With the sarcophagus opened, the crowd was only one last lid away from the final truth.
Yan Shouyi stared intently at the coffin. While others might not know, he was aware that his grandmother’s body was inside.
Yang Li, holding his submachine gun, poked the back of the strange man’s head with the barrel, urging him, “What are you standing around for? Open the coffin!”
Ma Xingping hesitated, “Shouldn’t we follow protocol and light a candle in the southeast corner first…”
“Light your mother!” Yang Li scoffed, “Only you tomb raiders have these stupid rules. I don’t care about any of that!”
No one could stop the greedy Yang Li. Under his threat, the peculiar man inserted the crowbar into the gap of the coffin lid.
He poured all his strength into it, and the coffin lid creaked, being pried open halfway.
Yang Li immediately bent down, shining his flashlight into the coffin.
To his surprise, a bloody hand shot out from the coffin and directly choked Yang Li!
Yang Li’s face contorted in terror as he struggled frantically. In his panic, he actually shoved the peculiar man into the coffin!
The entity inside the coffin seemed satisfied, releasing its grip. The peculiar man inside screamed incessantly.
Mixed within his screams were eerie squirming sounds.
Immediately after, the coffin lid, which had just been pried open, slammed shut with a bang.
Yan Shouyi’s expression turned grim, realizing that his grandmother had gone through the same ordeal all those years ago.
Having finally broken free, Yang Li stumbled backward, eventually collapsing onto the ground in shock. “What was in the coffin?!”
Yan Shouyi sighed, “We all told you, you shouldn’t touch whatever is in this coffin.”
“You know what’s in there?!” Yang Li demanded.
The Ma siblings also looked at Yan Shouyi. From his actions throughout their journey, it was clear he knew something about the Tomb of King Jian.
Yan Shouyi shook his head. Explaining what was in this coffin would take more than a few words.
For now, they needed to figure out how to deal with the entity inside.
Just as Yan Shouyi was about to speak, Lin Zitong suddenly recalled something crucial.
She grabbed Yan Shouyi’s arm and whispered, “Big idiot, didn’t Jiang Wusheng have his arms cut off? How could a hand reach out from the coffin just now to grab someone?!”
Yan Shouyi also froze.
Indeed!
Jiang Wusheng had no hands. Could it be that the person lying in this coffin in King Jian’s tomb wasn’t him?
But if not Jiang Wusheng, then who could it be?!
No, this King Jian could also be a descendant of Jiang Wusheng. In that case, it would be perfectly normal for him to have hands.
At this moment, Ma Xingping looked at the surrounding murals on the walls. He quickly said, “Everyone, look at the murals on the walls. They should record the life of the tomb owner. If we can understand even a little from them, we might find a way to deal with what’s in the coffin!”
This was Ma Xingping’s accumulated experience from years of tomb raiding. Everyone quickly looked around.
The beginning of the thirteen murals depicted a deep valley. At the bottom of the valley lay a man with severed arms in a pool of blood. However, not far behind the man stood a woman.
The second mural showed the woman bringing the armless man home and taking meticulous care of him.
The third mural depicted the two having a son and living harmoniously and happily…
Seeing this, Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong finally understood. It turned out that after Jiang Wusheng was pushed into the Worm Valley, he didn't die. Instead, he was rescued by a woman in the valley, and they even had a child.
However, the story took a turn. When Jiang Wusheng’s child was still young, a group of people arrived in their village. The leader rode a leopard with wings. They killed Jiang Wusheng’s wife and child. Jiang Wusheng, unable to bear the pain, committed suicide, but he did not succeed. Instead, he was taken back to the Qing Jiang Kingdom.
In the Qing Jiang Kingdom, Jiang Wusheng endured humiliation and suffering. After poisoning twenty-seven princes of the Qing Jiang Kingdom, he fled overnight but still couldn’t escape the grasp of the State Preceptor, dying on the road.
Later, Jiang Wusheng was reborn as an infant. It was already a century after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Qing Jiang Kingdom and the Fish Shu Kingdom had long ceased to exist. The reborn Jiang Wusheng had no memories of his past life. He could only live his life as it was in this era. He was a renowned general, his achievements unparalleled, and he achieved his reign as King Jian.
In his twilight years, Jiang Wusheng’s memories awakened. Remembering everything, he began to construct his tomb and sent people to find the ruins of the ancient Qing Jiang Kingdom. He excavated the remains of his past life’s loved ones, the Shu Princess’s spiritual snakes, and his own severed arms preserved from his time as Jiang Wusheng. All these were incorporated into his tomb.
His tomb contained burial pits and chambers for figurines, all preparations for Jiang Wusheng’s resurrection.
After performing some complex rituals, the still-living King Jian lay down in the coffin, quietly awaiting his future successors.
The murals concluded with King Jian entering the coffin. Those who were unaware would likely be confused, but only Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong understood what was happening.
The person in the coffin was indeed Jiang Wusheng, or more accurately, a descendant of Jiang Wusheng, who was King Jian.
This entire tomb was built by Jiang Wusheng to halt the endless cycle of reincarnation. He sought to retain his memories and live once more.
But Yan Shouyi still had another question.
Resurrection was no easy feat. Earlier, Lian He had helped Lin Zitong revive because Lin Zitong had just died, and her soul had not yet departed. However, Jiang Wusheng had been dead for over a thousand years and had gone through countless reincarnations.
Could it be that he also set up a grand formation for refining malevolent spirits and reincarnation?
No, it shouldn’t be that complicated.
Suddenly, Yan Shouyi thought of a possibility.
He couldn’t help but look at Boss Zhou, who had been knocked unconscious by Yang Li.
Boss Zhou was actually a descendant of Jiang Wusheng. He had awakened his memories due to a terminal illness.
Therefore, there were two Jiang Wushengs in this Tomb of King Jian.
Whether Boss Zhou obtained Jiang Wusheng’s power or Boss Zhou resurrected Jiang Wusheng, the end result was the same!
In other words, Boss Zhou, who was outside the coffin, and Jiang Wusheng, who was inside the coffin, were equally dangerous!
Realizing this, Yan Shouyi immediately shouted at Yang Li, “Yang Li, kill Boss Zhou!”
Yang Li was taken aback. He had found Yan Shouyi quite amiable before, so why was he suddenly ordering a killing?
The Ma siblings were also perplexed by Yan Shouyi’s actions.
But as everyone’s gaze fell upon Boss Zhou, they suddenly noticed that although he was lowering his head, appearing unconscious, a smile was lingering on his lips!
A very eerie smile!!
The crowd inwardly cried out in dismay. They had truly fallen into Jiang Wusheng’s trap this time!
“Hahahahaha, hahaha, hahahahahaha!”
Boss Zhou leaned against the sarcophagus and suddenly threw his head back, laughing heartily, sending shivers down everyone’s spines.
Yang Li swallowed, cursing, “Bastard, you weren’t even unconscious just now?”
Boss Zhou slowly raised his head and opened his eyes. However, his eyes had no whites, no pupils, only a darkness as black as ink, utterly eerie.
“The devil is clever, but man is more so. I’ve played with you for so long, you’ve plotted and schemed for so long, and in the end, you still haven’t grasped my purpose… how pathetic…”
Boss Zhou, supporting himself on the sarcophagus, slowly stood up. He beckoned towards the coffin inside the sarcophagus.
The red liquid covering the coffin flowed towards Boss Zhou of its own accord.
The red liquid enveloped Boss Zhou’s body, transforming him into a bloody monster that appeared to have no skin, no facial features, only muscles and blood vessels!
At the same time, the coffin lid inside the sarcophagus flew open with a crash and landed heavily on the ground!
There, a burly man clad in armor, holding a sharp sword, and wearing a golden mask, slowly sat up from within the coffin…
King Jian, Boss Zhou, one successfully awakened, the other having acquired Jiang Wusheng’s power.
The combined aura of these two instantly overwhelmed everyone present!