Chapter 013: Beware of the Minced Meat on the Ground

“Imprisoning Bubbles!”

Lin Yu no longer hesitated. He took the initiative, launching a barrage of massive, golden bubbles.

Gleaming chains of bubbles shot from the mop, hurtling toward the spider-humanoid.

The creature’s eight eyes darted slyly. It reacted with astonishing speed, retreating the instant it sensed danger.

Though it moved swiftly, it could not avoid them all—three golden bubbles struck true.

The bubbles clamped down on its two arms, locking half its body in the stairwell’s mouth.

Now, its head pressed against the top of the stairway, with its bound arms jutting outward. The other four arms, though unrestrained, were too long to fit into the cramped stairwell; they flailed helplessly, scratching at the air.

Trapped thus, the spider-humanoid looked as though it had been strung up by its ankles, genuinely uncomfortable, and began to thrash about with wild desperation.

It shook its body violently in the stairwell, emitting a guttural, terrifying screech.

Sensing the situation’s urgency, Lin Yu called out to the others, “Now’s our chance—finish it!”

As he spoke, Lin Yu gripped the mop handle tightly, twisting the mop head into a dense, compact mass.

In this form, the vapor within the tangled mop condensed, compressing every strand into the densest possible bundle—a fabric mass harder than any hammerhead.

Qin Qisan, meanwhile, enlarged his own weapon. In his hands, the enormous wooden comb resembled a lethal guillotine, fresh and fragrant air swirling between its teeth.

Lin Yu swung the condensed mop head hard at the captive spider-humanoid, while Qin Qisan’s wooden comb swept mercilessly down.

A muffled bang—then a metallic clang.

Their attacks did nothing but jar their arms, nearly sending them sprawling.

Neither had expected the creature’s arms to be so unyielding, as though forged of iron.

Ordinarily, Lin Yu’s condensed mop bundle could smash through walls, and Qin Qisan’s comb was sharp enough to slice nearly anything. But the spider-humanoid’s imprisoned arms were like solid bronze—impenetrable, impervious to their force.

Just as their balance faltered, the spider-humanoid’s jaw yawned impossibly wide, the hinge stretching to a grotesque degree, as though about to split apart.

Suddenly, a bloody, rotting dog’s head burst from its mouth, snapping at Lin Yu.

The dog’s skull was half-eaten by stomach acid, its tattered flesh clinging to the bone. Below the head, strands of red and white tissue connected it to the spider-humanoid’s stomach.

Caught off-guard and off-balance, Lin Yu had almost no hope of dodging.

In that dire instant, a red glass vial smashed into the dog’s head.

Upon contact, the bottle exploded in a dazzling blaze—the dog’s head was instantly reduced to ash.

Lin Yu sniffed the acrid, burnt stench and couldn’t help but sigh, “Miss Wu, there you go again, ruining my performance. I was ready to give that dog’s head a thorough beating…”

“Hmph! Stop bragging. You just made me waste a bottle of fire potion,” Wu Miaoran scoffed, her face full of disdain.

Before they could finish, Qin Qisan suddenly shouted, “Run! It’s not done yet!”

They turned to look. Though Wu Miaoran’s fire potion had incinerated the dog’s head, the severed, red-and-white tissue did not withdraw. Instead, it kept whipping about.

More disturbingly, it was thickening, swelling, then suddenly shot into the air like a monstrous python.

The long strand coiled above them, clearly primed to crash down with devastating force.

“Don’t tell me that’s its tongue?” Wu Miaoran gasped.

“It hardly matters at this point. This thing’s beyond what any creature should be!” Qin Qisan replied helplessly.

The meaty strand soared high; the three scattered, seeking safer positions, trying to avoid its inevitable descent.

At that moment, Lin Yu spotted something amiss above. He quickly raised the mop above his head and shouted, “Careful! Over here, quickly!”

Qin Qisan and Wu Miaoran rushed to him. Lin Yu’s mop head spread wide, spinning rapidly to form a protective canopy.

He’d realized that the snake-like tissue wasn’t simply going to fall; cracks were appearing along its surface—it looked ready to burst.

Sure enough, with a guttural growl from the spider-humanoid, the massive strand split in midair, unfurling into a horrifying web of blood and flesh.

Each strand of the web was corded muscle, bristling with black hairs and tiny spikes, slick with viscous fluids—a revolting sight.

Lin Yu had braced for a wide-area attack from above, hence the mop’s shield form.

But the spider-humanoid’s methods were far stranger than anticipated: the long strand, feigning a strike from above, exploded instead into a ghastly web in midair.

The three were now ensnared, escape impossible; their only hope was to tear through the web.

Though it resembled nothing more than the meat strips hanging from a butcher’s blade, the web’s strength was staggering.

As it tightened around them, the web pressed in like bands of steel, inflicting excruciating pain—especially from the coarse black hairs and needle-like spines.

The web constricted rapidly; the mop’s spinning canopy slowed, soon tangled in the web’s sinews, creaking and groaning as it strained.

Qin Qisan’s comb was lodged in the web’s holes, five of its teeth already snapped; with a pained sigh, he shrank it and drew it back.

Wu Miaoran, protected in the innermost spot, was uninjured for now, but the shrinking web soon crushed her beneath the two men, making it hard to breathe.

The web held them fast, then began dragging them toward the stairwell and the spider-humanoid.

The creature quivered with excitement, emitting a string of muffled, dreadful moans.

By now, Master Lu had also broken free of the imprisoning bubbles and clambered up the stairs.

He reached the spider-humanoid’s back, extending his mutated right hand out the doorway.

His right hand—the true form of the Parasite—lifted its five shriveled, hideous fingers as if admiring the three prisoners ensnared in the flesh-web.

Soon, Master Lu’s pallid face emerged from the darkness as well. He sneered, his voice cold and sinister, “Heh heh heh… There’s no escape now. Haven’t you always loved exploring? Tonight, you’ll get your fill. You’ll all make a fine feast for me!”