"Hmm? What's this coffin doing here?"
Fatty blinked, his head leaning in, his small eyes filled with curiosity.
"Fatty, stop looking. It's a blood coffin. You go check out where the cries for help are coming from. We'll examine this coffin," Zhang Tian patted Fatty on the shoulder.
"Alright, boss. If you find anything good, you'll tell Fatty first."
Fatty nodded and headed towards the source of the sound with his firearm.
"This is a blood coffin, coated with an unknown blood. The wood of the coffin seems to be rosewood. It looks like it's over two thousand years old." Zhang Tian observed the coffin before him, making his deductions. After all, before tomb raiding, Zhang Tian had been an antique appraiser and could tell the age of old items at a glance.
"This must be from the time of King Xian," Zhang Tian stated.
"Why would this coffin be out here? We haven't even fully entered the Insect Valley yet," Hu Bayi's gaze lingered on the coffin in the heart of the trees, his brow furrowed slightly. Generally, coffins, even if placed closer, would be outside the main tomb, but this was too far forward.
"It's likely for guarding purposes. This coffin was probably built to protect the King Xian's tomb inside." Zhang Tian looked towards the depths. "Normally, coffins are placed not too far from the outer perimeter of the main tomb, but its location here indicates that King Xian's tomb is by no means a small one, but rather a colossal burial site."
"Could the entire Insect Valley be the tomb itself?" Shirley Yang mused, thinking it over.
"Possibly," Zhang Tian nodded.
"There are poisonous creatures in here," Zhang Qilin suddenly spoke from the side. He drew his Black Gold Ancient Blade across the red coffin, and a blood-like substance flowed out from the top.
"Let's open it," Zhang Tian said softly. Hu Bayi glanced at Zhang Qilin, and they nodded. Hu Bayi then placed his hand on the red coffin, and the next moment, the coffin lid began to shake.
"Crack!"
Suddenly, as Hu Bayi pushed, the coffin made a shattering sound. With Hu Bayi's increasing force, the coffin lid swayed accordingly.
"Boom." With a powerful heave from Hu Bayi, the lid was flung open. The group peered inside.
The entire interior of the coffin was filled with blood! The blood filled the coffin completely, resembling a pool of blood. A foul odor permeated the air as the blood emerged.
"This must be some kind of preservative liquid. Hmm? There's something inside." Zhang Tian commented, observing the blood. A corpse slowly rose from within the blood. The corpse wore a golden mask, and its entire body showed no signs of decay. It was clear that this blood was a form of preservative. Similar to formalin.
"This person's attire is very strange," Shirley Yang remarked softly, looking at the figure before them.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a priest from the time of King Xian," Zhang Tian continued. "King Xian did things unconventionally, and the placement of this coffin is proof enough. By the way, remember the ox head we saw before we came? That was probably the totem of the entire tribe." Zhang Tian spoke, his gaze fixed on the blood.
"There's movement inside," Zhang Qilin's voice cut in. His brow furrowed, and he gripped his Black Gold Ancient Blade. As he spoke, the inside of the coffin began to churn. Next, countless blood intestines surged from the priest's body, extending like tentacles, writhing towards the group.
Seeing this, Shirley Yang's rifle began to spray bullets, the "da da da" sound echoing. Zhang Tian, watching the blood coffin dance like a demon, noticed something was wrong.
"This is likely some kind of forbidden art. Don't rush," Zhang Tian placed a hand on Shirley Yang's rifle, producing several talismans. There were too many forbidden arts in the Miao villages back then, and countless more here. Zhang Tian naturally didn't want Shirley Yang to destroy the coffin if he wanted to see what was inside.
"Suppress!" Zhang Tian flung the talismans into the coffin. The Zhen Yao Talisman (Exorcism Talisman) was cast, and a golden barrier seemed to form above the coffin, preventing the ghostly tendrils from escaping. Zhang Tian then cast a Huo Qiu Fu (Fireball Talisman).
"Boom!" As the flames blazed, the intestines within the blood coffin were scorched, turning into charcoal. Zhang Tian looked inside. Apart from the mangled corpse, the blood had also significantly reduced.
"What kind of forbidden art is this? It's so peculiar, turning a person's body into this state," Hu Bayi exclaimed, marveling at the blood coffin. Miao village artifacts were numerous and complex. The methods employed were also extremely intricate, and Hu Bayi felt a surge of curiosity.
"It seems he merged himself with this blood. And if I'm not mistaken, this blood is human blood," Zhang Tian stated. He approached the coffin and, with a sweep of his hand, flung the blood out. Only a strange corpse remained inside the coffin. The corpse's abdomen was open, and its intestines were gone. Those tendrils were likely formed from these intestines. And on the corpse's face, the golden mask was particularly striking. Zhang Tian slowly placed his hand on the mask and gently pulled. The mask, along with a face, was pulled off by Zhang Tian.
"This mask has been worn for so long that it has fused with the skin," Zhang Tian said, feeling a bit disgusted.
"His name is Adamu. He was indeed a priest," Hu Bayi said, reading the inscriptions inside the coffin. "It says here that he was placed here to guard King Xian." Zhang Tian examined the inside of the coffin. Apart from a scepter held by the priest, there was only this golden mask.
[Item: Priest's Scepter!]
[Item Level: Low-grade Magical Artifact.]
[Item Ability: Can cast witchcraft in conjunction with incantations.]
[Item Description: A personal belonging of a priest, buried with him.]
The item description appeared in his mind. Zhang Tian glanced at the scepter but didn't take it. It had been soaked in blood for thousands of years and smelled awful. Moreover, its grade was too low, making it rather useless to Zhang Tian now.
"It seems there's nothing particularly valuable here. This golden mask is useless to us, and it's disgusting, so we'll leave it here." Zhang Tian returned the mask to its original position. Of course, the face could no longer be restored.
Meanwhile, over with Fatty.
"Boss called me to patrol the mountain, so Fatty will go check out the whole area!" Fatty hummed a tune, his ears keenly listening to the sounds around him. Apart from the chirping of birds and insects, and the movement of poisonous creatures, the cries for help seemed to have vanished.
"Did they go deaf?" Fatty wondered. Suddenly, another sound came from not far away.
"Help, Hai Aopu!"
"Still speaking foreign languages? So fancy," Fatty muttered. He quickened his pace. Fatty pushed through the undergrowth and soon found a light in the darkness. He saw an old man and several middle-aged men lying on the ground. Two of them had blackened faces and were undeniably dead. Fatty's jaw dropped as he recognized them.
"Holy cow, isn't that the Bei Li Expert Group?" Fatty exclaimed, barely believing his eyes. How did they end up here?