My apologies to all our dear readers; I'm posting late today, but don't worry, we'll have four updates today!

———————————————— I noticed one of these Centipede Spiders was particularly unusual: a human corpse was stuck face-down upon its back, and upon closer inspection, it was bound by strands of transparent silk.

Suddenly, the Centipede Spider's body twitched, and one of its long legs curled up, deftly severing most of the silk binding the corpse. Only a few strands remained attached to the body's head and limbs, and then the corpse slowly began to fall toward the ground.

Xie Yuting sucked in a sharp breath. "I get it now. This thing uses the silk on its legs to manipulate the corpses' bodies. No wonder the decapitated head could fly back! And the reason those corpses wouldn't enter the house is because the spider silk can't make sharp turns; they simply couldn't get inside."

Liang Qian nodded. "They carry the corpses on their backs, using a special venom to keep them from decaying, and when they need to hunt, they use the corpses as weapons. This suggests a high level of intelligence. I once read about this kind of monster in an ancient book."

With the assault rifle in hand, Da Xiong chuckled. "Let me just lay down a burst; I'll blow it to pieces. I don't care how smart it is."

Liang Qian shook her head. "Their carapace is incredibly hard; bullets won't easily kill them, and this thing is incredibly fast, making it very difficult to deal with..."

I said, "I think all insects fear fire. When we were on the riverbank, these things didn't attack us because they must have been wary of the torches we were holding."

Xie Yuting nodded in agreement. "But where are we going to get fire? There’s nothing here to burn."

Liang Qian pressed her forehead, hissing in pain, then said, "Since there are clues left by Professor Nie and his group here, perhaps they have already gone into the temple. They must have fire, and even if we can't find them, we can take refuge in the temple for a while."

Her words suddenly reminded me that we were supposed to be here to rescue people. All this time, we’ve been like clay Buddhas crossing a river—who knows how Grandpa and the others are doing? Concern immediately began to weigh on my mind.

Xie Yuting drew the Demon-Slaying Blade. "If we cut those silk threads, the corpses can't move anymore. I'll take the lead and draw the Centipede Spider away; you all run toward the temple."

Da Xiong chambered a round in his rifle, stood up, and said, "I'll cover you... I'll give this pretty boy a burst first!" With that, he raised his rifle and fired a short burst, hitting the back of a corpse-carrying Centipede Spider.

Although its carapace was tough, the bullet left a dent, and the creature let out a squeaking shriek. The swarm immediately became chaotic, darting away into the distance with their corpse puppets.

Seeing the corpse-group retreat, we seized the opportunity to pour out of the house and sprint toward the depths of the village.

Because the ice surface was slippery, we fell almost every few steps. Stumbling and tripping, we ran for several dozen meters before seeing the corpse-carrying Centipede Spiders, bringing their hordes of corpses, already catching up behind us, with gusts of cold wind blowing from behind.

Those Centipede Spiders were indeed highly intelligent. As they neared us, several circled around and cut off our path ahead, and then the corpses began to attack us from the front and rear, brandishing their claws and fangs.

Xie Yuting didn't hesitate. He swung the blade at the empty space above the head of the foremost corpse, cleanly severing the binding silk. The corpse immediately collapsed like a pile of wet mud.

Then, stepping onto the fallen body, he leaped into the air like a great roc. A flash of his blade followed, and several more corpses tumbled to the ground.

I was just about to exclaim "Beautiful!" when, unexpectedly, the massive Centipede Spiders, deprived of their puppets, let out furious screeches. Several dropped directly from the cave ceiling, smashing ice shards everywhere on the ground.

The Centipede Spiders that landed were extremely enraged, spreading dozens of long legs as they lunged toward us.

I thought, This is bad. Cutting the silk threads made things worse! While the corpses were troublesome, they didn't present this kind of overwhelming force...

Liang Qian, next to me, looked pale. She fired a short burst at one Centipede Spider's head, forcing it to briefly retreat.

She was about to say something to me when another Centipede Spider suddenly lunged from behind us with a tremendous rush of air.

Liang Qian shoved me aside and turned to shoot, but unexpectedly, the Centipede Spider spat out a white thread from its mouth, instantly gluing itself to Liang Qian's wrist.

In a flash, the Centipede Spider pinned Liang Qian to the ground, its dozens of feet like two rows of steel blades striking her body simultaneously.

An inexplicable rage suddenly welled up in my chest. As a man, I had already been saved by Liang Qian twice—what a useless waste I was!

I picked up the gun Liang Qian had dropped, my eyes bloodshot, cursed loudly, and pulled the trigger, but the gun was out of bullets.

Frustrated, I smashed the gun against the creature and then lunged forward myself, biting it ferociously like a madman.

Just as I fell into despair, I heard someone nearby curse and a massive figure charge over.

Da Xiong yanked me away and raised his colossal fist, delivering a heavy left hook squarely to the Centipede Spider's forehead, causing it to rear its head back and spew green fluid from its mouth.

Da Xiong paid it no mind; he grabbed one of the creature's legs, put all his strength into it, and hurled it away.

Seeing the Centipede Spider fly over my head, I quickly rushed to help Liang Qian up. Her eyes were tightly shut; her shoulder was ripped open by several deep gashes from the creature's attack, and the impact of the fall had knocked her unconscious.

Da Xiong punched another Centipede Spider flying and roared at me, "Hurry up and get her out of here!"

I had no choice but to sling Liang Qian over my back and stagger forward. We immediately ran into Xie Yuchen, who had just cleaved the head off a Centipede Spider, his body covered in green fluid. Seeing Liang Qian injured, he grabbed me and pulled me forward.

With Da Xiong covering the rear, those ferocious Centipede Spiders didn't pursue us; occasionally, a corpse would lunge, but Xie Yuting would cut its binding silk.

We ran wildly for another hundred meters before the houses on both sides disappeared, and we emerged onto a vast, circular plaza.

The ice layer in this plaza was not rough like before but smooth as a mirror. Xie Yuting and I lost our footing and fell onto the ice, one after the other.

Before I could get up, I heard a few gunshots from the direction we came from, and Da Xiong cursed as he also charged in, bringing a large horde of Centipede Spiders and corpses with him. I thought, This is it. I wonder if that monster knows how to ice skate.

Suddenly, with a loud thump, Da Xiong crashed heavily next to me. Judging by the force, he could have shattered his teeth.

Catching the faint reflection off the ice, I saw his clothes were shredded, and there were bloodstains in many places—it was a truly gruesome sight.

He seemed a bit dazed from the fall. After a few seconds, he rolled over and sat up, spitting out two white teeth. "Ah, my God, your Uncle Xiong is going to die from this fall..." He said this with profound sorrow as he looked at the teeth in his palm.

"Look! The Centipede Spiders have stopped!" Xie Yuting exclaimed from nearby.

Joy surged through me, and I turned to look. Indeed, the Centipede Spiders and their corpses had halted at the edge of the circular plaza, hissing angrily at us.

After a tense standoff, the Centipede Spiders actually let out a series of mournful wails, dispersed, and vanished into the darkness along with their corpses.

Novels often describe how, when the protagonist is on the brink of death, a miracle always occurs. I suppose I must have a little of that protagonist's luck, right? Or maybe those Centipede Spiders really can't figure out figure skating...

With that thought, I looked up at the cavern ceiling and actually saw a sky full of stars!

It was real. I could barely believe my eyes because I hadn't seen the sky in so long. It was like a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment suddenly being told he could be released; tears streamed down my face instantly.

I was suddenly overcome with poetic feeling and said to Da Xiong beside me, "The boundless stars are like pearls scattered across a jade plate; a crescent moon hangs in the western sky, framed by ethereal clouds, creating a dreamlike majesty."

When I said this, Da Xiong looked at me like I was an idiot, grabbed my arm, and said, "Comrade Nie! Are you alright? Did you hit your head and go crazy from the fall!"

I wiped away my tears, pointed toward the sky, and said, "Look!"

"Damn! I never knew the moon could be this beautiful!" His mouth was wide open, but he couldn't resist a bit of lyricism himself.

Xie Yuting also looked up, took a deep breath, and said, "Perhaps these Centipede Spiders are afraid of moonlight..."