A blood-red coffin stood silently at the end of the cave, eerie and foreboding, sending chills down the spine.
“Why is there a coffin here?”
Ye Qiu frowned slightly.
“Little brat, there might be treasure inside this coffin,” the Long Eyebrow Immortal said, excitement in his voice. He stepped closer to inspect it, only for his expression to change instantly.
The lid and body of the vermilion blood coffin were covered with densely packed talismans, numbering at least several hundred.
“Good heavens, these are corpse-suppressing talismans.”
“Hundreds of corpse-suppressing talismans? Could there be some peerless monstrosity inside this coffin?”
“Little brat, we should leave this place!”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal sensed something was gravely wrong.
As the head of Dragon Tiger Mountain, he was well-versed in talismans, yet this was the first time he had seen so many corpse-suppressing talismans on a single coffin.
Ye Qiu remained silent, cautiously circling the coffin, his expression solemn.
Though he sensed no killing intent from the coffin, an inexplicable unease stirred in his heart.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, Ye Qiu let out a surprised exclamation.
“What is it?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal asked urgently.
“This vermilion coffin is dyed with blood,” Ye Qiu said.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal leaned towards the coffin, sniffed, and said, “If it is blood, how is there no trace of a bloody smell?”
“Unclear, perhaps because it is too old,” Ye Qiu said.
“Impossible,” the Long Eyebrow Immortal said. “You are a doctor, you should know better than I. If it were blood, over time the colour would change.”
“Look at this coffin, the blood is so vivid, it does not seem like human blood at all.”
Ye Qiu said, “Did I say it was human blood?”
At that, the Long Eyebrow Immortal was taken aback: “If not human blood, then what? And what kind of blood has no smell?”
“No idea,” Ye Qiu said, continuing to examine the coffin.
After observing for a while, he found no clues, then gently placed one hand on the coffin lid.
In an instant, a searing pain shot through Ye Qiu’s palm, as if the coffin lid were blazing fire, nearly scorching his hand.
He quickly withdrew his hand.
Lifting his palm, Ye Qiu saw it was charred black, the skin cracked.
Ye Qiu was stunned. Ever since he began cultivating the Nine Transformations Dragon Art, his body had become exceptionally resilient, impervious to ordinary sharp weapons, let alone fire.
Yet, there was not a flicker of flame on the coffin lid, and still it had burned him.
“This coffin is no ordinary thing,” Ye Qiu said gravely.
“Little brat, let us get out of here!” the Long Eyebrow Immortal urged again.
Ye Qiu ignored him, pointing a finger at the coffin lid.
“Swish!”
A beam of sword qi shot from Ye Qiu’s fingertip, swift as lightning, striking the coffin lid.
“Clang!”
Sparks flew.
“Indeed, no ordinary thing,” Ye Qiu said, narrowing his eyes.
That sword qi he had just unleashed was powerful enough to kill a Venerable realm expert.
Yet, the coffin lid not only remained undamaged but did not budge an inch.
“Little brat, are you thinking of opening the coffin?”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal said, “I advise you not to open it. There might be a peerless monstrosity inside.”
“Maybe there is treasure inside,” Ye Qiu said.
“Impossible,” the Long Eyebrow Immortal said. “If there were treasure, they would not have inscribed so many corpse-suppressing talismans. This poor Daoist suspects that if there is a corpse inside, it has likely undergone corpse transformation.”
“You are a Taoist, and you are afraid of a corpse transformation?” Ye Qiu had a sudden idea and said, “Old fellow, why not cast a hexagram to see what exactly is inside this coffin?”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal pulled out three copper coins, tossed them into the air, and muttered incantations…
“Pfft!”
Suddenly, the three coins shattered.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal’s face changed drastically, and he said, “This poor Daoist cannot divine it, but in any case, whatever is inside this coffin is not good.”
Ye Qiu stared at the coffin, quietly activating his Heavenly Eye, wanting to see what was inside.
The next moment, his vision pierced through the coffin.
Ye Qiu discovered that the coffin was filled to the brim with blood, and submerged within the blood was…
Before he could look further, a sharp pain stabbed his eyes, and golden blood trickled from the corners.
“Little brat, what is wrong?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal asked urgently.
Ye Qiu quickly withdrew his gaze, wiping the blood from his eyes, and said, “There is a lot of blood inside the coffin, and I also saw something submerged in the blood…”
Bang!
Before Ye Qiu could finish, the coffin lid suddenly trembled, and a terrifying killing intent spread from within.
In an instant, Ye Qiu and the Long Eyebrow Immortal felt a bone-chilling cold, as if they had plunged into an ice cellar.
At the same time, the hundreds of corpse-suppressing talismans on the coffin seemed to activate all at once, emitting a dazzling glow.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
The coffin lid kept trembling, as if something inside had come to life.
The light from the hundreds of corpse-suppressing talismans grew ever brighter, desperately suppressing, as if trying to keep whatever was inside from escaping.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal said, “Little brat, we need to go now. If whatever is in that coffin breaks free from the corpse-suppressing talismans, we are in trouble.”
Ye Qiu shook his head: “We cannot leave yet.”
“Why not?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal asked, puzzled.
Ye Qiu said, “If whatever is inside the coffin gets out, and we leave, who knows how many common folk will suffer.”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal fell silent.
Indeed, if the coffin contained a peerless monstrosity and it escaped, it would be a catastrophic disaster for the people near the Qin Mountains.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
The coffin lid’s trembling grew faster, and the light from the hundreds of corpse-suppressing talismans intensified, clearly struggling to suppress, with the situation looking grim.
“Old fellow, do you have any corpse-suppressing talismans on you?” Ye Qiu asked.
“Yes,” the Long Eyebrow Immortal understood Ye Qiu’s intent and quickly pulled out a dozen corpse-suppressing talismans from his robe sleeve, affixing them to the coffin lid.
However, they had no effect.
“Bang!”
The coffin lid jolted violently, shifting to one side, revealing a tiny gap.
Immediately, blood poured out like water, flowing down the coffin’s sides to the ground.
It was both bloody and foul.
“I will handle this!”
Ye Qiu said, his right hand’s five fingers radiating sword qi. He then used the sword qi to trace a corpse-suppressing talisman in the air.
“Suppress!”
The talisman formed from sword qi descended from the air, pressing heavily onto the coffin lid.
Finally, the coffin lid stopped trembling.
The hundreds of corpse-suppressing talismans dimmed in an instant, returning to their previous state.
Everything fell calm again.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Finally suppressed! By the way, little brat, besides the blood, what else was in the coffin?”
“There was also…”
Before Ye Qiu could finish, a loud “bang” echoed, the coffin lid suddenly cracked open, and a bloodied hand reached out from within.
