209: Chapter 209 Golden Afterglow

The golden afterglow of the Nanming Li Fire slowly dissipated within the narrow stone crevice.

The once-invincible Demonic Flame Spider Mother was utterly erased, as if she had never existed, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.

An absolute dead silence once again enveloped this desolate land.

However, this time, the silence was more despairing than any that had come before.

Thud.

Song Yiqing's legs gave way, and he slumped to one knee, his movements merely a desperate attempt to maintain his final shred of dignity.

His face was no longer just pale; it was a nearly transparent deathly gray. His lips were parched and cracked, devoid of any color.

The Qi within his body had been completely drained by that single strike of Nanming Li Fire, even overdrawing his very essence. The sense of emptiness and intense pain radiating from his limbs and bones left him without even the strength to stand.

He looked at his slightly trembling hands, a flicker of bitterness crossing his eyes.

That strike had resolved the immediate crisis.

But it had also stripped him of any ability to fight further, making him the person in the team most in need of protection.

“Lord Song!”

Fatty was the first to react. He scrambled over, intending to help Song Yiqing up, but was stopped by a raised hand.

“Don't... don't touch me.”

Song Yiqing's voice was weak, like a flickering candle in the wind.

“Conserve your strength... listen to me.”

Everyone gathered around, their faces etched with gravity.

They all knew that defeating the Spider Mother didn't mean the crisis was over. On the contrary, they were now at the end of their ropes, while outside, the endless sea of spiders—now free from the Spider Mother's suppression—had become even more frenzied and chaotic, completely blocking the only exit.

“We can't get out through the front, and as for above... we don't know where it leads.”

Lin Tianyi looked up into the deep darkness, his voice dry.

“Song Yiqing, are you alright? What do we do now?”

“Our only way out... is up there.”

Song Yiqing's gaze passed over the group and stared into the darkness, as if he could see the future hidden there.

“The Spider Mother's nest must have... ventilation shafts or waste outlets other than this place. That's our only chance.”

His voice was soft, but his logic was exceptionally clear.

“But that path certainly won't be easy. Qilin...”

He looked toward Zhang Qilin.

“Can you still use your hand?”

Zhang Qilin silently held out his right hand. Those two fingers, which had looked like a dried corpse's, were now recovering at a slow but visible pace.

Though still withered, a faint trace of blood was beginning to flow beneath the skin.

His monstrously powerful self-healing ability was fighting against that strange draining force.

He didn't speak; he simply clenched his fist and nodded, indicating there was no problem.

“Good.”

A hint of relief appeared in Song Yiqing's eyes.

“You take the lead.

Your senses are the sharpest. Explore upward and look for any changes in airflow or environmental differences.

Watch out for traps; the Spider Mother's nest won't be that simple.”

He took a breath and continued his instructions.

“Xianzhi, you guard Qilin's flank and be ready to react to any sudden situations.”

“Lin Tianyi, you take the rear and handle the lighting. Keep an eye on the ground and our back.”

“Fatty, Wang Shan, you two... are responsible for me.”

As Song Yiqing spoke those last few words, he gave a self-deprecating, bitter smile.

“I'm a burden now. Support me as we walk; we must leave this place immediately.”

“Lord Song, what are you saying?!”

Fatty's eyes reddened as he grabbed Song Yiqing's arm to support him.

“As long as Lord Pang still has a breath left, I'll never let you fall behind!”

Without further words, a new path to survival was opened in the midst of desperation.

Zhang Qilin said nothing, sheathing the black gold ancient blade on his back to facilitate climbing.

His injured fingers lightly touched the rock wall as if reading the language of the stone. Then, he led the way upward, his movements as nimble as a weightless gecko.

This stone crevice passage was longer and more complex than they had imagined.

It wasn't a straight climb; instead, it twisted and spiraled like the esophagus of a giant beast, sometimes wide and sometimes so narrow they had to squeeze through sideways.

The rock walls were covered in slimy, translucent spider silk. In some places, it had thickened into dense webs that emitted a nauseating, fishy stench.

Lin Tianyi used his tactical flashlight to scout ahead. Wherever the beam hit, there were bleached white bones.

There were human bones and those of various unknown giant beasts. Many skeletons were wrapped in layers of translucent silk, turned into horrific 'cocoons'.

Their expressions were forever frozen in the moment of their death, filled with terror and resentment.

“This place... is its larder,” Lin Tianyi forced out, feeling a chill surge from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

The group moved forward in silence, every step taken with extreme caution.

Suddenly, Zhang Qilin, who was in the lead, came to an abrupt halt and raised his hand.

“What is it?”

Wang Xianzhi asked in a low voice.

Zhang Qilin pointed to a seemingly ordinary patch of spiderweb on the ground ahead.

“It's empty underneath.”

He spoke succinctly.

Lin Tianyi shone his flashlight on it. The web looked no different from any other, but under the intense light, one could faintly see a bottomless, pitch-black pit beneath the silk! It was a camouflaged trap; one step on it would send someone plummeting into the abyss!

“Holy shit...”

Fatty broke into a cold sweat; he had almost stepped right onto it.

They bypassed the trap and continued upward.

Crises followed one after another.

They encountered sharp spider legs hidden in the rock walls like bear traps.

They also faced highly corrosive mucus that suddenly dropped from the webs overhead.

But each time, Zhang Qilin sensed it in advance, and Wang Xianzhi's rapid reflexes easily neutralized the threat.

The process was incredibly oppressive and agonizingly long.

Time lost all meaning here.

They didn't know how long they had been walking—maybe an hour, maybe three or four.

Everyone's physical strength was reaching its limit. Even Fatty, who was supporting Song Yiqing, began to stumble.

Just when everyone was on the verge of despair, Zhang Qilin's voice changed for the first time.

“There's a breeze.”

Breeze?

Everyone's spirits were instantly lifted!

They focused their senses, and sure enough, a faint, almost imperceptible current of air was coming from above!

That airflow carried a scent different from the fishy stench of the nest—it was the smell of damp, fresh earth!

An exit!

It was as if everyone had been given a shot of adrenaline. They quickened their pace and climbed toward the source of the wind with all their might!

After climbing another few dozen meters, a large, irregular hole appeared before them.

Outside the hole, it was no longer pitch black; instead, a dim, blue-green light filtered through.

Fresh air, laden with moisture, poured in from the opening, revitalizing everyone's spirits!

“An exit! We're out!” Fatty shouted excitedly!

He was the first to rush out of the hole, but a second later, he froze in place.

“This... where is this?”

The others filed out of the hole, and every one of them was stunned by the sight before them.

They had arrived in an even more massive underground space.

It looked like an upside-down underground jungle. Countless massive plant roots, like stalactites, hung from an incredibly high ceiling, extending down into a bottomless abyss below.

Various mosses and fungi that emitted blue-green bioluminescence grew on these roots, illuminating the entire space like the world of Avatar—dreamlike yet eerie.

Beneath their feet was a 'road' formed by the natural intersection of these giant roots, suspended in mid-air and winding into the distance.

The hole they had just emerged from was located on one of the thickest roots, a giant specimen over ten meters in diameter.

“It looks like... we climbed out from the trunk of a 'tree',” Lin Tianyi murmured, his face full of disbelief.

And below, dozens of meters away, the black mass of the spider sea still lingered at the entrance of the cave they had left. They seemed unable, or perhaps afraid, to step onto these glowing roots.

“They're afraid of these plants,” Song Yiqing said weakly, leaning against the cave mouth. “These bioluminescent fungi probably secrete something they detest. This is a safe zone.”

Hearing the words 'safe zone', everyone breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground, unable to get back up.

After a brief rest, a new problem presented itself.

—Where should they go next?

This 'sky road' made of roots had several forks, each leading to a different distant point shrouded in dim light.

Just then, Zhang Qilin's gaze was drawn to an extremely subtle mark on a distant root, nearly covered by bioluminescent moss.

He walked over and brushed away the moss.

A faint symbol consisting of three parallel scratches was revealed.

It was... a man-made mark!

“It was left by the Alpha team!”

Lin Tianyi also discovered the mark and spoke excitedly! He had seen this exclusive mark belonging to that missing team in the relevant files!

“They were here too! This path... is the one they took!”

A road sign lost for years had, at this moment, become the brightest beacon in the darkness!

It didn't just point the way; more importantly, it proved that this path was 'passable'!

Hope was rekindled in everyone's hearts.

They knew the road ahead was still treacherous and full of danger.

But at the very least, they were no longer lonely wanderers in the dark.

Following the intermittent signs left by their predecessors, they supported each other, dragging their exhausted bodies step by step as they firmly set foot on that 'sky road' suspended above the abyss, leading into the unknown.

Their journey for survival was far from over.

...