Fatty's worries were, of course, unnecessary. In fact, given his physique, it would have been quite a struggle for Zhang Qiling to stuff him into a coffin if he'd really wanted to.
Wu Tianzhen didn't bother to play along with Fatty's antics. Ever since he'd heard Zhang Qiling mention the coffin, he'd started observing the stones beneath their feet with particular seriousness.
These stones, compared to naturally occurring protrusions, were more regular, forming a vague rectangular shape. It was entirely plausible that they were coffins.
"Ancient times did indeed have the practice of cliff burials, but that usually involved using ropes to suspend ordinary coffins on sheer cliffs and precipices," Wu Tianzhen mused.
"But these stone coffins here are completely integrated with the cliff face..."
"Did the builders back then simply flatten a section of the mountain wall and carve the coffins directly into it?!"
Wu Tianzhen was baffled. By this time, Fatty had shaken off his peculiar fantasies and returned to his usual flippant demeanor.
"Hey, Tianzhen, why are you thinking so much?" He stretched out his hand, patted Wu Tianzhen's head over Zhang Qiling, and said, "How many outrageous things have we encountered on our journey, the three of us?"
"We've had trees that cry for help, little girls who cackle, and these grass stalks are still growing upwards!"
"What's one more group of ancient people who cut stone like cutting cake? Isn't that perfectly normal?!"
Wu Tianzhen choked for a moment, but on reflection, he realized Fatty had a point, and he stopped dwelling on it.
Just then, the familiar sound of ghostly wailing rang out again!
This time, Wu Tianzhen heard it clearly. The source of the sound was not far above them! It was as if the thing had secretly crawled down while they weren't paying attention!
Instantly, his hairs stood on end. Countless half-decayed female corpses and bloody human faces with mouths stretched to their ears flashed through his mind. He instinctively reached for the gun at his waist to fire a burst upwards!
But just as he was about to act, his hand was gently pressed down.
Zhang Qiling stopped Wu Tianzhen's reflexive action and raised his hand, signaling the two of them to carefully observe the scattered stone coffins above.
Unlike the uniform color of the stone coffins, their lower sections, as if having passed through countless rock strata, displayed a medley of vibrant colors. When viewed under the sun for too long, it even felt as if those colored rings were slowly rotating.
And amidst this play of light and shadow, the circular openings in the center of the lower parts of some stone coffins appeared particularly conspicuous.
...Why do some coffins have holes underneath them?!
"Holy crap!" Fatty exclaimed almost involuntarily upon seeing clearly, "Have the old buddies inside already crawled out?"
"They could punch such a big hole in a stone coffin? What kind of Nine Yin White Bone Claw is this!"
Zhang Qiling: ?
"It's empty inside," he tried to steer Fatty back to normal thinking.
But Fatty immediately chimed in, his tone even conveying a sense of bewilderment at Zhang Qiling's reminder.
"I know it's empty inside! Haven't these people already crawled out? They can't give birth inside!"
Zhang Qiling was momentarily confused by Fatty, unsure if he genuinely believed this or was just spewing nonsense as usual.
After taking a closer look and confirming that Fatty truly thought so, Zhang Qiling silently turned his face away and began to reel in the grappling hook rope still attached to his Black Gold Ancient Sword.
Fatty didn't know what had happened, but he could clearly tell that Zhang Qiling had entered his "I don't want to talk to you" mode again, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
Wu Tianzhen, standing beside them, couldn't stand it any longer. He coughed to suppress a smile and explained, "Xiao Ge means that these coffins were empty to begin with."
"Look at those holes, they're such perfect circles. It's obvious they were deliberately cut during construction. Would a corpse that's come back to life and run away still bother to neatly shape the exit? It's not like they have OCD."
"I reckon the ghostly cries we heard just now were actually the sound of wind blowing through these holes, which is why they were so close to us."
"Is it Xiao—" Ge.
Wu Tianzhen was about to ask Zhang Qiling for his opinion on his explanation when he turned and found Zhang Qiling already re-wrapping the grappling hook around his Black Gold Ancient Sword, preparing to throw it.
...No way? Has Fatty's bizarre thought process reached a point where Xiao Ge needs to escape this place immediately?
In his haste, he quickly pressed down on Zhang Qiling's shoulder, forcing him back down.
"Wait—!"
"Xiao Ge, where are you going?! Fatty still needs saving, don't give up on him so soon, ahhh!"
Fatty: ???
Zhang Qiling, who had only intended to throw the sword up to secure a position: ...
"Let's go up and take a look."
He stated his logic concisely, his tone more like a notification than an explanation.
Wu Tianzhen was momentarily speechless, but the reason sounded perfectly reasonable, so he relaxed and lowered his hand.
Without another word, Zhang Qiling threw the sword to fix its position, then pulled the rope. He shot out like a nimble swallow, his toes lightly touching the stone wall, as if gravity didn't exist. In an instant, he landed on top of a coffin with a hole in its base.
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty, left behind, stood side-by-side with their arms crossed, their expressions showing a uniform progression from "shocked—acceptance—proud."
"I think this part should be recorded," Fatty suddenly said as he watched. "If Xiao Ge really shines at the White Horse Club in the future, this video clip would definitely help him defeat all rivals and become the top performer!"
"Why are you still thinking about the White Horse Club?" Wu Tianzhen agreed with the idea of recording and was currently figuring out how to convey this request to Song Shuning.
However, since the research department attached so much importance to this exploration, the recording should be on the entire time. If that was the case, he could just ask Song Shuning for it directly.
With this thought, Wu Tianzhen conceived a mischievous idea.
"Hey, Fatty," he said, smiling as he put his arm around Fatty's shoulder, "I just realized that all our actions along the way should be recorded by the research department."
"What do you think will happen if Xiao Ge sees you here, constantly wanting to send him to the White Horse Club when he gets back?"
Fatty jolted, inexplicably recalling the Prince Li who had been sliced into jerky slices a long, long time ago.
Meanwhile, Song Shuning, who was carefully watching the screen from behind, was about to take a sip of hot tea when she saw a chubby face suddenly thrust towards the camera!
Fatty cupped the camera in his hands and, lowering his voice, shouted with full emotion:
"Delete it! You absolutely must delete that part of me just now!!!"
Song Shuning: ...