The Great Worm Lich

Perhaps it was the bright feathers fully stuck on his head that formed the shape of the crown and the expensive animal skin covered with long soft hair wrapped around him that added a bit of awe-inspiring air to him. With just a few months of not seeing each other, Tugra whom Zhang Lisheng had appointed to become the tribal headman had come to possess an air of majesty. However, from the apparently tired look on him, it looked like being a headman did not seem to be an easy deed.

“Alright, Tugra. Get up now. I have something I want to ask you.” Zhang Lisheng looked at the aborigine kneeling by his feet. He gradually shrank his body to a normal height before walking straight into the biggest tree bark house in the entire Tudenan tribe beside the totem pole.

“Yes, Great Remodeler!” Tugra replied and stood up in a hurry. Walking behind the young man anxiously, he entered the sacred house dedicated to the tribal book of history.

After Zhang Lisheng entered the house, he sat directly on the furry animal skin and dropped the metal box and wrinkled clothes on his hand. Right away, he asked, “Tugra, lately, the animals on the island run around every night. Do you know why?”

Upon hearing this question, The Tudenan’s headman suddenly showed a look of horror while the warrior behind him who was his inseparable bodyguard even turned stiff right away. With a pair of wide eyes, he looked at the tribal Remodeler in shock.

When the young man saw the unusual expression on the two aborigines, he immediately realized that he had asked the wrong question. Intuitively, he held his fist tightly. When he was about to make his move, Tugra suddenly pulled out a beast’s fang knife that served as a decorative display by his waist and turned around with all his might to stab it into the bodyguard’s neck.

In the midst of his panic, the brave tribal warrior did not dodge at all. Just like this, the person whom he was supposed to protect with his own life cut his throat into half. Without even making a sound, his life left his body together with the blood spurting out of his arterial pulse as he fell onto the ground, dying slowly while twitching.

Tugra devoutly kneeled down on the pool of blood and buried his head deeply, answering with a slightly trembling voice. “Great Remodeler, the reason why the animals on the island have gone berserk is because the birth of the new forest spiritual monster is coming soon. The Lunar God will bestow the Dew of Wisdom every 30 to 50 rounds of season change. If the dew falls onto the island, it’ll grant wisdom and strength to rocks, trees, and beasts. It would then transform them into the forest monster. If the dew falls into the ocean, it’ll grant wisdom and strength to reefs, waves, and the big fishes in the ocean and transform them to become… erm, become a sea spiritual monster.”

“Oh, I see…” Zhang Lisheng frowned and finally understood why he had just revealed his own pretense.

The reason he could become the Tudenan’s guardian in the first place was that the aborigines regarded him as a sea spiritual monster. However, the question of why would the animals on the island run around every night was not a question that any sane spiritual monster would ask.

This was the same reason why a sane adult would not point to a pregnant woman and ask why she was pregnant.

“Great Remodeler! It’s you who allowed the Tudenan to live on the brink of extinction to continue to survive and it’s you who appointed me to become the headman of Tudenan. You’re the living religion the tribal book of history recognized! From the moment you handed the book of history to me, I’ve secretly sworn in my heart to devote myself to you sincerely…”

Zhang Lisheng, who had fallen into deep contemplation, was pulled back to reality by Tugra’s words of loyalty. Thus he suddenly asked, “Alright, Tugra! You’ve already proven your loyalty through action just now! However, don’t you think you’ve overreacted a little? Don’t tell me that somebody like me has appeared in the history of the Hellfire people before and that it’s a taboo on top of that?”

“G-Great Remodeler, the city-state country on the land has once sent a powerful God-chosen citizen to be the guardian of a certain Hellfire tribe with the identity of a spiritual monster seven hundred years ago. Later, it brought a terrible catastrophe to the Hellfire Archipelago,” Tugra answered vaguely with a slightly weak voice.

Zhang Lisheng, who had personally witnessed the aborigines of this island who were willing to sacrifice their own lives without any hesitation just to express their piety, did not expect the tribe to have somebody who would change sides like Tugra as well. Not only that, one could say that this despicable guy who had selfishly put his tribal destiny on the line was actually his own believer too.

Not knowing whether to laugh or to cry, he replied, “Understood! Don’t worry, Tugra. I’m not sent by a country or any force. I’m ‘me’. Okay, you can stand up now and come sit beside me. Tell me the stories about these spiritual monsters.”

“Yes, Great Remodeler!” Whether it was because he had heard of the unfathomable assurance Zhang Lisheng made out of conscience, or whether he already knew he had escaped a deadly disaster and could now act tyrannically to enjoy the power of the tribal headman, Tugra’s tense expression finally relaxed. He climbed up from the pool of blood and sat beside Zhang Lisheng, before starting to talk about the stories of the monsters continuously.

It turned out that in Shrimp World No. 2, every few decades, countless shining silver-white droplets would fall from the sky like rain onto the sea where the Hellfire people lived.

In ancient legends, these droplets the Hellfire people called the Dew of Wisdom was said to be seeds of wisdom and power poured down by the overturning of a treasured jar of the Lunar God living on the moon.

The stones, trees, waves, fish, and beasts that these seeds bestowed with wisdom and all kinds of magical powers would be known as spiritual monsters.

At the beginning of the birth of the spiritual monsters, their minds would be ignorant and their temperaments would be extremely cruel and reckless. Strangely, they would never harm any Hellfire people. Over time, the Hellfire people regarded them as their natural guardians.

“The power of the spiritual monsters would usually increase as they age. However, this doesn’t apply to all. Sometimes, a newly born spiritual monster may have some inexplicable mysterious strength. Great Remodeler, the Dew of Wisdom that falls from the sky would always fall onto the island and ocean alternately, without fail. In other words, the sea spiritual monster and the land forest spiritual monster will not be born together at the same time. The reason the wild beasts on the island became so agitated was because the forest spiritual monster will be born soon,” Tugra said in detail.

After listening to the aborigine’s explanation, Zhang Lisheng pondered for a moment in silence before asking, “Tugra, then, do you know when the forest spiritual monster will be born?”

“No, Great Remodeler. The Hellfire people merely rely on the abnormal reactions of the wild beasts on the island to guess that the Lunar God will pour the Dew of Wisdom soon. As for which day exactly, only God himself knows about it.”

“Then, wouldn’t the strong commotion the beasts created on the island bring any disaster to the Hellfire tribe?” When Zhang Lisheng recalled the terrible scene of the beast tide yesterday, he asked with a lingering fear.

“Great Remodeler, as long as there were more than 1000 people praying in front of the totem pole and the tribal book of history, the beasts will avoid the habitat of the tribe.”

“How amazing…” Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment before turning to look at the tribal book of history on the altar of the bark house. “This is a natural selection. A tribe that has less than 2000 people will perish or would be forced to give up their habitat on this big island to hide on those uninhabited islands. A powerful tribe, on the other hand, can expand their territory without any effort, but this kind of expansion is just too slow… Tugra, is Tudenan considered a powerful tribe in the nearby forest?”

“No, Great Remodeler. Even though it has become twice as powerful as before thanks to your efforts, a tribe that only has 10,000 people cannot be called powerful yet.”

“Is there any tribe nearby that has strength similar to Tudenan?”

“There is Vals at the west of the forest. After crossing Vals tribe, there’s Pavaro that resides and relies on the north of the underground Golden River. After that, there’s also Menger tribe that inhabits the swamp lake to the east of the valley…”

“I’m asking about a tribe that is closest to the Tudenan Valley and has similar strength.”

“Menger it is then, Great Remodeler!”

“In that case, let’s set Menger as the first target of Tudenan’s expansion!” Zhang Lisheng stood up from the animal skin and strode out of the bark house. “Tugra, summon 30 strong warriors to see me! They don’t have to possess profound combat skills, they only need to have powerful strength.”

“Great Remodeler, Menger is not like the former declining Tudenan. It’s said that there are three guardians who are receiving offerings from the tribe. Now that you don’t have the two powerful legendary creatures partners by your side, wouldn’t you… erm you…” Tugra stuttered in a low voice.

Upon seeing the aborigine’s stuttering manner, a pang of realization hit Zhang Lisheng. Tugra felt they would lose the battle now that wyrm dragon and lizard were not with him.

He smiled faintly with confidence. “Tugra, in between wisdom and powerful brute strength, the former is much more important in a battle. You’ve seen my strength last time, so let me show you my wisdom this time. Stop this nonsense and gather the warriors.”

“Yes, Great Remodeler!” Tugra dared not say anything more and merely bent his waist to retreat.

After pondering for a moment, a mysterious smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Instead of walking towards the house where the warriors were resting, he strode to the bark house where the tribal military chief would have his meetings and pushed the guard away with might. Abruptly pushing away the heavy curtains, he shouted solemnly, “Chief Tumu, assemble 30 of our most powerful people among the stay-behind warriors immediately.”

In the bark house, seven to eight aborigine warriors, who were wearing half-length iron armor and with plumes stuck on their heads, were sitting around a rough wooden table, discussing something.

Seeing Tugra barging in, a warrior who was the youngest warrior in the middle suddenly leaped up. When he was just about to speak, the hand of the chief immediately covered his mouth, who was also the only warrior who had three brightly colored feathers stuck on his head. “Yes, Headman Tugra. Luhu, follow me to pick 28 most powerful warriors. Count both of us in too! We’ll follow the Headman to carry out the order of the Great Remodeler.”