The Shadow

Jiang Luo suddenly felt a gaze watching him that made him especially uneasy.

That watching gaze was like a venomous snake or a fierce beast, sending a tremor through his whole body. Jiang Luo frowned, set his book down, and looked up—meeting the eyes of the boy sitting across from him.

Jiang Luo's tight frown eased slightly. He asked, curious: "Why are you looking at me?"

"My name is Qi Ye," said Qi Ye.

"Oh," said Jiang Luo.

Qi Ye's brow creased tight at once, a look of disbelief crossing his face—as if he hadn't expected the person across from him, upon learning who he was, to respond with nothing but a cold "oh."

The bullet comments mocked mercilessly.

[hhh Qi Ye's spectacular crash scene]

[Qi Ye's annoyed face: There's actually someone in this world who doesn't know this genius me?]

"You don't know who I am?" Qi Ye raised his voice.

Jiang Luo was a bit distracted. He stood up, glancing left and right, searching for something in the deepening dusk. "Didn't you just say your name is Qi Ye?"

Qi Ye's heart caught for a moment, then curiosity got the better of him at Jiang Luo's state. "Hey, what are you looking for?"

Jiang Luo's gaze settled on a spot in the trees. The place stirred without wind, as if something hid within. He turned to Qi Ye. "Are you any good?"

The doubtful tone stung. Qi Ye laughed coldly. "At least stronger than you."

He glanced pointedly at the book in Jiang Luo's hand and scoffed. "Compass Detailed Guide? I'm really curious how you made it this far."

Though he said this, Qi Ye didn't actually look down on Jiang Luo. If someone could reach here without even knowing how to read a compass, it meant the person was either extraordinarily gifted or extraordinarily lucky.

Sometimes luck is a kind of strength.

The doubt in Jiang Luo's eyes deepened. "Is that so?"

He hadn't said anything harsh, but the attitude was even more infuriating. Qi Ye sprang to his feet. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. I just have a habit of doing rather than talking," Jiang Luo said. "Anyone can talk big. If you want me to know you're skilled, you'll have to show some real substance. There seems to be something hidden in the trees ahead—do you dare go take a look?"

After speaking, Jiang Luo added considerately: "It's fine if you don't dare. Bragging isn't anything shameful."

Qi Ye took a deep breath, turned, and walked toward the trees. "I never fucking brag."

Jiang Luo: "Oh no, you're really going? Don't—it's dangerous. Alright, alright, don't be stubborn..."

Watching Qi Ye's footsteps quicken toward the suspicious spot, Jiang Luo slowly closed his mouth. He stood comfortably in place, watching from a safe distance, observing Qi Ye's movements.

But before ten seconds had passed, Qi Ye burst out from behind the trees with a dark face, running fast and shouting at Jiang Luo: "Run—it's a spider-man—"

Before he could finish, Jiang Luo had already turned and fled. Qi Ye froze for a second, then sped up to follow.

The two ran out of the Pavilion one after another. Jiang Luo instinctively turned left. Qi Ye, remembering how Jiang Luo had been a step faster than him in the Ba Gua Formation, followed without hesitation.

The trees grew thicker and thicker, their shadows under the moonlight twisting as if alive. The more Jiang Luo ran, the more wrong it felt—until a familiar Pavilion appeared before him, and he realized they had returned to the start.

Qi Ye stopped beside him, slightly panting, looked at the Pavilion, then at Jiang Luo, his expression darkening. "You ran back on purpose?"

Jiang Luo: ...Actually, no.

Qi Ye's thoughts churned, anger simmering beneath his voice. "You thought I was lying to you? So you deliberately led me on a run and brought me back to see if there really was a spider-man?"

Jiang Luo: "...Mm."

Qi Ye laughed coldly twice, grabbed Jiang Luo, and walked toward the back of the trees. "Then come see for yourself whether I lied!"

Jiang Luo warily scanned the surroundings. "No need. Let's go."

He turned back after speaking—Qi Ye had already vanished.

Jiang Luo froze. The next instant, a thick strand of spider silk shot from behind and wrapped around him. After a wave of dizziness, Jiang Luo found himself bound in a spider web. Beside him was Qi Ye, also captured.

The enormous web veiled the surroundings in a gauze-like mist. Qi Ye struggled one arm free from the silk—stickier than super glue—and said to Jiang Luo with schadenfreude: "See? I didn't lie."

Jiang Luo's hair was also stuck to the web, leaving him unable to move even slightly. He worked first to free his hands from the silk, glanced at Qi Ye speechlessly, and muttered: "Once this round's over, I'm cutting off this annoying hair."

Hearing this, Qi Ye turned to look. The black-haired youth was focused on struggling with the web, a few strands of white spider silk clinging to his dark hair, clothes disheveled, the slightly exposed collar revealing a pale, beautiful, slender neck.

Long hair looks pretty good...

Qi Ye came back to himself. "Why don't I see the spider-man?"

The moment he finished, the giant web beneath them trembled.

Eight furry spider legs climbed up from the edge of the web. An enormous spider crawled up along the thin silk, quick and practiced.

The spider was yellow-and-black, about as tall as an adult—and bizarrely, it had a human face and a human upper body.

The spider-man's face was pale blue-green, its pupils black and terrifyingly hollow. It crawled slowly toward Jiang Luo and Qi Ye. Qi Ye was on the outer side, so the spider-man reached him first—extended a front claw, tore open his upper clothing, and placed a furry paw on his abdomen.

Qi Ye, who had been calm until now, changed expression, hissing through clenched teeth: "Shit—a male spider looking for someone to incubate its eggs. What fucking luck."

Normally Qi Ye could have killed this spider-man with ease, but right now he only had a Compass on him and was stuck on the enormous web, unable to escape for the moment.

While the spider-man tested whether Qi Ye's belly was suitable for raising offspring, Jiang Luo's expression soured. He had no intention of becoming the spider-man's incubator. He glanced at the drone, confirmed it was blocked by the trees and couldn't see his hands, then slid a folding dagger from his sleeve, flicked it open with two fingers, and began hacking at the web beneath him.

The spider-man had its back to Jiang Luo and couldn't see his movements, but Qi Ye saw everything clearly. He didn't know where Jiang Luo had gotten the contraband, but now wasn't the time to ask.

He endured the disgust, stayed still, and tried to buy Jiang Luo time. Fortunately, he didn't seem to meet the spider-man's requirements—the spider-man retracted its claws from his abdomen and turned toward Jiang Luo.

Jiang Luo had already half-sat up, rapidly and intently cutting the silk binding his legs. The spider-man sensed his intent, shrieked in fury, and charged at him with all eight legs pumping.

At the last moment, Jiang Luo cut through the silk. He shielded his vital parts and fell from the three-meter-high web. Beneath the web lay a thick pile of rotting soft leaves, which cushioned the impact.

Seeing he'd made it, Qi Ye shouted: "Go!"

Jiang Luo nimbly stood, flashed an OK sign with one hand, and vanished into the darkness.

Qi Ye: "..." He was the one who'd told Jiang Luo to go, but watching him leave so cleanly and decisively left a strange, sour taste.

The spider-man roared impotently a few times, then turned and charged ferociously at Qi Ye. Qi Ye's heart sank.

Humans caught by male spiders either became incubators or food. The two fates were equally miserable, but if Qi Ye had to choose, he'd rather be eaten than become a human vessel with a belly full of spider eggs, only to be eaten from the inside out by spiderlings bursting through his gut.

But as the most talented and powerful figure of the current young generation, Qi Ye felt this way of dying was too undignified.

The spider-man had already reached Qi Ye, its mouth gaping wide, drool dripping from the corners. Qi Ye turned his face away in disgust—and then his eyes froze.

He saw a black-haired youth standing on a high tree branch.

The long-haired youth's right arm circled the trunk, his left hand held a knife. He hid among the branches and leaves, still and silent, like a hunter stalking prey in the dark.

Seeing Qi Ye had noticed him, the long-haired youth raised the knife-holding hand to his lips—a flash of cold steel—and silently shhh'd.

Qi Ye took two or three seconds to recover, then stiffly looked away and fixed his gaze on the spider-man's ugly face.

The spider-man was completely unaware of the danger. It opened its mouth wide to bite into Qi Ye's chest—at the critical instant, the black-haired youth leapt from the tree, the sharp dagger plunging deep into the spider-man's brain.

Blue-green viscous blood sprayed out. Jiang Luo flipped astride the spider-man's neck, legs locked tight around it, wrenched the dagger free, then drove it viciously into the spider-man's neck once more.

Sheets of blue-green blood poured out, smearing Jiang Luo with filth, several splashes spattering his hand and cheek. Jiang Luo kept his lips tightly shut, keeping the spider-man's blood from his mouth. Once the spider-man had struggled and fallen, he calmly dismounted, then painstakingly picked his way across the sticky wet web to Qi Ye's side and began cutting the web beneath him.

Seeing Qi Ye staring blankly, Jiang Luo wiped his face and mocked: "Scared stupid?"

Qi Ye said instinctively: "No way."

He irritably frowned, about to speak—then his pupils contracted sharply. "Dodge!"

Jiang Luo reacted fast, rolling on the spot. He was stuck to the web again—but what was far more horrifying was that the spider-man, which Jiang Luo had killed thoroughly, was twitching, slowly moving again.

The spider-man's neck and head were still bleeding, its bluish face still wearing the panic of death—but it was getting up, as if Jiang Luo had never killed it at all.

Jiang Luo raised his hand—stuck. He stared at the "resurrected" spider-man and cursed under his breath: "Shit."

The spider-man seemed drawn by the sound. Its hollow eyes slowly turned toward Jiang Luo—and suddenly cracked a twisted, bone-chilling smile.

That smile, on the spider-man's plain and even ugly face, cast a strange, neurotic, contradictory charm.