Volume Two, Chapter Sixty-Four: Stuff It to Death

“Black and White Impermanence, Judge, King Yama, Old Drunkard, Mother!” A sudden clarity flashed in Yu Mu’s eyes. “Brother Meng!”

With a thunderous roar, Meng Fang instantly regained his senses. As he realized their predicament, terror jolted him fully awake. By the time they came to, they were already at the monster’s maw, about to be dragged inside.

With a mighty shout, Meng Fang swung his great axe, severing two tentacles in a single stroke. The beast let out a ghastly wail, spewing a rain of blood from its mouth before burrowing once more underground.

The two scrambled to their feet, drenched in cold sweat. Never before had they faced such peril, or stood on the edge of so dreadful a crisis.

Clearly, the Feathered Sword had miscalculated; the weaker venomous insects dared not venture here, but whatever could survive in this place would hardly be weak.

“What do we do?”

“Run! I’d rather be gnawed by those poisonous bugs than face such a monster.”

“But where do we run?”

“Into the dense forest, of course. Do you want to die in the desert, swallowed by such a thing?”

Just as they were about to flee, Yu Mu suddenly struck the ground fiercely with his staff. This time, Yu Mu had the upper hand; as the monster poked its head up, it received a blow squarely on its crown.

The beast yelped in pain and retreated underground.

Meng Fang prepared to run again, but Yu Mu stopped him with a glance.

In a whisper barely above the wind, Yu Mu said, “Don’t move. It can’t hear us if we stay still.”

Meng Fang widened his ox-like eyes in confusion, but he trusted Yu Mu. Even their breathing grew softer, not daring to move a muscle.

Yu Mu recalled what he knew of worms: such creatures lacked sight and hearing, relying solely on vibrations from the earth to sense the world.

The more they ran, the greater their danger. Remaining motionless might offer a slim chance of survival. Patience was needed to find the monster’s weakness.

The two stayed still, and so did the beast.

Time crept by. A massive, earth-colored serpent slithered stealthily toward them. They had noticed it long before, but dared not move, unwilling to relive the terror they’d just escaped.

Silently, they prayed for the snake to pass them by. But fate rarely listens to fear; the serpent drew ever closer.

Damn it! A snake they could crush with a heel now threatened their lives. It was nearly upon them.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Yu Mu. He gently exhaled a fine powdery mist at the snake. The moment the serpent touched it, it went berserk, writhing violently.

With a burst, the earth split open—an enormous maw surged up, swallowing the snake in an instant before the ground fell silent again.

The two let out a breath, yet knew this was no lasting solution. Suddenly, Yu Mu said, “Big brother, I have an idea—maybe we can kill it.”

Meng Fang was overjoyed. In a whisper, he pressed, “What is it?”

“Stuff it to death.”

“What?!”

Yu Mu quickly explained his plan in detail. Meng Fang protested at once, “No! Absolutely not! I won’t let you do anything so reckless!”

But before he could finish, Yu Mu had already stomped hard on the ground several times. The sand exploded upward, and a monstrous maw shot up. Instead of dodging, Yu Mu hurled himself straight into the gaping jaws.

His small body vanished at once, swallowed before the monster could savor the taste.

“Brother!” Meng Fang cried in anguish, but did not rush forth. Instead, he revealed his true form, standing tall and trampling the ground in a frenzy. The sand around the beast compacted as if hammered by a pile driver, turning as hard as iron.

The monster was trapped, unable to burrow back underground.

Meanwhile, inside the beast’s belly, Yu Mu was nearly overcome by a stench beyond words. The monster’s powerful digestive system threatened to dissolve him in moments, its acidic fluids and grinding stones rapidly wearing down his body.

With a mighty twist, Yu Mu transformed into a great tree. The monster’s innards swelled grotesquely, blood and gore bursting forth.

The beast’s digestive tract tried at once to contract and expel him, but Yu Mu refused to yield. He spread his branches wide, taking root deep within its body.

As his limbs stretched out, they brushed against a powerful source of energy. Probing with his senses, Yu Mu found a dark-brown orb suspended near the beast’s heart.

It was the monster’s inner core!

This core, in both size and hue, closely resembled Meng Fang’s own demon core. Its energy was immense, yet wild and chaotic, as if still in a primal state.

Yu Mu wasted no time, and summoned his peach pit to batter the core repeatedly. Though not a weapon of great force, it was more than enough to shatter this core.

After several strikes, cracks appeared on the core’s surface, and its energy began to leak out in torrents.

With a final explosion, the beast lost all strength and the great tree burst forth from within.

Flesh flew, blood spattered; the monster’s body was ripped apart, like a balloon bursting under too much pressure. Yu Mu returned to human form, his body drenched in gore as he crawled from the monster’s ruined corpse.

Meng Fang rushed to him, clutching him tightly, muttering over and over, “You scared me half to death! Never do anything so reckless again—my wild ox heart can’t take it!”

Yu Mu pushed him away with a laugh. “Only by facing death can one find life—sometimes the foolish way is the only way out. Look what I’ve got.” He waved the monster’s inner core in his hand.

Meng Fang burst into laughter. “That core’s energy is so wild it's useless to us. If you want something, take these instead.”

He raised his axe and split open the monster’s head, slicing off two fleshy spheres before handing them to Yu Mu.

Curious, Yu Mu asked, “Big brother, why take these? What are they for?”

Meng Fang shook his head. “I don’t really know. But while the monster’s core is worthless, many of its organs are treasures. And I’ve heard elders say: any organ that grants a creature special abilities is usually valuable.”

“Oh? And what are these treasures good for?”

“That I can’t say. Maybe they’re used in alchemy, maybe as medicine, maybe to forge magic tools—every piece has its unique use. Discovering their purpose is up to you.”

“I see.” Yu Mu, satisfied, stored the two spheres and the core in his inner space.

His inner space could preserve items in their original state indefinitely—living things excluded—so there was no fear of rot or decay.