The Great Worm Lich

Hearing what Zhang Lisheng said, Tina said after a moment of being stunned, “That must be the protection that you told me about on the plane. Double protection huh, seems like dragging you here to the Amazon’s a wise choice.”

Trish was looking more and more terrible hearing Tina and Zhang Lisheng saying things that she could not understand. Noticing that her close friend next to her looking off, Tina turned her head immediately and comforted her. Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, began chanting witchcraft incantation to summon Island Dragon.

However, he looked even more terrible than Trish a while later, and mumbled to himself, “Island Dragon encountered some powerful enemy and can’t sense me summoning it. That’s strange, how is that possible that the Amazon would have such a ferocious animal…”

Tina asked seeing the change in Zhang Lisheng’s expression, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, something minor happened. We might need to take a look somewhere in the jungle,” Zhang Lisheng thought about it and replied calmly.

Wizard worm was just a wizard’s tool. Though precious, losing it would not destroy his foundation. However, in this vast, dense jungle, losing Island Dragon that could carry over ten people gliding on top of trees was a loss that could not be remedied. The young man could only choose to take the risk.

“Sure,” Tina nodded without objecting, “But we should see if the rest are around before we leave.”

Zhang Lisheng said after shaking his head, “It’s a miracle the three of us could meet after such a catastrophic flood,” However, he decided to look around with Tina who was afraid but interested in Mountoad and Trish who had calmed down but had her guard up. The three’s effort was to no avail, they were tired and hungry. They then sat on a random fallen stump and began eating.

After eating an energy bar, Tina munched on a disinfection tablet and drank the water with her hands from a tiny pit next to her foot. She said in concern after filling her stomach a little, “What should we do? We can’t find Sheila and the rest, are they going to be alright?”

Nobody could answer such a speculative question. Trish held a piece of chocolate that she had just opened and could not eat it. She began sobbing in guilt because if something were to happen to her friends her stubbornness would undoubtedly be the reason why. Tina comforted Trish immediately, the two girls sobbed together while hugging under a tree in the dense jungle.

Zhang Lisheng was rather clueless where did the ladies’ emotion come from, all that he could do was to wait helplessly. The girls clearly felt better after crying for a while, Tina said after wiping off her tears, “Don’t cry Trish, Sheila and the rest will be fine. We should depart now.”

Trish nodded and drew a cross on her chest, she looked tough now.

“Follow by my side, Mountoad will protect you guys,” Zhang Lisheng stood up and began to chant witchcraft incantation. He controlled Mountoad to release the air inside of its body entirely. Its body that had shrunk began hopping everywhere into the dense jungle filled with muddy water. The witchcraft incantation scared all of the insects away in the jungle. There would occasionally appear ferocious beasts that were impervious to the obvious situation. Whether they had the intention to attack or not, they were eaten by Mountoad which body expanded with its enormous tongue.

“This is definitely an ability only demons possess, it’s terrifying…” Trish who saw Mountoad which body was expanding and shrinking eating a slender bobcat with dull fur with her own eyes for the first time could not help but mumble while holding her bible tight.

“Trish, Mountoad’s just a mutated creature cultivated through Chinese secret method, it’s definitely not some demon.”

“Do you think I’d believe what you said?” Trish looked at Zhang Lisheng in an odd way.

“Of course you would, Tina does too… nevermind, no matter what you think Mountoad is, just don’t tell anyone about it. Tina promised that on behalf of you.”

“Tina didn’t promise that she would let you show such a giant toad to me… Oh my god, it was just a chimpanzee. This is too cruel!”

“Yes, it’s too cruel. An over two-meter tall chimpanzee that weighs more than 150kg would only crash our heads when it attacks. Why must I get Mountoad to eat it, am I right?”

Trish was stuck at the moment, she spoke softly after a moment of silence, “But it didn’t attack us…”

“Do you think we have the chance to attack it when it attacks us first? We’re risking our lives in the Amazon now, our only goal is to live. Trish, instead of worrying whether the chimpanzee should die, why don’t you put your concern in whether you would be able to walk out of this jungle.”

“Hey Lisheng, what you said might make sense but to a gentleman like you, talking to girls with such a tone is a little too much.”

“I’m not some gentleman Tina…”

“You are, you are a gentleman no matter how you deny it. If you’re not, you won’t be walking in the Amazon jungle now, Trish and I wouldn’t have survived until now,” Tina said firmly. Zhang Lisheng was stunned and smiled subtly. He sensed where his Island Dragon was in the jungle quietly and began walking faster without saying anything.

The three of them traveled across the jungle in silence. Trish spoke all of the sudden, “I’m sorry Lisheng, I shouldn’t have said that to you earlier. Tina’s right, it proves that you’re a good man who loves lending a helping hand since you came all the way to Amazon to help me with such passion, given the fact that you know how scary an ancient jungle is more than we do. Although I don’t agree with the ability you have, I’m swearing with my baptismal name Joanna to the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) that I’ll never reveal the secret of you being a wizard.”

“Alright Lisheng, Trish has apologized. Can we walk slower now? What the hell, you looked like you were dying when Mr. Tuta was leading the way but you’re running when you’re leading.”

Zhang Lisheng remained silent but he slowed down. Just like that, the three of them walked in the jungle until the sky turned dark. Finally, they rested by a pool since they were exhausted. The pool in an empty jungle was usually the most dangerous zone. However, it became a relatively safe camping ground after Mountoad cleared the place. At least it gave them a good view of their surroundings so that they could have two to three seconds of buffer time before they were attacked.

After settling down and had their tummy filled with some high-calorie foods, Zhang Lisheng controlled Mountoad to get piles of branches using its enormous tongue and made a bonfire. With the fire’s warmth and sense of security, Tina and Trish looked much better with fire shining on their faces.

“Tina, Trish, I’ll stay up and watch through the night. You guys dry your undergarments and go to sleep in your sleeping bags. We still have a long journey tomorrow.”

“Lisheng, it’s better if we take turns in watching through the night. You need to…”

“You guys can’t control Mountoad so you guys watching through the night is meaningless at all. Moreover, I have a unique way of regaining my strength,” Zhang Lisheng turned around while his back faced the bonfire and said, “Stop arguing with me, follow what I said. Safety is our priority, go to sleep after you guys are done drying yourselves.”

The ladies whose bodies were soaked in the canoe had no choice when there was a burning bonfire. Looking at Zhang Lisheng whose back was facing them, Tina hesitated and took off her jacket and her undergarment clumsily and began drying her clothes while being naked.

It should have been a seductive and beautiful scene but white people were born with a strong odor. Given that they had not washed themselves without taking off their clothes for three days and two nights, their customized travel undergarment absorbed the sweat from their body. Very soon, a pungent, odd smell came as soon as it was dried by the fire.

Zhang Lisheng’s nose was triggered by the odd smell. ‘Achoo, achoo…’, he sneezed for a couple of times consecutively. Tina’s cheeks flushed from being shy and explained pretending to be overbearing, “I haven’t showered for three days and I’m in such a terrible jungle…”

“I didn’t say anything, Tina. Go to sleep when you’re done drying your clothes.”

Tina stopped talking but she did not look any better while she quickly dried her clothes and body. Trish who was sitting aside realized that Zhang Lisheng did not seem to be peeking at all, she could not help but take off her clothes and began to dry them.

The air around the bonfire was getting unbearable. Zhang Lisheng tolerated the awful smell for over ten minutes and heard them speaking behind him, “We’re done drying ourselves, come dry yourself too Lisheng.”

Zhang Lisheng was relieved and turned around, by then the two girls had snuggled into their sleeping bags in their pajamas. He did not remove his clothes, all he did was to sit closer to the bonfire, “The clothes I’m wearing will dry naturally given that I’m sitting here for the entire night. Go to sleep, stop thinking so much. Very soon we will return to Tuikano after I found Island Dragon. Even if I couldn’t find it, I’ll find ways to bring you guys back in one piece.”

Hearing the skinny young man before her giving his promise while looking serious, Tina got out of the sleeping bag all of the sudden and kissed Zhang Lisheng. She then said, “You know what Lisheng, although your words are hard and sometimes cruel, you’re really the best friend of the opposite sex that I’ve ever met. Good night, my dear gentleman.”

Zhang Lisheng’s cheeks were flushing and said after a moment of being stunned, “Tina, if there’s no such weird odor on your body, I would…”

“Shut up Zhang Lisheng, Trish and I are sleeping. Shut up,” Tina got back into the sleeping bag as she spoke and said goodnight to Trish. The two ladies closed their eyes and fell asleep slowly. In the jungle with noisy chirping late at night, Zhang Lisheng sat by the bonfire looking like he was thinking. He would unconsciously add branches beside him into the fire occasionally.

He was annoyed that Island Dragon that was washed away by the flood was stuck with some mysterious creature. He could not figure out what kind of ferocious beast here on earth could threaten a wizard worm that was over 15 meters long, extremely agile with sharp claws, sharp teeth and a powerful tail that was like a steel whip with the ability to travel in the air freely.

He removed the colorful jelly gem from his wrist without him noticing while frowning. He tied it around his finger and began chanting witchcraft incantation to sense Island Dragon’s whereabouts. Suddenly, he realized that Island Dragon could now respond to his summons. It was dashing towards Zhang Lisheng with the control of witchcraft incantation.