Chapter 361: Yin Mountain Ancient Tower: Charcoal

I knew at once what Poker-face intended to do, and before I could even think about whether it was appropriate, he had already poured the entire plate of charcoal into the gap he had smashed open.

There was still some distance from the gap to the things inside. Fatty followed closely with another plate; the charcoal poured in later pushed the charcoal already in the gap further inward.

Instantly, a series of sounds came from within the stone, exactly like a baby's cry, piercingly sharp and utterly mournful.

Logically, killing such a terrifying creature should not carry much psychological burden, but listening to it, I still felt my heart clench; I couldn't bear it, after all it was now completely vulnerable, utterly defenseless.

Poker-face's face was as cold as ice as he continued pouring without hesitation.

A strange odor filled the air, one I was very familiar with—it was the "corpse smell" from the iron block earlier. I hadn't expected it indeed signified death. The shadow in the stone wall first shook continuously, then gradually stopped, and the piercing screams became indistinct.

I have been soft-hearted since childhood; although I was almost caught earlier, killing a human-shaped creature alive like this still made me feel extremely distressed.

Fatty, however, was not as pedantic as I was. Though he also muttered a bit, he was not awkward and gave a dry laugh: "In your next life, be reborn as a human, and don't be reborn in the wrong place."

In the end, that shadow showed no sign of movement at all, leaving only the crack in the stone still emitting green smoke.

I slumped to the ground and let out a long breath. Just as I wanted to relax, Poker-face said, "It's not over yet."

I looked up and immediately understood what he meant. On the other side of the rock wall, there were three more human figures already very close to the surface.

"Do we have to do this?" I asked.

Poker-face did not answer; he glanced at Fatty. Fatty nodded, picked up a hammer and chisel, and walked toward another human figure. I didn't want to watch anymore, so I sat there without moving. Fatty chanted "Amitabha" a few times, then started chiseling. Soon, what had just happened repeated itself.

By the time they reached the third one, Fatty couldn't take it anymore either. Sweating profusely, he stood before the shadow for a long time and asked Poker-face, "Xiao Ge, can we take a break before continuing?"

Poker-face shook his head, looked around, and said coldly, "No need to continue. There's no time."

Then he turned his head to look and immediately grew solemn. Somehow, the human figures in the rock wall had all emerged pressed against the surface. At a glance, there were at least ten more that could be counted, and they were visible to the naked eye.

They were slowly moving toward the surface of the rock wall.

What was happening? Had they discovered our intentions and accelerated?

I stood up again. Poker-face picked up my bayonet and held it in a reverse grip. Fatty grabbed a stone hammer. I was unarmed, so I looked around, grabbed a chisel rod from the ground, and the three of us stood back to back, watching our surroundings.

Fatty had already gotten excited. A man like him, when truly ready to fight, wouldn't care if the opponent was Arnold or a stone monster. He cursed a few times and said, "Son of a bitch! Fine, I can't stand staying here anymore anyway. Starving to death is not as glorious as dying like this. Let's go all out!" Then he remembered something and kicked the statue away. "Damned lack of respect! I'd rather worship a cock than worship you!"

My heart was pounding, and I trembled involuntarily, but oddly it wasn't from fear. I said to Fatty, "What's so glorious about dying like this? Who the hell knows how you died?"

No sooner had I spoken than something cold fell onto my neck. Startled, I jumped aside and felt it—it turned out to be some rock fragments. My mind raced, and I thought, "Damn, I forgot the ceiling is also stone." I looked up and saw that the ceiling, less than two fists above my head, had cracked open, and in the gap appeared a green thing all over.

We immediately moved aside. Almost at the same time, the ceiling split open, and a green shadow suddenly dropped down from above, followed by a piercing scream.

Under the probe light, I didn't get a clear look at the thing's full form. I only knew a shadow fell down, stayed in the probe's light circle for half a second, then flashed away and crashed into the campfire.

The campfire was knocked apart, sparks and embers scattering everywhere. The concentrated light was completely dispersed, and the surroundings instantly became pitch black, with only countless small flames burning.

This change caught us off guard. I shone the probe light after the thing but could only catch its afterimage.

Fatty reacted fastest. He grabbed a burning piece of firewood from the ground, but as soon as he picked it up, the flame went out, leaving only a dark red ember.

"Son of a—" he cursed, but before he could finish the word "bitch," it turned into a muffled grunt. He seemed to be tackled to the ground by something, followed by a series of thumping sounds.

I aimed the probe light toward the sound and saw Fatty wrestling with a creature. I swung the light to find Poker-face, but as the flashlight turned, I didn't find him; instead, I suddenly illuminated an utterly hideous face.

There was inertia when I turned the probe light, so that face appeared before me only for an instant, but the impact was far greater than if I had seen it directly. I was scared shitless, and by reflex I kept backing away, shouting, "Another one came out!"

Fear is fear, but I swept the chisel rod in that direction. With a dull thud, it struck something, but didn't get much force behind it. The chisel rod was all iron and very heavy; with one hand I couldn't swing it again, so I pulled it back and shone the probe light again.

Before I could get a clear look, I was hit hard from behind, and I was thrown to the ground, rolling. The probe light slipped out of my hand and flew off somewhere.

As I got up, I knew it was bad—I couldn't see anything; trouble. Then I heard Poker-face shout, "Lie on the ground! Don't move!" Then there was another piercing scream, and a heavy object crashed down beside me.

I covered my head and curled up to the side. A few fists away, there were continuous hissing sounds, then in the darkness I heard the sound of a neck snapping with a crack, and the screams abruptly stopped.

On the other side, Fatty wasn't done yet. I heard him pounding hard, one blow after another: "Fuck! Dare to steal your Fatty's peaches! Dare to steal your Fatty's peaches!" Each blow was followed by a scream. After four consecutive blows, that side also went quiet. He spat forcefully.

I couldn't see the situation there, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

I asked, "Are they all dealt with?"

Poker-face beside me said sharply, "Don't talk! Listen!"

I immediately held my breath and heard crawling sounds coming from the darkness, so numerous that they were impossible to count.