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Chapter 52 Corpse Worm Blood Bait Soup
Just by listening to the raised tone, you could tell that Zhou You was almost certainly not sincerely seeking to become a disciple.

However, the old Taoist's head didn't matter; he pointed to Zhou You and picked up the other two heads.

"As you can see, these two heads are completely empty. One is filled with demons, and the other with ghosts. They're perfect for mixing together to make poison."

"First, there's that stillborn infant fetus, which is formed from my brain marrow. You can dissect its internal organs and get a portion of its yin heart, yin liver, yin gallbladder, and yin lungs. Discard the rest. Then grind these things into powder."

"Secondly, there's that ring-headed centipede. It devoured everything in my brain, leaving only one eye and one tongue for communication. You can break its skin and take its flesh."

"Then, each person received one coin, which was then mixed together."

"then"

"."

"."

A few minutes later, a very strange bowl of things appeared in front of Zhou You.

From its appearance, it looked like a pile of sludge, but in some ways it was like a liquid. It was pitch black, and from time to time it would surge and churn like a living thing.

The old Taoist priest nodded noncommittally.

"It's alright, I'd say. For a beginner, it's passable. Many of my apprentices, when they first tried this job, were lucky if they didn't go crazy from fright, let alone get it right. So—"

The other person gestured with their lips and said.

"—You should drink half of this stuff first."

Zhou You's smug expression froze instantly.

He pointed at the bizarre-looking thing and turned to question it:
"No way, Master, this stuff doesn't look like something a human would drink. Besides, my memory isn't so bad that I can forget things from just a few minutes ago—we were clearly talking about using this to poison that pig-headed monster—so why are you making me taste it to see if it's salty?"

The old Taoist priest simply smiled.

"Only when the ingredients are fully prepared can it be called poison. If they are not fully prepared, it is just a decoction. Your body is too weak, and your hand has such a big hole in it. Even if you can escape from this place, you probably won't get very far. I only have my head left, and I'm counting on you to sew it back up for me. I definitely have to find a way to help you learn more skills."

"—So, my good disciple, listen to me and drink this, okay?"

The old Taoist priest had a smiling expression, and his words were as if he were persuading a disobedient child to take his medicine, but there was no smile in his eyes, only a coldness as if he were looking at a dead object.

Now this person's meaning is very clear—if he drinks it, the two sides can continue to talk; if he doesn't, then they'll part ways, he'll continue to be a figurehead, and someone else will have to find a way out in the dark.

So what should we do?
Zhou You hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, picked up the bowl, and carefully took a sip.

It didn't have any strange taste, but the texture was extremely bizarre, like a bunch of worms crushed and squeezed together, with occasionally a few that weren't quite dead still struggling in your mouth.

Zhou You suppressed his nausea and, following the old Taoist's instructions, poured half a bowl of food into his stomach.

The next moment, a system notification rang in his ears.

"Dear player, you have consumed the cursed item: Corpse Worm Blood Bait Soup."

"Your wound is healing faster and you have developed some resistance to 'Tai Sui meat' and all similar items (such as 'see meat, live ginseng, white bone powder, etc.')."

"You are cursed: you will turn into a taro worm."

"You are involuntarily transforming into something twisted. Please find a solution as soon as possible before you completely turn into a monster."

"You have passed the first stage of the Qi cultivation method and the ingestion of the medicine."

"The cultivation of Yun Jingdao usually begins with consuming yin substances—but never something hastily prepared like this, something that hasn't even been put into a pill furnace." Seeing Zhou You consume this substance, the old man's face finally showed a slightly normal smile.

"Excellent, excellent! My disciple, you are indeed a person of good character. Eating this is equivalent to entering the gate of our Yun Jing Dao. It's a pity that the ingredients here are incomplete, and this hastily prepared mixture has many flaws. But don't worry, as long as you send your master back to the mountain, I can immediately refine a new batch of pills for you, making up for the deficiencies, and at the same time, I can take you as my personal disciple."

Zhou You didn't speak, but stared at the old Taoist's face.

—Does this guy really think that way, or is he planning to use it to threaten me?
But he immediately shook his head.

Never mind, it doesn't matter whether I play it or not. I just need to finish the game anyway.

Zhou You put down his bowl, coughed lightly, and then spoke.

"No, Master, is all your cultivation practices this eerie? You have to eat this ghostly stuff to even begin your training?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the old Taoist priest suddenly frowned and asked inexplicably.

"What are you talking about? Isn't everyone like this? Our Yunjing Sect is considered better; we only consume yin substances. Famous sects often allow vengeful ghosts and demons to possess them. There are countless examples of people eating infant corpse oil and making Jingguan blood sacrifices. What's so surprising about this?"

Zhou You was taken aback.

He suddenly remembered that the old monk had said the same thing to him before: "Isn't this how all Buddhist sects are?"

At the time, he thought the other party was deliberately hiding something, but now it seems...
It seems that all the cultivation systems in this script are somewhat strange?
Seeing the old Taoist's face full of doubt, Zhou You knew that now was not the time to ask questions, so he could only make a note of it and then say.

"So, Master, I've drunk this stuff as you instructed. What should we do next?"

The old Taoist replied.

“Normally I should teach you some basic techniques, but I don’t have time for that now. So, first, lift my head up and point your neck toward that bowl.”

Zhou You did just that after hearing this.

Then the head shook violently, and a look of pain gradually appeared on its face. Then, as if it were being forcibly squeezed out of the shriveled blood vessels, a drop of mud-like blood slowly dripped from the neck and fell into the bowl.

A sharp, ripping sound.

The churning black liquid suddenly calmed down, then gradually faded in color, becoming colorless and transparent.

Only faint shadows, like insects, could be seen floating in the bowl, but they vanished without a trace.

Only then did the old Taoist priest breathe a sigh of relief.

"Pour this stuff onto that pig's head, then wait for the monster to eat it. After you've dealt with the monster, I'll tell you how to get there."

Zhou You obediently sprinkled the liquid evenly, but looking at the still shiny pig's head, he seemed to suddenly remember something and said casually.

"—Speaking of which, disciple, I just remembered something. I saw quite a few human corpses in the room before. It could live perfectly well by eating corpses, so why go through all the trouble of turning people into pigs before eating them?"

The old Taoist priest laughed upon hearing this.

"Look at what you're saying. Human flesh isn't as succulent as pork, and the taste is far inferior. Who would be crazy enough to turn to eating living people instead of pork? Those corpses are chopped up to make meatballs. Only things made through the 'animal creation method' would make the pig-headed monster bother to cook them into a dish."

Zhou You glanced at the old Taoist priest and nodded thoughtfully.

"—I see, disciple."
"Been taught a lesson."

(End of this chapter)