Chapter 698: Tarantulas

“Are we gonna save them?” Song Qiao asked powerlessly.

As expected, no one answered him.

At this moment, the only people around him were the Great Hoodwinker, Ren Xiaosu, Yang Xiaojin, Luo Lan, Zhou Qi, and Cheng Yu and his five assistants. All of these people did not look like they were helpful.

Although both Song Qiao and Cheng Yu were members of the Anjing House, Cheng Yu would probably not care to help Song Qiao even if something were to happen to him, much less help him save his assistants.

“What the hell was that?” The Great Hoodwinker asked in a low voice, “I did not encounter something like this when I was here previously!”

Cheng Yu believed the Great Hoodwinker’s words. After all, the monsters in this wilderness would have no semblance of pity for humans. If the Great Hoodwinker really encountered these creatures when he came here previously, he would already be dead.

“What should we do now? Run?” Luo Lan asked Ren Xiaosu from behind.

Cheng Yu turned around and realized Luo Lan was only looking to Ren Xiaosu for answers and no one else.

It seemed the monstrous creatures were being held back by some of the supernatural beings at this moment, so it would be a good opportunity for them to make a run for it.

However, Ren Xiaosu said calmly, “Don’t be rash now. The fog here is too heavy. Rather than run away in confusion, we might as well watch and wait. There’s quite a few of us here, and also many supernatural beings in our group, so we might not lose to the monsters in this fog.”

Just as he finished speaking, Song Qiao was surprised to see a figure dart past in the fog in front of them. However, that person was not trying to escape from the battlefield. On the contrary, he seemed to have come from somewhere further in front of the group and plunged himself straight into the battlefield!

Wait a minute, who was that? Song Qiao looked at his figure but could not remember anyone in the group wearing an outfit like that.

“It’s White Mask!” Cheng Yu exclaimed. “Why did he suddenly come here? It looks like he was really the one who cut down all those trees and fought that monster in the wilderness.”

Song Qiao was bewildered. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“It’s definitely him. He’s wearing the same outfit as the previous time I saw him.” Cheng Yu said, “I wonder why he didn’t change his clothes.”

Ren Xiaosu looked at Cheng Yu speechlessly. He thought, ‘Aren’t you totally focusing on the wrong thing?‘ There was no need to change Old Xu’s clothes since this outfit had become Old Xu’s trademark. Since Old Xu was meant to be his scapegoat in the first place, Ren Xiaosu was more worried that others would not recognize “him.”

When Luo Lan suggested earlier that they flee, the reason Ren Xiaosu decided to stay around was because Old Xu, who was scouting ahead of them, was rushing over to them.

No matter what monsters might be attacking them now, he would have to take a look before leaving, right? If they kept running away the moment they encountered any danger, they might as well not enter the Sacred Mountains since there would surely be more danger ahead.

If they wanted to survive the Sacred Mountains, they would first have to understand what was roaming out here.

Moreover, Ren Xiaosu would be depending on all the supernatural beings in the group once they got into the Sacred Mountains. He needed them so he could get an opportunity to fish in troubled waters. If these people were to die on Mt. Shenchi, who would cover for him later?

To put it simply, Ren Xiaosu could not let these people die so easily. At the very least, they would have to survive until they were in the Sacred Mountains.

Even if he couldn’t fend off the monsters, he could still use Old Xu to draw their attention and let the others escape.

However, Ren Xiaosu had thought too much. After making Old Xu enter the battlefield, he realized the team members at the back had not really suffered too many casualties. The supernatural beings in the group were still supporting each other as they took down the monsters attacking them.

At this moment, a gust of wind blew behind Old Xu. Ren Xiaosu made Old Xu turn around and fight, but he was stunned for a moment. A huge hairy spider more than half the height of a person was bounding over in the white fog.

However, the spider in front of him was rarely seen in the Central Plains. Ren Xiaosu started remembering the science books he had read in Stronghold 88’s library as he tried to match it to a corresponding Pre-Cataclysm species.

Tarantulas?

From the science books he had read, this arachnid was preying on birds, frogs, and lizards during the time before The Cataclysm. It could be said that they were very terrifying hunters. But didn’t tarantulas live in the tropics? Why would they appear here?

After all, they were currently in a northern temperate zone.

This was most likely related to the Pyro Company, right? Ren Xiaosu felt that the appearance of these tarantulas on Mt. Shenchi was not as simple as it appeared.

No wonder Ren Xiaosu had noticed very few birds around since they passed Mt. Wuzhai. Even if the birds had also mutated, they would still be afraid of a natural enemy like tarantulas.

As more and more tarantulas appeared in the white fog, Ren Xiaosu manipulated Old Xu to attack towards the center of the battlefield.

Cheng Yu and the others remained on guard in their positions. They could hear someone shouting “spiders” from inside the white fog followed by exclamations of “White Mask” immediately after. Once Old Xu entered the battlefield, there were also fewer and fewer screams.

When the numerous tarantulas in the white fog noticed how powerful Old Xu was, they stopped attacking their prey and started surrounding Old Xu instead. This gave the others a window to catch a breather.

Ren Xiaosu frowned. The tarantulas were capable of shooting white silk webs to bind their prey. It would be easy to dodge one or two of their attacks, but if there were too many of them, not even Old Xu could escape.

If Old Xu got bound by too many of the spiders’ silk webs, its combat prowess would get significantly reduced.

Thinking of this, Ren Xiaosu controlled Old Xu and took out some grenades from a shirt pocket and threw them everywhere.

No matter how powerful the tarantulas might be, they could not withstand the power of grenades. Faced with a formidable opponent like Old Xu, the group of tarantulas began retreating!

“Why do I keep getting the feeling that White Mask has always been nearby?” Cheng Yu felt a little puzzled. “Previously, I thought that he was here to seize the No. 001 Experimental. But now, it seems more like he’s protecting someone.”

Saying that, Cheng Yu looked at Luo Lan and the others suspiciously. Was White Mask protecting Luo Lan? Or was he protecting someone else?

Luo Lan glanced at him and said, “What are you looking at me for? If I had a bodyguard like him, I would’ve already given your Anjing House a bashing!”

Cheng Yu’s face darkened. Could you not be so direct regarding our conflict?

In fact, Luo Lan did not know about the existence of “Old Xu” either. When he previously heard White Mask and a sniper had intercepted the Pyro Company’s convoy, he thought it was Ren Xiaosu. However, Ren Xiaosu was standing beside him right now, so it showed Ren Xiaosu was not White Mask.

Cheng Yu recalled that White Mask had appeared in Stronghold 74, Stronghold 73, and Luoyang City. It seemed like he really did not have anything to do with Luo Lan at all.

On the contrary, Ren Xiaosu, who was previously suspected to be Luo Lan’s backer, did not take any action this time. Thinking of this, Cheng Yu felt that no matter how powerful Ren Xiaosu might be, he would probably not be a match for White Mask either.

If White Mask had been constantly protecting the group from nearby, it would be considered a check against Luo Lan and the others. A balance of power was needed in this group to prevent any of the factions from getting too influential and swaying everyone’s decisions.

Cheng Yu was about to say something, but he froze. “Someone’s missing? Hey, girl over there, where’s your boyfriend?”

At some point, Ren Xiaosu had ventured into the heavy fog while they were talking.

Yang Xiaojin wanted to ignore Cheng Yu, but he was pretty insistent and continued asking, “You don’t know where he went either?”

Yang Xiaojin said in a serious tone, “He probably went somewhere to jump rope.”

Cheng Yu was surprised. For some reason, Cheng Yu felt this answer was actually somewhat plausible even though it sounded extremely absurd.