The Great Worm Lich

Even though the young man was shocked by the sudden explosion sound beside his ear till his expression changed a little, he still answered roughly, “I won’t be able to block you, boy. If it’s not for the fact that we’re at the downtown area of a foreign country…”

“Team Leader Cui, don’t be angry. My junior nephew is not good at learning since he was young and has been wandering outside ever since. His temper is wild so please wait. Let me talk to him a little bit. I’ll let him know that we’re recruiting him to give him a good opportunity. He’d come around if you just let me talk to him.” The old man nodded and snooped a little as he chimed in with a mocking smile, before taking a small step to Zhang Lisheng’s side and said in a whisper, “Boy, let’s talk.”

Zhang Lisheng’s mouth curled. “I’ve already seen your monkey tricks, old man. Sorry, but I will not play along with it anymore.” Then, he turned around to leave.

“Don’t go! Don’t go! Listen to me first! Boy, you’ll benefit if you follow us! A great benefit! Once you’ve finished this job, you’ll get a position, a cadre status, and even a house! It’d be just like obtaining an Olympic gold medal!” The old man hastily persuaded him.

Unfortunately, the temptation that was extremely luring in the old man’s eyes merely elicited a burst of pitiful dumbfounded expression from Zhang Lisheng when it entered his ears.

Seeing that the teenager still insisted on leaving, the old man panicked and hastily said again, “Don’t go! Don’t go! You’ll get cash rewards, a wife, and even a secret technique. You can basically get whatever you want…”

“What?”

“You’ll get whatever you want. Just name your conditions.” Seeing that the skinny teenager had come to a stop, the old man’s expression relaxed as he whispered with a sincere expression, “This is a secret mission from the country so how can the government possibly treat you badly? With your age, you must have often read online novels or something right? Have you heard of the Dragon Group before? The Dragon Group…”

“No, but uncle, you said that I’ll get a secret technique if I follow you. Did you mean a witchcraft secret technique?”

“Yes, of course! A true ancient rare edition on top of that!” The old man nodded rapidly. “Besides, you’re so good at martial arts, and you even have witchcraft as well. What are you scared of anyway? Just follow us back to the hotel first, and you can always leave if you don’t get along with us. Who can stop you anyway?”

“That’s indeed true! However, uncle, you should know that if you lie to me, the consequences will be far more cumbersome than you expect,” Zhang Lisheng pondered over it before nodding and answered calmly.

“Don’t worry, boy! How can I possibly lie to you!? As long as you can make meritorious deeds for the country, you’ll get whatever you want.” The old man had been in the society for a long time and had been threatened many times before, but his heart still could not help but shudder when he heard Zhang Lisheng’s words. However, in such a situation, he could only come out with some empty promises first and brought Zhang Lisheng to take a few steps to go up to the young man. “Team Leader Cui, see, it’s done! There are many people here, so let’s not stay here anymore. Let us go back to the hotel first.”

The young man glanced at the old man who was full of smiles and Zhang Lisheng who was expressionless beside him before nodding his head silently. He began to lead the group towards the direction where he came just now.

After walking for more than 20 minutes without even stopping to catch their breaths, the three of them finally came to a hotel called African Hometown.

As they walked into this medium-grade business hotel, a few Chinese men dressed like tourists in the lobby immediately surrounded them.

“Relax, relax! He’s my junior nephew! He’s on our side! He’s on our side!” After the old man waved his hand and explained to his companions, he lowered his voice and whispered to Zhang Lisheng, “Boy, wait for a while in the lobby. These men will accompany you, but don’t get pissed off right away. Team Leader Cui and I will go up to inform Captain Hu about your situation, and we’ll come down immediately.”

“There’s some problem but it’s not a serious one. Lu Qing, stay here and help me take a look in the lobby. I’ll go up with Old Man Xu to have a little talk with the Captain first.” The young man also chimed in right away with an indifferent expression.

“Alright, don’t you worry. I’ll help keep my eyes on him and will not leave him out of my sight,” One of the Chinese who surrounded them, a bald burly man who looked like their leader, took a look at the skinny Zhang Lisheng and said while rubbing his head in a gloating manner. “However, our Captain really hates dealing with troublesome things, so you better watch out, Cui Xiaodong.”

“Stop gloating in my misfortunes!” Even though the young man replied as such, he still could not help but grimace right away before frowning at Old Man Xu who was by his side. “Old Man Xu, when we meet the Captain later, you better watch your mouth and don’t let it run loose without restraint! You better talk accordingly and clearly. You also know how sharp our Captain is! If you tell any lies, it won’t be able to escape from her notice…”

Then, he proceeded to walk towards the elevator on the first floor of the hotel.

“Sure! Sure! Don’t worry too much, Team Leader Cui!” The old man nodded with a smile as he followed the young man into the elevator. They went all the way up to the seventh floor, and followed a light-filled corridor to a room, before reaching the door of a regular business single room.

Just as they were about to knock on the door, it slowly opened.

The person who opened the door was a tall chubby man wearing a plain canvas denim shirt who had a thick layer of oils on his face. His body exuding thick perfume that could trigger a person to sneeze and there was no expression at all in his eyes.

Through the dim sunlight piercing from the two floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of the corridor, Old Man Xu saw this person’s face. He, who had been nonchalant and had a glib tongue, turned pale right away before gulping his saliva. “So you’re actually in the Captain’s room as well, Consultant Zheng. We’re in no hurry. No hurry! Team Leader Cui, perhaps we should come by later. Let us not interrupt the leaders from their serious business…”

“I’m just a consultant who gives my two cents for everybody. You two are the ones with the serious business instead. Hurry up and come in. Stop wasting any time.” Unfortunately, despite the old man’s intention of slipping away, the fat man who opened the door did not let him do so. After blinking a few times, he suddenly stepped aside and opened up a pathway for them. He then replied in a level and oblique tone.

“S-Sure. You’re indeed sensible, Consultant Zheng.” As Old Man Xu replied, he entered the room together with Cui Xiaodong who had completely turned stiff.

Naturally, the size of a single room in a commercial hotel was certainly not too big. It was the same with the rooms in African Hometown as well. There was only one room with a total area of ​​less than ten square meters. Other than having a single bed with a bedside table against the wall, there was no other furniture other than the two small sofas by the window. Even the TV was embedded in the wall.

However, despite the small room, it was filled with six to seven people inside. It was a good thing that other than a handsome middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses and an amiable attitude and a 40-year-old woman wearing a gray suit who still retained her charms sitting on the sofa and the side of the bed respectively, the rest of them were standing against the wall. For this reason, it was still not considered as too crowded.

After entering the room, Old Man Xu immediately bowed towards the middle-aged men and women respectfully. “Consultant Zheng, Captain Hu.”

“Consultant Zheng, Captain.” Cui Xiaodong bowed as well.

“Old Man Xu, you’re much older than me, so you don’t have to be so polite at all. Come, sit here. Captain Hu is also a person who doesn’t mind these trifling formalities, so she’ll find it more comfortable if you sit down and talk to her. Xiaodong is young, so it’s just right for him to talk courteously.” The middle-aged man showed an amiable smile and pointed at the remaining sofa as he spoke.

Upon hearing his words, no matter how nervous and awkward Old Man Xu felt in his heart, he could only let out an astonished smile. “But you two are leaders. One of you is our team’s big consultant equivalent to the chief of staff…”

“Old Xu, you don’t have to be so polite. Just sit down and tell me straight if there’s anything.” At this time, the middle-aged woman suddenly opened her mouth and stopped the old man’s remaining compliments right at his throat.

“A-Alright then. I’ll take a seat. Hehe… T-This is really… Captain Hu, I have something to report to you…” Knowing that it would no longer be disrespectful to sit down but insensible if he did not do so, Old Man Xu smiled and sat beside Consultant Zheng. Quietly, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva before telling everything about Zhang Lisheng nervously.

As he described what happened, Captain Hu’s expression turned graver. After she finished hearing his last sentence, she suddenly asked, “Old Xu, did you really not reveal any single bit about the situation of our team at all to your junior nephew before Cui Xiaodong chimed in?”

“H-How should I say this? I just merely told him that I originally had a helper…” Old Man Xu stuttered as he lowered his head.

“Haha… You’re funny, Brother Xu. Even though we look like a ragtag group of army rejects, like mice obtained from the gutter, of course, Captain Hu can still fulfill your request if you want a few strong helpers. From what I can see, you must have had your eyes on his ability at first and decided to use him, but who would have ever thought that he’s actually the same as you. In the end, unable to go against the circumstance, you’re forced to slowly make the best out of a bad bargain and had no choice but to bring him back to the hotel.”

Old Man Xu did not even show any intention to rebut the middle-aged man’s words. Smiling wryly, he replied, “As I’ve expected, I couldn’t hide anything from you at all, Consultant Zheng. I accidentally obtained the technique to refine a Corpse Puppet when I was still wandering around in the River and Lake. You know that the one I’m cultivating is the Gate of Sacrifice, the Corpse Technique that won’t allow me to cultivate the Gate of Death unless I’ve already entered the level of Rank-6 Wizard of Mind Infusion.”

“Even if you managed to cultivate the Witchcraft’s Gate of Death, you won’t be able to refine a real Corpse. The technique of commanding a living corpse is impossible if you aren’t a Rank-12 Wizard,” Consultant Zheng could not help but click his tongue as he spoke.

The laughter that he casually let out was completely different from the amiable voice he usually used. It was as though there was a unique deterrent power in it that sent chills down a person’s spine when they heard it. It was so terrifying it would make a person shudder.

Under the envelopment of the strange laughter, Old Man Xu laughed in fear as well. “Consultant Zheng, who am I to actually dare to dream of making a breakthrough to become a Rank-12 Wizard. I was merely using every opportunity I have. This was all due to the desperate situation I was in. The moment I’ve thought of the arduous mission I’d be undertaking for the country in the supernatural realm, I just knew I needed to improve. It’s because of this that…”

“Even if you’re just trying just about anything in a desperate situation, you can’t just use a life-threatening method to increase the factor of your safety. You’re now a national civil servant and t-this…” Captain Hu’s expression gradually turned grave. “On top of that, we’re in a foreign country right now. We cannot just reveal our identities. If any of your actions create problems for us, it may affect our entire plan…”

Patiently listening to the middle-aged woman’s merciless reprimand, Old Man Xu put on a profound expression on his face. “Yes, yes, you’re right, Captain Hu. I’ll definitely reflect deeply from now on but what do you think should I do this time?”