The Great Worm Lich

Throughout the sixteen years that Zhang Lisheng had lived, his understanding of parents was built on Zhang Daowu’s accusation, savage beating, as well as being forced to have his blood devoured by a venomous worm. Now that he was in Lili’s embrace, his face showed a very lost and not knowing what to do expression.

Then, instead of the resentment and cold stubbornness that he imagined himself to have, Zhang Lisheng said blankly with the tone like he suddenly walked into a wooden house with a warm fireplace after stumbling around the wild with a chilly wind, “Mother, my mother has been thinking about me. I’ve got a mother, I’ve got a mother like everybody else…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry baby honey. Mother is here, a mother is here to bring you home.”

“I’m going to bring you away from this horrible place. Let’s go back to New York, go back to the other side of the earth. If we do that, there’s nothing that the Satan worshipper could do to us mother and son anymore.”

“Mr. Chen, Mr. Thompson, I can bring my child and leave this place then fly straight back to New York anytime that I want without having to get approval from anyone, am I right?”

Qu County Civil Affairs Bureau’s director Chen Jianzhong, who was standing aside nodded and said, “That’s right, Ma’am Lili. According to our country law, as the mother of Mr. Zhang Lisheng who is underage, of course, you have the right to bring him with you and raise him at the place that you live.”

“Mrs. Lili, your child was born in America. As his only legal guardian at the moment, of course, you have the right to bring him home.” The U.S. consulate in Chengdu’s first secretary Thompson, who was moved to tears said the same as he nodded and wiped his tears away.

Lili waved her hand slightly frantically and said loudly, “That’s great! If that’s the case, let’s go right now.”

She then pulled Zhang Lisheng hard and walked out of the village after she spoke.

“What…” Zhang Lisheng looked around, showing an expression that he was lost and did not know what to do.

Tao Lielin stopped Lili immediately. He had no idea what he should say and eventually forced something out of his mouth, “Ahh－ Sister, you’ve just arrived here and you’re leaving already. Don’t you want to rest for a while?”

“I don’t need to rest, the only thing that I want to do right now is to bring my son to leave this place.” Facing the Guawo Villager, Lili was like a hen protecting her chick, while she blocked in front of Zhang Lisheng and shook her head as she said while being alert.

“Err, then, luggage. I think Shan Chongzi hasn’t packed his luggage yet?

“I’ll get him everything new, I’ll get him new stuff from head to toe.”

“Then － Then he has to at least close the door, am I right?” Tao Lielin forced out a smile and said.

Lili was stunned and turned around to look at Zhang Lisheng. She said while her eyes became tremendously gentle, “Honey, go lock the door. You will never have to live in this creepy house anymore.”

Zhang Lisheng felt uneasy when his mother who he had just identified, kept calling him ‘honey’ when he was already 16.

However, looking at Lili’s eyes that were filled with motherly love, he had no idea how to get her to stop calling him that. All he could manage to do was to stammer as he said, “But － But this is my ancestral home.”

“More － Moreover, even if I’m really leaving, I － I’ll need to bid － bid farewell to the villagers. I-I…”

“Honey, we must leave now. The earlier, the better. Could you listen to what I say?” Lili said while showing a begging expression at Zhang Lisheng.

Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a little while and mumbled with his head held down, “Then － Then I’ll have to bring luggage － luggage for －the long trip.”

“Alright, alright. Mother will listen to you.”

“I’ll accompany you inside, to pack your luggage. Let’s move faster, move faster…” Lili who seemed like she was unable to reject Zhang Lisheng’s request, wore a fearful expression like she was going to step into hot lava. As she protected Zhang Lisheng, she slowly stepped into Zhang family’s old house anxiously.

“No, I don’t need you to accompany me. I’ll be ready soon.” At that moment, Zhang Lisheng walked around Lili and ran quickly into the old house.

The first thing he did was to go to the central room to pick up Mountoad and tossed it into the bamboo basket. He thought about it, in order to make his wizard worm to seem less absurd in the bamboo basket, he removed the stone mask on the central room’s wall agilely and the two stone god sculptures on the offering table into the bamboo basket. Finally, he got a few old clothes and clumsily covered on top of them.

After he was done, Zhang Lisheng sighed in relief. Just when he was going to put his messy thought in his head together, a devastated shriek from Lili came from outside all of the sudden, “Honey, why did you run into the house on your own? Mother is here, come to mother quick…”

Zhang Lisheng carried the bamboo basket on his head immediately and ran out of the old house in big steps.

Lili revealed a relieved expression like she had just shed off a heavy burden when she saw him getting out of the house safely.

Nobody understood where Lili’s fear in the old house came from. As Zhang Lisheng walked out of the courtyard and locked the wooden door, he mumbled while looking at Lili, “I－I’ve been living in this house for more than 10 years, this is not the King of Hell’s shrine…”

“This is not King of Hell’s shrine but this is one of Satan’s sacrificial hall, we must leave this place immediately honey.” Lili grabbed Zhang Lisheng and pulled him hard while running towards the village entrance, following the mountain village’s path.

The diplomat Thompson was stunned for a while, as he looked at the duo’s back and mumbled softly to himself, “Perhaps I should suggest the New York Social Welfare Bureau examine this Ma’am Lili’s mental state. She doesn’t look like a citizen who could carry out the responsibility of an underage adult’s guardian normally.”

Lili did not stop running while pulling Zhang Lisheng with her. Along the way, the buried bamboo houses and the jungle from a distance looked like a terrifying devil to her, beneath the dark moonlight.

As they arrived at an SUV with black embassy registration plate at the village entrance, she opened the back car door immediately and pushed Zhang Lisheng hard into the car. She then climbed onto the back seat and locked the door tight.

The driver who was driving the SUV was the employee that the U.S. consulate in Chengdu hired locally. His name was Song Xilin and he was over 50 years old. Seeing that Lili brought a young man dressing like a villager and carrying a bamboo basket entering the back seat, he smiled as he said, “Ma’am Lili, you’re back so soon.”

“This must be your son. Tsk tsk, he’s going to reach for the sky from a small mountain village to a good life in New York, by plane.”

“Sigh, fate is something unpredictable. My grandchild is only over 10 years old as well, but his grades are bad. He can’t even get into a good high school in Chengdu, our family is concerned about him…”

“Drive, please. Please drive right now,” Lili said in a trance while panting.

“Eh, what are you talking about? Drive? Ma’am Lili, stop joking with me. Mr. Johnson hasn’t arrived yet if we leave first, do you want him to run back to Chengdu using the Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway?”

Hearing what Song Xilin said, Lili who was sitting in the back seat stopped talking while hugging Zhang Lisheng tight like he was a precious treasure.

Zhang Lisheng felt uncomfortable yet warm from his mother’s hug. He removed the bamboo basket strenuously from his back and put it aside. He then asked softly, “Mo－Mother, what are you afraid of?”

“Nothing, my child. There’s nothing that I’m afraid of, mother just wants to bring you home as soon as possible.” Lili seemed to calm down a little, after staying in the car for a while and said while hiding her emotion.

Right at that moment, Johnson opened the door on the passenger seat side and entered the SUV.

He turned around and looked at Lili then said in all seriousness, “Ma’am Lili, I think I need to talk to you.”

“Mr. Johnson, we can talk whatever you want to talk about on the road.” Lili patted the driver’s seat back and said loudly, “Mr. Song, Mr. Johnson is here now. Please drive now.”

“Please drive immediately.”

Driver Song Xilin was stunned and looked at his employer by instinct.

Seeing Lili’s irrational anxiety, Johnson decided to give in temporarily while feeling helpless, “Okay. Mr. Song. As a gentleman, under such condition, it’s best that we follow what the lady says.”

“Sure.” Song Xilin replied casually and turned on the car engine.

As opposed to the staff working in Chinese governmental department, who would usually get a good treat after they worked late, Song Xilin who had gotten used to sticking to their job like the Americans do said after driving along the mountain road for a while, “Mr. Johnson, there were some hot steamed buns in the car’s thermos container, would you like to have one or two?”

“Oh Song, I’ve been starving and there’s an orchestra playing in my stomach. This is great.”

“You should really apply to work as our consulate’s internal affair officer. I dare to say that you’re much more competent than the old man Myron.”

“They’re just a couple of steamed buns, what is there to brag about? If you want to eat something good, all you would have to do is to chat with Director Chen from Qu County Civil Affairs Bureau for a while. I’m sure you would get what you want easily.”

Johnson took out a paper bag containing some big beef buns from the thermos container on the front row of the SUV and breath in deeply in satisfaction. He asked, “Song, what did you say just now?”

“You can get what you want easily. Nevermind, you Americans wouldn’t understand this, even if I explain to you.”

Johnson shrugged and passed the paper back to the back tow and asked, “Ms. Lili, need some ancient Chinese folks snacks?”

Lili shook her head, without saying a word.

“How about you, kid?”

“I don’t need it, thank you.”

“In addition, you eat the steamed stuffed bun, it is one of the staple food, instead of snacks.”

Johnson was stunned and surprisingly said in English, “Young man, you speak good English!”

“I have a little bit of talent in language and also a competent teacher.”

“Congratulations, it seems like you’ve already overcome the biggest obstacle of living in America.”

“This kid from the mountain can speak a foreign language fluently, like how the Westerners speak. Seems like he really belongs to where he was born.” Song Xilin who was sitting aside commented in astonishment.

Zhang Lisheng held his head down and said with his deep voice when he heard what they said, “I’m a Chinese, I’ll still be Chinese no matter how good my English proficiency is.”