had used earlier, speeding all the way back to the Qi Family Market. As soon as they got out of the car, they were met by Li Cheng and several subordinates, their faces pale with fear.

“Shen, bad news! The water in the Red River has thinned out a lot and lost most of its strength—it’s barely a barrier now. Several spider monsters have already crossed the river and made it to our side!”

Upon hearing this, both Shen Lie and Zhang Jing’s faces turned ashen. A two-headed monster had just appeared, and now the spider monsters were crossing the river as well. To call it a disaster would be an understatement—it was a death sentence.

“What do we do, Shen?” Zhang Jing asked, panic etched on her face. She clung to Shen Lie’s shoulder as if terrified he might abandon her at any moment.

“There’s nothing for it. We’ll have to try breaking out of the town.” Shen Lie was at a loss. He knew just how many spider monsters waited on the far bank—a number so overwhelming it bred only despair.

And that wasn’t all. There was also the great black cat and the white spider. With the Red River no longer holding them back, the ragtag survivors here would be slaughtered within a day, and not even the so-called awakened ones would escape unscathed.

Shen Lie’s words drained the last traces of color from Zhang Jing and Li Cheng’s faces. They looked at him with pleading eyes, desperate for him to tell them it wasn’t true.

“We have no reason to stay here anymore. Tell everyone to grab only what they need and run for their lives!” Since he had decided to brave the red mist outside the town, Shen Lie knew he couldn’t take too many people with him. In fact, he didn’t even want to bring Li Cheng and Zhang Jing; the more people, the bigger the target.

But these two had helped him a lot these past few days. Though the apocalypse had not entirely corroded his conscience, so he couldn’t bring himself to abandon them.

“What do you mean, Shen?” Li Cheng asked anxiously, not quite understanding.

“I mean everyone should scatter—go home, find your families, do what you need to survive. This place can’t be held any longer. You two can come with me if you want, or find your own way out. Oh, and bring Taotao—I’ll take her with us.” Since he had already agreed to take people, one more wouldn’t matter. As for whether they’d survive, that was up to fate.

By now, all the survivors in town were fleeing in panic. News of the spider monsters crossing the river had spread, and everyone knew this calamity would be even more brutal than the one three months ago. With death looming so close, no one could remain calm.

“Daughter! Where are you, my girl?”

“Old He, get back home and warn Xiaosan and the others. We have to run for the edge of town—the defense here won’t hold!”

“Stop! Don’t take my pack!”

“Haha, Zhao Jinya, you always pretended to be pure in front of me, but everyone knows what you are. We’re all going to die anyway—before I go, I’ll have my way with you.”

Chaos reigned in the street. Shrieks and cries of agony echoed from all directions, and in the distance, the silhouettes of spider monsters could already be seen. Each swing of their massive claws claimed another life, with hundreds dying in the blink of an eye.

“Where are the awakened? Where are those so-called kings? Where is the army? You all lorded it over us, and now you’re nowhere to be found! Curse you all!” a man cornered by a spider monster shouted hysterically, only to be impaled through the chest a moment later by a razor-sharp claw.

A young mother shielded her daughter, who was not yet ten, with her own body. To keep her alive, she had sacrificed everything, even her dignity, sleeping with over a dozen men for scraps of food, believing that survival meant hope. But a single slash of a spider monster’s light blade shattered that illusion.

A group of a dozen young men formed a circle, brandishing knives and clubs, hoping to resist the monsters. But it was a futile gesture. The spider monster leader, marked with twin stripes on its back, merely swung its bladed arm, slicing all of them in two, leaving behind only eyes forever frozen in disbelief.

Because of the Red River and the red mist outside town, disaster had come later here than elsewhere, but it arrived with even greater ferocity. As the Red River lost its power, the spider monsters surged across, unleashing a massacre that would devastate half the town.

Shen Lie was shaken by the carnage. From the start of the apocalypse, he had been in the otherworld and had never witnessed such a scene firsthand. For a moment, he was unable to react.

“Shen, which way do we go?” As the panicked crowd neared the Qi Family Market, Li Cheng finally appeared, clutching little Taotao and trembling as he flung open the car door and climbed inside, his face a mask of despair.

“To Yin Hao Market!” Seeing the horrors unfolding before him, Shen Lie doubted his ability to escape through the red mist. Even the spider monsters dared not set foot there. After a moment’s thought, he decided their best chance was to regroup with the other awakened. Only by banding together might there be a sliver of hope.