This spider was unlike ordinary spiders, it was enormous, as large as an adult man's palm. On its back was a hideous human face, spitting out silk that dangled from the branches.
The eyes on the human face stared directly at Qi Qing!
"Holy crap—!"
He instinctively drew the dagger from his waist and plunged it forward!
"Chiiii!"
The blade sank directly into the center of the human face's forehead. The face contorted in pain, and the silk it spat out broke.
"Riiip!"
What happened next was even more unexpected for Qi Qing. The spider and the human face gradually separated, with a tearing sound. Finally, the human face hung in mid-air, rolling its eyes, while the spider landed on the ground and its eight legs scrambled away quickly, disappearing into the shadows.
Qi Qing stared at the human face before him, drenched in sweat from fear.
"It's a man-faced spider. Don't worry, it has no offensive power. It's just a creepy thing that scares people and makes them feel disgusted."
Qi Qing felt like crying.
"Hearing you say that makes me even less at ease."
"Brother Duan Chen..." Mi Xue'er moved closer to Duan Chen. As a girl, she was afraid of insects, especially those that could jump onto one's face.
If that had happened to her, she would have forgotten to even fight back and would have probably just screamed her lungs out.
No one noticed that a small eye appeared on the trunk of a tree behind them, glancing at Duan Chen.
It was happening again, this feeling of being watched...
Duan Chen's brow remained furrowed, never relaxing.
"Buzz..."
"Buzzzzz..."
"Mosquitoes?"
Mi Le looked around. It was summer, so mosquitoes weren't unusual, though he didn't particularly want to be bitten.
"No."
"Buzz..."
"Listen!"
"Stop!"
Duan Chen suddenly waved his hand, staring intently ahead.
"Buzz!"
A giant mosquito suddenly flew out from the depths of the forest. The mosquito was enormous, as tall as a person when it flew, with two sharp, slender "needles" extending from its mouth, glinting menacingly.
"Ahhh—!"
"Don't panic!"
Jun Ci shielded Qin Nanyuan and fired two shots.
Perhaps he was also panicking, as the two shots only grazed the edges of the mosquito's wings, failing to kill it but instead enraging it.
"Die—!"
Mi Xue'er narrowed her eyes. A long sword appeared in her hand at some point. Judging by the force with which she swung it at the mosquito, Duan Chen could tell how much she hated such creatures.
"Zing!"
With a crisp sound, the mosquito's body was split in half vertically by the sword, and black blood nearly splattered onto Mi Xue'er.
"What are these... things?"
"They are just rather peculiar aberrations."
Duan Chen had seen man-faced spiders and ghastly mosquitoes in ancient texts, very old ones at that. In all his years as a formal Spirit Hunter agent, this was the first time he had encountered these two creatures.
"Everyone be careful. There might be some more ancient aberrations here."
"No more bugs! One comes, I kill it! Two come, I kill them both!"
A chilling aura radiated from Mi Xue'er, making Mi Le dare not seek refuge with her and instead cling to Duan Chen.
"Duan Chen, why don't we go back first..."
"You go back by yourself?" Jun Ci rolled his eyes.
"I don't want to!"
"Since we're here, we might as well figure things out," Qi Qing said, mustering his courage despite his fear.
"Master, why don't you take off your clothes and become invisible? That way, the aberrations won't see you."
"No, I'm afraid of the cold."
Qi Qing glanced at his extremely clever disciple and didn't know what to say.
In the next ten minutes, Qin Nanyuan experienced a spider lunging at her face, which Jun Ci shot down. Then came two ghastly mosquitoes, which Mi Xue'er promptly chopped to death with her sword before they could even show their strength.
Duan Chen's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but remind her, "Conserve your spiritual energy."
"I know."
Mi Xue'er's eyes were sharp, as if she wanted to kill every bug in the world.
Duan Chen sighed helplessly.
"Gulp—gulp—"
"What is it this time?"
Everyone focused their attention.
"Pop!"
A pure black toad hopped out from the nearby bushes. Its back had numerous round pits, and within these pits lived several small flying insects.
"It's a parasitic toad, and blood-sucking flies," Duan Chen said, swallowing.
"Captain, what's their strength like?"
Looking at the toad, Qin Nanyuan felt like she was going to throw up all the food she had eaten yesterday.
"Parasitic toads self-destruct when they sense danger. Individual blood-sucking flies are not a threat, but if they appear in swarms, they are extremely dangerous."
As if to confirm Duan Chen's words, the parasitic toad hopped towards them, making a "gulp-gulp" sound as it jumped.
"If it's just the few nests on its back, we can handle it!"
As if further confirming Duan Chen's words, the parasitic toad opened its large mouth, and a mouthful of blood-sucking flies surged out.
"Holy cow!"
"Qin Nanyuan!"
"Received!"
Qin Nanyuan's face turned pale with fear. She bravely stood at the front of the group, her flames and water streams intertwining, clashing head-on with the oncoming swarm of blood-sucking flies.
"Boom!"
After a series of attacks, only a mere few dozen managed to reach them.
Mi Xue'er was disgusted and didn't let even these few escape, drowning them with water.
Unexpectedly, the parasitic toad's dark belly churned.
"There's more?"
Another wave of blood-sucking flies. Qin Nanyuan's abilities were very useful at this moment, but after resisting several waves, her spiritual energy was also depleted by more than half.
"I'll do it!"
Duan Chen stepped forward.
"Sequence 035: [Raven Tide!]"
"Bang!"
This attack not only eliminated the blood-sucking flies but also blasted the parasitic toad into a pulp. Where the parasitic toad had been, large patches of black slime seeped into the ground, corroding most of the grass and soil.
This was not the end. As soon as the parasitic toad died, another strange sound emerged.
"How many of these guys... are there?" Qi Qing's face was deathly pale.
"It seems the explosion just now attracted something," Duan Chen frowned.
The soil on the ground shifted, and the group immediately became on high alert.
"Plop! Plop!"
A pale little hand emerged from the dirt.
"Ghost—!!!"
"Calm down, it's not a ghost!"
Duan Chen rolled his eyes, almost wanting to punch Mi Le.
Two small hands emerged, followed by a small head with long hair, looking like a little girl.
The little girl was wearing a pure white dress. Terrifyingly, her lower body was identical to her upper body.