Mo Dao Zu Shi: Astray

Forest of Webs, Part One

Pan Wukun's light talisman managed to catch beady eyes. Lots of beady eyes.

The creature lunged forward.

"Look out!" Kang Xieren shouted.

Pan Wukun and Kang Xieren rolled away. Something huge landed on the spot where they just stood.

From  beyond the shadows, the trees creaked and bushes shook as more  creatures appeared, ten of them in total. Some were on the ground and  others were perched on the sticky white threads in the trees.

Pan  Wukun's legs shook as she finally made out what attacked her and Kang  Xieren. "Sp-spiders! Really big spiders!" she sputtered.

It wasn't spikes that were attacking them, but spider legs!

Kang Xieren's eyes narrowed. "Eight-legged spider demons. I've never seen them this massive before..."

Pan Wukun felt like crying. This was worse than the giant spiders from Skyrim and Zelda!  Shit. There were so many spiders. Why couldn't it be any other mountain  demon? No, it had to be a whole spider demon infestation!

"Pull yourself together, Pan Wukun! You can't let fear take control now!"

At Kang Xieren's words, some of the spider demons shot webs in his direction. A web caught his hand, sticking him to a tree.

Kang Xieren slashed at the web with his sword. Pan Wukun hurried to help free him with Yuyun.

"Don't shout! Whisper!" Kang Xieren said.

Kang  Xieren and Pan Wukun stayed quiet and remained still. They noticed that  stopping their motions kept the spider demons away from their location.

Kang Xieren picked up a rock and threw it.

Some of the nearby spider demons rushed over to where the rock landed.

Kang Xieren threw another rock at one of the webs where the other spider demons rested.

Those spider demons also converged upon where the rock hit their web.

"The  spiders can't see very well so they detect us through vibrations!" Kang  Xieren noted. He turned to Pan Wukun with a serious expression. "They  have us surrounded. If we want to escape, we'll have to fight our way  out."

Pan Wukun's heart filled with dread. She'd been hoping to  slip away without confronting the spider demons. But she knew that Kang  Xieren was right.

Pan Wukun and Kang Xieren held two fingers up, directing their swords to fly towards the spider demons.

Yuyun took down one spider while Kang Xieren's sword took down another, leaving eight left.

Unfortunately, the eight spider demons felt the gusts of the swords to maneuver and closed in on Pan Wukun and Kang Xieren.

"Shit!" Kang Xieren hissed.

The  spider demons split up into two groups and got between Pan Wukun and  Kang Xieren, blocking them from each other. It was easier to hunt prey  separately than two at once.

Four spiders went after Kang Xieren while the other four went after Pan Wukun.

Pan Wukun became out of breath and her legs burned as she ran for her life.

The spider demons were fast on her trail.

Shit. If they could detect vibrations, then they must be tracking her through her footsteps.

She needed to get off the ground! She called Yuyun back to her and jumped on to fly.

That threw the spider demons off for a bit, but not forever.