Chapter 64: Raging Sea: Melee

I was momentarily stunned, then immediately realized that the stone slab above must have been lifted by someone. For a split second I thought it was Third Uncle or A Ning, since there was no one else in the tomb besides them. But when I looked up, I saw a massive, scaly sea monkey, its back hunched, looking down at me from above. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of its shoulder, bloody and torn, with a javelin still stuck in it. I sighed inwardly—what a damn narrow escape, this thing had really latched onto me.

I never expected such a dramatic turn of events. At a loss, I suddenly felt someone tugging my pants. I looked down and saw Poker-face, signaling for me to come down quickly. Seeing how huge the sea monkey was, I immediately understood his intention and scrambled back down.

The robbers' tunnel below was on a slope. I had already been cramped up with Poker-face, making movement very inconvenient. Now, in my fluster, I was even slower. I had only climbed down a few steps when the sea monkey let out a grunt and suddenly stuck its head down. I saw that ferocious monkey face heading straight for me, and in fright I slipped, landing hard against the tunnel wall with my butt.

My ass was in agony, but I took the chance to slide down, thinking, Heaven helps me—if I get back into the tunnel quickly, that sea monkey is too big to ever squeeze in, and at least my heart could calm down for a moment. I was feeling pretty smug, but things didn't go my way. Barely half a meter down, I suddenly found Fatty blocking the way below, drilling upward frantically, yelling, "Go up, go up! That bitch is climbing up again!"

Shocked, I quickly looked behind him and saw a large tuft of hair crawling around the last bend of the zigzag passage. Cursing under my breath—truly, blessings never come in pairs, but misfortunes never come alone—I threw my lighter to Fatty and told him to hold it off for a moment. Then I looked up to check the situation above. No sooner had I turned my neck than a sharp pain shot through my shoulder. Turning my head, I saw the sea monkey—its shoulders were too wide, but its neck was still very flexible. In my carelessness, it had already clamped its jaws down on my right shoulder.

Now we were in trouble. Its bite was perfectly aimed—the fangs sank deep into my flesh, causing pain so intense I nearly fainted, yet they didn't hit the bone or sinew. Just as I started to struggle, it pulled hard and dragged me completely out of the tunnel.

The sea monkey held me dangling in the air, not seeming to want to kill me immediately. But I knew that if it gave a good shake, it could tear me in two from the shoulder. At this point, no matter how scared I was, I had to fight back. I suddenly spotted the javelin I had stabbed into its shoulder. In desperation, I kicked hard, and the blow landed squarely—the javelin was driven another four or five inches deeper. It let out a roar and flung me away.

I summoned all my strength and rolled seven or eight times on the ground, managing to absorb the impact of the landing. But when I tried to stand, my entire right arm was completely useless. Enraged by the pain, the sea monkey howled wildly and lunged at me again, this time aiming straight for my neck—it looked like it wanted to bite my throat out directly.

Its charge was so fast that I had no way to dodge; I could only use my arm to block. It was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, but if I didn't, I might not even keep my head. At that moment, Fatty suddenly rushed from behind, grabbed the sea monkey's legs, and tripped it up, sending it crashing face-first. Both of them fell and rolled into a tangle. Fatty was very agile; he tried to climb onto its back like Wu Song fighting the tiger, but the sea monkey was incredibly strong. Fatty couldn't hold it down and was sent flying with a kick.

Seeing that Fatty couldn't subdue it either, I thought, Oh no. Sure enough, the sea monkey bared its teeth at Fatty, then turned and lunged at me again. I thought, Damn, you're targeting me! I fumbled for the air gun at my waist, but then remembered—when I was climbing the stone wall earlier, I had already tossed that spear-like gun to make my escape easier. By now it was probably crushed into a twisted mess.

No use regretting now. The sea monkey reached me in an instant. I thought it would definitely bite my neck and tear my head off, so I simply closed my eyes and waited to die. But it seemed still angry—it stomped hard on my stomach with one foot, nearly breaking my spine. I coughed up blood, the pain so intense I almost passed out. Not satisfied, it lifted its foot again, aiming for my chest. But just as it raised its foot, there was a sudden loud bang. I had no idea what happened, but I saw the sea monkey roar and get knocked flying, tumbling several times.

Turning my head, I saw Fatty approaching like a god, holding a large bronze mirror that was still vibrating. I was stunned—the weapon behind that loud bang must have been this mirror. That man's aim was vicious; if he'd hit a person, they'd be flattened for sure. I silently reminded myself never to piss him off.

Now Fatty was furious. Before the sea monkey could get up, he charged and struck again with a backhand, producing another loud bang. The sea monkey's face was deformed from the hit, and it rolled several more meters.

Unfortunately, the sea monkey was very sturdy. Those blows didn't cause it serious damage, but it had learned to fear Fatty. It no longer dared to charge, but scrambled up a pillar and roared at Fatty from above.

By now I had realized that this was the room with the Heavenly Palace model that Poker-face had mentioned. The most direct evidence was the four huge murals on the walls. I couldn't examine them closely to see if they matched his description, but I was certain the scene hadn't changed at all in the twenty years since they left. What surprised me, though, was that the room wasn't as large as he had said. The only thing that conveyed the grandeur he described was the golden nanmu pillars—truly three men could encircle them, solid and authentic. Everything else was just luxurious. Fatty, emboldened by his successful strike, cursed, "Fuck your mother! I've smashed who knows how many zombies, and a lousy monkey dares to act all tough in front of me? Doesn't recognize your Fat Master!" He tried to swing the mirror again, but the bronze mirror was too heavy. The first two strikes had used up all his strength; this time he couldn't even lift it, spinning in place for several circles.

That sea monkey was very cunning. Seeing his failure, it suddenly jumped down from the pillar and tackled Fatty to the ground. Caught off guard, Fatty was pinned underneath and couldn't push it off. The sea monkey took a good claw swipe at him, tearing off a piece of skin. Fatty had never suffered such a loss; his eyes turned red, and with a roar he bit its face. The sea monkey howled in pain, leaped up, and retreated several steps.

I saw a large piece of scale torn from the sea monkey's face, blood dripping, making it look even more ferocious. But it was also stunned by Fatty's move and became cautious, standing back to observe us, as if looking for an opening. Fatty was barely holding on; I could see he was out of breath and his stamina was seriously depleted.

The two sides faced off for a few minutes. Since the sea monkey was an animal and couldn't stay focused like a human, it began to lose concentration. It yawned, turned its head, and looked around. Soon it spotted Poker-face struggling to put the stone slab back over the tunnel entrance. The slab was very heavy, and it was extremely hard for one person to lift; he could only drag it inch by inch. Seeing Poker-face isolated, the sea monkey's killing instinct flared again. With a loud roar, it charged at him.

My heart jumped—I hadn't expected this thing to be so savvy, knowing to bully the weak and fear the strong. I shouted, "Watch out!"

Poker-face sensed the sudden gust of wind from behind. With no other choice, he dropped the slab and rolled to dodge the attack. The sea monkey's claw missed, and it pounced again. I knew Poker-face must be able to handle this thing, so I wasn't too worried. I saw him run forward a few steps, luring the sea monkey to a nanmu pillar, then suddenly leap. His first foot pressed against the pillar, he pushed off, and in a dancer-like spin, he brought both knees crashing down onto the sea monkey's shoulders, forcing it to crouch low and almost fall to its knees.

I didn't know what kind of martial art that was, but my eyes lit up. However, the sea monkey was very strong—the blow barely fazed it. But Poker-face didn't stop. Instead of jumping off immediately, he clamped his legs around its head, using his knees to grip it, then twisted his waist with force. There was a crisp crack, and the sea monkey's head was twisted an unnatural 180 degrees, its entire neck bone broken.

This whole series of moves was completed in under a second—a total instant kill. Fatty and I watched, jaws dropped. We both felt a pain in our own necks, as if we'd pulled a muscle. I remembered the head of the blood corpse and realized it must have been twisted off the same way. I shuddered—that move was too vicious. I even felt sorry for the sea monkey.

After jumping down, Poker-face hurried back to move the stone slab. I saw a tuft of hair emerging from the tunnel entrance and quickly called for Fatty to help. Fatty used his old method—he first used the lighter to drive the hair back down, then together with Poker-face they replaced the bluestone slab. The corpse woman below was unwilling, hitting the slab several times, trying to break it open. Afraid it might crack the stone, Fatty simply sat on top, sealing the entrance firmly.

The banging continued for ten minutes, but the weight of Fatty plus the slab was more than anyone could lift. By the time Fatty was exhausted from the vibrations, the thing below finally quieted down. He cursed and flopped onto the floor, not moving.

Seeing the danger had passed, I let out a long breath. By now my right hand had regained some feeling, able to move a little. I saw Poker-face walk to the southeast corner and quickly followed. The mirror there had been moved aside, revealing a pitch-black hole on the wall, only half a man's height. Inside it looked very deep, leading to I knew not where.