Chapter 969: Chapter 969

Listening to that mysterious voice, everyone stopped in their tracks.

Shhh...shhh..., the sound drew closer and closer, speeding toward the group.

The sound reverberating in this dark, enclosed space immediately gave everyone the chills.

Ai Xiaoying suddenly remembered something, and her face turned pale.

"Not good, it must be the Guardian God of the star domain! Run!"

However, as soon as the word "run" left her mouth, a sudden beam of white light shot toward Ai Xiaoying, who was walking at the front.

Before Ai Xiaoying could react, the white light tightly wrapped around her ankle.

Ai Xiaoying was swiftly dragged down, her body rapidly pulled into the darkness.

Lin Chen grabbed tightly onto the rope tied to Ai Xiaoying, but the force from the other side was too strong. After struggling for a moment, he was also dragged down and fell to the ground.

The two of them were quickly pulled into the darkness.

"Lin Chen!" Zhao Xiaohua's expression soured and, just as he was about to chase after them, several more beams of white light shot toward the group.

This time, the group was prepared—they drew their weapons and severed the white strands of spider silk.

But by then, Lin Chen and Ai Xiaoying had already been dragged away and vanished without a trace.

In the darkness, Lin Chen gripped the rope tightly as he continued to be dragged along.

Whatever was pulling them was incredibly strong. Despite putting all his strength into resisting, Lin Chen could not overpower it.

After being dragged nearly a hundred meters, suddenly a beam of light appeared ahead. Through the light, Lin Chen finally saw what was pulling Ai Xiaoying and him.

The so-called Guardian God beast turned out to be a massive eight-legged spider.

This spider was as large as a tank, its entire body shiny and jet-black. It spewed silk, surrounded by a pile of skeletal remains, making for a horrifying sight.

Clearly, these bones belonged to victims eaten by the spider.

A trace of despair crossed Ai Xiaoying's face. Everyone knew spiders were among the most brutal predators.

They would wrap their prey in silk, then paralyze them and suck them dry of all vitality.

"Lin Chen, let go of me!" Ai Xiaoying grimaced bitterly.

A resolute glint appeared in Lin Chen's eyes. "No, I won't let you die."

"Thank you, but if you keep holding on, we'll both die," Ai Xiaoying said, determination flashing in her eyes.

Ai Xiaoying struggled to retrieve a dagger and cut the rope.

Suddenly, Lin Chen's movement forward stopped.

"Watch out for Lan Xingling!" Ai Xiaoying shouted as she was pulled away.

However, Lin Chen's gaze hardened, and a grappling hook flew from his hand, tightly latching onto Ai Xiaoying's leg as she was about to be dragged completely away.

Lin Chen was once again pulled along with Ai Xiaoying, hurtling toward the spider's web.

The spider, clearly noticing Lin Chen as another potential prey, shot out a strand of silver silk, wrapping tightly around his body.

"Purple Flame True Fire!" Lin Chen flipped his wrist, releasing a burst of flames.

But to Lin Chen's shock, the flames burned the spider web without affecting it in any way.

"Damn it!" Lin Chen cursed. "This spider web is coated in a fire-resistant substance."

"Don't waste your energy—this spider silk is exceptionally tough. You won't break it," came a grim voice.

The two of them were quickly dragged into the spider's domain.

Ai Xiaoying's face was filled with guilt. "Lin Chen, this is all my fault. I've dragged you into this mess."

"A spider alone can't kill me. Impossible!" Lin Chen said sharply as the spider drew closer. With his hands freed, he pulled the pin on a grenade, placing all his remaining grenades into his bag before throwing it out forcefully.

The spider noticed the flying bag and shot out strands of silver silk, wrapping tightly around it before pulling it into its lair.

Since the bag was light, the spider easily brought it into its web.

A cold smile crept up on Lin Chen's lips as he forcefully activated the grappling hook in his hand.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Three loud explosions tore through the air, shattering the spider web in an instant.

The massive spider was also blown to the ground in the blast.

The two of them stared at the charred remains of the spider, feeling a sense of relief after narrowly escaping death.

The danger had been immense, teetering on the edge of life and death.

If Lin Chen hadn't thought of using grenades to blow up the massive spider, both of them might have met gruesome ends, their essence drained away.

Lin Chen approached the spider's remains and kicked the giant creature hard.

"Damn thing, you almost caused me to slip up in the gutter," Lin Chen grumbled.

It was then that Lin Chen's gaze fell on the scattered belongings left behind by the spider's previous victims.

Among them, Lin Chen discovered a notebook inside a package marked with Japanese writing.

The notebook contained detailed records about a quest for the Flower of Life.

The deceased man was named Denhara Isunan, an Island Nation native. In his desperate attempt to resurrect his wife, he had spent his life searching for the Flower of Life.

Moreover, he had already found a fragment of an ancient poem. Unfortunately, the notebook did not record it explicitly and only mentioned that the poem had been passed down as part of his family legacy.

As Lin Chen flipped through one page, he was suddenly stunned. It read: "Yesterday, I heard Mom say Ashi had already returned to the path. I wish I could be near her, but to resurrect Airi, I must find the Flower of Life at all costs."

"Could it be that the notebook's owner was Ashi's father?" Lin Chen pondered. After some thought, he kept the package.

At this moment, Zhao Xiaohua and the others rushed over. Upon confirming that Lin Chen and Ai Xiaoying were safe, they let out a sigh of relief.

Leaving the spider's lair behind, the five of them continued forward. This time, they were much more cautious, but fortunately, the route was uneventful and free of danger.

After walking for a day, the group still hadn't crossed the mountain peak. Ai Xiaoying suggested, "We'll need another half a day to cross this mountain. Let's rest here for now."

Lin Chen nodded. "Alright, let's rest here for now."

The group started a fire in the cave and laid down in their sleeping bags.

With the cave illuminated, Lin Chen suddenly noticed that there were numerous carvings of text on the rock walls.

The others also discovered the text on the walls and gathered around curiously.

"Xiao Shuai, can you read these writings?" Lin Chen asked, intrigued.

"Master, these writings are too ancient. There's no record of them in the human information database, so I can't analyze their content," Xiao Shuai replied frankly.

The others stared at the inscriptions, just as perplexed, but Lan Xinling's face betrayed a flicker of excitement.

However, her excitement was fleeting, and Lan Xinling quickly disguised her expression with feigned confusion.

Although Lan Xinling's subtle reaction was well-hidden, Lin Chen had noticed it all along.

"Xinling, can you read these writings?" Lin Chen asked curiously.

Lan Xinling blinked a few times but then shook her head. "I've never seen these writings before either."

"You're lying. You're clearly a descendant of Chiyou, and you would recognize the ancestral scripts," Ai Xiaoying retorted coldly.

A descendant of Chiyou? Everyone was stunned upon hearing Ai Xiaoying's revelation.