Chapter 390: Flatter Each Other

She had meant it as a joke to ease the awkward atmosphere, but the recent events had been so shocking that when Ye Wenxin finished speaking, no one reacted or played along.

Meanwhile, in the sandalwood box, the Yin Fetus and the corpse worm continued their lively game of chase. Finding it dull, Ye Wenxin used the golden pen to nudge the Yin Fetus a bit.

The corpse worm seemed to relax, then rose up slightly to look proudly at Ye Wenxin, as if it were showing off.

“You’d better keep running.” The sight perplexed Ye Wenxin, and she wondered how a corpse worm could even be so smug.

Understanding Ye Wenxin’s words, the Yin Fetus immediately lunged at the corpse worm again. Another round of chase ensued, and the corpse worm, now exhausted, stood up and bowed to Ye Wenxin, as if begging for her forgiveness.

Ye Wenxin once again made the Yin Fetus stop and continued, “You can understand what I’m saying, right?”

The corpse worm immediately nodded. The onlookers, who initially thought Ye Wenxin was being fanciful, were astonished to see that the corpse worm had gained intelligence and could understand human language.

“Then, were you the one responsible for what happened on the ship?” Ye Wenxin asked again. The corpse worm immediately opened its mouth, revealing a set of teeth that resembled those of a jiangshi, much larger than its tiny exterior would suggest.

Ye Wenxin finally understood the cause of the jiangshi transformation but still found it hard to believe.

A single corpse worm, even after a millennium, wouldn’t normally possess such high intelligence. However, according to records of supernatural phenomena, if a corpse worm underwent blood refinement, it could develop a certain level of intelligence. These corpse worms were extremely rare, and could even be used as a medicinal catalyst, potentially leading to the creation of tenth-grade pills.

A tenth-grade pill was the pinnacle of alchemy, the peak that the current Ye Wenxin could only gaze up at. She was unsure if it was Gu Xiangsi’s exceptional luck or her own peach blossom luck that had drawn out this worm.

Although the latter thought seemed somewhat unrealistic, Ye Wenxin still decided to ask one more question.

“Are you male or female?”

The corpse worm remained silent, either not understanding the question, or unsure how to respond. Ye Wenxin thought for a moment and then added, “If you’re male, nod your head; if you’re female, shake your head.”

The corpse worm immediately shook its head. Ye Wenxin’s expression became complex, but the onlookers couldn’t understand why she would ask such an odd question after all the serious inquiries.

But Ye Wenxin still seemed unconvinced. She looked at the drooling Yin Fetus and said, “Yin Fetus, if you’re male, nod your head; if you’re female, shake your head.”

The Yin Fetus had no intelligence and only responded with a sinister smile. Ghost Mother, thinking Ye Wenxin was acting a bit stupid tonight, emerged from the umbrella sword and added, “This Yin Fetus is the most basic type and has no intelligence, but it is indeed female.”

Ye Wenxin was even more displeased upon hearing this. She simply made a noncommittal sound, collected the sandalwood box, and instructed the group to keep a close watch on the two jiangshi before returning to her room.

Even with the culprit captured, the others remained cautious, maintaining their original order until morning. When they saw the two jiangshi turn to ash in the sunlight, they finally sighed with relief.

Ye Wenxin then returned to the deck, and took out the sandalwood box once more.

The corpse worm was lazily sleeping in the sandalwood box. When it sensed the light, it discontentedly opened its eyes. Upon seeing Ye Wenxin, it immediately sat up in fear, and wiggled a few steps toward her.

Although it showed no expression, its demeanor was clearly ingratiating.

“I’ve heard that you can evolve. Will you be able to learn Thunderbolt¹?” Ye Wenxin found new amusement in the thought. She recalled that caterpillars could metamorphose into butterflies after breaking free from their cocoons. Similarly, spirit beasts in this world indeed had a concept of evolution.

Snakes could transform into flood dragons, and eventually into true dragons; 

Crows could become phoenixes and even bring the dead back to life;

Looking at this always smug corpse worm, Ye Wenxin felt it should have some evolutionary potential as well.

The indigenous corpse worm looked confused, not understanding Ye Wenxin’s reference to ‘Thunderbolt’. Instead, it continued to approach Ye Wenxin eagerly, believing its appearance to be adorable.

To Ye Wenxin, however, the corpse worm was quite repugnant. She disdainfully poked it with the golden pen, and the worm immediately played dead, trying to please Ye Wenxin. Ye Wenxin found it entertaining and found some raw meat to feed it, thinking of fattening it up to use it as a medicinal catalyst for pills.

The corpse worm remained oblivious to its fate, assuming that its cute appearance was the reason for Ye Wenxin’s favor, so it continued trying to endear itself to her.

Gu Xiangsi, frightened by the sight of worms, was perplexed at how Ye Wenxin could play with the creature for hours. She watched from a distance, and wished Ye Wenxin would pay more attention to her instead, yet lacked the courage to join in the play.

Ye Wenxin continued to study the corpse worm with great interest. From a distance, the woman in black observed her, her lips slightly moving as if she were saying something.

The corpse worm listened and then wiggled its body up and down, as if trying to acknowledge something…

Another day passed, and fear of the jiangshi gradually faded with time. By the next morning, they would reach the opposite shore of the sea, and everyone was feeling quite cheerful.

Ye Wenxin relaxed. Although she still had many questions about the woman in black, she chose to go with the flow. After all, the woman hadn’t shown any killing intent towards her, or harmed anyone else on the ship.

It was like the saying: “If you don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with you.” Ye Wenxin decided not to involve herself further, and add to her own romantic troubles.

She was lying on the bed while Ghost Mother and Sword Ghost were feeding. Underneath the bed, five differently colored furballs were playing around.

“When did you birth so many of these balls?” Ye Wenxin asked, observing the five furballs. Aside from their colors, they were identical, with no discernible differences. After learning from Ghost Mother that each furball had different abilities, Ye Wenxin thought maybe she could exercise with Ghost Mother a bit, and create a whole soccer team of furballs.

Ghost Mother glared at Ye Wenxin and said with dissatisfaction, “How would I know? They can multiply on their own. If you think there are too many, Master, I can eat a few.”

Ye Wenxin felt awkward, not understanding what she said had caused Ghost Mother’s misunderstanding. She hurriedly explained, “They look quite cute…”

Ye Wenxin felt her own children were just too adorable, especially compared to the corpse worm over there trying to be cute. However, Ghost Mother seemed quite upset. “What about me? Am I cute?”

Ghost Mother’s attitude increasingly resembled that of a cat, making it hard for Ye Wenxin to figure her out. But seeing the opportunity to flatter her, Ye Wenxin smiled and held Ghost Mother close, saying, “Of course, you’re cute, Ghost Mother! The cutest in the world!”

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Footnotes:

1. 1. Thunderbolt, or 十万伏特 (One Hundred Thousand Volts), is Pikachu’s signature move. I think the Chinese name is derived from the original Japanese version, 10まんボルト (pronounced as juuman boruto), which means the same in English. ↩︎