Chapter 160: The Black Coffins Rise

Chapter 160: The Black Coffins Rise

Riang was dead.

Very dead.

When Chen Huai’an saw the system notification pop up in-game—

A “Demonic Cultivator Fragment” had dropped.

That meant the lifespans he stole had been restored.

The two girls were the happiest of all.

After all, if there was one thing women couldn’t tolerate, it was aging into old crones.

So when it came time to divide the mission rewards, they were surprisingly generous.

Of course…

Their generosity probably had something to do with his face.

Chen Huai’an didn’t rely on his looks.

But not relying on them didn’t mean he wasn’t handsome.

It was like having cheats in a game—

You didn’t have to turn them on, but it was always good to have them ready.

"You really went all out, huh?"

Inside an armored vehicle, Bearded Guy glanced at Chen Huai’an, who was sitting cross-legged in the passenger seat, meditating.

"You tell a guy to destroy a bronze pillar… and he nearly blows me up along with it."

He let out a gruff chuckle.

"This job’s payout is five million."

"When the bonus comes through, I’ll give it all to you."

"I just need the experience credit."

Chen Huai’an’s eyes snapped open.

He stared at Bearded Guy.

"…You serious?"

"Serious."

"Father!!!"

Bearded Guy: "……"

"Alright, that’s unnecessary."

"If it weren’t for you, taking down his true body wouldn’t have been realistic."

Bearded Guy said it lightly, his tone casual.

But Chen Huai’an could tell—

He was exhausted.

Every ability had a cost.

His sword techniques drained Spiritual Qi.

Bearded Guy’s abilities must have taken their toll as well.

Among the five people in the car—

The two noble girls and two Demon Slayers were passed out in the back.

Chen Huai’an was recovering thanks to his Spiritual Qi.

But Bearded Guy?

He looked the most energetic, but was probably the most drained.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Bearded Guy gripped the steering wheel, smirking.

"By the way, kid… I saved your life."

"You owe me one."

Chen Huai’an’s sympathy immediately evaporated.

He clicked his tongue.

"Oh? What, you want me to work for you now?"

Bearded Guy chuckled.

"Would you?"

"Not a chance. I like my freedom."

"But aren’t you a contained object?"

"Y’know… you were pretty cool before you opened your mouth."

"HA!"

Bearded Guy let out a booming laugh.

"Don’t worry, I know you’re not the type."

"Just messing with you."

Chen Huai’an didn’t reply.

But he did remember the debt.

If he got the chance—

He’d repay it.

He never owed favors.

Even back in Cangyun Realm—

When he and Li Qingran hitched a ride on a flying boat, the Innkeeper had gotten shortchanged.

So later, Li Qingran had repaid the debt with a bag of low-grade spirit stones—

Enough to buy a hundred inns.

Everything had cause and effect.

After a long pause, he finally asked:

"Hey, Uncle."

"You really seem to love killing demons."

"Every time you take one down, you look… excited."

"Why?"

"Is it because you get better Qi Absorption techniques that way?"

Bearded Guy was silent.

For a moment.

Then—

He smiled.

A bitter, distant smile.

"Doesn’t matter if I tell you."

"This isn’t some big secret in the Bureau."

"Winter Solstice. Seven years ago."

"South City. Old Cotton Mill."

His cancerous left hand tightened around the wheel.

"My wife and daughter…"

"They were hiding from the snow in the boiler room."

"A Painted Skin Demon found them."

"Turned them into human lanterns."

"…Heh."

His right eye bulged, veins pulsing with rage.

But his voice?

Calm.

"That thing wore my wife’s skin."

"Called me ‘Haisheng-ge’ in her voice."

"That day, this rotting body of mine decided it would only feed on one thing—"

"Demon bones."

Chen Huai’an rubbed his nose.

He regretted asking.

"Feeling guilty, kid?"

"No need."

Bearded Guy grinned, baring his teeth.

"In the Bureau, almost everyone’s got a story."

"None of them are happy ones."

"Maybe, at first, we joined because of those stories."

"But by now…"

He glanced out the window.

"It’s just about the demons and the abominations."

"They don’t need a reason to kill."

"Just like an avalanche doesn’t need a reason to bury sheep."

"But we’re human."

"We need a reason to get back up."

"At the end of the day—"

"It’s all just to keep ourselves going."

Chen Huai’an looked outside.

Night had fallen.

City lights blurred against the drizzle.

The armored car drove through Spring West Road.

A giant naked-eye 3D screen played a cross-dimensional concert.

A virtual idol sang, digital snowfall cascading over a crowd of cheering teenagers.

"You have a new food delivery order~!"

AI notifications buzzed from the storefronts.

A girl in a dinosaur onesie skated past the car, sipping milk tea through a straw.

Her pigtail hairband bumped against the window.

The beeping of a scanning device mixed into the city’s strange symphony.

This was his home.

A city no longer monochrome, but painted in vibrant hues.

BUMP!

The car lurched violently.

One of the noble girls slammed into the front seat, shrieking.

"What was that?!"

The older woman pointed, her voice trembling.

Chen Huai’an turned.

A black coffin floated in the night sky.

Blood-red light pulsated from its surface.

From the center of the coffin, a white face protruded.

Neither laughing nor crying.

Mocking.

When the first Black Coffin pierced through the city square’s digital billboard,

A streaming influencer froze mid-dance.

A giant coffin—the size of a shipping container—had descended.

Its surface wasn’t carved with patterns.

It was covered in thousands of embedded, bloodshot eyes.

"Holy sh*t, what the hell?! Some kind of AI special effect?!"

Before the man holding a selfie stick could finish—

A second Black Coffin crashed through a Starbucks dome window.

The latte foam splashed onto its surface.

The coffee stain morphed into a screaming human face.

The city convulsed.

Spring West Road’s 3D screen glitched.

The idol’s dress dissolved into static.

Asphalt bulged, swelling like fermented dough.

A pregnant woman shrieked as she fled a maternity hospital.

The glass panels of a skyscraper turned into rows of black coffin lids.

Inside the offices, people pounded on the glass, their handprints merging into blood symbols.

Plop.

A straw fell to the ground.

The girl in the dinosaur onesie stood motionless, staring at the sky.

Thirty-six Black Coffins.

High above.

Forming a twisted ring.

Aligned with the 36 Celestial Stars.

Below—

The riverbed cracked open.

Revealing a colossal bronze tomb.

Encircling the tomb—

Twelve Black Coffins stood upright in twelve locations.

Aligning with the Twelve Earthly Branches.

As the last coffin settled—

All of Tianfu District trembled.

Deep underground…

The coffin at the “Zi” position slowly opened.

A wave of corpse energy blanketed the river.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Beneath the earth—

A heartbeat echoed.

…

…