146: The Past of the Mind Buddha

The Foot Spider turned around, saw Xu Le and the others, and gave a miserable smile: "You have come."

"Why are you here?" Xu Le frowned.

He knew how wary the Foot Spider was of him. Back then, it had been willing to brave the void wind just to cast a teleportation spell to escape; it was clearly unwilling to fall into his hands, even in death.

Now that he brought two "companions" with him, the fact that the Foot Spider was just soaking in the blood river without moving looked strange no matter how he viewed it.

Fan Wei and Wu Shouyi looked at each other, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

The seventy-two Disciples of the Great Teacher of Supreme Goodness could barely enter even in humanoid form, so how did such a large spider manage to get in and soak in the blood river?

"You ask me? You dare ask me?" The Foot Spider hissed in grief and indignation, looking as if it desperately wanted to eat Xu Le. Yet, its body remained motionless, its eight legs still swaying in the blood river.

Xu Le watched in astonishment, feeling as if the creature was being filmed in a close-up; its expression was so vivid, yet its body and legs simply refused to react at all.

"I do not know what you are thinking, but I know you are humiliating me!"

The Foot Spider grew even more grief-stricken, yet its eyes subconsciously darted toward the blood river.

Fan Wei and the other did not understand spider-speak and were completely confused. Xu Le had no interest in being their translator; he followed the Foot Spider's gaze and soon saw a blood-colored bead at the bottom of the blood river.

It was the size of an adult's fist, lying quietly on the riverbed, emitting a blood-colored precious glow; it was clearly a treasure at first glance.

If not for the Foot Spider's gaze, he would never have discovered it.

Xu Le instinctively moved to enter the river to pick up the bead, but the graceful figures of the tea-selling woman and the wine-selling woman suddenly appeared in his mind, and he immediately stopped his steps.

"You are really not the Heart Buddha?" The Foot Spider saw this detail and could not help but exclaim in surprise:

Everything here was arranged by the Heart Buddha; He knew all the traps by heart, so it was impossible for Him to almost step into His own trap.

Xu Le knew that the creature had previously mistaken him for the Heart Buddha. Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up, he immediately asked.

"You know the Heart Buddha? Tell me about it."

"Why should I tell you? If it were not for you, would I have risked using a teleportation spell and fallen here?" The spider said indignantly.

"If your information is useful, I can try to rescue you." Xu Le promised.

"Why should I trust you?"

"You have no other choice, do you?"

Xu Le did not swear or make vows to prove his integrity; it was the Foot Spider that needed help, not him.

"Fine!"

The Foot Spider gritted its teeth and agreed, beginning to recount the information it knew.

"The Heart Buddha is suspected to be a Clone of a True God descending from beyond the heavens, terrifyingly strong."

"Back then, while the Void Creatures were not as numerous as hair on an ox, there were certainly quite a few."

"After the Heart Buddha arrived, He wantonly captured Void Creatures and directly converted them into His own Clones."

"At that time, many powerful Void Creatures united, gathering thousands of Void Creatures to slay the Heart Buddha's Clones together."

"In the end, everyone went missing."

"Many people thought the Heart Buddha had fallen."

"But I know, He is still here, He has always been here!"

"Ten years ago, my best friend, Tail Scorpion, was hunting Horned Pythons with me the day before. That night, the Horned Python Family came to retaliate, and she was silently converted into the Heart Buddha."

The Foot Spider's face was pained, and large tears fell, yet its body and eight legs remained motionless, like mere decorations.

"You know, we were together all day, and when we rested at night, we were only two body-lengths (about 30 meters) apart, yet she was silently converted!"

"We were fighting together during the day, but at night, when I saw her attack, it was filled with Buddha light."

"If not for the Horned Pythons attacking her with all their might, I fear I would have been killed by a sneak attack without even knowing it."

Xu Le suddenly understood; no wonder the creature reacted so strongly, preferring death over being near him.

He turned his gaze back to the bead in the blood river and activated the "Divine Eye".

【Item】 Blood Spring

【Rank】 mythic-grade

【Item Details】 Corpses piled up in the hundreds of millions, blood flowing like a sea; the essence condensed into a bead. It contains the grievances of hundreds of millions of living beings, the ultimate poison in the world; touching it causes one's limbs to go weak and numb.

Only then did Xu Le understand why the Foot Spider was soaking in the blood river; it wasn't that it didn't want to run, but that it couldn't.

"How do you plan to save me?"

After the Foot Spider finished speaking, a glimmer of expectation flashed in its dim eyes.

"Let me try!"

After hearing the Foot Spider's legendary experience, Wu Shouyi felt that it was a decent combat force, and if he could recruit it for his own use, his own safety would have an extra layer of protection.

Without waiting for the two to refuse, he spoke while casting a Battle Qi shield and jumped straight into the blood river.

Then, he instantly became a weakling, with only his head exposed in the blood river, his body unable to move.

"Hey, why can't I move my hands and feet?"

"Save me, save me..."

Xu Le: "..."

Even the Foot Spider's eyes flashed with disdain; how did someone of such an advanced age survive until now?

Fan Wei watched the instantly weakened Wu Shouyi in shock. He reached out a finger to touch the blood river, immediately felt all his strength being drained, his body went limp, and he fell headfirst into the blood river.

Another combat force lost!

Just this?

The Foot Spider looked at Xu Le with anticipation: You are the last spark, please don't be like them.

Xu Le naturally would not be like the two of them; he took out a fine-quality fishing rod from his space ring.

It had a load capacity of 30,000 jin.

It would be very difficult to fish out the Foot Spider, but he could test if his strategy was correct.

When preparing to cast the hook, Xu Le cautiously took two steps back.

He cast the hook with force; the fishing line wrapped around Fan Wei's neck, and after three turns, the hook caught perfectly on the fishing line.

Fan Wei looked aggrieved; this posture was too shameful.

But the feeling of total weakness made him even more desperate, so he had to close his eyes and let Xu Le do as he pleased.

Well, he wished he could hurry up.

Xu Le gave a forceful tug, and Fan Wei flew out of the water.

His strength returned instantly. While still in the air, he tore the fishing line away and landed with a cool pose.

"Brother Xu, you saved me again. Say no more, as long as we can get out, I will follow whatever you say. Even if it means rebelling against the little emperor, I will not refuse."

Xu Le smiled and said nothing.

Promises like this are just things to listen to for now. How a person's character is ultimately depends on what they do.

However, Wu Shouyi felt a bit unhappy: Great Zhou raised you for so many years, and you'd follow someone into rebellion after two instances of help?

Xu Le did not know what Wu Shouyi was thinking; he gripped the fishing rod and pulled Wu Shouyi out again.

The Foot Spider watched with glittering eyes; it could finally leave the blood river.

After these two months, it felt as if it had almost soaked away.

Wu Shouyi landed on the ground and, with lingering fear, cupped his hands to thank Xu Le: "Many thanks. Once we return to Blue Star, as long as it is not illegal, I will be at your beck and call."

"Heh!" Fan Wei chuckled, full of mockery, "Then do you want me to help you take revenge and restore your previous position?"

"You..." Wu Shouyi's face darkened, and he simply stopped speaking.

Xu Le ignored the two, cast the hook, and tied it to the Foot Spider. He did not dare to pull it up directly, but instead used the buoyancy of the blood river to drag it to the shore first.

As soon as the Foot Spider's body moved, the entire blood river began to boil.

"Roar!"

After an angry roar, a blood-red Dragon flew out of the river, looking at Xu Le with fury.