In fact, although the ghoul's poison is deadly enough for ordinary people, it is not an unsolvable problem for the truly strong. Mages can use spells to make themselves immune to the poison, or simply cast targeted spells to eliminate the poison; as for warriors with strong physiques, if the dose of the poison is not too large, they can rely on their extraordinary physique to directly withstand it. The mind flayer's psychic power is a mysterious ability that is not inferior to the magic of the wizard. Therefore, Li Yin has reason to believe that there are also abilities in psychic power that can deal with the poison of the ghoul, and there are more than one kind. The Mind Flayer larvae that lived in his brain had obviously awakened one of its psychic powers under the stimulation of the environment. Unfortunately, however, it was still just a very young larva, and its power was too weak. Even if it had mastered a way to resist, the strength of its psychic power could not support it to resist for a long time. This is why it finally tried to take the risk of directly devouring itself to increase its strength. The reason why it is said "directly devouring" is because the devouring of him by the mind flayer larvae at this time is not the usual way of gnawing on the brain, but a devouring directly on the spiritual level - this operation should also be a unique ability of psychic users. The reason why it was called "desperate" was because as a newborn, weak consciousness, the Mind Flayer larva had no chance of winning in this mental war with itself. In fact, its excessive consumption in resisting the invasion of the ghoul toxins accelerated its defeat - so in the "dream", Li Yin crushed the opponent so easily. As for why the mind flayer larvae would adopt this direct method of devouring spirits instead of the traditional method of gnawing on the brain, Li Yin guessed that there are two possible reasons: one is that their own brains have been invaded by the ghoul toxins and are no longer edible to the mind flayers; the other is that the ghoul toxins are advancing too quickly, and the normal way of development of the mind flayers, which is to absorb spirits by chewing on the brain, is too slow, and the growth rate of psychic energy is completely unable to keep up with the consumption of resisting toxins. In short, in the end, the mind flayer larva that had intended to turn him into nutrients was defeated by its own forced mental devouring and turned into his nutrients instead... Otherwise, Li Yin alone would not have had any ability to absorb the opponent's spirit. After that, not only did his brain power increase greatly by devouring the spirit of the mind flayer larvae, but he also gained the mind flayer larvae's psychic power to resist the ghoul toxins in the process of devouring. He instinctively and actively used this psychic power to protect himself. It can be said that the original intention of the Mind Flayer Larva - to gather the strength of both sides to resist the ghoul toxin - was finally realized. However, it was not itself that finally implemented this plan.
At this point, Li Yin finally understood why he was like a ghoul but not a ghoul. He had some characteristics of a ghoul, but his reason was not devoured by the hunger instinct of the undead. Perhaps the reason was because of his resistance with psychic power. That resistance was neither completely successful nor completely failed, which led to the current mediocre result. After figuring out the reason, Li Yin felt relieved. Although a large part of this "result" was based on his speculation and had not been verified, Li Yin felt that these speculations were very true, or in other words, they were similar to the original situation and the basic thread should be consistent. This result is not too bad, is it? At least, he did not turn into a zombie that only knew how to eat, nor did he grow a four-legged octopus head and become a puppet of a heart-stealing monster. In fact, to be honest, it is already an extremely rare piece of good luck. Under the double attack of ghoul toxins and mind flayer larvae, he was able to turn a negative into a positive, turn disaster into a blessing, and find a glimmer of hope in a situation where both sides were doomed to die. But... the only flaw is... Li Yin frowned, he didn't even get any other spiritual power. He was quite satisfied with his "harvest" from the ghouls: unparalleled strength, incredible agility, unimaginable jumping ability, supernatural regeneration ability... every one of them was an enviable powerful ability. However, from the perspective of the Mind Flayer, it was a little disappointing. The increase in brain power was of course a real benefit. No one would refuse to make themselves smarter and more perceptive. Moreover, as a mage, Li Yin thought that this would be of great help to him in learning the arcane. At the same time, the increase in mental strength should also allow him to cast more spells every day. However... these could not solve the urgent problem, because he lost his spellbook and was now a useless person who could not prepare spells, let alone cast spells. In contrast, the Mind Flayer's renowned psychic powers were more likely to bring him substantial help. Because psychic powers were different from the magic of mages, psychic powers were as colorful and magical as magic, but also had convenience that magic did not have - psychic powers could be used freely as long as they were mastered, and they were like instincts rooted in the user's mind, which would not be forgotten and could not be forgotten, so there was no need to remember or prepare in advance. It can be said that if Li Yin himself was a psyker instead of a mage, he would not be in such a miserable state after escaping from the mind flayer's lair. However, the problem was that he had not achieved any satisfactory results in terms of his spiritual power, which he had placed high hopes on... Chapter 14: Spider Spirit The Mind Flayer larvae he devoured, perhaps because it was too young and weak, did not awaken its psychic powers. The only thing it awakened, and the only thing Li Yin gained, was the psychic power to resist the ghoul toxin. This psychic power, of course, was a very timely rescue not long ago. But once it escaped from that special predicament, it seemed to be completely useless now and in the future. This shouldn't be the case... Li Yin was full of regrets, muttering to himself unwillingly. Don't mind flayers have many powerful and practical psychic powers? For example, he carefully recalled the information about mind flayers: mind detection, charm, domination, mind blast, etc. Wouldn't it be good to give himself one of these abilities? After all, the mind flayer that he swallowed was too useless. It didn't even awaken the signature ability of its own race. Li Yin complained indignantly. At this moment, his temple suddenly throbbed. "Food...delicious food," a thought suddenly popped into his mind. At the same time, a feeling of extreme hunger arose in his heart.
"What's going on?" Li Yin was shocked. He clearly... clearly remembered that he was not affected by the ghoul's hungry appetite. Why did he have such a strange idea? For a moment, Li Yin's hair stood on end. Could it be that his transformation into a ghoul was not over yet, and he was still falling towards a twisted and hungry monster bit by bit? "Delicious... tasty... human food," just as he was panicking, another thought uncontrollably emerged in his mind. "Human...food?" Li Yin's face turned pale, and he was instantly shocked. It's over, is he going to eat people? If he could barely explain it as not having eaten for too long, now...is he really going to become a ghoul? "Next..." Then, another thought came to my mind. "Down below?" Li Yin was a little confused. Wasn't there a pile of rocks below him? Then, a picture appeared in his mind: a thin man, wearing tattered and bloody clothes, lying in a pit. Wait - isn't that person me? Li Yin was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. Those thoughts are not your own! He suddenly raised his eyes and looked towards the top of the cave. A head of messy, pale long hair was hanging upside down in the air. The weed-like long hair swayed, revealing a woman's pale, pointed face and two scarlet eyes. The corners of the woman's slender mouth were raised strangely, and she was smiling at him. Li Yin was shocked and jumped up. Seeing this, the woman suddenly let out a shrill scream, and the distorted smile on her face immediately turned into a look of fury. Then, a scene that made Li Yin shudder with fear occurred— The woman straightened her upper body - her upper body was naked and pale, and it was because of this that Li Yin was able to notice at the first moment what the opposite, mill-like black shadow underneath the paleness meant - that was her lower body! The pale upper body of the woman twisted in midair, and the huge black shadow flipped over. She leaped up, and her whole body fell on Li Yin. Li Yin's scalp tingled. Without thinking, he bent his legs and jumped seven or eight meters away, escaping from the area covered by the shadow in the nick of time. There was a loud crash behind him. He looked back and saw the monster pause, then it chased him with eight huge limbs. He then realized what it was. The spider elf is a monster that combines the upper body of a dark elf with a spider. It is not a naturally occurring species, but a creation of the evil deity worshipped by the dark elves, the Spider Queen, who twisted the dark elves that angered her. This creature, directly created by the evil god, is much more powerful and terrifying than an ordinary dark elf! The strange shape and terrifying reputation made Li Yin completely unable to resist. He turned around and ran away. However, before he could run far, he suddenly heard a strange rustling noise behind him, followed by a rushing sound of wind, as if something was flying through the air at him. According to the skills he had learned from dodging crossbow arrows, he instinctively tried to locate the object behind him by listening to the sound. But he was stunned immediately, because judging from the sound in the air, the object was densely packed and was everywhere! He was stunned and had no way to dodge, so the thing pounced on him. But the imagined severe pain did not come, and he found that he was still running, his body was still intact and able to move.
Without having time to think about what was happening, he just waved his arms hastily again and took a step forward - then, he fell to the ground with a thud. He wanted to swing his arms, but they didn't move. The same went for his feet. He just took a step forward and couldn't move forward anymore. He seemed to be restrained by an invisible force. When he came to his senses after the fall, he tried to get up but found that he couldn't. He could only turn his head to look to the sides and behind him, and then he realized what had happened. What hit him was a huge net, a strong, sticky white net! On the other side, the spider elf had stopped chasing. It stood still, its pale upper body tilted back, its oval abdomen sticking out high, and with a rustling sound, its huge abdomen slightly expanded, and then, puff, puff, stream after stream of thick, flocculent, milky white spider silk sprayed towards him. Li Yin struggled desperately, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free. His more intense movements only made the spider silk stick to his body more tightly, making the bond between him stronger and more powerful... In a blink of an eye, strands of spider silk wrapped him up tightly! Then, the spider elf stopped spitting. She turned her body, waved her eight slender limbs, and quickly rushed towards Li Yin. Li Yin twisted his head, the only part exposed, with difficulty, and looked at her. He noticed that although her body was huge, it was terrifyingly light and made almost no sound. Dark elves are masters of stealth. Because of the spider structure of their lower body, spider elves move silently and are hard to guard against. No wonder she was able to appear above his head without him noticing. Li Yin regretted that he should have thought about psychic powers earlier. At this moment, he understood what the thought that appeared in his mind before was - it was not his thought, but the thought of this spider elf. The consciousness of the spider elf appeared in his mind. It was one of the innate psychic powers of the mind flayer - detecting thoughts! If he had been able to figure out psychic powers earlier, perhaps he could have awakened this ability sooner and sensed the enemy's arrival in advance. Chapter 15 Brothers The scattered mushrooms emitted a faint glow, which slightly dispelled the darkness. In a relatively spacious cave, Hester sat on the back of a monitor lizard, his sharp eyes occasionally scanning the several holes on the four rock walls. "Sir, we found it!" Suddenly, a loud call came from a cave entrance, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Soon, a scout ran out from the shadow of the cave. "What did you find?" Hurst asked slowly. The scout took a breath and replied with some difficulty: "Master Zanger's body." "Where is the slave?" Natia, the captain of the eighth team, who was standing next to Hester, asked immediately. The scout lowered his head: "Nothing found." The two looked at each other. Hester had no expression on his face, while Natia's lips curled up slightly. The two turned the reins and drove the monitor lizards under their crotches towards the cave where the scout had just come out. The cave entrance was very narrow, only enough for one person and one horse to pass through. Hester slowed down his mount slightly and let Natia go first. The two entered the cave one after the other. After a few dozen steps, a familiar figure appeared in front of the two men on the side of the narrow tunnel. The leader of the fifth squad, Zanger, had his legs spread on the ground, his upper body leaning crookedly against the rock wall. His eyes were wide open, and the chest of his mithril mail was covered in blood, losing its former glory. The two men dismounted and walked closer. "The bodies were deliberately placed, obviously to facilitate the search - weapons, dry food and drinking water were all taken away." After a brief observation, Hurst took the initiative to say, "It seems that the slave is still alive." Natia nodded. Hurst's inference was not nonsense. The Underdark was full of dangers, and temporary luck did not mean permanent peace. Although the slave escaped the pursuit of the fifth team, it did not mean that it would not encounter other dangers, especially here - this nest of defeat. However, at present, its good luck was still long-lasting and it did not die immediately. Hester took another step forward, put his hand on Zanger's face, and closed his eyes. "May you rest in peace in the arms of the Spider Queen, my brother. Don't worry, I will find the slave for you." His tone was heavy and serious, and when he turned around, his face was full of determination. "We have to find that guy right away," he said, pointing to another hole next to the body. "It must have escaped from here." Natia did not answer immediately, but looked at Hester's face quietly, with the corners of her mouth still slightly raised. Hurst pretended not to notice her meaningful expression. He looked past her figure and called to the soldiers behind them: "Take all the lizards back, leave a few people to guard them, and call the main force over."
The tunnel next to Zanger became increasingly narrow, and the lizards could not enter it, so it was only wide enough for one person to pass through. "No need," Natia finally spoke, but raised her hand to stop his order. Hester looked at her in surprise. "We must avenge Zanger. No lowly slave dares to hurt the dark elves without paying the price. Moreover, this is the order of the leader!" "The leader's order is for us to capture it back." Natia said lightly. "I don't see the difference between the two." Hurst shrugged. "This means that you can't avenge your brother. By the way..." Nadia added with a smile, "I am personally very moved by your brotherhood." "That makes no difference," Hurst pointed to the tunnel behind him again, "First, we all have to go through here." "When I say no, I mean you don't have to give up your mount." Nadia turned around and climbed onto the saddle of the monitor lizard. "There is another way to get to the other side of this tunnel." "Hurry up," she urged her mount and galloped back the way she came without looking back. Hester was stunned. He had forgotten that the woman should be very familiar with this intricate maze. After all, she had been here many times to exile those monsters. "Boring..." On the other side, Natia thought boredly. She had thought that the expression on Hester's face would be very interesting, but she had not expected that he would do such a good job of showing it without revealing any trace. She didn't believe Hester's "revenge" lies. If anyone was the happiest person about Zanger's death, it would be Hester, the captain of the Sixth Squad. Although they were brothers by blood, they were also the two strongest contenders for the newly vacated quartermaster position. Once Zanger died, the position fell into Hester's hands without a doubt. Natia had expected a more dramatic expression: uncontrollable ecstasy, coupled with the necessary dignity and even grief, twisted and twitching. She had volunteered when the leader said he wanted to send a second team just to see such a wonderful performance. But in the end, she didn't expect the other party to be so patient. It was very boring. Perhaps, she speculated maliciously in her heart, it was because he had been prepared. Zanger's death, that slave... was it really an accident? Or... Thinking of this, she was suddenly startled and couldn't help but reach out and press the hilt of the sword at her waist. Although she and Hearst are not in direct competition at present, she cannot rule out the possibility that the other party will take action against her because of some secret plan. "We should indeed go faster." Behind him, Hurst urged his mount to catch up. "Why, are you eager to avenge your 'brother'?" Natia deliberately emphasized those two words. Hester's expression still did not change noticeably, as if he was completely unaware of her ridicule. "Not only that." Nadia heard his tone suddenly change, and smiled slightly, "The leader's order." "In order to capture the slave, together with Zanger's troops, we have dispatched three teams." "Besides, two soldiers and a captain, this is a considerable loss." "If I still don't get any reward, if I let him get away like this, the leader will be furious. I don't want to face his wrath - and I guess you don't want to either." "There's no way he can escape." Nadia chuckled nonchalantly, "How could that slave possibly get out of this maze?" "We really should hurry up, though." "Before it gets into someone else's stomach." She sneered. "You mean--" Hester frowned, and the expression on his face suddenly became very strange, as if he was a little scared, but also mixed with extreme contempt and disgust.
The half-human, half-spider figures flashed before his eyes. "Zanger," he blamed all his grievances on his failed colleague, cursing viciously in his heart, "You are a fucking waste!" "I can be killed by a slave." "But this is fine." "If trash like you climbed to a high position, it would be a disaster for all of us."
