The grey mist of the First Void Layer swirled around them, dampening sound and blurring the edges of reality. On the floor the two newly transformed women huddled together, looking up at their captors.

  Khaos hovered with an air of absolute death, his eyes scanning them as if they were produce in a market that was slightly past its expiration date. Li Yu stood beside him and was trying to process the rapid shift from "hunting monsters" to "interrogating women."

  "What are your names?" Li Yu finally spoke.

  The voluptuous woman with the purple skin and white hair—the former Void-Silk Spider—straightened her back. Even in defeat she had an air of nobility and tried to muster some dignity. She smoothed the scant black silk that barely covered her chest and looked Li Yu in the eye.

  "I am Si Luo," she said, her voice enchanting and smooth. "A Matriarch of the Violet-Weave Lineage."

  She nudged the smaller woman beside her. The pale woman with the short grey hair—the Phase-Tunnel Worm—bowed her head nervously.

  "I am Bai Ruo," she whispered. "Just... Bai Ruo. I come from the Hidden-Burrow Clan."

  "Beast Realm?" Li Yu asked. It was a guess but an educated one. Creatures with this level of intelligence and power wouldn’t just be playing around with a town for fun. If they had lived here their whole lives, their actions wouldn’t make sense. It would make more sense that they came from some place else. With the rifts appearing recently this made the most sense.

  "Yes," Si Luo confirmed while tossing her long white hair over her shoulder. "Not that we intended to be in this dusty and backwater realm of yours. We were caught in an unstable rift awhile ago. It spat us out on this land here. We have been trying to find a way back home ever since. We tried going back through rifts that appear here but we cannot enter them from this side."

  "By stealing spoons and blacksmith tongs?" Li Yu asked while raising an eyebrow.

  "Your things are slightly different than things found in our realm. We are curious." Bai Ruo corrected quickly, her voice gaining a little bit of academic confidence. “We are studying different materials here and the handicrafts are also quite pretty."

  "Mostly pretty," Si Luo added with a sniff. "If we are to be stuck here, we might as well nest in style. A Matriarch does not live in squalor."

  Li Yu nodded slowly while listening to their story. It was a common enough tragedy in the cultivation world—beings displaced by the chaotic nature of the void. They weren't invaders; they were castaways. Their actions have proved such things. There were no reports that they hurt anyone here when they easily could have.

  However, as Si Luo spoke, Li Yu found his attention drifting. It was... difficult not to look.

  In the cultivation world, especially in the mortal towns and righteous sects, modesty was the norm. Female cultivators wore long, flowing robes, armor, or uniforms that prioritized function and defense. They were beautiful, yes, but usually covered from neck to ankle.

  There weren't many chances for a young man like Li Yu who had little interaction with females outside of battle or official business to see things… He never went into any of the more risque places that mercenaries visited. He never had thought about it as a place to explore.

  Li Yu also didn’t have too many interactions with females that were so bold. Some of the more ‘demonic cultivators’ he has run into did dress more freely but nothing like Si Luo in front of him. That wasn’t the culture from the places he had visited before..

  Si Luo was different. Her "dress" was essentially a collection of translucent black silk webs held together by spiritual energy and sheer confidence. The deep V-neck plunged dangerously low, showcasing an abundance of pale purple skin and curves that defied gravity.

  Every time she took a breath to speak, the silk strained. Every time she gestured with her elegant hands, her chest and entire body heaved slightly.

  Li Yu was a powerful cultivator. He now had three souls. He had a body that could crush mountains. But he was also, biologically, a young man who had spent the last few years raising fish and fighting horrors. Focus on cultivation and growing stronger. He hadn't exactly spent much time in the company of... aggressive and bold females like Si Luo.

  His eyes kept darting around as he looked at her body. Then quickly back up to her face. Then, traitorously, back down again.

  Stolen story; please report.

  ‘Focus, Li Yu,’ he scolded himself as he was trying to think of anything else. ‘She’s a spider. A giant, grapefruit-sized spider. Do not look at the wonderful spider-cleavage.’

  Si Luo paused mid-sentence. She blinked, her ring of milky-white eyes narrowing slightly. Then, a slow, sly smile spread across her purple lips as she realized what was happening.

  She noticed.

  She shifted her weight, arching her back slightly. The silk rustled. She raised a hand to brush a stray lock of white hair from her neck, a movement that deliberately accentuated her figure.

  "Is something distracting you, Young Master?" Si Luo purred. She took a step closer to Li Yu, her hips swaying with a hypnotic rhythm. "You seem to be having trouble looking me in the eye."

  "I... no," Li Yu stammered while his face was heating up. "I was just... inspecting your... cultivation base. Making sure you weren’t going to try to escape..."

  "Oh?" Si Luo chuckled enchantingly. She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees to look up at him, a pose that put everything on display. "And what does my 'cultivation base' look like to you? Is it firm? Robust? Do you want to take a closer look? You can come closer, you know…"

  Li Yu felt like his blood surging, his heart beating faster and faster. He coughed violently, looking away towards the grey mist. "It seems... adequate."

  Bai Ruo covered her face with her hands. "Si Luo, stop it. You’re embarrassing us. We are prisoners."

  ‘I am negotiating,’ Si Luo mentally communicated with her. ‘He is young. Males are simple. If he likes what he sees, maybe he won't let the scary old man eat us. We could get out of here more safely. Isn’t that a good thing.’

  She turned back to Li Yu and was fluttering her eyelashes. "We really haven't hurt anyone, you know. We are just two lost ladies in a cruel world. Surely a strong, handsome hero like you wouldn't hurt us? Perhaps I can help you... relax?"

  Li Yu swallowed hard. His heart was pounding. He felt a strange urge to agree with her. To protect her. She was beautiful after all. And she was right—they hadn't killed anyone. ‘Maybe I should just let them go? Or maybe keep them close?’ Li Yu thought.

  "Pathetic," a voice like grinding ice cut through the air. The words were like a technique and the surroundings seemed to shatter from it.

  Li Yu flinched.

  Khaos looked over at Li Yu. He didn't look at Si Luo's body. He had been looking at her with the same disdain one might reserve for a dead rat.

  "You," Khaos said to Li Yu, "are a disappointment. You have the body of a Leviathan and the mind of a young boy."

  "I—" Li Yu started. Wanting to say that he was pretty much a young person but he couldn’t get the words out..

  "Silence," Khaos snapped at him before he could even begin. He turned his eyes onto Si Luo. "And you. Your charm technique is sloppy. You are leaking intent all over the void. The only person that would fall for such a thing would be that pathetic boy over there."

  Li Yu blinked a bit in realization and then the fog in his brain cleared instantly. "Charm technique?"

  "She is a Void-Silk Spider," Khaos explained dryly. "They hunt by luring prey. She is constantly emitting a technique designed to target the biological impulses of the opposite sex. She isn't just 'flaunting'; she is attacking your mind as well. However, you were falling for both her physical charms and her charm technique only increased it."

  Li Yu froze at the explanation. He hadn’t even realized it this entire time. He looked at Si Luo again. This time, he didn't feel as flushed as before. He felt cold. However, his eyes couldn’t help but continue to drift down from her face.

  He extended his spiritual sense and sharpened it into a blade. Now that it had been pointed out, he could feel it. A sticky, sweet, pink mist of energy radiating from her skin. It was trying to wrap around his consciousness like a warm blanket. He also concluded that it wasn’t a technique she was actively using, it was a passive thing that her body released.

  It wasn't just pure physical attraction that he had fallen to. It was a trap. One that if he was alone could have been extremely dangerous.

  "I see." Li Yu said. His voice dropped an octave. The embarrassment vanished and was replaced by the calm demeanor of the Quiet Physician. He began to try to analyze it but after just a bit he realized that his body was forming a natural resistance against it.

  Given a bit more time, his body would have adapted to charm technique her body naturally released and he wouldn’t be under its control. However, his eyes kept betraying him.

  He looked at Si Luo. "You were trying to enslave me."

  Si Luo went pale at the words. She straightened up immediately and additional silk appeared around her body, mostly covering it up but not really. The playful seductress vanished, replaced by a terrified beast who realized her only weapon had just been snapped in half.

  "I... it's passive!" Si Luo stammered. "It’s biological! I can't help it! I just amplified it a little bit! Just to survive! You were looking, so I thought—"

  "You tried to manipulate my perception," Li Yu said coldly. "To potentially take advantage of me or worse. And you are saying it wasn’t your fault?"

  He took a deep breath. He was angry, yes, but mostly at himself. He had let his guard down. No, they were never up to begin with. Li Yu had never before been honey trapped and it had worked perfectly against him. He had assumed that because they were defeated, they were harmless. It was a good lesson.

  "Thank you, Khaos," Li Yu said quietly. "I needed that reminder. My mental defenses are lacking."

  "They are non-existent, boy." Khaos corrected. "But at least you woke up. This was a good lesson for you. Never lower your guard."