Ling Yu shrugged off Xuan Tian's hand on her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" She sniffled.
Xuan Tian blinked a few times, genuinely confused by the question.
"I'm—I'm patting your shoulder."
"Why?" She pouted.
Xuan Tian blinked a few more times. He didn't understand the question.
"It—because you're—cr..." He stopped completely because Ling Yu was glaring at him, obviously not happy with his answer.
Xuan Tian was wondering how things went downhill this fast. He didn't know where he went wrong.
"Well?" Ling Yu crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Xuan Tian opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Then he decided the safest course was to stay quiet.
Ling Yu huffed impatiently.
"Well?" she repeated. "Are you?!"
"Am I… what?"
Ling Yu sighed loudly. "Dying! Are you dying?!"
"Oh, that." Xuan Tian exhaled, relieved. Then he looked at her. "No. I'm not dying."
"But Shizun said—"
"I don't know what your Shizun really said to you, but I'm not dying." Xuan Tian placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Sit down. I'll explain."
So, she did. "You'll explain?"
"Yes. Or better yet, you ask, I'll answer."
Ling Yu was looking at him suspiciously.
"Okay. If you're not dying, then why did your cultivation plummet to L4?"
Xuan Tian inhaled. "Lingxu put something in Captain Bai. Something that would make it possible for them to have absolute control over her. And when I tried to remove it, it jumped to me."
"Let me finish," said Xuan Tian quickly when he saw Ling Yu open her mouth.
"Whatever it was in Captain Bai is now in me. But don't worry. Since my cultivation is much higher than hers, Lingxu can't control me. However, I got injured in the process and am suppressing my cultivation to avoid aggravating the injury. Does that answer your question?"
Ling Yu was looking at Xuan Tian, trying to assess if he was telling the truth. But he had never lied to her. So, she chose to believe him.
"Yes. That answers my question. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Your next question?"
"How is Captain Bai?"
Xuan Tian sighed. "She was severely tortured. Her Heart Core and Immortal Core were both sealed, making her think she was crippled, unable to cultivate. Doctor Lin Qian and I managed to unseal her Heart Core, and her Immortal Core is still half sealed."
Ling Yu scrunched her face, her eyes went red again.
Xuan Tian panicked a little bit and added quickly, "But she's going to be okay. Once Doctor Lin removes the remaining seal on her Immortal Core, she'll be able to cultivate again."
Ling Yu exhaled and smiled, "That's very good to hear."
"What is a Black Worm?"
"Yes, that's good to hear. Huh?"
"What is a Black Worm?"
Xuan Tian's face changed from surprised to anger. He subconsciously leaned closer to Ling Yu's face. Ling Yu was surprised and leaned back.
"How did you know about Black Worm? Did you hear it when you were in Lingxu?"
Ling Yu was again surprised to hear Xuan Tian's voice, sharp and cold. He had never used that voice when talking to her.
"I heard you and Lin Jie talked about it. Right before you kicked me out."
Xuan Tian stared at her without blinking, as if remembering if he really had said it. He straightened his back.
Ling Yu saw that Black Worm was really disturbing Xuan Tian, she knew then that it was something very dangerous.
"Black Worm… is a type of worm that can corrupt cultivators and turn them into puppets." Xuan Tian's voice sounded lifeless.
Ling Yu felt cold in her spine.
"Corrupt? Like qi deviation corrupt?"
Xuan Tian looked at her, and nodded softly. "Yes. Exactly like that. The only difference is, while the Dark Immortals usually have gone mad, full of hostility, cultivators that have Black Worms in them are being controlled by someone else."
Ling Yu looked at Xuan Tian in horror, "And you – you have a Black Worm in you?!"
Xuan Tian looked at Ling Yu, unable to say anything. He had tried to give her a softer version, but she found out anyway.
"Ling Yu…"
"Iron Wall, do you?" She grabbed one of his hands.
The moment their skins touched, Xuan Tian's Heart Core trembled. No, the pearly core was trembling. And Xuan Tian felt it. He immediately clutched his chest.
"Iron Wall?! Are you okay?!" Ling Yu panicked.
Xuan Tian looked at Ling Yu's panicked face and he somehow felt warmth in his heart. I must be insane. How can I feel warmth when she's panicking?
The pearly core trembled again. This time, it shook his Heart Core.
"Iron Wall!"
Seeing Xuan Tian not saying anything, just looked at her, really sent Ling Yu into real panic. She just received news that Xuan Tian might become a puppet, and now suddenly he wasn't saying anything? Something was definitely wrong.
She instantly circulated her spirit energy and launched an attack on Xuan Tian.
It was fortunate that even though Xuan Tian's cultivation was lower than Ling Yu's, his reaction was still as fast. He managed to dodge her attack at the last moment.
"What are you doing?" He was dumbfounded.
"Iron Wall, it's okay. I don't want to hurt you. But you're not yourself right now. So, let me put you to sleep and call Lin Jie. Then she can fix you, okay?" Ling Yu was speaking as if she was speaking to a child.
Xuan Tian didn't know if he should laugh or cry.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Iron Wall? I really don't want to hurt you. But I will… for your sake."
Ling Yu moved to attack again.
This time, Xuan Tian dodged and caught both of her hands, clasped her wrists together in one hand, and they both fell on the bed, with Ling Yu's wrists trapped in Xuan Tian's hands, above her head.
"You can't attack me now, can't you?"
Then he looked at her only to realize they were nearly nose to nose. He inhaled sharply. She gasped loudly.
And the world stopped.