Chapter 40: I Just Want to Play Dead Quietly

Inside the ancient tomb.

A candle monster sat calmly in place, burning itself to illuminate the tomb.

Heiwa had thought that if he could just take down this peculiar candle monster, the tide of coin monsters crawling out of the ground would finally stop.

But when he slashed at the candle monster with his sharp claws, he realized it was useless.

The candle monster didn’t fight back—didn’t even try to attack.

Its purpose seemed only to light up the main chamber… to keep the party going, nothing more.

Besides, the candle monster couldn’t be harmed at all.

Heiwa licked his claws, glimmering with a strange light after raking them across the candle monster… and sighed, thinking to himself that, after all, the coin monsters tasted better.

By now, Xiao Qing and Fatty Wang were surrounded by more and more of the coin monsters.

Only then did Heiwa remember that his good friend Li Changlu was nowhere to be seen.

Anxiously, he searched through the chaotic tomb chamber.

At last…

Finally…

He found Li Changlu.

He was lying atop a heap of defeated coin monsters, utterly motionless…

Had he fainted?

Or worse?

Heiwa thought, He’s tougher than anyone—surely he wouldn’t die so easily.

He chuckled to himself.

Immediately, Heiwa carved a bloody path through the monsters, determined to rescue Li Changlu.

Fortunately, Li Changlu wasn’t far away and could still be protected.

This guy, with a demon power score of only two, was a real burden.

Heiwa sighed.

He fancied himself the protagonist of a hot-blooded manga, protecting his useless teammates—troublesome, yes, but he wouldn’t leave any of them behind.

Dragging the unconscious Li Changlu to safety, Heiwa plunged back into the fray with only one thought in his heart…

Protect our team’s weakling, Li Changlu.

Perhaps they would lose this battle, perhaps he would fall in combat, but he vowed he would die before Li Changlu did. That was his demon’s code.

But when he turned around, the recently unconscious Li Changlu had vanished!

Luckily…

He soon spotted Li Changlu not far away.

Collapsed amid a pile of monsters, his face looked dreadful.

Without a word, Heiwa dragged him back.

“Your life is under my protection,” Heiwa thought, even as he fought, picturing himself in another heroic manga scene.

However…

When he snapped back to reality, Li Changlu was gone again.

So exhausting—couldn’t he just faint and stay put?

It’s safe right under me, Heiwa thought.

He found Li Changlu once more, dragged him right under his own… well, crotch, protecting him.

He couldn’t understand why the fainted Li Changlu kept moving for no reason.

Until, after dragging him back yet again, he realized—this bastard… wasn’t unconscious at all.

“Why do you keep dragging me back and forth? Wouldn’t you rather focus on fighting those monsters?” Li Changlu covered his face in despair.

“You ungrateful wretch! I’m risking my life to save you, and you complain?” Heiwa fumed, shielding Li Changlu beneath himself without a care for his own safety.

But Li Changlu showed no gratitude.

So infuriating.

“That’s not ungrateful, that’s mercy—I beg you, spare me, just let me be. Please!” Li Changlu seemed to think of something else, and said to Heiwa, “By the way, if you add ‘scoundrel’ to ‘dog’ when you curse, it’s much more effective here.”

So tiring… even in a life-or-death situation, he had to teach the foreign monsters how to swear.

“Oh, dog scoundrel, I won’t drag you anymore.”

Heiwa watched as Li Changlu feigned death, crawling toward the side of the tomb chamber.

He had no idea what Li Changlu was up to, but… couldn’t help but want to give him a thumbs-up.

Li Changlu was trampled by the frenzied coin monsters, but didn’t even flinch.

Heiwa had no time to worry about him—he could barely protect himself. More and more coin monsters were crawling up from below.

Ants, on their own, are nothing to fear—one finger, a single step, and they’re crushed. But if you’ve ever faced a legion of army ants, you’d think otherwise.

The coin monsters pouring out of the tomb were just like army ants—streaming endlessly from the depths below.

Heiwa couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be buried with money. And so many coins, at that.

His jaws ached from biting, his claws curled from clawing.

He was already exhausted, his body covered in wounds from the coin monsters’ bites.

Xiao Qing had reverted to her true form.

Only Fatty Wang was still holding out.

This couldn’t go on—at this rate, soon they’d all be torn apart and devoured by the coin monsters, just like hand-shredded roast chicken, not even bones left.

He wondered if they’d season them with cumin?

At least give them a brush of Orleans marinade…

Thinking these things made Heiwa’s mouth water, but another question nagged at him: Where do monsters go when they die?

Ah well…

You find out when you die.

But just as he was about to close his eyes and accept his fate, he heard a sudden clattering sound in the tomb.

In an instant, all the densely packed coin monsters threatening to burst the tomb apart turned back into ordinary coins, dropping to the floor.

The entire chamber was carpeted with ancient coins.

Even the candle monster was extinguished, plunging the tomb into silence.

It was as though the battle for life and death had never happened—were it not for the piles of coins scattered across the ground, it could all have been nothing but a fleeting dream.

“Hurry over here, I’ve found it!”

Li Changlu’s voice rang out in the tomb.

Heiwa, Xiao Qing, and Fatty Wang quickly hurried toward the sound, shining their flashlights as they went.

They circled around the main chamber and walked down a short passageway.

Behind the main chamber, there was another burial chamber.

Li Changlu was shining his phone’s flashlight ahead.

In the center of the chamber lay an old, battered wooden coffin.

“What happened to the coin monsters outside?” Li Changlu asked.

“They all turned back into coins. It looks like whatever mysterious force was at work here is gone,” Fatty Wang replied, eyes fixed on the coffin in the center.

“Just as I thought, there’s something wrong with this coffin.” Li Changlu propped his chin on his hand and pointed at it. “I just threw a stone at it, and black flames shot out from inside.”

“Black flames?” Fatty Wang asked urgently.

“Yes, a mass of black fire erupted and reduced the stone to ashes,” Li Changlu described the scene carefully.

“This must be the key to the tomb’s anomaly. Stay back—don’t make any sudden moves. I’ll check it out,” Fatty Wang instructed, then cautiously circled the coffin.

“Be careful, Fatty,” Xiao Qing said nervously.

Fatty Wang waved to reassure them, then slowly approached the coffin.

Bang!

Suddenly, the coffin lid flew off.

A hand shot out, clutching Fatty Wang’s throat.

But what truly shocked and terrified them was the thing that slowly sat up inside the coffin…