Elven cultivators

Maya's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the whip.

The clansmen behind him froze for a moment, and some subconsciously lowered their breathing.

The gazes of those spider monsters made their scalps tingle and their backs feel cold.

Fortunately, the spider monster only stared for a while before lowering its head again, parting the spider web with its feet, and crawling deeper into the cave.

Maya took a breath and gestured for everyone to continue walking inside.

Soon, a massive silhouette, resembling a hill, came into view.

It was an enormous spider monster.

It dwells deep within the cave, nestled among several white boulders entangled in spider silk, like a hill half-buried in the rock strata.

Eight segments of the body embraced its sides like dead wood, with a layer of gray-black hard shell covering the joints. The ends of the segments were deeply embedded in the spider web and gravel like iron hooks.

The abdomen occupies almost a third of the cave's width, its surface covered with grayish-brown markings, emitting an extremely faint glow in the darkness.

It didn't move, and even its eyes were half-closed.

But the moment Maya stepped into this area, she felt an invisible weight envelop her entire body, and her chest felt slightly tight.

The people behind him were pale-faced, with fine beads of sweat on their foreheads.

No one dared to wipe it.

Even with sweat dripping from his chin, he simply lowered his eyelids, fixing his gaze on the ground.

Sensing someone approaching, the Dark Spider Queen slightly lifted its cephalothorax off the ground, its two legs slowly paddling in the air.

Maya immediately bowed her head in respect.

At the same time, the people behind her also lowered their heads, their postures perfectly aligned.

"Sir, this is this week's food."

Maya spoke respectfully, her voice thin yet clear in the cave.

Silently, the tribesmen behind him stepped forward and gently placed the unconscious prisoner on the edge of the spider web.

The Dark Spider Queen stared at the Dark Elves for a while, until they were about to reach their limit, before lifting a limb.

Maya bowed again, then turned and left, gesturing for her people to follow.

They left the cave and quickly walked away along the passage they had come from.

Only after stepping out of the passageway did Maya slowly exhale the breath that had been pressing on her chest.

The other dark elves also showed expressions of relief.

"If I could, I would never want to come to this godforsaken place again." A dark elf behind him muttered in a low voice.

Everyone nodded subconsciously, clearly agreeing with this statement.

Maya pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

But that's what she really thought too.

However, the existence of the Dark Spider Mother is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Shadow City. Even when it comes to transporting food, it can only be done by the core members of the Dark Elf family who take turns leading the team.

And this time it just so happened to be her turn.

Similar things will definitely happen again in the future.

Although Shadow City owes its current strength to the protection of the Dark Spider Mother.

But every time Maya stood before the Dark Spider Queen, she couldn't suppress the trembling deep within her heart.

That is the fear that living beings feel when facing an apex predator in the food chain.

Even though she was a Gold-rank warrior, in front of a Saint-level magical creature, she was still no different from an ant that could be crushed at will.

With a sigh, Maya shook her head to clear her mind and continued walking forward.

"Let's go back to Shadow City."

After retracing her steps along the familiar gravel slope and passing through three hidden sentry posts, Maya finally stepped into the edge of Shadow City.

People came and went on the open ground outside the city gate, slaves of various ethnic groups carried goods and patrolling soldiers passed by in formation, everything was as usual.

Upon entering the city, Maya was about to turn onto the main street when she suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps behind her.

She turned her head and saw a group of dark elves riding giant lizards hurrying through the city gate.

They were covered in blood, looking as if they had just been in a fierce battle.

Maya recognized them immediately as members of her family.

"Simone," Maya called out.

The dark elf captain, who was leading the group, stopped, turned around and saw Maya. He immediately jumped off the giant lizard and quickly stepped forward.

"Lady Maya."

"What happened?" Maya asked.

The dark elf captain replied, "We encountered dark elf scouts from Nine Nether City in the western cave area and fought them, but unfortunately they escaped."

Maya frowned.

After unifying the surrounding areas, the council turned its attention to more distant regions.

This refers to the previously discovered fertile soil region.

However, before Parliament could complete its war preparations and deploy troops, it was discovered that someone had infiltrated its own territory.

And they are also dark elves.

These dark elves were very powerful. After several battles, they suffered considerable casualties before capturing a few prisoners.

Strangely, no matter how they were interrogated, those people refused to utter a single word.

Information about Nine Nether City was obtained through torture of prisoners from other races.

Maya found it utterly absurd.

How could there be a dark elf in this world who is not afraid of death?

Dark elves excel at assessing situations and seeking advantages while avoiding disadvantages.

When their own lives are threatened, they will not hesitate to betray their tribesmen to save themselves.

But the behavior of those prisoners completely overturned her understanding.

It was as if they would die if they leaked information.

"Let the injured tribesmen go back for treatment," Maya said.

The dark elf captain nodded in agreement, turned around, mounted the giant lizard, and led his men toward the family's territory.

Maya stood there for a moment, pondering, before finally heading towards the dungeon where the prisoners were held.

The dungeon is located behind the family's residence, and the entrance is guarded by two male dark elves.

Upon seeing the Maya, they immediately bowed their heads in respect.

Maya ignored her and walked straight in.

However, as soon as she stepped inside, she sensed something was wrong. People were rushing around, and there was a lot of noise coming from inside.

The guard who was stopped recognized Maya, his face turned pale, and he said in a trembling voice, "Lady Maya, the prisoners of Nine Nether City held in the cell... are all dead."

Maya's expression changed, and she immediately went inside.

To prevent collusion, the prisoners captured from Jiuyou City were kept in separate prisons.

Maya went straight to the first cell. The door was ajar, the chain hung on the ground, and the lock was intact, showing no signs of being forcibly opened.

She stepped inside, her gaze falling on the corpse on the floor.

The blood, not yet dry, splattered radially across the stone platform and the surrounding ground.

The corpse's skin clung tightly to the bones, and the entire body was shriveled up, as if all the fluids had been drained. The exposed muscles and tendons resembled grooves carved into the bones, with faint traces of dissolution at the edges.

Maya crouched down and pressed her hand against the side of the corpse's neck. It felt cold and dry, with no elasticity.

She stood up and turned to look at the doorway.

"What exactly happened?"

The guard outside the door lowered his head, his voice strained: "Lady Maya, we don't know either... They were sitting there perfectly fine just now, then suddenly they screamed, and then their bodies exploded, spraying blood everywhere... When we arrived, they were already gone, and nothing had been touched."

Maya didn't say much, but simply untied the long whip from her waist, flicked her wrist, and the tip of the whip struck the guard's cheek precisely, leaving a deep red bloodstain across his face.

"waste."

The guard groaned, covered his face, and took a half step back, but dared not make a sound.

Maya put away her whip and looked again at the withered corpse in the cell, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

These prisoners were not carrying any items, and the dungeon's restrictions had been triggered. How did they die?