Bai Ye left the creek and plunged back into the mountain forest, heading towards the summit.
He already had a general route in mind. Excluding the areas where he knew three spider demons resided, only one direction remained.
That was — North!
As it turned out, Bai Ye's prediction was correct.
After an unknown amount of time running through the forest, Bai Ye suddenly slowed his pace.
There was a smell of blood, a very strong one!
Bai Ye twitched his nose, walking forward while looking at the ground.
The soil beneath his feet was coated in red. Then, looking at the trees on the side, the thick trunks bore clear marks.
If nothing was amiss, Bai Ye believed it to be spider silk.
And then...
He continued forward!
Soon, a hellish scene unfolded before Bai Ye's eyes.
Beneath a large tree, a woman sat slumped. Her head was gone, severed and held in her own hands, cradled as if it were precious.
Directly ahead, a man was bound to a tree with spider silk.
The silk had dug deep into the man's flesh. When the wind blew, chunks of meat would suddenly fall, thudding onto the ground.
Further ahead, on another tree, countless strands of spider silk were tangled, and a woman hung from them.
Her limbs were wrapped by the silk, twisted grotesquely.
She looked like a disassembled doll, her limbs and head haphazardly reattached. It was clear her bones were all broken.
Continuing onward, the scent of blood intensified, and bloodstains were everywhere.
Along the way, Bai Ye saw over a dozen corpses.
Each one had met a gruesome end. It was rare to even see a complete body; most were dismembered. Those who had only lost their heads were considered lucky.
Gradually, mist began to surround Bai Ye, tinged with a hint of red.
At this moment, Bai Ye sensed something and quickly leaped to the side.
The instant he moved...
Strands of spider silk shot from behind him, striking the ground with a deafening roar!
The power of the silk was astonishing, pulverizing the earth beneath it.
After the attack, Bai Ye followed the direction of the silk and saw a figure leap from the treetop, moving rapidly forward, leaping from one treetop to another.
Without hesitation, Bai Ye sprinted forward, swiftly pursuing the figure.
As he ran, a golden barrier materialized behind Bai Ye, followed by rings of golden ripples.
Weapons shot upwards, emitting a thunderous roar, relentlessly breaking the branches.
Yet, after the trees were broken, Bai Ye found no trace of the figure.
Branches and leaves rained down all around, but the opponent was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, a piercing sound broke the air.
Bai Ye whirled around to face his rear, seeing spider silk descending from above, taut and sharp as arrows.
Bai Ye leaped up, dodging backward.
With a series of thundering impacts, the spider silk shattered the ground, kicking up dust that obscured vision.
In the next instant, from within the dust, a flash of silver light appeared. Threads shot out from both sides of Bai Ye, taking advantage of his obscured sight to quickly ensnare his arms.
Bai Ye felt his arms being squeezed, but before he could react, the threads wrapped around the nearby trees and began to pull, hoisting him into the air.
"Got you!"
A voice rang out from in front of Bai Ye.
A young boy emerged from behind a tree. He wore white, had white hair, and a pale face. Red markings adorned his forehead, resembling spider eyes.
The boy approached Bai Ye and said, "You seem stronger than the others."
Bai Ye smiled and looked down, "Lower Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki?"
"Oh? How did you know?" The boy slowly moved the hair covering one of his eyes. "Most people think my father is the Lower Rank."
Within his exposed eye, strange characters were imprinted: Lower Rank Five!
The boy lowered his hair, opened his palm, and countless spider silk threads emerged.
"Lower Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki," the boy said. "My name is Rui!"
The moment Rui finished speaking, the silk threads in his hand shot out, entangling Bai Ye's body.
"I like you very much, because you are stronger than others," Rui looked at Bai Ye and said. "Would you like to be my brother? If you agree, I can share Muzan-sama's blood with you."
Bai Ye replied, "I don't need that."
Rui slowly tightened the spider silk. "Then you can only die here. So, aren't you going to consider it?"
Bai Ye tilted his head and said, "Well, it seems my words were misunderstood. What I meant by not needing that thing is that I don't need you to give it to me."
Rui looked confused. "Hm?"
Bai Ye continued, "If I kill you, I can take as much of your blood as I want."
A look of disdain crossed Rui's face. "You humans are always so hypocritical, speaking such reckless words. Don't you understand your current predicament?"
As Rui spoke, he beckoned with his finger, and the spider silk wrapped around Bai Ye tightened further.
"Will the pain make you a little clearer?" Rui said again. "One last chance. If you agree to become my family and fight to protect me, I can spare you."
Bai Ye sighed. "It seems you still haven't realized. Then let me demonstrate directly!"
The moment Bai Ye spoke, he began to exert force, spreading his arms wide.
Almost instantly...
The spider silk wrapped around Bai Ye snapped, and he fell from the air.
"This is impossible..." Rui's eyes widened. "You couldn't have broken my silk!"
Rui's spider silk was incredibly tough, and more importantly, extremely sharp.
Even if Bai Ye possessed the strength to break the silk, his body would have been torn to shreds due to its sharpness.
So...
Bai Ye hadn't broken the silk with brute force, but with...
Poison!
Bai Ye had corroded the spider silk with the poison from his toxic fruit. With a slight effort, he could easily snap the strands.
Bai Ye stretched his limbs, looking at Rui. "Now, do you understand what I mean?"
Rui gritted his teeth and produced spider silk again.
"Blood Demon Art!" Rui exclaimed. "Killer Cage!"