"Fatty, talk less and do more. I'll reward you with your favorite ghost pill later."
Zhang Tian patted Fatty's shoulder.
"Boss, you should have said so earlier."
Fatty pulled his hand across his mouth, pretending he wouldn't speak a word.
"Then Boss, I'll go check over there with Young Master Wu and the others. You guys take care of this side. Don't worry, Fatty will give it his all."
Fatty clenched his fist and then, pulling Wu Tianzhen along, ran inside.
This guy is quite enthusiastic.
"Brother Kai Xuan, I didn't realize you were so motivated."
Wu Tianzhen looked surprised.
"Absolutely, Fatty is full of drive."
Watching Fatty leave, Zhang Tian's gaze returned to his surroundings.
"If we want to find the first chess piece and the last one, we need to understand the overall plan of the game first."
"If this is truly the Myriad Chess Game, then we need to differentiate based on the mechanisms beneath the stone statues."
Zhang Tian looked at the stone statues before him and took a deep breath.
If he were to solely rely on guessing the mechanisms, he wouldn't know how long it would take.
"The one who tied the knot must untie it. Boss, you taught me that. Why don't we ask them themselves?"
Hu Bayi touched the face of a stone statue with a slight smile.
Zhang Tian's hand paused, and his gaze fell upon the stone statue.
"Old Hu, I think you're right. If these stone statues are formed by encasing corpses, then we just need to make them speak."
Zhang Tian's eyes lit up.
As expected of Hu Bayi. Ever since he acquired those few feng shui secret arts, his mind had become illuminated.
He was becoming more agile, and coupled with the fan in his hand, it was simply brilliant.
"It seems necessary to get my hands on Zhuge Liang's fan."
Zhang Tian muttered to himself. As for Zhuge Liang's fan, Zhang Tian was merely thinking about it.
After all, obtaining it wouldn't be that easy.
"Taro, go and see if your brothers and sisters are inside."
Zhang Tian looked at Taro, who was standing by idly.
"Mhm!"
Taro nodded seriously and slowly approached the stone statue.
His head pressed against the head of the stone statue.
After nearly three seconds, Taro slowly stood up.
"Yes, they are, but I can sense their aura is very weak, as if they would disappear with a gust of wind," Taro said timidly.
Zhang Tian nodded slightly.
"It seems this is the only way."
Zhang Tian took out a yellow talisman, then cut his own hand.
Zhang Qilin wanted to reach out when he saw this, but after seeing that Zhang Tian's hand was already cut, he withdrew it.
"No need. Mine will suffice."
Zhang Tian glanced at Zhang Qilin, then used his own blood to draw on the talisman.
"In my blood, I can sense a strong positive energy. I will use my blood to draw a spell to trap evil spirits, and use the power of this spell to wrap around whatever is inside and pull it out of the stone statue."
Zhang Tian said softly. At the same time, he slammed his hand down, and a yellow talisman landed on the stone statue's head.
Zhang Qilin watched Zhang Tian's actions without speaking.
His eyebrows twitched slightly; he had just had a momentary instinctive reaction.
As Zhang Tian continuously formed hand seals,
Soon, the talisman directly turned into golden light and drilled into the stone statue's head.
If Wu Tianzhen were present, he might have exclaimed in awe.
"Supreme Patriarch, protect me, draw a ground as a prison, trap and destroy evil!"
As Zhang Tian's voice fell,
The golden light reappeared from within the stone statue.
Accompanying the golden light was the soul projection of a little girl.
"Th-thank you, Uncle. Um, Uncle, I beg you, can you save the others?"
After the little girl's soul projection appeared, she didn't immediately choose to escape or do anything else.
Instead, she wanted to beg Zhang Tian to save others.
Some say that people are born evil and only become good through later cultivation.
Others say that people are inherently good, and it is later factors, along with family influences, that determine a person's character.
Zhang Tian believed that at birth, human nature is good. If not for certain factors, a person's character might not change much.
Looking at the little girl's eyes,
Zhang Tian shook his head.
"Please, Uncle, please save them."
Seeing this, the little girl quickly tried to grab Zhang Tian's hand.
But she was already insubstantial. Humans and ghosts are separated, and she had no physical form, so her hand passed right through.
"It's not that I don't want to save them, but you need to tell me some things, and then I can help you. After all, my blood is limited, and I can't save you all using this method."
Zhang Tian said calmly.
After he spoke, the little girl, who was originally sad, suddenly seemed to be filled with vitality.
"Then Uncle, it's a deal. I will definitely tell you everything I know."
The little girl looked at Zhang Tian seriously.
Her face was very pale, with streaks of red on both cheeks and a red dot on her forehead, as if all the children in the tomb were dressed this way.
"I ask you, who was the first to be made into a stone statue, and who was the last?"
"Only by finding these can I help you."
Zhang Tian looked at the little girl.
There was no color in the little girl's dark pupils.
"Mhm..."
As the little girl thought deeply, her head began to ache more and more.
Fragments of memory flooded into her mind.
Someone once said that the most painful thing for a person is not facing or experiencing, but remembering.
As the little girl's face grew paler, Zhang Tian had to take out a ghost pill.
"Eat it."
Zhang Tian looked at the little girl.
The little girl felt the warm energy and hesitated for a moment, but finally took the pill from Zhang Tian's hand.
After swallowing it, her strength grew, and her body felt a warmth.
And the memories that were causing her a headache also surged forth.
"It was a big banquet, so many people, so many people came."
"Those little fish in the sea were like us, swimming in schools towards the depths. The little fish didn't know the danger, just like us."
"I remember my mother telling me that if I stayed here, our home would be safe. I listened to my mother and stayed, but she never came back for me."
"Later, it felt like my heart was chained, and I was made into stone. Fortunately, I met them here."
"Yong Hai, Yamano Yong Hai. I remember it very clearly. He comforted me and told me not to be afraid, but he was the first to be made into a stone statue."
The little girl's voice was filled with tears.
Zhang Tian and Hu Ba exchanged glances.
Their hearts trembled.
"Each stone statue, or coffin, will have the name of the deceased. Old Hu, let's quickly find that guy named Yong Hai."
Zhang Tian said. Hu Bayi nodded and had already rushed out.
Zhang Tian glanced at Zhang Qilin again. Zhang Qilin just nodded slightly.
He had already disappeared.
"Don't worry, Uncle will help you. Taro, you go find people too."
Zhang Tian patted the little girl's head.
To the little girl's surprise, Zhang Tian seemed to be able to touch her.
"Okay, Uncle."
Taro nodded and also ran out quickly.
Zhang Tian said nothing and, with the little girl, rushed into the pile of stone statues.