The Great Worm Lich

Zhang Lisheng’s understanding made Lili dispel her last concern. After that, the mother and son bathed in the rare sunshine of the cold winter as the mother made beef pie lovingly while the son waited patiently for his favorite brownish crispy pie. Contented, they talked and laughed together.

Such a warm moment of enjoying family happiness with his mother had never appeared in Zhang Lisheng’s memory before. The young man could not help but cherish it more. As he was talking to his mother, he looked out the window at the post-rain clean streets that looked as though it had specially cleaned. The roadside trees absorbed enough rainwater and appeared to be full of vitality.

There were no clouds at all, and the face of the clear blue sky was always full of smiles. However, something had never crossed Zhang Lisheng’s mind, that was traveling infinitely far away in the direction where his gaze lied. Across the clouds and stars into the universe, a vast, shining, sleek fleet made of strange metal was about to change everyone’s destiny on Earth that was already seized with loss and terror, including his own.

“Tauris, what are you thinking about?” In an inconspicuous battleship at the side of the fleet made of hundreds of substantial, irregular, shuttle-shaped spaceships with dazzling light, a slender woman with a graceful body tightly covered in a soft, silver spacesuit was looking out the window at the vast universe in a daze. Without warning, a quiet voice resonated behind her.

Turning around hastily, she saw that the person who was asking her was an elderly man with scarce, dry, red, short hair. The man was wearing a pure black robe embroidered with starlight. He had a benevolent temperament look on him. The woman relaxed her stiff body a little and bowed her head before answering stutteringly, “I-It’s nothing, Sage Quis.”

“Is it? But I saw your flurried heart, child,” The elder smiled and shook his head as he continued slowly.

“T-The reason I was flurried was just that I’ve been staying too long on the spacecraft, Sage Quis. Perhaps it’s the initial symptom of ‘Universe Blindsense Syndrome.’ I-I will go to the doctor to deal with it,” The woman stuttered.

At this time, a robotic female voice suddenly resonated from the broad, semi-circular, arched ceiling ramp of the spacecraft, “Controller Tauris, Controller Tauris, please stand by in Cabin IT0981. Please stand by in Cabin IT0981.”

Upon hearing the call, Tauris immediately breathed a sigh of relief as though she was relieved of a significant burden. Quickly, she told the elder, “Sage Quis, the Chief is calling me. I-I should go now.”

A faint white brilliance radiated from her body as her body hovered.

“Go, child. When you’re lost, you only need to remember that you’re born in this universe, and you’re a human with wisdom. This is evidence that the universe loves you.” With a loving look, the elder looked at the woman floated off the ground. He opened his arms as though he was trying to embrace the vast universe outside the window and turned around to walk slowly and calmly to the distance.

He had only managed to take a few steps when a hesitant and nervous voice resonated from behind him, “Sage Quis, can I ask you a question? Since I was born in this universe and I’m a human with wisdom, that means the universe loved me. Does the Tatetutu people, who are also human beings born with wisdom in this universe, loved by the universe?”

“Yes, Tauris, they are also loved by the universe, or otherwise, they would not have been born in the first place,” The old man turned around. He said with a benevolent look, “However, just like how the organs and limbs of the human body that will sometimes mutate, the planets in the universe will also become sick. The human beings born on this planet are like the cells born on the diseased organs. They are born naturally harmful. Still, because they are born out of the love from the universe, they are unconsciously threatening their own great ‘Mother’! Our ancient ancestors had used ‘iron’ and ‘blood’ and even warm hearts to correct their mistakes and saved our common mother, and right now, we’ll be doing the same thing. Understood, Tauris?”

Quis did not seem to have a visible change compared to what he did just now. Tauris could faintly feel an unexplainable sinister aura coming out from the elder in front of her.

The woman who was already tensed did not say anything more, but merely replying in a stutter, “U-Understood, Sage Quis. I understood.”

Then, as though she was fleeing, she hastily flew along the spacecraft ramp and soon disappeared in just a blink of an eye.

Staring at the flash of dim brilliance that Tauris made on the ramp, the old man narrowed his eyes. He muttered, “Another confused and wavering heart. We should have ridden this kind of easily mutated ‘cell’ if it was the Glorious Age. However, now, it can actually appear in this crusade army openly. This was a really shameful degradation…”

While he was muttering under his breath, a ‘light man’ who had been soaring in the ramp suddenly came to a halt and greeted the elder with respect, “Sage Quis, good day to you.”

“Hello, child of the universe,” The elder regained his benevolent look and smiled kindly. He opened his arms and answered the ‘light man’ before lowering his head to walk into the deep dark ramp. At this time, Zhang Lisheng, who had just finished eating the beef pie his mother carefully prepared, was washing his hands while praising the deliciousness of it.

“Mom, if your dream is not to become a great educator, but to open a pie fast-food chain restaurant, you’d have earned more money than I do now! This beef pie is really delicious.”

“Aww, baby, it looks like your career is getting more successful now, and you’re getting used to hearing compliments more. Otherwise, how would you know how to flatter so lovely?” Lili placed the tableware into the dishwasher. She smiled before walking up to her son, kissing him, “Take a good rest in the afternoon, and I’ll make seafood porridge for you at night.”

Zhang Lisheng cleaned his hand and nodded. Without warning, a bird chirping sound reverberated from his trouser pocket.

When he took out the phone and saw the photo of the gentle smile of his girlfriend on the screen, the young man smiled and said to her mother, “It’s Tina, mom. I’ll go out for a second and pick the call.”

He walked across the table to attend to his girlfriend’s call. Instantly, his girlfriend’s sweet voice resounded from the phone, “Hey baby, are you awake? Shall we go have our breakfast in Goose Pond?”

“Tina, it’s already…” Zhang Lisheng glanced at the electronic clock on the wall and smiled as he said, “11.05 am now! I’ve even eaten lunch already.”

“I just got up from the bed, and I haven’t opened the curtains yet. Is it so late already?” The girl sounded shocked. “Even if it’s already 11am, it’s not yet time for lunch. Why did you have such an early lunch?”

“Well, I returned to see my mom early in the morning, and she was making a beef pie for me, so I might as well had an early lunch…” Zhang Lisheng replied with a smile. When his words left his mouth, his mother’s understanding voice resonated from the kitchen instantly, “Baby, I’ll go find your Aunt Rachel in the afternoon. Why don’t you bring Tina out?”

“Alright, mom!” Zhang Lisheng replied before speaking into the phone again, “My mom knows that it’s you who called me. Now she’s trying to kick me out of the house so that I’ll go accompany you.”

“Aww, what a kind, cute, understanding mother! If I have the opportunity to become the wife of her son, I’ll definitely be her good friend…” Tina blurted out on the phone. Before she could finish her words, she suddenly stopped, and after a long time of silence, she whispered with a smile, “Oh. I almost forgot that you don’t want a white girl as your wife…”

“Tina, people’s minds are constantly changing! When we first met each other, didn’t you say that our relationship would not be stable before we reach 30 years old?” Zhang Lisheng could tell that his girlfriend’s voice sounded a little bit off, so he casually said out of the blue. “I mean, if you want, I can go buy a ring right now…”

In the few years that they had been together, the young man had already felt that he could never find a girl like Tina. After all, she was suitable, understanding, and supportive. In his opinion, there was nothing wrong, even if they got engaged.

“W-Wait! Wait! Wait, baby! W-What did you just say?” The girl’s dry laughter abruptly stopped. With a trembling voice, she asked.

“I said, if you want, I can go buy a ring right now, then why not?” Zhang Lisheng strolled out of the house and repeated his words clearly outside the door.

“O-Oh my god! Oh s-sh*t! I feel that my heart is going to explode now! Y-You’re making me cry, baby! Y-You… You… I-I… I…” The girl burst out sobbing and crying at the other end of the phone.

“Are you okay, Tina?” When Zhang Lisheng heard his girlfriend crying louder nonstop, he asked in confusion.

“I’m alright! I’m alright, dear! I just never expected that I’d feel so happy after hearing a sentence. Thank you, thank you, baby! I love you! I’ll forever love you!”

“Is that so? Then I’ll go buy a ring and see you.”

“No, no, there’s no need for that, baby. My parents will go crazy if they know that I want to get married before I even finish my degree. I believe your family will not be able to accept it as well. Besides, we’re indeed too young and have not reached the level where we can afford to make a family yet. I only need to hear you say those words that you said just now, not the ring.”

“Erm, I don’t get what you mean.”

“It’s simple, baby. Our previous relationship is that of a boy without a girlfriend and vice-versa. That’s pretty much the only reason why we got together to become a couple. Now, it’s a man and a woman in a serious relationship that will end up in marriage. This is really, really touching…”

“Erm I still don’t quite understand, but as long as you’re happy,” Zhang Lisheng said with a shrug. “So I don’t need to buy a ring?”

“Oh, shut up, Zhang Lisheng! Stop ruining the perfect image you have in my heart now.”

Zhang Lisheng was taken aback upon hearing how Tina called out his name fiercely, which was something that she rarely did. After a moment of pondering, he asked, “Ah, then let me rephrase my sentence. I can go get you straight away now, right?”

“Yes, come pick me up directly from home. By the time you come for Brooklyn to the Upper West Side, I should be dressed already. Let’s celebrate today.”

“Celebrate? Of course! Of course, we need to celebrate. Wait for me, Tina. I’ll see you later!” Zhang Lisheng said and hung up his phone. After returning to the house to say goodbye to his mother, he took the car and drove to Manhattan.