The Great Worm Lich

Chinese people were not accustomed to using eye masks when they slept. As the sun grew stronger and brighter, most of the passengers in the economy class woke up one by one, crowding beside the windows at the side of the cabin, overlooking the phenomenal view at the distant clouds.

Several bean-sized figures were either riding cranes with white snow-like wings and beautiful birds with fluffy flame-like feathers or standing on relics like flying swords, gourds, or jades while flying around a light door that was emitting a dazzling light. Effortlessly, they summoned strange phenomena such as the Taiji, Eight Trigram, and so on.

As the world’s largest and most advanced passenger airliner, the balance system of the Airbus A380 was naturally amazing. However, when 200 to 300 passengers in the economy class gathered on one side of the cabin, the fuselage would still tilt.

In this critical situation, as though not seeing the fantasy movie-like phenomenon outside the cabin, the air stewardess who had received specialized emergency training politely and gently reminded everybody, “Dear all respected passengers, for the safety of the aircraft, please immediately return to your seat. Thank you.”

However, judging from her pale cheeks and clenched palms, one could tell that her emotions were not as calm as her tone.

Sensing the shakiness of the plane, along with the reminder from the flight attendant, the restless passengers hurriedly returned to their seats, but still fidgeted and stretched their heads to look outside.

Guo Caiying, who also returned to her seat, did not feel uneasy but whispered to Zhang Lisheng with a look of anger, “Junior Brother, what do those Taoists want to do?”

“I’m not adept in the Dao method, but the ancient book ‘South China Views Collection’ has stated before ‘The Yin and Yang would be able to cow everything into submission if it walks on both Heaven and Earth.’ If I hadn’t guessed wrongly, I think those Taoists want to acquire the entrance to the Yingzhou paradise. My comment just now about them being blindsided by material gains is indeed correct,” Zhang Lisheng replied with a scornful smile.

“The entrance to the Yingzhou paradise refers to the light door outside the plane, right? Isn’t that a small world channel, though? Can we even acquire that? Won’t they pose any danger to the aircraft if they do so?”

“Senior Sister, you should know that there is a key assumption in Dr. Hawking’s space theory that our universe is just a page in a thick book. According to this theory, the earth is only a small insignificant dot on the page. The so-called paradise is just a twisted hidden space attached to this small dot while the foreign world is another page of the book. These two have very different attributes. The light door outside looks very similar to the world channel, but judging from its relative position and absolute position that are drifting around in an unfixed way, it differed completely from the world channel,” Zhang Lisheng explained in an endless stream of words. “In the ancient myths and legends, it’s also stated that paradise is occupied by the ‘great powers.’ The relics that are said to be able to contain a high mountain despite their small sizes originated from here.”

“Junior Brother, you really can analyze everything clearly and logically,” The girl silently digested the young man’s words for a while before saying with a smile. “Unfortunately, you haven’t answered the most critical question yet. Is the plane in danger?”

“I have no idea,” Zhang Lisheng shrugged. “It’s a wild fantasy to have the desire to acquire the spatial relic that contains a great amount of power despite its small sizes with the strength of those Taoists flying around the plane outside like sparrows. Who knows what consequences it will have. However, you don’t have to worry too much, at the very least, we are absolutely safe.”

“Spatial relic? Such a strange term actually appeared in real life now? Wow, looks like our days are not looking so well now,” The girl sighed and looked at the young man before speaking in a pleading voice, “Junior Brother, you have so many strange powers, so if something really happens, can you save this entire plane? There are over 500 people here.”

With Zhang Lisheng’s ability at this moment, he could easily keep the plane safe even if several Gate of Dao’s disciples caused the paradise to trump up a countercharge. The reason why he did not take the initiative to mention this was because of his apathy and his inclination to refuse to be nosy when it was unneeded. However, now that he heard the girls’ pleading, the situation changed a little. With a smile, he agreed, “Alright, since you’ve already asked me to do so, I’ll do as you say.”

The young man’s answer was nonchalant. Guo Caiying, who was already prepared to beg some more if he did not agree with her, became stunned and sighed, “Junior Brother, you’re still the same. You always seem so cold to your acquaintances, but you actually treat them very well. On the other hand, you seem to be always very polite in front of strangers, but in actual fact, you don’t care about them at all, to the point where you won’t even blink even if they die in front of you.”

“Senior Sister, I’m a wizard, not a savior. Besides, since when have I ever been cold to you?” Zhang Lisheng smiled while comfortably leaning back on the plane seat.

Guo Caiying curled her mouth and did not say anything more. Anxiously, she also leaned back in her seat, seemingly thinking about something.

In the silence, time passed by slowly. The worst-case scenario did not appear, and a few minutes later, the light outside the cabin gradually dissipated. The plane left the light door and the flying Taoists, and they all soon disappeared.

After a while, the air stewardess’ relaxed and clear voice resonated in the cabin, “Dear distinguished leaders, this flight is about to arrive at the destination ‘Capital Airport,’ please fasten your seat belt…”

“We’re here now! We’re soon landing at the ‘Capital Airport’! It’s okay now! Haha… We’re safe now…” As the air stewardess’ voice resonated, only one passenger who seemed to be in his twenties could not help but exclaim in a pleasant shock. However, by the time the flight landed, inexplicable warm applause broke out in the cabin. Compared to the directness of Westerners, the Chinese were more introverted in showing their feelings.

The Beijing Capital International Airport, which was commonly referred to as the Capital Airport, was the main international airport of Beijing City, the capital of China. It was located in the northeastern part of the city and was only about 25 kilometers away from Tiananmen. One could say that the airport was built in the bustling city.

As the largest international airport with the most important geographical location, the largest scale, the most complete equipment, and the busiest transportation in China, this airport was the window of the air entrance and foreign communications of Beijing, the capital of China. Not to mention, this aviation hub was also the most important national civil aviation of China, which was the second-largest in the world.

As soon as Zhang Lisheng got off the plane, he could not help but marvel over the ‘iron birds’ that were busily taking off and landing in the night sky; the tens of thousands of lights on both sides of the extended runway that were shining like stars and the magnificent terminal building in the distance.

“The only airport in China that I’ve ever been was the Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu. I already feel that it’s incredibly extravagant compared with the size of its city, but I can’t believe that it’s only a very ‘small fellow’ compared with Beijing Airport.” Standing on the airport runway, the young man looked around as he exclaimed in surprise.

“Junior Brother, Beijing is the capital of China, so of course it is bigger than Chengdu,” Guo Caiying took a deep breath of the cold night air and replied in Mandarin.

“Senior Sister, you’re indeed right,” the young man nodded and replied in Mandarin.

Since the flight was chartered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Capital Airport had given them a ‘green channel’ service, with their luggage being cleared directly without going through any custom clearance. While they were speaking, several buses had already stopped beside Zhang Lisheng.

“Government ministry leaders, please take the red bus; business leaders, please go to the yellow bus; distinguished guests and translation comrades returning to the country should take the green bus…” When the bus door was opened, several serving women broadcast in both English and Mandarin fluently interchangeably using a megaphone.

“Let’s go, I will accompany you on the ‘green bus’ and send you to the Hotel first before I go home,” Guo Caiying said a few words to the colleagues beside her before walking back to the young man. Then, they proceeded to get on a green bus that had the words’ Welcome to Beijing’ written on it.

After sitting in the middle of the bus near the window, the girl pondered for a while before joking half-heartedly, “Junior Brother, China has been promoting Mandarin for many years. Can’t you learn some ‘authentic Mandarin’ as well? Your Western Sichuan accent is really awkward.”

“Why should I learn it? What’s wrong with me, a Western Sichuaner, speaking in Western Sichuan accent anyway? You understand me anyway,” Looking at the ever-changing scenery outside the window, Zhang Lisheng said casually.

“But if you want to invest in the Kunlun World as an overseas patriotic industrialist, then you have to deal with many officials of the Chinese government, so your first impression is significant. If you speak in English, then you can’t say that you’re a patriotic entrepreneur who grew up in China and only migrated overseas when you were a teenager. If you speak in the Western Sichuan accent, yes, we do understand, but it just doesn’t match with your identity as a successful industrialist who graduated with his Ph.D. at Stanford. Even if we know that your identity is legit, we would still find it suspicious.”

“That serious?” The young man asked in surprise.

“Yes, it is indeed this serious,” The girl nodded solemnly.

“In that c-case, I’ll speak… in a-a authentic Mandalin… then,” Zhang Lisheng shrugged and replied after pondering.

“It’s Mandarin, but it doesn’t matter. You just have to practice slowly, and you’ll soon be able to master it,” Guo Caiying said with a smile.

As the two talked and laughed, the bus had already driven for a long time in the city’s brightly lit avenues that had a blend of classical and modern convergence with both oriental charm and the essence of the West and finally stopped before a magnificent luxurious hotel foyer.

“Dear respected ladies and gentlemen, we’ve already reached the Beijing Hotel. I wish you all a happy and wonderful holiday in China…” When the bus stopped, the serving women said in English amiably.

“Beijing Hodel? What a direct name,” Zhang Lisheng stood up together with a group of Westerners with different skin colors and hair color before muttering and walking forward. Behind him, Guo Caiying corrected, “It’s not Hodel, but Hotel. It’s Beijing Hotel. This is the best five-star hotel in Beijing and is just next to the Imperial Palace of the Forbidden City. It only takes you a five-minute walk to see the Tiananmen and the Great Hall of the People, and it’s also very close to Wang Fu Jing Pedestrian Street. Anyway, I’ll be swamped for the next two days after my return, so you can just roam around first. Remember to not make any trouble. Remember that this is not the United States where you can directly shoot a robber to death. don’t be so impulsive and just call me at any time.”