Chapter 131: The Silver Merit Token Is a Soul Artifact

“What is this thing?” Su Cheng stared in horror at a pale, fleshy dead worm. “Was Gu Mama killed because she was parasitized? But if Gu Mama is dead, why can she still speak?”

Su Cheng fired off three questions in rapid succession.

“I don’t really know either. I only know it’s a parasite. It likes to eat brains, can ambush humans, and moves extremely fast. As for whether a human it parasitizes counts as alive or dead—I’m not sure. But I do know that once it leaves its host, the host becomes a corpse entirely. Just like Gu Mama.”

“That’s terrifying—there are worms like this? So Director Xu issued the citywide summons because of it?” Su Wuji asked calmly.

“Probably. This parasite has likely infested countless people. If it were me, I’d do everything I could to eradicate them.” Su Jin replied uncertainly.

“Su Jin, was your last leave of absence because of this?” Su Wuji asked again.

“Yes. On my way to school, a parasitized person ambushed me—I nearly had my brain eaten by this worm. Luckily, I had enough tricks up my sleeve to kill it.” Su Jin nodded.

That time was truly terrifying—I almost died.

I’m not even sure whether that little boy genuinely wanted help or was pretending to trick me.

And he’s gone now. Sigh.

So, are people parasitized by this worm considered alive or dead?

Sigh.

“Report this to Master Liu immediately.” Su Wuji didn’t hesitate—he immediately contacted Master Liu.

Since Su Wuji and Su Cheng had both contacted Master Liu, Su Jin didn’t act. Soon, Master Liu arrived.

Su Wuji quickly recounted what had happened. Master Liu listened, then immediately examined Gu Mama’s corpse and confiscated the worm’s body. Shortly after, officers from the Police Inspectorate arrived.

This time, it was a young girl, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old.

Master Liu nodded at her, then explained the entire incident. He also handed her the worm’s corpse.

The girl took the worm solemnly, then questioned Su Jin and the other three caretakers.

After hearing everyone’s accounts, she had pieced together the full sequence of events.

“Several senior students have already gone to apprehend the official who summoned you all for the meeting. As for the other caretakers who returned home, they’ve already caused minor disturbances. We heard one child from your first-year class was parasitized and taken away.”

“Three other infants under care have also been killed.”

“You’ve done well—detecting the anomaly and eliminating the worm. That’s already commendable.”

Su Jin and the other two froze in shock.

Are these parasites too effective at harming people?

The Police Inspectorate girl didn’t stay long—she left immediately.

As for Gu Mama’s corpse, Master Liu took it away.

The family has a dedicated department to handle aftermaths.

Su Wuji and Su Cheng quickly used distant-voice talismans to contact people they knew, trying to find out who else had been affected—whether it was someone from their own class.

After a long while, they finally stopped.

“Su Jin, five from our first-year class died this time—four were ambushed last night, and one today. One of them is from our class; the rest are from other classes. The one from our class—you’ll find out later. He didn’t talk to anyone and wasn’t close to any of us.”

“Yeah, five from our year died, five from third-year, but only two from second-year,” Su Cheng added.

“I never thought you could die just attending clan school,” Su Jin muttered.

“What’s this? My grandfather says when we enter the sect and take on missions, the death rate is even higher. My parents both died on a mission.” Su Wuji spoke calmly. There was no other way to speak.

Events like his parents’ were far too common in the sect.

Some mission teams went out—and not a single member ever came back.

The next morning, Master Liu came to call them back.

All the students from their class were waiting at the main gate, and so were several other first-year classes. Su Jin’s group was the last group from their class to be called back.

After their group rejoined, Master Liu began distributing small silver plaques.

Each plaque was about the length of a palm and three fingers wide.

On the back was engraved a pattern of ten thousand lotuses and a single exquisite lotus. On the front was engraved their own names.

After personally handing each of them their plaque, Master Liu continued: “Immediately drip your blood to claim ownership. Absorb the plaque into your body. If you die in the future, the sect will sense it.”

Su Jin followed suit. As she dripped her blood and claimed ownership, her expression twisted in discomfort—yet the moment the plaque recognized her, it dissolved into a streak of silver light and shot into her spiritual sense.

Huh? It’s a soul artifact.

The plaque instantly formed a silver mirror within her spiritual sense.

The mirror displayed silver text and icons showing various functions.

One function was labeled “Merit Points.” Su Jin immediately touched the icon with her spiritual force.

Su Jin: Merit Points 152.

Su Jin stared in shock. Why did she have so many Merit Points?

Could watching children really grant this many Merit Points?

“Su Jin, how many Merit Points do you have? I only have two,” Su Cheng said flatly.

“I only have two too. We just did a childcare task—how many points could you possibly get? I thought I’d get one at most,” Su Wuji said.

“Why do I only have one point while you two have two? We all did the same task,” Su Yunhu chimed in, overhearing them. He suddenly noticed the discrepancy. “Does better performance mean more Merit Points?”

“No way. I bet they killed that fast-moving parasite,” Su Linyuan added, walking over. “Didn’t our group also notice the caretaker’s anomaly? We called Master Liu in time—otherwise, that fast worm would’ve parasitized us.”

“But that worm did parasitize another caretaker.”

“Still, after Master Liu eliminated it, we lost the chance to earn more Merit Points.”

“I heard Master Liu say that groups who killed that worm would get extra Merit Points.”

“The only one in our class who could’ve killed that worm? It’s definitely Su Wuji’s group.”

Su Yunhu’s eyes widened. “I was so scared I didn’t do anything—I just ran away. You guys actually killed the worm. You’re too strong.”

“Good thing you didn’t charge in. That worm moves too fast—without special gear, you can’t kill it. You’d just get yourself killed if you rushed forward,” Su Cheng said seriously.