Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Brother Long, are you okay?” Wei Zhang shouted from above, his voice trembling with lingering fear.

“I’m fine! There’s a mine shaft down here. I’m going in to take a look!”

“Be careful!”

“I know!”

I shouldered my tool bag, gripped my Soul-Whip in one hand, and held a flashlight in the other as I stepped into the cave.

My palms were stinging, and I’d taken a nasty blow to my leg. My safety rope had clearly been secured tight-how the hell did it suddenly come loose?

Fury surged in my chest. I didn’t care what was in this cave today!

Whether it was stone, jade, or even a Buddha statue, I was going to smash it to pieces!

The tunnel had been excavated wide, but it wasn’t very deep; the path further in was already blocked off. I hadn’t walked far before I saw a stone sitting right in the center of the cavern.

It was likely the only large, intact stone left on Dongling Peak.

It was narrow at the top and wide at the base, with a tattered rope wound around its middle. It looked exactly like the one Wei Zhang had seen in his dream.

This kind of stone was usually unearthed from a mine and used as a “mine-suppressing stone.” It had probably escaped being blasted to bits only because it was hidden away in here.

I set my flashlight on a ledge and pulled a hammer, chisel, and stone splitter from my tool bag.

As I approached the stone, I suddenly noticed a complete stone coffin tucked away in the corner behind it.

I couldn’t tell if it was naturally formed or man-made. Its surface was smooth, devoid of any carvings or patterns.

I didn’t plan on messing with it; I was determined to smash this stone first.

I circled the stone, found a good angle for leverage, lined up my chisel, and swung with a vicious strike.

A loud *clang* echoed through the shaft, the vibration sending dust flying from the ceiling.

Ignoring it, I followed up with several consecutive blows. The chisel embedded itself into the rock, and several fine cracks began to spiderweb outward.

Right then, out of the corner of my eye, the stone coffin in the corner seemed to open.

A dusty, gray shadow sat up amidst the swirling grit. Judging by its silhouette, it looked like a shriveled old man.

He slowly turned his head toward me and opened his mouth wide. Inside that dark, hollow maw sat a piece of brilliant green jade.

“Son of a bitch… just wait until I have a hand free, and I’ll whip you to death!”

I didn’t stop. With a few more heavy swings, I drove the chisel deep into the stone, then yanked it out to make room for the stone splitter.

Suddenly, my body felt heavy.

Something was pressing down on my back!

A frigid breath brushed against the back of my neck.

In my peripheral vision, the old man in the stone coffin had vanished.

The hair on my arms stood on end!

I dropped the hammer and whipped the Soul-Whip behind me. But the thing seemed to be in a blind spot; I couldn’t hit it.

A foul stench filled my nostrils, and I felt my tongue beginning to swell, as if I were holding something in my own mouth!

Instinct told me I was running out of time.

I snatched the stone splitter off the ground and jammed it into the groove I’d just chiseled. The pressure on my back intensified.

In that moment, I thought I heard my own bones creaking as they were crushed together.

“Fuck your mother!”

I hoisted the sledgehammer I’d dropped nearby and swung it with everything I had at the splitter!

A burst of adrenaline hit, and I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue. My mouth instantly filled with the metallic taste of blood.

The hammer whistled through the air. Fueled by my desperate strength and momentum, it slammed the splitter another half-inch into the rock.

Massive cracks began to spread.

It felt as if a small mountain were crushing me. The icy breath on my neck turned into sharp needles, stabbing deep into my bones.

I spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which landed right on the stone. Whether it was a hallucination or not, the weight on my back suddenly lightened.

I raised the hammer and struck again. The entire mountain seemed to shudder with the impact!

I didn’t let myself stop. Amidst a frantic barrage of blows, I drove the stone splitter all the way in.

Finally, with a sharp *crack*, the stone collapsed, shattering into several large chunks!