Chapter 39

As the brothers followed the monkey, they appeared to be heading to a quieter place.

They must be heading deeper within the forest.

Still, Chen Yining did not forget to leave a marker along the way.

While the forest had been very still at first, they could hear the gushing sounds of water after walking for another stretch.

The deeper they went, the surer Chen Yining was that they were heading towards a waterfall.

“Eek-eek-eek…”

The monkey screeched at the brothers from the trees above, as if summoning them.

Then, it leaped off its perch. However, it suddenly stopped mid-fall at a gap between the branches ahead, as if it had suddenly gained powers of levitation.

The monkey struggled furiously then, but it appears that it was being bound by something that tightened its grip the more it struggled, and the monkey’s efforts were soon weakening… until it eventually lay there, immobile and almost dying.

Chen Yining frowned. “Be careful. There’s a spiderweb nearby.”

Green Skin lifted his steel bar and brandished it, and the thicket rustled loudly as it was parted.

A startled palm-sized bug darted away, hiding itself deep inside the thicket.

“I have no idea what that is…” Green Skin was at a loss.

In the end, the forest was very vast, and even the goblin had things it did not know off.

The withered leaves beneath their feet were thick and damp, with untold swarms of poisonous bugs lurking beneath.

Startled by the two summoned beasts’ auras, many insects and snakes were sneaking away from the branches.

Then, Green Skin’s steel bar seemed to touch something and he felt it become stuck.

It was as if some invisible gel in the air had latched on to his steel bar.

The group came closer to see that a translucent string of spider silk was sticking on the steel bar, and it took Green Skin great strength to tear the string off.

The spider silk was far more adhesive than any of them could imagine—it should be noted that Green Skin had great strength, which meant that the spider silk could bear a lot of weight.

Then, the red-caped fowl took two steps back, its eyes turning scarlet as if it was bleeding.

It opened its beak and breathed out a trail of flames.

The flames did not reach its usual range, however, though this extent was just right—every strand of spiderweb the flames reached were immediately melted away. It seemed that those webs had terrible fire resistance.

While the spiderweb would melt off in a puff of blue smoke after it was burned, the fire did not spread since the nearby leaves and plants were quite damp and did not catch fire.

After that, Green Skin took point, advancing ahead while the red-caped fowl cleared their path with its flames from the rear. Since evolving, the bird could breathe a lot more flames now, and breathing out that much was not taxing.

Soon, they cleared a wide path.

But once they crossed over, they stumbled upon a harrowing scene.

Endless dried bones were strewn all over the place, and the air swirled with the scent of rot.

Numerous cocoons were dangling off the tree tops, the tip of which were opened—tiny gray furry heads with their eyes kept tightly shut were poking out, all of which were monkeys smaller than the one leading them on just now…

Chen Yining finally realized why that particular marking would bring them here and jump into the spiderweb on its own free will.

There was no telling how long those cocoons had been spun, and few of those little monkeys would have survived, and barely alive even if they did.

Soon, there was rustling from the distance.

Two gigantic spiders were moving alongside each other, drawn toward the group by the trail of torn webs left in their wake.

It was difficult for them to move through the forest due to their huge bodies, which was why they kept to the trees and climbed around them with pinpoint precision. As each of their legs plunged into wood, they shifted as if streaking through the forest, approaching the group as if they could cross valleys in the blink of an eye.

It must be said that they were so huge they could well be as tall as a two-story building, though half of that height was from their legs. One of them had a plump abdomen, with its rear half being twice the size of its front half—it basically had to drag its rear half along as it moved.

There was a ring of white down on both sides of their cheeks like a neck warmer.

Nonetheless, the one up front had a short temper, and was clicking furiously the instant it saw Chen Yining and the others.

Then, gaping its jaws, it spat out voluminous strands of silk.

It was just like a streaming geyser as the milky-white fluid engulfed a fan-shaped area ahead of itself.

Not about to be outdone, the red-caped fowl retaliated with its fire breath. Its fearsome flames collided with the spider’s spit—still in liquid form, bursting into thick white-smoke.

It was as if mist had suddenly appeared in the forest, and the white smoke soon wafted into Chen Yining’s nostrils whilst carrying a stinging scent.

He pinched his nose. There was no telling if that stuff was poisonous, so the best thing to do was not inhale it.

Both him and his brother took out their respirators from their bags that they had bought ahead of time.

In the end, the protection of the Summoner’s Grimoire proved a little vague. They could never tell for sure which attacks would be blocked, and which would bypass its safety mechanism to hurt them.

There were millions of different of magical beasts while they only had one life. It never hurts to be careful.

On the other hand, the giant spider was becoming even more angry upon seeing that its attacks were nullified, and it was shrieking shrilly through its mandibles.

It appeared to be going on a show of force, declaring that this was its territory.

Still, Chen Yining felt calmer at that sight.

It seems that despite its might, the spider was not that much stronger than his pair of summoned beasts—they might even be on the same level.

Why else would that pair of giant spiders start things off by spitting silk instead of attacking them directly with brute force?

Chen Yining backed a few paces away then, keeping Green Skin and the red-caped fowl in front of himself.

His Summoner’s Grimoire had been heating up for a while, and it was only now that he had the free time to read it.

[Species: Grayhead Huntsman Spider]

[Current Level: 3 (4)]

[Rank: Rare ⭐⭐]

[Introduction: A magical beast that hunts prey with their spiderwebs. It waits silently in dank, cold environment as its prey come to them, but they would go on active hunts during mating season to nourish their young.]

[Race Talent: Strengthened Spider Sac +3]

[Bond (Spider):]

[(1) The spider’s silk would have a low chance of triggering a very weak binding effect on prey if there are more than four spiders.]

[(2) The spider’s silk would have a low chance of triggering a weak binding effect on prey if there are more than eight spiders.]

[Summary: The spider sits at its home as prey comes to it.]

These were rare two-stars monsters and there were two of them at that. Since one was Level 3 and the other level 4, both must be veterans.

Still, one appears to be pregnant, and there was no telling if that affected their abilities.

The many cocoons dangling over the trees must be the nourishment that they had been stocking up.

On another note, a one-star magical beast provided around eight EXP.

There would be some degree of difference in EXP earned when it came to the species of magical beast and the specific specimen that was killed.

As such, Chen Yining certainly could not tell how many EXP a rare two-star magical beast could provide in one occasion…

Perhaps more than a thousand?

Generally speaking, all creatures were as dangerous as they were vulnerable during pregnancy.

Studying their surroundings, Chen Yining hatched a plan in his mind just then.