The Great Worm Lich

The Boston Hilton Hotel’s landscaping restaurant featured a luxurious golden ceiling lamp that glowed a gentle radiance like a half-round sun rising over the ceiling of a beige tree-patterned wallpaper.

Along the dark red lattice carpet, the waiters wearing black suit pants and white shirts were shuttling back and forth between the solid wood table. Despite being exhausted due to the business, they still maintained a smile that revealed their eight teeth on their faces all the time.

The environment was elegant and the service was attentive. However, due to the reason that it was a self-service meal, the price was not particularly expensive. If it was without discount, it would still inevitably be about 100 dollars per person and if there was some special seasonal dishes, it would be possible for the price to go up to 200 to 300 dollars per person.

Speaking of it, such an expense was considered quite high for college students in the US. However, when Sheila realized that Zhang Lisheng brought them to eat at a buffet, she raised her brows and asked in dissatisfaction when they were standing in front of the gorgeous marble counter. “Lisheng, is this the seafood dinner you said?”

“Sheila, the view here is broader so in terms of a psychological point of view, it’s very good for you. Not only that, even though it’s a buffet, it you really want to order à la carte, I believe that this beautiful lady can make a special arrangement for us.” Zhang Lisheng took out his credit card along with a 100 dollar bill and handed it to the hotel’s beautiful waitress as he casually said.

“Of course, Sir. Even though the hotel’s buffet today is ‘Seafood Night’, we have a total of 340 fresh dishes that can satisfy any taste. However, Hilton Hotel is still very willing to offer you a ‘customized’ service for VIPs like you who are willing to spend several thousands of dollars for the sake of a ‘good view’,” After keeping the tip into her vest pocket openly, she took the credit card with both hands and swiped it. With a smile that revealed eight of her teeth, she handed him the bill.

“Thank you.” Zhang Lisheng shrugged and signed his name on the bill. Taking back his credit car, he walked over to the manager wearing a black suit and handed out a 100 dollar bill. “Please try to arrange a window position for us.”

“There’s a table by the window, Sir. Please come with me.” The manager took the banknote quietly and personally walked them to the corner of the restaurant. There was an inconspicuously huge dining table that could be said as a semi-open room that was separated by a tasseled curtain situated near to a curved floor-to-ceiling window that had a 180 degree view of the Boston night scene.

After Zhang Lisheng and the others were seated, the menu that was usually not provided by a self-service restaurant was provided to them

“No it’s alright, the buffet is good for me!” Most of the Harvard girls were very well-mannered and did not pick up the menu. Only Sheila alone picked up the menu without the slightest hesitation and ordered, “Please give me a Banzai Plum Wine and this ‘Raw Sturgeon Seafood Chowder. Oh that’s right, give me a bottle of Listrac-Medoc red wine too. Thank you!”

Not only that, after the waiter answered, “Yes, madam. Please wait for a while.” politely, and took the menu away, she even ridiculed Zhang Lisheng. “Oh Lisheng, it’s so nice that you know Benjamin Franklin so well. See, he allows you to roam freely in Boston as you do in New York.”

“Baby, Sheila looks really drunk, so that’s why…” When Tina saw the drunken state of her best friend, she whispered in her boyfriend’s ear.

“I know, it doesn’t matter.” The young man smiled noncommittally, maintaining a gentlemanly temperament until the end of the dinner.

After enjoying this sumptuous dinner and tasting the hotel’s signature à la carte ‘French Crème brûlée’ that Zhang Lisheng purposely ordered, the girls of the Harvard Sisters’ Association left the restaurant in satisfaction and went to the Hilton’s spacious hall driveway. After expressing their heartfelt thanks to Zhang Lisheng who sent them off, they got on the hotel’s limousine.

Everything appeared to have ended in a perfect tone but in the end, a girl with bright eyes, who had a classical oval face appearing to be charmingly beautiful sitting in the back of the champagne-colored long Cadillac, suddenly extended her head out of the window. She originally wanted to wave goodbye to Tina but to her surprise, she saw that Trish and Sheila were still standing rooted on the same spot. Right away, she shouted subconsciously, “Trish, Sheila, come here. I still have space right here.”

“Thank you, dear Polly but it’s alright. Trish and I plan to stay in Hilton tonight too!” Sheila waved with a grin.

“Oh oh erm, of course…” Polly seemed to be shocked as her eyes went wide. She turned to look at Trish, Sheila, Zhang Lisheng and then Tina. “I-I’m sorry. I forgot that the three of you are used to sharing everything all the time.”

“Sheila and I will stay in another room,” Upon seeing her friend’s weird gaze, Trish was stunned for a moment. After she realized what was going on, her face became flushed completely as she said in annoyance. However, the car had already slowly driven away.

The atmosphere became a bit awkward now because of the words said by the oval-face girl before she left. Without saying anything, Zhang Lisheng went to the front desk and took two royal suites. The four of them went up the elevator and he handed one of the room cards to Trish, “Penthouse Suite A.”

“Lisheng, the reason why Sheila and I stay over is because something important has happened. The four of us must talk it out…” Trish took the room card and suddenly whispered.

“Do you mean the light wall that is said to run through the entire Pacific Ocean?” When the young man heard the girl’s words, a strange hunch appeared in his heart, prompting him to blurt out.

“Yes! After Sheila has sobered up tomorrow, we’ll go find you and Tina. Let us talk in detail at that time then, goodnight!” Unknowingly, the elevator had reached the top of the hotel. Trish nodded and took Sheila into their room.

In order to make its prestige be really felt, there were often only one to two royal suites on the top floor of a luxury hotel. Treading on the cashmere carpet on the corridor, Zhang Lisheng opened the other suite door and said in puzzlement, “Tina, Trish’s words are really strange. You guys want to talk to me? Is there any new discovery that the three of you made?”

“Yes, baby. After we went to college, the three of us have taken the ancient theology course due to the bizarre encounters in the Amazon jungle and Shrimp B1 Island. Just two weeks before, there was one shocking speculation…”

“What speculation?”

“This is very complicated. I can’t explain it in a word or two.” Tina, who had already entered the room, closed the door and walked up to Zhang Lisheng. With her breathing gradually turning heavier, she hooked her arms on her boyfriend’s neck. “Don’t you think we should do something else tonight and discuss about other issues tomorrow?”

“Oh, of course…” Zhang Lisheng smiled and kissed the girl’s bright red lips. Then, it was naturally a whole night of passion.

The next day, when it was already noon time with the sun shining brightly, only then did Tina wake up in the soft bed of the master bedroom of the suite.

“Oh, baby, good morning! Ah no, it looks like it’s good afternoon now. What time is it?” Naked, the girl stretched lazily and asked with a sweet smile.

“It’s already 10.40 am.” The black and white smog that appeared during the secret method cultivation slowly dispersed. Zhang Lisheng looked at the clock on the wall and replied, “You must be hungry. Let me call room service then. what do you want to eat?”

“Order snacks like breads and muffins. Oh, and some fruits too. I’ll call Trish and Sheila and ask them to come over,” Tina said as she grabbed the phone on the bedside table.

“Bread, muffin and fruits? Okay…” Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, picked up the hotel’s phone and asked for room service from the reception desk.

After more than ten minutes, the two of them had washed and freshened up. At this time, the bell of the suite rang and to their surprise, when Tina opened the door with tips in her hand, it turned out to be Trish and Sheila who were pushing a bright silver dining cart full of fruits and a variety of French breads and snacks.

“Oh dear, even though Trish and I woke up before 9am and have waited a whole two hours to receive your call, given the possibility of the ‘craziness’ you two had last night, we still gave you 20 minutes of time to wake up and stopped the room service who has a lack of understanding on the state of affairs. Oh hey, I’ve even peeled oranges for you to replenish the vitamins that were lost because of your physical exertion. Tell me, where else can you get such a good friend?” Amidst the girl’s surprised gaze, Sheila picked up a few peeled oranges from the dining cart and stuffed it into her mouth.

“It’s quite delicious. Thank you very much, my best sister! But, let us enter the main business right away. Lisheng has been anxiously waiting already.” Chewing the juicy orange, Tina raised a thumbs up and said with a smile.

“Let’s go to the conference room then. There’s a projector with an internet connection so we can have audio-visual aids when we talk about it.” Trish, who was by the side, nodded.

The word ‘value for money’ at this time had revealed its principle. Other than a master bedroom, two deputy bedrooms, a cigar room, a gym, and two living rooms with one being large and the other small, the Hilton Hotel’s Royal Suite also had a medium-sized conference room that could fit up to 30 people. It was completely perfect for business talk.

After they entered this business-style conference room, Trish went straight to the projector at the end of the oval conference table, and started to connect the machine to the internet. She logged into her cloud storage space and clicked on a reversal film file, projecting an image of a green-skinned dwarf gnome on the wall and said, “Let’s get started.”

Once they started talking about business, even Sheila’s expression turned serious. “Alright Trish, let me explain. Lisheng, do you still remember the pattern of this little green man?”

Zhang Lisheng was sitting on a leather chair and became immersed in contemplation. “Of course, I remembered this pattern on the cannibal totem pole in the Amazon jungle, of the tribe which was controlled by Dr. Tubalin. I ought to have told you guys after returning to the US that there are five layers in total on the totem pole. The first layer is a pile of sculptures almost identical with this little green man that are floating in the air. The second layer of sculpture is still these little green men, but their mouth has become a lot bigger and they have landed on the ground already. The third layer is engraved with a tree that is seemingly big, with many green little men hanging on the branches of the tree. The fourth layer is engraved with a group of weird red-haired snowy-skinned people with slender bodies and limbs, who were holding red diamonds in their hands. The last layer is pieces of flat yellow cards floating in a large jungle. Some of the cards have fallen onto to the ground and turned into shining doors.”