"Wu Da Shen is so powerful, we don't need to worry about him. Why don't we go see what's on the other side of the bronze door? There should be a lot of good stuff hidden there," Bai Ye said with a light smile.
In fact, he had already used his dark crows to create traps within the cave, sealing off the true exit.
Let Wu Suowei remain in the dark, narrow cave forever.
Bai Ye was in a great mood, planning to return in about a week. If he was truly a pawn of the divine, destroying the white chess piece that materialized after his death would surely earn him the supreme reward from the evil god.
Currently, there was Duan Chen. If he worried about Wu Suowei and insisted on returning to the cave to rescue him...
A faint killing intent flickered in Bai Ye's eyes.
As it turned out, Duan Chen walked even faster than Bai Ye. "Let's go, let's chase Zhen Caodan."
"?? You're not waiting for Wu Da Shen anymore?" Bai Ye was a little surprised.
"?? Am I bored out of my mind?" Duan Chen raised an eyebrow.
The two arrived in front of the bronze door and began to study it carefully.
"There's a slot shaped like the character 'Zhen' here. We probably need a key to open it," Bai Ye pointed to a mechanism.
Duan Chen took out the 'Wa' character iron token from his pocket, and Bai Ye also took out his 'Xi' character iron token.
"We're missing 'Tu'."
"It's with those primitive people."
Duan Chen considered going back to get it, but Bai Ye worried he would discover something amiss if he entered the passage.
"Maybe if we knock on the door, it will open. I remember a scene like this in a novel, something about three quick knocks, two slow ones, or five quick, one slow?"
Bai Ye tried pulling the bronze ring to knock.
*Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!*
*Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!*
"How could anyone possibly open this..."
Duan Chen was speechless, but before he could finish speaking, the bronze door let out a soft hum.
"Holy crap?? It actually works like that?"
A hint of surprise also appeared in Bai Ye's eyes. "Web novels never lie to me."
*Rumble!*
The huge bronze door swung open outward, revealing the scene within. Their eyes widened slightly—
Behind the door, Wu Suowei smiled and greeted them.
"Yo, you guys are here."
"!!!!"
Bai Ye's heart was pounding, but he maintained a calm smile on his face.
This Wu Da Shen, he couldn't be killed, nor could he be trapped, what could be done?
"How did you get out from the inside?" Duan Chen seemed unfazed.
"I saw you guys still had some climbing to do, and it was getting late. I went back to feed Little Jianjian and picked up a delivery."
"..." Bai Ye felt a myriad of emotions.
"Oh right, Little Jianjian needs chicken to supplement its protein recently. Did you feed it?" Duan Chen asked.
"Heh, after a few days with you, it's almost become a muscle cat," Wu Suowei refused.
These two were actually chatting about a cat in front of an ancient tomb's bronze door, as if nothing was wrong?
Why did it feel like the divine side was even less reliable than the evil god?
Bai Ye slowly followed the other two, stepping into the space behind the bronze door.
The silent air was met with a gust of chilling wind.
However, it wasn't as eerie as Duan Chen had imagined. Instead, the wind carried a hint of desolation and loneliness. If one savored it carefully, there was even a hint of solemnity and reverence.
On the other side of the bronze door was an empty, perfectly circular space.
The entire space was vast, so empty it could be described as such.
The ceiling, at least three or four stories high, forced one to look up in awe.
If not for the sliver of light that Duan Chen had poked open, this should have been a completely sealed elliptical structure.
Worn and ancient stone steps gradually extended downward, with rocks, mud, plants, and corpses that had fallen from above piled up in a mess.
Aside from the passage behind the bronze door, the outer circumference was a suspended abyss, forming a circular altar that seemed to float in the dark abyss.
This, then, was the true altar of the Yinshan Marsh.
In the center of the circular altar was a massive stone sacrificial platform emitting wisps of mist, bound by chains like a taboo. The other ends of the chains were inserted into the towering stone walls, stretched taut, forming a distorted pentagram.
On the stone sacrificial platform stood five bronze coffins.
The one in the center was the largest.
Dark and ancient, its golden bronze carvings were lifelike, exalting ultimate luxury. The four surrounding coffins were placed to the east, south, west, and north, each connected to the central coffin by a chain.
Under the dim light, everything before them seemed like an ancient ritual, sealed for many years, now awakened at this very moment.
Wu Suowei looked at the sacrificial altar with a complex expression.
His gaze was distant, nostalgic, as if he saw something from a buried past, yet it was mixed with a hint of confusion.
"So magnificent," Bai Ye exclaimed.
Duan Chen cautiously scanned his surroundings. The place was so open, with few places to hide.
So where was Zhen Caodan?
Where could he possibly hide?
Duan Chen's gaze fell upon the five bronze coffins.
Could this guy have hidden inside a coffin?
"Azure Dragon of the East, White Tiger of the West, Vermilion Bird of the South, Black Tortoise of the North... A perfect formation of the Taiji giving birth to the Two Forms, the Two Forms giving birth to the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols giving birth to the Eight Trigrams. With the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise guarding these four coffins, what kind of being is this?"
Bai Ye murmured, his eyes gradually becoming entranced.
"In a tomb of this scale, there must be countless treasures buried with it. Perhaps the coffins are filled with rare treasures."
"Oh?" Wu Suowei also seemed interested.
"Light a lamp, then blow it out. It is said that when tomb raiding, one must light a lamp in the southeast corner. If the ghosts do not want you to raid the tomb, they will blow out the lamp. This is a form of agreement between the living and the dead."
Bai Ye's smile was fanatical, and he was about to act.
However, Duan Chen patted his shoulder, held him back, and sneered, "Don't get excited. We're not a tomb-robbing drama. Besides, even if there are real treasures, they have to be handed over to the state."
Bai Ye and Wu Suowei immediately showed disappointed expressions.
"What a shame."
"Too bad."
The two said in unison.
Duan Chen was speechless. "Aren't your positions opposed? Why are you so in sync now?"
"No one dislikes money, not even gods," Wu Suowei said expressionlessly.
Duan Chen twitched his mouth, too lazy to deal with these two anymore.
The three walked towards the bronze coffins.
However, as soon as their feet stepped onto the central sacrificial altar, the five coffins suddenly hummed in unison. A chilling wind blew up from below the cliff, and mournful cries and screams echoed from below.
*Rumble—*
*Rumble—!*
"What's going on?" Bai Ye whispered. "Did we disturb the souls resting here?"
"Heh, possibly," Wu Suowei smiled faintly.
"Wu Da Shen, don't scare me," Bai Ye seemed unfazed.
"Stop being so suspicious. This is just the sound of wind blowing through mountain valleys. It has a scientific explanation," Duan Chen said, gripping his gun.
Bai Ye released a crow, which flew towards the cliff below, but it soon disappeared.
"Now doesn't seem to be the time for a science lesson..."
*Click, clack!!*
The chains suddenly began to shake violently, and a powerful spiritual pressure emanated from the central coffin.