The Great Worm Lich

It was evening when Zhang Lisheng returned to the Grand Ocean Hotel. Although the third wizard gu that he hunted was different from what he expected, he was satisfied and had no regret at all since Crocodragon had extraordinary amounts of power and potential. He washed up in his room with a smile on his face and changed into a new set of clothes. He then gave his mother a call afterward, confirming that he would take the plane back to New York tomorrow morning. He then carried his backpack and walked to the hotel restaurant leisurely. He wanted to reward himself.

The Grand Ocean Hotel’s restaurant had the exact same style with the hotel, they had seafood and Tatetutu’s jungle delicacy for their recommended dishes. Zhang Lisheng did not get anyone to serve him when he walked in. Instead, he walked to a single table by the window directly. He took out a $10 bill and waved it, smiling at the waiter who was closest to the table. “May I know if this table is taken?”

The waiter was stunned for a moment. He looked around and walked towards Zhang Lisheng with quick steps. He then took out the menu. “You could sit here, may I know what you would like to order?”

Zhang Lisheng smiled in satisfaction and shoved the money into the menu for the waiter then gave it back. “Give me the lobster meal, the one with many worms and black sauce. Also, get me a glass of Coke and a serving of fried dumplings.”

“Jungle lobster meal, your tastes are quite unique sir. Please give us a moment.”

The waiter retreated after getting his order. Zhang Lisheng began looking around in excitement, observing the unique decor in the restaurant. His head was full of stress since he arrived in Tatetutu and stayed for almost a month. But right now, he could finally relax. Unfortunately, less than three to five minutes into his night of relaxation, a courteous native old man dressed in an old, fabric suit walked into the restaurant with a big and tall white man with him. He interrupted Zhang Lisheng’s peace.

“Mr. Zhang Lisheng, good evening. Do you still remember me?” The native old man walked straight towards Zhang Lisheng’s table and asked.

“Tubalin, how could I forget you? The Tatetutu person who owns double doctorates as well as being good friends with two notorious professors who are Stephen Hawking and Yasa Marton. I didn’t expect to see you here, what a coincidence.”

“It’s no coincidence, I’m here to see you. May I sit down?”

Zhang Lisheng touched his backpack on his back after hearing what Tubalin said. “Please do.”

Tubalin did the same thing whereby he touched his sleeve hearing what the young man said. The white man he brought with him pulled a wooden chair from another table for him. Zhang Lisheng had just noticed the white man Tubalin brought with him. He realized that although the expression on the person’s face was smiling, he maintained that way for a long time. It was as if the smile was drawn, noticing this after staring for a long time.

“Talawuwu’s one of the most exquisite dolls that I made. I brought my own creation without alarm to see a witch doctor who has endless potential.” Noticing that Zhang Lisheng was observing his underling, Tubalin said while smiling, “I suppose you have your dolls in your backpack. If I’m not mistaken, the invisible black dragon and big mountain toad are in there too, am I right?”

“What?” Zhang Lisheng’s pupils shrunk.

“Don’t worry young man, I saw the astonishing kill you performed in my tribe. That’s the reason I said that. I have no ill intention at all.”

Zhang Lisheng had only done one killing in the cannibal tribe using Mountoad and Island Dragon ever since he came to Amazon. However, he had searched all over the entire tribe and he only spared the lives of a few babies. He thought about it and asked all of a sudden, “Do you have the supernatural ability to trace back time?”

“Oh no no.” Tubalin laughed out loud and replied, “Witch doctors don’t have such an ability. I installed a small generator in the tribe’s drain and hid a few cameras in the bramble forest. Unfortunately, I’ve only watched the first half of the amazing kill and those cameras stopped working…”

“Cameras! Damn, you’re so creative to be installing those stuff in a cannibal tribe. I had mud all over my face but you recognized me, you really have great eyes. So Mr. Tubalin, are you here to avenge your tribe?”

“No no, I’ve already reached my goal. That tribe has lost most of its function. I’m here just to talk to you, young witch doctor.”

“What’s there to talk about between us?”

“Don’t you think we have very similar backgrounds and experiences? We’re both born in countries suppressed by those so-called Western civilized countries. We both came from Western countries when we were young, we love science and fear science, and we both possess dark power. Most importantly, we’re not afraid of dying at all…”

Zhang Lisheng fell into silence for a moment. “Mr. Tubalin, the first similarity that you said we both have is incorrect. My home country’s very powerful.”

“But China was still suffering from invasion tens of years ago. Didn’t it fall into Western imperialism a hundred years ago?”

What Tubalin said made Zhang Lisheng speechless. The waiter happened to serve his dinner at the moment. He then began eating while keeping shut.

“It’s fortunate that your country accumulated effort to work towards civilization for the past thousands of years but not my country…” Tubalin did not stop talking.

“Fortunate?” Zhang Lisheng put down his cutleries. “Mr. Tubalin, China has existed for 6,000 years. Throughout those 6,000 years, we’ve been the most powerful and richest country in the world for most of it. It’s only natural that we suffered reconstruction. While Tatetutu, no offense, Tatetutu had just been built for… I have no idea of the exact period of time but I’m guessing it’s nothing longer than 100 years…”

“So you think Tatetutu can’t be compared to China?” A cloud of dark flame appeared in Tubalin’s eyes. He spoke through the gaps of his teeth while touching his sleeve. The white man who had been standing by his side since the beginning turned his head to face Zhang Lisheng while retaining his smile. All of a sudden, Zhang Lisheng thought this man who looked harmless and had an odd expression earlier now looked like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was trembling in fear.

He began chanting witchcraft incantations almost by instinct, ignoring everything else. However, the flame in Tubalin’s eyes vanished suddenly just when Mountoad was almost hopping out of his backpack. “We’re both victims, we shouldn’t become enemies…at least for now. Young man, you might not believe it but us Tatetutu people that you look down on were once god’s favorite descendants. Thousands of years ago, Tatetutu women would pray to the god when they wanted children. They would give birth to reborn gods when the god responded to their prayers! The name Tatetutu represented the entire American continent back then, the continent white people and their allies stole…”

“Such ridiculous myths exist in every race. Mr. Tubalin, what are you trying to tell me? Are you telling me that the god’s light is coming and you Tatetutu people are using it as a gimmick or something like that?”

“Of course not, the god is long gone. All of us who are fighting for our lives taking pride working at hotels meant for the foreigners can never bring glory to our ancestors. The only thing that I can do is to try to destroy the world’s civilization so that everyone can go back to the same starting point. I happened to survive on the 21st of December, 2012. I am quite grateful for that opportunity,” Tubalin said that casually and calmly.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, I’m here today just to speak to a young man who I thought was very similar to me. People love doing nonsense when they’re happy, don’t they? Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Zhang Lisheng. Perhaps ten years later or perhaps today the bookmark would be placed into the reality one after another. All the best when the book is laid, goodbye,” Tubalin stood up as he spoke. He left all of a sudden, just like how sudden he came.

A bolt of lightning struck through Rukututu’s night sky when Tubalin said the last sentence before leaving. Zhang Lisheng’s heart jolted and shuddered, getting goosebumps all over his body. When he looked at Tubalin again, he realized that he had already left far away. Right at that moment, Zhang Lisheng had the impulse to grab the old man to ask what that was about.

However, his cautious character came to rescue during a critical time. Zhang Lisheng watched Tubalin walking away quietly. He did not stop playing with the jelly gem on his wrist, he was pulling it and smashing it flat without noticing. He mumbled in annoyance since his deep thoughts were to no avail, “It’s true that a person would go insane if he’s too smart.” He tied the jelly gem on his wrist and proceeded to enjoy his delicious lobster meal instead of thinking.

After dinner, he spent the rest of his evening cultivating secret methods. On the next morning, Zhang Lisheng ordered a beef burger at the hotel restaurant. He ate it before returning the GPS device that he had been using at the front desk. He then grabbed himself a limousine and rushed to Rukututu airport.

From the looks of it, Rukututu airport had the same mottled walls just like Tuikano airport did. There was mold growing all the way up to the second floor but there were many more planes on the runway compared to the airport in Tatetutu’s capital. The cars could not drive right into immigration this time. Zhang Lisheng walked to the terminal and noticed the white tiles that prevented dampness installed on the ground and the walls. There were huge ceiling lamps hanging on the ceiling and beautiful jungle sceneries painted all over. It was not as bad as it seemed outside.

His flight was at 9:20 a.m., it was only around 8 a.m. when Zhang Lisheng walked into the terminal. By then, the PA announced that the guests flying New York’s American Airlines UT-0098 could board the plane now. He was annoyed that the boarding took place so much earlier. Naturally, he had to follow since the airport had indicated that. The process picking up the booked ticket and his boarding pass was smooth. However, Zhang Lisheng was troubled by an airport security officer dressed in a green uniform who was surprisingly fat in this tropical country during a security check.