Chapter 127
The method for removing a White Worm is simple, but the process itself is painful.
After all, you’re extracting something from inside the body while the mind is fully conscious—if it weren’t painful, that would be strange.
That was why my uncle explained that the host must always be put to sleep before attempting to remove a White Worm.
The attendant first lit a sleeping incense and put Dan Sanyeong into a deep sleep. The girl, exhausted, quickly drifted off.
Once the alchemist had been sent out of the room, my uncle looked at the girl and said,
“Biya, do you know how to get a snake out of a snake burrow?”
“There’s a snake listening in my sleeve, so that’s a difficult question to answer,” I replied.
As if on cue, the bloodworm peeked out. It seemed to think I was talking about it.
“Oh!”
“But I do know. You light hay on fire and smoke the entrance of the burrow. Sometimes you push in the partially burned ashes too.”
The bloodworm quickly ducked back inside. It had realized it wasn’t the subject of the conversation.
“Exactly. If you prod something it dislikes, it will come running out.”
“That’s true, and the same applies to humans,” I added.
“If a person has a fire in their house, they’d run out too. So, what do you think we should do to get it out?”
…You’re not planning to actually light a fire here, are you?
That can’t be the case.
I paused for a moment before answering.
“Do we use smoke?”
“If the White Worm hasn’t been parasitizing for long, smoke alone is enough to make it come out.”
My uncle carefully poured the medicinal decoction he had prepared into the girl’s mouth, using a long ceramic rod to press her lower lip gently and let the lukewarm liquid trickle down. Her throat moved slightly as she swallowed.
“But if it’s been parasitizing for a long time, smoke alone won’t be enough.”
“Then what do we do?”
“You give her the decoction to soften the parasite’s legs, and then you use the smoke it hates.”
He added,
“In fact, the White Worm is said to be extinct, but occasionally it appears and troubles people. The last recorded appearance was seventy years ago…”
He continued,
“Do you know that White Worms hate certain sounds?”
“I’ve never heard of that.”
“Of course, I’ve never told you before.”
Then why ask me?
But my uncle continued regardless.
“We learned this thanks to a genius of sound arts seventy years ago. But no one knows exactly what sound drove the White Worm from the body that day. No one can imitate it.”
“Seventy years ago… is this perhaps the story of Lady Eumhu, the wife of the senior deity?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s right.”
The attendant then picked up some herbs he had prepared.
I recognized them too. Herbs that give off a strong odor when burned, usually boiled to make a stomach medicine.
When he lit the end, pungent smoke quickly filled the room.
I covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve and watched the rising smoke and the sleeping girl.
My uncle fanned the smoke gently toward the girl, eventually covering her mouth with the fan.
“Why cover her mouth?”
“Because the White Worm resides in the stomach and comes out through the throat. It’s not exactly a pleasant sight for a young girl like you.”
Even so, no sign of the White Worm emerging appeared.
The herbs were nearly spent, yet the White Worm didn’t show itself. I sat close to my uncle and asked,
“If the White Worm hates certain sounds, should I call a music artisan?”
“If all music artisans could drive White Worms out, countless people wouldn’t have died from them,” he said.
“Then should I try?”
“You?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
The worm didn’t seem inclined to come out anyway, so trying wouldn’t hurt. After all, the White Worm is just a type of venomous parasite.
If I followed the techniques I had practiced in the Venomous Forest, I might be able to draw it out.
I took out my white jade flute from my sleeve. The attendant glanced at me and the flute suspiciously.
“If you make a wrong move, it could lash out inside the body,” he warned.
“I’ll be careful not to touch it directly,” I said.
The attendant hesitated, and his worry didn’t end until all the herbs had burned.
When the herbs were completely consumed, my uncle nodded.
“Then try if you wish. Come to think of it, I don’t believe anyone has ever died from a poorly played tune.”
Even more reason to give it a try. I quickly brought out the flute.
I pressed it to my lips and blew slowly, producing a soft, gentle sound.
Seventy years ago, Lady Eumhu used the sound that the White Worm hated to coax the parasite out.
But I had no idea what sound they hated.
I could produce a sound that venomous creatures might dislike, but if I miscalculated, it could be disastrous.
As the flute’s melody, filled with energy, flowed throughout the room, the bloodworm quietly slipped out of my sleeve.
I had practiced countless tunes in the Venomous Forest—some scared all creatures away, some drew them in hypnotically.
I chose the latter. I played slowly and carefully, letting the melody flow like calm water.
Then suddenly—
“Cough, hack!”
The girl bent over, coughing violently. Something mixed with saliva fell out.
“Oh!”
I stopped playing and narrowed my eyes to see clearly.
Whoosh!
At that moment, the attendant used a pin to pin the White Worm to the floor. The tiny insect died instantly.
“It came out!”
I did it!
The attendant immediately placed it into a prepared container. The bloodworm, eyeing the worm hungrily, clicked its mouth, disappointed.
Though I couldn’t see clearly, I could tell the creature that emerged was small and pale.
I frowned at the tiny worm.
“Why is it so small?”
“It’s a juvenile. Maybe it was startled by your flute sound.”
“Juvenile means… good, right?”
“No. It means that the mother laid at least a hundred offspring somewhere, so there are at least a hundred parasitic worms still alive.”
…Ugh, disgusting.
The girl continued coughing. I quickly approached and patted her back gently.
“The White Worm really is sensitive to sound. If only one skilled sound artist existed, they could exterminate it entirely.”
“Swordsmen and martial artists are everywhere, but how common are music masters? Even if the villagers knew how, they couldn’t bring one. And even if they did, the White Worm wouldn’t come out so easily.”
My uncle patted my head.
“In that sense, very well done, Biya.”
“Hehe, all that practice in the Venomous Forest finally paid off, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
My uncle rose from his seat, holding the container with the White Worm.
I jumped up to follow him.
“Where are we going?”
“To report to the head of the Tang family. Will you come?”
“Yes!”
He summoned the alchemist of the medicinal hall, instructed him to care for the sleeping girl and reassure him she was safe, and left.
I followed my uncle.
“White Worm, you say?”
“Yes. Look here.”
The attendant held up the juvenile White Worm extracted from Dan Sanyeong’s body for Tang Tianqi to see.
Inside the container were the corpses of the parasitic worms. Tang Tianqi’s expression stiffened.
“Hadn’t these disappeared long ago? Why has it reappeared?”
“I don’t know either. We first checked the location of the village recently visited by the alchemist and the young girl, just in case.”
My uncle continued,
“If permitted, we’ll stop by that village before examining the premises.
Only our Tang family and Lady Eumhu know the precise method to treat a White Worm. It’s not exactly a secret, but since its last appearance was so long ago, the knowledge may have been lost in many places.”
