Just as Xiao Shu had anticipated, the spiders vanished with the last rays of the setting sun after the rain stopped. They departed just as mysteriously as they arrived, creeping back along the dry passage they had used before, leaving not a trace behind them. That left the four of us—myself, Xiao Shu, A’Li, and Xing’er—sitting alone on the cave floor.

Xing’er remained fast asleep, and A’Li had also drifted off in my arms, emitting soft snores. Only Xiao Shu and I, jarred by the harrowing scene we had just endured, found ourselves unable to rest. We sat facing each other, staring into the gloom.

After a long silence, he finally broke it: “You must be hungry. Some of those fruits over there are still good. I’ll go gather them.” Saying this, he pushed himself up with one hand, favoring his injured leg, and limped over to the bananas, bending down stiffly to collect them.

The fruit had been scattered around the rock where Xing’er had been tied. In the chaos of our escape, many pieces had been trampled underfoot. Only a small handful remained intact, but even that meager supply was enough to quell our immediate hunger.

Truthfully, if we hadn't been forcing ourselves through sheer will, we wouldn't have lasted this long. Few people could manage a full day of frantic exertion without a single grain of food. So, when I took the bananas, I devoured them greedily, wolfing down one every few bites. Xiao Shu, however, didn't even bother peeling his; he just held a whole bunch in one hand, taking big bites from the left and then the right, finishing the entire string in moments.

Once our stomachs were full, I took the canteen and poured in some stream water to wash it down. Then, everything felt perfect. I patted my belly, like Zhu Bajie, and lay back flat on the ground, watching the stalactites above drip, drip, drip.

Suddenly, a thought struck me: since we had the Water of the Sea of Souls here, why weren’t we using it to treat Xiao Shu’s leg wound? With that realization, I scrambled upright, inadvertently waking A’Li, who had been resting on my chest.

“Xiao Shu, why didn’t you…” I started to ask why he hadn't used the Water of the Sea of Souls for healing, but I stopped halfway through. I saw him had already rolled up his pant leg, using the canteen lid to scoop water from the stream and carefully pour it bit by bit onto the injury.

Strangely, this stream water was completely ineffective. After half an hour of pouring, the wound showed no sign of healing; if anything, the pain seemed to intensify. Xiao Shu let out occasional sharp hisses through clenched teeth, and his leg would twitch involuntarily. It felt as if we were pouring concentrated brine onto the wound, bearing no resemblance to the Water of the Sea of Souls at all.

“What in the world is going on?” I asked, standing by, perplexed.

“I don’t know!” Xiao Shu grit his teeth and replied, “Two of the spiders crawled into the stream just moments ago and died right there. Their bodies are still floating.” He nodded with his mouth toward the two overturned, dead spiders nearby. “It looks exactly like the Water of the Sea of Souls, so why isn't it working?”

While the two of us were puzzling over the stream water, A’Li suddenly darted out from behind me, clutching my thigh with one hand while playfully dipping the other into the stream. Seeing her so absorbed in her play, Xiao Shu and I paid it little mind.

Little did we know that while we were focused on our water experiment, A’Li let out a piercing scream, releasing my leg and immediately grappling with Xing’er, who had climbed onto her shoulder.

It turned out that during the time we were distracted by the water, Xing’er had woken up. A’Li was her first target; she lunged forward, wrapped her arms around A’Li’s neck, and took a savage bite. Xiao Shu and I exchanged a look; his eyes were glistening with unshed tears, as if he hadn't the faintest idea how to handle the situation unfolding before us.