In a cold cavern somewhere near Yuexi Town.

  Chen Gensheng pulled back his sleeves and wheezed for a long time before finally finding the strength to stand. His thickest right arm was gone, yet he stumbled toward Li Simin. With great effort, he propped her up against a large boulder.

  Once finished, the sliver of stamina he had recovered was spent once more. He crawled back in front of the stone, looked at Li Simin for a moment, and knocked his head against the ground in a grim kowtow.

  "Safe travels," he rasped.

  As the words left his lips, the turmoil in his chest finally stilled. Several black wasps flew into the cave, buzzing softly. Without a second thought, Gensheng opened his mouth, and the swarm vanished inside him.

  He was about to close his eyes to meditate when a massive centipede manifested out of thin air. The middle-aged scholar in the cyan robe—the Insect Demon—stood silently before him.

  Jiang Guixian looked at Gensheng’s empty right shoulder, then at the unconscious Li Simin, and let out a sigh. With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the mangled remains of the Shadowfire Butterfly at Gensheng’s feet.

  "There are no other cultivators in this town," the Demon remarked, his voice neutral. "Why didn't you eat her on the spot and take her storage bag? Efficiency is the mark of a survivor. You should act with more... boldness."

  "I am hungry," Gensheng replied simply.

  Jiang Guixian stood with his hands behind his back. "Then eat."

  Gensheng said nothing more and began to consume the remains of the Shadowfire Butterfly.

  "She took human form too early," the Demon noted. "Her foundation was unstable; all her essence was wasted on that skin. However, she is a rare species. Her flesh will be of immense benefit to your body. Specifically, her Monster Core—not yet fully formed—should allow that arm of yours to regrow."

  Gensheng didn't stop. He consumed the flesh until, deep within the viscera, he found a blue, pulsating orb the size of a pigeon egg. He swallowed it whole.

  At the site of his severed shoulder, new flesh began to sprout with a frenzied speed. Bones popped and cracked. A brand-new arm grew back before his very eyes. The process took the time of a single incense stick.

  When the chaos subsided, Gensheng slowly raised his new right hand.

  Six hands. Whole once more.

  He stood up and began to dismantle the remaining husk of the Butterfly, sorting bone from meat with surgical precision. He left only her storage bag and a ring aside. He pushed half the meat to the cave entrance and spat out several bloated wasps to begin their own feast.

  "Master," Gensheng turned to the Insect Demon. "What is the difference between a human and an insect?"

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  Jiang Guixian blinked, seemingly surprised that Gensheng had called him 'Master.'

  "I have studied exotic insects for a hundred years, and I have pondered this very question," Jiang said. "An insect eats when hungry, sleeps when tired, flees from predators, and fights for blood-food. Everything it does is to survive and procreate."

  "Are humans any different?" the Demon continued. "They toil for three meals, labor for grand mansions, fight for power, and marry for lineage. At the core, they do exactly what the insects do. If there is a true difference..."

  He paused, thinking. "It is that humans are better at masks and self-deception than you insects will ever be. They wrap their primal desires in 'Benevolence, Righteousness, and Morality,' then commit acts more loathsome than any bug. A brother kills a brother for a few acres of land; a father and son turn against each other for a woman. An insect would never do such things."

  He added, "Of course, in terms of cultivation, the human body is far superior to most insect frames. Aside from that? They are the same."

  Gensheng listened, then looked back at Li Simin. She was leaning against the stone, her breath long gone.

  "This mortal corpse is useless to you now," Jiang said. "Either feed it to your wasps or bury it somewhere to avoid a plague. Do not let a useless, dead thing disrupt your Dao Heart."

  Gensheng reached into his robes and pulled out the cloth bundle. He unwrapped it, revealing the two crystalline Void-Observing Eyes. He held them in his palm, then gently, almost tenderly, pressed them back into Li Simin’s empty sockets.

  Once finished, he stood up and carefully hoisted her body onto his back.

  "What are you doing?" Jiang Guixian frowned. "You have the shape of a man, but you are no human. When a mortal dies, their soul scatters and the body breeds Corpse Qi. This energy is foul; it rots a cultivator's foundation. If you carry her day and night, your Ninth Level of Qi Condensation will be tainted to nothing within half a month."

  Gensheng didn't put her down. He adjusted his stance so she rested more securely against him. "I want to carry her."

  Jiang walked a circle around him, perplexed. "Why?"

  Gensheng’s face showed nothing but exhaustion. "You strange cockroach..."

  The Demon shook his head, unable to tell if he was impressed or disgusted. Seeing that the youth was immovable, he stopped pestering him. He picked up a ring from the Butterfly’s remains and tossed it over.

  "Catch."

  Gensheng caught it with his left hand. The ring was ash-white, carved from some kind of bone. It was cold to the touch and bore the motif of a butterfly with spreading wings.

  "That is a Bone-Storage Ring of the Shadowfire Butterfly clan. Unlike common storage bags, this can hold living things—or fresh remains. She used it for her precious butterflies."

  Jiang Guixian stood tall. "I have wiped her spiritual imprint from it. A drop of your blood will bind it. There are likely some of her grey butterflies left inside; do with them what you will. If you insist on keeping the body, put her in the ring. It will seal away the Corpse Qi and allow you to travel unburdened. Perhaps one day, you can even refine her into a Corpse Puppet."

  Gensheng carefully lowered Li Simin and sat her against the wall. He pricked his finger, and a drop of crimson blood was absorbed by the bone ring.

  With a thought, a greyish space the size of a small room appeared in his mind. Hundreds of grey-blue butterflies lay there, wings folded in a deep slumber. Beside them were some mundane items: white dresses, a box of rouge, a few books of poetry, and a small pouch containing about a hundred spirit stones.

  Gensheng cleared out the trinkets, then used all six hands to gently lift Li Simin’s body. Jiang Guixian watched in silence as the "monster" placed the mortal girl into the ring, arranging her into a peaceful sleeping posture.

  Gensheng slipped the ring onto his left finger. It fit perfectly.

  "Thank you, Master."

  "Don't thank me. An insect should be more selfish." Jiang Guixian turned, transforming back into the giant crimson centipede. "I just didn't want you becoming a laughingstock by carrying a corpse across the country. One warning: if you don't refine her into a puppet within ten years, those eyes will rot."

  The massive centipede burrowed into the earth and vanished.