Bai Xuan’s palm, as wide as a cattail leaf fan, struck my face heavily as he cursed, “I’ll f*ck your… mother…”
Seizing the moment, I opened my mouth wide and spat the black blood I had been holding onto Bai Xuan with a *pfft*. Unable to dodge, his bare torso was instantly covered in the black blood. Within seconds, countless worms of varying sizes surged out from the blood.
Bai Xuan was so terrified he immediately burst into tears, wetting his pants as he staggered backward. Having lived half his life, he had likely never seen so many worms before. My mouth and face were swollen, so I could only watch Bai Xuan’s silhouette through the slits of my eyes. I let out a maniacal laugh, my voice as sinister as a demon from hell, grinding my teeth in fury. Bai Xuan scrambled to his feet, grabbing a water bottle from the interrogation table in an attempt to wash off the black blood, frantically wiping away the worms crawling out of the blood with his discarded shirt.
The swarm of worms grew thicker and thicker, writhing all over Bai Xuan’s body. Two of them had already reached his rear, and with a quick flick of their heads, they burrowed inside. Bai Xuan let out a sharp cry that carried an inexplicable hint of relief.
What happened next completely changed me. It made me realize that beneath human society, there existed another hidden, mysterious world. In that world, aside from water monkey-like monsters, there were also venomous worms raised by malicious individuals.
And these worms killed without batting an eye.
Bai Xuan’s throat produced horrifying screams and desperate moans. Finally, he grabbed the water bottle from the table, unscrewed the cap, and poured the water over himself. The worms, upon contact with water, multiplied wildly, quickly covering Bai Xuan’s flabby body in a dense, squirming mass—like maggots feasting on rotting flesh.
If I had anything left in my stomach, I would have vomited it all out. Soon, the only part of Bai Xuan not completely covered in worms was his eyeballs. Through his exposed pupils, I could see his desperate yearning for life and his terror of death.
Everyone reacts the same way when death comes knocking.
Even the cruel and ruthless Bai Xuan was no exception.
And I, too, was on the brink of death, only able to watch him with sympathy, powerless to help. Strangely, I didn’t resent him for beating me. Instead, I felt the helplessness of human fate. Both Bai Xuan and I were about to be devoured by a swarm of worms.
Bai Xuan’s fate taught me that making deals with the devil often leaves no trace of you behind. Who could that person who called him have been?
Still covered in worms, Bai Xuan continued to struggle, his screams growing hoarser until they faded into silence. The only sound left in the air was the rustling of the worms chewing—like silkworms feasting on mulberry leaves. A brain-eating worm suddenly sprang up from the ground, landing right on Bai Xuan’s crown. The brain-eating worm was one of the most vicious and powerful creatures raised by insect masters. A bite from it could leave a person severely brain-damaged at best, or reduced to a mangled, unrecognizable corpse at worst.
I closed my eyes, unable to bear the sight any longer.
Bai Xuan’s body collapsed like a crumbling mountain, the rustling growing louder and more frenzied. Then came a deathly silence. But none of it concerned me anymore. Regrets like years of hard study no longer mattered.
I felt my soul floating above, my bloated body now nothing more than food for the worms.
Outside the interrogation room door, there was a violent banging. Two on-duty officers shouted, “Brother Bai…”
“Is something wrong in there?”
“Brother Bai…”
The door was finally forced open.
I heard one officer exclaim, “Wasn’t Bai Xuan in here? Where’d he go?”
I didn’t know if I was dead or alive, having temporarily lost consciousness.
When I woke up, two days had passed. I looked up through the hospital window and saw two plainclothes officers standing guard outside. My mother sat by my bedside, her eyes red and swollen from crying countless times.
“Mom. What do I look like now? Am I going to die? Get me a mirror. Do I look hideous?” I asked, still shaken.
My mother handed me a mirror. The reflection still resembled a human—I could still be recognized as her son—but my cheekbones were sunken, my face gaunt.
I should have been eaten alive by those worms. Why am I completely unharmed?
I took a deep breath—my lungs felt fine, with no lingering effects from my previous tuberculosis. My heartbeat was steady, as if everything that had happened was just a bad dream.
My mother forced a smile. “I made you some porridge. Try to eat a little.” But from her swollen eyes, I could tell things were far from getting better. As she ladled the porridge into a bowl, she suddenly muttered angrily, “That old bastard Long Youshui. He really passed his legacy to you. That damn old man.” It was the first time she had ever referred to my grandfather by name, and with such venom.
I was her only son. Her resentment toward my grandfather was understandable. I gave a bitter smile and told her not to blame him. “Didn’t you always say everyone has their own fate? Maybe this is mine…”
The meat porridge in the white ceramic bowl was just the right temperature, garnished with two slices of ginger and a sprinkle of green onions. As I inhaled the aroma, I opened my mouth to take a spoonful from my mother. But the moment my teeth bit into a shred of meat, a wave of nausea hit me. I spat everything out. With nothing left in my stomach, I retched several times.
The image of Bai Xuan covered in worms was seared into my mind. Watching him die in such a gruesome way would traumatize anyone, and I was no exception. For the next six months, I couldn’t stomach meat.
My mother quickly changed the bedsheet and suggested, “Then eat some fruit instead.” I asked, “What happened to Officer Bai, the one interrogating me?”
My mother replied, “Bai Xuan? He vanished without a trace. He wasn’t at the station. Or at home. A grown man just disappeared. No one knows where he went.”
I fell silent. Suddenly, I remembered a passage from *The Compendium*—if a worm master’s venomous insects failed to claim a life, the backlash would harm the master himself. The “meat dish” my grandfather had specially prepared for me had ensured the brain-eating worm and venomous centipede inside me couldn’t kill me. Instead, I had expelled them, and poor Bai Xuan had become their substitute feast.
The brain-eating worm had devoured Bai Xuan’s brain and marrow, while the other worms consumed his flesh and organs.
Was it really a worm master? I couldn’t be sure. But one thing was certain—if not for that dish my grandfather made me eat, the one vanishing without a trace would have been me.
Whoever used those worms was ruthless beyond belief, their methods unfathomable. And the person who had called Bai Xuan that night was likely the very same one who had set the worms on me.
While I was lost in thought, my mother peeled an apple for me. I looked at her seriously and said, “Mom, go home for now. Try not to go out unless necessary. When you get back, find a pair of old-fashioned bound-foot socks—one for you, one for Dad.” After a pause, I added, “Buy a few crates of bottled water. Don’t drink from the well. Eat boiled eggs only. Nothing else. Wait for me to come home.” Without asking further, she nodded and said she’d remember.
“Trust the government. Trust the system,” my mother said before leaving with the porridge, leaving behind three peeled apples.
Staring at the apples, my eyes burned red.
Deep down, I feared that if the worm-user turned their attention to my parents, I would be the greatest sinner. When my grandfather died, I hadn’t felt much grief—after all, emotional bonds grow from time spent together. But my parents were different… Over twenty years of love and care, the bond of flesh and blood—how could that ever be severed?
I devoured the apples my mother had peeled for me, determined to regain my strength and find a solution. Trapped in the hospital, I couldn’t act freely, and I didn’t want my mother getting involved in matters related to my grandfather.
Who would come to interrogate me next? The first to enter was Ma Yan.
Ma Yan had many freckles and a broken eyebrow—physiognomy books claimed such features foretold imprisonment in middle age. Well-nourished with fair skin, she didn’t look like someone raised in the countryside. Tall and dressed less conservatively than expected, her eyes brimmed with regret the moment she saw me.
The moment she stepped in, she said, “Mr. Xiao, I’m sorry. I failed to recognize your greatness. Please don’t blame me. I was just misled by Bai Xuan.”
Ma Yan knew Bai Xuan’s fate and assumed I was the one who had dealt with him. Remembering my threat of having a hundred ways to punish her, she had come to me in fear.
I knew evil would always be met with evil, so I didn’t bother explaining. Coldly, I said, “Do you really think it’s that simple?”
Ma Yan seemed to deliberately flaunt her youthful figure as she hinted suggestively, “Mr. Xiao, if you’re willing, I could invite you to a private dinner… to make amends…”
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