A two-meter-long ancient black and gold coffin appeared before them.
Intricate patterns were carved into the black and gold, giving it a majestic appearance, and the coffin's texture inspired awe.
"Such dense malevolent energy."
Hu Bayi frowned slightly as he observed the aura emanating from the coffin.
"Open!"
Zhang Tian wasted no further time. Whether anything was inside would be revealed in an instant.
If there was something, Zhang Tian was confident he could retreat with both Hu Bayi and himself unharmed. If not, it meant Zhang Tian's premonition was correct.
"Boss, are we really going to open it now?"
Hu Bayi hesitated.
"Let's open it."
Seeing Zhang Tian's confidence, Hu Bayi said no more. He placed a hand on the ancient coffin, veins bulging.
"Opening the coffin so soon!"
Daoist Shan He was surprised to see Hu Bayi preparing to open the coffin.
"It's so heavy."
Hu Bayi, who was pushing the ancient coffin, almost couldn't lift it.
Seeing this, Zhang Tian moved to Hu Bayi's other side, and they both exerted force.
With a crisp sound, a shallow crack appeared at the joint of the coffin lid.
Immediately after, a black mist surged out from within the coffin, shrouded in dense death energy.
In an instant, the entire tomb chamber was filled with these wisps of death energy.
"Such potent death energy, boss. Did the entity inside suffer unimaginable torture in death?"
Hu Bayi exclaimed.
Zhang Tian glanced at the broken chains and nodded slightly.
The chains must have been deliberately placed to seal it shut, thereby causing the occupant even more torment.
"So powerful. Even at my peak, I wouldn't be confident of defeating someone with this kind of energy."
"Will these little ones be able to manage?"
Daoist Shan He looked at the children trembling around him.
He had initially thought these children were bait for Zhang Tian, but that was not the case.
He didn't expect much from these children.
"Open!"
Zhang Tian murmured, slamming his hand down. The already partially opened coffin lid flew off.
The chains connecting the lid to the golden dragon's mouth were also snapped by Zhang Tian's immense strength.
The next moment, streams of black smoke erupted from the coffin.
The tomb chamber, already filled with a sense of death, now felt even more terrifying.
"Quite the smoker, aren't you? Didn't expect you'd still like to smoke even after death."
Wang Banyue, watching the continuous stream of black gas from the coffin, couldn't help but remark.
Wang Kaixuan: ???
"Brother Banyue, why are you stealing my lines?"
"Brother Kaixuan, we're like brothers, aren't we? But judging by this, I should smoke less from now on, lest I become a ghost who smokes after death."
Wang Banyue sighed.
Wang Kaixuan touched his cheek, saying nothing more.
"Imperial Wind Heaven Art, Wind Come!"
Zhang Tian flicked his hand, throwing a talisman. A gust of wind surged from it.
The previously smoke-filled coffin became clearer.
Everyone's gaze fell upon the interior of the coffin.
Upon seeing the condition inside, the three of them fell silent.
"Boss, who did this? How cruel."
Even though Hu Bayi had witnessed scenes of mass burials, the sight before him still filled him with a sense of shock.
"I don't know, but I can confirm that someone has been here before, and they have completely dealt with the occupant."
"Either a vendetta or some other reason."
Zhang Tian said softly, gazing at the scene within the coffin.
These were indeed the only two possibilities.
"What did boss and the others see? Why are they suddenly silent?"
Fatty looked upwards, feeling impatient.
Zhang Tian's silence and unchanging expression were quite peculiar.
"Could they be hallucinating?"
Wu Tianzhen, standing nearby, suggested.
"Impossible. Even if they were hallucinating, my second brother would surely be fine. But now, even second brother has this expression. It's too strange."
Fatty said, itching to rush forward and see what was happening.
At this moment, in Zhang Tian's eyes...
Inside the black and gold ancient coffin, chains coiled like pythons, tightly bound around a corpse.
The chains pierced through the uncorrupted body, from the chest, ankles, neck, and even the head.
It could be said that the chains were specifically designed to immobilize the corpse, preventing any movement.
And within the coffin, on both sides, one could clearly see the scorch marks of blood.
The corpse's eyes were not closed; they were wide open.
Due to the passage of time, the eyeballs were long gone, leaving only empty sockets.
On either side of the coffin, there were still some burial objects.
However, these objects did not appear ordinary.
A one-eyed snake-eye, a one-horned flood dragon.
Zhang Tian even saw some very peculiar items.
"Boss, what is this?"
Hu Bayi looked at a bell inside the coffin.
The bronze bell was a bronze color and had not faded with time.
On the contrary, it appeared more lustrous.
"Item: Soul Suppressing Bell!"
"Item Level: High-Grade Magical Artifact!"
"Item Description: Crafted by a certain master, specifically used to deter souls, often employed in punishing criminals!"
A voice resonated in Zhang Tian's mind.
He was slightly taken aback by the description.
Punishing criminals? Did this mean the person before him met this fate because someone came for them?
A jolt of surprise ran through him, but Zhang Tian quickly reconsidered. A criminal, only within the same country, after committing a crime, would be subject to the country's laws.
And Xu Fu should not have been in the Qin state. How could he have committed a crime? Unless... someone from the Qin state had arrived!
This bold speculation made Zhang Tian's heart tremble. Could it really be?
"The things inside here are unusable."
Zhang Qilin's voice echoed.
He could tell that due to the overwhelming death energy, most of the items inside were basically beyond use.
Essentially, all the good things in the coffin had turned into scrap.
"A pity. However, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Although the death energy is heavy, it can still be used after some cleaning."
"Let's search and take whatever we can."
Zhang Tian was not polite. After all, the person before him was gone.
This coffin was now his to plunder, and Zhang Tian could handle it as he pleased.
"Boss, this is very strange. It's very similar to the whisk we found before."
Hu Bayi reached into the coffin and picked up an object he had been looking at for a long time.
What Hu Bayi held was a circular grip accessory.
This circular fastener made the whisk handle more stable and aesthetically pleasing.
Zhang Tian looked.
"Item: Whisk Fastener!"
"Item Level: Superior Treasure!"
"Item Description: A fastener made from the inner core of a flood dragon. When used with a whisk, it can unleash immense power!"
The description once again echoed in his mind.
Zhang Tian swallowed.
Truly an ancient artifact. This single fastener was refined from the inner core of a flood dragon. This was simply heaven-defying!
"It should be!"
Zhang Tian said, pulling out the broken whisk fragments he had obtained earlier.
As the components of the whisk were brought out, a peculiar phenomenon occurred.
The three damaged parts began to assemble themselves!