Chapter 009: A Swarm of Spiders

The night was cold and silent, the clouds drifting without a trace of light. Under the dim yellow glow, the golden retriever lay motionless on the ground. A black shadow seemed to ooze slowly across the floor, the air still thick with the stench of rot and grease, now tinged with the metallic scent of blood.

“How did the dog get thrown out here?” Qin Qisan asked in surprise.

“Let’s go take a look. It must be dead by now,” Lin Yu replied.

As they spoke, Wu Miaoran had already rushed ahead to the golden retriever’s side. Before Qin Qisan and Lin Yu could catch up, Wu Miaoran suddenly let out a piercing scream and froze where she stood.

When the two men arrived, they were stunned by the scene before them.

The grotesque and horrifying sight nearly made them retch: the golden retriever’s fur was mottled with bizarre colors, its body a mangled mess of flesh and blood, crisscrossed by long, narrow gashes as if it had been filleted like a fish. Its back looked as if some immense force had torn it open, flesh curling outward, with white, fibrous strands dangling obscenely.

All around came the faint skittering of crawling things; countless spiders swarmed through the poor creature’s carcass, the same black shadow they had seen flowing from afar. It seemed as if these spiders had erupted from within the dog, tearing it limb from limb as they burst forth.

Though they resembled ordinary garden spiders, these were smaller. Individually they were harmless, but their sheer numbers—writhing en masse on the dog’s remains—made one’s skin crawl.

“Good grief, what the hell are these things? It’s disgusting!” Qin Qisan exclaimed.

Lin Yu was equally aghast, feeling bile rise uncontrollably in his throat.

Wu Miaoran stood wide-eyed, her face ashen, muttering as if in a daze, “How could this happen?”

“These must be the work of that parasitic insect that stung Wu Miaoran,” Lin Yu said.

“But… how could it lay so many eggs at once? That’s insane! And what if these spiders can parasitize hosts too?” Qin Qisan spoke as he raised his weapon—a wooden comb—in front of himself, alertly scanning their surroundings.

Just then, the rusty iron door nearby began to creak open with a chilling, drawn-out groan.

All three turned toward the sound to see Master Lu slowly stepping out, his voice hollow as he asked, “What are you doing here?”

Behind him, four expressionless attendants followed. Their blurred, indistinct faces appeared twisted and eerie in the gloom.

“Master Lu, what happened to the dog? Are you alright?” Qin Qisan asked.

Lu Tieqiang’s expression softened a little, and he looked startled when he saw the golden retriever on the floor. “My God! What happened here? What’s wrong with Wangcai… Why are there so many spiders?”

With a cry of alarm, Master Lu hurried out, rushing toward Wangcai’s corpse.

At that moment, Lin Yu noticed something strange. In the darkness, a glint of light flashed—a kitchen knife. Master Lu wasn’t heading for the dog at all, but instead lunged at Wu Miaoran, intending to strike her down.

“You meddling fools! This had nothing to do with you, yet you still came here to die!” he snarled, brandishing the blade.

Wu Miaoran jumped back in terror, but Master Lu, moving too quickly, failed to notice the dog’s intestines underfoot and tripped, landing heavily atop Wangcai’s mangled body. The knife flew from his grasp, and his hand squashed several spiders, splattering sticky fluids everywhere.

“Qisan, grab the knife!” Lin Yu shouted urgently.

Qin Qisan’s reflexes were swift; without hesitation, he darted forward and snatched up the kitchen knife from Master Lu.

No sooner had he done so than Master Lu performed an astonishing feat. He slowly raised his right hand, which had grown hairy, the fingertips long and sharp. With three fingers, he stabbed the floor and raked downward with force.

Three terrifying gouges opened in the bloodied ground, accompanied by a hideous clatter. Suddenly, the room filled with the sounds of dogs barking.

“What on earth is happening now?” Lin Yu gasped, unable to believe his eyes.

From the deep, black fissures Master Lu had carved, six golden retrievers—identical to the dead Wangcai—clambered out. But these six, though alike in appearance, bore none of Wangcai’s gentle innocence. Their faces were twisted and ferocious, more like wild wolves than dogs.

Three of the savage beasts attacked Qin Qisan, three lunged at Lin Yu. Qin Qisan brandished the kitchen knife, slashing wildly. Though fierce, the dogs couldn’t get close and quickly fell, blood and fur flying everywhere amid a cacophony of furious barking.

“These mutts sure are tough. Looks like we’ll be having dog stew tonight!” Qin Qisan shouted, growing bolder with every swing.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu had already whipped his mop into action. As he swung it, the fabric strips became rigid and sharp, shimmering with a fierce, watery sheen. The mop lashed out, cutting down one of the attacking dogs in a spray of blood.

Master Lu seized the moment to scramble to his feet, yelling at the attendants in the doorway, “What are you idiots standing around for? Kill them, all three of them!”

The four attendants exchanged glances, then drew kitchen knives and axes from behind their backs and charged at Lin Yu and Qin Qisan with crazed abandon. Master Lu, grinning wickedly, leapt toward the trembling Wu Miaoran, cowering in the darkness.

The six dreadful dogs, unafraid of death, nonetheless proved no match for cold steel. Qin Qisan, knife in hand, quickly hacked the charging beasts to pieces. The room filled with wild barking and a flurry of fur.

“You mangy mutts are tough, but I’ll make good use of you yet!” Qin Qisan shouted, emboldened.

As he battled the savage dogs, Lin Yu suddenly cried out, “Qisan—behind you!”

At that moment, the burliest attendant, Little Li, charged at Qin Qisan with an axe. But Lin Yu, focused on his friend, failed to notice another attendant raising a kitchen knife to strike him down.

“I… I really don’t want to kill anyone… but I have no choice,” the attendant stammered, eyes squeezed shut as he swung the knife at Lin Yu’s shoulder.

Fortunately, the man was too nervous, and Lin Yu was quick enough to dodge by leaping back. The knife missed, embedding itself in the doorframe—stuck fast.

“Hey! Are you out of your mind, swinging knives at people?” Lin Yu exclaimed.

The attendant opened his eyes in shock. “My knife… why won’t it come out?”

He struggled to pull the blade free, but failed. Reaching to his waistband, he fumbled in vain.

“What, you think one knife isn’t enough? You want to try two?” Lin Yu taunted, tossing away the fruit knife he’d just pilfered from the attendant’s belt.

“Damn you, you stole my knife…” The attendant trembled all over, growing more agitated. Without another word, he lunged at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu, seeing the man unarmed, relaxed his guard. But to his surprise, the attendant’s brute strength was formidable—he tackled Lin Yu to the ground and wrapped his hands tightly around his throat.

Pinning Lin Yu, the attendant’s voice trembled: “Don’t blame me, I have no choice. Master Lu has lost his mind, his whole family has. I’m sorry, I’m sorry… If you die, don’t come back to haunt me. I really had no choice—if I don’t kill you, he’ll make my life a living hell…”

With that, he tightened his grip, intent on strangling Lin Yu.