44: Snakes, insects, rats and ants gathered together

“There is, but I’m afraid you don’t have the guts to take it!”

The Rat Spirit’s eyes darted, and he suddenly lowered his body, bringing his head close to the Little Green Snake. His whiskers almost brushed against the Little Green Snake’s cold scales. The Rat Spirit’s mouth curved into a sly, mischievous smile.

“Wh-why? Is it perhaps an evil cultivator? Lord Chuping detests such abominations.”

The Little Green Snake instinctively recoiled half a foot, its tail tip leaving a mark on the dry leaves.

Besides evil cultivators, the Little Green Snake couldn’t think of anyone else Lord Chuping wouldn’t dare to accept. After all, he was a Divine Spirit.

If not for Lord Chuping’s recent manifestation, even a demon general like Blood Fiend wouldn’t have been able to cross the threshold of the Divine Ancestral Temple.

“Of course not an evil cultivator. Don’t you know us, husband and wife? We are all good demons!”

The Rat Spirit rubbed his front paws, letting out two strange, cackling laughs.

The laughter made the Little Green Snake’s heart pound.

The Little Green Snake’s gaze swept over the Rat Spirit couple but he was unwilling to give up this hard-won opportunity. He immediately flicked his tail.

“Since that’s the case, stop dawdling and lead the way!”

As the saying goes, the bold get fat, and the timid starve.

He had boasted to Lord Chuping that with a single command, all demons would flock to him.

Now, he had only taken the first step. If he backed out like this, how would he ever establish himself among the other demons in the future?

Moreover, although it had been a bumpy road, at least it had a good start.

*

The three demons left Black Rat Mountain, where the Rat Spirit couple resided, and headed deeper into the forest.

Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

The Little Green Snake slithered ahead, occasionally turning back to urge them on: “Where exactly does this friend of yours live?”

“Not far, not far.”

The Rat Spirit trotted along, maintaining a five-step distance, his nose twitching rapidly: “It’s just past that patch of Crystal Maples ahead.”

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, the Rat Spirit leaped out, stepping on the tip of the Little Green Snake’s tail.

Reflexively, the Little Green Snake instantly arched its upper body, its fangs gleaming with a cold, menacing light.

“Hiss hiss!”

What are you doing? You scared the snake out of me!

“Turn your head and look.”

Realizing something was wrong, the Little Green Snake slowly turned his head, and the scene before his eyes made him break out in a cold sweat.

Ten feet away, on the branches of a maple tree, tens of thousands of dewdrops trembled simultaneously.

Each crystal-clear water droplet contained a shadowy figure curled like a spider egg, and the refracted rainbow hues wove a vast net in the air.

All the dewdrops on the surrounding spider webs rolled on their own, forming countless gaping mouths.

“Hehehe…”

The laughter seemed to come from every tree hollow simultaneously, and the Little Green Snake’s scales immediately bristled.

He watched as a tree knot three feet above his head suddenly split open, and a string of spider silk woven into… a swing? hung down.

“Holy crap!”

The Little Green Snake couldn’t help but blurt out a curse.

“With this kind of behavior, you’re telling me this is a proper demon? Do you think I’ll believe you?”

The Little Green Snake, fuming, turned his head and yelled at the Rat Spirit.

“I’m telling you, this friend of yours definitely has some issues…”

Before he could finish, the Rat Spirit, as if possessed, spread his arms, a look of rapture on his face:

“How beautiful! Sister Spider collects three thousand dewdrops with spider eggs every morning and hangs them on the web, one by one.”

He then glared at the Little Green Snake.

“You cold-blooded creatures, how could you understand how to appreciate art?”

Little Green Snake: “…”

My fault?

*

“Sister Spider, Ratty is here to see you!”

The Rat Spirit’s high-pitched voice echoed through the dense forest. The dewdrops on the spider webs suddenly turned in unison, and countless mouths made of water droplets simultaneously cheered:

“Ratty! Ratty is here!”

The Little Green Snake felt all his scales about to explode—the dark figures in those spider eggs were clearly miniature spider larvae, now wiggling excitedly through the water film.

He was on the verge of a phobia attack.

Suddenly, hundreds of spider silks shot out from all directions, precisely… tying a floral apron onto the Rat Spirit.

“We want snacks today too!”

Voices from the dewdrops rose and fell.

The Rat Spirit skillfully pulled out a small pot and began to cook with a clatter.

All the dewdrops swayed to the rhythm of the “clatter.”

The Little Green Snake watched as the largest tree knot “popped” open, and out rolled… a giant spider demon wearing a red bellyband.

It had a human face and a spider body, and it was terrifying.

“Ah!”

The spider demon had different colored embroidered shoes on each of its eight legs, and two hair buns were tied askew on its head.

This abstract appearance made two drops of venom shoot out from the Little Green Snake’s fangs in fright.

When the spider demon spoke, all the tree hollows mimicked its words, and the entire forest suddenly turned into a kindergarten with surround sound.

“This is the Little Green Snake.”

The Rat Spirit nudged the stiff snake demon, “Don’t be afraid, he’s a good demon too!”

Little Green Snake: In this situation, I should be the one who’s afraid!

The spider demon suddenly pulled its bellyband over its face, its eight legs twisting into a knot.

“Little s-snake… does he like spider?”

The Rat Spirit explained softly: “She was struck by lightning when she was young…”

He pointed to his own furry head.

The Little Green Snake suddenly noticed that in those so-called “artistic dewdrops,” there were a few that contained… parts like squirrel tails and titmouse wings.

Following his gaze, the spider demon happily clapped its front legs: “Ratty says! Gifts should, should be put in boxes!”

Now the Little Green Snake finally understood why the Rat Spirit always had a missing tuft of fur.

After a series of intense negotiations, the three demons finally took the spider demon with them.

The price was helping to collect and take away all the “treasures” inside the dewdrops.

*

In front of the temple.

Lin Chuping’s Divine Soul phantom floated in mid-air, looking down expressionlessly at the “demon army” before him—

The Little Green Snake was cowering, his tail restlessly scraping the ground;

The Rat Spirit couple chuckled, rubbing their paws, occasionally stealing glances at the spider demon;

And the spider demon… was excitedly waving her eight legs, dragging a spider silk bundle towards the idol.

A “creak, creak” sound came from the bundle, as if something alive was gnawing on the spider silk.

Lin Chuping’s eye twitched, and he looked at the Little Green Snake: “Explain.”

What happened to the promised gathering of ten thousand demons!

At the very least, jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards would do; he wouldn’t be picky.

With this group standing at the temple entrance, it seemed all the snakes, insects, rats, and ants were accounted for.

The Little Green Snake flinched, quickly arched his body, and stammered.

“L-Lord! Although this spider demon is… uh, eccentric, her strength is considerable! Look at this spider silk, it’s incredibly tough and can weave automatically. If it were used to repair the temple…”

“Crack!”

The bundle suddenly split open, and a dusty wild rabbit darted out, still clutching half of the Rat Spirit’s whiskers in its mouth. It frantically crashed into the base of the idol and fainted on the spot.

The air solidified.

The spider demon let out an “ah” and quickly pounced, poking the rabbit with her front leg: “Wake up! This is a gift for Lord Chuping!”

Lin Chuping took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“…Is there something wrong with her brain?”

The Rat Spirit quickly stepped forward and whispered: “Lord, please understand, Sister Spider’s intelligence was struck by heavenly lightning when she was young, so… uh, she’s quite innocent.”

“Innocent?”

Lin Chuping sneered, pointing at the “treasures” that were successively rolling out of the bundle—a few moldy leaves, half a shriveled cicada shell, a ball of spider web entangled with bird feathers, and even a piece of a broken shoe sole that he didn’t know which woodcutter it was taken from.

Unbearable to look at.

“You call this ‘innocent’?”

The Little Green Snake covered his face in despair.

Just then, the spider demon suddenly looked up, her eight eyes sparkling as she gazed at Lin Chuping: “Lord Chuping… doesn’t like spider’s gifts?”

Her voice was full of grievance, and the crooked embroidery on her bellyband seemed to droop along with it.

Lin Chuping choked.

He had originally intended to simply wave his hand and blast all these troublesome demons out, but facing the spider demon’s eyes, which were innocent to the point of being foolish, he inexplicably couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Fine.”

He rubbed his temples, sighing helplessly, “Since you’ve come, then stay. But—”

He pointed a finger, and a golden light entered the spider demon’s forehead: “Don’t put messy things in the temple.”

The spider demon blinked, then suddenly jumped up joyfully: “Lord Chuping is the best!”

As she spoke, her abdomen contracted, and she “poof”ed out a large ball of golden spider silk, instantly weaving a… gaudy cape onto Lin Chuping’s idol.

Lin Chuping: “…”

The Little Green Snake and the Rat Spirit couple simultaneously retreated three steps, saying in unison: “Lord, please calm your anger!”