The Great Worm Lich

Knowing that Li Xiangzhou had a shockingly strong memory and an innate discerning ability, when Zheng Tianliang saw that she was not joking he became solemn right away. “This is not the place to talk. Let’s enter the school compound first.”

Just like that, the three of them came under a secluded banyan tree on the campus of Sichuan University. Only then did Zheng Tianliang ask, “Xiangzhou, you said Dr. Zhang went to Qingyang Palace, right? What happened after that?”

“At first, I wanted to use my talisman to kill this little wizard who’s not afraid of death, but when Senior Sister Lu heard him speaking in English, she suspected that he’s a foreigner, so he must have obtained the witchcraft’s inheritance all by coincidence. For this reason, she stopped me from harming him…”

“The Heavenly Dao Rule has different rules for Westerners and Chinese. Senior Sister Lu was right,” Zheng Tianliang nodded thoughtfully and chimed in.

Upon hearing his words, suddenly, Duan Lianbao by the side suddenly gnashed his teeth and said, “Heavenly Dao Rule, Heavenly Dao Rule. It’s always this Heavenly Dao Rule! Isn’t it enough to bind yourself completely for a few thousands of years?”

It was as though he had lost his innocence just now.

“Shut up! Humans brought my Gate of Dao into existence to fight against those evil wizards. It acts in accordance with just and fairness. For thousands of years, it emphasizes nothing but respect to the Heavenly Dao, regardless of any human relationship. You know nothing about the true meaning of it, so why don’t you shut the f*ck up for now!?” Zheng Tianliang’s expression turned grave as he hastily howled.

Duan Lianbao unwillingly pouted but did not dare say anything else. Li Xiangzhou put on a disapproving look beside them as she advised, “Tianliang, Duan Lianbao was indeed wrong about the grand theory, but the entire China, heck, the entire world, is facing a drastic change that we have never encountered before in tens of thousands of years. The Gate of Witchcraft has already started eyeing the Oasis World, but the most abominable thing is that the government is still being ambiguous about it. Stop blaming him!”

“Sigh, I actually understand where the two of you are coming from,” Tianliang exhaled and said with a wry smile. “However, the more dangerous the situation is, the more we should not be unruly and just listen to our seniors and masters…”

“Tianliang, of course, we’re abiding by the rules but the problem now is that things don’t occur as we wish,” Li Xiangzhou raised her dashing brows and interrupted Zheng Tianliang’s words. “Look at Dr. Zhang. Even though he’s only a little wizard three to five years ago, his wizard power is indeed very pure. It’s also because of this that he left a great impression on me, but when I saw him again today, I didn’t see any trace of darkness in him at all. What do you think does this mean?”

“Xiangzhou, are you saying that…” Zheng Tianliang looked stunned for a while before horror dawned on him. “You mean…”

Li Xiangzhou raised her dashing brows and nodded. “He must have concealed his wizard power. It’s still easy if the method of concealing wizard power he used is a witchcraft method given to him by a relic, treasure, or when he made a breakthrough in witchcraft. However, if it’s an overseas witchcraft method that he could learn and cultivate, what would happen if it’s spread out and learned by all the other wizards in the world? Even the Divine Eye and Perception could not sniff them out anymore…”

He hadn’t finished this statement yet Zheng Tianliang’s expression could not help but turn grave upon hearing this. With a resolute attitude, he blurted out, “We can’t let this happen!”

“In that case, we’ll have no choice but to take preventive measures.” Li Xiangzhou pretended to sigh but they could see the excitement in between her eyes. “That Dr. Zhang was nothing but a little wizard several years ago, so just how strong can he be today? Why don’t we meet him and explore his credentials? If he relied on some sort of relic to conceal his wizard power, then we’d just use some treasures to exchange with him, lest other Gate of Witchcraft’s people snatch it or even kill him if they find out about it. If it’s an innate knack, then we’d just let him go and pretend that nothing has taken place. However, if it’s a witchcraft method, then we’d have no other choice but to… to eliminate this future trouble!”

“It’d be best if we can solve this matter peacefully. Don’t even choose the third option unless it is absolutely necessary!” A series of expressions flashed across Zheng Tianliang’s face for a while. Nodding his head, he gnashed his teeth and replied with his veins twitching on his forehead.

When he went against his conscience and made this decision, in the A0166 room at the top floor of Wangjiang Hotel in Sichuan University, Zhang Lisheng, who had already retrieved his passport from the bedside table and called Shuangliu Airport to book a first-class direct flight ticket to the US departing in the evening, put his phone down and walked out of the bathroom.

After taking a hot bath and washing away his exhaustion, he took the elevator downstairs. When he was about to go out of the hotel lobby, he suddenly saw Zheng Tianliang hurriedly coming up to him. “Dr. Zhang, I’ve reported your return to Sichuan University to Director Wang, and she hopes that you can set up a time for the lecture.”

“It’s hard for me to determine the time right now, Mr. Zheng. Please apologize to Director Wang on behalf of me. I’m sorry, but I haven’t eaten breakfast yet…”

“Dr. Zhang, if you can’t determine the time right now, can you at least let me know about when it would be? Three days later? Five days later? Or even one week later? The new semester will start in less than 20 days, so since it’s called a ‘summer lecture’, we really can’t postpone it any longer,” Zheng Tianliang said anxiously and slightly in a difficult position.

“Oh, if the time for a summer lecture is too tight, we can just move it after the semester has started,” Zhang Lisheng casually replied.

“But we’ve already made the announcement. We had already given a notice to all the colleges and universities in Chengdu that Sichuan University has invited the Stanford’s genius biologist hosting Shrimp World No. 2’s biological lab to give a lecture this summer. I’m afraid it’d not be inappropriate if we just modify the time rashly. If you can’t do it, can you discuss with the university higher-ups personally? When you first arrived at Sichuan University, it just so happened that it was the beginning of the summer holiday so the higher-ups have not had the opportunity to meet you. I just reported your return to the Academic Affairs Office, and immediately, I received a call from Director Wang saying that our President, Liu Yangtian, who is in charge of the teaching affairs of Sichuan University, would like to invite you for a meal, which we have already arranged in the Rongjiang Clubhouse. If you have not eaten breakfast yet, we can go there right now. You can enjoy yourself in the hot spring and have some breakfast to relax and take a rest.”

Zheng Tianliang has talked so much till it rendered Zhang Lisheng speechless.

Seeing that there was still plenty of time to go before the boarding time, he pondered over it and felt that he could see the Sichuan University’s president and just randomly cook up an excuse, which would still be better than leaving without saying goodbye. If it was possible, it was best not to leave a bad reputation for himself in the academic world anyway. For this reason, he shrugged and replied, “Your hospitality is just too enthusiastic! Alright then, Mr. Zheng, I’ll go with you.”

“Great! I’ll call the car to come over.” Zheng Tianliang nodded happily and took out the phone to make a phone call. “Hey, Mr. Sheng, I’m Zheng Tianliang. It’s like this, President Liu has… What? You’re out picking up somebody at the train station and will take 40 minutes to come back? Yes, I know that the appointment is for lunch and it’s only slightly over 9 o’clock now, Mr. Sheng. It’s just that Dr. Zhang has not taken any breakfast yet…”

“Mr. Zheng, it’s alright. There’s no need to be so formal for a car to pick us up. If the car is out, we can always go by taxi,” Upon seeing Zheng Tianliang’s anxious look, Zhang Lisheng chimed in with kindness.

“How is that possible? This is not respectful to you…” Zheng Tianliang suddenly shook his head and said, “Y-You know Mandarin?”

“Of course! Besides, I’m a biologist, not an artist! Such a thing as ‘arrangement’ doesn’t make sense to me, and I don’t associate it with respect.”

Zheng Tianliang sighed. “Thank you for your understanding, doctor. It’s always you foreign experts who are easier to administer. Alright then, let’s take a taxi.”

While he was speaking so, he led Zhang Lisheng out of the hotel.

When they reached the university entrance, there were already several taxis stopping by the roadside while waiting for customers in the weather that was gradually getting sultry. Both of them boarded a taxi. Zheng Tianliang, who was sitting in the passenger seat said, “Mister, the Rongjiang Clubhouse please.”

“Where?” The driver who was in his 40s asked.

“Rongjiang Clubhouse, at Sixth Hongzhuang in the southern suburb.”

“Sixth Hongzhuang? Is there even a clubhouse there? It’s a very suburb place.” The driver glanced at Zheng Tianliang with widened eyes and started his car to drive into the traffic flow of the city.

“It’s new. It’s in the suburbs, but the environment is good. It has all sorts of things there, like a hot spring bath, healthy medicinal cuisine, and so on. It’s also far from the noisy urban area so it’s very relaxing.”

“Of course it’s relaxing for rich students like you. It’s not relaxing at all for low-level workers like us who have to drive everywhere while earning money to feed our kids and parents.” The driver shook his head and muttered, before proceeding to jabber on with Zheng Tianliang from one topic to another for a long time. When the car was driven out of the city, it drove around in the suburbs in a while and finally came to a village with few people.

The scorching sun shone from the top of their heads. Zhang Lisheng could see that the view outside of the window no longer had a trace of the city and was just a farming household that they could not even call an urban village. Feeling strange, he asked, “Mr. Zheng, is the clubhouse you mentioned really located here? There’s even a hot spring here as well?”

“Dr. Zhang, the Rongjiang Clubhouse has a rustic style with a hint of Western Sichuan. The car cannot go up anymore so please follow me.” Zheng Tianliang smiled strangely and looked at the taxi’s meter. After throwing a 100 Yuan bill to the driver, he got out of the car.

Even though the young man had lived in a remote mountain village for 16 years in China, he was still far less familiar with the ways of the world here compared to in the US. Even so, he could still feel that something was not right, but since he had just blazed a trail and cultivated the Gu Sea Method with thousands of wizard gus hidden in his body, he did not have any fear at all in an unexpected situation.

Adding on to the fact that Zhang Lisheng felt that it would also be good if he could kill all unexpected situations before he returned to the US, in order to prevent more incidents from taking place when he departed, he said nothing and got out of the car. With a nonchalant smile, he said, “Sure, let us walk then.”

Both of them walked silently into the village, one in the front and one in the back. It was obvious that the prey had already entered the trap. Now that they would soon reveal the dagger when Zheng Tianliang, who was walking in the front, saw the calm expression on Zhang Lisheng’s face from the corner of his eyes, a sudden anxiousness rose in his heart instead. It was only until he finally came to a stop in front of the wooden door of a large house in the village did he compose himself slowly.

“We’re here, Dr. Zhang.” With a slightly guilty tone in his voice, he pushed the old wooden door open which was colored with rusty black paint that had mottled Spring Festival couplets stuck on it and walked into the courtyard.

“There is not even a signboard here and they still dare call it a clubhouse?” Zhang Lisheng also followed him into the courtyard and asked sarcastically, “Where’s my hot spring and breakfast, Mr. Zheng?”