Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Zhang Hua was in despair.

He never imagined his once gentle and lovely wife harbored such a violent streak. He had no idea what You Chuyao had in her bag, but each blow was heavy and painful. The others merely watched him being beaten, showing no inclination to intervene. After all these years of treating You Chuyao's parents as his own, showing them filial piety, when push came to shove, they only stood by and watched him get bullied.

If You Chuyao's parents knew his thoughts, they'd surely scoff. What, should they have joined in?

Zhao Ruoyan watched her best friend pummel the scumbag with great relish. If she weren’t worried about drawing too much attention, she would have cheered her on loudly.

"Aren’t you going to do something? Just let this madwoman beat me like this?" Seizing a chance to speak, Zhang Hua shouted, clutching his head.

Lin Juan glanced at him. "What's the big deal if she hits you? It’ll just hurt for a while. It won't kill you."

"You—ow—" Zhang Hua clutched his crotch in pain, unable to utter another word.

"Yikes." The superpower holder watching the whole scene gasped in sympathy.

After venting her negative emotions by violently beating the scumbag, You Chuyao smoothed her hair, regaining her gentle and graceful demeanor.

But her words were anything but gentle.

"Zhang Hua, I will settle all accounts between us, one by one. You’d better pray you haven’t done too many things to wrong the You family."

Now that You Chuyao had finished, the matter of how Zhang Hua knew the location of the "Forest Cabin" and lured the two children there needed to be investigated by the Paranormal Special Affairs Office.

Zhang Hua was taken to a special prison. The Paranormal Special Affairs Office had myriad ways to extract the information they wanted from him.

In less than a day, Lin Juan learned the follow-up to the incident from Director Liu.

Zhang Hua’s knowledge of the "Forest Cabin" was accidental. He overheard a classmate talking about weird things happening there and decided to try it out. If it worked, great; if not, there was no loss.

"So, Zhang Hua didn’t know the specific details about the paranormal?" Lin Juan found it utterly unbelievable.

With just a vague, hearsay rumor, Zhang Hua could bring himself to harm two children.

"Right, Zhang Hua didn’t know about the existence of the paranormal. He didn’t know that the place he lured the children to would turn them into monsters."

"Even if he knew, he wouldn’t care," Lin Juan sneered. "People like him only ever care about themselves."

Zhang Hua’s crimes were made public. Aside from the paranormal-related aspects, the entire country learned what an ungrateful wretch he was, setting off a firestorm online. This also led many wealthy families with only daughters to scrutinize their daughters’ partners more carefully.

In the middle of the night, Lin Juan was awakened by his phone ringing.

"Who is it?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"It’s Lu Yuqing."

"Huh?" Lin Juan hadn’t heard the name before, but he recognized the surname Lu. "A relative of yours? Why is she calling so late?"

"She’s Second Brother Lu’s eldest daughter. She says her mother has gone crazy and wants to eat them."

"Oh..." Lin Juan was still half-asleep but suddenly jolted awake. "Huh? Eat them?"

Lin Juan sat up abruptly. "Was she having a nightmare?"

Lu Yanzhou wasn’t sure.

Although Old Mr. Lu never accepted Qiu Lishu as his daughter-in-law and rarely saw the children she bore, they were still Lu blood. He couldn’t completely ignore them and occasionally showed some concern.

Now fully awake, Lin Juan’s mind started working again. "Why would she call you in the middle of the night? Has she called you before?"

"She sends holiday greetings." And then received generous red envelopes from Lu Yanzhou.

"What should we do now?" Lin Juan glanced outside; it was still dark.

"If she’s lying, it’s fine. But if she’s not, sending just anyone over might not be appropriate."

If it really was a paranormal incident, sending someone unprepared could get that person hurt.

Lu Yanzhou got up. "I’ll call Second Brother first to ask."

He couldn’t get through.

Lu Yanzhou had a sinking feeling.

He got out of bed. "Something might have happened over there."

Lin Juan followed suit. "I’ll come with you to check it out."

Lu Yanzhou paused as he changed, unable to refuse because he truly needed Lin Juan.

If it truly was a paranormal incident, having Lin Juan along was the safest bet.

They quickly changed clothes and went out, only to find Old Mr. Lu and Eldest Brother Lu’s family already awake.

"What’s going on?" Lu Yanzhou thought for a moment and understood. "Did you also get a call from Second Brother’s place?"

"You got one too?"

The Lu family members exchanged glances.

Every one of them had received a call from Second Brother Lu’s home—all from the children pleading for help.

"Xiao Juan and I will go see what's going on. Dad, you all stay at Lu Manor," Lu Yanzhou said.

"I want to go too," Lu Mingxuan said, not wanting to miss out during his rare time off. "Uncle, take me with you. I’m good with kids."

Lu Mingxuan knew his uncle wasn't very patient with kids. Before Lin Juan appeared, his uncle’s focus was solely on work, and he considered many other things a waste of time.

To ensure he could join, Lu Mingxuan turned to Lin Juan. "Uncle-in-law, take me with you. Uncle might not want to deal with the kids. How about I go with you instead?"

Lu Yanzhou gave him a cool glance.

Lu Mingxuan shut his mouth, looking utterly deflated.

Lin Juan found it amusing. "Then let’s all go. Old Mr. Lu, you all wait at home for our news."

"Alright." Old Mr. Lu didn’t refuse. At his age, he didn't want to be a burden if he could avoid it.

In the end, Lin Juan, Lu Yanzhou, and Lu Mingxuan drove off together.

Lu Mingxuan scrambled into the driver’s seat. "I’ll drive. I’ll be the driver."

He was very perceptive—absolutely not going to interrupt his uncle and uncle-in-law’s time together.

The car slowly drove out of the Lu estate.

An hour earlier, at Second Brother Lu's home.

Lu Yanzhong returned from socializing late into the night, reeking of booze, and called out: "Lishu, Lishu, I'm back, open the door."

After knocking for a while, there was a "click" sound, and the door opened.

Lu Yanzhong was drunk, staring at his wife who opened the door: "Lishu, why do you have three eyes?"

"Really?" Lu Yanzhong doubted.

He squinted hard, and his vision blurred. On his wife's forehead, where it should have been smooth, a large eye protruded abruptly. The eye was rolling around, gazing at him with a hungry gaze.

"Re... really..." Lu Yanzhong reached out to touch it.

Qiu Lishu's expression changed. She raised her hand and pressed her forehead, indeed feeling something bulging and rolling—a spherical object.

She clenched her teeth, and pushed hard with her hand.

"Squelch—" The eyeball made a squishing sound, and yellowish-green fluid flowed down from where it had been, sticky and foul-smelling.

The smell hit him. "What's that smell?" A strong stench rushed over, and Lu Yanzhong retched, vomiting directly.

The acidic smell of vomit spread, mixing with the original foul odor, making the room absolutely foul.

Qiu Lishu's face turned very pale.

"It's the smell of your vomit. Let me take you to clean up first."

Helping drag Lu Yanzhong into the bathroom, Qiu Lishu lurched toward the mirror, leaning against the wall.

Slowly, she moved her hand away.

In the mirror, the woman's face was covered in yellow-green gunk. Right in the center of her forehead, a huge eyeball bulged from her skin, rolling left and right.

How could this be?

"No! Why did it grow back again?!"

Qiu Lishu took a step back.

A massive shadow loomed behind her. Her features began to mutate; countless eyeballs popped out from her body. As Qiu Lishu covered one area, more emerged elsewhere.

A searing pain ripped through her spine, accompanied by a "rip" sound.

Lu Yanzhong sobered up from the cold water. He swayed to his feet and walked out of the bathroom.

As the door opened, what he saw was a gigantic eye.

"Ah!!!"

Startled by the sudden sight of a huge eye, Lu Yanzhong staggered back in fear.

What on earth is this?!

Lu Yanzhong was stone-cold sober now.

He cautiously got up and peered out.

Through the crack in the door, he saw the bedroom filled with a giant spider.

Using the word "filled" was entirely appropriate.

The spider was enormous, filling the room completely. One of its eyes, as it approached, was even wider than the door.

Where's my wife? Thinking of his wife, amidst boundless fear, Lu Yanzhong found a shred of courage. He eased the door open a crack and looked out.

"Bang—"

The giant spider spotted its prey here and extended a hairy leg to attack the door.

The door made a groaning sound.

It didn't hold for long before it gave way.

A spider leg reached in, and Lu Yanzhong ducked and covered his head.

The giant spider didn't seem intent on killing its prey immediately. Instead, it played with Lu Yanzhong, continuously attacking him.

Lu Yanzhong was driven out of the bathroom.

Standing outside, he got a clearer view of the spider's immense size. Ice ran through his veins, overwhelmed by fear.

What kind of monster is this?!

In his extreme terror, his thoughts raced. Almost instantly, he recalled the recent bizarre incidents.

Where is his wife?

While dodging the giant spider's long legs, Lu Yanzhong shouted desperately for his wife.

"Lishu—"

"Lishu—"

But no matter how loud he yelled, there was no response.

The fuzz on the giant spider's legs was razor-sharp—no, it could no longer be called fuzz. Lu Yanzhong got cut several times by those things, and blood poured from the wounds.

The smell of blood drove the giant spider into a frenzy.

Finally, Lu Yanzhong caught sight of his wife's clothes, right behind the giant spider.

While dodging, he edged toward the spider's back.

The moment he saw what was on the giant spider's back, Lu Yanzhong's mind went completely blank.

On the back of the giant spider hung a woman.

The woman's body was covered in writhing eyeballs. The giant spider had burst from her spine; the two were fused together, inseparable.

Lu Yanzhong opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound.

The giant spider seemed to grow bored of toying with him, its massive limb slicing through the air, heading straight for Lu Yanzhong.

Lu Yanzhong stood frozen, as if scared senseless.

Just as the giant limb was about to impale Lu Yanzhong, a young girl's voice rang out from outside the door.

"Mom, it's so noisy."

Lu Yanzhong snapped back to awareness instantly. Seeing the giant spider about to turn its head, he bellowed and charged at it.

"Run! Don't come over!"

The little girl outside sounded confused: "Daddy?"

"Go!!!" Lu Yanzhong barked.

"Wah—" The little girl had never been yelled at like this by her father before and burst into terrified tears.

Lu Yanzhong was powerless.

Alone, he couldn't stop the giant spider.

The giant spider's huge eyes swiveled, emitting sound waves inaudible to humans.

The little girl's cries gradually faded.

Finally, they disappeared completely.

Lu Yanzhong didn't know what had happened. He was pinned to the wall, unable to move.

He wanted to see about his youngest daughter, but the more he struggled, the more blood he lost. Weakened from blood loss, his vision darkened.

In a place he couldn't see, countless tiny spiders crawled out from the ground. His eldest daughter, sleeping in her princess bed, sprouted countless eyeballs all over her body. The eyeballs slowly rotated, curiously observing their surroundings.

The girl's body underwent a grotesque transformation. Slender legs sprouted from her back, and coarse texture covered her skin. Soon, the girl on the bed vanished, replaced by a large spider.

Skittering, skittering.

Skittering, skittering.

The entire villa had become a massive spider nest.

Somewhere far away.

"Chief, A-023 is about to hatch early."

A long-haired man standing in front of a giant screen turned around: "Time to collect it. Let our little specimen eat its fill. Don't mess this up."

"Yes!"

Lu Garden wasn't too far from Second Brother Lu’s place—about a thirty-minute drive.

As soon as he got out of the car, Lin Juan sensed heavy contamination.

His expression shifted slightly: "We need to evacuate the surrounding area."

Lu Yanzhou immediately understood the severity of the situation. Fortunately, Second Brother Lu lived in a detached villa, with other homeowners far away for privacy.

Lu Yanzhou contacted the property manager right away to evacuate the surrounding area.

Lin Juan called Director Liu directly.

The line was noisy on the other end. Director Liu listened as Lin Juan briefly explained the situation before speaking: "At 3:40 a.m., we detected a sudden spike in contamination readings there and have already dispatched a team."

Lin Juan spotted enhanced operatives in uniforms.

"Mr. Lin, what brings you here?" Sheng Tianzong was coordinating operations and walked over when he saw Lin Juan.

"We received a distress call from Lu Yanzhou’s niece. We couldn’t get through to Second Brother Lu’s phone, so we came to check on the situation."

It seemed their worst fears had come true.

They had no idea how Second Brother Lu and his family were doing.

"Force the door first," Sheng Tianzong ordered.

"I have the key," Lu Yanzhou said, having brought it with him.

With the key, opening the door became simple.

An operative took the key and went to unlock the door.

When the door opened, the operative was stunned by what he saw inside.

"Captain Sheng, this—"

Sheng Tianzong walked over. Behind the door was a white, semi-transparent wall.

He reached out and touched it. The "wall" was flexible and could be pushed.

Lin Juan felt it: "It’s webbing."

"Webbing?" Sheng Tianzong was surprised. "How could there be such large webbing?"

"This villa has probably become a giant spider nest. Look." Lin Juan pointed to the window above, which was open, with some strand-like formations hanging down from inside.

An operative piloted a drone to fly up. The drone clearly recorded everything visible through the window.

Inside the villa, layer upon layer of webs covered the walls, with spiders of various sizes scurrying about.

"So many spiders!" the operative exclaimed.

Sheng Tianzong entered the data into the system and quickly received feedback.

"Class B Anomaly: 'Humanback Spider.' Nesting behavior, venomous, with resilient silk. Entering its nest will suppress abilities. That means once we go in, our abilities will be suppressed. Everyone, be careful."

Since the Lu family was trapped, Lin Juan felt duty-bound to rescue them, both emotionally and logically.

"We don’t know the situation inside. I’ll go in with you."

Lu Yanzhou and Lu Mingxuan, uncle and nephew, waited for them in a safe area.

Watching Lin Juan and the operatives enter, Lu Mingxuan whispered, "I wish I had abilities too."

"With great power comes great responsibility," Lu Yanzhou said, glancing at his nephew. "Outsiders might think their abilities are cool, but in reality, the burdens they carry are far heavier than we imagine. Their work is also much more dangerous."

"I know," Lu Mingxuan’s eyes blazed with determination. "But rather than being protected, I’d rather be a protector. Only by being strong can I protect those I care about. Don’t you think so, Uncle?"

The more he encountered the brutal truths of this world, the more Lu Mingxuan craved strength. Perhaps it was the Lu family bloodline showing—just as he was certain his uncle also resented being ordinary, he too was unwilling to be relegated to the protected.

"Yes, I've been too lax before," Lu Mingxuan scratched his head sheepishly. "Whether I can become a gifted person isn't something I can force, but I want to become as strong as possible."

"Strength doesn't necessarily just mean combat power; it can be multifaceted. The future world won't belong solely to the gifted either." Lu Yanzhou looked ahead, deliberately imparting how the world works to Lu Mingxuan.

Young people tend to see the world rather one-sidedly.

Lu Mingxuan went quiet, thinking.

"What about you, Little Uncle? Do you want to become a gifted person?"

Lu Yanzhou was silent for a moment. "Since I've come to understand the true nature of the world, of course I do."

Becoming a gifted person naturally makes it easier to set rules compared to ordinary people.

"Heh, I knew you'd want to too, Little Uncle," Lu Mingxuan said with a playful wink. "After all, Uncle Juan is so powerful."

"Xiaojuan is special."

The mentioned Lin Juan had already entered the villa with Sheng Tianzong and the others.

It was his first time at Second Brother Lu's home. From the glimpses through the webs, he could tell the villa had been cozily decorated.

It was just a pity that now, webs covered everything, making it hard to see the villa's original appearance.

Lin Juan pulled down a strand of web and tugged it—it was very tough. As he moved forward, a large web blocked their path.

Lin Juan reached out and pushed it aside.

Layers of webs woven together; at a rough glance, it looked like a hanging cloth. Where it touched the skin, it felt soft and cool.

"The webs are poisonous," Sheng Tianzong said, holding a scanner. "The toxicity isn't very high, but too much contact isn't advisable—it can make you weak all over."

The gifted were all wearing protective uniforms that blocked most of the toxins, so there was no need to worry. Only Lin Juan had come in his everyday clothes and had been curiously touching the webs all along.

Hearing Sheng Tianzong's reminder, Lin Juan stopped and checked how he felt. "This level of toxin doesn't affect me."

Seeing Sheng Tianzong's disapproving look, Lin Juan summoned the Forest Hut and transformed it into a Death Scythe. "I'll use this."

The further they went, the denser the webs became.

Eventually, they almost entered a white cave wrapped layer upon layer in webs.

The silk was fine but abundant, almost surrounding them.

It wasn't an illusion.

The webs were trying to trap them inside!

Sheng Tianzong's heart grew tense. "Everyone, be careful! Don't let the webs wrap around you!"

Lin Juan took a swing with his scythe, slicing through the web, but it quickly began to close back up.

"Why is there web everywhere? Where are the spiders?" A gifted person swiped away the web blocking his face, puzzled.

"They're behind the webs," Lin Juan said with a slight tilt of his chin.

Behind the white webs, pairs of glowing green eyes flickered like hunters waiting for prey to deliver itself.

"Lu Yanzhou said his second brother's family's bedrooms are all on the third floor. Let's head straight there."

The elevator was entangled in webs and unusable. The stairs were even worse—the worst of it, covered in white, as if under an endless snowfall.

Underfoot, the tough webbing formed a thick layer, muffling their footsteps.

Reaching the second floor, they heard a rustling sound.

Countless black spiders emerged from the shadows—some as small as pinpoints, others waist-high.

Like sharks drawn to blood, spiders of all sizes swarmed forward.

Lin Juan's Death Scythe rose and fell, cutting them down left and right.

The gifted used their powers, clearing a path through the spider army.

Soon, the floor was littered with dead spiders of all sizes.

As the spiders retreated, Lin Juan continued upward.

Third floor.

"Help—"

"Mom—"

"Waa, I want Mom—"

"Don't come closer! Don't— Ah—"

Faint, childlike cries grew increasingly panicked. Sheng Tianzong figured out where it was coming from and rushed forward, slamming the door open.

Lin Juan quickly followed.

Behind the wide-open door was a very pink, princess-themed bedroom—pink theme, white sheer curtains hanging down, adding to the fantasy feel.

Looking closer, he saw that it wasn't sheer curtains, but layer upon layer of webs!

There was no sign of the little girl in the room.

"Lu Yuqing?" Lin Juan remembered Lu Yanzhou said it was Lu Yuqing calling for help.

"Are you here?"

No response.

Lin Juan felt a sinking feeling.

They had clearly heard the little girl's calls for help just moments ago—surely she hadn't been hurt in such a short time.

Lin Juan called out a couple more times.

Finally, he heard a small, timid voice.

"I'm here. Is Uncle here to save me?"

Why did she assume it was Lu Yanzhou coming?

Or was her real intention to lure Lu Yanzhou over?

Various theories raced through Lin Juan's mind, but his expression remained unchanged, he said: "It's me—where are you? I'm here to rescue you."

"Have you seen Mommy? Mommy wants to eat me! Why does Mommy want to eat me?!"

"I'm clearly Mommy's most obedient child!"

The little girl's voice grew increasingly shrill, more piercing.

Lin Juan pinpointed the sound's location and gestured behind him for the others not to act rashly, then stealthily approached.

The voice was coming from the bed.

The bed was surrounded by the spider silk, shrouding it like a canopy, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

Lin Juan walked to the bedside and asked nonchalantly, "Why do you think you're Mommy's most obedient child? Aren't your younger siblings obedient?"

"Because I helped Mommy," she giggled from behind the canopy. "Adults don't be wary of a child. My younger siblings only know how to eat. Only I can help Mommy."

"What did you help Mommy with?"

"Can't tell you, heehee." The shrill laughter grated.

"Your uncle's here. Can you come out now?"

Behind the spider silk, Lin Juan vaguely saw a massive dark shape—clearly not something a little girl should have.

"Uncle, after I eat Uncle, Mommy will definitely reward me."

"Bang!"

The moment the huge shape charged out, Lin Juan swung his sickle upward and brought it down hard.

"Ah--!"

A human-sized black spider curled into a ball and rolled off the bed.

Realizing it had been deceived, the spider flailed its limbs and scrambled away, screaming as it fled, "Mommy! Mommy, save me!!"

"Don't let it escape!"

What did it mean by "Mommy will definitely reward me after I eat Uncle"? Was Lu Yanzhou's earlier incident related to this mother and child?

Lin Juan had come to rescue someone but hadn't expected such an "unexpected bonus."

Did Second Brother Lu know about this?

If he did…

Lin Juan's eyes narrowed.

He had to find the person first.

The Forest Cabin morphed at Lin Juan's mental command, shifting from a death scythe into a wooden rope that shot out and tightly bound the giant spider.

Lin Juan walked over. "Where are your Mommy and Daddy?"

The giant spider wailed, "Mommy! Mommy!!"

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The sound of something heavy hitting the floor echoed, and Sheng Tianzong and the others, who had rushed out, looked in the direction of the noise.

A giant spider almost ceiling-height crawled out from the staircase, the floor creaking under its weight.

"Holy crap! That spider's enormous!"

Not only was the giant spider enormous, but it was also studded with eyeballs. Their movement made them sick just looking.

Most striking were the two large eyes on the spider's head—blood-red compound eyes studded with smaller eyeballs. A single glance was enough to make anyone look away.

It was disgusting.

Even those without trypophobia would find it unbearable.

As they drew closer, they realized a human growing on the giant spider's back.

It was truly fused with it.

The human skin fused seamlessly with the giant spider, indistinguishable from one another.

The woman was also studded with eyeballs.

"It's Qiu Lishu." Lin Juan had a sharp memory and recognized her from their brief encounter.

"Mommy—"

Compared to the giant spider, the large spider seemed downright tiny. Though it had been crying for its Mommy, its calls were now filled with fear and unease as the giant spider approached.

The giant spider glanced briefly at Lin Juan and the others before crawling toward the large spider.

The bound spider struggled violently, scrambling backward as it tried to escape.

Then, to their horror, they watched as the giant spider used its two front limbs to scoop up the large spider and bring it toward its mouth.

It wasn't lying—its Mommy really was going to devour it!