The Great Worm Lich

Looking at the jungle, Zhang Lisheng became silent for a while, before turning to look at Min Lan and saying in a whisper, “Sister, there is an old saying that goes ‘Something must be wrong if it’s strange.’ Don’t you think our exploration in the Oasis World’s jungle these past few days has been too smooth? That time, in order to build this camp, hundreds of Gate of Witchcraft’s disciples had been killed so why was our exploration to the north suddenly become so safe?”

“Hasn’t that Dr. Wang calculated it using his equation before that everything is normal? You’re only an E-ranked disciple so how could you possibly be smarter than a doctor from a famous foreign university. Don’t worry too much about it!”

“Sister, a doctor from a famous foreign university is still a human. Even though I have no idea what kind of equation he’s using, a biosphere calculus formula that doesn’t contain more than 100,000 recorded data of the original species is no different from a fortune telling!” Zhang Lisheng smiled noncommittally. “I’m not worried about myself actually. To be honest, my strength has been increased a lot after being inspired by some books in the Mountain Gate’s library and after I’ve obtained the Gu Nest Spell. If I come across a ferocious strange beast, I’ll always have the power to fight as long as it’s not ridiculously strong. You should be more careful instead!”

“A calculus formula that doesn’t contain more than 100,000 recorded data of the original species is no different from fortune telling? Yeah right, as though you know a lot in this. Besides, you’ve only obtained a Gu Nest Spell and managed to catch a few wizard gus but you’re talking in such a big tone now? Looks like you’ve changed a little huh, Lisheng?” Min Lan, who had already walked near her own tent, was stunned for a while. After studying the young man for a while, she remarked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and opened the tent’s curtain to enter it.

“I guess once you’re used to telling lies, nobody will believe you anymore even if you tell the truth…” Zhang Lisheng curled his lips and walked back to his own camp helplessly.

After washing up in the bathroom, the young man sat cross-legged on the wire bed, waiting for the odd-job soldier to send his meal over.

From the corner of his eye, he saw his tent-mate Pei Youliang taking out a large piece of red and white animal fat that was wrapped in plastic in a bulging manner from his canvas bag. Tearing the packaging open and throwing it on the floor, he commanded seven to eight green-colored caterpillars that were the size of a human adult’s arm to open their mouths that were filled with wriggling meat so that they could suck it bit by bit. Casually, Zhang Lisheng remarked, “Senior Brother Pei, the way these wizard gus eat is pretty interesting. Wang Liansheng is coming to send our meals over soon so be careful to not frighten him.”

After spending seven to eight days together, exploring the foreign world in day time while fainting for no reason at night but not receiving any other injury, adding on to the fact that commanding his wizard gus to fight consecutively with ferocious beasts was a feat that could train a person’s willpower, Pei Youliang’s fear of Zhang Lisheng had gradually decreased.

When he heard the young man’s words, his face froze visibly but he could still answer in a voice that was no longer trembling. “Don’t worry, Junior Brother. I’ll command them to get below the bed to eat right away.”

As he was speaking, he chanted a series of almost inaudible ‘pst shh…’ whispers and soon, the few caterpillars pushed the thick block of animal fat into the bed together.

Coincidentally, the tent’s curtain was opened right at this moment as Wang Liansheng strode into the tent while holding two meal containers. “Senior Officers, your meals are here. Our living conditions have improved today so we have yellow croaker fish and roasted duck flatbread.”

“Is that so? They are all delicious food!” Zhang Lisheng smiled. “Even you look happy too. The campsite is going to relocate to the north soon so aren’t you busy, Brother?”

Due to the reason that they were getting more and more familiar with each other, his tone appeared to be much more amiable than before.

“The camp relocation is the job of the technical sergeants. As logistics support, we only need to pack up our own things,” Wang Liansheng placed a food container on the young man’s bedside table and said mysteriously, “Senior Officer, remember to get up early tomorrow. I promise you that it’ll be an eye-opening experience tomorrow.”

“Oh? An eye-opening experience?” From the unusual high-tech electrical fence surrounding the campsite, Zhang Lisheng already knew the extraordinariness of the A0001 campsite. As his heart gave a leap, he asked.

“We’ve been given orders on this matter so I can’t go into detail. In short, you’ll know when you get up early morning tomorrow.” Wang Liansheng placed another food container on Pei Youliang’s bedside table and saluted. “I’ll take my leave first, Senior Officers!”

Then, he left the tent swinging his arms beside him.

Watching him taking his leave, Zhang Lisheng muttered as he opened his food container, “Even a small soldier would act all mysteriously…”

A gush of braised fish aroma gusted out. The young man took a deep breath and chowed with satisfaction.

After the dinner, because of his promise with Ai Chuhe, Zhang Lisheng incarnated into a lizard as usual and knocked Pei Youliang out secretly. However, instead of sneaking out of the tent, he began to sit on the bed cross-legged, cultivating his secret method.

As he was cultivating, three to four hours soon passed inadvertently in just the blink of an eye. By the time the young man sensed something and opened his eyes, he saw a short-haired and a long-haired girl walk into the tent furtively.

Upon seeing Zhang Lisheng sitting on the bed, looking at herself with a smile, the short-haired girl was astounded and opened her mouth. However, no words left her mouth so after a moment of silence, she ran to the young man’s bedside and asked out of nowhere, “Zhang Lisheng, tell me honestly, are you a spy from the US?”

Zhang Lisheng, who thought himself as the most authentic Chinese person, had envisioned a lot of questions that Guo Caiying would ask himself but had never seen this coming.

After staring at Guo Caiying in bewilderment for a while, the young man shrugged and did not answer but ask instead, “Senior Sister, what prompted you to ask me such an absurd question?”

“Look at those typical US petty tricks of yours! Stop shrugging and answer me truthfully. Are you a spy for the US government?”

“Of course not!” Zhang Lisheng answered helplessly. “I’m not crazy so why should a Chinese become a spy for the US government?”

“Then why did you appear in the Oasis World?” Upon hearing the young man denying it with a look that did not seem like he was lying, Guo Caiying’s attitude eased but she still asked hesitantly.

“It’s a long story…” Zhang Lisheng had a bitter expression on. Slowly, with some omitting and modifications, he told them what he went through after coming to China. “I’m a Father and have inherited the Way of Witchcraft. I know some wizards will curse or even kill those people they don’t get along well and feed them to their gus. There’s no law or justice in their hearts so I have no choice but to cooperate with them.”

“I-If the police that you find is useless, you can always come find me! Western Sichuan belongs to the Communist Party so who would dare to act unruly over there? How is there no law or justice at all?!” Upon hearing the young man’s nonsense, Guo Caiying retorted angrily.

“Senior Sister, have you heard of the old saying, ‘blood will be splashed when one truly gets angry’? If they really became angry and kill me, what use would it have on me even if they had to serve for their crimes behind bars in the future? I don’t even know which Witchcraft’s Gate has been incorporated into the government. In that kind of situation, it’s a given that I’d have nothing else in my mind except to protect myself and act accordingly to what they say. After I’ve entered the Gate, I saw that there was no danger as I was free to go in and out, on top of that, I even get to read many ancient books. For this reason, I thought I’d leave after finishing reading all of those books that I’m interested in. Who knew that, in the end, I was suddenly selected to come to Oasis World out of the blue so I suppose this is also a kind of blessing in disguise.”

“Blessing in disguise? Blessing in disguise your ass! Do you know how much trouble you’d be in if your identity is discovered? you’re a US citizen and the host for the Stanford biological laboratory on Shrimp B1 Island. Yet now, the reason you suddenly appeared in the frontier base of China’s Oasis World is because you’re being forced here? Do you think anybody would believe that?”

“Of course no one would believe that. We’ll have no choice but to regrettably think that Dr. Zhang has an ulterior motive to sneak into Oasis World’s A0001 camp to steal China’s relevant secrets!” The instant the girl’s words left her mouth, a calm voice resonated from outside the tent. The tent’s curtain was immediately opened. Under the escort of a few other soldiers wearing full-fledged black metal armor whose eyes were bulged out like the eyes of a fly, Xue Nai walked in.

“C-Cousin, y-you…” Upon seeing her cousin’s appearance, Guo Caiying stuttered in panic.

“What you, Guo Caiying? We’re at China’s frontier base in the foreign world, not a campground for resorts. How could I possibly not notice you coming to this tent every few days? I can see that you’re getting bolder now! Come here immediately” Xu Naijia snapped angrily.

“N-No, I won’t! Lisheng is innocent! I believe in him!” Guo Caiying hesitated as a series of expressions ran across her face. She stood in front of Zhang Lisheng and shouted loudly.

Having been shielded by the girl, Zhang Lisheng sighed and jumped off the wire bed to put a hand on Guo Caiying’s shoulder.

When Xu Naijia saw his unexpected movement, her face turned pale right away. Then, the young man suddenly smiled mockingly. “Senior Sister, your cousin also believes that I’m innocent, otherwise, she’d have only come after you leave. However, to her, believing or not is not a big issue here as the most important thing now is to make up for the loophole first. Unfortunately, she has underestimated her opponent’s strength this time. Leave first, I’m afraid there would be some danger here.”

As he was speaking, he pushed agilely and the girl could not help but stumble into Xu Naijia’s arms.

“Dr. Zhang, looks like you’re not a despicable villain.” Holding the safe and sound Guo Caiying, Xu Naijia breathed a visible sigh of relief. Her grave expression immediately turned calm again. “Out of my kindness, I advise you not to be impulsive, even if you have some strange abilities. Even if you manage to escape from the A0001 camp, you’d not be able to leave China.”

“Oh, are you trying to detain me? In the name of what crime then? Miss Xu Naijia, you should know that detaining a famous scholar in the global academic community, who has a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars and connections in both US political and business circles, who’s invited to a renowned university by the Ministry of Education of China for an academic visit would really require a very, very, very sufficient reason and evidence. In particular the case where the scholar would head directly to a certain US embassy in China after escaping. things would undoubtedly be more difficult!” In a blink of an eye, Zhang Lisheng regained his calm and sharp posture unique to a top-notch personage in the Vanity Fair in New York as he said in a polite manner in English.

The young man’s sudden change of manner and sharp words rendered Xu Naijia speechless for a moment. At this time, a strong and low-pitched male voice suddenly resonated from outside the tent. “In that case, it’s simple. It’ll be fine as long as we don’t let you escape from the camp…”

Then, the entire tent was suddenly torn apart.