Free Web NovelChapter 116: Chapter 34: The Man-Eating Empty Coffin
"This coffin is made of some kind of mineral ore. Based on the ancient geography of the Xia Country, this material shouldn’t exist here. Even today, it’s rarely seen in the country.
"On top of that, its hardness is very low. It’s hard to imagine how it could have been polished to this level of transparency."
Wang Wenbo studied the Transparent Coffin from a safe distance and began his analysis.
Gao Tian casually asked,
"Didn’t you study computer science? How do you know about geology?"
Wang Wenbo replied,
"I earned three master’s degrees in college. My parents forced me into my first major. Computer science is my reality, but geology is my life."
Gao Tian inquired,
"Can you determine where the coffin’s material came from and what era the polishing technique belongs to?"
Wang Wenbo thought for a moment.
"I can. But I might need to get a little closer to the coffin, to feel its texture."
To be honest, Gao Tian was quite impressed with the scholar.
The first time he’d met him was in the Future Altar. Gao Tian’s impression of Wang Wenbo had been of an ordinary person who had just survived a disaster, vomiting until he was sick. Useless, a complete burden in a supernatural incident.
’I never expected this guy to be so knowledgeable. It seems that whether in the normal world or the Era of the Supernatural, studying is always useful.’
From the direction of the main hall, Lan Chu’s voice called out,
"Hey, why is there such a big black hole behind this Great Buddha?
"Did you guys go inside the Buddha’s stomach to check it out?"
No one paid any attention to Lan Chu. The most important thing right now was the Transparent Coffin. The Great Buddha in the hall wasn’t going anywhere; they could inspect it later.
Wang Wenbo stepped forward, walking toward the Transparent Coffin to conduct a more thorough examination.
Gao Tian was very cautious and moved ahead of him.
"Be careful. This coffin is my final mission. It’s very likely hiding some kind of killing rule."
Jiang Yang had already reached the front of the coffin and placed a hand on it.
"It shouldn’t be a big problem. I came to Longshu Temple alone and checked everything, and I didn’t trigger any killing rule."
The three of them gathered around the Transparent Coffin. Wang Wenbo took a small magnifying glass from his coat, wiped it clean, and prepared for a close-up observation.
Just then, Gao Tian, who was standing to the side, seemed to notice something was wrong.
"Wait!
"Why is there a person lying inside this coffin?"
’This isn’t right. The Transparent Coffin was empty just a moment ago. It was empty when Jiang Yang came in and checked it. It’s always been empty.’
Now, a dark figure was lying inside—an adult male, around five-foot-eight.
The coffin had suddenly changed. That definitely meant some kind of rule had been activated.
"Go!"
Gao Tian grabbed at Wang Wenbo beside him while retreating with Jiang Yang. They moved back to a safe distance.
As he fell back, Gao Tian glanced into the coffin to see who was lying inside.
With just one look, his pupils contracted to pinpricks.
Because it was someone who absolutely shouldn’t be there.
His eyes were closed, his arms lay at his sides. Motionless, he lay quietly in the Transparent Coffin.
Gao Tian felt his mind explode.
’If Wang Wenbo is the one lying in the coffin, then who is this next to me?’
He immediately turned his head, searching for any trace of Wang Wenbo.
He had clearly felt himself grab something solid, but when he looked back, he was horrified to find that he was only holding a black branch, about as thick as a grown man’s arm. It wasn’t Wang Wenbo at all.
’Their temperature and hardness are completely different. How could I have possibly mistaken them?’
Wang Wenbo, who had been outside the coffin, had vanished.
When did this happen? Wang Wenbo was clearly the farthest away of the three of them, so why was he the one trapped in the coffin?
Gao Tian had been extremely cautious. Faced with this sudden turn of events, he was momentarily at a loss.
While Gao Tian was still hesitating, Jiang Yang suddenly strode forward, rushing to the side of the Transparent Coffin.
"Not good. The coffin is filling with liquid.
"They’re trying to drown him alive in there!"
Gao Tian focused his gaze and saw it: from the inner walls of the Transparent Coffin, a countless, sourceless flow of blood began to pour down, filling the bottom with crimson liquid.
The blood flowed into the coffin faster and faster, and the liquid level rose steadily. At this rate, the entire coffin would soon become a coffin of blood. Wang Wenbo, lying inside, would be drowned and suffocated.
"We have to save him!"
He pressed his hands on the coffin’s surface, but no matter how hard he pushed, it didn’t budge an inch. It was as if the coffin were a single, seamless piece, with no lid or opening.
He took out a small mirror and pressed it against the coffin wall, trying to use the Mirror Ghost’s bloody hands to pull him out. Unfortunately, the bloody hands couldn’t penetrate the coffin either.
Hearing the commotion, Wang Wenbo opened his eyes in confusion, as if he had no idea where he was. He felt the rising blood level beneath him, and a look of terror crossed his face. He began to struggle, desperately pounding on the lid, trying to escape the tiny space.
Cold sweat dripped from Gao Tian’s forehead. His fingers were turning purple from the strain, yet he was still nowhere near opening the coffin.
"Gao Tian, I’m preparing to use my pistol to force the coffin open. I need your permission."
Jiang Yang asked, maintaining his basic composure.
In the bloody water, less and less of Wang Wenbo was visible above the surface, and the force of his pounding on the lid weakened.
Gao Tian said,
"Open it, now! You don’t need my permission."
Jiang Yang looked him in the eye and pressed further,
"Your mission is to bring back the Transparent Coffin intact.
"If we force the lid open, it might cause your mission to fail immediately."
Gao Tian fell into a brief silence.
’No wonder Jiang Yang made a point of asking for my permission before drawing his gun.’
’This might have been a trap set by Longshu Temple from the very beginning.’
Gao Tian gritted his teeth.
"Shoot!
"Saving him is what matters. If the coffin gets damaged, I’ll take responsibility."
With Gao Tian’s permission, Jiang Yang aimed at the weakest point of the Transparent Coffin’s seam and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Six bullets were fired, but the coffin’s seam didn’t move an inch. Not even a single bullet mark was left behind.
Without hesitating, Jiang Yang reloaded the cylinder as fast as he could. He fired again at the same spot.
The coffin’s hardness was beyond anyone’s imagination. Whether shooting it with bullets or hacking at it with an axe, they couldn’t even leave a scratch on its surface, let alone open it.
"Stop shooting.
"There’s no point anymore."
The hand Jiang Yang was holding the revolver with slowly dropped to his side.
The entire coffin was filled with blood. Inside, Wang Wenbo’s body floated gently, occasionally bumping against the coffin walls, revealing a flash of pale skin.
He had drowned in the blood.
The only good news was that despite the repeated violent attempts to open it, not a single mark had been left on the coffin. It seemed that failing the mission to "bring back the coffin intact" was going to be difficult.
"We should have been more careful."
Jiang Yang covered his face with his other hand, unable to look at Wang Wenbo in the coffin, his voice filled with remorse.
Gao Tian sank to the ground, his fists clenched tightly.
"What good would being more careful do?
"This palm-sized temple... You checked it once, I checked it once, and we still fell into its trap.
"It’s toying with us. They set the killing rules. They decide who dies today, and that person dies. What’s the point of us acting like idiots, trying to guess Longshu Temple’s killing rules?"
Gao Tian himself didn’t know what the "it" he was referring to was.
Was it Longshu Temple, the Living Human Apartment, or this Transparent Coffin?
Jiang Yang turned his head.
"Calm down, Gao Tian.
"I’ve been on many missions. Losing emotional control is a precursor to death.
"Look at Xia Ta. When have you ever seen him fly into a rage or lose his composure."
Gao Tian also realized that his emotions were getting the better of him.
After all, despite everything he’d been through these past few months, it was easy to forget he was originally just a high school student.
Forcibly suppressing his frustration, Gao Tian looked at the coffin, now filled with blood.
"I have a theory. It might not be right.
"It’s also possible that this coffin is... something like an altar. Only by sacrificing a person to it can some kind of change be triggered in Longshu Temple.
"So it’s not a killing rule at all, and there was no way to guard against it."
Jiang Yang said,
"If the coffin is an altar, why wasn’t the sacrifice your Wind Attendant Buddha, or me, the first person to touch it?
"Why Wang Wenbo, of all people?
"What’s so special about him? The suffering of the Longshu Temple Monks had to be relieved by him, and he also had to be the first one to die."
If you asked Gao Tian that question, he wouldn’t know the answer either.
Gao Tian said,
"I want to try moving this coffin out of the temple first, to see if anything happens."
Jiang Yang didn’t object. The two of them positioned themselves at the front and back of the coffin and tried to move it.
When the coffin was empty, even the Wind Attendant Buddha couldn’t push it. Now, with a body and a vat of blood inside, its weight had increased several times over. It was even harder for the two of them to move it together.
’If only Xia Ta were here...’
Gao Tian’s wrists strained until they turned purple, but he still couldn’t move the coffin. He had no choice but to give up for now.
"Let’s find someone else to lend a hand.
"Weren’t there supposed to be four of us when we came?"
Gao Tian looked around. He suddenly remembered something. Wang Wenbo was dead, which meant Lan Chu should still be here. How could so much time have passed without any sound from her?
’This doesn’t fit that crazy woman’s personality at all. If she’s suddenly gone quiet, she must be up to no good.’
Jiang Yang’s gaze shifted toward the main hall.
"When we were examining the coffin, didn’t Lan Chu say something about finding a big hole behind the Great Buddha?..."
The two of them exchanged a look and immediately abandoned the blood-filled coffin in the center of the square, running as fast as they could to the area behind the Great Buddha in the main hall.
High up, the black hole on the Buddha’s back was still there.
The good news was, they’d found a trace of Lan Chu.
The woman’s climbing ability was incredible. Like a wild monkey, she had already scaled the upper part of the Great Buddha. Half of her body was leaning into the black hole, as if she were looking at something inside. The other half of her body was outside, her feet planted on a protrusion on the Great Buddha’s back to maintain her balance.
"Hey, how come you’re not making any noise?
"Hey, what did you see in that black hole...? Why haven’t you come down yet? You planning on staying up there all day?"
