Chapter 13

Leaving the gate, Lumian seemed to enter a different world.

Before him was no longer the familiar village of Cordu, but dark red peaks and a circle of collapsed buildings surrounding them, forming a bizarre ruin.

The mist in the high sky was thick and ghastly white, making it difficult for light to penetrate. The ground was fragmented and strewn with rocks. Lumian, holding an axe, cautiously moved forward, unable to find a single place to hide.

No weeds grew here, and there were no trees in sight.

Lumian walked with a sense of trepidation, bending his back and consoling himself— at least if there were any dangers in this area, they would be obvious and could be detected in advance.

Finally, he reached the ruins and came to a building that had been half-collapsed by fire.

Lumian observed for a while, initially confirming that there were no other living beings inside, and then cautiously entered, avoiding the charred wooden beams that could fall at any moment, and began his search.

His gaze swept across the room, and he saw a glint of gold in a broken ceramic jar in the corner.

Lumian approached step by step and found it was a gold coin.

Is this real? The ruins in the dream actually have treasure? He muttered to himself as he picked up the gold coin and wiped it on his clothes.

The patterns on the surface of the gold coin then became visible.

On the front was a man's portrait, with a gaunt face, hair parted in a 3-7 ratio, and a mustache, his gaze firm. On the back was a cluster of iris flowers surrounding the number "20."

Lumian recognized the man; he was the first president of the Intis Republic, Levance.

"Turns out it's a gold Louis..." Lumian was quite surprised.

First, he hadn't expected that the strange ruins in the dream would contain real currency from the Intis Republic. Second, he had casually picked up something as valuable as a gold Louis.

The current legal currency of the Intis Republic is the Ferkin and the Cope, with 1 Ferkin equal to 100 Copes.

Among them, the Cope exists in the form of copper and silver coins, with copper coins divided into 1 Cope, 5 Copes, and 10 Copes, and silver coins in 20 Copes and 50 Copes.

The Ferkin can be a silver coin, a gold coin, or a banknote. Silver coins come in 1, 5, and 10 Ferkins, while gold coins are divided into 5, 10, 20, 40, and 50 Ferkins.

The denominations of banknotes are more varied, including 5, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 Ferkins.

In daily life, the people of Intis still use some old currency units. For example, the most widely used 5 Cope copper coin is called a Rik.

Similarly, a gold coin worth 20 Ferkins is called a gold Louis.

Of course, in the old currency system, the gold Louis was actually called a gold Roselle. After the establishment of the Republic, to eliminate the influence of Emperor Roselle, it was renamed the gold Louis.

As far as Lumian knew, although it couldn't be done in the city, in a rural place like Cordu, a gold Louis could allow a poor family with land to live well for a month.

If it weren't for Aurore's decent income, he might never have seen what a gold Louis looked like. In the entire village of Cordu, apart from his sister and himself, only the parish priest's family and the administrator's family had seen and owned a gold Louis.

To any villager, this gold Louis was a valuable find.

"Unfortunately, this is just a dream..." Lumian sighed slightly, feeling a bit disappointed.

This isn't something supernatural, so it can't be "brought" out of the dream.

Despite this, Lumian solemnly put the gold Louis away. His past life as a wanderer made him value every Cope.

A gold Louis is equivalent to 2000 Copes, roughly equal to 1 pound in the Loen Kingdom, though slightly less. According to the newspaper, 24 Ferkins can be exchanged for 1 pound.

Lumian continued his search.

He wanted to find some written materials to confirm the specific situation of the ruins, to see if they corresponded to a real place, and whether a village in the Intis Republic had been "moved" into the dream— the appearance of the gold Louis made Lumian have these speculations.

As he moved step by step, Lumian noticed that the edges of what was originally a stove were tinged with a dark red.

"Blood?" His pupils dilated, and he quickly made a guess.

Then he made a judgment:

The blood, though not fresh, was not old, not black, and looked like it had just dripped two or three days ago.

Or even less!

As his heart tightened, Lumian felt the surrounding light suddenly dim.

It was as if something had silently crept up on the half-collapsed roof, blocking the little light that penetrated the thick mist!

The experience of being attacked during his wandering days flooded into Lumian's mind like a surging wave, making him react instinctively.

He suddenly lunged forward, curled his body in mid-air, and rolled upon landing.

Splash!

Something heavy fell behind him.

Lumian rolled to the left side of the broken stove, reached out to grab a stone, and used it to turn his body.

He raised his axe and saw a figure where he had originally stood.

In the dim light, Lumian couldn't determine if it was a human or a humanoid creature.

It was hunched over, naked, and its skin seemed to have been peeled off, revealing red muscles, blood vessels, and yellowish tendons. A thick, sticky liquid flowed over it but didn't fall to the ground.

It was a monster!

Its eyes, mostly white with a hint of blue, seemed embedded in its face. Its mouth was wide open, revealing uneven teeth, and saliva dripped down, forming long strands.

In recent years, Lumian had written many ghost stories, never expecting to encounter something that could be called a demon today.

Whoosh!

A bloody wind hit him, and heavy breathing reached his ears.

Lumian instinctively moved to the side, dodging the attack of the blood-red monster.

If it weren't for Aurore's "guidance" and years of combat training and street fighting experience, he might not have reacted in time, given the shock to his body and mind.

After regaining his composure, Lumian took a step to chase the monster, raised his sharp axe, and fiercely chopped at its back.

Bang!

The monster, about to turn, was chopped to the ground, and pus and blood splattered everywhere.

Lumian didn't hesitate, kneeling on one knee, and raised his axe again.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He chopped several times, each deep and wide, creating deep cuts, and mutilating the monster's back, neck, and head.

Finally, the monster stopped struggling and lay motionless.

"Phew, phew! You're not as scary as you look..." Lumian breathed a sigh of relief, half-mocking.

He wiped his face with his left hand, leaving a trail of blood.

"Is the monster's body fluid toxic? I haven't felt any corrosive pain yet..." Lumian began to worry about other issues.

Just as he mustered the courage to search the monster's body, the skinless, blood-red monster suddenly pushed itself up with its hands and sprang up!

It's not dead?

After being chopped like that, it's still alive?

Lumian was both shocked and terrified.

He had to admit, he was afraid, he was timid.

If he had encountered a normal human, beast, or monster, even if he couldn't defeat it, he wouldn't be so terrified. But this creature seemed impossible to kill, making all his efforts futile!

Taking advantage of the monster's apparent disorientation, unable to locate its enemy, Lumian decisively pushed off with his feet, kneeled, and sprinted.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

He ran at his best level, but he still felt a faint breath on the back of his neck, and heavy breathing echoed in his ears.

The monster was chasing him closely.

Lumian gritted his teeth, feeling that fear had given him an extra burst of strength.

He ran faster, surpassing his usual level.

He was relieved to find that the distance between the monster and himself wasn't closing.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Lumian finally ran back to his semi-underground two-story building.

He pulled open the unlocked door and rushed inside.

Bang!

He slammed the door shut behind him.

Without resting, Lumian rushed to the stove and picked up the steel fork leaning against the wall.

Then, he focused his attention on the door.

The sound of the monster's running disappeared nearby, but after several seconds, it didn't attempt to break the door.

"Does it know I'm here, lying in wait?" Lumian couldn't believe the monster had a higher intelligence.

He slowly moved to the window near the door and peeked outside.

A face suddenly appeared on the glass!

A skinless, bloodied, and toothy face!

Lumian's heart nearly stopped, and he froze for a moment.

The monster didn't take the opportunity to break the glass and attack, but stared at Lumian.

Lumian regained his senses, quickly retreated, and raised the long fork with both hands.

The monster then left the window area.

Lumian remained extremely cautious and vigilant.

He saw the monster wander in the faint gray mist for a while, then leave his building and slowly return to the ruins.

"..." Lumian was quite bewildered.

He had prepared to trap the monster and quickly escape the dream, but it just left...

After some thought, he came up with a possibility:

"Does the monster not dare to enter my home?

"Yes, there are no signs of damage inside...

"In the dream, this is an absolutely safe place?"

With this guess, Lumian relaxed a bit.

The next moment, he felt intense fatigue.

The short chase was more tiring than an afternoon of combat training.

With the long fork and axe, Lumian went upstairs to his bedroom and tried to fall asleep.

...

In a daze, Lumian opened his eyes.

It was still dark outside the curtains, and the room was dim.

If it weren't for the absence of the faint gray mist and the fact that he had "changed" into pajamas, Lumian wouldn't have been able to tell if this was reality or a dream.

"Did I wake up early due to the shock?" He instinctively felt his pajama pocket, but didn't find the gold Louis.

This made him a bit disappointed and confirmed a fact:

Money indeed can't be taken out of the dream!

Composing himself, Lumian began to think about a serious issue:

How to deal with the indestructible monster?

Although he could avoid that area and stealthily explore deeper, he still needed to consider the possibility of encountering similar monsters in the future and make the necessary preparations, not to take his life lightly.

PS: Thank you, Xiao Langjun, for the silver alliance donation.