No, why do you want to eat everything?
He Kan was speechless. Although he was very happy that his instinct followed him, something about this situation felt strange, which made him uneasy.
When the spoon came in front of him, He Kan could smell the strong fishy smell from a long distance. The stench seemed almost conscious, forcing its way into his nostrils. The thick, dark green liquid clung to the spoon.
It was a bit disgusting to look at.
He should have felt nauseous, but surprisingly, it was the opposite. His spider instincts seemed to sense the “medicinal food” approaching, and instantly began screaming loudly, expressing a desire to eat—noisily and uncontrollably.
He Kan couldn’t help but frown inwardly. Could this stuff really be edible? Even if it is his spider instinct, it is a bit outrageous, but then he remembered his younger days, when as a cub, he’d eat just about anything. Compared to that, it didn’t seem so outrageous.
He Kan obediently drank the medicinal food.
As soon as it entered his stomach, there was no expected fishy smell. Instead, there was a fresh scent, like the fragrance of underwater plants—light and very clear. It wasn’t bad, and as it spread through his body, it left a refreshing taste, quickly permeating his entire being.
His instincts seemed quite pleased to consume this energy.
Huh?
In the next moment, He Kan opened his eyes. He felt something—his spider instincts seemed to have grown a little. Although the growth was small enough to be almost negligible, he could distinctly feel the power from his previous life.
This medicinal food worked.
He Kan immediately decided to keep eating.
“Why hasn’t this blood sacrifice passed out yet?” The caravan member pouring the medicine noticed something wrong. The man in his hands hadn’t fallen unconscious as expected. Instead, he opened his eyes, and his gaze wasn’t as dazed as it should have been. The caravan member frowned in confusion.
The short man turned around, frowning as he looked at He Kan, who was being tightly held. It was the blood sacrifice that the leader had specifically told not to let go. Since it was favored by the leader, it must have its unique features. It is normal that the physique is several times better than that of ordinary civilians.
“Give it a few more mouthfuls,” the short man instructed, then added, “This blood sacrifice is favored by the leader. Make sure he doesn’t escape. We have plenty of medicinal food this time, so give him more until he passes out, then throw him into the prison.”
“Understood,” the caravan members replied respectfully, their appearances all different.
He Kan allowed himself to be fed, outwardly docile while listening to their conversation intently. When he heard there was still a lot of medicinal food left, he made a quick decision. He let them continue feeding him, and when they were done, he opened his eyes again, completely alert.
Because of the short man’s instructions, the caravan members didn’t dare to be careless, even after feeding him a lot. They continued, spoon after spoon.
It wasn’t until He Kan felt that his instincts were full, no longer clamoring loudly, that he finally pretended the medicinal food was having an effect. His consciousness became foggy, and his eyes fluttered shut in a daze.
Then he fell into a deep sleep.
As soon as he passed out, the caravan members sighed in relief, especially the one responsible for feeding him. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he was grateful He Kan had finally passed out—half the medicinal food in the pot was gone. If He Kan hadn’t fallen unconscious soon, there wouldn’t have been enough left.
If the leader had blamed them…
The caravan member couldn’t help but shiver.
The short man had been closely monitoring the situation all along. Seeing He Kan finally unconscious after being fed the medicinal food, he too breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to report to the leader personally.
The group exchanged glances, and after this unexpected episode, they had no intention of staying in the cave any longer. After feeding the remaining prisoners their medicinal food and tossing them into the prison, they quickly left, carrying the pot with them.
He Kan lay on the ground in the prison, listening as the footsteps gradually receded. Only then did he slowly relax, his consciousness truly sinking into sleep.
His body continued to absorb the unknown medicinal food.
When he woke up again.
He Kan opened his eyes and realized that, at some point, he was no longer in the prison.
This seemed to be a village.
The village was a bit run-down, with low eaves, a lot of straw flying down from the roof, dirty ground, and the whole village was empty. The village was a bit far from him.
At the moment, He Kan’s feet were submerged in a small river, his soles sinking into the soft, slippery mud, making it hard to stand. But that wasn’t the most important issue. He surveyed his surroundings—it was clear he was in a very bad situation now.
“Ancestor spirit, we humbly request your awakening.”
“Your blood food is ready.”
A crazed voice echoed from nearby, low and hoarse. He Kan turned his head toward the sound, only to see the caravan leader, once so dignified, now half-kneeling in the river, muttering frantically at a strange creature not far away, his clothes soaked in the murky water.
In the center of the river was a platform, made of stone but resembling metal.
At first glance, it even looked like a reef from the sea.
The strange creature on the platform resembled a writhing mass of flesh, its surface covered in tiny scales. It had no consciousness, sitting motionless on the stone platform. The caravan leader’s attitude was both reverent and frenzied, and as he spoke, a strange aura swirled around him. At some point, his body had become covered in thick, white fur.
The fur was so dense that beneath his robe, a long, furry tail trailed out.
His face had also changed—no longer fully human, it was covered in fur, with his mouth now sharp and pointed, resembling that of a fox.
After his prayer, the caravan leader slowly rose. The other caravan members seemed terrified of something and didn’t dare look directly at him, gripping the blood sacrifices tightly.
He Kan was one of them.
“Bring up the blood food,” the caravan leader commanded, lifting his upper body and turning toward the caravan members.
The caravan members obeyed him without question, their fear evident. As soon as the leader finished speaking, they began sending the dazed prisoners one by one onto the platform.
The strange scaly meat ball seemed to have sensed the arrival of the food, eagerly surging forward to envelop the blood foods. A dull “scream” echoed briefly before silence fell once more.
The strange meat ball, after consuming the blood sacrifice, began to take form—first a head, then a tail. As it consumed more and more people, its true shape was finally revealed.
A monster with the head of a human and the tail of a fish.
The head did not look like a human head, but more like a bait used to lure prey. It only had the rough shape of a human face. Its tail was extremely thick, and its scales shimmered coldly. As it devoured more and more people, it grew arms, and the scales on its arms were very hard, and there were sharp nails.
Maybe at first it devoured everything indiscriminately just to reveal its form. But once its full body appeared, the strange fish grew more selective. With one hand, it tightly grasped the sacrifices offered to it, and with the other, it used its sharp claws to slice them open, brutally tearing out their internal organs and shoving them into its mouth, chewing loudly.
After finishing, the corpses were tossed aside like trash.
Gradually, the blood from the corpses flowed into the river, making the water even murkier. The thick stench of fish and blood mixed together, making people nauseous, creating a scene straight out of hell.
He Kan frowned as he watched all of this.
Unfortunately, he could barely protect himself at this moment.
Not far away, the leader of the caravan stood like a guard dog watching over its prey, his eyes firmly fixed on each “blood sacrifice,” ensuring the ritual proceeded smoothly.
His eyes, filled with greed and madness, gleamed like those of a real fox, eerie in the dim scene. He Kan knew that if he made even the slightest wrong move, the leader would notice immediately. The power He Kan had gained from consuming the medicinal food earlier could only be used for one strike, and he had to hit it in one shot.
He Kan patiently waited for the right moment. His hands were tightly bound as he was about to be led to the platform in the middle of the river.
“Wait, let me handle this blood sacrifice,” the caravan leader suddenly said. His face had become more fox-like, and his voice now sounded more like a fox’s call than a human’s words.
The leader knew about this particular blood sacrifice. He had heard about how this blood sacrifice in the cave had devoured nearly half the medicinal food in one go, and he suspected something was off. He decided to take matters into his own hands.
“Yes,” his men responded.
He Kan was led by the caravan leader to the platform near the river.
The strange fish seemed to sense the approaching blood sacrifice. This offering feels more ‘abundant’ than the previous ones, it let out an eerie screech, sharp and piercing, sending shivers down the spine.
As He Kan approached the platform, the upper half of the fish’s body extended its arm, and its sharp claws almost grazed his abdomen. He Kan could feel that the caravan leader had relaxed his grip on his arms because of this scene.
The nails were almost only a little distance away from his belly.
Now!
He Kan twisted his arm back, delivering an elbow strike to the caravan leader behind him.
“Whoosh!!” The leader sensed the attack and tried to block it, but the force was too strong, knocking him back several steps. Just as he let out a shrill scream and angrily prepared to attack again—
The tall, skinny “blood sacrifice” suddenly opened its eyes.
Those were a pair of completely black eyes, without any whites, resembling the eyes of some kind of insect. The caravan leader froze in place, unable to move.
“Behold the Spider Mother. Behold the offering of the eight beasts. The sacrifice is made.”
The thin and tall young man’s expression was full of compassion, with a hint of divinity, but it was a pity that this divinity was too little, and was replaced by a more wild and bloody ferocity.
Behind He Kan, an invisible phantom slowly appeared. It rose into the air and began to grow larger.
The shadow resembled a massive spider, as large as a small mountain. It lay still in a palace, in the wilderness, on an altar. Beside it stood a bronze vessel as large as a towering tree.
The bronze vessel was shaped like a goblet, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.
The strange fish raised its head as if it had seen something terrifying. It let out a panicked, shrill cry.
The caravan leader realized something was wrong. Before he could understand why this seemingly ordinary commoner had turned into a “monster slayer,” he instinctively moved to help the fish.
But it was too late.
The moment the strange fish let out its piercing cry, it was locked in the gaze of the massive spider’s black eyes. The large goblet of the bronze vessel expanded, descending toward the fish’s location.
“Ahh!”
A satisfied sigh, like that of someone enjoying a drink, echoed through the air.
The strange fish vanished from where it stood, the bronze goblet returned to the phantom, and the shadow shattered and slowly disappeared.
“There, I found the civilians,” came a voice not far off, followed by the sound of orderly footsteps and a few hurried shouts.
He Kan turned his head and saw several soldiers of various shapes and sizes, radiating divine light, approaching the riverbank. The one who had spoken was a young man holding a talisman, pointing at He Kan.
It was…
He Kan noticed the black claw-mark emblem on their chests—the insignia of Jiantiansi. They must have arrived.
With a sense of relief, He Kan fainted completely.
