Chapter 48 Charcoal

I knew at a glance what Poker-Face wanted to do, but before I could think carefully about whether it was a good idea or not, he had already poured a plate of hot coals into the crack that had been smashed open.

Whatever was inside was still some distance away from the gap, so Fatty followed closely behind and dumped another plate inside. The charcoal Poker-Face had poured into the gap was pushed in further.

There was suddenly a burst of sound from the stone, like a baby crying. It was sharp as hell and miserable. After what just happened, I shouldn’t be too concerned with killing this horrible thing, but it still tugged at my heartstrings, and I couldn’t bear it. In the end, it was in a vulnerable position, and about to be slaughtered.

Fatty also felt sorry for it, and I could see the hesitation on his face. He didn’t know whether to continue pouring hot coals or not, but Poker-Face had a frosty look on his face and didn’t hesitate to continue pouring.

There was a strange smell in the air that I was very familiar with. It was the “smell of death” from the iron piece we had found before, but I never once thought that it actually represented death. I could see the shadow’s constant shaking gradually stop, and the originally shrill cry had quieted down.

I had been softhearted since I was young, so even though I had almost been caught just now, I still felt extremely uncomfortable killing a human-shaped object so easily.

Fatty wasn’t as pedantic as I was, and although he was a bit of a whiner, he didn’t mince his words. He smiled a few times and said, “Make sure to reincarnate as a human in the next life. Don’t go to the wrong place.”

In the end, the shadow stopped moving, and only the gap in the rock was still smoking.

I slumped to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief, but just as I was trying to slow my racing heart, Poker-Face said, “It’s not over yet.”

I looked up, and instantly understood what he meant. On the other side of the wall, there were three more shadows that were already very close to the surface.

“Do we really have to do this?” I asked.

Poker-Face didn’t answer, but glanced at Fatty, who nodded, raised his hammer and chisel, and walked to another figure.

I didn’t want to see it again, so I just sat there motionless as Fatty said Amitabha several times and began digging again. The event that just happened was soon repeated, and Fatty was sweating all over by the end of it. When he moved to the third spot, he couldn’t stand it either. He stood in front of the shadow for a long time, before asking Poker-Face, “Little Brother, can we take a rest before we do it again?”

Poker-Face shook his head, looked around, and said coldly, “There’s no need to do it again, it’s too late.”

We turned to look and were immediately shocked to find that while we were busy, the shadows in the surrounding rock wall had all appeared close to the surface.

I counted at least ten more with one glance, and at this point, we could almost see them with the naked eye. The shadows were slowly moving towards the rock wall’s surface.

What was going on here? Did they see our actions and speed up?

I stood up again. Poker-Face picked up my bayonet in a reverse grip while Fatty grabbed the stone hammer. I was unarmed, so I looked around and grabbed a drill rod from the ground. The three of us stood back to back and looked around.

Fatty was already excited. Whether the opponent was Schwarzenegger or a stone monster, people like him who really liked fighting would never back down. He yelled a few times and said, “Damn it, I can’t stand to stay here any longer. It’s better to die with honor than to starve to death. Let’s go for it.” As he said this, he suddenly remembered something and kicked the idol away. “Son of a bitch didn’t give me any face. I’d rather worship a chicken than you.”

My heart was beating very fast, and I was trembling uncontrollably, but surprisingly enough, I wasn’t afraid. I said to Fatty, “What’s the glory in such a death? Who would know how you died?”

I had just finished speaking when there was suddenly a cold sensation behind me, and something fell on the back of my neck. I was so scared that I jumped back quickly and felt it. It turned out to be some rock fragments.

My mind jumped, and I said to myself, fuck, I forgot there’s also rock above my head. I looked up, and saw that the rock above me had cracked, and a green thing had appeared.

At almost the exact time we got out of the way, the rock ceiling cracked open, and a green shadowed mass suddenly hung down from above, letting out a shrill cry.

Even with the flashlight, I couldn’t see the whole thing. I only saw the shadow fall down, stay in my flashlight’s circle for half a second, and then it dodged and crashed into our bonfire.

The bonfire was smashed apart in an instant, and sparks and charcoal were scattered everywhere. The concentrated light was completely scattered, darkness was all around us, and only the countless small fire spots were still burning.

We weren’t expecting this kind of change. I chased after the object with my flashlight, but I could only see a few afterimages.

Fatty reacted quickly, and immediately grabbed a burning piece of firewood from the ground, but the fire went out as soon as he picked it up, leaving behind a dark red piece of charcoal.

“Damn it!” Fatty cursed loudly. Before the word “da” could fully be spit out, however, I heard him grunting as if he had been thrown to the ground by something. Then came a series of smacking sounds.

I followed the sound with the flashlight and saw Fatty scuffling with something. I turned around to see where Poker-face was, but when I moved the flashlight, I didn’t find him, but a ferocious face behind me instead.

I was in the middle of moving the flashlight away, so the face only appeared in front of me for a moment, but the impact was much greater than that of seeing it directly. I almost peed my pants, and reflexively retreated while shouting: “Another one!”

In my fear, I swiped the drill rod in that direction. There was a muffled sound, so I knew I had hit something, but I didn’t have the strength. The drill rod was all iron and very heavy, so I couldn’t swing it a second time with one hand. I had to draw back and use the flashlight to illuminate it. Before I could get a clear look, however, I was suddenly hit from behind. My whole body fell, and I rolled directly to the ground, dropping the flashlight in the process. I had no idea where it went.

As soon as I got up, I knew it was bad. I couldn’t see anything, and knew I was in trouble. At this point, I heard Poker-Face shouting: “Get on the ground, don’t move!” Then there was a shrill scream, and a mass of something fell heavily beside me.

I turned my head, and heard hissing sounds coming from a few feet away from me. Then, I heard the “click” sound of a broken neck come from the darkness, and the shrieks came to an abrupt end.

On the other side, Fatty’s battle wasn’t over yet, and I heard him yell, “Fuck, you dare to steal this fat grandpa’s peach, dare to steal this fat grandpa’s peach!”

He beat it with a yell, hitting it four more times, before its movements stopped.

Fatty spit at it in contempt. I couldn’t see his situation clearly, but it was quiet around him, so I asked, “Is it done?”

Before I finished speaking, however, Poker-Face snapped: “Don’t talk, listen!”

I immediately held my breath and heard countless creeping voices in the darkness. The number was too large to estimate.

<Chapter 47 Monsters> <Table of Contents> <Chapter 49 There Are Thirty-Five>

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Updated 8/31/2020