The Great Worm Lich

Zhang Lisheng stopped and looked along the direction of the sound.

He saw a fat middle-aged man in white-washed blue denim clothes, who had two strips of beautiful hair under his nose, above his lips. He was holding a string of bracelets made of bright red stones and had a ‘you don’t know much about the product’ expression on his face while looking at a short but busty black girl as he kept shaking his head.

Even though this person looked slightly different from how he looked last time, his black hair, sculptural facial features, concave face, long protruding chin, dark skin and a piece of white canvas with the words ‘it’s a wonderful life’ written on top, that was filled with all kinds of strange products, by his feet clearly showed that he was the owner of the grocery store who once sold the island dragon to Zhang Lisheng in Queens, New York.

When Zhang Lisheng recalled the mysterious and strange characteristic of this store owner, who claimed to have dug up the emperor’s tomb in the war-torn Kosovo, and had first lived in the garbage community of Detroit full of thugs for several months after travelling across the sea to the US with a wooden boat before moving to Queens, New York and coming to face and oppose robbers who were armed with guns directly, his eyes narrowed right away.

“Don’t tell me that this is another unexpected encounter…” He muttered and crossed the crowd to walk towards the grocery stall.

“This bracelet is very suitable for your skin color. Think about it, it’s only 30 dollars! Only a mere 30 dollars and you can have the first piece of jewelry in your life.” As if he did not realize that the young man approaching him was his regular customer who had made a big transaction with himself before, the previous grocery store owner, or the current grocery stall owner, was still trying to solemnly charm the black girl who was slowly planning to take out her wallet to pay for it.

Unfortunately, when he was about to succeed, a low-pitched voice made a pun and disturbed this good business. “This is obviously a bracelet made from silicone but you’re actually trying to sell it as ruby? Mr. Mahmud, I haven’t seen you for a few years but you’re still so good at doing your ‘show’. ”

When the girl, who had already pulled out the wallet, heard this, she carefully looked at the bracelet in her hands. Without warning, flying into rage out of embarrassment, she threw the bracelet onto the ground and then turned to Zhang Lisheng with her breasts shaking as she said, “Thank you, cool bro!”

Then, she raised a middle finger at the middle-aged fat man whose race was unknown before turning to walk away.

“What a rude girl! This is the failure of the free education method in this US country! How sad it is!” The grocery stall owner sighed and bent over to pick up the bracelet and put it back carefully. Raising his head, he looked at Zhang Lisheng by his side. As though he had just discovered Zhang Lisheng standing in front of his stall, he greeted warmly, “Oh it’s you, my dear respected Red Son! What an incredible coincidence for me to see you here in Boston…”

“Coincidence? Yeah I guess,” Zhang Lisheng interrupted the grocery stall owner’s words with a smile. “Mr. Mahmud, looks like you’ve just come to Boston, right?”

“That’s right! It’s because of this that I’ll open my stall at night to try and earn some money to rent a house to open a store. I lose a lot every time I move to a new place. However, since New York is likely to become more dangerous than Detroit in the future, it’s much safer for me to go to the university city of Detroit even if it costs a small price,” Mahmud looked around and extended his head before lowering his voice. “Didn’t you come here too?”

When the grocery stall owner did not refute his guess, Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment. After a moment of pondering, he answered, “That’s right, I’m here as well. Where is your Arab robe? Have you lost it too? It’s not as persuasive wearing jeans to sell these strange things you know.”

“Oh, it’s because there are constant bombings recently and it’s a special period where the Arabs would need to be even interrogated by the FBI just for the sake of buying a pot. Because of this, it’ll invite less trouble wearing denim. Most importantly, I’ve settled down in the US for so long so I feel that I have fully integrated into the culture here. I’ve become a real cowboy now and wearing denim is also in line with my temperament.” Mahmud stroke his Middle Eastern styled mustache and answered with sincerity.

“The feeling you’re giving off now is indeed like a cowboy, but you’re still riding on a camel. This is why your products can’t be sold out. But don’t worry, Mahmud, I can help take care of your business. Do you still have the Komodo dragon that you sold to me last time? I want to buy another one as a companion for the previous one that I bought from you.”

“Of course not, sir!” The grocery store owner shook his head quickly. “How can I possibly have the Komodo dragon with just the snap of a finger?”

“Oh, in that case, is there anything in your stall that is right for me? You once told me before that your business is exclusively dedicated to the current and future ‘powerful people’ so I can look for you when I need something.”

“You’ve indeed come to look for me because of what I said last time!” Mahmud, whose expression originally kept changing, suddenly looked as tenacious as iron. Sighing for no reason, he added, “The trace of fate can’t be changed but if I were to invest in on you… Ah forget it, since this is arranged by fate, I can only accept it. I do have a little toy that is suitable for you.”

“What is that?” When Zhang Lisheng saw the sudden change of attitude in the grocery store owner, he asked curiously.

“A true rare treasure. We must first talk about the price of this treasure before we make a deal.”

“A true rare treasure? Just like the genuine ruby bracelet that you were trying to sell just now, Mr. Mahmud?” the young man said with a smile. “Even if you sell that ruby bracelet, you’ll have to show it to your customer first before selling it right? How is it reasonable to bargain for the price without knowing what item it is?”

“In that case, does it mean that you don’t accept such a transaction?” Mahmud was stunned and clenched his fists nervously. Licking his lips, he said with a calm facade.

Just as Zhang Lisheng was about to nod, he suddenly felt a sense of uncomfortable feeling rising from his heart. Listening to the orders of his intuition, his nodding turned into him shaking his head instead. “Of course it’s not that I refuse it completely. Tell me the price that you want then.”

“A sum that is enough for me to spend for the rest of my life and three wishes after you’ve become a ‘powerful person’.”

“A sum that is enough for you to spend for the rest of your life and three wishes from me?” Zhang Lisheng frowned. “The conditions are too general. If you want to live like a true grocery store owner or the rest of your life, 50,000 dollar a year will be enough already but if you want to live like the kings of the Middle East, 100 million dollars a year may not necessarily be enough even if you live alone,…”

“Let’s take a compromised number of 50,025,000 dollars per year. You’ll have to pay once a year as long as I live.” Mahmud stared into Zhang Lisheng’s eyes and interrupted him.

“Hah, this is really a very creative idea. How about the wishes then? You can’t just wish for me to die like that right?”

“The wishes that I want you to fulfill will never violate your life and ability. On top of that, it must be a one-off wish.”

Upon hearing the grocery store owner’s words, Zhang Lisheng pondered for a while before suddenly adding on, “Mr. Mahmud, you’re not in the pretense of fooling me right?”

Mahmud replied in an expressionless manner, “You can think whatever you like. Anyway, I’ve already named my price and it’s up to you to decide now, deal or no deal?”

An unknown treasure that cost 50 million dollars per year plus three one-off wishes. Anyone who was sensible enough would naturally reject such a transaction. However, Zhang Lisheng looked at Mahmud with contemplation for a while before replying, “Give me your account. It’s a deal!”

Upon hearing this, the face of the grocery store owner turned bleak like a rotten tree right away as he whispered, “Your luck is really good, young man. However, even if you have this precious tool, you must still…”

When Mahmud was halfway through his sentence, he grabbed his own neck as though he was suffocating. His face was flushed with redness and his lips gradually began to turn purple.

A few young men had walked up to the stall to see whether was there anything worth buying in this flea stall but had in the end stayed behind to watch the show as they felt that the conversations between the stall owner and Zhang Lisheng was as bizarre as a drama. When they realized that Mahmud’s suffocation was not an act but was actually real, they hastily went up to him trying to help. Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, stood still motionless.

After a few minutes of gasping for air, the grocery store owner slowly recovered and pushed the good-hearted young men around him away. Trembling, he took out a banknote from his pocket and kneeled down to look for a black pen that had a shape like a wine barrel along the pile of items before writing down his bank account.

Then, he took out a portrait of a masked clown the size of a stamp from his arms and handed it to the young man together with the banknote. “Transfer the money into this account. The treasure is called the Mask of the Comedy King. That is all I can tell you, goodbye!”

“Goodbye, Mr. Mahmud.” After receiving the portrait of the clown that was the size of a thumbnail, Zhang Lisheng touched it felt that it was made from leather. Despite still feeling skeptical, he carefully put the picture into his pocket and no longer continued to follow the crowds to see the performance. Instead, he turned around and walked to a burger shop across the road.

After walking into the lively and brightly lit burger shop, the young man spent 20 dollars at the counter to order a bunch of fast food such as Coke, beef burger, chicken chops and so on. He took them to the small single table by the window and sat down. Then, he took out the portrait of the clown under the bright light and studied it carefully.

The front of the portrait had a clown with a white smiley mask covering his face. Even though his face could not be seen, he seemed to give off a vivid feeling so it should not be a printed copy.

Due to the reason that there was only one head in the portrait, with no clothes at all, it was impossible for him to take a guess at the age and background of the character.

As for the back of the portrait, it was clear in texture and even had tiny pore marks, looking like a small piece of animal skin that had been treated into a canvas through special methods. Apart from this clue, no other special features could be seen at all.