Jiang Chen raised his left leg and kicked the rock faced ghost spider's corpse. The massive carcass that had been wedged over the hole tumbled backward and vanished into the abyss below the cliff. There was no echo to be heard. It was as if the darkness had opened its mouth and swallowed the mass of flesh whole.
He stood at the precipice and glanced at the sky. The sun was already tilting westward. It appeared like a bruised eye weeping crimson over the silhouette of the world.
He had crawled into this hole at high noon. Now half a day had slipped away, and the earth was preparing to drape itself in the shroud of night.
'If I climb now, I can reach the summit before the moon fades. I will try to rest briefly, then at dawn head for the Black Market. With my current pace, I should still make it in time, hopefully.'
