Stranger Danger

Chapter 394: Stomach Worm

Ye Qing grabbed Sick Scholar’s Nature’s Shell and wiped away the Spirit Purifier’s mental imprint with his demonic thought. Then, he searched the Strange Artifact for the cure.

A few breaths later, Ye Qing looked up at the jianghu warriors and let out an awkward laugh. “Ahem... it looks like I was wrong. He didn’t have the cure after all.”

The crowd’s gaze immediately turned disdainful, but there was even more disappointment.

“It’s not a problem though.” Ye Qing moved on casually as if he hadn’t just eaten his own words. “If I’m not mistaken, the gu insect inside Sick Scholar’s body is most likely the Gut Worm. This means that you are all infected by the Gut Worms.”

“Gut Worm? What’s that?” Someone asked.

Ye Qing didn’t keep them in suspense. “A Gut Worm is a Malice-class Stranger that infests a person’s guts after entering their body. If it is not taken out in time, it could consume your whole gut and kill you.”

Ye Qing suddenly looked down on Sick Scholar and asked, “Am I right, Sick Scholar?”

“You’re quite the knowledgeable man, warrior. You have my respect.” Sick Scholar opened his eyes and let out a quiet cough. He pushed himself to a sitting position and continued, “Since you know about the Gut Worm, you should also know that it’s near impossible to remove the Gut Worm from a victim’s body without the proper solution. Trying to pull it out by force is akin to disemboweling yourself. Hence the name.”

“Cough cough... therefore, I would advise you not to extract the Gut Worm by force. It will be a dangerous endeavor to say the least.”

Countless people’s faces turned ugly when they heard this. Someone uttered through gritted teeth, “You deserve death, Sick Scholar.”

Sick Scholar’s grin grew increasingly manic. “I do, but if I’m dying, then you’re all coming with me. It would be a worthy death.”

However, Ye Qing chuckled and slapped Sick Scholar at the back of their head. “No one’s dying today except you, brother.”

Sick Scholar froze and withdrew his grin. He looked up at Ye Qing with cold calculation and iron scrutiny as he said, “It sounds like you have a way to save them? You better move quickly then. It won’t be long before the Gut Worms eat through their intestines and spill out of their stomachs.”

“Thank you for the reminder.” Ye Qing’s smile widened. “But I’m not worried. After all, it’s quite easy to cure the Gut Worm.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Sick Scholar challenged.

“You just need the Stomach Worm, am I right?” Ye Qing replied.

“You—how did you know about that?” Sick Scholar’s face turned ugly and panicked all of a sudden.

“Why wouldn’t I know about the Stomach Worm?” Ye Qing countered. “Here’s a quote from ‘On Picking Up Strangers’: The gut and the stomach are like a pair of crazed lovers. They desire each other like a couple who are madly in love.”

Ye Qing sighed when he saw the confusion on most people’s faces. This is why you study, people!

“The ‘gut’ and the ‘stomach’ in the passage refers to the Gut Worm and the Stomach Worm. The Gut Worm is male, and the Stomach Worm is female. If they sense their counterpart’s presence, they would strive to meet up with them no matter the cost,” Ye Qing explained.

“If that’s true... then we can draw out the Gut Worms with the Stomach Worm!” Chu Renhe exclaimed in realization.

“Exactly!” Ye Qing smiled. “Am I correct, Sick Scholar?”

“You are,” Sick Scholar regained his cool and replied in a calm voice.

His admission caused a smile to appear on everyone’s face, but Sick Scholar immediately wiped it away with a taunt. “So what? A Stomach Worm is even rarer than a Gut Worm. By the time you found it, everyone here would be a pile of blood and skeleton already.”

“Of course, the Intelligence Department is powerful. If they’re willing to help, then you might be able to make it.”

“But wait, you just threatened to kill them where they stand. I wonder if these heartless officials would do anything to help you. Cough cough...”

Ye Qing chuckled. “Still trying to sow dissension? You should’ve become a storyteller with a mouth like yours.”

“Dissension? Is that what they call the truth these days?” Sick Scholar said scornfully. “I’m sure my jianghu brethren know better than me what kind of monsters these so-called ‘officials’ are. Tell me, brothers and sisters. Do you seriously think that the Intelligence Department will save you?”

“Not all officials are bad people, just like not all so-called ‘heroes’ are good,” Ye Qing remarked casually. “Besides, there’s no need to trouble them. The Stomach Worm may be rare, but it isn’t difficult to obtain.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? If something is rare, then how can it be easy to obtain?” Sick Scholar taunted.

Ye Qing looked down on him and smiled widely. “Of course it’s easy. After all, there’s one on your person, isn\'t there?”

Sick Scholar blanched and looked away from Ye Qing as if to hide his shock. At the same time, he coughed so loudly it was a miracle he hadn’t coughed up a lung yet.

“Stop coughing. Your Gut Worms are useless against me,” Ye Qing wrinkled his nose in disgust. He could tell that countless Gut Worms so tiny that they were practically invisible spilled out of the Sick Scholar’s mouth every time he coughed. Of course, they were turned into ash long before they got close to Ye Qing.

Seemingly realizing the same thing, Sick Scholar abruptly lifted his hand and plunged it toward his heart, eyes burning with fatalistic determination. However, his fingers had just made contact with his skin when he suddenly froze, and his face became warped with fury and hatred. His body was shaking a little as well.

It was because a large hole had appeared on his chest before he knew it. His heart was also conspicuously missing.

“So, you were hiding it inside your heart,” said a taunting voice.

Sick Scholar looked up. Ye Qing was clutching his still beating heart. Unlike a normal heart, Sick Scholar’s heart was absolutely riddled with small holes. Slimy larvae could be seen curled up within the small holes, and even more adult Gut Worms were crawling in and out of the heart.

“How did you know?” Sick Scholar glared at Ye Qing.

Ye Qing smirked. “There are larvae and eggs in your spittle. I mentioned earlier that a Gut Worm is a male Stranger, and so it can’t reproduce on its own. But since there are larvae and eggs inside your body, clearly there is a Stomach Worm inside your body.”

“If I’m not mistaken, your ‘Feed The Worms Art’ begins by implanting a Stomach Worm in your body. Then, you follow up with a Gut Worm so they may copulate and produce even more Gut Worms. This method drastically cuts down on the time you need to practice the cultivation art and prevents the Gut Worms from betraying you because of the Stomach Worm.”

Ye Qing tightened his grip over the heart a little, and the larvae and eggs were stripped off layer by layer. Eventually, a big, fat worm was exposed for all to see.

The worm was about one meter long and was as thick as a baby’s arm. It was light red in color and covered in barbs. At least one Gut Worm was clinging to each barb, which painted a strange and horrifying picture.

“So this is the Stomach Worm!” Ye Qing remarked while examining it curiously. He had read about the worm, but this was the first time he saw it for real.

Sick Scholar didn’t say anything. He simply glared at Ye Qin with burning hatred.

“You were trying to kill the Stomach Worm, weren\'t you? It’s too bad I’m faster than you.” Ye Qing ignored his stare and chuckled. “And thanks to you, I don’t need to dirty my hands to look for it.”

Sick Scholar was without a doubt a ruthless man. The moment he pointed out that he possessed the Stomach Worm, he immediately tried to kill the Stomach Worm. Although it would drastically increase the amount of time he needed to practice the “Feed The Worms Art”, it would have allowed him to maintain his hold over the jianghu warriors. Too bad for him, Ye Qing had been waiting for this.

In fact, Ye Qing had purposely provoked Sick Scholar. Although he knew that the Stomach Worm was inside his body, he didn’t know where it was exactly. That was why he provoked Sick Scholar into revealing its location himself.

“I see... you...” Sick Scholar deflated after he understood everything. It looked like he had completely given up on hope after Ye Qing had ruined his final gambit.

“Can you save us now that you have the Stomach Worm, warrior?” “Yes, please!”

“We’ll be eternally grateful if you can save us, warrior!”

Contrary to Sick Scholar’s mood, everyone was brimming with joy and excitement when they saw the Stomach Worm.

“Give me a moment.” Ye Qing smiled and removed the Gut Worms clinging to the Stomach Worm’s fleshy barbs. Then, he gently pinched the Stomach Worm twice, causing it to swell up and give off a light red-colored scent.

A few breaths later, the jianghu warriors standing closest to Ye Qing suddenly started vomiting for seemingly no reason whatsoever. However, there were Gut Worms swimming in the puddle of vomit. They were so small that they were barely the size of a cow’s hair.

After the Gut Worms had emerged into the open, they immediately started wriggling toward Ye Qing. A clear wind blew, and they all dissolved into ash.

“Blargh!”

“Ugh...”

At the same time, more and more people began throwing up the contents of their stomach. Strange noises and a disgusting stench immediately permeated the inn.

Ye Qing had expected this, so he sealed his sense of smell long before the first man began vomiting. Chu Renhe and the others weren’t so lucky. Their complexion turned green when the horrible stench hit their noses.

Some of the Gut Worms were crushed by the furious jianghu warriors, and some were burned to ash by Ye Qing’s Burning Wind.