Although she wanted to inform her teachers immediately, she had trouble explaining it. After all, the worm was undetectable to the human eye, and she didn't want to reveal her new ability. Of course, if she hadn't found out anything, she would have been forced to do so anyway.
However, for now, I should find out something myself first.
The library wasn't huge. The Eastern Outer Court was considered the poorest in the entire sect, so their academy wasn't very impressive either. However, there were still several thousand volumes there, even though most of them weren't of the best quality and were quite old.
Despite this, there are still quite a few books here about diseases, beasts, and strange phenomena. As long as I can find any important information, it will be fine. Apart from me, almost no one knows anything.
She started by picking out a few books. The library was almost empty, as most people were trying to isolate themselves in fear of the epidemic. However, there were still a few brave souls who visited the library anyway. Leaving the room was not completely forbidden.
May started with the book “Bestiary of the Yellow Mountain Region.” It described all, or at least most, of the creatures inhabiting the region. The Yellow Mountain Region was the region where she currently resided. It was a mountainous area bordering the Great Black Forest and the Swamp Monster Area, as well as the Ocean to the north. This region was therefore isolated from the rest of the continent.
The bestiary itself was written in verse and was full of incomprehensible phrases and terms. It was difficult to understand anything, and the lack of illustrations and strange squiggly writing didn't help. It took May a long time to decipher even a single page. She decided it was a waste of time.
The next book she picked up was “Unexplained Phenomena of the Region.” It described strange occurrences that had taken place on the continent in different years. It was written in much more accessible language. Unfortunately, the book was very long, so she could only skim through it and look for key words.
In the small village of Flrua in the Giledia Clan, about a hundred years before the witch, a strange phenomenon related to sleep took place.
Finally, she noticed an interesting passage, and stopped on that page when she saw the word “sleep.” She began to read on with hope.
All the inhabitants of this village had the same dream. As it later turned out, they dreamed about what they called the “Bug God.”
She became even more curious; after all, she had found a bug in her cookie! Could there be a connection?
However, this was discovered many years later. The inhabitants were reluctant to talk about it and kept it a secret. Their self-proclaimed god visited them in their dreams and demanded their complete loyalty in exchange for his protection.
The inhabitants of Flrua kept this secret for years. The whole situation was uncovered when one of the cultivators from the Giledia Clan discovered decomposing bodies in a tree trunk.
Cultivators were sent to investigate. They identified over two thousand corpses in more than 500 different trees in the nearby forest (including the corpses of infants, small children, women, and the elderly, as well as about 30 cultivators of various levels).
The village was immediately destroyed and all its inhabitants killed by the higher ranks of the Giledia Clan, as they were considered to be the breeding ground of the Evil Cultivators.
Although the truth about their ‘God’ has not been revealed, the most popular theories claim that it was indeed the work of the Evil Cultivators.
May finished reading and began to wonder. After a moment, however, she decided that apart from the word “sleep” and “worm,” nothing else made sense. A hundred years before the witch meant over 150 years, which didn't make chronological sense, plus the Giledia Clan was on the other side of the Region, and so were the small details. No one there fell into a coma, and there had been no mention of any God until now.
That's not it. I have to keep looking.
She began to flip through the pages, acknowledging that the book was intriguing, yet wondering how much of it was accurate and how much was exaggerated to capture the reader's attention. She came to the conclusion that this thick book was not the best source of information.
She picked up another book, this time about medical conditions. This book was much more disgusting, as it contained very graphic and unpleasant images of various diseases.
At least it is written in normal language and seems to be reliable.
Unfortunately, she doubted that it was a disease. Although the worm could have been some kind of parasite, she suspected something else. Besides, the book focused more on cultivation-related diseases than parasites.
The book wasn't as thick as the previous one, but the problem was that, unlike modern books, it wasn't organized in any way. It wasn't alphabetical, nor was it sorted by type of disease. All the diseases and injuries seemed to be randomly scattered throughout the book, rather than organized in any meaningful way, depending on what the author was describing at the time. This made it impossible to find anything quickly and required looking through the entire book.
Before she got her bearings, she had wasted over three hours without any results. That meant progress of one book per hour. Too slow. She felt disappointed because she knew that at this pace it would be difficult for her to achieve anything. She rested her head on her hands and sighed deeply. She was truly at a dead end.
“Is something wrong?” Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice. It was Deng Zhifang.
"Besides the epidemic at school? Apart from that, everything is fine."
“However, I don't think that's entirely true. If I can, I'll gladly help you,” he said.
May thought about it. He also had a lot to do with this case. He had received threatening letters along with Senlin, so he might be another victim. Therefore, summarizing the events for him should not be a problem.
She explained the situation to him and told him everything that had happened so far.
“I see... But wouldn't it be better to go to the authorities? It doesn't sound like a problem we should try to solve on our own,” he asked. May, of course, skipped the part where she created a new ability, so he didn't know that the bug was invisible to the naked eye.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“You have to trust me. I didn't ask you about your secrets, so don't ask me about mine,” she replied briefly.
The boy nodded.
“All right. If that's what you want, I don't mind. You helped me, so I'll help you. Just tell me what to do.”
“First, you have to help me find information about something similar. We need to find out what it is.” She said, then picked up three books and handed them to him. “You start with these, I'll take those.”
“Paranormal magical beasts? Ghosts and Monsters? Demonic Possessions Explained? Strange titles, do we really have to check all those books?” he said, reading the covers of the books.
“Yes, because we still don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
With Deng Zhifang's help, everything started to progress more quickly. Having any kind of support also boosted her morale. People are social creatures, and working alone can be demotivating, especially when there is so much work to be done.
Although May was tired, she spent a few more hours there with the boy. They managed to find a few roughly matching pieces. In the end, they narrowed it down to three possible candidates. Unfortunately, the problem was that although they were more or less the same, some of the details didn't match exactly in any of the options they found.
“We have three possible leads, but I'm skeptical,” May said with a slight sigh of irritation. “Everything fits a little, but nothing fits completely.”
Deng Zhifang said nothing and was deep in thought. He seemed to be pondering the whole situation. He spoke only after a moment.
“At least we're making some progress. Let's organize everything in one place, then it will be easier for us to assess what is most likely.”
He began to rewrite the content in a shorter form, marking the things that matched and didn't match.
The Curse of Sheng Lou's Wife
Summary: After discovering the tomb that belonged to one of the ancient leaders of the now extinct Rock Crane Clan, a golden chest containing the clan's insignia was found. The chest was taken to the Blue Dragon Sect's headquarters. They were unable to find a way to open the chest, so it was opened by force.
Inside, they found many pieces of jewelry made of gold and jade, which were believed to have belonged to the wife of the Rock Crane Clan leader (his wife's name remains unknown and is only a hypothesis).
The treasures were distributed among the clan, mainly to female members.
Those who received the jewelry later fell into a coma, causing mass panic in the clan. After the death of the first women, post-mortem examinations were carried out and worms were found in their brains, which were believed to have caused the initial coma and death.
The cause was traced back to the jewelry and the curse placed on it. Those who had worn the jewelry for the shortest amount of time were able to break the curse with strong medicine and magic created by the leader of the Blue Dragon cult himself, but those who had already fallen into a coma were considered beyond hope.
After the incident, all the jewelry was destroyed. It was later named the “Curse of Sheng Lou's Wife,” and the events led to the deaths of over 15 individuals and caused mass hysteria.
Arguments for:
- The Blue Dragon sect is located nearby so it could easily have reached the Island Mountain Sect
- Coma among many people
- Worms in the body
Arguments against:
- The jewelry was destroyed
- Where would the jewelry have come from?
- No jewelry was seen on any of the victims
- This does not explain the behavior of Senlin and the worm in the cookie.
“I don't know, I don't think that's it,” said May.
“But I think that's exactly what it is. It makes sense to me, especially since the Blue Dragon Sect hates us and we're in constant conflict. Maybe they didn't really destroy the jewelry?”
“But Wang Wang and Senlin don't wear jewelry. Besides, the source is jewelry, not cookies.”
“My theory is this: the Blue Dragon Sect hates us. They kept the jewelry and researched it. They figured out how the curse works and made it transferable even without the jewelry. Now they want to wipe out the entire future generation of cultivators, which would be a huge blow to our sect.”
“It makes sense, but...” May pondered. "After all, the Blue Dragon Sect is a righteous sect. Such actions, if discovered, would be considered a betrayal of the region's values and would make them public enemy number one, not only to us but to other sects as well. They would become an Evil Sect."
Although all the sects in the region appeared to be independent, the truth was that there were many unwritten rules. If a sect began inhumane experiments on cultivators or mass genocide, it would be labeled an Evil Sect and become the target of the entire region, which would have a reason to seize its territories and resources.
Despite its isolation, the Yellow Mountain Region still had a Heavenly Court Branch. It was an organization from the Primordial Continent Xian that did not accept some evil acts. Such a sect would have been destroyed.
"Only if it gets discovered... Anyway, let's look at other options." He said.
Woman of the Willow
Summary: The Woman of the Willow was an evil cultivator of unknown identity who operated in the city of Klin, within the North Martial Fist Sect, around 200 years ago. She was given this name because the city of Klin was famous for a thousand-year-old willow tree that grew in the very center of the city. According to rumors, it was there that she abducted children. It is estimated that about 35 children of various ages died as a result of her actions.
Her targets were individuals under the age of 20, due to her unusual cultivation method. Although she was never caught, her cultivation method was later called the “Woman of the Willow Technique.” It is believed that this technique involved gathering growth energy (which only exists in those who began cultivating before the age of 20). The victims would fall into a coma, and then crystals rich in growth energy would begin to grow inside their bodies.
These crystals were named willowite and could aid in cultivation. The woman was never found, but it is theorized that she was at the Golden Core stage.
Arguments for:
-
Coma affecting young people.
-
If she was at the Golden Core stage, she could still be alive despite having acted 200 years ago.
-
Children in the academy had a lot of growth energy, so they could have been her targets.
-
A person at the Golden Core stage would be capable of breaking into the academy.
Arguments against:
-
The North Martial Fist Sect is located quite far away.
-
A 200-year gap between killings.
- Nothing to do with worms
May personally suspected this theory the most. Although two hundred years might seem like a long period, for people at that stage it was not particularly long. Cultivators at the Golden Core stage could live for hundreds of years, and even close to a thousand if they had reached that stage at a young age.
This would also explain why almost only the most talented were targeted — because they possessed the greatest amount of growth energy.
May looked at the last page, which held the final possibility.
The Glendol Parasite
Summary: A parasitic intelligent race of unknown origin. On the continent of Gurio, it occurs exclusively in the Swamp Monster Area. Takes form of a parasite on the bodies of humans and other animals. It is highly intelligent and capable of complex behavior. It is highly adaptable and can take on the appearance of other creatures, including humans. It is transmitted by consuming the queen's ‘seed’ An infected person becomes the queen and begins to create ‘seeds’ in the form of worms and infects other life forms around them.
People who have undergone transformation by the parasite try to mimic the behavior of their victims so as not to arouse suspicion from others. In the meantime, they are busy spreading the queen's “seeds” until the entire village is taken over by the Glendol parasite.
There are documented cases of entire ‘human’ villages that are actually parasites mimicking humans. The queen can only create ‘seeds’ that infect individuals of the same race as her. The queen is unable to infect those stronger than herself.
Arguments for:
- Worms used for infection
- Senlin's strange behavior can be explained by her body being taken over by parasites.
Arguments against:
- No information about falling into a coma
-
According to the book, they do not leave the territory of the Swamp Monster Area.
- They try not to draw attention to themselves, but in this case they definitely are.
May thought about it.
“Ugh, I hope it's not that,” she said after a moment.
“Yes. That would be the worst option, wouldn't it?”
“I don't know if it's the worst. It's definitely better than Woman of the Willow, because she would be at the Golden Core stage.”
“I guess so,” he said. “May, listen, I think it's time to tell someone about this.”
May nodded. Regardless of the option, it was serious.
They got up and wanted to go inform someone.
However, they didn't know that all this time, someone had been listening to them.