The Great Worm Lich

Zhang Lisheng smiled and refused the dignified and kind intention of the vice president of the Sichuan University Student Union. “Thank you, Miss Li, but there’s no need for that. After I’ve settled the procedures in Sichuan University, I plan to take a look around Sichuan and I’ll get them myself.”

Upon hearing his words, Zheng Tianliang, who was by the side, secretly poked Li Mingjin’s waist with his fingers, indicating that he had guessed it right just now. This doctor from Stanford University, who was so young that it was absolutely horrifying, had chosen to come to Western Sichuan during the summer vacation and had indeed planned to use the state expenses to fund his travel. The generosity of the universities in China had long been known all over the world.

Being taken by surprise by her companion’s poke, the girl instinctively writhed her waist violently, catching Zhang Lisheng’s attention and making him realize that the young man next to her seemed to be here to pick him up too.

When the young man turned his gaze to Zheng Tianliang, his heart suddenly shuddered inexplicably. Inadvertently, he clenched his fist and took a few steps back nervously. However, when he looked at the man with single eyelids again with the wizard power surging in his body, the strange feeling of vigilance had disappeared without a trace.

“Zheng Tianliang! You’re looking for death!” When Li Mingjin saw that the guest had taken a few steps back with a frown after seeing her losing her coolness, she was completely flushed with anger. Using Mandarin, she snarled at her companion in a whisper and awkwardly pointed at Zheng Tianliang before apologizing to Zhang Lisheng, “I’m sorry, Dr. Zhang. He’s my university mate, Zheng Tianliang, the committee of the Sichuan University Student Union. He was merely playing a joke with me just now.”

“How would I know you’d have such a huge reaction being poked by my finger just like that and that this fellow is actually such a coward?” Zheng Tianliang smiled wryly and complained. Ingratiating himself with Zhang Lisheng, he looked at him and apologized, “I’m sorry, Dr. Zhang. I love joking and I’ve not paid attention to the occasion. Please criticize me as you like.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter, I was the one who had been too sensitive. It’s a side effect for always dealing with those ‘dangerous creatures’ all day. I should be the one apologizing instead.” Studying Zheng Tianliang carefully, a solemn speculation rose in his heart. Involuntarily, he touched the piece of leather on his forehead that only he could feel, and said with a smile.

“You’re too polite!” When Li Mingjin saw that the guest was not angry, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Then, let us bring you back to Sichuan University to settle the procedures and settle you down for you to take a break so that you can recover from your jet lag. Is that good?”

“Thank you very much,” Zhang Lisheng replied politely.

“Please come with me,” the girl said and strode quickly to the airport gate. She first took out the air of being a vice president and told her companion, “Zheng Tianliang, call Mr. Guo and tell him that we’ve picked up the guest and is out of the airport now.”

Then, she proceeded to smile at Zhang Lisheng behind her. “Oh yeah I’ve forgotten to tell you, welcome to China and welcome to Western Sichuan, Dr.”

When Zhang Lisheng heard Li Mingjin welcoming him to Western Sichuan using the standard Mandarin accent that did not have the slightest hint of the local Sichuan accent at all, he opened his mouth and said, “Thank you!”

However, a strange feeling rose in his heart.

In a daze, he seemed to be seeing a dry skinny boy carrying a bamboo basket, who wore rubber shoes with a black embroidered fabric wrapped on his head and was dressed in old clothes, standing in the airport terminal staring agape in astonishment at the colorful world, watching those figures walking up to himself and brushing across his shoulders before disappearing without a trace.

“Time is really a strange thing. In just a few years, people can become unrecognizable…” Zhang Lisheng muttered as he walked out of the airport and followed the girl who picked him up into a black Passat in the parking lot. As a guest, it was natural for him to sit behind the seat of the co-driver. Sitting in front of him was Zheng Tianliang while beside him was Li Mingjin.

“Mr. Guo, please send us back to the university.” The moment they entered the car, the girl told the driver with a smile.

“Oh missy, you’re always so polite. You’re the most polite among the entire committee members of your Student Council!” The old looking driver, whose hair was already white, chuckled and switched the air-conditioner to the maximum. “Look at you sweat! In order to carry out your job well in the university, you didn’t go back but choose to stay here after your exam instead. Come, get some cold air to cool yourself down. Oh, is this Dr. Zhang? Has my rearview mirror’s image gone blurry or something? Are you even 20 years old already? Tsk tsk… What a genius! The brain is really something. Those who are born with it are really different from us. This is all God’s will…”

Due to the reason that the driver was going to retire soon, he was not too scrupulous so he just said whatever that came to his mind. Mumbling all the way, he drove to the streets of Chengdu.

Li Mingjin smiled politely and did not say anything more. However, she was secretly complaining in her heart. She remembered how she had gotten on his car several times before, but she had never seen him being so noisy before. They were carrying out their duties as a host now but he had suddenly started talking a lot, which would not be good if he made the guest upset.

In fact, some Westerners were very concerned about whether their driver could concentrate on driving and regard him as one of the important criteria for judging the disposition of the ‘crowd’.

When the girl thought of this, she could not help but turn her eyes to Zhang Lisheng. However, she found that the young man had turned his body away and was lost in his thought staring at the scenery outside the car window, not paying attention to the chattering of the driver like that.

A few years ago, Zhang Lisheng departed to the US from this exact Chengdu City. At that time, the first real city this village boy came in contact was none other than Chengdu City. For this reason, even though he had only lived in this capital of Sichuan for two to three days and had been to some places with his mother, the impression that remained was unforgettable.

One could say that Zhang Lisheng already had a general understanding on this Chengdu City but when he saw it again after such a long time, he realized that his perception was very different now. The more he looked at it, the more he felt perplexed.

Beside him, Li Mingjin secretly sighed with relief. After a while, thinking that it would be rude not making small talk with the guest, she smiled and said, “Dr. Zhang, Chengdu City comes out as first in China’s ‘Most livable city’ ranking this year. There are both modern skyscrapers and quaint historic buildings here so it’s a very unique city. Your academic exchange life will be very enjoyable if you incorporate yourself in it.”

“It’s indeed a beautiful and unique city, but there are some things that I don’t understand. Please tell me, Miss Li, what does it mean with that banner of ‘A warm welcome to Master Ni Jiangang to have his collective Qigong preaching ceremony in Guangyuan Tower’? I’ve seen many similar banners with this ‘collective Qigong preaching ceremony’ thing and the advertisements for religious ceremonies held by Buddhism, Philosophical Taoism and Christian churches as well. There are even more religious activities here than the Vatican. Chengdu City was not like this last time, right?” Zhang Lisheng suddenly pointed to a splendid big hotel on the road outside the window, and asked in confusion.

“Dr., you can actually read complex traditional Chinese characters?” Li Mingjin’s eyes turned wide in astonishment.

The young man turned his head and smiled. “Can’t you tell? I’m a Chinese.”

Li Mingjin thought that Zhang Lisheng was saying something like ‘I have a Chinese heart’ or this sort of analogy so her mind whirled rapidly before she replied with a smile, “Of course I can see that you’re a Chinese who have black eyes and yellow skin as me.”

She brushed the question raised by Zhang Lisheng vaguely.

Actually, the answer to the question is very simple. Due to the emergence of the foreign world, each of the Gate of Dao, Buddhists, and miscellaneous factions that mastered mysterious power had emerged one by one. Due to the general trend of the event, the government no longer had strict control on this aspect and allowed the society to seemingly return to the 1980s overnight, with ‘gurus’ and ‘masters’ appearing everywhere.

To the Chinese, who had thousands of years of civilization, who had always believed in ghosts and spirits, they would understand why such a situation would appear but if this was told to a foreigner, it would be hard to make him understand, especially when it was hard to find the correct words to explain the situation.

When Zhang Lisheng saw that the girl was unwilling to answer, he did not push for it and just continued to keep quiet until the car drove into the Sichuan University campus.

Although Sichuan University was located in a remote area of Sichuan, its scale and the number of teaching staff could be ranked among the top ten universities in China. Its predecessor, the Sichuan Zhongxi School, was built in the late 19th century and had a history of more than 100 years. It was hailed as one of the ‘National Top Ten Universities’ as early as the middle of the last century.

The Passat drove on the lush green road of the huge campus. Li Mingjin began to proudly explain the famous cultural landscapes in her university to her guest. “Dr. Zhang, this is the Ruiwen Building. The word ‘Rui’ from the building’s name is taken from the word ‘Xiang Rui’. Xiang Rui refers to the revelation given by God in ancient China when the wise and fair Emperor ruled China, it has a similar meaning to the Excalibur that only King Arthur can pull. The word ‘Wen’ on the other hand refers to ‘article’. Since ancient times, China has adopted a practice that allows civil servants to rule. Even if it’s during troubled times of tangled affairs between warlords, those generals would entrust civil servants to manage their own territory…”

Zhang Lisheng looked out of the car window at the students who were walking back and forth on the campus; or the students who did not forget to memorize their studies as they walked, hugging the textbooks to their chests with frowns, making final preparations for the upcoming test; or those students who had completed all the exams and had already bought their train or plane ticket with a relaxed face on them, as they waited for time to pass to go back home.

Upon hearing the girl’s introduction, he casually replied half-jokingly, “Miss Li, you really have the eloquence of a professional tour guide, to think that you can make so many interesting allusions. Sichuan University is much larger than I thought. May I know how long will it take us to get to the destination?”

“It’s just right in front, Dr. We’ll arrive after we turn at this junction.” As the girl was replying, the driver turned the steering wheel and turned the car to the right. He traveled a few hundred meters forward and stopped in front of a quaint red building.

“Thank you, Mr. Guo.” Li Mingjin made a polite remark at the driver and opened the door to walk out of the car, when he saw that Zhang Lisheng had also gotten off the car from the other side and was looking around, studying the beautiful scenery around the red building, she said, “Dr. Zhang, this is the administrative building of our Sichuan University, it’s called Mingde Building. It means humans have illustrious virtue and self-respect. The word ‘de’ has a very special meaning in our Chinese culture, it represents the most beautiful sentiment. Please come with me, the Academic Affairs Office is on the first floor. I’ll take you to settle the procedure.”