The 2.5 meters wide eye on the spider's abdomen shrunk and widened continuously, each time focusing on a different thread. It was so engrossed, in fact, that it didn't realize when a new thread had appeared on the Scorpion King's body, and this thread was connecting the spider and the scorpion king.
The longer the spider stared at Hao Xuan's threads, the thicker the thread connecting it and the scorpion king became until it looked like a small rope.
Finally having chosen its target from the countless threads coming out of Hao Xuan, the spider's eye focused on a special one.
This thread was one of the flimsiest looking ones, like it had been corroded after a long period of neglect. Yet it still shined with a bright red light, much brighter than 95% of the other threads, even the ones that were much thicker.
Two of the spider's sixteen legs reached out in Hao Xuan's direction and as if passing through a curtain of water, disappeared completely.
A few meters away Hao Xuan was looking at the hunter with a raised eyebrow.
"So it is not guarding the word of power, but it IS it?" he repeated in the native language, prompting the hunter to vigorously bob his head up and down showering the ground around him in beads of sweat.
"Yes, I wouldn't lie to you, alien sir! The words of power appear on wild beasts in the form of different patterns and tattoos somewhere on their bodies. That's how you can differentiate them from normal beasts!" the hunter patted his chest proudly.
"Hmm," Hao Xuan nodded before meeting the hunter's gaze skeptically, "And how do you, a mere nobody, knows all this?"
The hunter wasn't expecting Hao Xuan to be so...straightforward with his words and accidentally choked on his own saliva.
*Cough*Cough*
"W-Well, it is not just me that knows," he cleared his throat while trying to look away in embarrassment.
"The resistance is giving away this information to anyone and everyone that will listen. We heard about it from them directly, others that already have their own words of power."
"Ooh," Hao Xuan leaned in with a look of interest, "The resistance eh? What else did the say then?"
The hunter became elated seeing Hao Xuan so keen on learning more and he quickly reached out into his pocket and took out a rough paper that had both its side covered in the local language.
"Everything is mentioned here. It is not that detailed since they said this is just to help us get our first word of power. They told us to reach out to them again when we have gotten at least one word of power and only after that will they would explain more."
Upon seeing Hao Xuan reading the contents of the page so intently, the hunter glanced towards the Scorpion King who was looking towards another direction and got a little closer to Hao Xuan.
"The main point is that depending on the part of the body the pattern appears, it can have different effects and powers. Sometimes it is not even on the skin but somewhere inside the beast so it's not easy to find them."
"Ahan," Hao Xuan responded absentmindedly. He went over the entire document but there was a key point missing there.
"Oi," he met the hunters one good eye, "Why doesn't it say HOW you get the words of power? Do you graft the skin in yours or what?"
"Graft?" the hunter was flabbergasted upon hearing a brand new word, "N-No...? You just kill the beast yourself and there is a chance of receiving the 'word' after that."
"Just kill it?"
"Yes!" the hunter nodded, "But you have to kill it yourself. If anyone else helps you then the word will disappear. Only if you kill the beast with your own power without any outside help whatsoever there will be a small chance of getting the word."
Hao Xuan was looking right into the hunter's eyes throughout their talk, keeping an eye on his pulse, heart rate, pupillary response and any other obvious signs of lying but there was nothing out of ordinary.
Either he was telling the truth or he was a really good liar.
"Alright, I'll see if what you said is true or not when the beast that's hiding here comes out," Hao Xuan said looking around, "Speaking of it, shouldn't it have shown itself by now? You said it came out when the moon was at its peak," he said in a low voice.
The hunter was also shaken awake by the query. He looked up at the bright crescent moon before looking towards the place the spider had come from.
"I think...its already here?" he mumbled doubtfully, but with his limited vision, he couldn't see much around them.
Hao Xuan squinted his eyes, scrutinizing the surroundings.
"Oi, did you hear anything?" he asked the Scorpion King through spirit sense but didn't get a response.
"OI!" he asked again, this time much louder. The Scorpion King who was standing within arms reach raised his left hand, "There!"