77: Chapter 77 At This Moment

Su Wan's breath nearly seized at that moment.

She stared at the newly appeared, perfectly intact Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider. The excitement of having just slain a powerful enemy was instantly crushed to dust, replaced by a cold sense of powerlessness and an unspeakable dread.

They had nearly died just to kill one, so how could there be another...

Su Wan instinctively turned her head to look at her teammates.

Lin Jianqiu's hand holding her blade was trembling slightly, her previous sharp aura completely gone; Chen Yanzhi's eyes were somewhat vacant, clearly his Mental Power was nearly exhausted. Zhang Yuanfan was even worse, his legs so weak he could barely stand.

There was absolutely no possibility of continuing the fight...

In an instant, a massive wave of regret gripped Su Wan's heart, the pain making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She was wrong.

As the captain, she had actually made the wrong decision...

Her head buzzed, a single thought colliding repeatedly in her mind: If the command she had just given was to turn and run while the opponent was injured, would... would at least one or two of them have survived? No matter who it was.

That massive dark red figure slowly adjusted its posture, its compound eyes coldly locking onto the group of defeated remnants.

Su Wan's heart sank, knowing she might very well die here.

Just then, she felt a gaze fall upon her.

Su Wan turned her neck somewhat stiffly and met Gu Changming's eyes.

The two of them locked eyes.

For a moment, Su Wan felt as if she had been pulled back to that hallway at the start of the Assessment.

Back then, she had been just as powerless, and he had looked at her the same way.

But this time, there was a hint of inquiry, as if asking: Can you still fight?

Almost without thinking, she shook her head forcefully and broadly.

Immediately after, she opened her mouth to tell Gu Changming—who still had strength left—to ignore them and just escape.

"You..."

But before the words could leave her mouth, she saw Gu Changming turn his head back.

Then, he raised his right hand, fingers spread, aiming at the newly arrived Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider whose aura was far more ferocious than the previous one.

The moment Gu Changming extended his hand, the air seemed to stagnate for a heartbeat.

Su Wan felt an invisible ripple emanate from him; it wasn't intense, yet it made her scalp tingle slightly.

Following that, the imposing Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider that had just landed suddenly had its eight compound eyes flicker frantically, its massive body jerking stiff.

In the next second, it began to struggle violently and erratically. Its eight walking legs, flashing with a metallic cold light, clawed desperately at the ground, plowing deep furrows as it emitted high-pitched, ear-piercing shrieks.

Su Wan's eyes widened, watching the scene before her in disbelief.

That mountain-like dark red spider was actually... floating in thin air!

The tips of its claws completely left the ground, its massive body suspended five or six meters in the air. Its eight legs flailed uselessly in the void with nowhere to gain purchase, like an ugly doll gripped by an invisible hand.

This scene, which defied understanding, left not just Su Wan but Lin Jianqiu and the others dumbfounded, their minds going blank.

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider struggled even more frantically, its shrieks nearly piercing their eardrums as thick venom sprayed aimlessly from its mouthparts.

It was then that Gu Changming's spread fingers slightly expanded outward once more.

*Puchi!*

A series of tooth-aching sounds—as if heavy leather were being forcibly torn apart—rang out!

Eight columns of dark green blood suddenly erupted from the base of the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's torso like fountains!

They watched as those eight legs, hard as iron spears that supported the massive body, were... forcibly torn and plucked from their joints by an invisible giant force!

At the rupture points, muscle and sinew were turned inside out, carapaces shattered, and fluids sprayed wildly.

The spider's torso, having lost all support, convulsed violently in mid-air.

Gu Changming showed no reaction, his suspended palm suddenly clenching into a fist.

*Bang!!!*

A dull, heavy sound like a muffled drumbeat echoed.

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider's torso, hanging in mid-air, saw its thick, hard dark-red carapace instantly covered in web-like cracks before suddenly caving inward and exploding!

Spider fragments mixed with dark green internal organs and fluids splattered in all directions.

The broken torso, devoid of all life, crashed heavily to the ground like a tattered leather bag, letting out a dull thud and kicking up a cloud of dust before falling completely still.

The entire process was so fast that people couldn't react in time.

From Gu Changming raising his hand to the spider floating, its legs being plucked, its torso exploding, and the remains hitting the ground... it had only been a few short breaths.

And his manner was effortless... as natural as breathing.

The wilderness wind blew from outside into the dense forest, carrying a heavy scent of blood and an indescribable silence.

Su Wan felt as if her own breath had died along with that spider.

Lin Jianqiu and the others were the same, motionless, their eyes fixed on the shapeless pile of dark red remains on the ground.

Only one thought repeated in their minds.

The Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider that the four of them had exhausted all their strength and risked their lives to barely kill...

He actually...

Before the shock could fade, the vibration coming from beneath their feet interrupted everyone's paralysis.

At first, it was just a subtle tremor, like heavy footsteps in the distance.

But soon, the vibrations became distinct and dense, coming from all directions. Dead branches and fallen leaves rustled, and small pebbles on the ground hopped uneasily.

Something was approaching, and in large numbers, making a massive commotion.

Survival instinct instantly overrode the shock. Su Wan jolted and rolled to her feet.

The others also immediately grabbed their weapons and stood up.

The gazes of Lin Jianqiu and the other two instinctively went to Su Wan first, but Su Wan's gaze bypassed her teammates and landed straight on Gu Changming.

She wasn't a fool; the scene just now was enough to shift the weight of decision-making authority.

So although she was the captain, at this moment, the one making the decisions should not be her.

Seeing this, the other three also looked toward Gu Changming together.

Gu Changming didn't look at them; his gaze swept across the swaying trees around them, seemingly sensing or judging something.

He didn't speak, so Su Wan and the others suppressed their palpitations and stood their ground, gripping their weapons tightly, their nerves strained to the limit as they waited.

The air was thick with the smell of blood and an oppressive feeling of an impending storm.

*Rustle, rustle, rustle.*

*Snap!*

The sounds grew closer and more dense.

Finally, the nearby bushes were violently pushed aside, and a surging "Black Tide" was the first thing to meet their eyes.

It was a dense mass of palm-sized spiders with shiny black carapaces. Their compound eyes flashed with red light as they swarmed toward them like a school of piranhas that had caught the scent of blood.

And behind that surging "Black Tide," trees were knocked aside and crushed by even larger bodies.

One, two, three... a total of five Blood-Patterned Snapping Spiders, no different in size from the previous ones, moved their legs as they slowly emerged from the shadows of the forest.

Seeing this, Su Wan felt a chill rush from the soles of her feet to the top of her skull, her hand holding her bow cold and stiff.

They had thought just now that the one they had fought to the death to kill was some boss-level Beast King.

It turned out it was just a member of the swarm...