The Great Worm Lich

In the spring breeze, all things were born, with flowers blooming fully. Under a translucent milky white canvas umbrella in the garden, Zhang Lisheng sat on a cushion filled with soft and beautiful animal hair, facing a cold-looking Yuan Kuang who was being attentive to her guest. Savoring the delicious pastries and delicious tea with a calm face on, Zhang Lisheng’s mind was already filled with that Nutao Sea’s aristocrat whom he was going to see later.

“This is made by grinding freshly sprouted vanilla and then mixing it together with the mashed deserted date and the cooked brain oil of a dolphin monkey. The slag is then filtered before it’s baked to become this fragrant cake. It tastes refreshing in your mouth and the taste suits a scholar like you the most. Don’t you want to try it?”

“Try it? Of course, Miss Yaj. Thank you!” The young man smiled and took a green cake emitting a strong mint aroma from the beautiful master before taking a bite into it. At once, he could feel a gush of coolness burst into his mouth, causing to sneeze right away.

“Have you awakened, Sir Lisheng? It’s insulting to talk to a lady absent-mindedly,” Upon seeing the black-haired young man’s stunned and speechless expression, the woman who managed to play a trick on him had a faint smirk on her face as she asked.

“Oh, sorry, Ms. Yaj. I was indeed distracted. You know, an unexplored Hellfire island full of strange creatures is an irresistible temptation for a biologist.”

“Biologist?” Yaj gracefully stirred the milk tea in front of her and said with a poisonous tongue that was utterly different from her temperament, “Sir, actually, before Vitas’ caravan set sail, I’ve already heard about some things about you from that Mr. Luqi who was full of hot air. Please forgive me for being frank, but in my humble opinion, killing those helpless animals cruelly is not versatile and brave.”

“But in my opinion, for the progress of human civilization, it doesn’t matter if we sacrifice some lives. Moreover, speaking of cruel, dissecting animals for the sake of understanding the anatomy to expose the mystery of natural evolution is much more civilized than feeding people to fish…”

The two people, the guest, and the master, slowly began to unknowingly have a heated verbal exchange. However, since this did not involve any real interest, the atmosphere was not as oppressive as the ones they had in the hotel. Instead, it gradually became more harmonious.

Marina, who was standing behind Yaj, secretly admired her master’s sophisticated social means. To think that she actually succeeded in resolving the vague hostile situation between her and the black-haired young man in such a short time. At the same time, she began to feel mournful for the young man, as though she had already seen his grim future of how he would fall into a trap.

When Yaj’s personal maid’s mind was running wild with thoughts, the back door of the distant manor was suddenly pushed open. Several young men and women dressed luxuriously walked into the garden as they talked and laughed together.

Following behind these people was Sakni. At this moment, this well-dressed and courteous butler no longer had a calm attitude.

A fit of faint anger could visibly be seen on his face as he took a detour from the right path paved in cobblestone and walked past the bushes to walk up to Yaj within a few quick steps. With a concise voice, he whispered, “Miss Yaj, I’ve already told Young Master Roman that you’re attending an ‘important guest’ in the small garden, but he still…”

“It’s alright, Mr. Sakni. If I wasn’t attending to a distinguished guest, Roman wouldn’t have acted so recklessly anyway. Even if it’s the interests of the business or the family, in his eyes, nothing is more important than his own ‘small calculation,’” Yaj understandingly consoled the butler.

This sentence seemed to be a casual reply, but when a thoughtful expression appeared on Sakni’s face, the woman smiled secretly. Then, she stood up and walked towards the group of young men and women, who had already approached them, with a joyful expression, “My dear younger brother Roman! Why did you suddenly bring so many good friends home today? Abigail, Abby, Ely… Welcome to Golden Flower Terrier Manor.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Yaj! Your beauty is even more dazzling than the sunshine in the spring…”

“It’s such a killjoy to see you, Miss Yaj. With you here in this beautiful garden, all the fresh flowers here have become as dull and uninteresting as hay…”

“Miss Yaj…” When the men saw Yaj’s enchanting smile, they kissed her hands as a salutation while throwing compliments at her trying to impress the beautiful woman.

The women, on the other hand, concealed their hostile gazes and bowed as they said sarcastic remarks like “Sister Yaj, your complexion is so good! I really wonder how a person who is several years older than me can actually have skin more tender than mine…”

Only a man who had a face almost alike Yaj with an outstanding appearance but with a pair of eyes that were too slender and a bit gloomy, locked his attention on Zhang Lisheng, who had been sipping his tea with no regard for the presence of other people.

Upon seeing Zhang Lisheng’s short black hair, a disdainful look immediately crept upon his face, but he still tried his best to conceal it. With a slight bow towards the young man, he greeted, “Nice to meet you, sir. I’m Roman Mishen.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Roman. I’m Zhang Lisheng,” Judging from the signs around him, Zhang Lisheng felt as though he had been caught in a significant, fierce secret battle of a rich and powerful family. Naturally, he was reluctant to play a supporting role in this scene of the farce, so after replying to the young man, he suddenly stood up and asked Yaj, “Miss Yaj, don’t we still have a business to discuss?”

“Of course, Sir Lisheng!” Yaj was also trying to find a reason to get away from the situation. Upon hearing his words, she smiled secretly and nodded before saying to the guests, “How I wish I could have an afternoon tea with everyone on this sunny afternoon and have some small talk, but unfortunately, as a business deacon, I still have a business to talk, so I have no choice but to leave first.”

Yaj’s departure elicited a regrettable look from all the male guests, but they did not know how to ask her to stay. After all, they all came from noble families of merchants, and they knew that business opportunities would always have to be placed first. The women, on the other hand, waved to her in secret glee and said, “Oh, that’s a shame! I hope that we’ll have a chance to have an afternoon tea together. See you again, Sister Yaj…”

It was like they wished she could leave as soon as possible.

When Roman saw how his sister managed to break free from the ‘snare’ that he carefully laid out, he gritted his teeth secretly but could not come up with any plan. Unintentional destruction was utterly different from unreasonable entanglement. With his position in the family, he dared not unscrupulously pester her with unreasonable demands.

In the end, he could only watch Yaj and Zhang Lisheng walking away with hatred. If his gaze that was glaring infuriatingly at them could solidify, it would have long burnt both people into ashes.

Sensing the infuriating gaze from behind, Yaj walked into the manor from the back door and suddenly said, “Sir Lisheng, you’ve helped infuriated my brother till he almost fainted, so I must express my gratitude to you.”

“You’re a frank person, Miss Yaj,” Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a while before bursting into a chuckle, “But there’s no need to thank me. I merely did it for myself. After all, nobody likes the plan to go awry before reaching his goal.”

“Is that so? You’ve also helped vented my anger as well,” The woman smiled faintly and said softly, “Just call me Yaj from now on.”

“In that case, you can also call me Lisheng,” the kind of attitude that Yaj suddenly changed into was the only natural enemy that Zhang Lisheng had. After turning into either wizard or god, the most crucial element embedded in the young man’s essential unreasonable attitude had always been his ruthlessness over hardness and kindness towards softness.

The pressure from a strong enemy might make him retreat for a while, but once he obtained a good chance, he would definitely retaliate in an extremely hostile and cruel manner. Still, if somebody treated him kindly and sincerely, even if just by treating him frankly, he would never injure the other party unless it was out of absolute necessity, not only that, but he might also protect the other party during a critical moment.

From the subtle changes in the tone of the young man, Yaj seemed to have obtained some useful information. Turning around, she told Sakni, “Mr. Sakni, send some maids to bring some snacks for Chief Lumoluki and ask whether he’s okay with meeting some guests now.”

“Yes, Miss,” The butler of the wealthy family who had regained his pretentious air retreated and came back to report not long after, “Sir Lumoluki has indeed rested well. He invited you and Sir Lisheng to meet together.”

“Let us go then, Lisheng. I wish you good luck in advance,” Yaj nodded and smiled at Zhang Lisheng, who was by the side. Both of them followed behind Sakni and went to the third floor directly from the staircase of the small living room on the west side of the manor, before coming to a massive, substantial wooden door carved with patterns.

Sixteen soldiers armed with long-handled battle axes with sharp knives on their waists stood on either side of the wooden door, making the house of the aristocrat to look like a castle used by a noble feudal lord.

With a ‘plop,’ Yaj opened the fragrant fan in her hand and gently nodded at the statue-like soldiers on both sides. Together with Zhang Lisheng, she passed by the butler one after another and personally pushed opened the door, entering a large hall filled with unusually abundant sunlight, for it had its three walls densely covered with over ten bright glass windows.

The excellent wine and oil remained from the remaining delicious dishes that were mixed together, dripping on the bright red cashmere carpet to form a sizeable mottled stain, giving off a strange aroma. All of the items of furniture, be it the wooden table with a beautiful silver candlestick, or the bed that was filled with women covered with thin translucent satin that indistinctly showed off their seductive graceful curves, were all much shorter than other ordinary furniture. The blazing flames in the hundreds of ignited braziers hanging from the ceiling raised the slight cold temperature of the spring forcefully till it became the temperature of summer.

After looking around at everything in the hall, the young man finally set his eyes at the more than ten Hellfire wearing silk robes.

Due to the reason that he had not seen these lowly natives putting on such arrogant look in front of him for a long time, he found it to be a little strange despite putting on an unchanged expression on his face. Right at this moment, he suddenly heard Yaj, who was fanning the fragrant fan beside him, said towards the chief, the only person who had six feathers on his head like a peacock fanning its tail, “Dear respected Chief Lumoluki, good afternoon. I’ve brought somebody who can help to solve your troubles…”

Then, she pointed at Zhang Lisheng, “This is Sir Zhang Lisheng, a scholar who comes from a distant continent. He has drifted to a large island in the Hellfire Sea due to shipwreck. With his luck, he was regarded as a ‘pundit’ by the largest tribe of that island. He should be able to tell you a lot of useful information.”