The Great Worm Lich

“I’ve thought about it with Tina. We’ll just say that we lost the guides during the flood. Luckily, we didn’t hurt ourselves during the flood; while Sheila, Walter, and Shittu accidentally ate poisonous wild fruits when you brought us around the jungle due to the lack of food. About Henry—we can just say that we unintentionally found his… his skull… Don’t worry, Lisheng, we won’t tell what we’re not supposed to say. In reality, I’m really grateful to you after you took care of us these past few days. I know very well that without you, it’s impossible… impossible for all of us to walk out of this scary jungle,” Trish hugged Zhang Lisheng for the first time. In the end, she could not hold the tears back and cried out loud while leaning on the young man’s shoulder.

Tina hugged Zhang Lisheng as well while sobbing. The girls’ emotions came without a warning. Zhang Lisheng thought that hugging two ladies who were one head taller than him was very awkward. He thought about it and reminded softly, “Trish, the excuse that you and Tina came up with is too far-fetched. Why don’t you just pretend that your memory is blurry from the shock after you were rescued? Cry like what you’re doing now when you talk about it, make it look like you’re unstable…”

“Zhang Lisheng, could… could you comfort us first and say all these things later when we’re no longer in your embrace! You’re only 16, why are you so calm and rational all the time like a 60-year-old.”

“Calm and rational,” Zhang Lisheng uttered after hearing what Tina said, “if I’m really calm and rational like you said, I would’ve pushed the both of you away. Everyone on the boat is looking at us, it’s embarrassing.”

It was approximately 10 in the morning. The logging workers on the tugboat had gotten out of their cabins. They were playing poker on the deck since it was sunny and peaceful. They were all hired by their employer from China. They had a good life in Tatetutu. They would even get their return tickets back to China that was paid to them every Chinese New Year. Although it was expensive to hire them, these guys who could endure hard work and give all of their strength was better and less worrying than hiring natives.

These young and strong Chinese fellas had nothing else to do as soon as they got onto the boat. They would do nothing and stare blankly since they were free. It made sense that they looked excited when they saw Zhang Lisheng, Tina, and Trish hugging together. They couldn’t help but shift their gaze toward them—some even whistled.

“You Chinese people are so weird when it comes to feelings. Some of the Chinese boys at our school are even more open and passionate than American boys, but you’re so shy,” Tina complained softly, but she let go of Zhang Lisheng anyway. Zhang Lisheng smiled speechlessly and only spoke after Trish let go of his shoulder, “It’s already past 10 now, which means Mr. Hatton would appear anytime now. It would be best if we remind the boat owner to avoid any misunderstandings by then. They have spears.”

“If I have a logging company here, I’d install rocket artillery on my boat.”

“Tina, you’re exaggerating, Amazon’s not that scary.”

“It’s not to you.”

Zhang Lisheng and Tina arrived at the end of the boat as they chatted. They saw the loud owner whose body looked like a bear observing the hundreds or perhaps even thousands of giant logs tied with steel rope flowing with the water while holding onto the railings. Zhang Lisheng walked forward, “Uncle Xiong, thank you for saving us last night…”

The owner noticed someone was coming close since the beginning. Hearing Zhang Lisheng thanking him, he glanced over the three young people who showed gratitude on their faces and said in a rough tone, “That’s nothing, how could I let you guys die. Tell your American friends that this is nothing, saving someone in need is what we should do. So, the dining room’s on the second floor. You don’t have to rush, the boat will arrive in Rukututu City in two to three days. I’ll get a car to send you guys wherever you want to go.”

“There’s no need, uncle, my friend has contacted her brother. Someone might pick us up in the afternoon, I’m here to tell you this.”

The owner was not surprised after hearing what Zhang Lisheng said. He only muttered, “I knew these Americans would do something dramatic. That’s good, too, it’s free advertisement for our company if this appears on the news. Alright kid, bring your American friends to eat. I got what you said.”

The owner seemed straightforward; he did not look like he was a businessman at all.

“Sure uncle, we’ll go eat now.” Zhang Lisheng did not want to annoy him seeing that he was impatient. He then said to Tina and Trish, “I’ve spoken to the boat owner, let’s go eat now. Nobody will send us food today, the dining room’s on the second floor’s cabin.”

He brought the two ladies into the cabin and finally found the stairs after looking for a long time. They got to the second floor and found the dining room following the smell of food. The dining room was pretty big; it could accommodate 100 people to eat together. However, it was not the time to eat now, so there was nobody there. There were a few huge stainless steel buckets fixed with card slots on the table closest to the door, and three of them had half-full of dishes. There was a type of meat and a type of vegetable. They were braised pork, stir-fried vegetable, and white rice.

“It’s a buffet.” Zhang Lisheng took a big stainless steel bowl from the bamboo basket that was tied to the wall. He then filled half of the bowl with rice, drizzled half of it with braised pork, and began eating the vegetables with chopsticks. Tina and Trish who came from wealthy New York families became not as picky after experiencing those tough days in the Amazon jungle. They did what Zhang Lisheng did with the dishes, unfortunately, they could not use the chopsticks. The boat shook a little bit and they splashed rice all over their body.

“Haha…” Zhang Lisheng saw this and shook his head while laughing. “There are spoons in the bamboo basket, why are you guys using chopsticks?”

The girls said nothing and went for the spoons silently; nobody knew why they became depressed now. In reality, it was normal. Due to their constant panic deep in the dangerous jungle, their sadness and fear were washed away. After they escaped from the danger and calmed down, the terrifying experience they went through came up slowly, causing their emotion to drop occasionally.

“Tina, Trish, don’t think too much. Go see a therapist when we return to New York, get counseling and ease yourself. Everything will be alright.” Zhang Lisheng sighed and comforted them. He said nothing since then while eating silently. He heard a loud buzzing noise in his ears that came out of nowhere when he was halfway through his meal.

“I think that’s a plane coming, I’ll take a look.” Zhang Lisheng put down the bowl and ran out of the dining room. He looked at the source of the noise and saw a milky-white antique biplane which had wings that were less than 20 meters with thick cylindrical-rods on both sides of its landing gear. It was flying from a distance, its noise louder than a helicopter as it hovered above the tugboat.

“Director Xiong of Lucky Dragon, we are the family of the six American young people you rescued last night. We hope to get onto the Lucky Dragon to meet them and thank all of you face-to-face. Director Xiong of Lucky Dragon… and thank all of you face-to-face.” There was an announcement that sounded even noisier than the plane coming out of it.

“They’re so fast to get here, they even brought an interpreter,” Zhang Lisheng mumbled to himself after hearing the Mandarin announcement. Just when he was about to run toward the dining room to tell Tina and Trish about Hatton’s arrival, he realized the two ladies had arrived behind him while looking at him in desperation.

“Good news, the Mandarin announcement was saying Mr. Hatton’s here,” Zhang Lisheng said while smiling. The plane hovered in the air for a while and landed on Amazon’s main watercourse vast surface after adjusting its angle. For safety purposes, they landed very far away from the tugboat. The plane glided on the water rapidly since landing; it was getting closer to the tugboat.

Very soon, the great force coming from the plane’s engine allowed it to catch up to the tugboat that was cruising slowly on the watercourse. Just when the plane was moving right next to the tugboat, the door was opened all of a sudden. A hunk in military uniform and synthetic leather mountain boots whose body muscles were so tense they looked like steel bars came out of the plane. He hopped from the plane’s wing quickly and held onto the iron-welded railing at the side of the boat. He was agile like a monkey, and he got onto the tugboat just like that.

“Damn, this is so cool. But this American big guy doesn’t think it’s warm to dress like this…”

“He’s wearing that to repel insects and for defense, it’s professional. This American might be… might be that… that Navy DOLPHINs. There was some expedition team from America who were stuck in Amazon back then, I heard it alarmed the military base. Americans’ lives are valuable…”

“That… that… that… that’s all you know. What exactly was that? Forget it, don’t show off if you know nothing. You called it Navy DOLPHINs, could your dolphin walk? It’s called the Navy SEALs…”

The workers who were playing cards on the boat discussed among themselves in surprise after seeing the American hunk. At that moment, a person’s head with black hair extended from the plane that was gliding on the water. He spoke English first in discontentment and then spoke in Mandarin, “What should I do now that you got onto the boat like that, Mr. Hatton? You would be easily misunderstood in such a primitive place without an interpreter. Everyone on Lucky Dragon, please do not panic. Mr. Hatton is the brother of Ms. Trish that you guys rescued last night. He was worried about his sister’s safety…”

“We have more than 100 Chinese men on our boat, why would we misunderstand an American who dares to come to us alone?” Nobody knew that the strong owner who had a bear-like body had gotten from the end of the boat to the side. He said loudly while waving his hands, “Laosan, throw a cable down and pull him up.”

Trish was standing before the dining room on the second-floor cabin. It was her first time seeing her brother, Hatton, look so nervous while sporting a pale face. “Brother… brother… brother…” She pulled Tina along while running down the stairs clumsily. She was crying as she went into Hatton’s embrace.