E book 5: Chapter 31: The Monster Inside My Head

The primary idea the Puppet Worm ever discovered was agony.

It was crafted in a jar filled with poison and corruptive Qi. Its flesh and really soul burned on the contact. It flailed and thrashed, as inside moments of its start it was gripped by considered one of its siblings. The pincers pierced its flesh and its sibling tried to eat it. The Puppet Worm had flailed tougher on the sensation, and whereas its sibling had caught its rear it reached down and impaled its sibling’s head.

It was hungry, so it feasted. One other of its siblings tried to kill it, so it ate them too. It needed to maintain consuming—it needed to gasoline its physique’s repairs, because it was continually regrowing flesh destroyed by its atmosphere.

It ate and ate and ate till it was the one one left—after which it began consuming the poison too, till that was drained. And nonetheless, the torment didn’t cease.

In the future, it was plucked out of its jar and introduced into the sunshine. Its pores and skin burned. Its eyes had been blinded. It writhed as soon as extra with ache. It was reduce open. It was crushed. It was stabbed. It had overseas Qi shoved into it day after agonizing day.

After which it was positioned into its first Host. It did as its instincts demanded, burrowing into its mind and attaching to its backbone. The Host was confused. Confused, and terrified, because it felt its management over his physique disappear.

However nonetheless the agony didn’t relent.

Limbs it by no means had earlier than screamed as that they had been damaged. Its new throat was uncooked from the maddened howling. Its physique shook from fever it had gotten from having to outlive on this chilly wretched place.

However the worst factor was the reminiscences, the ache that they had inside them. It relived the destruction of its village and the ache of shedding buddies. It relived the tortures visited upon it because it curled up right into a ball and whimpered.

[Directive. Stand.]

The command reverberated by means of its being. It couldn’t! It was hurting an excessive amount of!

The ache elevated.

[Directive. Stand.]

The Puppet Worm pressured itself to its toes this time. A brand new sensation, worry, driving it ahead. If it didn’t obey, it could harm extra. The Host begged it to face. The Host confirmed it how, in order that among the struggling could be alleviated.

So it pressured the dying Host to its toes. It staggered round.

Among the ache vanished. Some measure of aid got here, because it diminished from an all-consuming blinding horror to a boring throb.

Its eyes adjusted to the darkish room. Its eyes noticed the hunched and huddled types of others. Others the Host acknowledged.

[Directive. Kill.]

As soon as extra the command reduce by means of the Puppet Worm. The Host, at first relieved, abruptly misplaced that feeling. As a substitute, dread began to manifest in its thoughts.

Please. Please no. The Host begged, however the ache was beginning up once more.

The Puppet Worm raised the Host’s fist. It leapt upon one of many hunched and huddled types. It swung with all its would possibly because the Host pleaded for it to cease.

However it couldn’t cease. Even when it may, it could not.

As a result of because it struck, because the factor beneath it began to scream, the ache lastly went away.

And thus, the Puppet Worm discovered.

The one time the place it didn’t really feel agony was when it was inflicting it upon others.

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It was torn out of its previous Host and positioned in a field. There, it went to sleep, feeling nothing however satisfaction and aid.

After which, it was launched once more into one other Host. Into one other set of reminiscences.

The directives grew to become extra advanced. It was given issues to say. It was given aims to finish.

And every time it did so, it could really feel good.Cheêck out newest novels at novelhall.com

Every time it did so, the Hosts acquired stronger… however none of them lasted lengthy. Their our bodies couldn’t deal with the Puppet Worm’s existence because it extracted each scrap of energy from them. It acquired higher at taking a look at its Hosts’ reminiscences. It acquired higher at utilizing their data and methods.

And someplace alongside the best way, it began to really feel delight in what it did. It started to stay up for the time when it as soon as extra had a Host and it might be unleashed.

In a Host, it was not only a Puppet Worm. It was as an alternative a robust cultivator, a being of fury and Qi. It may carve up the land. It may stand beneath the glare of the solar.

It was mighty, then. Even the methods from its Hosts’ reminiscences would kill the Host couldn’t contact it. It might burn out the Host’s physique, to make sure, however there was one factor the Puppet Worm knew:

There have been all the time extra Hosts. It might be retrieved. It might as soon as extra have each the facility, after which, the blessed painless sleep.

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It slept for an extended, very long time. It slept, and it was good.

After which, it was as soon as extra woke up.

[Directive Prime: Commence Assault on Target Location. Use all available force.]

Instructions flashed in its thoughts.

[Directive Prime: Kill Target with highest cultivation.]

[Directive Prime: Do not, through action or inaction, allow Target Little Star to come to harm.]

A Goal with inexperienced hair appeared.

[Directive Secondary: If Directive Prime is accomplished, proceed to Capture Target Little Star.]

The Puppet Worm acknowledged its directives and was launched. It ate into its Host’s mind and hooked up itself to its backbone.

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Its present Host was probably the most highly effective one it had so far been in. The Host’s Qi was a heady factor. His reminiscences of fight had been chic. The quantity of struggling it may inflict was unparalleled.

However it was constructed for this. Glutted on Qi. Buried within the Host’s Mind. The ache was nothing in comparison with what it had endured earlier than.

It clamped its pincers down and shrieked with victory because the Host’s will began to crumble once more.

But its mouth moved with out its command.

“There are two extra!” the Host’s mouth bellowed. “One makes use of poison! That is the distraction drive!”

The Goal, who had been drawing again his fist, paused, his eyes widening.

“You’ve gotten my thanks in your restraint in opposition to my disciples! To my disgrace, I’m crushed. The beast in my cranium has bested me. All that’s left is that this: My most Profound Method! Knowledgeable of the Cloudy Sword Sect! Grant this Zang Zeng a worthy dying!”

The Puppet Worm bit down once more. The voice went silent.

The Puppet Worm was in management.

It rose barely increased as pure energy flooded its physique. Because it transcended each restrict. Because it grew to become mild, the sunshine not burned it.

[Directive Prime: Kill Target with highest cultivation.]

The Puppet Worm stared down at its Goal. The Goal appeared up upon the pillar of lightning… and his knife-hand grew to become much less inflexible.

The gold receded. His stance widened. He introduced each fingers up and clasped them collectively in entrance of him. His arms prolonged as he braced, like he was going to climate the oncoming storm.

“I’ll do you one higher, Zeng.”

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An previous man knelt earlier than a river, behind him sat quite a few disciples. He traced his finger by means of the sand and nodded as among the river adopted its new course. It adopted its new course, till it hit a downhill slope.

“Water is life,” the previous man stated, his horns rising to the sky. “However so too is it dying. An excessive amount of water is dying. Too little water is dying. Thus, a farmer should discover ways to Divert The Waters: to deliver it the place it’s little, and take it away from the place it’s too plentiful. Water could also be used to each nurture…”

It picked up velocity and straight away it smashed into a bit of village product of sand, wiping it from existence.

“And devastate.”

The previous man turned solemn eyes to them.

“He who controls the water controls life and dying; victory and defeat.”

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Time slowed because the sky burned like day. There could be no working from this. It was too quick. It was too immense.

So I needed to do one thing else.

Ultimately… water was a metaphor for vitality. For Qi.

“To be upon this path is to be a grasp over a small a part of the cycle of life and dying.”

Divert The Waters managed that vitality. I knew how Tianlan and Xiaoshi had used it. They used it to take away the flexibility of enemy cultivators to entry ambient Qi. It may crack Domains and render different methods ineffective because the very world “diverted” them away.

In opposition to one thing aside from a person product of lightning… this in all probability wouldn’t work. It nonetheless won’t work. The Path Of Shennong appeared extra suited to large results. Divert The Waters was purported to cowl an enormous space, as an alternative of what I used to be about to do.

Break The Rocks in all probability wouldn’t be too efficient in opposition to one thing so ephemeral. Fell The Bushes may need break up this in half, however that wasn’t a certain factor both.

“To wield that is to render judgment upon all issues. That is Pure Regulation.”

Golden cracks shaped up my arms and over my chest. I may see the Wuxing, the cycle of the weather, mirrored within the puddles of melted snow, forming behind my again like a halo.The world trembled.

It was tougher with out Tianlan. She did a lot for me, and along with her asleep it felt like I used to be attempting to carry up the complete world. However there was one thing else, one thing else as soon as extra lending its assist.

As a substitute of Tianlan’s hug and heat contact, this was chilly and dutiful. It was a small and younger feeling.

“In a single hand, Creation. Within the different, Destruction. With my arms I carve a brand new path and—”

The heavens descended, proper onto my clasped arms.

[Divert The Waters]

As a substitute of dissipating the lightning, I caught it. I channeled it.

The place earlier than, my try at a lightning rod had largely failed, this was completely different. This was Pure Regulation.

I guided it right into a stream at the same time as my shirt burned off utterly. It felt like my chest was going to blow up and that my blood was boiling.

I captured the bolt of lightning that was Zang Zeng. I captured it in a closed circuit.

A band of sunshine as thick as an previous oak shaped round me, at the same time as errant bolts lashed out into my pores and skin. The bottom slagged. The world shuddered. My tooth grit so exhausting they felt like they had been about to shatter.

The band of sunshine spiraled 1000’s of occasions per second. One thing inside screamed with rage and hate—because it flickered in between vitality and stable.

I launched my clasped fingers and plunged my fist into the lightning. One thing snapped.

I ripped out the offending creature.

A bit insect, roaring with rage and spite and hate. It was an unpleasant factor, pincers snapping on the air. Its hooked legs wriggled and spasmed, attempting to dig into the flesh of my fist. It was a tragic, disgusting, pitiful factor.

I squeezed, and it died.

The band of sunshine destabilized, as a physique shaped inside it.

And the world as soon as extra vanished into mild.