Chapter 165: Zhu Ji

The tender voice was like a thunderclap, reverberating through the room so that even the faintest sound of a needle dropping could be heard.

Qian Ye was the first to burst into laughter, “Pfft… Haha…”

Song Zining’s expression turned somewhat dazed, and his hands trembled. The spider egg slipped from his grasp and fell towards the ground.

“Yiya,” the little girl uttered an incomprehensible sound, but her movements were the opposite of her soft voice. She tore through the remaining eggshell with ease, emerging as if peeling a piece of paper, and pounced on Song Zining like a lightning bolt.

Song Zining had no time to react; he was seized by a pair of small, white hands. Beneath the beautiful, palm-sized face was a black, glossy spider body. Her eight limbs, still somewhat soft, kept slipping on Song Zining’s body before finally gaining traction.

Seeing this newly born little spider demon with a human face, Qian Ye’s heart stirred. Most spider demons are in their larval form at birth, and only after several molts do they gain their half-human, half-spider form. It is also during these molts that they continually increase in strength, and it’s only at the rank of viscount or higher that they can assume a humanoid form. This little spider demon, who was born with a half-human form, was indeed a rare genius among spider demons.

Meanwhile, Song Zining had regained his senses, his face turning a dark, twisted hue. Especially as Qian Ye laughed uncontrollably, showing no signs of stopping. Song Zining glared at Qian Ye, waving his hand to try and sweep the little spider demon off him.

The little spider demon’s gray-green eyes were filled with confusion. She opened her mouth but made no sound, and suddenly a green mist shot out, striking Song Zining!

Caught off guard, Song Zining was instantly covered in green, and a numbing sensation spread throughout his body. He tried to retreat, but his right foot, having taken only half a step, froze in place. He was poisoned! The venom was terrifying, rendering him unable to move in an instant.

The little spider demon clung to Song Zining, flailing her tiny limbs and legs, and a delicate web appeared out of nowhere, enveloping Song Zining completely. Web-spinning is a natural hunting skill for spider demons, but this ability to create a web with origin power usually only appears in viscounts.

Finally, the little spider demon successfully held onto Song Zining, burrowing her head into his chest.

Qian Ye, who had been watching from the sidelines, leaped up in alarm, but it was too late to help. Remembering that Stuka was known for his venom, even Zhao Yuying had to avoid his prowess, Qian Ye inwardly cursed.

In a flash, Qian Ye reached out and grabbed the little girl by the nape of her neck, immobilizing her, and sent a thread of blood energy into her body.

Qian Ye’s blood energy is a potent poison to the dark races. The little spider demon likely bit Song Zining, injecting venom into his bloodstream. The blood energy was meant to force the little spider demon to mobilize all her venom to protect herself, leaving no opportunity to further infect Song Zining.

Unexpectedly, the blood energy vanished into the little spider demon’s body like a stone sinking into the sea, and she showed no signs of discomfort. Qian Ye’s heart sank, and he didn’t hesitate to use both purple and dark gold blood energy, sending a strand of each into her body.

The purple blood energy came from the upper class lineage of Countess Nana, and the dark gold blood energy was of unknown rank. When these two strands entered her, the little spider demon finally reacted, falling off Song Zining.

Qian Ye released his grip, tossing her to the side, and caught Song Zining, who was about to fall.

The little spider demon thumped onto the floor, and her eight limbs flailed a few times before she nonchalantly got up. But she seemed drunk, swaying and falling repeatedly. Her pretty little face was flushed, and her golden curls bounced with each movement of her head, her large, gray-green eyes unfocused.

Supporting the rigid Song Zining, Qian Ye felt at a loss. His blood energy could counteract blood and spider poisons, but he had never tried it on human poisons. As he hesitated, Song Zining’s origin power burst forth, expelling a cloud of green mist, and he finally managed to stand up, covered in webs.

“Damn it, I’ve lost face big time!” Seven Junior, rarely using such language, carefully removed the webs from his body.

Spider demon webs are far stronger than regular spider webs, more durable than alloy steel wire. If he pulled them off directly, they might take skin and flesh with them. Despite his anger, Song Zining had no choice but to carefully clear the webs.

Qian Ye asked, surprised, “You’re alright?”

“What’s going to happen to me? This venom is specifically designed to paralyze.”

Qian Ye realized then that the little spider demon hadn’t intended to poison Song Zining but had merely acted on instinct when he tried to dodge.

Together, they looked at the little spider demon on the floor, and their eyes met. A large, white cocoon now encased her, reaching down to her neck. She continued to spray large amounts of origin power, which transformed into layer upon layer of webs, completely enveloping her from head to toe.

Pointing at the cocoon, Qian Ye asked, “What’s happening?”

“Isn’t this your doing? How should I know? I haven’t raised spider demons before.”

“She called you mom. If you don’t know, who does?” Qian Ye’s words left Song Zining speechless, and he looked aggrieved, almost ready to fight Qian Ye.

Looking at the cocoon pulsing with life, they fell silent.

After a long while, Song Zining said, “She is most likely your descendant. What should we do with this little one now?”

Qian Ye was stunned.

“The way the blood race creates descendants, besides natural reproduction, is through the initial embrace, or bloodline absorption. The superior gives the inferior their original blood, suppressing, absorbing, and assimilating the inferior’s bloodline. Your continuous input of blood energy into the egg might have had a similar effect. However, the initial embrace is usually performed within the same species, or on half-bloods and humans. I’ve never heard of transforming other dark races, but it’s not impossible.”

Qian Ye did not respond immediately.

The cocoon’s life force grew stronger, and a strong heartbeat sounded again. It seemed that the little spider demon would soon emerge, so it was time to make a decision.

Qian Ye sighed and spread his hands, smiling bitterly.

Understanding his meaning, Song Zining removed the last thread of web from his arm, then patted Qian Ye’s shoulder, saying, “Don’t worry, as your descendant, she will absolutely obey you. That’s the rule of the blood race.”

Qian Ye murmured, “But, raising a child… Why don’t you continue being her mom?” Qian Ye suggested, and Song Zining’s face turned dark.

At that moment, a ripping sound broke the silence as the cocoon split open, and the little girl crawled out. She was drenched, with a thin, translucent, soft shell covering her. As she struggled and crawled, the shell gradually peeled off, leaving a faint outline of her spider body behind.

But now, she was fully in the form of a little girl.

Qian Ye and Song Zining exchanged glances, both recognizing the astonishment in the other’s eyes. This little spider demon had completed her first transformation at birth, achieving a true humanoid form. This was certainly a remarkable feat among spider demons, even a viscount as powerful as Brahms couldn’t completely shed his spider form due to his bloodline.

The little girl instinctively crawled toward Song Zining, standing up halfway and walking unsteadily. Suddenly, she stopped, looked up at Qian Ye, her face confused, then turned her head, her gaze shifting between Qian Ye and Song Zining, indecisive.

Song Zining saw a glimmer of hope in the darkness, nearly overcome with joy, and pointed at Qian Ye, saying, “Your mother is over there, go to her!”

“Nonsense!”

“She was raised on your milk!”

“That’s blood energy!”

“Same difference, Qian Ye, go over there!”

Qian Ye stepped back, firmly, “Absolutely not!”

Song Zining sneered, “Trying to run? You did this, take responsibility! Come here! Watch my secret art!” Countless leaves appeared around Qian Ye, each pulling at him with considerable force, trying to lift him and bring him to the little girl.

“Hmph!” Qian Ye, without further ado, unleashed his origin power, creating a vortex that swept away the leaves. At the same time, he pressed his hand against Song Zining, channeling the vortex’s force to push him forward, stumbling and falling in front of the little girl.

Qian Ye activated his bloodline concealment, hiding all his aura, and moved like lightning to grab the little girl, placing her in Song Zining’s arms.

The little girl rubbed her face against Song Zining’s chest, then looked up at him seriously. In the absence of Qian Ye’s blood energy, her pre-transformation memories prevailed.

She threw her arms around Song Zining, calling out, “Mom!” and yawned, falling into a deep sleep.

Relieved, Qian Ye exhaled and retracted his origin power.

Song Zining lifted the little girl slightly, and the remaining floating leaves slowly fell, forming a misty green glow around her before dissipating.

After a moment’s thought, Song Zining held the sleeping little girl in front of Qian Ye, saying, “Don’t you think she looks like you?”

“Not at all!”

“Don’t you feel a sense of bloodline connection?”

“Not at all!”

Seeing Qian Ye’s reluctance, Song Zining reluctantly shared his findings, “She has the ability to conceal her bloodline. Without a special secret art test, even a common warlord wouldn’t be able to discern her race with origin power alone. There are many mixed bloods in the Evernight, so as long as she doesn’t use unique spider demon skills, her darker origin power shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll teach her gradually.”

Qian Ye was momentarily stunned, a subtle feeling rising in his heart as he looked at the little girl’s pale face.

“How about giving her a name?” Song Zining smirked, adding, “From a bloodline perspective, she doesn’t belong to the Stuka family anymore.”

Refusing to take the bait, Qian Ye thought for a moment and said, “Zhu Ji?”

“Sounds good.” Song Zining, seemingly resigned, cradled the little girl and began discussing with Qian Ye how to cover up this unexpected turn of events.

After they finished talking, Qian Ye suddenly remembered something. While retrieving the baron spider egg from Anduya’s space, he had seen a box that he had almost forgotten about. He wanted to show it to Song Zining.

“Do you recognize this?” Qian Ye took out the box, revealing a palm-sized rhombic crystal inside.