Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
With those words, it seemed to bolster the courage of a few.
Zhou Li exchanged a glance with Da Feng, who approached the fiery red coffin. As he neared it, an inexplicable chill crept up his spine.
The surface of the coffin felt cool to the touch. If light were shone directly on it, it would refract in a peculiar way; the surface was smooth and showed no signs of decay. All of this indicated that the wood used for this coffin was anything but ordinary.
Zhou Li had raided many tombs, but he had never encountered a coffin like this one.
Da Feng stared intently at the gap in the coffin lid and then stood up to speak to Zhou Li. "This coffin might not be able to be opened. The body and lid are actually filled with Pig Iron Water."
Zhou Li's expression changed. How could a wooden coffin be filled with Pig Iron Water? How was that even possible?
Da Feng continued, "If we want to open it, we can only destroy this coffin." After saying this, a sudden chill swept through the air, feeling oddly out of place in this environment.
The group exchanged glances. Second surveyed their surroundings but found nothing amiss.
They redirected their attention back to the coffin.
Da Feng looked at Zhou Li, waiting for his command. As long as Zhou Li said they could destroy the coffin, he would not hesitate.
Zhou Li hesitated internally. He sensed the strangeness of this coffin; this feeling was different from before. If something that should not be opened were to emerge, the consequences could be dire! He could handle a zombie or an Evil Spirit, but what if something worse appeared… At this thought, he couldn't help but gasp.
Zhou Li turned to glance at Third, who remained calm, yet an unsettling feeling lingered among them all, as if they knew that opening this coffin would surely lead to trouble.
Several people stared blankly at Zhou Li and Da Feng, for they were the professionals.
"Let's begin!" Third suddenly said, and those words landed with the weight of a thousand pounds.
"Let's begin!" Da Feng managed to utter the same phrase. Second echoed, "Let's begin!" The rest followed suit, leaving only Zhou Li.
After a few minutes, Zhou Li finally said, "Let's begin!"
Destroying the coffin was the greatest taboo in this line of work. As the saying goes, "When digging for treasures, do not disturb the dead." However, tomb raiding came in various degrees; rules were made by people but could also be broken by them.
The worst kind of tomb raiders would directly desecrate the corpse, taking whatever they wanted without care. The moderate ones would open the coffin, take what they desired, and then carefully close it again.
The best kind would only take the burial goods and leave without disturbing anything else.
However, very few could achieve this level of professionalism. Usually, the most valuable treasures were found within the coffin. Thus, most people inevitably opened it; it had become an unspoken rule in their trade. Achieving even that level of restraint was commendable.
Da Feng and Zhou Li were somewhere in between moderate and poor practices.
But now they were about to destroy a coffin to retrieve its treasures—this was unprecedented in their tomb raiding history.
After some hesitation, Zhou Li finally made up his mind and said, "Let's get to work!" Da Feng responded but did not immediately act recklessly; instead, he handled everything with caution. Although they could destroy the coffin, it was better to minimize damage as much as possible.
Zhou Li and Da Feng put on their gas masks.
The other four stepped back, but this time Third did not move away. He wanted to see the person inside the coffin at the first opportunity, as that person might be the key to unraveling all the mysteries.
Zhou Li noticed that Third remained on the stone platform. From his backpack, he took out a Gas Mask and handed it to Third. This Gas Mask held special significance for Zhou Li, as it had saved his life before. Since then, he always wore it whenever he went underground, though he never used it; it was more for reassurance.
Third accepted the Gas Mask and put it on. The three of them stood on the stone platform.
The other three, lacking Gas Masks, moved to a position farther away from the stone platform.
Second held a Submachine Gun, ready at any moment. After moving farther from the coffin, the previous chill dissipated significantly.
Dafeng quietly asked Zhou Li, "Can we proceed?" It was customary in tomb raiding not to speak loudly while opening a coffin, to avoid disturbing the dead inside and causing unnecessary trouble.
Zhou Li replied, "Let's begin!"
Dafeng handed a tool to Third, who took it. The three of them gathered around the coffin and began their examination.
The gaps had been sealed with Pig Iron Water, but to prevent further damage to the coffin, they finally agreed on a plan: to open the lid from above the gap.
Since the lid was arched, they would work from the top down just above the gap.
The three of them started working on it. Neither Dafeng nor Zhou Li had experience opening coffins in this manner; they were essentially novices engaged in a dangerous task.
After some effort, when a gap was finally created in the coffin by their tools, an eerie atmosphere began to spread around them.
A few people felt a slight itch on their scalps, but the three who were farther away showed no reaction.
The three who were opening the coffin felt it most acutely. As the gap widened and stretched, they clearly sensed a discomfort in their bodies. Their breathing unconsciously grew heavier.
"There's probably toxic gas inside this coffin!" Zhou Li said. "You two, be careful."
The two nodded, and Da Feng signaled the other three to step back a bit more. Although the three were puzzled, they followed Da Feng's instructions and moved away.
After enduring such a struggle, the three who were opening the coffin had lost their strength to speak. In the end, they communicated with gestures. Zhou Li raised three fingers, holding them up until the last finger bent.
Cautiously, the three placed their hands at the gap and gently lifted the coffin lid, slowly setting it aside. They didn't have time to see what was inside yet. However, one thing was certain: the corpse inside had not been disturbed; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to place the lid down safely.
Once the coffin was opened, a faint fragrance wafted out from within.
The three standing at a distance could no longer contain their curiosity and rushed over. At that moment, the chilling sensation had completely vanished. Second approached with his gun ready, prepared to shoot any zombie that might emerge from inside with his Submachine Gun.
But as he got closer, he caught a whiff of an unusual scent, reminiscent of some kind of flower.
They stepped forward, leaning against the edge of the coffin to look inside. Instantly, each of them felt a suffocating beauty.
Inside lay a stunning woman.
Second slowly lowered his Submachine Gun.
The first time he truly saw her, all of Second's previous grievances vanished in an instant, as if a voice had whispered: In the face of your beauty, it seems that all the wrongs in the world can be forgiven.
Indeed, she was the woman depicted on the wall of the Swamp Underground Kingdom. The air around her seemed to forget how to flow upon encountering her.
The six of them remained frozen in place, afraid to disturb her. Such beauty felt as though it should not exist in this world.
She wore a flowing red garment, yet it could not conceal the clarity and elegance that radiated from her very being. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her eyelashes seemed to flutter gently.
With slender eyebrows, thin lips, and a slightly pale complexion, they couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Had she truly died like this? They would rather believe she was merely asleep, waiting for the night to pass before awakening.
Third furrowed his brow slightly, as if suddenly coming back to his senses. It was said that once a person died, they should decay into nothingness; yet over the years, many had tried to defy this rule. Even if they could not live on, they wished for the body to retain some semblance of that undying essence.
Third felt another wave of admiration rise within him; she was simply too beautiful.
Sensing something was amiss, Third shook his head vigorously to keep himself alert. The other five remained entranced by the woman in the coffin.
Gently, Third nudged Second, calling out, “Second.” Second snapped back to reality, shaking his head as well before waking the others. They all pulled their gazes away from the coffin.
“We were all somewhat lost just now,” Third remarked.
Zhou Li's face fluctuated between white and red; after a moment, he managed to compose himself, taking several deep breaths as if he had been startled. However, behind his mask, no one could see his true expression.
The masked individuals removed their masks.
A few people were now ignoring a crucial question: what should they do after opening the coffin? Touch the treasures? Who could bring themselves to do that?
Second spoke up, "We almost had another incident just now." The thought sent a shiver down her spine, but her beauty truly made all the other women in the world pale in comparison.
Although Dafen and his companion were accustomed to handling coffins, this was their first encounter with such a situation. A perfectly intact corpse rendered the phrase "red-skinned skeleton" ineffective in this context.
At this moment, everyone had gathered at the foot of the stone platform, maintaining a safe distance from the fiery red wooden coffin.
They exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for what to do next.
Dafen quietly asked Zhou Li, "Should we still touch the treasures?" Tomb raiders were not typically afraid of much, but this situation was unprecedented.
However, this corpse stirred memories for Second and Seven; they had encountered such beings before—corpses that remained intact even after death. What astonished them most was that the body inside the coffin looked exactly like Third. With that thought, both of them involuntarily glanced at Third but refrained from asking anything. Being brothers, there were some things that if he didn’t want to discuss, it was better not to pry.
Third understood why they were looking at him but felt that discussing certain matters would not benefit them. So he remained silent.
Everyone stood frozen in place, not moving.
Third had previously speculated that this woman might be a deity being worshipped, and now he was witnessing her corpse with his own eyes. This shattered his earlier assumptions; now only one possibility remained.
Comment 0 Comment Count