Chapter Sixty-Four: Filthy Spirits and Foul Vermin

“Little sister, don’t be afraid. I’ll just take a tiny sip—a single sip is enough.”
“Help! Help! What kind of monster are you—!” A heavily made-up woman died on the bed, her eyes wide open and lifeless. Four black bite marks, arranged in a diamond shape and resembling the work of a venomous insect, marred her neck.

“Ugh! All I can feed on are women like this now. Their blood isn’t even pure!” A sinister, bone-chilling voice grumbled incessantly.

“Oh, please, do you know how much work it is to eat people? Look at me—I don’t need to feed at all. All the evil in the world flows into my body.” Another morose voice drifted through the dark.

“You filth ghost! You’re worse than a turtle—always devouring trash and corpses. Can’t you smell your own stench? The foul odor pouring off you is unbearable.” The first voice mocked the filth ghost, clearly familiar with him.

“Stench worm, don’t push me! Or you’ll regret it! I’ll poison you where you stand.” The filth ghost snarled, calling the other ‘stench worm.’ His power lay in his toxins—his body was a reservoir of every poison imaginable.

“All right, enough! We’ve known each other months now—stop arguing! I have some good news: I’ve heard of someone named Wu Ming who’s training people with unusual abilities. Why don’t we join him and grow stronger together? What do you think?” Stench worm had picked up this news from one of his parasites. Tired of a life spent preying on humans, he hoped to develop his powers and escape his monstrous existence.

“Hahaha! Stench worm, who do you think you are? Wu Ming would never take you in! He’s the head of the One Qi Dao Sect, and he possesses the Mountain and Sea Mirror that can open the Door of Dreams. You’d probably be killed on sight, maybe even served as a snack for drinks! A lowly bug like you, after slaughtering so many women, thinks he can join a sect like that? I’ve heard they have a spirit enchantress there—she’d be a perfect match for your tastes. I wonder which of you would drain the other dry—hahaha...”

The filth ghost’s ridicule wasn’t unfounded. Stench worm had originally been a bloodsucking parasite, until one night under the full moon he suddenly gained consciousness. His appetite grew insatiable, and with each feeding he grew larger, eventually assuming a human form. Yet his body was perpetually tainted by a fishy, blood-like stench, earning him the nickname ‘stench worm’ from the filth ghost.

The filth ghost was even more repugnant. He wasn’t born a living thing, but rather formed from a putrid pool of stagnant water—filled with dead rats and all manner of garbage, the water itself pitch black. Unlike stench worm, he had no physical body at first. But when the blood moon shone upon him, his accumulated resentment and the stench of decaying corpses fused into a unique evil energy, granting him the power to absorb all the world’s evil. He thrived in polluted environments, corrupting other waters, killing fish, and causing weeds to grow rampant. Eventually, he gained a corporeal form—a black, liquid body radiating rot and poison, and was dubbed ‘filth ghost’ by stench worm.

Now, the two of them wandered together, trading barbs, neither willing to yield to the other.

“Hey, filth ghost, what should we do next? We can’t just drift around forever. If the One Qi Dao Sect finds us, we’re finished. I refuse to go back to being a worm!” Stench worm shook his head, distressed.

“Foolish brother! I heard something in Hong Kong the other day—someone was asking around about Wu Ming, digging into his family history for generations. Must be a grudge there. I suggest we check it out; maybe we can even join forces with him.” The filth ghost’s suggestion was surprisingly sharp.

“That’s a good idea, but if we show up as we are, we’ll probably disgust everyone to death. We need a makeover,” stench worm mused. “Let’s eat a few people and wear their skins. That way, your stench won’t be so obvious.” He pinched his nose.

“Hmph, and your fishy smell will be gone too! Good!” The filth ghost was delighted. Just then, two drunken men staggered out of a nightclub.

“Come on, drink up!” one slurred to the other, clinking their bottles in celebration.

“I call dibs on the brawny one on the left!” the filth ghost declared, and with a leap, he dove into a bottle, which the big man promptly drank.

“Hey—what’s the matter with you? Down after one bottle? Haha!” the handsome young man jeered at his burly friend.

“Well now, which handsome man is this? Would you like some company?” The woman previously killed by stench worm sidled up to the young man, seductive as ever.

Too drunk to care, the young man’s cheeks flushed as he squinted at her. “Beautiful, I need company, but maybe not here—?”

“Oh, it’s even more thrilling with nobody around,” she purred, starting to undress. The young man pulled her into an embrace, and as they entwined, she sank her teeth into his neck, draining him of life—flesh and all. Only a skeleton remained.

“Stench worm, you’re revolting!” the brawny man said, now possessed by the filth ghost.

“All right, enough. It’s just for the sake of feeding…” Stench worm hesitated, then added, “By the way, we should change our names. I’ll call myself Lord Blood. You pick your own.”

“Me? I’ll be Lord Poison then—a matching pair.” The filth ghost slung an arm around Lord Blood, laughing.

“Fine, I suppose I have no choice. Since we’re stuck together, let’s find that man. If he’s an ability user, we can join forces, roam the world, and live in glory!” Lord Blood brimmed with hope for the future.

“By the way, Lord Blood, how about we swear brotherhood from this day forward? That way, we’ll have each other’s backs. If things get dicey with that man and they only want one of us, we’ll stick together—brothers in arms, right? Otherwise, it’d be awkward, wouldn’t it?” Lord Poison was shrewd—if they were accepted, they’d look out for each other as sworn brothers; if rejected, they’d share their misfortune. Either way, it was to their benefit.

“Deal! I know what you’re up to, but I was thinking the same thing! Hahaha!” Lord Blood agreed heartily. If these two weren’t brothers by now, there’d be no justice in the world—they were both full of wicked schemes.

“Great, then. I’ll be the elder brother.” Lord Poison claimed the title without hesitation.

“Whatever you say. Let’s go find that man and discuss terms. But first, we need proper clothes—those people love fancy attire.” Lord Blood and Lord Poison discarded their empty bottles and set out to find some decent outfits.

The two villains slipped into a clothing mall, and when they emerged, Lord Poison was clad in a sharp suit. But when he saw Lord Blood, he nearly doubled over with laughter. “What are you wearing? Hahaha!” Lord Blood had picked out a woman’s outfit—perhaps all that time feeding on women had addled his mind.

“Here, wear this. We’re men!” Lord Poison tossed him another suit.

“Men or women, what does it matter? We worms are hermaphroditic! Still, humans are troublesome, though they do taste good.” Lord Blood changed into the suit.

In an instant, the two demons looked like perfect gentlemen—arms around each other’s shoulders as they set off in search of Xiao Ma.