I am an insect

Seeing Ji Ye looking at him, the young man shrugged and said, "Don't worry, there are people here. We don't want to cause a disturbance, so we won't make a move. It's safe for you here."

"What can we talk about?" Ji Ye asked, looking at the young man.

The young man smiled, and every time he smiled, his eyes would crinkle slightly, making him look very cute.

"There's a lot to talk about. Let's sit down and chat. But tonight I admit defeat. It seems that even the King of Hell has people he can't take. I have to take back what I said before."

As he spoke, he sat down at a nearby empty table and gestured for Ji Ye to sit down as well.

"It's been a long time since I've been to a place like this. This is probably what the warmth and life of the people should feel like." The young man said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. The smoke from the barbecue grills rose all around him, like incense, and he seemed to be enjoying the feeling.

"I have some questions. If you're willing to answer my questions, I don't mind sitting down and having a chat with you."

The young man opened his eyes, still wearing a faint smile, and said, "Okay, have a seat."

Ji Ye walked over and sat down opposite him.

He was about to speak when the young man waved him off, then called the owner, ordered some skewers, and took a case of beer.

After ordering, the young man smiled and said, "Alright, you can ask me anything you have questions about."

"What kind of organization are you? Why are you targeting me? I don't believe your high-sounding reasons."

The young man seemed somewhat disappointed and said, "I knew you'd ask this kind of question. Actually, I've already given you the answer. Ji Ye, think about it. If we leave people like you unchecked, everyone who dies will turn into an adult worm and take over someone else's body. After thousands of years of this, do you think there will be any normal human beings left in the world?"

Ji Ye fell silent for a moment before saying, "So, you've existed for thousands of years? You kill all the adult insects that appear? Are the underworld, the Ten Kings of Hell, and the Black and White Impermanence in folk legends actually referring to you?"

The young man smiled and shook his head, saying, "I know very little. I only know that we were chosen to represent a certain will. Our mission is to eliminate you. Of course, since cremation is now the standard practice, it is actually quite rare for an adult insect like you to have gone through a 49-day pupal stage to mature. Adult insects that have not gone through a pupal stage are very fragile. They may even be destroyed by sunlight. There is nothing to fear."

Ji Ye pondered for a moment, then said, "But not all countries practice cremation. I remember many countries still practice burial, including our country, which used to practice burial. Wouldn't that mean a large number of adult insects would go through the pupal stage?"

The young man asked, "Do you know the true meaning of the saying 'to be buried in peace'?"

"That's because in the old days, people were buried in the ground after they died. Only then could the deceased find their proper place, and only then could their families feel at peace. That's why there's the saying 'to be buried in the earth is to find peace.'" Ji Ye said, "But since you put it that way, it seems that this saying has another meaning."

"Yes." The young man nodded and said, "I think you should have sensed it. This power of intention is everywhere, like air in every place, but you probably don't understand where this power of intention comes from."

He paused for a moment and continued, "The power of this will comes from the earth beneath our feet."

"But for those with a mental capacity, the Earth's interior is the most terrifying place. It is said that there is a magnetic mountain inside the Earth's core that can release a special magnetic field that can obliterate willpower. Of course, I am not very clear about the truth of this, since no one can enter the Earth's core to see for themselves."

"Once a person dies and their body is buried in the earth, except in special terrain, they can never emerge from their cocoon and become an adult again, because the will within the body will be absorbed by the earth. I guess this is the main reason why the earth contains powerful willpower. After all, from ancient times to the present, countless living beings have died, and their will after death has been absorbed by the earth."

"This is the real reason why people are buried in the ground for peace. Once a person is buried, they are truly dead."

Ji Ye was stunned. He never expected that although the earth contained powerful spiritual energy, it could also absorb the spiritual entities buried within it.

Once a human corpse is buried in the ground, it is virtually impossible for adult insects to develop.

He understood why he was so afraid of entering the earth when he was a pure thought form: the earth would absorb thought forms.

Ji Ye had previously wondered why, over thousands of years, all the dead had molted into adult insects, which was unimaginable. He wondered where all these adult insects went. Now he knew.

The thoughts of these dead people were absorbed by the earth.

"So it seems that for you, burial is better than cremation." Ji Ye originally thought that the reason why burial was changed to cremation was because the burial process allowed the insects to pupate and grow into adults, but now it seems that he was wrong.

The young man smiled and shook his head, saying, "You're wrong again. For us, cremation is naturally the simplest option."

"Why is that?" Ji Ye asked, somewhat curious.

The young man said, "In ancient times, people paid attention to feng shui when burying their dead. For example, the burial site should have a towering tree with lush foliage, which would indicate that the descendants would be blessed by their ancestors. The falling leaves symbolize returning to one's roots. Of course, the tree could not be a yin tree, such as a locust tree or a peach tree. Another example is that the chosen burial site should have a snake's den. In the ancient people's understanding, snakes were the predecessors of dragons. The presence of snakes in the burial site could be called 'dragon energy.' The ancients believed that snakes were spiritual beings, and the places where they lived must have excellent feng shui, representing good fortune and being a sign of wealth. Therefore, snakes are called 'money strings' in feng shui."

Ji Ye listened quietly. He also studied feng shui and knew that the ancient people's burial sites were designed to be surrounded by water on three sides and a flat road on one side, in order to gather wind and water. They also had to climb mountains to see the water outlet and enter the tomb to see the bright hall. When he was studying, he once thought that feng shui had some scientific basis, but it was more of a superstition. However, when he heard the young man suddenly mention the feng shui that the ancient people paid attention to in their burials, he knew that there must be some reason for it.

The young man continued, "The ancients were very clever, far more so than we modern people imagine. The feng shui treasure land they valued was a profound subject, actually referring to the process of a pupa mating into an insect. It's just that ordinary people don't understand the underlying principles, which has led to the almost superstitious concept of feng shui we have today."

"As I just said, for the vast majority of ordinary people, when a person dies and is buried underground, they are laid to rest. Within forty-nine days, they are mostly slowly dissolved by the earth, and their consciousness ceases to exist. However, there are still some special terrains that are referred to as auspicious places in ancient books, but we tend to regard them as blind spots of the earth."

"Blind spot in the earth?" Ji Ye looked curious; it was the first time he had ever heard of this concept.