Chapter 53

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...

The canyon passage was very narrow, about two meters wide. However, it was very long, stretching for several hundred meters.

Lan Ling carried Ye Jingyu and kept running backward. For some reason, he felt increasingly cold.

Moreover, it was clearly daytime, but it was getting darker and darker, as if the sunlight could not reach here.

Not only that, the number of corpses on the ground was increasing, and each corpse had an expression of extreme pain.

At the end of the canyon passage was a deep and dark cave entrance.

Inside the cave, it was dark and ominous, like the gaping mouth of a demon.

At the same time, the powerful and fearless tribal chief suddenly stopped, a hint of fear appearing in his eyes.

The tribal soldiers behind him were already trembling with fear, staring at the cave entrance at the end of the passage as if it were the entrance to hell.

The tribal chief hesitated. According to the female chief's order, he was supposed to bring this young man back to the tribe.

However, the cave ahead was rumored to be the lair of the most terrifying monster, one that had even killed powerful dragon warriors.

Whether it was the warriors of the human kingdom or the tribal warriors, hundreds had died here, including many experts.

Moreover, even those who were killed had never seen what the monster looked like. It was too bizarre and too powerful.

After taking a deep breath, the tribal chief decided to pause. Although the female chief was terrifying, the bizarre and powerful monster in front of him was even more terrifying.

He ordered his men to retreat from the canyon and surround the area, ensuring that the target did not escape.

Then, he immediately turned to leave.

At that moment, a sharp scream suddenly echoed.

Lan Ling felt a force suddenly trapping him, then pulling him forcefully. Instantly, he and Ye Jingyu disappeared into the cave.

The tribal chief was even more terrified and tried to flee.

However, it was too late.

Suddenly, the entire canyon turned pitch black, and all the tribal warriors found themselves completely unable to move, as if they were frozen in place.

"Since you've come, don't be in a hurry to leave," a seductive and eerie voice suddenly echoed in the air.

Then, the tribal chief and the other tribesmen involuntarily walked into the cave, walking into the trap.

...

When Lan Ling woke up again, he was already in a large cave.

His entire body was wrapped in a terrifying spider web, making him completely immobile. The cave was filled with dense spider webs.

Lan Ling immediately understood whose lair this was—the Shadow Spider Queen.

This was the most powerful, most terrifying, and most mysterious monster, for which the Nulang Kingdom offered a reward of over a thousand gold coins.

Countless mercenary teams had died under its claws, even including near-dragon warriors.

In short, everyone who had seen the Shadow Spider Queen had died!

Soon, Lan Ling spotted Ye Jingyu. She was also completely wrapped in spider webs and hanging from the cave ceiling.

Not only Ye Jingyu, but over a hundred people had all become the Shadow Spider Queen's prey, and they were still alive.

On the ground, there were countless piles of bones, too many to count.

Although this place was not hell, it was very similar to hell.

"Welcome, welcome to my lair," a seductive and eerie voice echoed in the air.

Then, a huge black shadow descended from the depths of the cave, and Lan Ling finally saw the true face of the Shadow Spider Queen.

She was truly seductive and eerie.

Her body was that of an enormous spider, but she had a face that resembled a woman, and it was extremely beautiful and seductive.

If that were all, it would be fine, but the key was that this seductive woman's face still had a spider's mouth with two sharp fangs, which was chilling.

The combination of extreme beauty and extreme ugliness was simply hair-raising.

When Lan Ling was dragged into the cave, he clearly felt as if he were frozen in place, completely unable to move.

This was a typical mental attack, directly locking onto his mind and nerves, thereby completely controlling his body.

So, the powerful tribal chief was unable to control himself and obediently walked into the cave, walking into the trap.

Clearly, this Shadow Spider Queen was a mental-type monster.

Controlling dozens or even hundreds of people at the same time, her mental power must be incredibly strong, beyond imagination. And what Lan Ling needed most urgently now was mental power.

At the canyon pass, he had killed twenty-five more tribesmen, and his strength had broken through again, now reaching 250 pounds.

However, the distance his mental power could lock onto was still only 65 meters, while the target was 150 meters, a significant gap.

...

"Another happy time has arrived," the Shadow Spider Queen said with a coquettish laugh. "As usual, I love to test your human intelligence. If you can answer my riddle, you can live today. If you can't, I'm sorry, you'll become my lunch, hahaha..."

Her laughter was utterly chilling.

"Who should I start with?" the Shadow Spider Queen asked, then crawled to a pretty girl and said, "You look so sweet and lovely, let's start with you."

Although they were separated by several meters, Lan Ling clearly felt the girl's entire body trembling.

"You humans are very knowledgeable, creating writing and books," the Shadow Spider Queen said with a tsk. "When I devour your brains, I also learn a lot. Today's riddle is a word puzzle."

Immediately, everyone strained their ears, afraid of missing a single word, as this was a matter of life and death.

"Top has no stroke, bottom has no stroke, guess a word," the Shadow Spider Queen said the riddle, then said to the pretty girl, "Tell me the answer. I'll count down from ten, and if you can't answer, you'll become my lunch."

The Shadow Spider Queen was originally just an unintelligent mental-type monster, loving to feed on human brains. From birth to now, she had at least fed on the brains of thousands of people.

Each time she fed on a human brain, she gained some of the deceased's memories, so gradually she learned a lot about human civilization.

Thus, her favorite game appeared. She loved to defeat humans in knowledge and intelligence. This gave her an unparalleled sense of achievement, proving that she was smarter than humans.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..." the Shadow Spider Queen continued to count down.

This kind of riddle might not be solved in a short time, especially in such a terrifying and tense environment. It was unlikely that the girl could come up with an answer.

She became increasingly nervous, and eventually, she lost control and wet herself, the urine dripping down her legs.

"Three, two, one, time's up," the Shadow Spider Queen sighed. "As a human, how can you be less intelligent than a spider like me?"

With that, she extended her fangs and plunged them into the girl's head, devouring her brain with great effort.

Immediately, there was a sucking sound as she devoured the girl's brain. The Shadow Spider Queen ate nothing else but human brains.

Lan Ling clearly heard that many people in the cave had been so frightened that they wet themselves.

Lan Ling also felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the girl's pretty face twist and her soft facial muscles sink in, making her look like a demon.

After devouring the girl, the Shadow Spider Queen let out a satisfied moan and said lazily, "I'm still not full. What should I do? As usual, either feed me with your intelligence or with your brains."

Then, she moved to the second person.

"Hey, a strong man, your courage even makes a female spider like me admire you," the Shadow Spider Queen said. "Come, come, come, answer me. Top has no stroke, bottom has no stroke, what word is it?"

After the strong warrior was released from the paralysis, he immediately started cursing and spat at the Shadow Spider Queen.

The Shadow Spider Queen caught the spit with a web and said, "It seems you can't answer. I don't need to count down."

Then, her fangs plunged into the warrior's head, and she started devouring his brain with great effort.

The warrior trembled violently, cursing all the while until he was completely drained and died.

His originally heroic face was left as just a layer of skin over the bones.

"Uh..." the Shadow Spider Queen seemed to burp, then said, "Actually, I'm still not full. I need to eat one more. Who should I choose?"

The Shadow Spider Queen's gaze scanned the hundreds of prey, and her dark red eyes finally landed on Lan Ling's face, making the hairs on his back stand up.

Then, the Shadow Spider Queen's huge body crawled to Lan Ling's face, looking at his handsome face and saying, "Hey, you're so handsome, my heart is pounding."

Although her voice was very seductive, her breath was incredibly foul and nauseating, almost making him vomit.

"Top has no stroke, bottom has no stroke, what word is it?" the Shadow Spider Queen said coquettishly. "I'm starting to count down."

Of course, Lan Ling already knew the answer. The Shadow Spider Queen was just devouring others' fragmented memories, so how could she be so clever?

However, he wouldn't say it immediately, as that would anger the monster and put his life in danger.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four..."

The Shadow Spider Queen's favorite part was the thrill before playing with her prey.

Whether they wet themselves in fear or screamed like mad, it represented the despair of these once-proud humans.

"Three, two..." the Shadow Spider Queen continued the final countdown.

"It's '卜', a vertical line and a dot," Lan Ling quickly shouted, giving the answer.

Top has no stroke, bottom has no stroke, it's exactly '卜'.