Ch. 40 - A Spider's Kiss

"What’s on this island?" Yang Yi asked coldly. The reason he shot Hu Wei on the spot was because he wanted to ask him this question. "If I tell you...will you let me go?" Hu Wei, slumped on the ground, raised his head with difficulty and looked at Yang Yi. "You can trust me!" Yang Yi lowered his gun. "You're lying! That's a killer's look in your eyes!" Hu Wei coughed, speaking with great effort. Yang Yi frowned. He indeed never intended to let Hu Wei live. "You're tough, I admit defeat. No need for you to bother with me! As for what’s on the island...you'll have to see for yourself!" Hu Wei sneered darkly, his mouth full of blood, a crimson mess. "What do you mean?" Hu Wei didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled out a kitchen knife from behind his waist. Yang Yi immediately raised his gun, ready to fire, but held back. Hu Wei had already killed himself. With swift decisiveness, he plunged the knife into his own throat. Turns out…the guy was ruthless too! Though Yang Yi couldn't see it, Hu Wei's journal had updated with new information. 【You have died. Oath Precondition Mission failed, completion 6/10…】 Two light orbs fell beside Hu Wei’s body, likely the drops left behind by his death. Just as Yang Yi was about to pick them up, he sensed something wrong. He heard a soft, rustling noise, like many things crawling. And the source of the sound was Hu Wei’s corpse! In the next second, Hu Wei’s body twitched and convulsed, as if shaking uncontrollably. At the same time, countless spiders, each about the size of a fingernail, crawled out of his wounds and orifices. What the hell?! 【You are frightened. Sanity -5】 Yang Yi pulled the trigger, just in case, using the powerful cannon mode. Boom! The shot was devastating! Hu Wei’s body, along with the cabin door, was blasted apart, leaving a huge hole in the ship’s hull that let sunlight pour in. The recoil knocked Yang Yi back, slamming him into the wall. "What are you doing? He’s already dead!" Suna rushed over, her face showing slight displeasure. If that shot had been a bit lower, it would have blown a hole in her beloved witch laboratory. "He had spiders inside him, lots of spiders!" Yang Yi explained, still shaken by what he had just witnessed. In his nightmare, he met the same fate as Hu Wei! But how could there be spiders inside a person? Suna glanced at the wreckage. "Spiders? I don’t see any spiders. Where are they?" She scanned the area. "Aren’t they right there?" Yang Yi pointed to the debris, but then froze. He could swear there were spiders on the ground just moments ago, small but clearly visible. Now, there was nothing but chunks of flesh, broken wood, and splattered blood! "I definitely saw spiders just now..." Yang Yi insisted. "Alright, your arm's dislocated, you know that?" Yang Yi’s left arm was hanging limp at his side. Luckily, Suna was a medical student. Though she hadn’t specialised in orthopaedics, she was talented and quickly popped Yang Yi’s dislocated shoulder back into place. But Yang Yi was still looking for the spiders. "It’s impossible. I saw spiders, I’m sure of it!" Suddenly, he felt an itch in his nose and noticed a small nosebleed, likely from the recoil of the flintlock rifle. The itch persisted, as if something was crawling inside. Yang Yi couldn’t help but pick at it, and out came a tiny black spider, about the size of a grain of rice. 【A spider crawled out of your body. Sanity -10】 Yang Yi was startled and immediately crushed the spider. He checked his nose again, but luckily, no more spiders came out. "There really was a spider. When did you inhale it?" Suna bent down and picked up the spider’s corpse. "Inhale?" Yang Yi felt uneasy. The spider had definitely crawled out of him! He quickly checked his status. Status: Injured (The human diagram shows faint yellow on the back and left arm) Sanity: 85/100 Stamina: 94/100 Health: 93/100 Everything seemed normal, but there was a new status under his talents. 【Kiss of the Spider: A gift from the Spider Mother. Spiders will occasionally crawl out of your wounds, but you’ll soon get used to it! Precondition mission for an Oath can be unlocked. Enemy hostility from spider-type demons -100%】 "When did this status appear?" He quickly checked his activity log. 【You have gained the Kiss of the Spider】 Judging by the time, it must have been right when Hu Wei died! "When he died, the status transferred to me?" Yang Yi narrowed his eyes. Suna, not afraid of spiders, moved into the sunlight to inspect the corpse closely. As soon as the spider touched the sunlight, it evaporated and vanished. Yang Yi noticed this too and walked over to grab Suna’s hand. "It actually disappeared?" He couldn’t believe it. "Let go! You’re hurting me!" Suna complained, pulling her hand free. But Yang Yi ignored her, deep in thought. The status must have been tied to Hu Wei’s death. After he died, a new successor was chosen... "Suna, check your status. Is there any negative effect called ‘Kiss of the Spider’?" Yang Yi warned. Suna immediately checked and then shook her head, "I don’t have anything like that." It seemed the curse only targeted one person! And when you considered Hu Wei’s recent behaviour…the answer became obvious! The Kiss of the Spider had an unmistakable connection to the island. "Let’s get out of here! My flintlock is in cannon mode, and it has a 12-hour cooldown! Plus, the Nightmare Star has a hole in it that needs repair!" Yang Yi instructed. Suna nodded, and together they began gathering the spoils of war. The spider situation would have to wait. The battlefield needed to be dealt with first. Hu Wei had dropped two light orbs, one of which fell into the sea. The other contained 1250 shell coins and a recipe for Fire Velvet Armour. 【Fire Velvet Armour: Requires Fire Silk Spider threads x100. (One medium-sized Fire Silk Spider can produce 8-12 units of thread.)】 That fire velvet grass was clearly a lie Hu Wei made up. Fire Silk Spiders definitely proliferated on the island! What was even more surprising was a player’s death could result in a recipe drop! Yang Yi turned to look at Suna. She had a unique talent that allowed her to create special recipes. If she died, would those recipes drop too? That could be dangerous. It would make her a target! Yang Yi immediately warned her, "Suna, don’t sell or give away any of the potions you make!" "So, you’re saying I should give them all to you, huh?" Suna teased. "Uh…we’ll discuss that later!" Yang Yi suddenly remembered the unbreakable Excitement Potion and felt a bit nauseous. After cleaning up the battlefield, they found three equipment items! 【Name: Webbed Gloves】 【Type: Treasure】 【Quality: Fine】 【Description: Enhances grip and allows you to climb walls. You won’t get stuck on webs. Yes, with these, you can scale walls like a superhero!】 ………. 【Name: Delicious Chef’s Knife】 【Type: Relic】 【Quality: Excellent】 【Description: A sharp kitchen knife. Anything cut by this knife will become extraordinarily delicious, and highly addictive! Perfect for people with appetite disorders! The delicious effect lasts for 5 days. It only works on objects smaller than 3 cubic metres.】 ………. 【Name: Healing Spray】 【Type: Consumable】 【Quality: Excellent】 【Description: Speeds up wound healing when sprayed. Usable 3/10 times】 Sёarch* The nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yang Yi picked up the chef’s knife, which was no more than thirty centimetres long. "If you get cut by this knife, will you taste delicious?" He made a strange face, detecting a faint sweetness in the air.