The excavated ground was piled with corpses, all of them the ancient corpses seen in the Shu tombs, piled together like mounds of earth. On top of the pile of corpses was a black coffin, the same one seen in the murals, exuding a terrifying aura that had formed a black mist that enveloped the surroundings.
The old blind man swallowed hard. "Could it really be like what's depicted in that mural? A demon is buried in this coffin?"
The sound of iron chains rattling came from above. Looking up, several coffins were suspended in mid-air above the tomb. When a miner's lamp was shone on them, blood could be seen flowing out of the coffins.
"This shouldn't be Wang Jian's coffin, should it?" the old blind man asked.
"It shouldn't be. As an emperor, he should have his own tomb. The coffins here were probably unearthed when the tomb was being built. These are ancient coffins, and we don't know who is buried inside!"
"Let's go, let's raid Wang Jian's tomb," Xiang Fei joked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
As we walked down, we carefully avoided the pile of corpses. The closer we got, the clearer we could see. These ancient corpses were all well-preserved, but the yin energy was too strong, and their faces were covered with black mist.
Dressed in ancient costumes, men, women, and children, I even saw a woman holding a baby. They seemed to have been murdered without their knowledge, with no wounds on their bodies, suggesting they died of poisoning.
I don't know if I'm seeing things or if I'm just imagining things, but I clearly see these corpses smiling at me, eerie smiles. In a daze, it seems like a thousand voices are ringing in my head, "General Shu Yuan, come and save us, let us be free."
He shook his head, and there was nothing left. The corpses were still piled up there, surrounding the coffin.
It took me a long time to get over there. My clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and I felt like I was about to collapse. For some reason, seeing these corpses always made me feel very heavy-hearted, as if I were being crushed by a thousand pounds.
The corpses of sixty-seven emperors
"Are you alright?" Xiang Fei patted my shoulder and asked.
I shook my head and replied, "It's nothing."
"You must persevere. They are waiting for you, waiting for you to rescue them and free them from this hellhole," Xiang Fei said, seemingly to himself. "Let's go, let's find the real imperial tomb."
After passing through another stone gate, we finally saw the imperial tomb. It was a huge man-made cave with a stone-carved dragon coiled at the top. The dragon's body encircled a man-made stone mountain in the center, and its mouth was wide open, where a coffin was placed. The coffin was made of white jade, and the entire dragon's head was inlaid with gemstones. Not only that, but fist-sized luminous pearls were also placed on the top of the cave, illuminating the place like a dream.
A clear spring flows down from the top of the cave, and the surrounding cliffs are filled with wooden coffins, all made of the finest wood, clearly intended as burial objects for the emperor of Shu.
We were all a bit parched. This was an emperor's tomb, an undisturbed emperor's tomb. What Wang Jian had obtained back then might be right there in the coffin.
"Let's get started!" Xiang Fei said.
Longshan is very large, enough for the four of us to climb. Fortunately, it is covered with dragon scales, so it was quite easy for us to climb up with our skills.
Halfway up, I stopped to catch my breath. My gaze inadvertently drifted toward the stone gate, where I saw a dark figure standing there. I couldn't see its face, only a pair of cold, sinister eyes staring intently at us. That chilling gaze was almost suffocating.
For a moment, I found myself unable to control my body. I was sweating profusely, as if my soul had been frozen by his cold gaze. I tried to scream but found that I couldn't utter a sound.
Finally, the dark figure disappeared, and I returned to normal, panting heavily. Xiang Fei and the others were calling me from above.
"Xiao Liu, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I'm just taking a break, I'll be right up."
I took a breath and started climbing. Longshan was about five stories high. When I got to the top, Xiang Fei and the others were already resting there.
Looking around, I realized that Longshan was not like what I had seen below. There was actually a large platform on top, where the burial objects of the Former Shu emperors were placed, and Wang Jian's coffin was in the center, biting the dragon in its mouth.
Anything here would be priceless, and the burial goods are mostly bronze artifacts of all kinds, with the most numerous being those carved with bronze human faces. Some were filled with gold and silver jewels, enough to drive anyone crazy, but we have no interest in these, because the real treasure is in Wang Jian's coffin.
The surroundings were completely silent, and we became a little nervous. This was the coffin of the emperor of the Former Shu. What happened back then, and what Wang Jian obtained, could all be inside.
The coffin of the Former Shu emperor was bitten by a dragon's mouth. The only way to open it was to lift the coffin down, but this thing weighed at least half a ton. The outer coffin was made of white jade. It was probably unrealistic for just a few of us to move it down.
The few of us circled around the dragon coffin. Now that we were already here, we had to find a way to open the coffin of the Former Shu emperor.
"Hey, what's this?" I asked, noticing a rectangular box in Zaolong's mouth.
Xiang Fei and the others also saw it. "Hey, is this a miniature stone coffin?"
Hearing Xiang Fei say this, we quickly got to work and pulled the tiny coffin out of the dragon's mouth. It was a stone coffin less than half a meter long, covered with patterns of fish, insects, birds, beasts, stars, and the universe, as if this small stone coffin contained everything and held all things in heaven and earth.
It is also engraved with very ancient characters, which shows that it is definitely not from the Former Shu period.
"Could it have been dug out from underground during the construction of the tomb?" the old blind man asked.
"Hmm, that's possible. Judging from its appearance, it must be an ancient artifact, probably worshipped by the ancient Shu people."
Suddenly, something occurred to me, and I exclaimed in surprise, "Could this be the Coffin of the Gods?"
Legend has it that in the distant past, the entire universe was connected and was called "Heaven" by the ancients. There is also a saying that there are nine heavens. In this heaven and earth, there were gods born at the beginning of heaven and earth, who were the creators of all things. This is the origin of the legend of Nuwa mending the sky.
Later, for reasons unknown, these deities all died. They buried themselves in the heavens, signifying that they were equal to the heavens and were the supreme beings between heaven and earth.
The Ancient Coffin of the Gods has existed for countless years. It is said that it cannot be placed on the ground, otherwise it will incur the wrath of the heavens. Although it is only so small, legend has it that it can contain a world. Another legend says that the Ancient Coffin of the Gods has nine layers, with the innermost layer being where the gods are buried.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
