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墨書 Inktalez
The Bearded Man instinctively took two steps back upon seeing the pitch-black coffin. "What the hell is this?" he exclaimed.
"This is the treasure you wanted," I replied, looking at him casually. Since we entered the cabin, the Bearded Man and his crew had only focused on the bones scattered everywhere, completely overlooking this object. The temperature in the cabin seemed to drop even further, as I noticed our breaths forming visible puffs in the light of the flashlight.
The Bearded Man carefully shone the flashlight on the coffin. His expression initially darkened, but in an instant, it transformed into an evil grin. He reached out to touch the coffin and muttered to himself, "The wood is of such good quality; it seems quite nice."
"Hey, are you trying to fool us? This is clearly a coffin; where's the treasure?" one of the Bearded Man's subordinates shouted from the side. His face was pale, revealing his fear.
"Your boss hasn't said a word yet. Why are you talking nonsense? Shut up," Jiao Ba retorted rudely.
"What did you say? Do you want me to put a bullet in you?" The Marauder raised his gun and aimed it at Jiao Ba.
The Bearded Man immediately turned and glared at him. "What are you doing? Is this your place to speak? If you have too much to say, go stand over there." The Marauder cursed under his breath but reluctantly walked away.
The Bearded Man bent down and examined the coffin closely. After a few minutes, he looked up at me and said, "This coffin has been tampered with; the nails have been pried open. Did you guys open it?"
I quickly waved my hands. "We didn't touch it at all. Since we salvaged this wreck, it's just been sitting here like this." I fabricated a lie; if I told him that the only treasure was in my hands, he would definitely shoot me.
The Bearded Man looked skeptical. "If you didn't touch it, how do you know there's treasure inside?"
Jiao Ba quickly interjected, "Can't you see? The wood of this coffin isn't something an ordinary person would use; there must be something valuable inside."
The Bearded Man sneered and gestured with his hand. "You might be right, but for safety's sake, I need you all to come over and open the coffin."
Jiao Ba and I exchanged glances. The Bearded Man was indeed quite meticulous. With a nod, we four approached as before, each taking a corner of the coffin. Then we bent down to lift the Coffin Lid. Mike shouted, "Go!"
We all exerted our strength together as the Coffin Lid slowly began to shift. I intentionally made eye contact with Jiao Ba, who understood and shouted, "Quickly! We need a few more people to help! This Coffin Lid is too heavy!"
The Bearded Man coldly remarked from the side, "Hurry up and put some effort into it; stop talking nonsense."
I held back my flushed face and said, "Don't you want the treasure anymore? This thing is really heavy; we're struggling here."
Seeing our faces turning red from exertion, the Bearded Man quickly called over his subordinates. "You guys! Go help them."
After a few of his subordinates arrived, we once again exerted our strength simultaneously. There’s power in numbers! In the end, we threw the Coffin Lid directly into the sea, and the entire coffin opened up. However, as soon as it was fully opened, a foul odor surged out, reminiscent of decaying flesh—very stinky and fishy.
We quickly stepped back a few paces, but some of the Bearded Man's subordinates couldn't handle it; a few of them gagged and even vomited at the smell. The four of us covered our noses with our hands. Jiao Ba whispered beside me, "Something's off; be careful."
I nodded, feeling anxious. I remembered that during the previous two times we opened coffins, there had been no odor at all. But this time, it was accompanied by such a strong stench of decay. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the female corpse. I glanced at Shunzi and Mai Lao; Shunzi wore a foolish expression while Mai Lao remained calm, so calm that it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
I hurriedly shone my Flashlight into the coffin. The moment I did, I was nearly startled into a scream. My eyes widened as I stared at the unbelievable sight before me. Oh my! The corpse inside the coffin had rotted away, and the degree of decay was severe—just by looking at its exterior, it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female.
What... what is going on? Where did that well-preserved female corpse go? Or could it be that this corpse is indeed that female corpse? But why did it suddenly rot? I simply couldn't understand. I noticed Jiao Ba's expression; he looked serious, his face pale with fear and unease. It seemed he knew something we didn't.
Mai Lao frowned, squinting his eyes. The Old Man had an expression that suggested he had already guessed what was happening, making him hard to read. He was also looking at me, but his gaze seemed unfocused and elusive; I couldn't grasp what he meant.
At that moment, Shunzi couldn't hold back any longer; he turned his head and vomited. I quickly reached out to support him and asked, "Are you okay? Is everything alright?"
Shunzi shook his head and forced out, "I'm... I'm fine, Brother Yi." His face was deathly pale, as if he had just been discharged from a serious illness.
The Bearded Man cursed loudly, "Damn it! What a bunch of cowards! You’re all overreacting."
He took the Flashlight and walked over to the coffin. When he reached its side, he frowned as well. He shone the Flashlight around and muttered, "It's just a rotting corpse; what's so scary about it? You guys have the guts to come here for salvage? I suggest you all go home early."
None of us responded because only we knew what was really going on. The Bearded Man called over several of his subordinates to carefully inspect every corner of the coffin. We had already checked around the corpse; there were no treasures to be found—aside from the jade pendant in the female corpse's hand, there was hardly anything valuable.
Jiao Ba walked over to me and whispered in my ear, "Brother Yi, be careful; I think it's a corpse transformation."
What? A corpse transformation? Confused, I quietly asked him, "Corpse transformation? What do you mean?"
Jiao Ba spoke softly, "I can't explain here; just be cautious."
"Boss, there's nothing here! Aside from a hairpin and a bracelet, there's nothing else," one of the Marauders said angrily while glaring at us. If it weren't for Bearded Man stopping him, he probably would have shot us on the spot.
"Look again! I refuse to believe that in this Ancient Shipwreck there’s only this one coffin with nothing else!" Bearded Man continued searching stubbornly while we stood nearby. Honestly, we wanted to run away, but two Marauders with Submachine Guns were closely watching us at the Hatch; these guys were really disciplined—almost comparable to our country's third-rate troops.
After searching several times without finding anything else, one of the Marauders spoke again: "Boss, these guys are clearly trying to deceive us; let’s just take them out."
Bearded Man turned around holding a hairpin in his hand and shouted at me, "Where's the treasure you mentioned? Is this damn thing what you were talking about?"
"Jiao Ba" said with a smile, "We’re not fooling you! This thing is a priceless treasure. Take it to the Antique Market, and I guarantee it will be worth a lot."
"To hell with you! If I want treasure, I want a lot of it. Oh~~ I know, you’ve taken everything from this coffin, haven’t you? Now tell me, where’s the treasure?" As he finished speaking, he pulled back the gun's slide and pressed the handgun directly against "Jiao Ba's" forehead. The "Bearded Man" seemed to be losing his mind; it looked like he was serious now.
I quickly stepped forward and babbled, "No, no! Check again! Maybe there’s something in the corpse’s mouth or nose that you want?"
The "Bearded Man" turned his eyes and grinned mischievously as he nodded. "Oh~~ You might have a point there. You guys, pry open this corpse's mouth for me. They say 'Empress Dowager Cixi' had a luminous pearl in her mouth; let’s see if this corpse has any treasures in hers."
After hearing his words, I was a bit dumbfounded. "Jiao Ba" and I exchanged glances; I could tell he was just as helpless. The last time we came here, we actually forgot to pry open the mouth of this female corpse. Maybe I was just too righteous! If it weren't for the "Bearded Man" losing his temper just now, I wouldn’t have remembered.
Before long, I heard one of the "Marauders" shout, "Boss, we found something! There’s indeed something in the female corpse's mouth."
Upon hearing this, I wanted to rush over to take a look, but unfortunately, I was stopped by the gun of the "Bearded Man's" subordinate. Soon after, I saw the "Bearded Man" holding something in his hand. I couldn't see clearly what it was, but in the light of the flashlight, it appeared to be something shiny and golden. What exactly it was? I had no idea.
At that moment, another "Marauder" said to the "Bearded Man," "Boss, there’s a piece of yellow paper here. What’s it for?"
The "Bearded Man" was focused on what he held in his hand and probably didn’t even hear what the other guy said. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "It’s useless; throw it away."
The "Marauder" immediately tore up the yellow paper. Just then, "Jiao Ba" suddenly grabbed my arm and said, "Brother Yi, run!"
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