Not falling into the coffin

"Hmm?" I looked down in confusion and saw that his expression wasn't great. I said, "Of course, you and I, Laowan, and Zhao Min are all here. This is the Han..."

Suddenly, I took in a sharp breath because I understood his meaning. Hansheng and Datou were on the same pillar, one above the other. Just below Datou, a lone dark figure had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, blurry and unclear, but undoubtedly a person hiding there.

This shock made my scalp tingle, and I couldn't help but shout, "Datou, below!"

Datou was agile and reacted quickly. With one hand pulling the rope, the other pulled out a knife and stabbed directly below him. However, the stab hit only empty air. Datou looked around, shouting, "Little friend, why does your gaze still seem dull? Logically, with both feet off the ground, your intelligence should have the upper hand."

I hurriedly threw the flashlight over, saying, "It's right there..."

Before I could finish my sentence, I paused. The person disappeared, and I unwillingly shone the light again. Indeed, there was no one. I thought I must have been mistaken just now; it couldn't be possible. Li Xin had also seen it.

At this moment, Hansheng asked me from a distance, "Don't be anxious. Did you see a person?"

I scratched my head, recalling, "From the size, it looked like a person, lying under Datou. Li Xin saw it too."

Datou scoffed, "Nonsense! If someone followed us, I would have sensed it. Forget it, forget it, let's climb quickly."

I was already somewhat relaxed, but unexpectedly, as Datou turned, the strange person was on his back. He himself didn't notice it at all. I exclaimed, almost falling off the pillar.

Datou looked over, saying helplessly, "Brother, what's wrong with you?" But neither of us responded, and he figured it out himself. Sweat poured down his face.

Hansheng wanted to go down, and I gestured for him not to move. His position couldn't see much, and if there was danger, two people running on the same pillar wouldn't be able to escape.

I adjusted the flashlight to spotlight mode, gradually scanning over. The person originally had their head buried under their arms. When the flashlight hit them, seemingly stimulated, they lifted their head, revealing a hideous pig-like face, showing sharp teeth at me.

I was startled; this face was too strange, not even resembling a human face. It looked like some kind of animal. At the same time, I wondered, how could there be a living creature here? Could it be that the burial platform was connected to the outside?

Before I could fully think, the creature suddenly spread a pair of wings, more than two meters wide on both sides of its body. It screamed and flew towards me.

"It's a bat," Zhao Min shouted.

I thought, how could bats appear here? Moreover, its size was too large...

The creature, a giant bird, surprised me. Its speed was incredible, and in the blink of an eye, it rushed in front of me. Judging by those sharp teeth, I could lose half a pound of flesh if it bit me.

I let go on the spot, sliding down several dozen centimeters to avoid the bird's big mouth. Failing the attack, it flew back into the air, flapping its wings and staring at me.

Zhao Min shouted, "It's a bat."

I thought, how could bats appear here? Moreover, its size was too large...

The creature, a giant bird, surprised me. Its speed was incredible, and in the blink of an eye, it rushed in front of me. Judging by those sharp teeth, I could lose half a pound of flesh if it bit me.

I let go on the spot, sliding down several dozen centimeters to avoid the bird's big mouth. Failing the attack, it flew back into the air, flapping its wings and staring at me.

Zhao Min shouted, "It's a bat."

I thought, how could bats appear here? Moreover, its size was too large...

A quick turn, and the creature dove down again. I tried to dodge its attack, but as soon as I slid down, my foot stepped on Li Xin. He was already scared out of his wits, hugging the pillar and not daring to move.

In the critical moment, I couldn't care less. I took off my backpack and threw it over. The bird was blocked by the backpack, biting it and flapping its wings to ascend. With a crisp sound, the backpack was torn in half, and equipment scattered from the sky.

Looking at the ancestral bird sign on my backpack, I broke into a cold sweat. This type of backpack had strong durability and load-bearing capacity. It indicated how terrifying the biting force of this bird was. If it bit my arm, the whole arm might be torn off.

At this moment, Hansheng shouted from the side, "Use fire."

In my heart, I bitterly smiled. All the equipment in the backpack had fallen, and I had no source of fire. Where could I find fire? Seeing the strange bird circling around me, I urgently searched for something. Datou signaled, "Firestarter, firestarter."

Upon hearing that, I quickly took out the fire starter from my pocket and kicked Li Xin below, saying, "Brother, if you lie down again, we'll be fed to the wildlife. Quickly check the bag, see if there's anything inflammable."

Li Xin's face turned pale, trembling as he opened the backpack, pulling out a spare quick-drying shirt and tearfully saying, "Is this okay?"

I took the quick-drying shirt and was about to try to ignite it when Datou exclaimed, "Damn it!" It turned out that he had just lured the strange bird over. I hastily kicked Li Xin below, saying, "Climb, climb! Someone is diverting its attention."

As the strange bird flew towards him, Datou's face changed. In a panic, he lit a cold flame firework, and a dazzling white light illuminated the surroundings. The strange bird screeched and flew away. Seizing the opportunity, everyone climbed up the iron cables with all their might.

While the cold flame firework was still not extinguished, we quickly surveyed the surrounding environment. It turned out that there were other iron cables connecting between the layers, forming a denser iron network. That explained why we couldn't see clearly from below.

Datou, balancing on the iron chains, approached us. He asked with a fierce look, "Did you see where that sand sculpture went?"

I shook my head. Zhao Min and Laowan also came over. Zhao Min looked at me and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I smiled. "We owe it to Datou for sacrificing himself."

Datou sneered and mumbled, and Hansheng, who came from behind him, took the almost extinguished cold flame firework and threw it in a direction with force.

We followed the trajectory of the firework, and when it finally landed, we saw a silent coffin in the middle of the iron net.

Although it was only a few seconds, those coffins made me feel excited. Different

 from restraining those corpse soldiers, these were genuine coffins.

Discovering coffins in a tomb is an adrenaline-pumping experience, and it's the most fascinating part of the tomb-raiding process. When prying open the coffin, apart from the substantial rewards, what satisfies the tomb raider the most is the primal human curiosity about death and burial.

Moreover, even from a distance, I could vaguely see that these coffins were much larger than the previous ones, clearly indicating a distinct level. It was evident that the deceased had an extremely special status. What's more, the valuable items that the mysterious person took might be here.

Everyone was itching to get started, and Datou was ecstatic. "Damn, finally seeing the payoff."

However, I noticed that Hansheng's face turned somewhat pale, and his eyes were fixed on those coffins. My heart sank, as Hansheng rarely revealed such an expression. Knowing his temperament, something was definitely wrong.

I asked him what was going on. He frowned, seemingly lost in thought, and after a while, he turned to look at us. "A mercifully fallen coffin represents reluctance to part, and a malevolent fallen coffin represents unwillingness. It seems that the fallen coffins here are all malevolent coffins."

"A mercifully fallen coffin represents reluctance to part, and a malevolent fallen coffin represents unwillingness." This kind of saying I had heard before. If an old person passed away at home, when the coffin fell to the ground, it indicated that the family was unwilling to part with the deceased. In such a situation, one didn't need to worry much, just grab some soil under the falling coffin and place it on top; that would solve it. However, if the person harbored resentment at the time of death, the fallen coffin was very inauspicious, suggesting that the spirit was unwilling to leave, and the family might not have peace.

"What about the non-fallen coffins?" Datou asked.

I also looked over. Hansheng, with a serious expression, explained, "After a person dies, they should rest in peace in the earth. If the coffin doesn't touch the ground, it means the person inside doesn't want to be buried and has endless resentment. It is known as a suspended coffin, and it is the most malevolent type. If the coffin is lifted or falls to the ground, none of us will be able to leave."

Laowan, who had heard of this before, looked surprised. "Does the suspended coffin really exist?"

Hansheng nodded. "When I followed my second uncle to Outer Mongolia to explore the tomb of a Yuan Dynasty prince, there was indeed a suspended coffin. Many comrades were trapped inside, and it took a lot of effort. In the end, we had to blow up the ceiling to bury the main body."

Datou's face drooped, and he lamented, "What should we do then? Should we lift it or not?"

We all looked at each other. Even if we didn't lift the coffin, we still decided to go and take a look. All these clues pointed to this place, and no one was willing to give up.

Carefully approaching the iron net, we saw nine coffins displayed. The whole body was painted with colorful gods and ghosts, along with cinnabar charms. The middle one was the most special, with a black kui pattern in front of the coffin. On top of that, there was an old white lantern, adding to its eerie atmosphere.

I had a strong feeling that the person sleeping in this coffin might be the mysterious person from Bashu.

According to Li Xin's speculation, the most crucial factor for that person's visit was likely the "geography" or what is known as Feng Shui in this field. He came here with the prescription for longevity... Wait a minute. Suddenly, a bold idea flashed in my mind. We never saw the prescription for longevity. No, more accurately, Boss Fox never saw it. Or perhaps... there was no prescription for longevity at all! The person had only a formula that could turn people into zombies!

I punched my palm vigorously, understanding that everything made sense. Why did that person come all the way to Hu Hu country? Datou had a point: nothing was more attractive than immortality. The Feng Shui here could help him perfect the formula! Back then, he deceived Hu Hu King with an incomplete immortality formula, helped him build this burial platform, and the secret was likely hidden here.

Seeing my excitement, Datou asked if I had gone crazy. I didn't bother with him and shared my speculation with everyone. Li Xin, closing his eyes to think, nodded and said, "Makes sense. But I don't understand Feng Shui; I don't know if there's anything unusual here."

Laowan asked, "Er Ye, what do you think?"

I thought to myself that I didn't know anything about Feng Shui, but even Datou was looking forward to my answer. I couldn't show any timidity, so I pretended to contemplate and said, "We've been walking underground for a long time and have deviated from our original position. However, we are already beneath the Tian Shan Mountains. Chinese people pay attention to the 'path of the dragon and the pulse of the earth.' Mountains represent dragons, and rivers represent pulses. The source of the pulse is at the mountain. This place is second only to the ancestor of dragon pulses, Kunlun Mountain. If we talk about good Feng Shui, there are very few places in the world better than this."

Datou was about to speak, but Hansheng suddenly made a gesture not to make a sound. Listening carefully, we heard irregular friction sounds from above, extremely faint, as if someone was quietly approaching.