The Great Worm Lich

This restaurant inside the Four Seasons Hotel on the Upper West Side of New York was square and gave off a sense of luxury and elegance to those who walked into it.

Zhang Lisheng, who stood at the entrance of the restaurant after hanging up the phone, thought that Tina would tease him a little but to his surprise, the girl actually said nothing at all.

When he was feeling astonished over it, a waiter had already gone up to them. “Good evening, Sir, Miss. Are you two here for a meal?”

“Yes. Our friends are arriving later so please give me a VIP room that is big enough. Thank you.”

“Okay, I understand. Please come with me.” Upon hearing the girl’s request, the waiter that was wearing a white shirt and black vest nodded politely and led her and the young man to the corner of the restaurant.

Halfway, Zhang Lisheng, who was moving between the tables, lowered his voice and said to the girl next to him, “Tina, I thought that you’d definitely tease me a little after I hung up on the phone but to think that you actually didn’t do so.”

“That’s because all of us are our mommy’s little baby. Lisheng, do you know? Just now when I heard your mom praying from the phone, I suddenly felt very touched. I can tell that even though she wasn’t there when you grew up, she really loves you a lot. I’d never make fun of you about her anymore in the future,” Tina said solemnly.

“Hey, Tina, it’s a bit strange for something so sensible to come out of your mouth,” Zhang Lisheng was dumbstruck and replied in astonishment.

At this time, the waiter had already walked to the front of a room and opened the door leading to it as he smiled. “Sir, Miss, is this room to your satisfaction?”

The room was large and could accommodate more than a dozen people, looking as though it could completely hold a small party in it. The girl knew that the waiter had fancied himself clever and misunderstood her meaning but she did not say anything about it. “Yes, I’m satisfied with it. Thank you. Later, if somebody goes to the front desk looking for Tina or Zhang Lisheng, please bring them here.”

“Alright, Miss! Please feel free to tell me if you need anything.” The waiter nodded and turned away.

The girl took Zhang Lisheng’s arms and walked into the box before closing the door. Suddenly, she pushed the young man towards the wall and stuck her head very close to his head as she asked, “What did you mean by ‘It’s a bit strange for something so sensible to come out of your mouth’? Don’t tell me that I’m usually not sensible enough?”

“Do you think that you’re very sensible right now?” Zhang Lisheng shrugged and asked back.

“In that case, am I sexy?” Tina bit her lips and asked.

“Tina, we’re in a hotel restaurant! Not only that, those friends of yours are coming soon so how do you want me to answer actually?”

“I want you to answer with ‘You’re sexy, baby!’. Lisheng, you’ve never told me that you love me and you’ve never called me ‘dear’ before, let alone calling me ‘baby’! I don’t know why but my intuition suddenly, very suddenly, wants to hear you telling me that you love me. I want to confirm that you really do love me…” Tina was suddenly overcome with a wave of emotions as she muttered with a lowered head and an unknown expression.

Seeing this girl in front of him who was completely different from the girl who was independent and slightly arrogant in his first impression, Zhang Lisheng, who had just made a mistake not long ago, suddenly felt his heart tighten. His heart shuddered slightly over the horrifying intuition of a woman but he still continued to smile and say, “There’s no problem with that. I-I love you, d-dear! I-I love you. Even though I still don’t really know what ‘love’ is now, I-I don’t know why but I feel that I can tell you with certainty that I love you, my d-dear… Urgh, sorry. I really can’t get that word out of my mouth.”

When Tina heard the young man’s clumsy stuttering that seemed to be even more sincere, Tina felt that her heart was already going to melt. Raising her head, she showed a relaxed expression. “It’s enough. That’s enough already, baby! It’s enough already!”

Then, the girl stopped Zhang Lisheng’s apology with a passionate kiss, not giving a damn to anything even after the room door was knocked and open, causing Sheila who saw this passionate scene the instant she entered to shout out loud in shock, “What the hell? My lovely sister! You should have hung a stocking at the door of the room if you’ve already started your foreplay! Do you need Trish and me to leave and give you two another 30 minutes?”

“No, dear Sheila! You forgot that my boyfriend is a monster so I really cannot have sex with him twice a day! We were merely bored while waiting for you guys for too long so we’re just practicing on our kiss.” Tina left Zhang Lisheng’s arms with happiness and looked at her two sisters who were standing at the door of the room. “Why are there only you two?”

“We’re here to listen to the real version of the legendary story, we don’t need an edited derogatory version.” Sheila ran up to Tina and hugged her. “Oh yeah, by the way, if you think that you don’t have enough manpower to handle a monster by yourself, please remember that you still have two sisters who will stick together with you in life and death to fight side by side with you.”

“Hey, I really appreciate your kindness, dear sisters who will stick together with me in life and death, but there’s no need for that!” Tina grinned and replied, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.

“Sheila, I don’t have the intention to fight side by side with Tina in this kind of thing.” Trish, who followed closely behind Sheila, also hugged Tina and glared at her uncomfortably with a flushed face.

“Really? My Catholic little beauty, why is it that you can maintain a straight face when you’re making jokes with other people but when it comes to Lisheng, your little face will turn red right away?”

“Sheila Z. Beyat! The reason I turn red is because you’re making jokes about a person our best sister may really spend her entire life with. He’s not your typical ‘monthly’ boyfriend okay?”

The girls were merely talking with Zhang Lisheng to make a few jokes as they greeted and ridiculed each other but it had never crossed his mind that they would actually argue about it for real. This made the young man by the side feel quite hopeless but it was a good thing that the three girls had a deeply profound relationship with each other. After arguing with each other for a while, the argument was put to rest when Sheila apologized with a bitter face.

“Five medium steak set, two medium-rare steaks, two mixed fish chowders, and a 92-year-old Château Margaux. On top of that, give me half a dozen cans of iced Coke please.” After admitting her mistake, Sheila took the initiative to call the waiter to take their orders and even paid for the meals.

“Five medium steak set… half a dozen cans of iced Coke,” the waiter who stood by the side of the table quickly repeated the girl’s order. After making sure that everything was correct, he turned and left after saying, “Please wait for a while.”

“Dear sisters, how is it? My apology is sincere enough right? Tina, you love mixed fish chowder the most and Trish, my best sister, the medium-rare steaks are for the two of us to share…”

“Sheila, if your sincerity to me is merely an ordinary plate of chowder, then I really have nothing to say!” Tina put on a dissatisfied facade in the face of Sheila’s self-boasting. However, as she was speaking, she could not help but burst out laughing instead.

“Aha! Trish and you are laughing already! See! It means that you two no longer are angry at me! Alright, I can now listen to the story with a peace of mind. Dear Lisheng, you may start now. ”

When Zhang Lisheng heard the topic being suddenly shifted onto him, he, who had his head lowered as he looked at his phone, suddenly asked with a dumbstruck expression. “Huh? Start what?”

“Start your legendary story on Shrimp Island! I don’t believe that you actually had a settled life right there!”

“Baby! Actually, I also want to hear what you did on that Shrimp B1 Island! Can you tell us?”

“Oh, of course! Actually, there’s nothing special. That day, I was sleeping in the dormitory when I suddenly received a call from my supervisor…” When Zhang Lisheng heard Tina also making the request in curiosity, he proceeded to tell all of the stories he recently encountered on the supernatural realm’s island.

The horrible beast tide, the magical Emperor Molasses, the horrible spiritual monsters far beyond the limits of ordinary people’s imagination… all of these mysterious experiences made the three girls listen till they were washed by a tidal surge of emotions and became appalled as they felt their minds slipping away. However, what caught their attention their most was that this young man who appeared to be calm and composed in front had actually become a member of the Land God of the supernatural realm already.

“Baby, you mean, you have already obtained the faith of a small tribe named Tudenan and became the god there? Then, you have even helped the tribe to expand to more than 30,000 people?” Tina’s eyes turned wide and interrupted Zhang Lisheng’s story with her questions.

“Yes! Next time when I back to Shrimp B1 Island again, I plan to bring them to forge a harbor and build a fishery.” Feeling that he had nothing to hide from Tina, Zhang Lisheng answered unperturbedly. “Do you still remember the midget spider riders that we once saw on Elizabeth Holiday before? Tudenan has already started to raise these powerful warriors…”

“But what is your ultimate purpose of going into such a dangerous battle on that barren island?” Trish suddenly asked in confusion. “Even if an ordinary modern man returns to primitive society and becomes a tribal headman or a God, what’s the point actually? Compared to New York, there’s absolutely nothing there…”

“Yeah, you’re right, Trish. Compared to here, it’s basically nothing there.” Zhang Lisheng looked at the doubtful expression on the three girls and smiled faintly, before raising the iced Coke that had just been sent by the waiter. “It’s only a world waiting for me to conquer!”

The tone the young man used as though he was talking of a definite truth made people unable to question his words.

“Oh Lord! Lisheng, I forgot that you’re not an ordinary person but a born Caesar! Actually, I can already tell that kind of trait on you when the LS Group started to rise…” After a moment of silence, Trish gently covered her hand on her inexplicably rapid beating and said as she bit her lips. “If the Pope of Rome saw you during the Middle Ages, he would have been very willing to launch a crusade and burn you at the stake at all costs…”

“That’s right! Caesar! He’s a living Caesar! Sh*t! This is really f*cked up! To think that there’s actually such a man in the world right now! On top of that, he’s even my best friend’s boyfriend! T-This is… I knew that I should have made my moves first at that time! At that time, he was still a little chick so if I had decided to take the initiative, I’d have been able to eat him in one bite!” Sheila cried in regret.