Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

Touching the cold, thick iron chain in his hand, Wu Xie painstakingly felt its texture. After much effort, he finally found a small gap in one of the chain's links. After confirming it several times, Wu Xie picked up a crowbar and began to pry it against the wooden coffin wall...

creak... clatter...

The slender knuckles gripped the chain and began to shake it, the veins on his arms bulging little by little. With the sound of the chain rattling, a few minutes later, he exerted force by gripping and prying at the same time. With a "crack," the edge of the chain buckle broke, the chain lock slipped, and with a clang, half of the chain fell to the ground.

Wu Xie put down what he was holding, picked up the iron chain on the ground, and began to untie it by circling around the coffin. After circling it several times, the iron chain binding the wooden coffin was finally untied, revealing the complete wooden coffin.

"There are patterns on the coffin...and inscriptions on the side, though they're a bit small."

After untying the chains, Wu Xie took out a flashlight, turned it on, and began to examine the coffin in front of him. Seeing that there were carvings on the outside, he also took out a magnifying glass and a small brush from his backpack, put the flashlight in his mouth, and began to clean the dust off the outside of the coffin.

As one scans and examines, the patterns and characters on the outside of the coffin gradually begin to reveal themselves to people a thousand years later.

"The coffin of Li Xi, a descendant of the Li family, is laid to rest. His will is to find a place for him, but... therefore, his successors erect this coffin. He has considered the filial piety of the Taoist priest of Changshan without fail, and he sincerely wishes for the prosperity of the family. Thus, he offers this humble tribute, and here he rests in peace..."

As Wu Xie read through the text, he learned that the owner of the coffin was named "Li Xi". According to his knowledge, the largest family with the surname Li in the Han Dynasty, and the only one that had served as the Chancellor of Changsha, was the family of the Marquis of Dai.

Li Xi should be a descendant of this Marquis, and the tomb they are currently in is the family tomb of Marquis Li.

"Little naiveté! Stop reading it. Just know that he's a descendant of a marquis. You're still in the field training. If you delay too long, something in the coffin might jump out!"

"Besides, you know how weird you are. Hurry up and finish this quickly. Fatty and the others will hold you back, so hurry up and attack!"

Fatty Wang's heart pounded as he watched his good brother get confused while opening the coffin. Given the unknown malevolent aura emanating from Wu Xie, he was genuinely worried that something inside the coffin would jump out, so he slapped Wu Xie twice...

However, things always seem to linger...

Boom!Boom!Boom!

Suddenly, a thumping sound began to emanate from the coffin in front of Wu Xie, gradually growing louder, as if each knock was striking a blow to the heart.

"Holy crap! The coffin is shaking!"

"Is it going to come back to life again? No! Guanyin Bodhisattva, Tathagata Buddha, Jade Emperor, Queen Mother of the West... God! Jesus... Amitabha... Amen... I beg you all, whoever is watching from heaven, please grant me a way to live and protect me..."

Wu Xie's hand, which was examining the outside of the coffin, suddenly began to tremble, accompanied by a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face, and his mouth unconsciously moving fluently...

This long string of words was overheard by the people nearby. First, Pan Zikan and the other man covered their faces and turned away. Then, Fatty Wang's face lit up with a bright smile. And then, Hei Xiazi's smiling lips twitched twice in an instant...

"Stop howling! Open the coffin now! If you don't, I'll kick you against the wall! I've really lost a lot of money recovering from your Wu family. When you get out, you have to call your second uncle and ask him to give you more money! Double the amount!"

Hei Xiazi really didn't want to watch Wu Xie's seemingly "professional" but actually "chaotic" actions anymore, so he took a step and walked to a position two meters away from Wu Xie, stood behind him, and swung a trouser rope over to urge him on.

Add more money... double the amount...

These five words were like a heavy blow to Wu Xie's head; getting his second uncle's money back was no easy task...

With no other option, Wu Xie had to speed up his movements. With a series of creaking sounds, the coffin lid was finally pried open. Using his skillful strength, Wu Xie pushed the coffin lid heavily to the other side, revealing the true face of the person inside the coffin.

Jingle bells...jingle bells...

Inside the coffin, a corpse clad in armor and entirely blackened was exposed, along with the ancient corpse's fangs, its trembling body, and the fact that it was tightly bound by several iron chains.

"Wow! Tianzhen, you're really on a roll! You've opened another coffin that's been resurrected!"

Fatty Wang stood to the side, looking at the ancient corpse in the coffin, and winked at Wu Xie in a teasing tone.

.................................................. .....

In the other tomb chamber, Qin Henian followed Zhang Qilin. The two moved nimbly through the large family tomb, sometimes bumping into each other with flashing swords, sometimes roaring and yelling. Crackling flames reflected off the stone walls, and two gusts of wind swept through the entire tomb chamber. Half an hour later, the two arrived at a passageway where the mechanism had been broken. They stopped at the closest point to Wu Xie and the others' tomb chamber, looked at each other, and exchanged glances at the stone wall in front of them.

"Little Qilin! Shall we go in now, or wait until the blind man finishes teaching Wu Xie?"

Qin Henian didn't want the atmosphere to remain so silent. Ever since they came out of the jade coffin, he could clearly sense Zhang Qilin's dejected mood, but it wasn't obvious. He didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only remain silent as well. This resulted in a very quiet atmosphere throughout their "journey" of scavenging gold. Although the two of them didn't speak, they cooperated very well.

The way to break the silence was for one of them to speak first, and the excuse of coming to the door at this moment was just right for Qin Henian to speak up.

"Wait."

Upon hearing the question, Zhang Qilin ran through his thoughts. He didn't want to become an obstacle preventing Wu Xie from becoming stronger, nor did he want to go in now and encounter that blind man and be ridiculed. He wanted to delay as long as possible. Finally, Zhang Qilin sighed inwardly and spoke.

"it is good!"

Qin Henian agreed with the answer he heard. As he sensed the situation inside, he made sure he had something to do. He moved a few steps, leaned against the stone wall of the passageway, and closed his eyes to ponder.

The moment Qin Henian closed his eyes, a gaze fell lightly on him and did not move.

About seventeen or eighteen minutes later, the walls inside the tomb chamber where Wu Xie was located seemed to tremble. Outside, where Qin Henian and the other man were standing, plaster began to fall from the walls...

Click! The mechanism clicked...