The Great Worm Lich

A burst of cool air rose from the first aid kit when it was opened. To his surprise, the box came with a cooling function.

There were a variety of life-saving medical products in the first aid kit’s compartments. The last compartment had a couple of silver glass bottles that contained a broad spectrum of antidotes and rapid homeostasis agents coupled with some neuro-stimulating adrenaline.

“He got bitten by the leopard and there are scratches on his body. According to the wilderness training that I attended before, we should inject an antidote and adrenaline into him. Am I right?” the blonde lady calmed herself down and asked with lack of confidence after finding the drug.

“I can’t believe that you’ve been to wilderness training!

“Okay, great. Just do what you think you should do. The first aid kit that you guys brought over is top-notch, it should be able to save him.”

“You, sir, oh right, what would you do if you’re hurt in a jungle?”

“As one of the best hunters in Western Sichuan, I’ve never hurt myself in jungles before.” Zhang Lisheng, who entered deep into the mountain jungle unprepared, could not answer what the lady had asked him. The only thing that he could do was to lie without losing his composure.

“I can tell that you’re a strong hunter.” The blonde lady did not suspect a thing at all. She nodded and took a couple of deep breaths to inhale the damp, rotting air into her. She then bit the bullet and injected antidote and adrenaline into her boyfriend’s chest following what the doctor had taught her during training.

Expensive and sophisticated emergency medication often indicated rapid effectiveness. In less than thirty seconds after the injection, the ‘soil man’ Henrick moaned softly from his mouth.

“Henrick, wake up, Henrick…”

“Water, water…”

“Here’s some water, drink slowly.”

The blonde lady found a water bottle among the messy stuff on the ground and brought it close to the soil man’s mouth.

After the replenishment of the functional beverage that contained all sorts of vitamins as well as the effective adrenaline, Henrick, who had a strong body, actually regained his consciousness within a short period of time.

“Tina, you’re fine. That’s great,” he said in excitement after focusing his blurry vision onto the blonde lady before him.

What Henrick got in return was a loud slap.

Tina had a complete change of facial expression when she saw her boyfriend waking up. She gave him a hard slap and arrogantly said, “It was you, this idiot, who wanted to explore the Chinese ancient jungle. You told me that you were experienced in jungle exploration and you would give me an unforgettable journey. That’s the reason why I lied to my family and followed you here to this f*cking place.

“And what happened? I almost lost my life less than a day after getting off the plane. If not for, for…

“Oh right, Mr. Hunter, I forgot to ask what’s your name?”

Tina’s attitude had a sudden change when she turned around to ask what Zhang Lisheng’s name was. She became very gentle and friendly.

“Mountain Worm. My name is Mountain Worm.” Zhang Lisheng, who brought his wizard worm along, refused to give his real name by instinct, so he gave the English translation of his nickname. He then said in all seriousness, “We must leave this place right way, miss…”

“You can call me Tina.”

“Okay, Tina. We should immediately leave since the pond is the most dangerous place in the jungle. Moreover, you guys were attacked by a leopard, so you must get professional medication.”

“We’ll listen to you, Mr. Worm. You’re the expert.

“Henrick, did you hear what Mr. Worm say? You must get up right now and leave with us. Otherwise, you’ll have to stay here and feed the leopards.”

“Tina, I would like to apologize for everything that has happened, but this isn’t what I intended. This jungle, this jungle’s biological environment is completely different from the jungle in the Amazon. I was confused.”

“I mean, I mean…” The continuous effect of adrenaline had recovered much of Henrick’s strength. He stood up from the jungle ground and cried as he explained while putting the stuff that was laying around in his backpack.

“Shut your lying mouth, one day, it’ll come back and bite you in the a*s.”

“Forget about the backpack, you idiot. Staying alive is the most important thing now, you’ll really die here if the adrenaline lost effect before we could leave this sh*tty place.”

“Oh sh*t, quick, let’s leave right now.”

Henrick was stunned. He left everything behind then nodded nervously while saying, “You’re right, my dear Tina. We must leave this place immediately.”

Zhang Lisheng felt like he was visiting an American soap opera shooting scene as he was guarding himself cautiously next to them. After hearing that the troubled couple finally came to a common understanding, he said, “Follow behind me.” He then began to chant an incantation to get his wizard worm to move and walked slowly.

Seeing Qing Hong that was cruising in the dense jungle, Henrick, who was following behind Zhang Lisheng with his girlfriend, shouted in shock, “What’s that? Oh hell, is that, is that giant worm a mutated multi-legged snake? I-It seems like it’s targeting us!”

Tina then explained with a tone indicating Henrick was ignorant, “Shut up, Henrick. Why did I think that you were a man last time when you’re just a coward?”

“That’s just a centipede that Mr. Worm keeps. It’s just like a hound that’s used for hunting.”

“What, a centipede as a hunting hound?”

“Since there are Indians playing the flute to get venomous snakes to dance in Las Vegas, then isn’t it normal that there are people who train centipedes to hunt in the Chinese deep mountains? Isn’t this mysterious place a magical land?”

“You’re right, Tina.” Henrick finally accepted his girlfriend’s explanation and thanked Zhang Lisheng, “Hey buddy, I would really like to thank you for saving our lives.

“I must buy you a drink after we leave this sh*tty place and thank you properly.”

“You don’t have to, Mr. Henrick. After leaving this place, the thing you need the most is a doctor’s professional treatment and a long time to heal. The leopard’s attack can’t be healed with only a couple of shots of antidote and adrenaline.”

“But I’m feeling much better now, buddy,” Henrick said with a slightly stiff face after hearing how serious it was from Zhang Lisheng.

“The stimulant is tricking you. Although the leopard’s teeth and claws aren’t as venomous as snakes, nobody knows what kind of terrifying virus they have on them.

“Here’s an advice. You guys must have satellite phones with you, am I right? It’s best that you call for help as soon as you leave the jungle.”

Zhang Lisheng unintentionally showed off the knowledge that he heard from the tourists. The two careless tourists became stressed again after being relieved earlier. The tearing and biting pain from their wounds became numb and they felt like they were being poisoned.

The unfriendly dimmed jungle that surrounded them, the dense jungle environment that was dark and damp, and the swishing sound that was always ringing in their ears had given them extra stress. They were silent and did not talk too much along the way.

Although they didn’t encounter any danger anymore, the journey from the jungle pond to the village road in Qu County was unusually difficult for the duo.

Fortunately, there was an end to the journey no matter how difficult it was. After over an hour of tough trekking, a scorching light finally appeared before Zhang Lisheng, Tina, and Henrick.

Henrick cheered madly as he ran onto the road after all the crawling and rolling. He began to calm down as he immediately dialled the satellite phone that he tied on his belt with his shaking fingers.

At that moment, Tina was shocked at the age of the skinny Chinese hunter who saved her life. He looked like he was even lighter than her.

“Oh god, you’re still a little boy!”

Zhang Lisheng maintained an indifferent expression as he said, “No, in Miaowei, China, we hunters have our very own regimen that could delay aging.” He was secretly grateful that there was no tourist vehicles passing by on the road.

“Alright, you guys are safe now. I’ll proceed with my hunting in the jungle. Goodbye, Ms. Tina.”

However, Tina did not believe in Zhang Lisheng’s lie this time. She showed a playful smile and said, “No, you’re lying, Mr. Worm. Every man in the world are the same, you’re definitely a little boy.”

“Whatever you want to think of me. I’m leaving, goodbye.” Zhang Lisheng did not want to linger around anymore and turned around with the attempt to run back into the jungle.

However, to his surprise, Tina grabbed and hugged him with a passion that a New York girl would have exclusively for heroes. She then gave Zhang Lisheng a steamy kiss goodbye, “You’re a little boy, but you’re also a life-saving noble knight. I’ll remember what you’ve done for me for the rest of my life.”

“Thank you, my dear Worm.”

Zhang Lisheng felt blank—he had lost his first kiss just like that. His body followed his previous train of thought as he unconsciously walked into the jungle. Just like that, he disappeared within the countless trees.

Zhang Lisheng’s mind became clearer after walking directionless in the jungle’s farmland to the jungle restoration’s safety zone for a while.

The boom of tourism development in Qu County had been getting stronger during these couple of years. With the rich tourism resources that the place initially possessed, tourists had been coming in from outside and within the county. He had gotten used to the enthusiasm that the Westerners had for the opposite sex, especially for those who were still single.

He had seen a lot of cases of people who had just known each other in the morning and slept together at night. To the elder people in the mountain village, such behavior should be publically prosecuted. However, when it happened to him, he was irritated although it was just a simple kiss.

He was not sure if he was irritated due to puberty. After having most of his wizard power drained, he eventually decided not to enter deep into the jungle to hunt for a suitable target.

What he did was return back to the Guawo Village entrance following the farmland to jungle restoration road. After paving his way on the stone roads, he finally arrived at his old house.