Chapter 2275 — The Spider Spirit Beast

The only thing that frustrated everyone was that the kidnapper's eyes were glazed over, and he would not say a word no matter what he was asked—as if he could not understand human speech at all. Qiu Lingshan had initially assumed that Old Master Pi had beaten him senseless, but the doctor's examination showed that was not the case at all.

An unknown drug had been injected into the kidnapper's body, and it had destroyed his brain. To put it plainly, the man had already been an imbecile before any of this.

If the man had not woken up with plaster casts on his arms and legs and gone berserk in the hospital ward, kicking an iron bed frame to pieces with a single blow, everyone might even have doubted whether he was really the kidnapper. Still, the man's formidable attack power and destructive force left no doubt about just how terrifying this creature was.

This familiar situation reminded Qiu Lingshan of a case she had encountered in Songshan City—the fake Wei Zhao from the bank robbery case. The fake Wei Zhao had been exactly like this back then. At the thought, Qiu Lingshan did not dare delay and hurried off to report to Yang Huaijun.

Matters in Donghai City had come to a temporary close. In the middle range of the Wulonghaote Mountains, Wei Zhao, Sun Jingyan, and the Thunder Pig were caught in a massive net that descended from the sky. The net tightened swiftly, giving Wei Zhao no chance to escape, and then it was suddenly hauled upward.

As a result, Wei Zhao, Sun Jingyan, and the Thunder Pig—two people and one pig—were left dangling in midair. Wei Zhao instinctively tried to tear the net apart with his hands, but the net was incredibly tough, and he could not break it barehanded.

The next moment, Wei Zhao saw clearly who had caught them—except these were not really people, but several enormous spiders.

When people think of spiders, many picture something rather horrifying and frightening, but these spiders were not frightening in appearance at all. They were actually rather cute, like enlarged chibi spiders from a comic, and the colors and patterns on their bodies were quite beautiful.

In that respect they were much like the Thunder Pig. Though the Thunder Pig was a pig, it did not look as stupid and clumsy as an ordinary pig; instead, it was quite adorable.

Wei Zhao did not need to think hard to guess that these spiders were probably some kind of ancient spirit beast—perhaps ancient spiders. In a place as rich in spiritual energy as the Wulonghaote Mountains, it was normal to find many ancient spirit beasts. In an ordinary mountain range, one would likely never see a single ancient spirit beast.

"You're ancient spirit beasts, aren't you? Why did you capture us?" Having more or less confirmed the spiders' identity, Wei Zhao showed no hostility. Instead, he addressed them in a very friendly tone, because he knew they should be able to understand him.

Sure enough, after hearing Wei Zhao's words, the spiders exchanged glances. Yet none of them answered him—perhaps because their strength was too low to speak human language, or perhaps because they could speak but simply did not want to.

The first possibility was more likely, though. Wei Zhao took a look and saw that a couple of these spiders were at the Profound Rank, while the rest were at the Yellow Rank, and so they probably could not speak human language.

The spiders ignored Wei Zhao. Together, they dragged the large net holding Wei Zhao, Sun Jingyan, and the Thunder Pig and swiftly set off in one direction.

Wei Zhao glanced at the Thunder Pig, signaling for it to try communicating with the spiders.

"Squeak, squeak..." The Thunder Pig repeated what Wei Zhao had said in the language of spirit beasts.

At first the spiders had paid the Thunder Pig no mind, but when they suddenly heard it speak the spirit beast tongue, one of the spiders at the head of the group looked at it in some surprise. Yet it still said nothing in reply and continued hauling the net onward.

Seeing that no spider answered it, the Thunder Pig felt rather helpless. It glanced at Wei Zhao and shook its head.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly. It seemed these spiders were most likely the sworn enemies of the Great Fire Lion clan. But why had they captured him? Could they know that he was on friendly terms with the Great Fire Lions?

Or was it simply because he had inadvertently trespassed on their territory?

If it was the latter, the matter should be relatively easy to resolve. Right now, the spiders were probably taking them back to their nest.

Just as Wei Zhao expected, the spiders carried the three of them to a naturally formed cave. Around the cave, many spider spirit beasts were on patrol. Wei Zhao took a look: most were around the Yellow Rank, and there were some at the Profound Rank as well, but very few.

Inside the cave, however, one enormous spider caught Wei Zhao's attention. A Heaven-Rank spirit beast—comparable in strength to the Great Fire Lion.

Naturally—if it were not a spirit beast of the same tier, how could it be a worthy opponent?

Since it was a Heaven-Rank spirit beast, it should be able to speak human language, just like the Great Fire Lion. That meant Wei Zhao would not need the Thunder Pig as an interpreter.

The net was opened, and the three of them were set on the ground. Only then did Wei Zhao crawl out of the net, looking somewhat bedraggled—but against a spider spirit beast clan that boasted a Heaven-Rank expert, there was no shame in that.

"You must be the leader of these spirit beasts. I know you can understand me, and that you can speak with me too." Wei Zhao was not flustered. He rose calmly to his feet and addressed the largest, Heaven-Rank spider.

"What is your purpose in coming to my territory, human cultivator?" The Heaven-Rank spider did not answer Wei Zhao's question but asked directly instead. In doing so, however, it had indirectly answered him: it could indeed speak human language.

"I wandered in by accident... If I said that, you wouldn't believe me anyway..." Wei Zhao caught the trace of mockery in the Heaven-Rank spider's eyes and immediately changed his tune, deciding to tell the truth. "I'm fleeing pursuers. I had no choice but to take this route down the mountain—the normal path is no longer passable."

"How am I supposed to believe you?" the Heaven-Rank spider asked after hearing Wei Zhao's words.

"Given the strength of the few of us, if I told you we came looking for trouble, would you believe it?" Wei Zhao shrugged with a wry smile.

"On an ordinary day, I naturally wouldn't believe it. But these are no ordinary times, and I cannot help but suspect your purpose in appearing here!" said the Heaven-Rank spider. "Moreover, I catch a familiar scent on you. What is your relationship with the Fire Lion clan?"

Wei Zhao was startled. He had not expected the Heaven-Rank spider's intuition to be so keen—it could actually tell that he was connected to the Fire Lion clan. Was it bluffing him, or did it truly have some evidence?

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