Chapter 29: Hunter Spider

The Desolate Mountains featured complex terrain; even though the pool was only ten miles away, it would take a long time to navigate the winding paths.

This was especially true in certain areas where, although passage was possible, one had to detour if the area belonged to powerful demonic beasts.

They were currently in the central region of the Desolate Mountains, where Body Tempering Realm demonic beasts were extremely numerous. Any single creature that emerged would be difficult to deal with; if one could avoid them, one should.

"Stop."

In front of a mountain ravine, Chu Fengmian suddenly halted his steps.

"Brother Chu, what's wrong?"

Following behind, Hao Lan asked curiously.

"We're taking a detour. There are demonic beasts in this ravine; they won't be easy to handle," Chu Fengmian said calmly, scanning the ravine.

As he spoke, he prepared to head toward the right.

"A detour?"

Hearing this, the five people behind him frowned and looked around. The ravine was surrounded by high mountains; if they wanted to go around, it would certainly waste a significant amount of time.

If there truly were difficult demonic beasts, a detour would be the safest choice. However, once they detoured, the time consumed would increase considerably.

Wang He, standing at the back with a furrowed brow, spoke with a hint of resentment in his voice.

"Chu Fengmian, you've detoured four or five times already on this journey. We've wasted so much time; what if someone else reaches the Imperial Phoenix Grass first?"

"Wang He, what are you saying? Brother Chu already said there are demonic beasts in this ravine," Hao Lan retorted upon hearing Wang He's words.

Chu Fengmian had saved them earlier without asking for any favors, which had earned him a degree of goodwill from Hao Lan. Consequently, it was Hao Lan who had proactively brought up the Imperial Phoenix Grass.

For Chu Fengmian to ask for one of them was nothing significant. After all, a more greedy martial artist might have simply turned on them, captured them to find the location of the grass, and then killed them to silence them.

In the world of martial artists, such things were commonplace. Because of this, Hao Lan's face flushed with anger upon hearing Wang He's words.

"Hmph, who knows if that's true or false? We haven't seen so much as a shadow of a demonic beast the whole way here," Wang He snorted coldly, his voice full of suspicion.

"I suspect he's intentionally stalling for time so that others can snatch the Imperial Phoenix Grass ahead of us, allowing him to keep it all for himself."

As Wang He spoke, though he framed it as suspicion, the look in his eyes toward Chu Fengmian was already hostile.

Yue Zhanqing spoke up from the side. "That can't be right. Brother Chu has been with us the whole time; there's no way he could have leaked the information."

"Who knows if he has a transmission jade talisman and sent the news out long ago? Look, we've walked past this ravine before; there were no demonic beasts anywhere. It's a trap!" Wang He pointed at the ravine.

This caused the expressions of the others to shift slightly. Indeed, they had passed through this ravine before and had encountered no demonic beasts.

After speaking, Wang He looked at Chu Fengmian with a cold sneer, waiting to see how he would explain himself.

"If you don't believe me, you are more than welcome to go through it yourself," Chu Fengmian said calmly, glancing at Wang He. "If you trust me, then detour with me."

There was the aura of a demonic beast in the ravine ahead; Chu Fengmian's senses were never wrong. Although his cultivation realm was not high, his Sword Intent was undeniably terrifying. Having honed his Sword Intent to an extremely high level, he was capable of perceiving danger; naturally, he could sense the peril within the ravine.

Chu Fengmian had given the warning he felt was necessary; if these people refused to believe him, there was nothing he could do.

"I knew you wouldn't have an explanation!"

Upon hearing Chu Fengmian's words, a look of triumph appeared on Wang He's face, as if he had proven his suspicion correct. However, Chu Fengmian didn't bother to explain further; whether they believed him or not was entirely up to them.

"Senior Brother Mo, let's just walk straight through the ravine. That way we can save a lot of time and see what this kid is actually planning with all this paranoia," Wang He said, walking over to Mo Changhen.

Mo Changhen was effectively the leader of their group; persuading him was the most important thing.

"It's better to be safe," Mo Changhen mused for a moment before looking at Chu Fengmian. "Since there are demonic beasts ahead, let us take the detour."

"Fine, since Senior Brother Mo says so, let's detour," Yue Zhanqing and Yun Jialan both nodded. They trusted Mo Changhen most, so they followed his lead.

As for Hao Lan, he had believed in Chu Fengmian from the start.

Thus, there were five people in favor of detouring, including Chu Fengmian, leaving only Wang He wanting to cross through the ravine.

"You people!"

Wang He's face turned red with rage. He hadn't expected that not a single person would listen to him.

"Damn it! Just watch! See if there are any demonic beasts in that ravine!"

With a furious roar, Wang He marched directly toward the ravine.

"Junior Brother Wang, it's dangerous!" Mo Changhen shouted urgently from the side, but Wang He ignored the warning, his pace quickening.

With a few more strides, he had plunged into the ravine.

"See! There are no demonic beasts! He was just bluffing! And to think you're all inner disciples of the Martial Victory Academy, being played like fools by some random brat from nowhere!"

Reaching the entrance of the ravine, Wang He turned back and spoke coldly.

"See? This ravine is—ah!"

Before Wang He could finish his sentence, a massive web suddenly dropped from the sky, instantly ensnaring him.

A demonic beast!

Seeing the web appear, Mo Changhen's expression changed drastically. "It's a Hunter Spider!"

From a crevice in the ravine rocks, a black spider measuring two to three meters in size crawled out. Seeing Wang He trapped in the web, it let out several hissing sounds, as if celebrating a catch.

"A peak Bone-Tempering Realm Hunter Spider!"

The Hunter Spider was an extremely troublesome existence among demonic beasts. They wove colorless webs to wait for martial artists to step into them, using the silk to bind the victim so tightly they could not struggle free. The web was incredibly resilient; once trapped, death was almost certain.

"A peak Bone-Tempering Hunter Spider... what do we do?"

Mo Changhen, Hao Lan, and the others all turned pale, but no one dared to step forward. Once a Hunter Spider appeared, the surrounding area was undoubtedly covered in webs; acting rashly would likely result in them stepping into a web and meeting the same fate as Wang He.

"Save me! Help me!"

Inside the web, Wang He's face was deathly pale as he watched the spider approach. Having never experienced a life-or-death moment like this, he was on the verge of tears as the Hunter Spider crawled toward him.