Chapter Forty-Four: Naming Has Always Been a Difficult Task, but Er Gouzi Is Undeniably Practical

The spider demon felt as if she had endured a dreadful nightmare.

In the nightmare, a devilish man threatened her with her own vital essence, forcing her to become his servant. Helpless, the spider demon had no choice but to submit to him. To her horror, she discovered that the hard-earned demonic power she had cultivated was drained away by the man until nothing remained.

Thankfully, it was only a dream.

...

The spider demon awoke atop an ox cart.

The first person she saw was that detestable little monster, crouched at the back of the cart just as she was, staring at her with an emotionless gaze.

The first thing she realized was that not a shred of demonic power remained within her.

The nightmare had been real.

Up front, Xu Wenshan, who was driving the cart, suddenly gagged and spat out a mass of pale, sticky fluid. As soon as it touched the air, it transformed into a beehive-like clump, adorned with countless white threads, which Xu Wenshan tossed aside without a second thought.

“This spider demon’s magic is disgusting—those threads came straight from my mouth.” Xu Wenshan pulled out several strands of white spider silk from his mouth. Some of the sticky mass lingered in his oral cavity, turning to silk upon contact with the air, one end glued inside his mouth, the other floating free, making him look as though he were eating lotus root.

“Movies really are full of lies.”

The young girl was now fully awake, and to everyone’s surprise, she began to cry.

“All I did was eat a few people—is it necessary to rob me of all my demonic power? I spent a hundred years cultivating it, and you just took it from me…”

She sobbed miserably. Across from her, Lu Ze regarded her with undisguised contempt.

She herself had cultivated for two hundred years, and still surrendered her power without fuss.

Though Lu Ze thought this, she kept silent.

Xu Wenshan, sitting at the front, cursed, “What nonsense is that? ‘Just’ ate a few people? They were living their lives, and you ate them—how is that acceptable?”

Xu Wenshan spoke righteously, as if he had never killed anyone.

“All right, let’s not discuss this now. You’ve become my servant, and your demonic power will remain in my custody for now. Depending on your future conduct, I might return it to you. If you behave poorly, it will be gone for good. Understood?” Xu Wenshan said.

The spider demon continued to cry.

“Crying counts as bad behavior.”

She stopped crying.

Xu Wenshan spent several hours explaining the intricacies of human life to the spider demon. The foremost rule was not to harm or kill, especially not to eat people. Secondly, her demonic powers must remain concealed, lest she be discovered. Most importantly, she was to obey him.

Xu Wenshan was curious how she had so thoroughly concealed her demonic power before. It turned out the spider demon possessed a gifted technique called “Dormancy,” allowing her to completely hide her power. Because of this, her abilities had previously been impossible to detect.

Upon learning this, Xu Wenshan and Lu Ze eagerly embarked on a journey of magical study, practicing as they traveled, quickly mastering the technique.

Xu Wenshan discovered the spider demon had no name. It was awkward to keep referring to her as “spider demon,” so he decided to give her one.

That evening, as he poked at the campfire, Xu Wenshan said, “Lu Ze was my first monster, so she’s the boss. You’re the second, so your name should include the number ‘two.’”

At his words, both monsters before him frowned deeply.

“What’s wrong? Any objections?” he asked.

Lu Ze shook her head. “Let’s hear the name first.”

“Second Sister?”

Lu Ze’s frown deepened.

“Second Egg?”

The spider demon shook her head vigorously.

Annoyed, Xu Wenshan tossed aside the firewood. “You have objections? With so many eggs in your lair, why not ‘Second Egg’?”

The spider demon replied, “Those eggs aren’t mine…”

Xu Wenshan was about to lose his temper, when Lu Ze interjected, “Second Egg is an ugly name.”

Xu Wenshan softened immediately. “Then let’s think of another.”

Naming, it seemed, was a challenge that spanned the ages. The three fell silent, unable to settle on a suitable name.

After a pause, Xu Wenshan asked, “Those eggs in the spider cave aren’t yours. Are there other spider demons?”

The spider demon shook her head. “I had many companions, but none succeeded in cultivation. They all died.”

Xu Wenshan’s eyes lit up. “Can you control other spiders? Or communicate with them?”

She nodded. “Ordinary spiders fear me and obey my commands.”

Excited, Xu Wenshan stood abruptly and gagged again, spitting out two more clumps of spider silk. He paced back and forth, for he had thought of a brilliant plan.

As a child, he, like many others, enjoyed reading books like “One Hundred Thousand Whys.” He recalled reading that spider silk, in terms of strength and resilience, surpassed steel of equal thickness. When exposed to acid, it not only lost its stickiness but became even stronger.

In theory, clothing made from spider silk would far exceed that made from silkworm silk. The only problem was spiders couldn’t be bred in large numbers; if many were kept together, they would fight and refuse to spin webs collectively.

But now, with a spider demon, things were different. Perhaps she could make the breeding and spinning of spider silk a reality.

Lu He Valley lacked mulberry trees, its climate dry, with large temperature swings, making it ill-suited for raising silkworms. Spiders, on the other hand, could thrive.

Spiders fed on flying insects and could consume animal organs. As long as they received sufficient protein, iron, calcium, and other trace elements, they would be fine.

Xu Wenshan grew excited. He rummaged through the ox cart and pulled out some dried meat, offering it to the fat spider. “You can eat dried meat now… Can you eat it?”

The spider demon stared blankly at the dried meat, drooling copiously. “I can give it a try,” she said.

Xu Wenshan waved the meat in his hand, noticing her eyes followed it wherever it went. He moved the meat left, her gaze shifted left; moved it right, her eyes followed. When he hid it behind his back, she lurched forward, nearly falling into his arms.

“Want to eat?” Xu Wenshan smiled angelically.

The spider demon nodded vigorously.

“You’re still too wild. Eat grass for a few days first; once your temperament improves, you can have meat.”

Xu Wenshan put the meat back on the cart, and the spider demon’s face fell.

Watching her greedy expression, Xu Wenshan thought of the dog he had raised in his previous life and said, “Let’s just call you Second Dog.”

The spider demon looked utterly hopeless, but before she could protest, Lu Ze objected, “Why not call her Spiderling? That’s a lovely name—why must it be something so ugly?”

“Second Dog, that’s your name from now on.”

“Spiderling—your name is Spiderling.”

“Second Dog, don’t sneak snacks at night.”

Spiderling was on the verge of collapse. “What is my name, after all?”