Xuefeng was sitting on the ground while regenerating his Spirit Qi when suddenly Ling who was patrolling the forest informed him that she found the Nightmare they were looking for. Before Xuefeng started his congratulation, she told him about the second part of the news.
There was a group of cultivators who already found it and they were currently engaging it. If Xuefeng didn't make a move now, their mission would be unsuccessful.
He stood up, as his Spirit Qi was almost full already and informed the ladies what he found out.
"Let's get going then, but we will only observe from the distance. Also, we will not kill them to steal the Spirit Artefact as we are not bandits. First come, first served. If they can't take down the nightmare, we can then help ourselves." Wuying decided after hearing Xuefeng information.
"You are really gentle here in this country. In the Central Region, the prey and loot belong to the one who is the strongest." Xiao Wen was surprised that they had to wait for the other party to give up first.
"Well, I agree with Wuying, If Liu Clan started to take everything for themselves, people would rebel. If everyone was killing each other left and right, wouldn't there be chaos in the country?" Xuefeng spoke in favour of Wuying.
"Okay, I'm not the one who is fighting anyway." Xiao Wen shrugged with her shoulders showing that she didn't care.
"Xuefeng, lead the way, we should hurry." Wuying didn't lose much Spirit Qi in her battles, so she was ready the moment Xuefeng relayed Ling message.
"Follow me." Xuefeng put on his shirt and run into the forest listening to the Ling directions with the ladies trailing closely behind him.
They have met some beasts on their way but they skillfully dodged them and without wasting their time proceeded forward. About ten minutes after delving deep into the forest, they finally heard the sounds of the battle. The noises came from the cave that penetrated straight into the rocky mountain wall that was one of the borders of the whole valley.
The cave entrance was covered everywhere with the spider webs, so the possibility of it being the Nightmare lair was really high. Xuefeng clone was standing next to the opening observing them.
"They are inside the cave and it looks like the fight is intense. Are we going inside?" Xuefeng asked while he watched the scenery outside the dark lair that looked as if it was straight from the horror. His intuition was screaming in his mind 'Don't Go Inside!'.
"Yeah, why not, let's go." The ladies weren't really bothered by the scary environment and went inside.
"Eh…" Xuefeng sighed and followed them. Ling clones were left outside to monitor the area. If anyone else would be coming, they will know first.
The passage leading deeper into the cave was quite spacious as it had about twenty meters in diameter and it looked like it was carved by the Nightmare himself and there were blade marks visible on the walls.
The further they went inside the louder the noises became. After a few hundred meters they reached the end of the passage, which led to a massive chamber. When they peaked through the opening they could see the whole battle clearly.
The struggle involved around 30 cultivators and a giant spider around fifteen meters in high. If someone thought the Nightmare was enormous he would be shocked that the lair carved by it was almost ten times bigger. There were also millions of web bubbles glued all around the wall.
"It seems like we should call it Miss Nightmare now…" Xuefeng commented while watching the Spider eggs everywhere.
The ladies rolled their eyes at his joke and focused on the battle. The Nightmare had eight sharp blades as her legs and huge vampire fangs that she used to suck the blood from her prey. The rest of her body looked like a normal spider but a hundred times larger.
"Everyone let's attack together, afterwards we will split the money from the sold loot, what do you all think about it?" A middle-aged man with a scar on his face that looked to be the strongest called out to everyone.
It turned out that they weren't one group but a few. If they started fighting with each other while also going against the Nightmare, the results would be catastrophic. At the moment they reached the point where the Nightmare had a lot of scars and only needed one last push to fall.
"I and my companions are in favour of teamwork." A man with a huge axe in his hands followed.
When one group agreed, the next groups didn't have a choice and also nodded with their heads. Soon all 30 cultivators accepted scarface proposal and they planned their attack. The Nightmare was already cornered so they wanted to assault it all together and bring it down in one shot.
"How about we join them and take the Nightmare down? With so many people, they are bound to kill it. At least this way we can have a part of the loot." Xuefeng quietly proposed.
"Wait, don't you think there is something wrong here?" Wuying asked with a frown. She observed the whole situation and one detail was out of order.
"I also noticed this, look at their bodies, they have basically no injuries. Would the nightmare be so weak and die without fighting?" Xiao Wen also realised that something was amiss and explained.
"So you are suggesting that the Nightmare was planning something? Hmm, that might be true as I didn't see her retaliate while they were pushing her to the corner. Let's wait then and see what she is planning. " Xuefeng nodded and suggested to stay put and wait for the right moment.
"Even if we showed ourselves and told them something is wrong, they wouldn't believe us. They would think we want to steal the loot from them." Wuying said the sad truth. In this world, you can't trust anyone you don't know or in the next second you will end up with a dagger in your heart.
"Everyone, prepare your strongest attacks and on my sign, release it. The beast is already cornered it can't escape. Let's do our best." Scarface took the role as a leader and commanded everyone to prepare.
They also noticed that the Nightmare was acting strangely but they didn't suspect it to be scheming against them.
"Is everyone ready? On my signal … Fire!" Scarface halberd shone and with a powerful swing, he sent a green ray towards Nightmare head. Those who could use ranged attacks focused on the torso and those who had only melee moves at their disposal struck at the eight sharp legs.
Just as the attacks were about to land on the Nightmare, her multiple pairs of black eyes shone with a golden light. Feeling the weird energy it was emitting, Xuefeng and Xiao Wen looked at each other in surprise. Both of them received the same information from their Fate Fragments.
'I can feel Fate Qi from the Nightmare.'