The Great Worm Lich

On the first floor living room, when the new best friend of the two Lavin sisters wanted to date their brother of whom they had no blood relationship with, in the innermost bedroom on the second floor, Zhang Lisheng was talking to his girlfriend, who was in Switzerland, on the phone with a solemn expression.

“You’ve seen the red light wall as well, Tina?”

“Yes, baby. There were two light walls that overlapped each other on top of that. They have divided the Lake Biel into two as though God has cut a piece of large blue cheese using a red-hot knife. It was really a magnificent scene that’s hard to come by. Unfortunately, when I remember how the unknown worlds hidden behind those light walls are filled with danger and that a demonic pandora’s box will open when these walls collapse, I really had no mood to enjoy the view at all,” Tina answered with a bitter chuckle.

“Two light walls that overlapped each other? Huh? That must be the overlapping of worlds that Tubalin mentioned before.” An image of a polite old man flashed across his brain right away. With a strange tone, he continued, “1000 worlds are slowly spread out and overlapping each other. His predictions are happening one by one.”

“That’s right, baby, but that the devil does not understand just how strong human civilization can be.”

“I hope so,” Zhang Lisheng sighed softly. “That’s right, Tina, I suddenly had a thought when I saw the light wall just now. If I add up all the lengths of the light walls appearing on Earth together, wouldn’t I be able to predict the area of the future Colossal World accurately?”

“This is very difficult, baby. You should also know that all the space fusion on Earth now is carried out in the atmosphere, so these light walls do not exist in the satellite image. If you calculate it using an unmanned reconnaissance machine, the human and material resources needed would be too big instead.”

“But I think it’s worth it even if the cost is huge! The information is very important…” Zhang Lisheng argued and suddenly burst out chuckling. “Ah, forget it. This matter has nothing to do with us, anyway. It should be the concern of the heads of every nation. We only have to take care of our own ‘undertaking’ well. Speaking of this small ‘undertaking’, I’ve made new plans when Charlie and Edward inspired me today. Let us talk about it in detail after we meet.”

“Oh, baby, that undertaking of yours is not small. Besides, I believe the future will only grow bigger seeing that you’re operating it so diligently.” The girl then smiled and suddenly changed the topic. “Do you miss me?”

“Of course, I do!” This caught Zhang Lisheng off-guard. Slightly awkward, he replied, “Well, in fact, if you hadn’t made this call, I’d have taken the initiative to call you immediately as well.”

“Baby, even though I know that you’re lying, I still feel thrilled hearing you say so.” Tina smiled and asked, “Are you at the factory now or back home already?”

“Back home already. I’m lying on the bed in my bedroom while talking to you.” Zhang Lisheng voiced out his plan, “I planned to stay a week or two at home to accompany my mom and then will go looking for you at Boston after that.”

“That’s great, baby! The NCAA Football ‘Honey Bowl’ quarter-finals will about to start in a few days’ time, so we can go watch an exciting match during the day and play some exciting ‘games’ at night like ordinary college couples to relax.”

“NCAA?” Zhang Lisheng asked, “I’ve heard Uncle Lavin mentioned before that the NCAA is the US National Collegiate Athletic Association since both of his sons are football stars in their university, but what is this ‘Honey Bowl’?”

“A trophy. It’s a trophy that looks like a rice bowl. Urgh, there’s no passion at all describing it like that.”

“But there’s already nothing passionate about a group of men wearing protective gear while colliding with each other in the stadium.” Zhang Lisheng grinned. “I’ve watched several live TV broadcasts with my mom before, and I always see it as a circus. It’s not even as interesting as the Shrimp B1 Island’s midget’s football game.”

Tina choked on her saliva for a while. After a long time of being dumbstruck, she finally said, “Baby, sports competitions advocate the spirit of sportsmanship. One of the fun of it is to enjoy the atmosphere of the scene. By that time, you and I will wear couple shirts while enjoying the stadium atmosphere, holding the mascot, drinking Coke, and eating a hotdog. Only then will you understand.”

“That sounds pretty good! Actually, I like the American spirit of living the day as though it was their last. So many foreign worlds have appeared suddenly, but the public still lives on happily like usual. I’m much stronger than them, but I’m still ridden with anxiety. Speaking of which, I really don’t know how to enjoy the comfort in my life.”

“No,” Tina immediately disagreed. “It’s not like this, baby. Faced with global catastrophe, only those people standing at the top of the social pyramid can fight it back. They’re prepared to meet with the calamity and are always racing against the clock, causing them to feel nervous and laborious. Ordinary people who have no ability to change anything, on the other hand, would realize that they can’t do anything after worrying for a while. Naturally, they would begin to think of the bright side and continue to live their lives in numbness.”

“You always understand me so much, thank you.” When Zhang Lisheng heard his girlfriend trying to protect himself, he smiled noncommittally and chatted idly with his girl for a long time before hanging up the phone.

After putting the phone down, the young man glanced at the dark night outside of the bedside window, pulled the curtain, and jumped out of the bed. Stripping off his clothes, he began to instigate the wizard power in his body to ooze out of his finger which he then rubbed on the spot beneath his armpit, slowly rubbing out a piece of brightly colored mud ball.

This mud ball was none other than the jelly gem that Zhang Lisheng suspected as Nuwa’s sky-patching stone and was consolidated when his wizard power nourished it for several months continuously. Now, it had finally regained its shape with great difficulty, but it was still a long way to go before it completely recovered.

“In ancient mythology, it’s said that Nuwa successfully patched up the sky using 36,500 pieces of stone. The ‘success’ meant here must refer to the complete patching of the fences between the worlds in the Colossal World. If I calculate based on this ratio conversion, a piece of stone should be more than enough to patch up a hole with a width of less than one hundred kilometers. However, it’s hard to say if the spatial doors continue to crumble…” Looking at the mud ball in his hand, Zhang Lisheng frowned, and he had started to expect many things. However, as a greater sense of helplessness washed him away, he muttered to himself, “These things are inherently whimsy, and the chance of it happening is basically next to nothing. Why do I have to bother to think so much? Just go along with the flow…”

Then, he flattened the mud ball under his armpit and began to sit cross-legged on the bed to cultivate his secret cultivation method.

Witchcraft cultivation would render him oblivious. In just a blink of an eye, dawn had arrived, and it was already in the early morning of the next day.

The bright sunshine shining through the window woke Zhang Lisheng, while a black fog that was shuttling around continuously like rope surrounded him right away.

He opened his eyes slowly and the fog behind him dispersed.

After getting down from the bed and washing up, the young man found a set of light yellow shorts and T-shirt that his mother brought in the closet and walked downstairs, just in time to come across Riley, who had just finished her morning exercises and was heading upstairs.

“Morning, Riley,”

Zhang Lisheng greeted with a smile.

“Good morning, Lisheng,” Riley flashed a smile at the young man and hesitated a little. “Do you still remember my friend Grace from yesterday? The girl who likes monkeys very much? She wants to invite you for lunch, and if you want, I can give you her number, but if you don’t, I’ll just let this matter slip.”

“Lunch? Why would she invite me for lunch suddenly?” This stunned Zhang Lisheng for a while before finally understanding what was going on. “Oh, tell her I’m not free.”

“Okay, you loyal kid!” Riley nodded and patted the young man’s shoulders before heading upstairs briskly. Ever since then, she mentioned nothing about going on a date with Grace anymore and let the young man spent over ten days leisurely while accompanying his mother.

September arrived in just a blink of an eye, and the hot weather no longer appeared as frequently. When the Lavin children who were still in college ended their holidays and left New York, Zhang Lisheng also joined them in saying goodbye to Lili and came to Boston by flight.

When the young man arrived at the US’ university belt for the second time, since the timing coincided with the start of a new semester and that it was already on the tail of summer now, the Athens of America gave him a completely different feeling compared to the last time he was here from the beginning; it was brimming with youthful aura.

“Who would have ever thought there’s actually such a strange thing as having a full plane of passengers that are on average less than 20 years old in this world…” As young childlike faces walked out of the exit channel of the airport one by one, with just one glance, he saw three girls, who still stood out a lot in the ocean of short skirts, hot pants, and sexy bodies, glancing around the crowds at the airport’s exit door.

Inadvertently catching the eyes of the young man, surprise appeared on the three girls’ faces as they hurriedly walked up to him. The blonde, who was walking in the middle, immediately gave a fiery kiss the moment she walked up to him. “Oh, baby, I finally get to see you again!”

“Tina, we’ve only separated for two months. There’s no need to use the word ‘finally,’ right?” Zhang Lisheng replied with a smile after the kiss before waving a hand at the pure-looking girl with short red hair and the gorgeously dressed lanky girl wearing a pair of almost see-through black shorts and a T-shirt. “Hey, Trish, Sheila. Long time no see. Did you two have a good time in Switzerland?”

“Oh, it was a very enjoyable journey, dear Lisheng! we’ve even made the most important decision in our life and agreed on the shore of the romantic green Geneva Lake to convert to Islam together so all of us can marry you!” The girl, who was wearing a black T-shirt, joked.

“Oh, almighty Father, please forgive the stupid word that this ignorant woman made. Amen!” Upon hearing her words, the short-haired girl immediately shouted with a low voice in annoyance. “Sheila, you’re really getting over the line now. What do you take faith as…”

“Alright, Trish! Even if I said these words, it should be Tina who should be mad instead of you, right?” Sheila interrupted Trish’s words and chuckled as she took two strides up to Zhang Lisheng to stick her cheeks to the young man. “Welcome to Boston, Lisheng.”

“Thank you.” Zhang Lisheng looked around at the crowd that was getting congested and shrugged. “Even though I think I’ve kinda come here at the wrong time, I still thank you for welcoming me, Sheila.”

“Oh, you’re wrong, Lisheng! Summer is the best season for Boston!” Sheila shook her head. “Be prepared to relax, baby!”