Chapter 504: Moved to the Point of Folly

Mu Xi's gaze flickered slightly as he asked, "I have also studied martial arts since childhood. Does Daoist Priest Pan think my aptitude is any good?"

Pan Yun said, "Average."

The smile on Mu Xi's face nearly slipped.

Pan Yun said, "What you learned is military skill, focused on hard techniques. A commander relies more on strategy, so your skill is average within the army, and even more so in the jianghu."

Mu Xi sighed, "Daoist Priest Pan need not comfort me. I understand now—my aptitude is average."

Pan Yun: "Unless one enters the Dao through enlightenment, otherwise, in our cultivation we also look at age—the earlier one starts, the better. Second Master Mu, your age…"

Mu Xi took another blow. He opened his mouth and asked, "Daoist Priest Pan, I wonder who among your lot entered the Dao through enlightenment? If I could grasp his Dao…"

Pan Yun: "Up to now, I have never seen anyone who entered the Dao purely through enlightenment."

Pan Yun pointed at herself and said, "Although my cultivation time is short, I do know that the one with the highest frequency of enlightenment is me, but I also cultivate and seek enlightenment without neglecting either."

Mu Xi deflated: "I'm afraid I'll never master the method to control corpse worms in my lifetime."

Pan Yun comforted him: "Don't lose heart. Just think—if you can't control them, you'll die in the end. I think, with that thought, you'll be able to give it your all."

Mu Xi: …

The next day, Pan Yun administered a strong dose, leaving the king worm on the brink of death, then placed it in a bowl and brought it to see Mu Xi.

"Just stare at it, imitate its cries, and imagine that you are it."

The moment he saw this plump, chubby worm, Mu Xi felt uncomfortable all over. Moreover, he could feel that as the king worm breathed, he himself found it somewhat hard to breathe.

His face changed slightly: "I—I'm still being affected by it."

Pan Yun: "That's normal. After all, the worms recognize the king worm as master. Even though it's now on the brink of death, as long as it can make a sound, it can control the worms."

Mu Xi stared at the king worm, his expression exceedingly complex.

Pan Yun whispered in his ear: "Remember, what you need to be is its substitute. As a substitute, you must learn its voice, its brainwaves, its way of thinking."

Mu Xi blinked blankly: "Then wouldn't I become a worm too?"

"How could that be?" Pan Yun said, "You are only a worm when commanding them. The rest of the time, you are human."

Whether it was Pan Yun's method taking effect, or Mu Xi had been frightened by her, from then on, he earnestly tried to imagine himself as a worm, immersing his mind to control the worms within his body. Slowly, he actually began to grasp a little of it.

Seeing his progress, Pan Yun asked about his feelings and then reduced the number of worms in him a little more.

Mu Xi's body gradually improved.

After slowly gaining control over the worms, Mu Xi's appetite grew better day by day. Most of what he ate was digested with the worms' assistance. Once the worms were well-nourished, following Pan Yun's teaching, he had them regurgitate the refined essence for him…

His body improved day by day, and color gradually returned to his cheeks.

Mu Ang still could not quite accept his son becoming a worm-person in his heart, but seeing him improve day by day, he could not help but feel gratified.

But he had another layer of worry, so he deliberately avoided everyone and invited Pan Yun to the highest point of the Mu residence to talk.

The night was deep and still; only the rustle of wind brushing through the tea trees could be heard.

Pink and red camellia petals drifted down, lending a touch of color to the dark night. Pan Yun stepped on the fallen petals as she climbed, and saw Mu Ang standing inside the tower with his hands clasped behind his back.

Pan Yun was too lazy to enter the tower. Stepping up the stairs one by one, since she had already spotted the person, she simply leaped up, like a pigeon flying into a cage, and landed beside Mu Ang with a whoosh.

Mu Ang withdrew his gaze from the distance and sized her up. "Daoist Priest Pan truly does not take the usual path."

Pan Yun: "A dark and windy night, and General Mu's timing for summoning someone is also quite unusual."

Mu Ang turned his gaze back to the distance.

Pan Yun followed his gaze and saw he was looking at the side courtyard where Mu Xi lived, so she asked, "When will General Mu let Second Master Mu move out of the side courtyard? Living in a dark place for too long makes one forget the taste of sunlight."

Mu Ang: "Corpse worms favor darkness. At the time, to pacify the worms, I had him move to the side courtyard. Naturally I want him to live where sunlight pours in, but I fear it won't be to his liking."

Pan Yun: "I have him act as the king worm's substitute, not become one for real. He is human—how could a human not love sunlight?"

Mu Ang: "Human greed is boundless. Some can control it, some cannot. Daoist Priest Pan, if one day Mu Xi cannot control the corpse worms' greed for refining essence, what should you do—and what should I, and the rest of us, do?"

Pan Yun turned her head to look at him. She did not ask why he did not trust his own son, but said, "That evil cultivator who used essence-sucking worms to absorb essence and flesh—what do you guess his cultivation level is?"

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Mu Ang said nothing.

"Not even reaching the First Marquis," Pan Yun said. "He only managed to stand against the First Marquis by relying on the power of the essence-sucking worms. Having committed so many sins, killed so many people—not lacking among them cultivators of high cultivation and talent—yet he still could not break through the First Marquis. One can see the worm's power is merely average."

"And Mu Xi's martial skill is average, and he has no cultivation at all. He can only supplement the worms' essence through food and livestock. Maintaining life is possible, but advancing further would be like ascending to heaven."

Pan Yun said, "Even with the Mu family's help, tricking people into offering flesh and blood as sacrifice would be of no use. And I believe General Mu is not such a person, and I trust the Mu household would never permit such a thing to exist."

She smiled at Mu Ang and said, "Otherwise, raising a worm-person—I too would be deeply sinful, and I would have to bear a share of this karma."

Mu Ang exhaled a breath and said with a bitter smile, "You trust Mu so readily, yet Mu himself does not have that confidence."

Pan Yun grinned at him, her eyes full of trust: "I trust you!"

Pan Yun said, "The Mu family has been in Yunnan for three generations. Mu Lin will also remain in Yunnan. His descendants—five generations, ten generations, generation after generation—will all remain in Yunnan. I believe the Prince of Mu's descendants will keep their promise, and will never do anything that harms the people of Yunnan or harms the Great Ming."

Mu Ang laughed, his eyes reddening and moistening, almost on the verge of tears: "Daoist Priest Pan is roasting Mu's heart over a fire, leaving me not a moment's peace."

Pan Yun watched him in silence.

Mu Ang looked toward the side courtyard again and said softly, "Rest assured, I will keep watch over him. I will never let him go astray and tarnish the ancestors' reputation."

Pan Yun also looked toward the side courtyard. The two fell silent, a long stretch without speaking.

The night breeze blew gently. Pan Yun turned her head slightly and saw the frost in Mu Ang's temples. Somehow, she thought of her own father, whom she had not seen for many years.

Her heart softened, and before she realized it, she had already spoken: "General Mu, I have a cultivation method that might suit him. Mu Lin can also cultivate it."

The moment the words left her mouth, Pan Yun could not help but bite her own tongue. Pain shot through, and she came back to herself.

Mu Ang was already looking at her with a face full of pleasant surprise.

Facing his gaze, Pan Yun found she could not bring herself to take back her words. (End of chapter)