I've always been obsessed with the silkworm's metamorphosis: how a simple grub can pupate, sprout wings, and take flight. I heard a rumor about a remote village deep on North Peak that still worships the Silkworm Deity, so I made the trek out here to see it for myself and take notes.
The mountain trail is rough going. Still, I've already passed a few shrines along the way. They all hold little statues of a woman riding a horse, exactly like the "Lady Haya" from the old texts. I'm definitely on the right track. If I keep pushing deeper, I know I'll find something.
I made it to the village! I knew it!
Right in the middle of town stands a massive statue of the horse-riding woman, easily twenty feet tall. It's a dead ringer for the Silkworm Deity in In Search of the Divine. This cult must have survived here since ancient times, unbroken and unchanged. Finding living proof like this is incredibly rare! I can't wait to write a paper on this when I get back.
I need to write down something bizarre I just saw. The villagers seem to eat moth wings. At first, I thought it was some kind of dried meat, but up close, there's no mistaking it. They're wings. And they are freakishly huge, about the size of a human hand. A normal silkworm moth is barely the size of my thumb. Where the hell are they getting moths this big?
There's a cave system under the village. I need to find a way down.
The Moth Immortal is real. From grub to pupa, and from moth to immortal, it's not just a myth. I've seen it with my own eyes. Just eyeballing it, the immortal's body is the size of a small hill, stark white. Countless beautiful, flowing ribbons of silk stretch out from its body, blanketing the entire cavern. The cave is a massive, living cocoon, and I am inside it.
Maybe it's just because I'm underground, but I'm burning up, and my vision is starting to blur. I tried to count the ribbons, but they just keep swaying and overlapping in front of me. I can't focus on them.
It's getting really hard to write.
But it took everything I had to get down here. I need to bring back the most accurate records. I have to bring them back. No one has ever seen this before. I need to write down exactly what the Moth Immortal looks like and take it back with me
The Moth Immortal is stark white
The Moth Immortal is
I am a bug
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