Mu Feng had originally been sitting at the back, and Yang Qing and the others had paid him little attention. Now, as they watched him approach, Yang Qing's brows creased slightly.
He had only happened to recall that possibility and mentioned it in passing. He had never expected there really to be something wrong with the water.
Mu Feng had already taken off his outer robe. Then Yang Qing and the others noticed tiny movements in its lining.
Only after looking closely did they realize those tiny movements all came from worms as fine as strands of hair.
Bu Er was just about to step forward and turn the robe over so Yang Qing and the others could get a better look, only to see Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou each toss a fire striker onto it at the same time.
"Mu Feng, hurry and take off all your clothes. Check yourself thoroughly."
Before Yang Qing had finished speaking, Mu Feng was already stripping off the rest of his clothes.
Sure enough, Yang Qing and the others spotted those slender worms on his other garments too, though there were fewer than on his outermost layer.
All those clothes were tossed into the fire. Within moments, an intensely rank, foul stench rose from the flames.
As Mu Feng changed into clean clothes, he frowned and said, "I was so busy dealing with these worms that it never occurred to me—why would they be here?"
Yang Qing looked at Mu Feng. "You recognize these worms?"
Mu Feng nodded. "Yes. I forgot in all the confusion earlier, and only just remembered. These worms are called Ghost Shadows because they only live in underground rivers."
"What's more, these worms aren't wild. Someone trained them."
Yang Qing and Bu Er spoke in unison. "Trained them?