The Great Worm Lich

“Sheila please, this is a public place, don’t talk about such nonsense. The people who spoke to Lisheng were the National Farmers Union’s representatives from the village…”

“So…how are they not hillbillies…”

“Damn. You’re going to university real soon my dear, you should know those people have the power to vote for a federal senator. Stop looking for troubles for your family okay?”

“You’re just too careful Trish but I must thank you for your kindness, my dear sister. So Lisheng, how was the discussion you had with the National Farmers Union’s representatives?”

“They came together to ask me to drop my self-service slaughtering price in the future, there’s no way that they would give in. Let’s not talk about that joy-killer. I just got some good news, they’re going to build a new New York Harbor near Muttleslow.”

“The new New York Harbor’s really going to be built in Mutteslow?! Your luck’s great Lisheng, the land you took is extremely expensive now. Even if your slaughterhouse business is slow, just hire a few people to turn your factory into a warehouse, you’ll make at least millions of dollars of net profit every year. This property’s enough for you to really build your foundation in America’s upper class. In reality, it’s the same from a couple of hundreds of years ago. A valuable land can only be considered a stable property, congrats.”

“Sheila, being in so-called America’s upper class has no meaning to me at all. You Americans might never understand my goal,” Zhang Lisheng said that out loud in a calm manner while looking at the skyscrapers around his surroundings that represented the prosperous industrial civilization, the thousands of dazzling commercial billboards of various sizes and the fashionable people who walked in a hasty pace.

“The Americans you were talking about, am I one of them?”

“Oh Tina, that’s not what I meant. I’m just describing a difference on… on culture… Oh yeah, now that I think about it, I’ll need to thank Mr. Howick’s help for getting me to build my slaughterhouse in Mutteslow. Trish, please extend my gratitude to your dad for me.”

“Trish won’t be doing that for you. Our Catholic girl who is in love hasn’t been speaking to her dad for over a few days as of late.”

“Why?”

“Because of Walter. Trish’s planning to get Walter to be her date at the joint birthday party of us three sisters, and Mr. Howick doesn’t like the idea so….”

“Walter?” Zhang Lisheng was stunned. “His head’s alright now?”

“No. He drools a little when he talks but he can communicate albeit forced…”

“Sheila, please.”

“My dear, I just hope that you can get your head straight. Feelings can’t overcome reality sometimes.”

“If that’s the case, why did you go to Amazon with me back then?”

“Damn you’re just being unreasonable now…”

“Sheila, Trish, stop fighting. Didn’t we agree that we won’t be talking about this anymore? Let’s just go with the flow. I’ll support whatever Trish decides to do but when we get to university, she should indeed try processing her feelings before deciding on anything…”

“Tina, I don’t see the difference between what you said and what Sheila said…”

The three girls began arguing with one another in soft voices out of nowhere. Zhang Lisheng, who was completely ignored, could only order a black pepper steak after the waitress served him a glass of Coke while watching the crowd that did not stop walking on the street. After he finished the steak and ordered some dessert, that was when the ladies who were tired of arguing recalled there was a boy beside them.

“Sorry Lisheng, I asked you to have lunch with me but I ignored you. But you’d definitely understand that I must stop my best friends Trish and Sheila when they’re arguing…”

“Tina, you aren’t stopping us but you’re arguing with us as well.”

“Shut up Sheila, I’m talking to Lisheng,” Tina glared at Sheila and said out of panic after seeing Zhang Lisheng who was sitting next to her standing up all of a sudden. “Oh baby, are you mad?”

“No, I just happened to see an old friend.” Zhang Lisheng pushed a few strands of his hair away from his forehead with his hand while staring at a person who walked a little hunched on the street. He then asked in a calm after a moment of mumbling to himself. “Tina, aren’t you going to try on gowns with Trish and Sheila this afternoon?”

“Will you go with me Lisheng?” Tina held the young man’s hand tight, following a girl’s instinct.

“There’s some stuff that I need to handle, I’ll call you later if I have the time…” Zhang Lisheng struggled for a while but he failed to shake the girl’s hand off.

“No, I don’t want you to leave.”

“Tina, let go. Now.” The young man’s eyes exuded a calm charm but there was an indescribable chilling vibe that pierced through of Tina’s body, forcing the girl to let go slowly while slightly shuddering. He had actually delayed much time. Just when Zhang Lisheng was going to step forward, his hunched target who was already at the end of Fifth Avenue was surrounded by four fashionable young people who seemed like they were taking a leisure stroll when he was going to turn into the street corner. He was taken into a big SUV that had been waiting by the street since the beginning.

Zhang Lisheng had goosebumps on his back. “No wonder Mountain Cat didn’t look for me for such a long time. So he’s been… been… Who would capture him as bait to lure me in! Why go through so much trouble to make Mountain Cat comply in order to get to me? Could they be those what Dark Walkers do on their secret… secret meetings? No, that’s impossible… Didn’t Dr. Fracture attack me as well…” Zhang Lisheng sat on the chair again while mumbling to himself.

Tina, who had let go off the young man, had her sadness wiped away when she saw Zhang Lisheng sitting back down, looking worried while having his mouth opened and closed with unclear words. “You don’t have to apologize Lisheng. I’m not really mad, I’m just a little sad. I can feel that you were planning to do something dangerous just now. I pulled you back for your own good. We’re not in an ancient jungle at the moment but the most bustling street in New York. This is a world of law, you don’t have to use those… those strange power of yours to solve the problem that you have.”

While the girl was forgiving Zhang Lisheng for her misunderstanding, Mountain Cat was kneeling in a big SUV that had seats organized into a square while screaming in a ferocious manner, “Aren’t you Human Sect people observant? Can’t you see that that person has wizard power surrounding him?! You guys wanted to kill me when you got me, no mercy was shown to me but you require proof when you’re capturing a fake Caucasian. I saw him controlling gu to eat people, what more proof do you want! You, all of you are hypocrites. You’re just bastards who took the order from that corrupted bastard I killed…”

Hearing Mountain Cat was still being disrespectful when his life was on the line, a handsome middle-aged man who wore a gray Armani suit that looked like a robe sat in the middle of the last row of seats on the SUV. He screamed sounding like an old man, “You’re incredibly stubborn to be insulting my Human Sect’s reputation when your life is on the line, you brat. You said that that person would kill you no matter what as soon as he sees you and what happened, huh? Hmph, indeed, that guy has a witchcraft inheritance in him but since he didn’t show any evil intentions, we’re showing him mercy for letting him live. It’s generosity but you’re accusing us of that, you’re just stubborn and hopeless. Go to hell!”

The person was getting more and more furious as he spoke. He raised his finger and pointed in the air all of a sudden. As a gleam flashed inside the car, Mountain Cat was sliced into half and vanished slowly after turning into a pile of frost.

“It’s just a brat talking nonsense, he wasn’t worth Senior Brother’s rage at all,” the white-clad man next to a middle-aged man whose nose and mouth was quite large for his face said while chuckling.

“Why would I care about a kitty cat that was already under my control? I’m just mad that that person didn’t take my bait after all I’ve set-up…”

“Your hatred for him is deep, Senior Brother. Well, that little wizard’s already a true Westerner by law but he has built his foundation in America depending on those evil tactics. The Heavenly Dao Rule’s different for Chinese and Westerners. We’re in America right now, it’s inappropriate that we attack right away. We can only wait for another opportunity.”

“Sigh…Junior Brother, he already has black fog surrounding him at that young of an age. I’m afraid that it’ll be hard to contain him when he grows up. Otherwise, why would I spend so much effort just to eliminate a little wizard.”

“Haha… There are many talents in the world. Take these disciples in the car as an example, which of us has weaker talent or ability than that little wizard? Even the both of us, let’s not talk about the minor forces, even if we were to compare with the major forces, is there anyone who is a match for us?”

The white-clad man was stunned for a moment and let out a long sigh after thinking about it carefully. He spoke in depth, “Junior Brother, you’re worthy of being called the wise one throughout my Human Sect’s 200 years of history. It only takes one sentence to tell what I’m thinking like a senior brother. Sigh, I’m just too stubborn. I’m afraid I’ll have to miss the Great Sect and do no good to the sect for the rest of my life.”

“How could you say that, Senior Brother? Your determination for vengeance and stubborn character made you come to an agreement with the Great Human Sect. Everyone knows that you have unconditional love for our Human Sect’s junior disciples. You’re undoubtedly the real pillar of support of the sect,” the man with a big mouth and nose became serious as he spoke. He then shifted his focus to the young man with a beautiful face who had been staring blankly at Mountain Cat’s body which turned into frost at the side of the car’s space.

“Qing Yu, do you understand your Senior Uncle Duo Shan’s love for you?”

The young man was just staring off at nothing as if he did not hear anything.

“Forget it Junior Brother, Qing Yu’s still young…”

“Senior Brother, you attempted to kill this evil cat three years ago to avenge Qing Yu’s family. You’ve been blaming yourself all these years since he managed to escape. You bumped into this brat accidentally when Master Shi Yongxin invited you here in America. You’ve been chasing after him for over 40 days and finally got him, you’ve gone through much torture in between. This evil cat has a weak ability but he was just really good at running away. Without experiencing for yourself, who would’ve thought…”

“Junior Brother, I said stop talking!” The white-clad man with straight brows screamed all of a sudden. The middle-aged man with a big mouth and nose was stunned for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Why do you have to do this to yourself, Senior Brother? You’re protecting your disciples with all of your might but they misunderstood you. Sigh…” He stopped talking afterward, making the atmosphere inside the SUV fall into a dead silence.