Book Two: Troubled Times, Twists and Turns — Chapter Ninety-Two: The Golden Silkworm Startles the Eye, Wushan Fights the Current

Though the White Dew solar term had passed, the weather wasn't truly cold yet. A small fire was lit, and the night passed without incident. After a full night of meditation and breath regulation, Yang Chengzi gradually shed the weariness of the past few days.

Chen San groggily opened his eyes to find three large heads hovering over him—Yang Chengzi and the two maids were crouched on the ground, surrounding him and staring.

The sight startled Chen San awake. He sat up slowly, knitted his brows, and looked at the trio.

"What are you all staring at me for? It's weird, this early in the morning." He muttered as he got to his feet and stretched.

"Just worried you might not wake up. We were anxious for you." Yang Chengzi chuckled, while the two maids nodded innocently in agreement.

Chen San rubbed his head with a look of disgust. "Did a donkey kick you people? I was sleeping perfectly fine. Why wouldn't I wake up? Though my head does feel a bit dizzy—maybe I didn't sleep well last night."

The three nodded in perfect synchronization, and Chen Xin, beaming like a blooming flower, said, "You rolled down the mountain last night. We carried you back up. Good that you're fine—let's be on our way."

Seeing Chen Xin smile so brightly, Chen San's mood lifted considerably. He walked a few steps before it dawned on him. "I-I-I rolled down a mountain? Where's there a mountain around here?"

Under Chen San's endless stream of questions, the group made their way toward Shuangqu Village. No matter how much Chen San pressed, the others tacitly refused to answer any further.

The closer they got to Shuangqu Village, the more trees surrounded them. They passed through a small grove, crossed a winding creek, and by nearly noon, the trio arrived at the village the villagers had called Shuangqu.

Shuangqu Village made its living by raising silkworms and spinning silk. Nearly every household had numerous wooden racks, and on those racks sat great bamboo sieves—shaped like enormous plates—filled with silkworms and mulberry leaves.

Raising silkworms was relatively simple: understand their habits and they'd thrive. But spinning silk was another matter entirely. Of the hundred or so households in Shuangqu Village, only a scant few could manage it—countable on one hand.

It wasn't that they couldn't produce silk at all; rather, they couldn't produce silk of any quality. Not every household had someone with the requisite dexterity and skill. The finished silk fabrics went directly to the imperial palace, the inner courts, and high-ranking nobles. Common folk could neither afford nor even use such luxuries.

Treading on the green leaves scattered upon the ground, the four entered Shuangqu Village. At the village entrance, two small yellow dogs bounded up to greet them. By all logic, since Chen San and the others were strangers, the dogs should have barked. But from the moment they entered, the two yellow dogs behaved as if welcoming family returning home—no barking at all. Instead, they wagged their tails with great enthusiasm.

After exchanging greetings with the villagers, the group began making inquiries about Puxian Temple. They asked around far and wide, but nobody knew anything. This came as no surprise, though—a bustling town with constant foot traffic was far more likely to yield information. With few people coming and going in the village, there was naturally less news to be had.

They found no word on Puxian Temple, but Chang Yu spotted something from a great distance: a golden silkworm perched on a mulberry tree. Chang Yu had never seen a silkworm in her entire life, growing up as she had, and had no idea what color they ought to be.

At first, she thought nothing of it. But after wandering around the village and seeing the white, plump silkworms in the big bamboo sieves, she realized that golden one seemed rather unusual.

They stopped at a villager's home for lunch, and Chang Yu brought up what she'd seen. Chen San refused to believe there could be a living creature that was gold in color. Short as his life had been, he'd never seen anything alive the color of gold. He mocked her relentlessly, nearly earning himself another beating.

As they ate and bantered, Yang Chengzi remained silent, brow furrowed, eating while lost in thought, paying them no mind. After carrying on for a while, Chang Yu noticed Yang Chengzi's pensive expression and asked, "Young Master, is there something significant about the golden silkworm?"

Yang Chengzi set down his bowl and chopsticks. "You're sure you weren't seeing things? Do you remember which tree it was on?"

Chang Yu felt a flicker of fear at Yang Chengzi's grim expression. Whenever he wore that face, nothing good ever followed.

Chang Yu's smile vanished. She pouted her lips and nodded. "I'm fairly sure I wasn't seeing things. It was by those ponds, on the tree at the fork in the road. I saw it from far off, and even stood under the tree watching it for a while."

Seeing that Yang Chengzi was about to stir up some kind of trouble again, Chen San quickly raised a hand to stop him.

"Let's eat, let's eat. After the meal, we should hurry on to Yutai Town. Great Immortal Yang, mind your own business, will you? I'd like to keep my life long enough to find a wife."

Chen Xin blushed and lowered her head. Yang Chengzi shot Chen San a gloomy sidelong glance.

"Let me tell you what I know. Then you tell me whether we can afford to ignore it."

And there it was—Chen San hadn't managed to stop him. Once Yang Chengzi put it that way, how could they possibly ignore it?

"Gold is a fine thing, beloved by all. Even the most powerful talismans of the Daoist and Buddhist traditions are drawn with gold powder. I recall in the scriptures there's even the Buddhist legend of the Golden Cicada. Anything associated with gold is considered auspicious."

"Well, there you go—it's a good thing. Come, come, let's keep eating." Chen San picked up his bowl, but Yang Chengzi showed no sign of stopping. Chen San made a fierce face, while Chang Yu, knowing she'd stirred up trouble, pouted and dared not protest.

"But there's one thing associated with gold that isn't good. Not just not good—it's a grave problem." The group's hearts skipped a beat. Need they even ask? It had to be the golden silkworm.

Chen San swallowed hard and stammered, "W-we-we already know what this thing is. Tell us what the problem is."

"A golden silkworm appears in only two kinds of places. The first is in an emperor's tomb. After an emperor dies, his imperial aura gradually dissipates over the course of several hundred years. Once that aura fades completely, the time has come for a change of dynasty. But if a golden silkworm appears in an emperor's tomb, it means the imperial aura of the emperor within that coffin has not yet dispersed, even after death.

The imperial aura condenses within the coffin and nourishes the corpse insects into golden silkworms. If after several hundred years the imperial aura still hasn't dispersed, then that imperial corpse becomes a very serious problem."

"The emperor's corpse insect is called a golden silkworm? You're pulling my leg!" Chen San asked, utterly incredulous.

"That's right, that's right. Imperial aura takes centuries to dissipate, so there should be lots of golden silkworms—there've been so many emperors throughout the dynasties!" Chang Yu was equally perplexed.

Yang Chengzi shook his head. "If the imperial aura is dissipating, it only grows weaker over time. For a corpse insect to become a golden silkworm, it needs a sufficient concentration of imperial aura, or it's impossible. Moreover, corpse insects lack spiritual awareness and cannot actively absorb imperial aura. For one to transform into a golden silkworm, all that imperial aura must have fully infused the insect's body by sheer fortune. You could call it a stroke of luck."

"Well then, let it be lucky! It's in a tomb, nobody's going to touch it. What harm could it possibly do?" Chen San refused to give up the point.

Chen Xin, however, had caught on. "If sister Chang Yu saw a golden silkworm from a tomb, then we absolutely can't ignore it. If a golden silkworm could get out and let sister Chang Yu see it, then sooner or later, the big trouble in that coffin can get out too."

Hearing Chen Xin's words, Chen San's heart lurched. When he thought about it carefully, that was indeed the logic of it.

"Chen Xin is the clever one. Talking to Chen San is truly exhausting—his brain is the size of a walnut." Yang Chengzi gestured with his fingers to demonstrate.

Chen San curled his lips. "So what about the other possibility, besides the one from the tomb? Maybe it's that situation, and then we wouldn't need to do anything!"

Yang Chengzi picked up his teacup and took a sip. "A golden silkworm can also appear in Miaojiang."

Before Yang Chengzi could finish, Chen San slammed the table with a bang. "See! Miaojiang! Then it's none of our business! What did I tell you?"

The three of them stared at Chen San with looks of utter contempt. Chang Yu landed several slaps on Chen San's shoulder.

"Can you, can you, let, him, finish, speaking?" After those slaps, Chen San quieted down.

"Serves you right. You were asking for a beating. Let me finish."

Chen San pouted with a resentful expression.

"Miaojiang does indeed have golden silkworms. But if a golden silkworm appears somewhere else, and that place has no imperial tomb, then someone brought it out of Miaojiang."

"What would someone bring a golden silkworm out for? What use is it?"

"Whether it's a golden silkworm from an imperial tomb or one someone brought along, neither is anything good. If a golden silkworm from an imperial tomb bites someone, both corpse aura and imperial aura enter the person's body.

The corpse aura goes without saying, but being infused with imperial aura without being of imperial destiny—that person cannot bear such fortune. Losing decades of life would be the mild outcome; dropping dead on the spot is entirely possible."

The moment Chang Yu heard "drop dead on the spot," she shuddered in fright. Good thing she hadn't gotten too close.

"So it just kills one person. Don't wild beasts in the mountains kill people too?" Chen San couldn't help asking again.

Yang Chengzi waved his hand. "It's not just one person. That's only the beginning. If the person killed by a golden silkworm is buried instead of cremated, then the imperial aura and corpse aura in the body will seep out from the coffin.

Over two hundred years ago, not far from Longhu Mountain, there was a village called Jingyu Village. Because of a golden silkworm, all two hundred and fourteen villagers were contaminated by corpse aura and imperial aura and died sudden deaths.

Later, when the Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain learned of the matter, he ordered his disciples to rush to Jingyu Village. A great formation sealed the village, and Eight Trigrams Li Fire burned for three full days before the corpse aura and imperial aura were finally consumed. Only then did the Daoist and Buddhist sects come to understand the true terror of the golden silkworm."

Chen San was beginning to lose his composure. "Th-th-th-then what about a golden silkworm someone brought over? Does it also kill a whole village?"

"Not quite. If a person brought the golden silkworm from Miaojiang, then that silkworm has no imperial aura. Whoever it bites dies, but it won't result in mass deaths."

Hearing Yang Chengzi's explanation, Chen San breathed a sigh of relief. Who could stand the idea of that many people dying at once?

But Yang Chengzi wasn't finished. "However, the manner of death is excruciatingly painful. This kind of golden silkworm is called the Golden Silkworm Gu—the art of rearing gu worms."

"H-h-how painful is it?" The breath Chen San had just released came right back up.

"Agony. A pain that pierces straight to the heart. After a Golden Silkworm Gu bites someone, it burrows into your body and gnaws its way through your intestines and stomach until they're riddled with holes. Then it goes for your soul, tearing at it bite by bite. That hurts far more than having your flesh gnawed. No one in this world has ever endured it."

Chen San listened, spellbound. Hearing that no one in the world could endure it, his scalp prickled just thinking about it.

And indeed—if the soul gets eaten completely, what's left to endure with?

"What if someone gets bitten by this golden silkworm? Is death inevitable? Is there no remedy?" Chen Xin blinked as she asked.

"It's not necessarily fatal. Before the pain kills you, if you catch the person who planted the gu and make them draw the silkworm out, that works. They have their methods. The golden silkworm itself isn't poisonous—once it's removed, you won't die."

Upon hearing Yang Chengzi's words, the three looked at one another, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Just as silence fell over the table, Chen San suddenly grabbed Chen Xin's hand where it rested on the table and began to wail, "Why is my life so bitter? All I want is to find a wife. Why does everything have to be so complicated?"

*Smack.* A crisp slap landed on Chen San's hand.

"Talk if you want to talk, but why are you grabbing Chen Xin's hand? You haven't married her yet—keep your hands to yourself." Chen Xin lowered her head and giggled.

Chen San looked at Chang Yu with an awkward expression. "You're always grabbing Yang Chengzi's hand, aren't you? If you get to, why can't I?"

"Grabbing the Young Master? Fine—if you want to grab him, go right ahead. I won't stop you. But sister Chen Xin isn't yours for the grabbing. Back off."

*Smack.* Another slap knocked Chen San's hand away.

Chen San was so frustrated by Chang Yu's retorts that he could have bitten something. But she was a girl—he couldn't very well argue with her. He glared at Yang Chengzi in irritation, who naturally ignored him completely.

"If we take this matter on, we'll need to stay here, and we'll need to examine that golden silkworm. All of you, state your positions."

Chang Yu and Chen Xin both agreed to stay. To just walk away now—if something happened, it would be a matter of life and death on a massive scale. They had already involved themselves in the Fengxi Village affair; did this even need discussion?

Chen San was timid, fearful of trouble, and hated complications. He said nothing aloud, but deep down he was a thousand times unwilling. He had no grand ambition to save the world—he only wanted to settle down with a wife and live his quiet life. And his wife-to-be was sitting right here. Seeing that none of the others had any intention of leaving, he had no choice but to stay as well.

Clearing away the dishes, the four headed out the door, going first to the tree Chang Yu had mentioned to see what the golden silkworm actually looked like.

At the fork in the road by the ponds, Chang Yu spotted the golden silkworm at once and pointed it out. The others followed her finger and saw it on the mulberry tree.

A golden silkworm, thick as a finger, radiant all over in shimmering gold, appeared upon the leaf. Aside from its color—gleaming like a gold ingot—it looked exactly like the white silkworms in the bamboo sieves.

Yang Chengzi stared with knitted brows for a long while without moving.

Chen San and the two women searched the other trees. However long Yang Chengzi watched, that's how long they searched. Naturally, they found no second golden silkworm.

Back in the village, they told the villagers that Chen San wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to travel on for a while. Chen San played along with theatrical flair. And so the four took up lodging at the home of a villager surnamed Lu.

Still four to a room. The Lu household had only two rooms—the elderly couple slept in one, and their son occupied the other.

The son, unmarried, had gone to town to purchase supplies and wouldn't be back for a day or two, so Chen San and his party were given the room for the time being.

Yang Chengzi said nothing to the villagers about the golden silkworm. Matters like this were best resolved quietly; speaking too much only invited unnecessary trouble. By now, Chen San had grown accustomed to keeping his mouth shut around the villagers as well.

Since they'd confirmed the golden silkworm's existence, the first task was to determine whether it was a gu master's silkworm that had escaped, or one that had crawled out of some emperor's tomb. Different origins demanded different approaches.

Finding a person was naturally harder than finding a place. People were mobile—here today, gone tomorrow—much harder to track down. So they would start with the possibility of an emperor's tomb, examining the local feng shui. If no imperial tomb existed there, they'd have to search for the person instead.

With his plan set, Yang Chengzi instructed Chang Yu and Chen Xin to stay in the room and not wander about.

Chen San, following Yang Chengzi's orders, moved a stool beneath the golden silkworm's tree and kept watch over it, making sure it didn't escape and bite anyone. If anyone asked why he was there, he was to say he felt unwell and had come out for some fresh air.

The excuse was a bit rough, but Chen San was an outsider, and strangers generally didn't ask too many questions. And so Chen San spent the entire afternoon staring at that golden silkworm like a fool.

Near dusk, Yang Chengzi returned. In the space of a few hours, he'd surveyed the village and its surroundings thoroughly. When he reached the ponds, he found Chen San nearly asleep, and was so irritated he nearly kicked him. Fortunately, the golden silkworm was still there, having munched through a fair amount of mulberry leaves.

He carved an Eight Trigrams formation onto the tree, inserted two branches into the Kan and Li positions, bit his finger, and flicked a drop of blood onto the formation's eye. Then he dragged Chen San back to the village.

Chen Xin and Chang Yu had already helped the elderly couple prepare dinner. The old man was bedridden with illness, and the old woman's eyesight was poor—it wouldn't do to impose on them.

After bringing the old couple their meal, the four sat down to dinner.

Chen San asked Yang Chengzi with a displeased look, "Since this golden silkworm is so dangerous, why didn't you just kill it? You made me sit there watching it all afternoon like a fool. You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Yang Chengzi picked up a bite of vegetables with his chopsticks as he ate. "Can you be any more stupid? If there's no emperor's tomb here and we kill the silkworm, where are you going to find the gu master? The silkworm itself is far less dangerous than the gu masters. If we don't root out the problem entirely, a second golden silkworm is bound to appear eventually."

Chen San shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth and stealthily glanced at Chen Xin and Chang Yu. Sure enough, two pairs of disgusted eyes were fixed on him. Chen San forced an awkward smile.

"I'm just joking, hehe. Let's eat, let's eat."

Chang Yu continued, "So, did you find an emperor's tomb?"

"No. The feng shui here isn't favorable—there would be no great tomb in this area."

"So we need to go looking for the gu master, then?"

Yang Chengzi set down his bowl and waved a hand. "I surveyed the village and its environs thoroughly. This place has the mountains and waters reversed—it can't bless descendants, let alone preserve an eternal dynasty. An emperor would never be buried here. But I did find one particularly unusual spot east of the village, near the foothills."

Chen San perked up and set down his own bowl and chopsticks. "Tell us, tell us—what's so unusual about it?"

"How shall I put the feng shui here... it's utterly unremarkable. There's plenty of water, but it's all reversed water—stagnant water. Everywhere is ponds; they've been dammed up for the mulberry trees and silkworms. The mountains are to the east, and the village faces southeast, directly across from the mountains. You can hardly call it backed by mountains.

As the saying goes, 'Live off the mountain if you're near the mountain.' For this village to go hunting on the opposite slopes, they'd be lucky to spot a single bird. Good thing there's plenty of water—even reversed water governs wealth. With their own hardworking hands, they can still live comfortably. All in all, this village has the most ordinary feng shui I've ever seen."

"Get to the point! What about the unusual spot?" Chen San asked impatiently.

Yang Chengzi shook his head. "Let me finish."

Meanwhile, Chang Yu shot Chen San a harsh glare, wordlessly ordering him to shut up. And indeed, it took a glare like that to make Chen San behave.