78: Chapter 78: I've chosen you!

Gu Changming finally spoke as well.

"Fight as you retreat. Don't stop. Head toward where the forest is thinner."

With so many of them, Su Wan and the others were at an even greater disadvantage in the dense forest.

Su Wan and the others nodded immediately. Without a single question, the four of them quickly drew together, maintaining a defensive formation as they began to retreat.

Gu Changming was also retreating at a steady pace, his gaze fixed on the swarming spiders.

His eyes swept over the five Blood-Patterned Snapping Spiders in the lead, then past them into the deeper shadows of the forest.

Social monsters... the true leader must still be hiding.

They had only retreated a few dozen meters when the leading edge of the black tide reached their feet.

Su Wan and the others dealt with them tensely. Fortunately, those small spiders were only numerous and not individually strong, so they remained safe for the time being.

Gu Changming wasn't left out either. The five Blood-Patterned Snapping Spiders had targeted him, launching continuous attacks.

Gu Changming swung his Tang blade, the night erosion carving a cold arc. After cleaving halfway through the head of a Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider that had recklessly approached...

Suddenly, Gu Changming felt an unusual tremor in the ground beneath his feet.

Sensing something, Gu Changming turned his head toward Su Wan and the others, who had already retreated some distance.

Sure enough, in the next second...

"Boom!"

It wasn't just one sound, but a continuous, muffled roar from deep underground, as if some gargantuan creature was turning over below.

"Watch out!" Lin Jianqiu cried out.

The ground not far ahead of them cracked like a fragile eggshell. Soil and rocks overturned, and a massive pit collapsed instantly.

Dust and smoke billowed into the sky, nearly obscuring their vision.

The group stumbled back, staring tensely.

The dust cleared slightly.

At the edge of the pit, a massive leg covered in hideous dark-red patterns slowly reached out and gripped the rim.

Then, a second, then a third...

Eight legs, as thick as temple pillars, emerged one by one and stabbed deep into the ground, slowly lifting the massive figure from the depths.

Its full appearance was finally revealed.

Its body was nearly twice the size of any previous Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider, resembling a moving mountain of dark-red flesh.

Most terrifying was its massive, bulging abdomen, which was almost transparent, revealing what looked like viscous liquid and countless shadows writhing slowly inside.

At that moment, from the end of its writhing abdomen, fist-sized spiders with black-and-red shells were being "produced" one after another, hitting the ground with a pitter-patter before quickly joining the surrounding black tide.

Blood-Patterned Spider Mother!

A sweet yet foul, suffocating stench filled the air.

Su Wan and the other three watched the mountain-like body and the horrifying abdomen that kept writhing and producing red spiderlings, their stomachs churning.

Instinctive fear welled up in their hearts.

This thing... was on a completely different level from the Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider they had killed before.

So... this was the true "Beast King."

...

The moment it appeared, its massive body leaned forward slightly. One of its eight legs, like a powered-up battering ram, lunged without warning toward Su Wan's group!

It was incredibly fast, accompanied by a dull howl.

Fortunately, Su Wan's reactions were fast enough. She didn't even have time to aim, but followed her instincts and frantically fired an arrow at the approaching massive shadow.

The arrow struck the hard carapace, exploding into a small, useless burst of fire.

But using that moment, she grabbed the three stunned teammates and kicked off the ground with all her might, diving toward the side and rear.

In the end, they narrowly escaped the strike.

"Boom!!!"

The tip of the massive leg slammed into the spot where they had just been standing.

Soil and rock exploded like fragile tofu, leaving a crater several meters wide. Debris and dirt splattered like bullets, clattering against the surrounding tree trunks.

The shockwave threw the four, who had barely managed to dive, even further away, sending them crashing heavily to the ground.

Su Wan coughed and struggled to a half-kneeling position, her arms throbbing with pain and her ears ringing.

Her three teammates... had all lost their strength due to fear and lay slumped on the ground.

Lin Jianqiu and the other were like jammed machinery, their eyes vacant.

Zhang Yuanfan's lips trembled, his voice shaking uncontrollably:

"Are we... going to die?"

Those words were like a cold needle, piercing through Su Wan's forced composure.

The icy touch of death finally coiled around her heart with terrifying clarity, squeezing until she could barely breathe.

It was then...

...that a calm voice rang out abruptly in her ear.

"Can you hear me?"

The voice was familiar. Stunned, Su Wan snapped her head toward Gu Changming.

Gu Changming was swinging his blade to parry an attack from a Blood-Patterned Snapping Spider, his gaze not even directed toward them.

She understood instantly—it was a Mental Power transmission.

She nodded vigorously. "I can hear you!"

At this moment, Gu Changming was the only one who could possibly turn things around. She would do whatever he ordered.

Gu Changming's voice rang in her head again. "Throw that black thing on your shoulder at the Spider Mother."

Su Wan was stunned again. She instinctively turned her head to look at the inconspicuous black slime that had been resting quietly on her shoulder since the battle began.

Throw... this?

She could hardly believe it.

"Throw this?" Su Wan obeyed anyway, picking up the Mimic Beast from her shoulder.

"Yes."

Gu Changming's voice of confirmation came through. Then, as if remembering something, he paused before speaking again:

"Oh, right. Remember to say the 'incantation' correctly."

incantation?

Su Wan's mind couldn't quite process this.

"What incantation?" she asked in her mind, almost by instinct.

"I choose you." Gu Changming's voice settled in her mind with a strange certainty.

Su Wan's head was in a complete daze; she couldn't think at all.

By now, the Spider Mother seemed to have adjusted its posture. Its compound eyes locked onto them again, and another leg slowly rose, preparing for the next crushing attack.

There was no time left for hesitation. Su Wan gritted her teeth, ignored the strange "incantation," and grabbed the Mimic Beast. Taking a deep breath, she used every ounce of strength she could muster and swung her arm forward!

At the same time, she blurted out that ridiculous incantation.

"I choose you!"

The black "jelly" flew from her hand, tracing an arc through the air toward the mountain-like, terrifying Blood-Patterned Spider Mother.

Su Wan watched as its slime-like body suddenly began to stretch, transform, and expand mid-flight!

Fine, bright-golden patterns like circuit boards appeared on its black surface. The light grew more intense, and a faint crackling of electricity could be heard.

Then, limbs shot out from the torso, thick and powerful, with claws flickering with electric arcs forming at the ends.

The entire process was as fast as a lightning bolt.

When it landed, a four-legged behemoth appeared. It was the size of a large rhinoceros, its body entirely black and surrounded by golden lightning patterns, with blinding electrical sparks constantly dancing around it.

The moment it landed, the Mimic Beast threw open its massive maw: "Roar!!!"

The roar was mixed with thunderous rumbles and the crackling of electricity, forming a visible shockwave laden with tiny electric arcs that surged toward the Spider Mother!

Its aura was overwhelming, not falling short of the oppressive pressure brought by the terrifying Spider Mother in the slightest!