The Great Worm Lich

The young men at the shore began clamoring when they saw a skinny silhouette get off the limousine that just arrived before they could clearly see who that person was. Meanwhile, the journalists began taking photos with their big cameras immediately. As the flashlights went off for a while, everyone began booing, realizing that the person who grabbed their attention was an Asian boy covering his face who they were unfamiliar with.

“Sh*t, he covered his face as soon as he got off the car. It made me think that we got a big fish. Being assigned entertainment news is bad enough and now here’s a fella who thinks highly of himself. Who does he think he is? He carries a canvas bag to a party, which idiot would want to take photos of him…” A young journalist wearing a baseball cap complained as he watched the young man pass the security and get on the cruise in the blink of an eye, following the suspended ladder.

“Kid, don’t look down on these yellow-skinned young men. A couple of years ago, a journalist from the Washington Star captured an Asian boy that nobody knew about unintentionally at Andrea’s big party. He was later identified as some Chinese big shot politician’s son. That news created a stir in the entertainment section for quite some time.”

An experienced paparazzi casually pointed out the rookie acquaintance’s mistake out of kindness. Just when he was speaking, he saw the limousine’s door being opened again all of a sudden. Tina Douglin, one of the main characters of the cruise party this time walked out leisurely.

“Sh*t, that guy earlier came with Tina Douglin. He’s her date, sh*t. These rich brats are getting more and more sly!” The experienced journalist cursed softly and raised the big camera in his hand. He squeezed with over 10 acquaintances while shouting loudly which was futile. “Ms. Tina, look here! Look here! May I know if the boy who came with you is your new boyfriend? I heard your ex-boyfriend and Ms. Trish’s brother got into some trouble in the Amazon jungle, is that true?”

At the moment, Tina ignored the screaming fans and journalists who were shouting and taking photos while waving left and right courteously. She walked to the Queen Elizabeth Holiday’s suspended ladder slowly with the security guards. Eventually, she turned around and smiled before disappearing from everyone’s field of vision not long after.

The view became vast and bright as she got on the cruise. Under the dazzling sun, Tina silently walked to a side of the cruise by the sea after greeting a couple of friends who noticed her. She went to Zhang Lisheng who was looking at the great ocean. “Lisheng, let’s go get changed. The guests are coming soon.”

The young man nodded and followed the girl to the cruise’s cabin. A couple of minutes later, Zhang Lisheng went changing with Tina in a big resting room on the Queen Elizabeth Holiday’s first floor. He made sure that both of them were separated since he didn’t want any incidents to happen. He took the suit out from his backpack and passed it to the cruise attendant for ironing. After his suit was pressed and neat, he was forced to have his face touched up by a beautiful, professional stylist. He looked much brighter now, just like a smart, young man. However, he was unsatisfied with the changes on his face. He said to the stylist while looking at the mirror, “Ms. Fanny, may I know if you must apply powder on my face? I find it very weird.”

“It’s not powder, it’s a tool to make your skin look bright. Mr. Lisheng, as an urban boy of the new century, using these little tools to fix yourself at parties is now the necessary courtesy.”

“But my brother at home never put on these toys on their faces when he sneaked out to parties from the back door.”

“That’s why he felt guilty and had to sneak out to the party. Alright Mr. Lisheng, trust me. I’ve only done the most basic fixing on your face, it’s so natural that even professional makeup artists can’t tell that you have makeup on. You can drink, eat, sweat and even swim in the sea. There’s nothing that you should worry of…”

Someone pushed the resting room’s door open with force all of a sudden while the stylist was still talking. A middle-aged man of mediocre height whose features looked very similar to Tina walked in with big steps. He said nothing after he entered, he was silent for a long time as he stared at Zhang Lisheng with majesty. He spoke in a strict tone, “You must be Mr. Zhang Lisheng?”

It was Zhang Lisheng’s first time feeling anxious in front of a man since his father Zhang Daowu passed away. He looked at the face that looked like it overlapped with Tina’s. He stood up in panic. “Yes, you must be Mr. Dolby Douglin. It’s nice to meet you.” He initiated the hand-shaking. The middle-aged man shook Zhang Lisheng’s hand hard. “I’m Dolby Douglin. You’re skinnier than I imagined. You even have a colorful bracelet on your wrist, it seems like you must’ve survived the Amazon mainly with your intelligence. A man should have a strong body. If you’re like me who insists on going for boxing training twice a week and often hunt for lions in Africa…”

While Dolby was showing off his brave move of ‘dancing’ with the African lions which was ridiculous, Tina, who was wearing a beautiful pink long gown revealing her voluptuous breasts, came into the resting room with a mature, beautiful young woman who looked like she was only in her 30s.

“My dear Dolby, it’s been two years since you held your gun…” The beautiful young woman could not help but laugh out loud after listening to Dolby’s boastful speech.

“I can blow a 200 pounds lion’s head off with one shot even if I didn’t hold a gun for ten years.” Dolby glared at Zhang Lisheng in a warning manner and walked closer to his daughter. “Oh my little angel, you’re so beautiful today.”

“Thanks dad.” Tina kissed her father’s cheek while smiling happily. “But stop scaring Lisheng okay? He’s not afraid of some lions or tigers.”

“He might not be afraid of lions or tigers but nobody can bear the fire of an enraged father as soon as his daughter is bullied. Especially this father who is a great expert in fighting and hunting. This father is also very wealthy to be able to hire the best lawyer.”

“Dad, I know what you’re doing is a tradition of an American father who has a daughter but I’m an adult now…”

“I’m still your guardian according to the law before you turn 21…”

“Oh dad…” Tina kissed Dolby’s cheek again and said in a coquettish manner.

“Alright alright, I’ll talk about some other stuff with this Mr. Zhang Lisheng…”

An attendant from the cruise approached them while Dolby was talking. “Ms. Tina, almost all of the guests are here now. Ms. Sheila and Ms. Trish are ready. Could you head to the second-floor lounge with your date right now?”

“Yes.” Tina nodded and smiled sweetly at her father. “Wait for my grand entrance at the lounge on second-floor mom and dad. I love you.”

“We love you too baby. Wishing you happiness and joy every day like you do today.”

The girl held Zhang Lisheng’s hand and walked out of the resting room after her parents wished her.

“Lisheng, I hope you wouldn’t mind. My dad’s behavior when he met you for the first time is one of the American dad’s traditions. I heard Mr. Howick used a military knife to slice a calf for a barbecue when he first met Walter.”

“Isn’t that too much?”

“I heard more ridiculous ones but shouldn’t you panic about little things like this? It’s nothing even if my dad really killed an African lion with a gun. Why do you look like you’re obviously relieved when you walked out of the resting room?”

“Really? I didn’t feel that,” Zhang Lisheng said stubbornly. They arrived at a hidden employee elevator in the cabin following behind the attendant while they chatted and laughed. When they took the elevator straight to the second floor and arrived at the vast lounge, Zhang Lisheng saw Sheila in a red gown looking like a rose and Trish in a white lace gown sitting across each other on the couch by the window silently. There was a tall, handsome, and strange young man who didn’t have an expression on his face sitting beside them and Walter whose lips would twitch occasionally with endless grim and rage in his eyes.

“Who is that guy?”

“The date Sheila got for the party. Shittu’s having treatment in Sweden at the moment, he can’t make it back to New York in time.” Tina noticed the ambiance that was a little off from far away and walked closer to her two close friends, pretending to not notice anything off after replying to Zhang Lisheng’s question. “Hey my sisters, today is the day we show ourselves to the world. Are you guys ready?”

“Dubin and I are ready, I wonder if Trish is?”

“We’re ready from the start if Mr. Dubin didn’t make fun of Walter.”

“Listen, Trish, Dubin has explained many times. He wasn’t laughing because Walter drool-drooled… Anyway, he didn’t laugh because of Walter’s behavior but because a seagull fell when it was catching a fish on the sea outside the window.”

“A seagull fell when it was catching a fish. I’m always out on the sea but why have I never seen such a weird thing?”

“Trish, you’re just looking for a fight to be saying this! Okay, so what if Dubin was laughing at Walter without realizing as he said? Dubin has apologized many times, do you want to send him to the electric chair?”

“Oh my dear sisters Trish and Sheila, it’s a happy day today. Let’s not fight because of a little misunderstanding alright…”

Zhang Lisheng looked out of the window while feeling bored after noticing Tina was beginning to stop her good friends Trish and Sheila from fighting. The young man was immersed in the clear, blue Atlantic ocean through the wide and bright ceiling to floor window on the second-floor cabin. Just when he was indulging in it, he saw an obscure yellow gleam flash through the waves where the sky met the ocean all of a sudden.

Zhang Lisheng became stiff feeling as if someone was squeezing his heart. He had goosebumps all over his body. Without knowing how much time had passed, he heard a voice next to his ear that made him snap back to his senses. “Lisheng? Lisheng? What happened? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m good but… Tina, will this cruise sail in the sea or will it always stay by the shore?”