"Boss, you're biased!"
"This Fatty deserves credit, why am I still the one carrying things?"
Fatty pouted, clearly unwilling.
"Old Hu is the strategist, Qilin is your second brother, and I don't need to say for myself. You're the only one who can carry things."
Zhang Tian patted Fatty's shoulder.
Fatty reluctantly took the backpack and put it on.
He felt a surge of dejection, even more so wishing he had a subordinate.
"Fatty is truly miserable, truly miserable!"
Fatty cried out, while Hu Bayi stifled a laugh. After Fatty started following Zhang Tian, his life had gotten better and better.
The formation was broken, and the group could easily proceed.
Three coffins of nanmu wood appeared before them.
Zhang Tian looked at the coffins and took a breath.
He hadn't expected the coffins to be opened, and inside lay three female corpses with multiple arms and legs.
The corpses were dressed in Ming Dynasty noble attire, looking ancient, while their faces were severely decomposed.
They had several hands and several feet, like monsters, and emitted a foul odor.
Zhang Qilin remained calm, unbothered and not even curious about this.
Fatty, however, craned his neck to get a closer look.
"Ugh, so disgusting. Fortunately, the princess was incredibly beautiful."
Upon seeing what was inside, Fatty's face turned green, and he couldn't bear to look further.
Hu Bayi shot Fatty a glare.
"Fatty, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. These three in the coffins were also pitiable."
As Hu Bayi spoke, Zhang Tian nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid they've turned into tomb guardian corpses."
"The tomb owner, for the sake of auspicious feng shui, used cruel methods and transformed the corpses into this state."
Saying that, Zhang Tian took out his peach wood sword.
For beings like them, death was the ultimate destination. Otherwise, remaining in the coffin forever meant no reincarnation.
They would be trapped forever guarding the tomb for Wang Canghai.
"Boss, what are you doing?"
"To prevent reanimation, and this way, their souls will also find release."
Lin Tian said, drawing a charm in the air with his peach wood sword. Three fire talismans appeared and then plunged into the coffins. Immediately, flames erupted within them.
Because these were talisman fires, they were unaffected by the air.
Watching the female corpses burn, Zhang Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least, it was a permanent solution.
The flames burned for about three minutes, and Zhang Tian and the others turned their attention elsewhere.
"Boss, there seems to be a mechanism here!"
Fatty stood behind the coffins, in front of a lever.
If he wasn't mistaken, this mechanism should lead to the next tomb passage.
"Let's open it and see."
Zhang Tian said, and Fatty pulled the lever. The next moment, the floor suddenly disappeared, and the four of them, completely unprepared, plunged into the depths.
"Holy crap, boss, can I say your judgment was off?"
Fatty yelled, and Zhang Tian was also a bit stunned. Fortunately, there was a pool of water below. As Zhang Tian swam up, he found himself in another chamber.
Climbing out of the water, Zhang Tian looked around. Hu Bayi and the other two hadn't surfaced yet, and he didn't know why.
The familiar surroundings were decorated differently.
This was the side chamber, but unlike the one below the elevator.
And where Zhang Tian was standing should be the next tomb chamber.
"Splash. Splish."
At the next moment, three people rushed out of the water in the side chamber.
Fatty gasped for air several times.
"Boss, damn it, this is truly a trap. This damn stone talisman is so heavy!"
"And, in the water, something was scratching Fatty's feet. Fortunately, Fatty's feet stink and scared that thing away."
Fatty said with a dejected expression, gasping for breath.
Hu Bayi and Zhang Qilin looked at Fatty and instinctively moved a little further away from him.
Zhang Tian looked at them.
"Why were you so slow?"
He asked softly.
"We encountered a white-haired Han Ba in the water."
"He was sinking, and we went down specifically to save him."
Zhang Qilin uttered a few words, and Hu Bayi nodded in agreement.
He spoke hoarsely.
"Fortunately, Second Brother is formidable. With an ancient sword, he repelled the Han Ba. Fatty claimed his stinky feet scared it away."
Hu Bayi said with a laugh. Fatty touched his head, his round face beaming with joy.
The white-haired Han Ba, this creature might not be well-known on television.
But in reality, or in mythology, it was an incredibly powerful being.
Han Ba itself is quite mysterious. There are three theories: the first is that it is the daughter of the Yellow Emperor, the second is a celestial goddess, and the third is a zombie cultivated through Taoist magic.
Regardless of which theory is true, it is a formidable entity.
"Qilin, are you sure it was a Han Ba?"
Zhang Tian confirmed again, as this was not something to be trifled with.
"Yes."
Zhang Qilin nodded.
"Han Ba, a monster that causes drought. They are generally afraid of water, but appearing underwater is a bit strange."
Zhang Tian said, and he didn't pursue the topic further.
"Boss, this should be the next tomb chamber. I feel like the water in this pool can be drained, and there's something underneath."
Hu Bayi looked at the pool. When the Han Ba grabbed him, Hu Bayi had glimpsed stairs beneath the water.
"Mmm, we don't have a way to drain the water right now. Let's see later. There's a jade door ahead, we can go check it out."
Zhang Tian nodded. Without finding a sluice gate, he couldn't go underwater.
Furthermore, Zhang Tian didn't intend to go down so quickly. He wanted to explore gradually.
By examining the entire tomb, he might be able to find where Wang Canghai kept his pets.
Zhang Tian released the little turtle again. The creature trotted ahead, leading the way, and they soon arrived at the jade door.
Perhaps sensing Zhang Tian's group, the sea monster didn't intentionally cause trouble.
Up above, in the tomb chamber, Professor Chen and his team had already thoroughly investigated the entire side chamber.
It could be said that the expert team was very diligent.
"Professor Chen, there's so much here, we can't possibly take it all with us."
A young man said.
"Mmm, later we can have an expedition team come. Based on my preliminary assessment, this should be a Ming Dynasty tomb."
Professor Chen said, examining a porcelain artifact.
"Professor Chen, since we're already here, let's go inside and take a look."
Shirley Yang said. Zhang Tian had already opened the door, and it would be unreasonable for them not to explore.
Professor Chen nodded, gestured to the expert team, and prepared to set off.
However, just as he finished speaking, there was movement from underwater.
Bubbles emerged from the water in the tomb chamber.
At the next moment, a sea monster emerged from the water.
The sea monster looked at them and spat out a stream of green liquid.
It was extremely foul-smelling.
"Not good, it's a sea monster! Everyone, run!"
Shirley Yang exclaimed, quickly calling out. The expert team scrambled further inside, risking their lives.
Unfortunately, due to their panic, some team members tripped over stones on the ground and tumbled. The sea monster was extremely fast and had tentacles.
One tentacle immediately wrapped around a team member, and that member lost their life.
Seeing a team member killed by the sea monster, the others felt a pang of grief but dared not stop.
They now truly understood that descending into a tomb was not a simple matter.
Even though Zhang Tian had removed ninety percent of the dangers, there was still that remaining ten percent.
And even with that ten percent, they were struggling.
Running frantically, the expert team finally reached the tomb chamber of the Ten Marshals that Zhang Tian had previously explored.
Shirley Yang quickly found some planks and sealed the entrance they had come through.
Seeing that the sea monster hadn't followed, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"We just arrived, and we've already lost a member."
The young scholar muttered, feeling a sense of loss.
"Alas, what's done is done. Let's try to maintain a positive attitude."
Professor Chen comforted them.
However, he thought of Zhang Tian and his group.
"The tomb chamber was so dangerous, and they went down before us, helping to remove so much danger. Yet, we still suffered a loss. If it were the Ancient City of Jingjue..."
Professor Chen's voice became heavy.
He didn't continue.
Everyone understood what Professor Chen meant.
Even Shirley Yang felt a sense of dread. She knew that they, who were helpless, would be waiting for death when facing those demons and monsters.
Let alone going to the more dangerous Ancient City of Jingjue, where it would be no different from sending themselves to their doom.
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