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At first, Pei Bufan thought the giant boss, the eight-headed spider, had appeared. However, he suddenly realized the sinister wind was blowing from the wrong direction. In the original text, it was: ‘Zhong Yanqing and the man in the white mask were locked in a fierce battle when a massive, pitch-black creature suddenly shot out from the depths of the secret realm, interrupting them and nearly sending Zhong Yanqing flying…’ The spider had appeared from the depths of the secret realm, but now, this sinister wind was clearly blowing from the outside in.
Pei Bufan and Ziche Duanyuan held their breaths, carefully listening to the commotion outside.
The sound of footsteps approached, unsteady. The newcomer was clearly exhausted.
Pei Bufan’s black fur was about to stand on end. Holy shit! It had to be Zhong Yanqing! Ziche Duanyuan had naturally thought of this as well. His face darkened, and he quickly left the treasure room. Instead of returning the way he came, he found a corner to hide in, secretly observing the newcomer’s movements.
Zhong Yanqing staggered in, looking disheveled and covered in wounds. It was obvious he had just been through a vicious fight.
He pushed open the last door, a smirk on his lips. He’d finally made it in. Who knew that the moment he opened it, a pile of white, round things would come rolling out. Luckily, Zhong Yanqing was fast enough; otherwise, he would have been buried inside.
Pei Bufan, who was watching from the shadows, jumped in fright. That pile of white, soft-shelled things with intense, pulsating movements… weren’t those f**king eggs?
Pei Bufan completely ignored the sound of the mission completion notification. His eyes were now fixated on those white things.
You could even vaguely see the shadows of little spiders inside the whitish, translucent shells, holy shit! How did he, the original author, not know that the eight-headed spider was a female and had just laid a bunch of babies??
Heavens, are you toying with me! In the original novel, it was one big one, and now it’s a bunch of small ones…
A milky-white, viscous fluid slowly dripped down. Zhong Yanqing looked up. The giant spider was clinging to the ceiling in a bizarre posture, its tens of thousands of countless compound eyes staring at him, and also at Ziche Duanyuan, who was hidden in the corner.
The little black cat silently added the second half of the sentence: A bunch of small ones, plus one big one.
The heavens want me dead!!
Pei Bufan carefully moved his paws, even quieting his breathing. It was the first time he had felt the Grim Reaper so clearly before his eyes. His little paw patted the equally stunned Ziche Duanyuan. Bro, don’t just stand there staring, let’s run! QAQ. If I remember correctly, this spider is at the Golden Core stage, right?! We’re going to die!!
Prodded by Pei Bufan’s furry paw, Ziche Duanyuan snapped back to his senses. Cursing himself for his momentary lapse, he shot out from the shadows, grabbed the black cat, and bolted, not caring if Zhong Yanqing saw him. At this moment, Zhong Yanqing, who had been scared stiff, also came to his senses. He turned around just in time to see a familiar figure flash past. “…Duanyuan?” Why is he here? But the situation was too urgent for him to think about it. He could only temporarily suppress his doubts and flee in a sorry state.
Pei Bufan huddled in the male lead’s arms and peeked over his shoulder. The sight almost made him lose control of his bladder.
The eight-headed spider was the ‘follower pet’ of this grotto-heaven’s owner. Unlike a contracted pet, a follower pet doesn’t perish with its master’s death. Instead, it remains in the place where its master once lived, often used to guard the home and watch over the grotto-heaven after death. Over time, this spider had made this place its nest. For someone to invade during its egg-laying period, how could it not be furious!
Abandoning its belongings and a brood of unborn babies, it chased after the two humans and one cat.
Pei Bufan thought for a moment and understood the crux of the matter. Holy shit, if they had come any later and the little spiders had hatched, it would have been a catastrophe!
Ziche Duanyuan stopped after running a short distance. Pei Bufan turned his little cat face. A scorpion, at least three meters tall, was blocking their path…
“…When I was coming in,” Zhong Yanqing stammered, “I accidentally stepped on a trap and let it out…”
…Heh heh!
Pei Bufan didn’t even remember there being this much stuff in the original novel! What day is it today, an insect convention? The only silver lining was that the scorpion was only at… the peak of Foundation Establishment, holy shit!
Zhong Yanqing, at the early stage of Foundation Establishment; Ziche Duanyuan, at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment; plus a black cat that could do nothing but act cute, have encountered a peak Foundation Establishment scorpion and a Golden Core eight-headed spider. Question: How do you clear this dungeon??
Pei Bufan answers: …Which way to the resurrection point?
There’s no other outcome here besides a total party wipe!!
“System! You get your ass out here and explain! This stuff wasn’t in my script!!” Pei Bufan’s furious roar, in the eyes of the two men, became a tragic scream.
Is this really how it ends today? Ziche Duanyuan’s face was grim. Even if I die, Zhong Yanqing must die before me. With that thought, he gathered water arrows in his hand and shot them straight at Zhong Yanqing. This startled Zhong Yanqing. Setting aside why Ziche Duanyuan would suddenly attack him, even if there was some misunderstanding, he shouldn’t be attacking at a time like this. It was simply baffling.
It wasn’t just Zhong Yanqing who was startled by Ziche Duanyuan’s sudden move, but also the black cat, Pei Bufan. He was more than startled; he was about to cry, okay! Bro, what are you doing? At a time like this, instead of running for your life, you’re fixated on the scumbag male. What is this, true love? ‘Till death do us part? Pei Bufan didn’t remember tagging his own novel with ‘Angsty and Deeply in Love’!! Bro, wake up!!
Seeing that if it didn’t intervene, these three vibrant lives were really going to be extinguished here, the system, which had been playing dumb, finally opened its golden mouth:1 [Inventory.]
“What?” Pei Bufan shrieked. The silk spit out by the spider just now had almost touched his tail! It was corrosive; it scared the cat to death!! Panicked, Pei Bufan opened his inventory. The fragments of ribbon that had been there automatically combined into a blue bell collar [Cute Meow-Meow Bell Collar]. Its original attribute was Growth +10, but the finished product now had an added hidden attribute: [Can trigger unique talent].
Was this the prelude to forcing him to wear it?!
This hidden attribute was definitely just added by the system! He’d swear on its non-existent dignity!!
In other words, he was now supposed to transform into the savior and rescue the male lead and the scumbag male?
That’s too terrifying, he really didn’t want to…
Zhong Yanqing, who was being beaten by the two giant insects, was already having trouble holding on. Now with Ziche Duanyuan pressing him step by step, anger surged in his heart. Did they all see him as an ant they could kill whenever they pleased? The corner of his eye caught sight of the eight-headed spider. Taking advantage of the moment, Ziche Duanyuan dodged the giant scorpion. He suddenly kicked out with all his might, sending the man flying towards the eight-headed spider’s feet. The spider was also startled and paused its movements. Zhong Yanqing saw his chance, turned, and ran. This made Ziche Duanyuan and Pei Bufan curse him internally. To their relief, the scorpion chased after Zhong Yanqing, as if its aggro was completely locked onto him, and disappeared without a trace, completely forgetting about Ziche Duanyuan.
So, both of them were only here because of Zhong Yanqing… The furious Ziche Duanyuan made another mark against Zhong Yanqing in his mental ledger. He looked up at the eight-headed spider, disheveled. His true qi was in disarray, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Pei Bufan stared dumbly at the pale-faced Ziche Duanyuan. With the tragic feeling of one going off to a battle they would not return from, he jumped out of Ziche Duanyuan’s arms.
Ziche Duanyuan had used almost all of his strength in the chaotic battle just now and couldn’t stop the black cat from walking away from him step by step. He let out a cold laugh, but the next second, he froze. The black cat stood between him and the eight-headed spider, its black fur bristling. It let out a series of weak squeals at the spider, as if in provocation. It held its small head high, the bell collar that had appeared on its neck tinkling crisply, but its four short legs were trembling uncontrollably. Ziche Duanyuan’s expression gradually softened, a warm smile gracing his lips.
Pei Bufan: I hate spiders… especially giant ones!!
Looking back at Ziche Duanyuan for a ‘final glance,’ Pei Bufan said mournfully, “Bro, this might be the end for your grandpa today. While I hold it off, you should escape as fast as you can. If you still remember me, come collect my body after you’ve passed the Golden Core stage, and pay your respects. Remember, no chrysanthemums. Just a plate of pickled cucumbers will do. After all, your grandpa is a zonggong…” The series of meows turned into whimpers.
System: …This idiot!
Although he couldn’t understand a word Pei Bufan was saying, Ziche Duanyuan could guess his meaning from his snot-nosed face. He was telling him to run?
Not caring if Ziche Duanyuan understood, Pei Bufan turned and charged. Relying on his feline instincts and his somewhat weak claws, he scrambled up the spider’s thin leg, which was covered in coarse black hair, all the way to its several large heads, and then started clawing for dear life. He had now mastered the ultimate technique of a woman beating up the other woman: ‘first, rip the clothes; second, scratch the person’! If he weren’t toothless, and if those giant compound eyes weren’t so terrifying, he would have used his teeth!
“Male Lead, what are you doing? I’m sacrificing so much for you, why are you just standing there like an idiot?” Seeing Ziche Duanyuan staring blankly at him, Pei Bufan roared at him, disappointed that he wasn’t living up to expectations.2 Of course, what came out was still a series of meows. Even Zhong Yanqing knew to run, are you dumber than him? Although Pei Bufan’s weak claws weren’t doing much damage to the giant spider, anyone would be annoyed to find something bouncing around on their head, or even their face. The spider was no different. It just didn’t have any hands, so it started crawling all over the place, eventually ending up on the ceiling, shaking violently to try and throw Pei Bufan off.
Pei Bufan: Dizzy, I can’t take it… I’m going to puke up last night’s dinner…
Hanging in the air, the small claws hooked onto the spider’s head slowly loosened with its shaking. Pei Bufan finally fell.
There was no pain as he’d imagined. Pei Bufan opened his eyes to see Ziche Duanyuan’s smiling face. He had been caught in Ziche Duanyuan’s arms.
“How could I ever leave you behind?” Ziche Duanyuan said, in a very good mood as he gently pinched Pei Bufan’s little paws.
“Meow?” Charmed by that handsome face, Pei Bufan foolishly squeezed out a single sound. Only after he said it did he realize, and he flipped over to bury his face in Ziche Duanyuan’s chest. So embarrassing!
System’s evaluation: Hopeless.
[Special skill.] the system reminded him helplessly.
Pei Bufan lifted his cat face. He had almost forgotten, but how do you use it?
System, despairing of Pei Bufan’s intelligence: [Netherflame]
Pei Bufan’s eyes lit up. Netherflame was the unique skill of the Netherworld Bird in his novel, and it was also the nemesis of the eight-headed spider. There’s hope!!
He wriggled out of Ziche Duanyuan’s arms, puffed out his chest, and lifted his small head majestically. “Stupid spider! Get down here! Let’s fight again! I’ll make you get on your knees and call me grandpa!!”
System: …
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Reika’s Notes:
- If you read the original author’s note, it says the shou is “goofy.” Yep, I can see that!
- This text was translated by Kotori Translates, and given to BC Novels to publish.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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