Bai Ye left the stream and re-entered the mountain forest, heading towards the summit.
Bai Ye already had a general route in mind. After eliminating the areas where he knew three spider demons resided, only one direction remained.
That was – North!
As it turned out, Bai Ye’s deduction was correct.
After an unknown amount of time running through the forest, Bai Ye suddenly slowed his pace.
There was the smell of blood, very strong!
Bai Ye twitched his nose, walking forward while looking at the ground.
The soil underfoot was covered in a layer of red. Looking at the trees on the side, there were clear marks on the thick trunks.
If nothing was amiss, Bai Ye believed it should be spider silk.
Then…
Continue forward!
Soon, a hellish scene appeared before Bai Ye.
Under a large tree nearby, a woman sat slumped, her head missing. Because her head had been severed and was held in her own hands, cradled as if it were a precious object.
Directly in front, a man was bound to a tree with spider silk.
The spider silk had dug deep into the man's body. When the wind blew, chunks of flesh suddenly fell off, hitting the ground.
Further ahead, on another tree, countless spider silks were entangled, and a woman was hanging from them.
The woman's limbs were wrapped by the spider silk, twisted in a grotesque manner.
Her entire body looked like a disassembled doll, its limbs and head haphazardly reattached. Without a doubt, all her bones were broken.
Continuing forward, the smell of blood intensified, and bloodstains were everywhere.
Along the way, Bai Ye saw over a dozen corpses.
Each corpse had met a gruesome end. It was rare to even see a complete body; most were torn to pieces. Those that had only lost their heads were considered lucky.
Slowly, mist began to appear around Bai Ye, tinged with a bloody hue.
At this moment, Bai Ye sensed something and quickly leaped to the side.
And the instant Bai Ye leaped away…
Some silk threads attacked from behind, hitting the ground…
*Boom!*
The power of the silk threads was astonishing, directly shattering the ground.
After the attack, Bai Ye looked in the direction of the silk threads and saw a figure on the treetops quickly leap up and dart forward, rapidly moving by leaping from treetop to treetop.
Bai Ye hesitated no longer and immediately sprinted forward, swiftly pursuing the figure.
As he ran, a golden light screen appeared behind Bai Ye, followed by rings of golden ripples.
Weapons shot upwards, emitting a deafening roar, continuously breaking off branches.
However, after the treetops were broken, Bai Ye could not find the figure.
Broken branches and leaves continuously fell around him, but the opponent was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, a whistling sound pierced the air.
Bai Ye sharply turned his body to look behind him, then saw silk threads descending from above his head, taut as sharp arrows.
Bai Ye quickly leaped up, dodging backward.
*Boom, boom, boom!*
The spider silk repeatedly shattered the ground, kicking up large clouds of dust that obscured vision.
The next moment, from within the dust, a silver glow flashed. Threads of silk shot out from both sides of Bai Ye, taking advantage of his obscured vision to quickly wrap around his arms.
Bai Ye felt his arms being constricted, but before he could react, the threads wrapped around the nearby trees and slowly pulled him up, suspending him in the air.
"Got you!"
A voice sounded from in front of Bai Ye.
A young boy walked out from behind a tree, wearing white clothes, with white hair and a pale face. A red mark adorned his forehead, resembling a spider's eye.
The boy walked towards Bai Ye and said, "You seem stronger than the others before."
Bai Ye smiled and looked down, saying, "Lower Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki?"
"Oh? How did you know?" The boy slowly pushed aside the hair covering one of his eyes and said, "Most people think my father is the Lower Rank."
Within the exposed eye, strange characters were imprinted: Lower Rank Five!
The boy lowered his hair, opened his palm, and countless spider silks surged out.
"Twelve Kizuki, Lower Rank Five," the boy said. "My name is Rui!"
The moment Rui finished speaking, the silk threads in his hands shot out, wrapping around Bai Ye's body.
"I like you very much, because you are stronger than others," Rui looked at Bai Ye and said. "Would you like to become my brother? If you are willing, I can share Muzan-sama's blood with you."
Bai Ye replied, "I don't need that kind of thing."
Rui gradually tightened the spider silk, saying, "Then you can only die here. So, won't you reconsider?"
Bai Ye tilted his head and said, "Alright, it seems my words have been misunderstood. What I meant by not needing that kind of thing is that I don't need *you* to give it to me."
Rui looked confused, "Huh?"
Bai Ye continued, "If I kill you, I can take as much of your blood as I want."
A look of disdain appeared on Rui's face. "You humans are always hypocritical, speaking recklessly. Don't you understand your current situation?"
As Rui spoke, he beckoned with a finger, and the spider silk wrapped around Bai Ye tightened again.
"Will the pain make you clearer?" Rui said again. "This is your last chance. If you are willing to become my family and fight to protect me, I can spare you."
Bai Ye sighed, "It seems you haven't realized yet. Then I'll demonstrate it for you directly!"
The moment Bai Ye finished speaking, he suddenly exerted force, spreading his arms to the sides.
Almost instantly…
The spider silk wrapped around Bai Ye snapped, and Bai Ye fell from the air.
"This is impossible…" Rui's eyes widened. "You can't break free from my silk!"
Rui's spider silk was incredibly tough, and most importantly, very sharp.
Even if Bai Ye possessed the strength to break the silk, its sharpness meant Bai Ye's body would be torn to shreds.
Therefore…
Bai Ye didn't break the silk with brute force, but rather…
With poison!
After corroding the spider silk with the poison from his poison-fruit, Bai Ye could easily break free with a slight exertion of strength.
Bai Ye stretched his limbs and looked at Rui, saying, "Now, do you understand what I mean?"
Rui gritted his teeth, and spider silk appeared in his hands again.
"Blood Demon Art!" Rui exclaimed. "Killing Cage!"
…