"Save me..." "I beg you, spare me... No...

No..." "Waaaah..." Countless voices echoed in my mind, each saturated with despair, like screams dragged up from the very pits of hell. These sounds thrummed in my skull for a full dozen seconds before finally beginning to subside.

I knew then that every voice belonged to a soul devoured by that monstrous spider, each one releasing the full measure of their dying agony. As the sounds gradually faded, my mind was left utterly blank, as if it had just been thoroughly scoured clean.

A few seconds later, I felt hands cupping my face, and someone shouting, "!!" directly at me. I blinked, grasping the person’s shoulder, and managed to say, "Second Uncle, have you eaten lunch yet?" The man’s expression shifted to one of profound surprise, and he immediately slapped me across the face.

"Look closer, you idiot! It’s Xiong Ye!" Only then did I clearly see that this plump face belonged to no one but Big Xiong.

I shoved Da Xiong away, vigorously rubbed my ears, and squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to gain clarity. Nie Chuan also walked over then, inquiring with concern, "Hey, are you alright?" I finally shook off the last vestiges of confusion and replied, "I’m fine, fine, just a bit hungry." Nie Chuan gave me a strange look, unsure if I was joking.

After a moment, he pointed to the shriveled corpse of the spider on the ground and asked, "What... what exactly happened here?" Da Xiong shared the same curiosity and turned his gaze to me as well.

I paused, trying to formulate an explanation, but ultimately decided to stick to the truth. "I drained it.

Just like... just like these armors." They must have thought my words were still nonsensical, for they exchanged a look and simultaneously asked, "Drained it?

By you?" I nodded, pointing to my shoulder. "Specifically, it was drained by my shoulder." "Are you a vacuum cleaner or a turkey baster, sucking people dry?

Is Duan Yu possessing you, or perhaps Linghu Chong?" Da Xiong mocked. I shrugged, responding, "Well, maybe I haven't showered in a month, and there’s poison on me that killed it?" "Now that sounds more plausible," Da Xiong replied, satisfied with a grin.

I was momentarily speechless, asking, "Weren't you just getting killed by that spider a moment ago? How are you suddenly jumping around again?" Da Xiong rubbed the thick flesh on his chest.

"If I had been pierced by those fangs, I definitely wouldn't be standing here. The thing got agitated when it couldn't sink its teeth in, slammed me into the web wall, and then I passed out." I nodded.

"Good, I’m glad you’re okay." Nie Chuan interjected from the side, "You have time to worry about others? Are you sure about that wound of yours?" I looked down at my injury.

My clothes were already shredded, revealing a set of deep, bloody fang marks across my shoulder. The marks had a faint greenish tint, looking decidedly poisonous.

However, when I touched the wound, I felt neither pain nor any other sensation, so I ignored it. Da Xiong and Nie Chuan simply helped me disinfect the cut with alcohol and apply a makeshift bandage.

Next, the three of us fell into a state of anxiety. We discovered we simply could not find an exit.

Although the barriers blocking us were walls seemingly fragile with visible mesh, we had no means whatsoever to breach them. From how we had climbed the wall earlier, it was clearly no ordinary webbing; it didn't deform in the slightest under the weight of three men, feeling as solid as reinforced concrete.

Unless we had explosives, breaking through seemed nearly impossible. The only way out was to wait for the water to recede from the passage we used to arrive.

But judging by the dampness seeping up from the ground beneath our feet, the river was still surging back towards where we stood. Just as frustration peaked, Nie Chuan seemed to recall something.

He drew the dagger the Little Brother had given us and exclaimed, "Look! This!" Seeing that dagger, a wave of relief washed over us; we finally glimpsed hope.

Without hesitation, we started walking towards the edge of the webbed wall. Da Xiong and Nie Chuan walked ahead of me, while I followed behind, still feeling dizzy.

Nie Chuan’s flashlight was broken, and I couldn't find mine anywhere; only Da Xiong held one, and its light was already flickering faintly. I couldn't tell if the battery was dying or if Da Xiong had intentionally dimmed the beam, but everything felt incredibly dim.

Strangely, though the surrounding scenery was gray and indistinct, I could see the silhouettes of Da Xiong and Nie Chuan with surprising clarity. And for some reason, I felt a faint, pale white luminescence emanating from their backs.

I shook my head, thinking I was still reeling, but after looking several times, the sight remained the same. Puzzled, I thought hard, wondering if my Night Vision had somehow improved?

But why could I see people so clearly while everything else remained obscured? Just as I was pondering this, Da Xiong up front swore loudly, "Damn it, the light must be dying." As soon as he finished speaking, the beam of the flashlight gradually sputtered out.

And as the light vanished, I froze instantly. Because when the surroundings plunged into absolute darkness, I saw the light from Da Xiong and Nie Chuan become significantly brighter—their bodies almost transforming into two incandescent bulbs.

Da Xiong quickly fumbled for his lighter, and only then did the light emanating from them dim slightly. Holding the lighter, Da Xiong turned back to look at me and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?

You look unwell." I shook my head. "Nothing...

nothing... Let's just get out of here quickly." He gave me one last lingering glance, then continued forward.

We reached the end of the web wall and peered out through the mesh openings, only to find that outside was a scene bathed in bright sunlight. Yet, for some reason, the sunlight could not penetrate the mesh to reach us—a phenomenon whose principle we couldn't fathom.

After taking a few deep breaths of fresh air through the holes, we began our work. Da Xiong, being the strongest, gripped the simple, unadorned black dagger and applied it lightly to a copper strut; the strut snapped with a sharp ka-chunk.

We were thrilled and urged Da Xiong to hurry. Two minutes later, Da Xiong had cut a hole large enough for us to squeeze through.

So, we scrambled out one by one. It was bizarre; the moment we passed through the web wall, sunlight immediately fell upon us.

That warmth, combined with the fresh breeze, instantly lifted our spirits. But before we could fully savor the air, Nie Chuan pointed toward the sky and exclaimed, "Look!

What is that?" I expected to turn and see the towering, sugar-dusted temple I imagined, but what met our eyes was merely a single beam of light. The beam was red, shooting down from the very high sky, enveloping a hemisphere-shaped structure encased in a cage of metal.

Following the red light upward, we saw, at the very apex of the beam in the sky, a dazzling object resembling a very bright star, hovering about three or four thousand meters up. Seeing this, Nie Chuan muttered, "Looks like the distance we fell wasn't just one or two hundred meters." "Could this light be what sucked away all the sunlight?

What exactly is that star in the sky?" Da Xiong asked, still watching. I, however, remarked, "No wonder we didn't see any towering architecture before; that building wasn't connected to the ground." As we spoke, the red beam suddenly began to narrow rapidly.

I quickly exclaimed, "No, that thing is leaving! Little Brother is still up there!" Though anxiety gripped us, we were powerless to stop what was happening.

The red light quickly thinned, vanished, and then the star-like point in the sky instantly grew much more brilliant. Its intensity almost rivaled the sun; we couldn't look directly at the light point anymore and had to shield our eyes with our hands.

When we finally lowered our hands, the star-like point had completely vanished.