The Great Worm Lich

Walking down the narrow stairs in hurried footsteps, Zhang Lisheng left the apartment and came to the streets. Suddenly, he saw that several hundreds of people gathered in twos or threes in the dark streets while looking up at the night sky. They were staring at the sparkling shuttle-shaped spaceship as they buried their heads in their discussions uneasily.

At this time, if it was in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the fascinating nightlife had yet to begin. If this place was some of the stately communities in Brooklyn, guests in family parties must have slowly left already. In this kind of terrible place like Jasmine Avenue, it, on the other hand, should have long been empty, but now, there were so many people gathered on the streets. It was clear that they must have been baffled by the strange spaceships over New York.

As the young man was walking along the street, he heard a few words such as, “I think it should be some sort of military experiment, like a new type of fighter aircraft or something. Perhaps it’s one of those civil aviation aircraft that big companies have just innovated…”

When he heard such unreasonable reasons, he no longer paid attention to the self-comforting words of the general public on the streets.

Covering his mouth as he breathed in the dirty air, the young man strode to the left of a block and came to a better neighborhood, before boarding a yellow taxi parked on the side of the road.

The black driver in the taxi was listening to the ‘New York News Channel’ broadcast of the ‘spaceship incident.’ The profound words of the hoarse yet magnetic host’s voice resonated in the car. “… we have no idea whether they are visitors or tourists from the other foreign world. Nevertheless, we only hope that when the spaceships open, they would send out white pigeons instead of guns…”

When the young driver who had a small beard on his chin saw that a passenger had boarded his taxi, he turned the volume of the broadcast lower and asked politely, in a manner that was rarely found in a black or brown driver, “Good evening, Sir, where would you like to go?”

“The best five-star hotel nearby,” Zhang Lisheng replied, “By the way, has the news stations reported any official statements issued by the government regarding the spacecraft above us?”

“No, Sir.” The driver started the car and shrugged as he said, “But it’s said that this not only happening in New York City. Other places in the world like China Shenzhen, England Isle of Wight, and others have discovered such shiny shuttle-shaped spaceships as well. They are everywhere.”

“Is that so? That’s kinda bad though,” The young man sat in the back seat of the car and thoughtfully looked at the flashing neon lights outside the window and said nothing. The taxi cruised in New York’s criss-cross streets for a while and made a few turns before finally stopping in front of a brightly lit luxury hotel. Only then did the young man finally opened his mouth to thank the taxi driver and paid for the fare.

“Welcome to Beyat Green Palm Hotel,” When the bellboy in the foyer saw a taxi stopped in front of the hotel, he stepped forward to help Zhang Lisheng open the door of the car.

The young man walked out of the car. He said, “Thank you” before handing a 50-dollar bill to the bellboy, prompting the bellboy to become pleasantly surprised and even more eagerly attentive to him. He strode into the hotel lobby. By the time he went to the front desk, a beautiful female receptionist in beige uniform had flashed a broad smile and asked politely, “Good evening, Sir. May I know if you have a reservation?”

“No.” Zhang Lisheng shook his head and pondered for a while before asking, “I wonder if there’s still any room available in the basement?”

The basement rooms of a high-class hotel usually chartered those budget-strapped people who wanted to enjoy the convenience of the hotel’s location but couldn’t afford the expensive accommodation cost. It also worked on those practitioners who would provide ‘special service’ in a hotel. The rooms were usually charged at a meager price.

Upon hearing Zhang Lisheng’s words, as a professional receptionist at a five-star hotel, the girl did not reveal any sign of disgust or contempt. Instead, she continued to answer politely, “Yes, Sir. For our basement rooms, we have an 80-dollar double room, 55-dollar four-pax room, and…”

Instead, it was a pair of a well-dressed young couple standing beside him who was also checking into the hotel who glanced at each other with strange smiles.

“It’s like this, Miss. I’d like to rent the largest room in the basement and change it into a big bed. I want full room service, and I will stay for two days. Just charge me at any price,” Zhang Lisheng interrupted the receptionist’s words and took out a credit card from his pocket to hand it over.

“I’m sorry, Sir. Our hotel doesn’t provide the kind of service you asked for. No matter how we transform the basement room, we can’t change it into a royal suite on the top floor, too, so I think…” The receptionist remained stunned for a while before replying.

“Miss, three spaceships that are from unknown origin have just flown into New York, and shouldn’t smart people stay as far as possible from them?” Zhang Lisheng interrupted the receptionist again. “I’m Zhang Lisheng, Zhang Lisheng from Lisheng. I know that the service that I want, um, is not normal, but please make a call to your public relations manager. I believe there are always exceptions.”

When the young man finished saying so, he gently flipped up the credit card placed on the marble counter, revealing the 100-dollar bill pressed underneath.

“Alright, Sir, but I can’t guarantee anything,” The receptionist looked at the rather tempting tip in front and pondered for a while before reaching for the phone.

A few minutes later, when she finished her call in a whisper, her attitude towards Zhang Lisheng immediately changed from polite to respectful. “I’m sorry for letting you wait for such a long time, Mr. Zhang. Beyat Green Palm Hotel is very honored to have you here. Please wait for a while in the lobby, we’ll process your request immediately!”

“Thank you!” The young man thanked her. He then turned around to walk at the lounging area beside the fountain in the lobby, under the astonished gaze of the young couple. He had barely taken a few steps when he heard that the young couple was also trying to change their rooms to the basement rooms. Unfortunately, they were politely rejected.

Just like that, after sitting on the sofa and drinking the finest Brazilian coffee for a while, the young man finally received a unique spacious room hidden on the second floor of the basement.

When he walked into the room, he was pleasantly surprised. Although they could not decorate the floor, ceiling, and walls in such a short time, luxurious water beds, expensive bedding, delicate leather sofas, and fresh flowers on solid wooden tables still eliminated the shabbiness of the room. This prompted a satisfied smile from him.

“It’s very nice. Thank you for your excellent service, Mr. Harps,” Zhang Lisheng glanced at the surrounding and nodded, before smiling at the hotel lobby manager who personally escorted him to the basement. “It really, really makes me feel at home.”

“We’re happy that you’re pleased with it.” Since he’s lobby manager in a five-star hotel in New York, of course, he had an extraordinary appearance and temperament. Harps, who was near his middle-aged years, who had a full neatly groomed thick brown hair bowed politely, “I’m very honored to be able to serve you. I won’t disturb you any longer, have a good rest.”

Then, he turned and left the room.

Once Zhang Lisheng was left alone in the room, he took a hot bath in the bathroom and put on a pajama that was as soft as milk.

After eating a seafood dinner and a whole bucket of ice cream, the young man turned off the light and hesitated for a while. Without warning, he suddenly smiled and muttered to himself, “As the saying goes, ‘one can be beaten to death but shouldn’t be frightened to death.’ It’s not too good to be overcautious…”

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he began to cultivate his secret method.

Although Zhang Lisheng just said that there was no need to be overly cautious, he still acted more vigilant and careful during his cultivation. He was ready to wake up and transform so he could flee if the hotel was embroiled in a battle, should New York be attacked by the foreign world’s spaceships, or to have a war broke out between the US Army and the spacecraft. However, nothing abnormal took place all the way until the early morning.

After being awakened by Maddie’s phone call, the young man set a time and place with the girl and met at the hotel lobby in Beyat Green Palm Hotel.

Both of them spent an entire day doing nothing in New York. In the evening, when Zhang Lisheng returned to the hotel’s basement room, he searched the Internet. He was shocked to find that the mysterious shuttle-shaped spaceships had appeared in many cities across the globe. However, there was still no country issuing any official statement.

One could tell that something was wrong and fishy, even without a smart mind. After shutting the computer and leaning his back entirely on the office chair as he contemplated for a while, the young man took out his phone and searched for Charlie’s number.

Before dialing it, he hesitated a while. He finally muttered to himself, “I’ll be meeting Charlie tomorrow anyway, so it would be more convenient to ask him personally regarding certain things…”

Then, he canceled the number.

Zhang Lisheng put away his mobile phone and climbed onto the waterbed to spend an entire night cultivating his secret method. At noon the following day, he went to the John F. Kennedy International Airport together with Maddie. He then embarked on a trip to New Mexico.

“Are you used to the business class environment?” When the flight became steady in the air, only then did the flight attendants told the passengers that they were free to unlock the seat belts. Maddie immediately asked Zhang Lisheng, who would always look out of the window habitually with a contemplative expression on his face.

“Even though there’s no chefs, deck chairs, and bathrooms, the two-seaters in a one-row arrangement is still much more spacious than the economy class.” The young man casually replied. “Besides, I’m not in the mood to think about whether I’m used to it or not. We’re now flying in the sky, and if we are suddenly attacked by those mysterious shuttle ships, we won’t even have any chance to escape…”

“Hey, Lisheng, can you please stop giving such a terrible example? The shining shuttle ships are not malicious.” The girl interrupted Zhang Lisheng’s horror prediction. “Didn’t you watch the video this morning? They showed no sign of counterattack even after receiving an attack. I think those spaceships may be really…”

“Wait, Maddie! You said that the shuttle ships were attacked?” Zhang Lisheng asked, his eyes went completely wide. “Is it done by people from Earth?”

“Of course,” The girl nodded and replied, “The Mohammed Honor Society, an extremist religious organization in the Middle East, launched an attack from the ground using airborne missile against the shuttles. They believed that those spacecraft are suspended detectors launched by the US and its allies against the Islamic world and that it’s contempt for Muslims around the world.”

“Suspended detectors?” Zhang Lisheng remained stunned for a while before making his remark, “I really don’t understand what the brains of these extreme religious believers are made of, really. This kind of speculation is just too outrageous.”

“Even if they’re outrageous or not, they have indeed launched an attack.” Maddie took out her mobile phone from her pocket and swiped a few times on her screen before handing it to the young man. “I’ve just watched the video, so it has not been deleted yet. Would you like to take a look?”

“Of course, that’s great!” Zhang Lisheng said and took the phone before pressing on the player directly.