<h4>Chapter 394: Stomach Worm </h4>
“What if he doesn’t have a cure?” A <i>jianghu </i>warrior voiced his doubt. “Sick Schr isn’t stupid. If he’s audacious enough to hold an entire inn of people hostage, then I’m sure he would’ve hidden the cure at a secure location.”
But Ye Qing shook his head. “There is no reason for Sick Schr to hide the cure since he has no idea that the Intelligence Department wasing. That is why I’m fairly sure that the cure is on his person.”
Ye Qing grabbed Sick Schr’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 breathster, Ye Qing looked up at the <i>jianghu </i>warriors and let out an awkwardugh. “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 Schr’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-ss 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 Schr and asked, “Am I right, Sick Schr?”
“You’re quite the knowledgeable man, warrior. You have my respect.” Sick Schr 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 Schr.”
Sick Schr’s grin grew increasingly manic. “I do, but if I’m dying, then you’re alling with me. It would be a worthy death.”
However, Ye Qing chuckled and pped Sick Schr at the back of their head. “No one’s dying today except you, brother.”
Sick Schr froze and withdrew his grin. He looked up at Ye Qing with cold calction 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 Schr challenged.
“You just need the Stomach Worm, am I right?” Ye Qing replied.
“You—how did you know about that?” Sick Schr’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. <i>This is why you study, people!</i>
“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 exined.
“If that’s true... then we can draw out the Gut Worms with the Stomach Worm!” Chu Renhe eximed in realization.
“Exactly!” Ye Qing smiled. “Am I correct, Sick Schr?”
“You are,” Sick Schr regained his cool and replied in a calm voice.
His admission caused a smile to appear on everyone’s face, but Sick Schr 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 be a storyteller with a mouth like yours.”
“Dissension? Is that what they call the truth these days?” Sick Schr said scornfully. “I’m sure my <i>jianghu </i>brethren know better than me what kind of <i>monsters</i> 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 Schr 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 Schr nched 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 Schr’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 Schr 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 arge 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 Schr looked up. Ye Qing was clutching his still beating heart. Unlike a normal heart, Sick Schr’s heart was absolutely riddled with small holes. Slimyrvae 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 Schr red at Ye Qing.
Ye Qing smirked. “There arervae 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 arervae 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 imnting a Stomach Worm in your body. Then, you follow up with a Gut Worm so they may copte 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 thervae and eggs were stripped offyer byyer. 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 Schr didn’t say anything. He simply red 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 Schr 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 <i>jianghu </i>warriors. Too bad for him, Ye Qing had been waiting for this.
In fact, Ye Qing had purposely provoked Sick Schr. 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 Schr into revealing its location himself.
“I see... you...” Sick Schr deted after he understood everything. It looked like he hadpletely 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 Schr’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 breathster, the <i>jianghu </i>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.
“rgh!”
“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. Theirplexion turned green when the horrible stench hit their noses.
Some of the Gut Worms were crushed by the furious <i>jianghu </i>warriors, and some were burned to ash by Ye Qing’s Burning Wind.