Chapter 38: Something Beneath

“Have a son!”
“Hurry up and give birth to a son!”
The atmosphere in the ancient tomb suddenly transformed into that of a tense waiting room outside an obstetrics ward.
Inside the “operating room,” the “mother” was desperately yearning for a child, writhing in agony, her pain tearing her apart.
But right now, no one seemed to care about this unfortunate “mother.” The family members waiting outside were all discussing—could she give birth to a son?
“You can move now?”
Xiao Qing clapped her hands joyfully.
“I could move the moment you bit my hand,” Li Changluo said, baring his teeth as he pointed at the bite mark on his arm.
Xiao Qing stuck out her tongue and flashed a sweet smile, her coquettishness utterly charming.
It seemed that being coy was a natural, beguiling skill for girls, the most direct weapon against men. Yet for Li Changluo, a man of steel, such tricks were useless. However cute or pitiable you might be, nothing was more important to him than revenge.
Still, he gladly accepted Xiao Qing’s apology, delivered with such playful charm—after all…
He couldn’t win against her anyway.
Whatever she said, he’d just go along with it.
Was he, perhaps, completely under his wife’s spell?
“Li, if you could move earlier, why did you insist on waiting…”
Hei Wa could move now as well.
“Didn’t you want to watch a little longer?”
Li Changluo shot Hei Wa a sharp look.
“But you still ended it… sigh.”
Hei Wa sounded disappointed, unsatisfied.
In the ancient tomb, only Wang Fatty had not joined in the group’s post-battle analysis. He had turned away, not looking at anyone.
“Brother Fatty, are you… alright?”
Xiao Qing asked with concern, wanting to check on Wang Fatty’s condition.
“Don’t come over here.”
Wang Fatty’s voice was anxious, his tone stern as he rejected Xiao Qing’s kindness.
Xiao Qing gazed at his back, bewildered, and looked at Li Changluo with some unease.
Did he get sick from watching?
Suddenly, Li Changluo understood, and couldn’t help but feel a newfound respect for this chubby fellow.
A man of great talent indeed.
“Li, why did it keep yelling about having a son? Was it hoping to continue its line, or bring glory to its ancestors?”

Hei Wa, as curious as always, asked questions like a child who loved to post online.
“If I’m not mistaken, what it was shouting was actually ‘enough is enough,’”
Li Changluo said, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. After watching such a tiresome video, he needed a smoke to steady his nerves.
“How did you know that would stop the phone monster?”
This was the first time Hei Wa had seen Li Changluo defeat an opponent without resorting to underhanded tricks. Having grown used to his devious tactics, Hei Wa found this change unsettling.
As for Hei Wa’s intelligence, Li Changluo always thought that if Xiao Qing was a little scatterbrained, then Hei Wa wasn’t just foolish—he was purely simple-minded.
Li Changluo couldn’t be bothered to answer this inquisitive child. He waved Xiao Qing’s phone in his hand as a silent explanation.
Everything in this ancient tomb had been transformed into lifeless monsters by some mysterious force. The phone monster, without a doubt, was Wang Fatty’s own phone.
As long as the phone was called, everything was resolved. At first, he’d only considered that an incoming call might interrupt the phone monster’s control, but he hadn’t expected…
Surprises abound in this world.
He had managed to subdue the phone monster with unexpected ease.
“I underestimated your abilities. Thank you for saving us all.”
Wang Fatty seemed to have recovered. He turned around, his chubby face flushed, full of embarrassment and gratitude. He reached out to shake Li Changluo’s hand in thanks.
He never would have guessed that the boy who’d hidden behind a woman’s shoulder at the slightest sign of danger could solve everything without even lifting a finger.
Truly, he had some real skills.
A handshake was in order.
Nothing could diminish his respect for Li Changluo.
Li Changluo eyed the outstretched hand with a frown.
“This was a team effort,”
he said with a grin, pulling Hei Wa’s hand over to complete the warm handshake with Wang Fatty.
Hei Wa gripped Wang Fatty’s hand tightly, basking in the camaraderie of their hard-won victory, though he wasn’t quite sure what they’d all done together. But still, joy filled his heart.
Li Changluo wanted to take a picture of the two of them…
This scene was just too touching.
Also…
Wasn’t that your phone, Wang Fatty?
Who knows how many times you’ve watched those videos the phone monster played.
Why act like a nervous rookie?
Even as Li Changluo grumbled inwardly about Wang Fatty, the ancient tomb suddenly began to shake violently once more.
The entire tomb swayed, but it wasn’t like any cave-in they’d ever known.
No sand or stone flying.
No ground collapsing.
Just pure shaking, as if a person who had overeaten was suffering from relentless stomach cramps.

Li Changluo felt as if they were food inside this stomach.
What truly frightened him was that the tomb’s walls were beginning to contract, shrinking like clothes washed too hot, growing smaller and smaller.
Atrophic gastritis?
“This is bad. It seems the tomb monster is starting to attack us,”
Wang Fatty warned the group.
“Didn’t you say this tomb wouldn’t attack us? Was your promise worth nothing?”
Li Changluo staggered from side to side, questioning Wang Fatty in terror.
“It was just a guess… I’ve never seen anything like this. Now we need to find the reason for the tomb’s mutation quickly, or we really might get eaten by the tomb monster,”
Wang Fatty replied, struggling to keep his balance.
Li Changluo felt a wave of despair, mixed with a hint of dark amusement.
Eaten by an ancient tomb?
If he died and faced the King of Hell,
what a ridiculous cause of death would that be?
It would be like running up to your parents and saying,
“Mom, I got beaten up by the refrigerator.”
Did you think your mother would pity you?
No, she’d probably give you a slap for your troubles.
But before anyone could recover from their fear, the tomb suddenly stopped shaking.
Just as abruptly, everything returned to calm, the crisis passing as swiftly as it had come, showing no respect at all for these terrified souls inside the tomb.
The group stared at each other,
all believing the danger had passed, each preparing some words to feign composure. Li Changluo had even come up with an inspirational speech to lift everyone’s spirits.
But the tomb monster was nothing if not capricious and unreasonable.
With a dazzling burst of light, the entire tomb was suddenly as bright as day.
In the center of the main burial chamber sat a candle as tall as two men, cross-legged, with hands, feet, and even a face.
From beneath the tomb floor came the sound of cracking boards—
Crack, crack, crack—
As if something beneath was struggling to break through.