Thick, white silk hissed from the creature's mandibles, winding tight around the twitching body of the aggressive twin.

  The Spider-Scorpion’s eight eyes didn't just glow with malice; they shimmered with a gluttonous delight.

  It ignored the muffled, dying whimpers coming from within the cocoon.

  Its iron-shod legs picked their way through the mud, tightening the wrap with surgical precision before turning its attention to the second course—the bisected Inner Disciple by the boulder.

  "I... It just..."

  The surviving twin stared at his palms.

  They were shaking violently, smeared with the filth of the forest floor.

  "I can't do a thing..."

  His knees gave way.

  He crashed into the mud, the cold wetness soaking through his robes, mixing with the tears that poured from his eyes in an unstoppable flood.

  "What am I to do, brother...?" he choked out, his voice thin and broken.

  "I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do now..."

  Xia’s grip on her golden spear tightened until the metal groaned.

  A familiar, pragmatic voice whispered in the back of her mind, a tether trying to hold back a storm.

  Wait for me, Xia...

  Her teeth sank into her lower lip.

  The skin broke, filling her mouth with the sharp, metallic tang of copper.

  Wait?

  The image of the cocooned twin flickered and died, replaced by a memory burned into her retinas.

  Ma Niu’s dead, empty eyes staring into nothingness.

  The wet crunch of Hao Xua’s boot stomping on a defenseless head.

  Powerless.

  The word Hao Xua had spat at them echoed in the canyon of her skull.

  "Pathetic."

  How can you tell me to wait at this moment, Bi Kan? I’ve let someone die in front of my eyes again.

  I am not that weak little girl anymore!

  Fury, hot and blinding, flooded her veins.

  She slammed the butt of her spear into the earth with a resounding

  CRACK.

  The Spider-Scorpion froze.

  Its massive, bulbous head swiveled one hundred and eighty degrees, eight unblinking eyes snapping into focus on the girl in pink.

  It hissed, mandibles clicking.

  "How can I let that beast kill and eat a disciple right before my eyes! Bi Kan!"

  She screamed his name like a curse and a prayer.

  Yellow lightning crackled around her limbs, jumping from her skin to the golden shaft of the weapon.

  She launched herself forward, a streak of vengeance aiming to pierce the monstrosity whole.

  Thwip! Thwip!

  The beast reared back, spewing dense nets of webbing between the ancient trees.

  A sticky, white barrier materialized in her path instantly.

  Xia didn't slow down. She braced for impact.

  Thud!

  The collision jarred her to her bones.

  A sharp wince crossed her face; her hands, still bruised and tender from the heavy blows of the Rogue Cultivator, screamed in protest against the resistance.

  That Rogue... he really did a number on me.

  My grip is weak!

  But the Dragon-Fang Spear was a Soul Tier weapon.

  It bit into the dense silk, shredding the barrier, though her momentum died in the tangle.

  She stumbled through, the tip of her spear clattering uselessly against the spider’s armored carapace instead of piercing it.

  The beast didn't hesitate.

  Two of its iron legs swept out like scythes, aiming for her head.

  Shit! Do the legs have venom too?!

  Xia twisted mid-air, her body coiling and uncoiling like a spring.

  She spun around the sweeping limbs, dancing dangerously close to the monster’s maw to stay inside its guard.

  "There!"

  Her spear became a blur.

  Clang-clang-clang!

  A barrage of rapid thrusts rained down, chipping the obsidian armor, searching for a soft spot in the joints.

  "HISS!"

  Pain flared in the beast. Shrieking, it vaulted backward, firing a line of silk into the canopy.

  It used the momentum to swing upward, scrambling into the high branches with terrifying agility.

  "I won't let you escape!"

  Xia dropped into a crouch, ready to pursue.

  Suddenly, a weight pressed down on her shoulder.

  It was heavy, firm, and cold.

  "Don't. You'll die."

  Bi Kan’s whisper was so clear, so terrified, it felt as if he were standing right behind her, his hand clamping down to arrest her motion.

  Xia froze. For a heartbeat, the forest was silent.

  Then, she gritted her teeth.

  She rolled her shoulder, physically shrugging off the phantom hand of her friend's caution.

  I can't stop.

  Her leg muscles coiled.

  The mud exploded beneath her boots as she ignored the warning and rocketed upwards into the dark canopy.

  The air above her screamed.

  It wasn't a sound, but a raw, crushing pressure that drilled straight into her skull.

  Xia didn't think.

  Her arm snapped up, the shaft of her spear rising to guard her head a fraction of a second before the canopy exploded.

  CLANG!

  The segmented scorpion tail erupted from the dense green leaves like a falling spear of obsidian.

  It hammered against her guard with the weight of a falling boulder.

  "H-Hah!"

  A fearful shout tore from her throat as the impact shuddered through her bones.

  She didn't fight the force but instead rode it.

  Using the downward momentum, she tucked her knees, flipping backward in mid-air.

  She slammed feet-first into the muddy ground, her boots sliding through the muck as she stabilized.

  Thwip-thwip-thwip!

  There was no time to breathe. A barrage of dense, white webbing shot from the high branches at impossible velocity.

  The beast was turning the forest floor into a kill zone.

  "Damn it! Damn it!"

  Xia danced through the mud,twisting and diving as the silk bullets cratered the earth where she had stood milliseconds before.

  Amidst the chaos, the Cautious Twin remained frozen.

  He was hunched over on his knees, staring blankly at the filth staining his robes, his eyes dull and lifeless.

  "Hey!"

  Xia’s shout cut through the din of battle.

  She leaped sideways, dodging a net of silk, and thrust her free hand out, pointing sharply to the left.

  "Look!"

  The twin’s head moved slowly, dragging against the weight of his despair.

  His gaze followed her finger.

  There, pinned against a tree root, was the white cocoon.

  The faint outline of a face pressed against the silk.

  "Are you really going to let that beast eat and sully your brother's corpse?!"

  The words hit him like a physical blow.

  The dullness in his eyes shattered.

  He looked at the cocoon, then at the filth on his hands.

  "Brother...!"

  His voice cracked, a dry, rasping sound from a throat parched by terror.

  He scrambled to his feet, his boots slipping in the mud as he sprinted towards the tree.

  "I... I won't let it!"

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  High above, eight unblinking eyes tracked the movement.

  The Spider-Scorpion shifted, mandibles clicking as it aimed its spinnerets at the easy meal.

  Thruk!

  "You should really focus on your targets! You got too greedy—three meals in one day?!"

  Xia’s voice rang out, laced with a mix of fury and arrogant mockery.

  She had rocketed up the trunk of a nearby tree and launched herself off, her spear driving down like a thunderbolt.

  BOOM!

  She struck the beast mid-air.

  The massive arachnid was sent hurtling down, crashing into the forest floor with enough force to spiderweb the earth with cracks.

  It lay dazed for a heartbeat, its legs twitching.

  Xia didn't let up.

  She fell from the sky, her spearpoint gleaming with yellow Qi, aiming to skewer the monster through its thorax.

  Clang!

  At the last second, the thick, muscular tail whipped around.

  The stinger met the spear tip with a spark of friction.

  The parry was perfect.

  The force of the rejection sent Xia hurling backward.

  "Damn, it's strong!"

  She twisted in the air, driving the butt of her spear into the mud as she landed, plowing a deep furrow in the earth to kill her momentum.

  Her breath came in short, sharp bursts.

  "Phew... Its body is even denser than a Body Tempering disciple's..."

  The Spider-Scorpion righted itself with an eerie, mechanical grace.

  It shook off the dirt, its obsidian armor chipped but unbroken.

  One of its legs hung limply, damaged from the fall, but its eight eyes burned with the apex intensity of a predator that had been challenged.

  "It's not a fighter," Xia murmured, tightening her grip on her weapon.

  "I'll give it that. But it is still a killer."

  Near the tree root, the twin clawed frantically at the cocoon.

  "No! No!"

  The silk was like iron wire. The blade was striking against it, but the web didn't yield.

  "I can't... I can't cut it!"

  He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his panic down.

  Calm down. Focus.

  Remember the training.

  "Alright... Alright. I'll get you, brother. I'll bury you right next to our mother... just hold on for me..."

  A soft, trembling blue light enveloped within his hand.

  He channeled every scrap of his remaining Qi into his fingertips, gripping the blade tight before slashing using his energy's momentum.

  He sawed at a single strand.

  Snip.

  The strand parted.

  "There we go... I'll get you out in no time...!"

  A single tear rolled down his cheek, splashing onto the thick, white web.

  Xia circled the beast slowly, her eyes locked on its twitching stinger.

  "If I kill you now, I might ruin things for Bi Kan," she muttered to herself. "Maybe killing you will dilute the antidote within you! Or destroy the venom sac!"

  Despite my scarce knowledge, I know not to be reckless here.

  I need to subdue it.

  She bit her lip.

  But even so, I can't do that!

  Even when I'm not sure I'm capable of completely destroying this vile creature, how can I hold back?

  The Spider-Scorpion hissed, shifting its weight.

  Its eyes darted between the weeping twin working on the cocoon and the pink-haired threat blocking its path.

  What's it doing now...?

  Xia watched the creature's stance shift.

  If only I had Bi Kan's legendary technique.

  I might be able to burn away enough speed to perfectly shatter its defenses... but I don't really like being exhausted to the brink of death each time I use it...

  The Spider was calculating.

  Normally, it would flee.

  But the hunger was a gnawing fire in its gut.

  It remembered the previous hunt.

  The Senior Brother who had denied it the human morsel and robbed it of its massive bear kill.

  By the time it had circled back, the bear meat had rotted in the swamp heat.

  It had eaten garbage that day.

  It looked at the fresh meat wrapped in silk. It looked at the weeping boy.

  HISS!

  A sound of pure, hungry frustration erupted from its throat.

  It wasn't running. Not this time.

  The price of fleeing was too high.

  It was time to feast.

  From the dense underbrush, leaves rustled.

  A sound out of place in the chaos—the gentle, rhythmic click of something hard tumbling over roots.

  Clack. Clack. Clack.

  A small, glass-like marble rolled into the clearing, stopping inches from the Spider-Scorpion’s legs.

  The beast froze.

  Its eight eyes snapped down, mandibles twitching as it stepped back, sensing a trap.

  But it was looking for a net, or a pit.

  "The true trap lies here, fiend."

  Bi Kan’s voice was ice cold, cutting through the humid air.

  Snap.

  The marble shattered. It didn't explode with fire or force, but with volume.

  A torrent of viscous, glowing green slime erupted from the shards, expanding violently to coat the creature’s lower half.

  HISS!

  The slime clung like oil. Smoke hissed from the beast’s obsidian shell as the green ooze began to bubble and burn.

  The Spider-Scorpion convulsed, thrashing its legs to break free, but the substance hardened and pulled, gluing its massive bulk to the forest floor.

  Its deadly tail whipped frantically, only to be snagged by a glob of the slime, pinning the stinger against its own back.

  "You've done well distracting it, Xia."

  Xia stared, baffled. Bi Kan stepped out from the treeline, his face pale but his eyes burning with focus.

  To her, it looked effortless—he had arrived and swatted a monster she had struggled against as if it were a common fly.

  "Y-You—"

  "Xia, we don't have time."

  Bi Kan raised his hand. Thick, dark crimson dripped from his fingertips, staining the mud.

  "The green ooze I found in the cave... it's convenient, but limited." He wiped a smear of blood from his lip, his chest heaving.

  "I had to use a significant amount for this one moment. And even now... it isn't a guarantee."

  Xia’s banter died in her throat. She looked closer. The beast wasn't dead. It was shrieking, its carapace steaming, but it was fighting the glue.

  The slime was dissolving under the sheer ferocity of its struggle.

  "W-What do we do?!"

  Bi Kan’s gaze remained fixed on the creature, but his mind flashed back to the library.

  To the man behind the desk who knew too much.

  The Jaded Knowledge Library.

  Wei Zing had chuckled, closing the heavy black book.

  "I'll just tell you everything you need about it, Bi Kan. You really don't hide your secrets well."

  He had adjusted his glasses, the lenses flashing white.

  "That'll be all. I'll be at the Sect's Research Department. This beast... it is merely a symptom. Not the creature itself, but the very reason it reached here... something is brewing."

  "We need its venom sacs, Xia," Bi Kan gritted out, snapping back to the present.

  "I need it to be pure. If it's dead, the venom degrades instantly. I have to hold it down while it's alive."

  Steam began to vent from Bi Kan’s robes.

  His skin turned a flushed red as he forcibly cycled his Qi, ignoring the screaming protest of his injured core.

  "But I won't be able to... keep it up that long." He locked eyes with her.

  "Brace yourself. I aim to pass out afterwards, so I'll be recovering on the way back."

  A reckless smirk tugged at his bloody lips.

  "Don't make me look stupid."

  He dashed.

  "H-Hey! What am I supposed to do?!" Xia shouted, panic flaring.

  Bi Kan didn't stop. He slammed into the thrashing beast.

  He jammed his hands directly onto the creature's forelegs, right where the green ooze sizzled.

  "AUGHH!"

  The slime burned his skin.

  His internal temperature boiled his blood.

  The pain was absolute, a white-hot world of agony.

  "Are you scared? B-Beast?!" he roared, blood spraying from his mouth as he wrenched the spider’s limbs wide open, exposing the soft, pale underbelly beneath the thorax.

  The Spider-Scorpion screeched, its mandibles snapping inches from Bi Kan's face, but he held fast, his muscles tearing under the strain.

  "Once I hold its limbs off, you better thrust with all your might! I'll snatch it cleanly!"

  Xia’s hands trembled, then stilled.

  She gripped her Dragon-Fang Spear until her knuckles turned white.

  Venom sac... It should be right in its body, near the base of the tail!

  The golden spear tip glinted, catching a stray beam of moonlight through the canopy.

  Bi Kan’s eyes were bloodshot, bulging with effort.

  "H-Here I go, Bi Kan!"

  Xia’s pupils dilated until the green of her irises was barely a thin ring around the black.

  The world slowed.

  The roar of the forest faded into a dull hum, replaced by the wet, rhythmic thumping of the beast’s heart and the hydraulic hiss of venom pumping through its veins.

  She could hear it.

  The flow of poison surging toward the tail.

  Snap.

  The green ooze holding the stinger bubbled and burst like a cheap blister.

  The scorpion tail whipped free, the barb glistening with death, arching down toward the exposed nape of Bi Kan’s neck.

  A gamble.

  A wild grin split Xia’s face.

  Logic screamed that Bi Kan was about to be decapitated.

  Panic clawed at her throat.

  But beneath the fear, a deeper, colder arrogance whispered a single command: Wait.

  Her instincts held her frozen for a fraction of a heartbeat.

  The stinger descended.

  Now.

  "THRUST!"

  A flash of yellow lightning tore through the gloom of the undergrowth.

  It was blindingly bright, searing the retina.

  Even the twin, hunched over his brother’s corpse, jerked his head up, unable to look away from the sheer, terrifying beauty of the speed.

  It wasn't a spear thrust, it was a beam of light.

  The air cracked.

  In that split second, the Spider-Scorpion’s torso disintegrated. Chitin shattered like glass.

  The golden tip of the Dragon-Fang Spear drove forward, unstoppable, aimed directly at the pulsating purple sac hidden deep within the beast’s chest.

  Xia’s grin faltered.

  Panic flared.

  I can't stop! I'm going to destroy the sac!

  Bi Kan, inches from the carnage, didn't flinch.

  He didn't look at the tail stopped millimeters from his jugular. He looked at the spear.

  He smiled.

  Swip.

  Just as the golden metal kissed the membrane of the venom sac, the purple organ vanished into thin air.

  CRASH!

  Xia’s momentum carried her through the empty space where the beast’s heart had been. She passed Bi Kan in a blur, slamming into a thick oak tree behind him.

  The trunk snapped with a deafening crack. She didn't stop.

  She smashed through a second tree, then a third, before finally coming to a halt embedded deep in the trunk of a massive ancient pine.

  Her arm and spear were buried in the wood.

  Her chest heaved, sucking in ragged breaths, her mind numb from the G-force.

  Slowly, she lifted her head. Through the debris and falling leaves, she focused on Bi Kan.

  He was still kneeling in the mud, covered in spider ichor and his own blood.

  His body trembled violently, steam rising from his skin, but that faint, satisfied smile remained plastered on his face.

  I've got it... the venom sac.

  Bi Kan’s legs dragged uselessly against the filth as he tried to push himself up.

  The adrenaline of the Legendary Boar Technique was fading, leaving behind a hollowness that felt like death.

  His eyes slid sideways, locking onto the surviving twin.

  The disciple was staring at him with undisguised terror.

  To him, Bi Kan wasn't just a simple savior, he was a monster who had walked into a death trap and dismantled a nightmare with his bare hands.

  That guy...

  Bi Kan’s gaze sharpened, cutting through his own exhaustion.

  He'll either be a nuisance that makes the journey back longer... or a loose end.

  The twin flinched under the scrutiny, clutching the bloody dagger he had used to cut the web.

  I hope he's not smart enough to question the alchemy behind the green ooze... or the disappearance of the sac.

  Bi Kan’s eyes dropped to the dagger in the twin's hand. His own fingers twitched.

  If he is... I have...

  A cold, dark shadow passed over Bi Kan's face.

  ...No choice.

  But his body made the decision for him.

  The reserves were dry. The engine stalled.

  Bi Kan’s eyes rolled back. His body went limp, crashing face-first into the filthy forest floor with a wet plat.

  Deep within the void.

  Droop...

  A pulsating purple sac materialized in the darkness, drifting down through the silent waters of the Soul Sea.

  It settled softly among the clutter of ancient scrolls and herbs.

  The Celestial Wolf opened one golden eye. The water rippled around its massive paws.

  That fool collapsed again?

  The great beast shifted, its muzzle wrinkling in a sneer that revealed gleaming fangs.

  Wait...

  The Wolf sniffed the air of the spiritual realm.

  He purposefully shut down?

  The Wolf let out a huff, a sound like distant thunder.

  What a pathetic boy. Calculating even his own unconsciousness.

  Its eye drooped shut. The Wolf lowered its massive head back onto its paws, returning to its eternal slumber.

  The venom sac bobbed once, then began to sink, drifting down into the deep, cold abyss of Bi Kan's soul.

  The Cautious Twin stood amidst the carnage.

  His fingers uncurled, and the dagger slipped from his grasp, landing in the mud with a dull, wet thud.

  "N-Now that the spider is dead... I don't need to free him immediately." He stared at the white, silken tomb wrapping his brother.

  "The cocoon... it keeps the body from rotting."

  He rubbed his eyes aggressively with the back of his dirty sleeve, as if trying to scrub away the memory of the last few minutes.

  Not the spider, but the man. He saw Bi Kan’s cold, shark-like stare.

  He felt the phantom weight of that gaze on his neck, the way Bi Kan's fingers had twitched toward the dagger.

  "What was that... about?"

  He shivered, turning his attention to the bisected Inner Disciple by the boulder.

  The smell hit him first—raw copper and bowels. His stomach lurched.

  He bent over and wretched, emptying his stomach onto the forest floor.

  "R-Right..." He wiped his mouth, his hand trembling. "So much... has happened..."

  His eyes were red-rimmed and dry, his throat feeling like he had swallowed broken glass.

  He stooped down, gritting his teeth as he hoisted the heavy, silk-wrapped corpse of his brother onto his back.

  A few paces away, Xia pulled herself free from the splintered pine. Her arm hung heavy at her side, numb from the shoulder down.

  The world felt muffled, her usually razor-sharp senses dull and fuzzy.

  "Is this what you feel all the time, Bi Kan?" she whispered, staring at her shaking hand. "So fucking exhausted..."

  A weak smile touched her lips. She willed her spatial ring to flash, stowing the golden spear away.

  "Now I have to carry you?" She scoffed, dragging her feet through the mud toward his prone form. "Didn't I tell you that... I won't?"

  She stood over him. Bi Kan lay face down in the dirt, snoring softly, completely oblivious to the world.

  "So you better... stand up... and walk..."

  She bent down, hooking her good arm under his, groaning with exertion as she hauled him up.

  "...on your own... because who would carry..."

  She shifted his weight, hoisting him securely onto her back. His head lolled against her shoulder, his breath warm against her neck.

  "...carry an idiot like you?"

  A faint, genuine smile curved her mouth, softening the exhaustion in her eyes. She adjusted her grip, ensuring he wouldn't slip.

  "Hey," she called out, turning to the twin. "Let's go. Before we get ambushed by whatever else lives in this hellhole."

  The twin looked up, the weight of his brother bowing his spine. He met her gaze and nodded, a flicker of something sharp pushing through his grief.

  "Don't worry. I'll help lead the way..." His voice was raspy, but steady. "I feel so useless right now. So, please... let me guide us to safety. It's time I show why..."

  He glanced sideways at the cocoon on his back.

  "We've survived up until this point... it wasn't just his strength."

  His hand tightened on the silk.

  "It was all... because of me."

  With that, he turned and began to pick a path through the dense undergrowth, stepping where the ground was firmest, avoiding the hidden roots and treacherous mire with an instinctual grace.

  Xia followed, carrying the sleeping tactician, leaving the carcass of the nightmare beast to rot in the shadows behind them.