Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 744 The Great Transformation

"Well done, Prince Consort of Nan Jing! No wonder Emperor Shang Xuan took a liking to you and betrothed his most beloved little princess to you. Young Master Chen, I admit I underestimated you!" The black-robed man on the back of the giant spider spoke in an icy tone.

The answer was irrelevant, and Chen Xuan was displeased upon hearing it. He thought to himself, "How dare this guy insult me? I'm a proper son-in-law, marrying my wife into the family with a grand procession. Being a son-in-law is like marrying into the family, and in this era, sons-in-law have no social status. Often, their children don't even have the right to take their father's surname. What else could this be but insulting me? It's practically a verbal abuse."

However, considering this is Yuhua Kingdom, I guess the other party is unaware of the situation. They all think that marrying the princess makes one a prince consort. Oh well, since I'm planning to kill them anyway, I won't care too much.

Unperturbed, Chen Xuan smiled and humbly said, "Senior is too kind. I only brought the person back when you weren't looking; it's nothing."

That's just how he is. If someone is rude to him, he'll retaliate fiercely, no matter who you are. But if you flatter him, he'll become even more humble, even if what he says is true. He doesn't pretend to be weak but doesn't deliberately keep a low profile. His attitude determines how he treats people.

Of course, that's what they say. Chen Xuan wouldn't let the other party's serious attitude make peace with just a few words. They would still fight. The other party's murderous intent never diminished; on the contrary, it became even stronger.

The difference is that the other party's previous murderous intent stemmed from a playful sense of control over what he couldn't have, while now, after Chen Xuan brought Sun Qingzhu back, he felt threatened and wanted to eliminate any future troubles.

This young man named Chen Xuan has a truly unpredictable personality. At this moment, the man in the black robe had the same thought as Song Yuzhi.

Sun Qingzhu was rescued by Chen Xuan, which interrupted the spellcasting. The black-robed man originally wanted to use Sun Qingzhu to mess with Song Yuzhi's mentality. In this era, the master-disciple relationship was often more reliable than that of father and son. Moreover, Song Yuzhi was at least a widow without children, and even a virgin widow whose husband died shortly after she married into the family. She treated Sun Qingzhu like her own daughter. If something happened to Sun Qingzhu in front of her, Song Yuzhi would definitely have a mental breakdown!

When powerful individuals clash, especially in life-or-death situations, everything is calculated. Otherwise, why would the man in black robes wait until Song Yuzhi arrived before actually making a move against Sun Qingzhu? Unfortunately, Chen Xuan thwarted his plan.

With a cold snort, Gu Xiangru said in a deep voice, "No need for Young Master Chen to trouble himself. I said I would demonstrate for you, and I won't go back on my word. Miss Sun's absence won't be a big deal. Don't rush, it won't delay your time to go home for dinner. If you can leave alive, young people should be patient; being too hasty is not good."

"You talk too much nonsense. If it weren't for your words, you old dog, which made me think that I could come up with something new, I would have started right away," Chen Xuan said with a pout.

This kid's mouth is so sharp it makes you want to beat him to death. If he didn't have some cultivation, he probably would have died countless times by now.

Gritting his teeth inwardly, the black-robed man noticed that Song Yuzhi was no longer as aggressive after Sun Qingzhu was rescued. He said coldly, "I won't let you down. Over the years, countless young and beautiful women have disappeared. The whole world wants to know where they went and what happened to them. I've done too much. Since you're all going to die anyway, wouldn't it be a pity if I didn't let you die knowing the truth? Besides, this matter will never be known to the world. It will remain a mystery forever, and I'm not entirely satisfied with that."

I didn't believe your nonsense. This old dog is definitely up to no good. Doesn't he understand the saying that villains die from talking too much? Otherwise, why didn't he just say it outright before, instead of demonstrating it himself?

With a look of anticipation on his face, Chen Xuan suddenly wondered, "What am I doing here again? Oh right, I initially just wanted to take my old friend Liu Yuyuan back with me, but things turned out differently and I ended up here. What a mess!"

As the man in black robes spoke, the giant spider beneath his feet moved again, and a strand of spider silk shot out with lightning speed. It wasn't aimed at any of Chen Xuan's group, but in the blink of an eye, it bound and pulled one of the men in black robes on their side close and hoisted him up.

The black-robed figure being hung up appeared to be a woman. When she was pulled over, the black robe on her head was lifted, revealing a stunningly beautiful face. She looked completely astonished, never expecting her boss to do such a thing to her. However, she did not resist and resigned herself to her fate.

Everyone present understood that since all the more than one hundred women the other side had kidnapped had been rescued, they decided to use their own people as a demonstration.

Seeing this, the crowd was surprised but did not do much. Even Song Yuzhi only frowned slightly. After all, they were one of their own, so their deaths were not a pity.

The giant, snow-white spider raised one of its menacing legs high. As the woman in black robes was hoisted up, just like Qin Ruyu not long before, her life force vanished in the blink of an eye without any resistance. Her once beautiful head, which was exposed, withered rapidly, turning into a skull with only a layer of skin in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the spider silk connecting the giant spider and the woman in black robes turned red for a moment, as Fang Cun extracted something from the woman in black robes.

Indeed, it was true that the woman in the black robe seemed to have had all her flesh and blood drained away.

"That's it? Didn't we just see it?" Chen Xuan said, with a look of utter disbelief on his face.

After the woman in black robes died, the spider's leg flicked, and the cocoon-shaped, shriveled corpse was tossed aside. No one paid any attention to it, not even the people on their side. They clearly dared not object or resist, as if they had already given everything away.

"Hahaha, of course that's not all. The main event is yet to come. Young Master Chen, Your Highness the Princess, and everyone else, please take a look," the man in black robes laughed loudly.

Then, a scene that shocked everyone appeared, completely beyond their comprehension. Even Song Yuzhi's majestic phoenix eyes showed surprise, and even Chen Xuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

The large, snow-white spider, which did not appear ferocious, had eight legs growing from its head upwards. Its body, which originally seemed to be covered with an indestructible carapace, suddenly twisted and, accompanied by a crackling sound that made your teeth ache, transformed into the upper body of a woman in the blink of an eye!

Compared to the spider's size, the woman, who only had an upper body, was proportionally enlarged. She also had hands, but she wasn't wearing clothes. However, her huge chest was covered by a white breastplate.

That was clearly the black-robed woman who had been 'devoured' by the giant spider a moment ago. Her expression remained one of resignation before her death. Then, as if she had realized her current situation, she moved her hands and looked down at her condition. As she moved, the spider's body behind her moved on the giant spider web. The black-robed man who had been on the giant spider's head was now standing on the woman's shoulder, his height not even as tall as the woman's head.

"The upper body is human, and the lower body is a spider? A spider demon, Fu Rui is overjoyed... Ugh, pshaw," Chen Xuan blurted out, looking at the other side with slight surprise.

The man in black robes clearly didn't understand what "Fu Rui control" meant. He raised his hand to stroke the huge head of the woman beside him, as if showing off, and said, "Well, Young Master Chen, Your Highness the Princess, and everyone else, I didn't disappoint you, did I?"

During this time, Song Yuzhi had already checked Sun Qingzhu's injuries, fed her healing pills, and even used her internal energy to heal herself. Sun Qingzhu survived the sneak attack, but she had lost her fighting ability and would need to recuperate for a period of time to fully recover.

After her disciple was out of danger, Song Yuzhi looked over there with a cold killing intent in her eyes and said in a deep voice, "What an evil method. That woman has already merged with the spider. Apart from half of her body becoming huge, even her aura is exactly the same as before. Moreover, it seems that she still has her original memories. She has clearly become a giant spider monster. Am I right?"

Chen Xuan naturally saw this at a glance, but Song Yuzhi had said it first. "My lord, I have become very strong now. As long as you give the order, I am willing to tear apart all obstacles for you," the giant spider demon suddenly said, looking delighted. Although it had become a spider monster, it remained as loyal to the man in black robes as ever.

Patting her head, the man in black robes gave no orders. Facing Chen Xuan and the others, he neither confirmed nor denied Song Yuzhi's statement, but instead asked, "Are you all satisfied with my masterpiece?"

"I've learned something new," Chen Xuan nodded in deep agreement, then clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "I knew it! The Soul-Devouring Spider King can devour bloodlines, spirits, and memories, but I never thought it could become half of its former self. Who knows, it might even be able to completely revert to its original form. It's just too big. Can it shrink to the size of a normal person?"

"The Soul-Devouring Spider King?" Upon hearing this, Song Yuzhi looked at Chen Xuan with a surprised expression, clearly having never heard of this thing before.

The score hadn't been settled yet, and Chen Xuan had no intention of explaining anything to her, especially given the current situation.

Still not directly answering Chen Xuan's question, the man in black robes faced Song Yuzhi and said with a hint of excitement and anticipation, "Now you know what happened to those women all these years, right? Yes, they were all devoured by Xiaobai. And I can tell you definitively that Xiaobai can recreate any woman who has been devoured by Xiaobai, just like it has now!"

While Chen Xuan and Song Yuzhi were surprised, it wasn't too hard for them to accept, as they were, after all, Grandmasters and used to seeing big scenes. However, Liu Yuehong and the others were completely shocked and dumbfounded. They had never heard of or seen anything like this before, and at one point wondered if they were dreaming.

Guo Qingxue had somehow found herself gripping Chen Xuan's clothes tightly, staring blankly at the other side. Was this still the world she knew?

The man in black robes continued, facing Song Yu, "Young Master Chen has pointed out more than once that I was stalling for time, and that is indeed the case. Moreover, I have been waiting for Your Highness, and it was not in vain that I rambled on for so long, worrying that Your Highness would not come."

With a flicker of her eyes, Song Yuzhi, being exceptionally intelligent, instantly understood the other party's intentions. Anger surged in her eyes, and she sneered, "Truly lawless! You dare to devour me, take my place, and then control the court. You even claim that you'll ascend the throne with my appearance after a while, so no one can tell the difference. But are you so certain that you can succeed?"

Even at this point, she still saw through it but didn't say anything, even though she understood the other party's identity and scheming, because once the truth was revealed, many things would be difficult to resolve.

Recognizing the Soul-Devouring Spider Queen, Chen Xuan guessed all this and was not surprised at all. The fact that the other party dared to do this meant that they were very confident and had clearly made sufficient preparations. They were just waiting for today to pass away silently, without any need for a coup, and everything would happen quietly.

"Hahaha, there's no such thing as absolute certainty in this world. Things have come to this point, and there's no time to hesitate. I know Your Highness won't give in obediently, so I might have to make you suffer a bit. Now that we've come this far, I believe victory is on my side!" The man in black robes laughed loudly, his ambition now completely undisguised.

At this moment, Chen Xuan had figured out his thoughts. Over the years, countless beautiful women had disappeared, all because they were fed to the Soul-Devouring Spider King. The purpose was to make it grow and adapt, so that it could transform into any woman it had devoured. One thing was certain: the stronger the woman, the more difficult it was to devour and restore her. Therefore, it needed to grow. Now it had grown to the point where it was able to devour and restore Song Yuzhi, a Grandmaster-level expert.

Song Yuzhi is the Grand Princess of Yuhua Kingdom, a Grandmaster in cultivation. It is only because of her that the power of the Yuhua Kingdom's royal family has not been completely usurped. Once she is replaced, given the current weakness of the Yuhua Kingdom's emperor, the country will easily change hands.

Then, although the Soul-Devouring Spider King is enormous, it is still just a Gu worm, and a Concentric Gu worm that Chen Xuan knows. So it must have a mother body, which is the true master.

As the mother, how much mental strength is needed to accept and devour the mental memories of so many people, and to perfectly transform into another person while remaining unaffected?

Therefore, before the mother body can bear all of this, it needs to devote more energy to digesting and processing everything it has devoured. During this period, it is extremely vulnerable. As a result...

Looking at the giant spider monster whose half-body had transformed into the black-robed woman who had died earlier, Chen Xuan said with great interest, "Miss Qin Ruyu, aren't you going to show yourself? I don't believe you can really die so easily. I'm very curious, what kind of cultivation technique did you practice to be able to withstand countless bloodline spiritual memories without becoming chaotic, collapsing, and completely turning into a monster? Can you enlighten me?"

"what!"

When Chen Xuan uttered these words, the first to speak was not the man in black robes opposite him, nor the giant spider, nor Song Yuzhi, but Sun Qingzhu.

With Song Yuzhi's help, her injuries had just stabilized, but her face was still deathly pale. She stared at the giant spider in astonishment, her eyes filled with a mixture of disbelief, incredulity, anticipation, anxiety, bewilderment, and a hint of surprise.

Chen Xuan had never seen such a rich range of emotions in anyone's eyes.

"Young Master Chen, you truly impress me. We've only met once, yet it seems nothing can escape your notice. You possess cultivation, beauty, and intelligence. After that meeting, I decided I must keep you as my male concubine. You've truly satisfied me, and now my resolve is even stronger. Since you've seen through me, you should know I can become any woman you desire. With me, you'll have all the beauties in the world. How about it? Be my male concubine. I'll grant you everything, provided you obediently become my pet."

At this moment, the 'spider monster' looked at Chen Xuan, covered its mouth, and spoke, its eyes filled with possessive greed. Its voice had changed to Qin Ruyu's voice, but it was no longer as weak as it used to be, as if it was about to die at any moment.

As he spoke these words, the 'spider monster's' upper body emitted a shimmering white light, twisted and changed shape, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into Qin Ruyu's appearance.

That wasn't all. As she finished speaking, the spider monster's enormous body rapidly shrank and transformed, completely reverting to Qin Ruyu's normal size. Before that, the black-robed man had already gracefully landed on the giant spider web.

Standing side by side with the man in black robes, Qin Ruyu, dressed in a pure white dress, appeared intact. She raised one arm, and the sleeve slipped down to reveal her slender arm. Her palm was open, and a snow-white spider the size of a fingertip sat obediently in her palm. As she lowered her arm, the little spider crawled into her sleeve and disappeared.

Even a dragon corpse thousands of feet long could be reduced to the size of chopsticks, so this small-scale "transformation" was hardly surprising to Chen Xuan.

You really have to go out and experience things; otherwise, how will you encounter these strange events...? (End of Chapter)