Chapter 8
I screamed in terror, but the other side responded with a cackling laugh.
12:09 PM .
<
It was then that I realized what I had thought were eyes was actually the face of a horrifying old woman.
Her face was so emaciated it was just skin stretched over bone. Her half–bald head had a few long white hairs.
Her grinning mouth still had bits of animal fur and blood on it. Combined with those gray–white eyes, it was utterly terrifying.
Even more horrifying was that the woman’s lower body was nothing but bare bones, without a shred of flesh.
I didn’t know how many years she had been in this well, or how she was still alive when half her body had turned to bones.
The woman’s eyes flashed with a strange light when she saw the blood around my mouth and my lower body.
“Are you a vase maiden too?” she asked.
I nodded, still shaken.
“Who are you, and why are you in this well?” I asked.
The old woman didn’t answer my question. Instead, she asked if I wanted to leave this place, saying she could help me.
“Why would you help me?” I asked suspiciously. My experiences had taught me that there’s no such thing as help without strings attached.
The old woman didn’t hide her motives.
She said she wanted to get out too, but she could only leave if she regained her flesh.
If I attached myself to her body, we could fuse together and grow new flesh.
D
Thinking of the people who had hurt me still living freely outside, I agreed to the old woman’s proposal without hesitation, my eyes filled with hatred.
I moved my body onto the old woman’s bones. Suddenly, my numb lower body felt a sharp pain.
I looked down and saw that my root–like lower body was slowly growing flesh.
I was both shocked and delighted, but when I cried out, I realized my voice had become the same as the old woman’s.
I quickly touched my face and found it had also transformed into the old woman’s appearance.
“What’s going on? Why have I turned into you?” I asked, panicked.
The old woman chuckled.
“We’ve become one now. I’ve decided I quite like your body. I don’t want to leave it.”
I smirked and grabbed the worm that was about to fly into my ear.
“If you don’t come out, I’ll crush it,” I threatened.
The old woman became frightened. She told me not to be rash, that she would come out immediately.
The moment the old woman left my body, I swallowed the worm in one gulp.
“You…” the old woman gasped, having reverted to her appearance from the well. She wanted to stop me but was powerless.
I smiled and bent down close to her.
“Let me tell you a secret. When we shared a body, I could see your consciousness.”
It turned out that she was the one who had cursed the Vase Maiden village.
She had a worm inside her that could achieve Immortality by absorbing the essence of vase maidens.
But she had been careless and was turned into a vase maiden herself Afterh
The old woman became frightened. She told me not to be rash, that she would come out immediately.
The moment the old woman left my body, I swallowed the worm in one gulp.
“You…” the old woman gasped, having reverted to her appearance from the well. She wanted to stop me but was powerless.
I smiled and bent down close to her.
“Let me tell you a secret. When we shared a body, I could see your consciousness.”
It turned out that she was the one who had cursed the Vase Maiden village.
She had a worm inside her that could achieve immortality by absorbing the essence of vase maidens.
But she had been careless and was turned into a vase maiden herself. After biting a customer, her vase was shattered, and she was thrown into the well.
When she met me, the worm inside her was nearly starving to death.
She had me attach to her bones, ostensibly to help me, but actually to let the worm feed on my essence.
Without my essence, I would soon die unless I ate the old woman’s worm.
Hearing my words, the old woman looked at me in disbelief. She struggled to open her mouth but couldn’t utter a word. Finally, her head lolled to the side, and she died with her eyes wide open.
After eating the worm, my hunched body slowly straightened, and my appearance returned to its original form.
I smiled slightly, wrapped a scarf around my face, and strode away from this place.