Chapter 17: You’re Still Keeping This?
Da Kui shouted excitedly beside them that it was worth the trip after all, which prompted Wu Sansheng to smack the back of his head again. Wu Xie, however, wasn’t so excited; he always felt something was off.
After walking closer for a careful observation, he suddenly realized: “I knew something was wrong! Look!” He pointed at the altar, then at the coffin, “This altar’s mechanism is so easily triggered, as if it was designed on purpose for people to find the coffin. Don’t you think something’s off?”
Hearing this, Wu Sansheng looked again at the mechanism and the place where the coffin was, nodding: “Not just that! Look, the iron chains on this bronze coffin don’t seem to be for securing it, but to keep the thing inside from getting out. Though they’re mostly decayed now, you can tell they were tied very securely back then.”
Lin Yan listened to their exchange and fell silent. Indeed! Looking at the whole thing, wasn’t this tomb just for Wu Xie to practice on? How could they not let him clear it step by step? Speaking of which, what other secrets did this bronze coffin have? That fire that burned down the tomb at the end seemed to have been set by the old fox, and Zhang Qiling disappeared right then—what was that about?
Oh right, and there was Zhang Qiling! He just remembered—they had rushed here following Zhang Qiling! Now that the old fox had appeared, where was the one who led them here? Where had he gone? Now it seemed he wasn’t in the tree hole by the coffin either, and it was impossible he’d just left the protagonist and the others behind, so where exactly had he hidden, and what was he doing?
Da Kui watched eagerly beside Wu Sansheng, and hearing this analysis, he couldn’t help but speak up: “So Third Master, are we still opening this cof…?” Everyone understood the unspoken words: the treasure was probably all inside; opening it might be risky, but not opening it meant the whole trip was for nothing!
Wu Sansheng gritted his teeth: “Open it! The treasure is basically all in there. Even if there’s danger, with so many of us and so many guns, surely we can take down one zombie? Besides—” He pointed at the rock crevice above letting in moonlight, “We’ve come this far—should we really turn back the way we came? Waiting to get out of that labyrinth would take who knows how long; going up from here is the fastest way.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with this reasoning. At this point Fatty raised a concern: “They call you Third Master, so I’ll call you that too. Third Master, the plan’s good, but there’s one problem. What about this tree? Touch its vines and you’re grabbed and dragged off—look, all hanging up there are corpses.”
Wu Sansheng smiled: “This tree isn’t ordinary; it’s called Nine-headed Serpent Cypress. Not hard to deal with, actually. See, it doesn’t approach the stones here, right? These stones are Heavenly Heart Rock, which counters Nine-headed Serpent Cypress specifically. When the time comes, we’ll coat everyone with some stone powder and carry a couple small pieces—guaranteed to go smoothly.”
Fatty gave a thumbs up: “Third Master is so knowledgeable!”
The old fox smiled and accepted the praise, waving for everyone to start preparing. Immediately, some smashed stones, some sorted equipment—orderly amid the bustle. Influenced by the atmosphere, even newbie Wu Xie and Lin Yan got moving.
Originally Panzi was being half-carried half-supported by Fatty, but now that they’d rendezvoused with Wu Sansheng, Panzi was handed to Da Kui. In the end Fatty couldn’t escape the heavy lifting: Wu Sansheng was the oldest and highest rank, so he only carried his own equipment; naturally Fatty had to share the load for Lin Yan and Wu Xie beside him. Plus, both had been screwed over by Fatty before—one from excessive blood loss, one narrowly escaping death—their bodies were weak, so Fatty had to support one on each side, the three like conjoined twins, following Wu Sansheng up the stone steps to the stone platform, with Panzi and Da Kui bringing up the rear.
In the earlier chaos no one had noticed, but now leisurely strolling back they discovered the stone platform was pieced together from large blocks of Heavenly Heart Rock, and the stone steps underfoot had plenty of carved patterns—didn’t look like a standard tomb, leaving Wu Xie marveling.
When they reached the tree hole, they discovered it wasn’t naturally split open but torn by the iron chains tightly binding the coffin. The coffin was densely inscribed with characters; Wu Xie could tell they were roughly from Qi Lu. He studied this stuff, so he could roughly interpret the inscriptions.
While he was interpreting, Wu Sansheng was figuring out how to open the coffin. Seeing no one paying him attention, Lin Yan sidled up to Wu Xie: “What have you figured out?”
Wu Xie glanced at him: “Mostly his life story, nothing noteworthy. Besides, I only recognize some; most I can’t read. If I could record it and study back home, maybe there’d be some gains. Look, that vertical row in the middle of the coffin—probably the burial date. I can only make out Zi Chou Yin Mao. But back then with vassal states everywhere, the calendar was a mess—I don’t know the exact time. Though recording it all would be too tedious; I’m not that interested in his life gossip anyway—just take a look and done.”
Hearing this, Lin Yan—who was still curious about this buried history—thought for a bit, then pulled a camera from his backpack: “Writing it down in a notebook is such a hassle; why not use this?”
Wu Xie was stunned: “Where’d you get… a camera? Isn’t it cumbersome when escaping for your life?”
Lin Yan blinked: “Forgot if it was your Third Uncle who put it in my bag or Fatty—anyway, I just found it when packing earlier. See, now it’s coming in handy!”
Wu Xie felt his back twinge—this guy a hamster? Only in, never out, throws nothing away? Should’ve seen it back at the abandoned camp: some seem aloof on the surface but are actually Mute Bottles; some seem taciturn but are really silly little hamsters! He recalled Lin Yan’s eyes glowing green at the gun, practically drooling, cementing the thought: not just a silly little hamster, but an easily satisfied one! As long as there’s food, drink, guns, and no death—plus seamless eye contact with people! Worth having for tomb raiding! With him plus a Mute Bottle, where couldn’t they raid?
Speechless, he reached out: “You’re impressive! I’ll take it. When we get out, I’ll develop the photos; if you’re curious, come to my shop and I’ll interpret them for you. Oh right, my shop’s in Hangzhou, called Wu Shan Ju—easy to find; just ask locals when you get there!”
Lin Yan slapped the camera into his hand: “Young comrade Wu Xie, in that case, the organization entrusts this important task to you! I’ll drop by your shop when I have time!”
Wu Xie rolled his eyes at him: “Come on, come on—I’m free most days anyway!”
By the time they finished fussing, Wu Sansheng had results too. He shook a few iron chains, saw they were pretty decayed, then had everyone step back and called to Da Kui: “Give these a few bursts; leave those ones!”
Da Kui drew his gun and unhesitatingly shot the specified chains, leaving only those securing the coffin. But no sooner had he fired than, sparks still flying from the chains, a muffled thud came from inside the coffin.
“Bang!”
The crowd, who had wanted to approach, suddenly hesitated to step forward.
