The big cricket tied the bundle onto his back with a slipknot, then followed the others upward. That he, who had been injured moments ago, could now move so swiftly and nimbly surprised Liu Dashao a bit. To be honest, witnessing this, Liu even started half-believing the legend of Nuwa creating humanity.
Snapping back to reality, Liu found himself alone at the cave entrance. Looking up, he saw that Big Cricket and Cabbage Worm had already disappeared from sight—they must have climbed onto the stone slab. Su Yougui had already reached the bottom of the slab and was preparing to climb over its edge, while Fan Debiao and Jackson had reached the middle of the stone pillar. Liu didn’t dare hesitate—he leapt and grabbed onto the pillar, beginning his climb.
Because the pillar was carved with many patterns, climbing it was quite easy. Plus, Liu was traveling light, and soon he caught up with Fan Debiao and Jackson.
Liu approached Fan and grumbled, “Man, you really lack some brotherhood. You climbed up without even calling me!”
Fan replied, “Who said I didn’t call you? You were just spacing out down there. Hey, bro, why are you always zoning out like that?”
Liu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Fan, I feel like something’s off about all of us coming here this time.”
Fan asked, “What do you mean, something’s off? You were unconscious for a while—you’re acting all weird now. Explain clearly, what’s wrong. We’ve been through life and death together, so don’t keep things locked up inside.”
Liu shook his head, “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but my gut tells me this isn’t as simple as it seems.”
Fan said, “Your gut? Pfft! What good is a gut feeling? If your instincts were so reliable, why not use them to guess what treasure is inside Zhang Jiao’s coffin instead?”
“Hey, what are you two doing down there? Hurry up and come up! There’s something good!” Jackson shouted from above on the stone slab. Liu and Fan hadn’t even finished talking, and Jackson had already reached the top.
Fan turned around and said, “Don’t think too much. In ancient tombs, treasure is king. Once we grab whatever Zhang Jiao’s old coffin holds, we’ll be out of here—nothing wrong with that.” With that, he started climbing toward the slab.
Liu thought to himself, “Guess I really am overthinking things. It’s probably just the eerie atmosphere of this tomb messing with me. I always get like this—daydreaming about nonsense.” He chuckled and shook his head, then followed Fan toward the slab.
As Liu reached the base of the stone slab, he saw Fan give a quick kick and flip neatly onto the slab. Liu grabbed the edge with both hands, trying to mimic Fan’s move, but his foot slipped and he dangled in the air. Luckily, his arm strength held, and he didn’t fall. Though the distance between the pillar and the slab wasn’t far, climbing up wasn’t easy. Fan’s smooth move probably came from the excitement of Jackson’s shout about “something good.” Looks like Fan really was a money-over-life kind of guy.
No time to think now—Liu exerted every ounce of strength he had. After a fierce struggle, he finally pulled himself up onto the slab. Panting heavily, he sat down, instinctively scooting a bit further away from the edge, afraid he might fall.
He wiped his forehead—it was cold and clammy. He hadn’t expected climbing a pillar to make him sweat like this. He must’ve really weakened over these past few days.
Liu scanned the surroundings—nothing unusual at first glance, just natural stone walls. But one wall had a stone hole about a person’s height, which looked eerie. It gave him the creeps, as if a pair of cold eyes were staring at him from inside. One glance was enough—he didn’t dare look again.
He rubbed his temples to clear his head, and just then noticed Fan pointing at the coffin and cursing Jackson, “What the hell? You said there was something good! This moss-covered stone coffin is your idea of treasure?!”
Liu stood up and walked over to examine the coffin. If this was valuable, then he could just pick up any random rock outside and sell it. Maybe Jackson had never seen such a big green box before and thought it was treasure.
Liu took a closer look. The box was over two meters long and half a person tall. It was covered in moss, but from the gaps between the moss, Liu could see it was just ordinary stone. He wasn’t impressed.
He nudged Big Cricket, “What the hell is Zhang Jiao playing at? So many traps in the tomb, but the coffin looks this poor?”
Big Cricket narrowed his eyes, “You’re all wrong. This isn’t poor at all. Who’s ever seen stone exposed to air for thousands of years without decaying? I think there’s something hidden here.” He then signaled everyone to scrape off the moss.
Following his orders, Cabbage Worm and Su Yougui grabbed their entrenching tools and scraped away. In a few quick strokes, the moss was cleared off the surface.
The surface wasn’t particularly special—just a carved tiger, identical to the jade pendant. But after removing the moss, they discovered the stone was extremely hard and smooth. Cabbage Worm had pressed hard with the shovel, yet only left shallow scratches.
Big Cricket leaned in and examined the carving closely before saying, “Just as I suspected. This stone is Xuan Tie Shi—raw magnetite, the original form of Xuan Tie.”
Upon hearing the coffin was made of Xuan Tie Shi, Fan Debiao immediately gained strength. He and Jackson got to work with their shovels, quickly clearing off the remaining moss. Soon, the entire coffin was exposed to view.
On the other sides of the coffin was a dragon carved around it. This confirmed the legend of the “Nine Dragons Carrying the Corpse.” But strangely, in the center of each side was a carved human face—round, with eyes, ears, and a mouth, but no nose.
Big Cricket was astonished, “This is the style of a Western Zhou dynasty coffin. In the Eastern Han dynasty, such face-carved coffins were considered extremely unlucky. Could this not be Zhang Jiao’s coffin? But how could Western Zhou artifacts be here?”
Liu Dashao’s mind started spinning. First, a tomb of unknown origin; then Zhang Jiao’s grave; now a Western Zhou coffin. These items didn’t belong to the same era—how could they all be here together?
Fan Debiao shrugged, “Who cares if it’s Zhang Jiao or Western Zhou? Let’s just open it. If it’s Zhou dynasty artifacts, they might even be more valuable.”
Jackson chimed in, “Yeah, the Western Zhou came before the Han dynasty in China. The contents might have greater archaeological value.”
Big Cricket thought for a moment, then said, “Screw it, let’s open it.”
Fan cheered, “Alright! Our eight-hundred-mile Long March is about to reach victory! Comrades, forward!” He then started searching for the coffin’s seams.
After a while, Fan cursed, “Damn it! This coffin is sealed tight! How the hell do we open it?”
Upon hearing this, Big Cricket grunted and approached the coffin, inspecting each side carefully with his hands. When he reached the tiger-carved side, he paused and studied it closely. Then he said, “Liu Dashao, bring that tiger-shaped jade pendant you took from the female corpse’s neck.”
Liu was surprised. What did Big Cricket need it for? He pulled the pendant from his pocket and handed it over, asking, “What do you need this for?”
Big Cricket pointed at the tiger carving and said, “This is the key to the coffin.”
Liu looked closer and was both shocked and excited. The tiger’s head had a recess exactly matching the shape of the jade pendant. Could this pendant be the key to opening the coffin? It seemed like fate had brought them here. Liu thought, if he hadn’t noticed it back then, they might never have opened this coffin. But since the coffin required the tiger pendant, it must be connected to Zhang Jiao.
Big Cricket inserted the pendant into the recess. It fit perfectly—the string wouldn’t even pull it out. But nothing happened. Then, Big Cricket twisted the string. A series of mechanical sounds followed, and with a loud *boom*, one side of the coffin slid open. Big Cricket shouted for everyone to be alert and quickly stepped back. The others followed suit, stepping away as the coffin was opened.
Seeing the coffin open, Fan Debiao rushed forward first, shouting, “The fruits of the revolution—I’m coming!” He leaned in too quickly, and due to his weight and momentum, nearly fell inside. Luckily, Su Yougui grabbed his clothes and pulled him back just in time.
Seeing this, Liu and Jackson burst into laughter. Liu approached Fan and teased, “That was close! Almost became a sacrifice for the corpse inside!” Everyone laughed at Liu’s joke.
Fan spat and said, “Screw that! There’s a secret room inside!”
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