"Bats? Don't ever underestimate any creature existing above the Styx." Old Liu cautiously surveyed the semi-darkness, where a cluster of bright specks darted about erratically, without any discernible pattern.

Ye Xiu continued his monotonous trek along the edge of the black water. The surrounding grotesque stones jutted out sharply. Every droplet of water the black river splashed seemed intent on seeping into Ye Xiu's trouser legs, while every nearby slab of rock appeared determined to push him into the dark current. The sensation was deeply unsettling.

"Wait, wait a moment! Did you hear something?" At this, Old Liu abruptly froze, his voice a mere whisper, as if to urge Ye Xiu to pay heed to their surroundings.

Ye Xiu gently halted his steps. The waterline ahead was narrowing. A faint sound of wind drifted from the luminous spots ahead, but beyond that, there wasn't much that felt truly bizarre. He reassured Old Liu, "How can the Ancient Wonder-Man get so timid while traversing the Styx? What's so terrifying about a bit of wind noise?"

"Damn it, something just blew onto my face." Old Liu cursed, turning his face toward Ye Xiu. He held out his hands, as if wanting Ye Xiu to see clearly, "Hurry and use your Violet Flame to show me what these things are. Why are they sticking so tenaciously?"

Ye Xiu paid it little mind, merely stepping quickly to his side and igniting the Violet Flame in his hands before Old Liu’s face. Under the intense radiance, Ye Xiu spotted several silvery-white threads resting on Old Liu's cheek. As they met the light of the Violet Flame, they seemed to absorb it, emitting a faint, dark gloom. Ye Xiu sobered up, "Looks like simple spider silk. I'll just pull it off for you, won't that solve it?"

"Stop!" Old Liu roared, halting Ye Xiu's motion. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead, yet his entire body remained rigidly still. He whispered in terror, "Something's wrong. I feel like there's something else wrapped around my back. Did you hear that sound? Like something dragging its hands together, or maybe some kind of pincer?"

Hearing the genuine tremor in Old Liu's voice sent a sudden chill through Ye Xiu. At that precise moment, a faint scraping sound did indeed emanate from above them. Ye Xiu signaled Old Liu to remain calm and slowly moved the Violet Flame toward Old Liu's back. The movement was revealing: a massive spider web, reflecting an eerie green luminescence, suddenly materialized behind Old Liu. It turned out Old Liu himself was entirely ensnared by this webbing.

"Whoosh!" Suddenly, the rapid slithering sound of a reptile descended from above. A mouth, sharp as a blade, angled downward from directly overhead, aimed squarely at Old Liu's neck.

"Boom!" Acting on instinct, Ye Xiu unleashed the Violet Flame in a powerful burst upwards. In the blinding light, a colossal spider was revealed, hanging above them, legs wildly waving. The intense heat of the Violet Flame momentarily stunned its attack. After a furious shriek, it retreated along the strands of silk above, vanishing from their sight.

"Quick, quick, quick! Use the Thin-Edge Blade to cut these threads!" Old Liu was thoroughly shaken by the giant spider. He frantically summoned his Thin-Edge Blade. Sensing its master's distress, the blade exhibited remarkable sentience and immediately moved to sever the silk strands. However, the spider silk did not break upon contact; instead, it suddenly multiplied, rushing to wrap around Old Liu from all directions.

"Ah..." Seeing the critical situation, Ye Xiu disregarded Old Liu's physical state and thrust the Violet Flame directly onto the silk. Though not perfectly effective, it managed to slowly melt away the bonds binding Old Liu, thread by thread. But the fibrous objects raining down from the ceiling were burning away at a speed many times slower than the rate at which the new strands were appearing. Ye Xiu suddenly wondered if those green dots earlier weren't bats at all, but the eyes of all the spiders.

"It's useless. The spiders in the Styx are cursed by the Asura. The only way to break these threads is to kill the Mother Spider." In an instant, Old Liu’s lower body was completely enveloped by the surging mass of silk. He couldn't spread his legs at all. "These spiders were originally servants of the Asura, but were later judged and eternally punished by being suspended upside down. It spends its entire life practicing weaving—this kind of web is not easily undone."

"Damn it, you have the leisure to tell stories at a time like this! Tell me, what is the Mother Spider? Was it the big one just now?" Ye Xiu swayed his Violet Flame, but the silk burned too slowly to counter the new strands spewing in from all sides. He began searching for the source of the new silk, but found no spiders around—only inexplicable, hollow-looking stones. "Are they hiding inside the rocks?"

"Watch your head!" Old Liu thrust Ye Xiu away with both hands. At that moment, the Mother Spider launched another sneak attack from the darkness, driving one of its sharp legs directly into Old Liu's thigh. Old Liu cried out in pain, powerless to retaliate.

Ye Xiu was slammed hard onto the ground by Old Liu’s forceful shove. He immediately unleashed a prepared barrage of Violet Flame toward the Mother Spider. This blast struck its abdomen precisely. It tumbled off Old Liu’s body, then turned, scrambled back up the rock face, and disappeared once more into the darkness.

"This won't work. Old Liu, where is your Freezing Pentagram? See if you can freeze these threads," Ye Xiu urged him, simultaneously igniting his entire body with Violet Flame, bathing the entire cavern in a deep red glow. "Come out, you monster!"

Muttering incantations, Old Liu directed the Thin-Edge Blade to retrieve the Pentagram from his waist pouch. In an instant, the Pentagram enveloped the spider web, immediately chilling the silk strands. As a sound like crackling ice filled the air, frost crystals began to speckle the silk, but that was all—just a trace of frost.

"Fine, I'm going all out." Seeing the silk retaining its unnatural flexibility, Ye Xiu frantically stripped off his outer garment, scooped up a handful of water from the black river beneath them, and drenched Old Liu. "With this frigid Styx water thrown in, it should finally work!"

"Ye Xiu... Holy..." Old Liu, soaked head to toe in the black water, shivered so violently his words fractured. Yet, precisely because of the black water's interaction, the power of the Freezing Pentagram was fully unleashed. In a split second, the entire spider web solidified into ice.

Just as Ye Xiu prepared to swing a punch to shatter the now-frozen silk, a giant net descended from above, completely engulfing him. Then, a dark shadow flashed past; the Mother Spider dropped from the ceiling, hauling Ye Xiu, still caught in the webbing, high into the air.

"Aaaargh..." The Mother Spider, likely injured by the preceding Violet Flame attack, actually stood upright, waving its four purely black limbs. Its head bore countless eyes. Most terrifying of all was its sharp mouth, which snapped open and shut intermittently, seemingly intent on swallowing Ye Xiu whole.

"Clang!" Behind the Mother Spider, Old Liu utilized the full force of the Thin-Edge Blade to effortlessly destroy the now-frozen silk binding him. He executed a flying leap, latching onto the cavern wall near the shore. He found himself perfectly positioned alongside the spider's flank. Using the wall as leverage, he sprung forward, closing the distance to the creature. With a swift draw of his blade, he struck true, shearing off one of the Mother Spider's forelegs.