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墨書 Inktalez
Living Funeral
The Taoist stood beside me, the power of his spirit growing weak. At this moment, he was a far cry from the Taoist I had first encountered.
The white coffin lay beneath the Silver Eight Yin Diagram, and I waited for the Taoist's response. After a moment of silence, he said, "Open the coffin and see the corpse. Carve a blood hole at the corpse's forehead; you need not worry about anything else."
Upon hearing this, I inexplicably shivered. Carving a blood hole at the corpse's forehead sounded utterly chilling.
I was momentarily dazed when the Taoist leaned closer and whispered in my ear, "Go ahead, Chen Fei."
His voice felt eerily unsettling. After he spoke, he vanished from my side. Gao Ling approached me and asked, "Fei, how did you do that?"
I was at a loss for words. I glanced at Gao Ling, who continued, "Why do you look so pale?"
I shook my head, took a deep breath, and told Gao Ling not to be nonsensical. Gao Ling insisted that I was being serious. I didn’t engage with him further and walked toward the white coffin. As I got closer, Gao Qing also arrived and immediately said to me, "I want whatever is inside that coffin."
Damn it, we were back to the previous state—conflict was brewing again.
Gao Ling interjected, "Gao Qing, do you even know what’s inside? If it’s a mummy, would you still want it?"
Gao Qing seemed resolute as he replied, "No matter what it is inside, I want it."
I told Gao Qing, "That’s not possible."
Gao Qing retorted that whether it was possible or not didn’t matter; he would take it anyway. Damn it, the atmosphere grew awkward again as they started to bicker over possessions. Zhao Fan suggested, "Why don’t we open the coffin first?"
Zhang Xun stepped forward and said, "If we break the yang side, the yin side will undergo changes."
I responded to Zhang Xun firmly, "This coffin must be opened."
As I finished speaking, Zhang Xun looked at me and said, "Then let's open it."
I had no idea what Gao Qing wanted from the things inside the coffin, but since I had promised to help the Taoist priest, I had to retrieve whatever was inside. It might just be a corpse, but what did Gao Qing want with a corpse?
I couldn't make sense of it no matter how hard I tried.
Taking a deep breath, I said to Gao Qing, "How about we open the coffin first?"
Gao Qing nodded in agreement, and we prepared to get to work. The coffin had fallen from a great height but showed no signs of damage. Zhao Fan remarked, "This coffin is really well-made."
Gao Qing replied, "What do you expect from a coffin made of Dark Wood?"
At that moment, Gao Ling chimed in, saying that he had heard of this type of wood. According to legend, it never rots even after a thousand years and could bring the dead buried within back to life. Of course, that was just a legend; how could something so eerie be true?
I reached out and touched the coffin. It felt cold to the touch, that chill seeping through my skin and straight to my heart. I pulled my hand away. Suddenly, I found this coffin somewhat eerie as well. I asked Gao Ling if the dead buried in such a coffin could really come back to life.
Gao Ling replied, "It's just a legend, but there is some truth to it: this Dark Wood was only used by emperors in ancient times, and it truly does not rot even after being buried for a thousand years."
After hearing Gao Ling's words, I fell silent. Although it was just a legend, what if there was some truth to it?
That thought seemed absurd yet plausible; what if there really was a living person inside the coffin?
Confusion filled my mind. We would know if there was a living person once we opened the coffin. I took out my dagger and began searching for gaps between the coffin body and its lid. The gaps were all sealed with nails. Gao Ling tried to lift it but couldn't budge it.
I spoke up, saying that the coffin was nailed shut and suggested we remove the nails before opening it.
Having dealt with coffins at the funeral home before, I knew some basic structural knowledge about them. Everyone quickly got to work on removing the nails. There weren't many—only four in total—so once they were removed, we could lift the lid.
I called out to Gao Ling and said, "Let's lift the lid together; everyone else stay back."
At this moment, neither Zhang Xun nor Gao Qing said anything. Zhao Fan took a step back on his own while Gao Ling said, "Alright, let's lift it."
The matter was settled. Gao Ling and I lifted the coffin lid. I took a deep breath and said to Gao Ling, "Ready?" Gao Ling replied, "No problem."
We both worked together to open the coffin lid. Once it was lifted, a fragrant aroma wafted out. I was surprised because the scent was that of strong alcohol, yet it was oddly pleasant.
We placed the lid on the ground, but there was no movement from inside the coffin. Gao Qing and Zhang Xun stepped forward simultaneously, but just then, my phone rang. Damn it! I was stunned to realize there was signal here!
Everyone looked at me in surprise. I couldn't believe it. I pressed the answer button, and it was Fatty Zhang calling. I immediately said, "What the hell are you calling for at a time like this?"
Fatty Zhang chuckled and said, "Chen Fei, I just wanted to remind you that there are ghosts in the Mountain Lodge."
I felt like cursing that bastard. Ghosts in the Mountain Lodge? Damn it! His words were so nonsensical that I couldn't even comprehend them. The coffin had already been opened, and he was still saying such things. I scolded him over the phone, "Are you just sitting around all day?"
Fatty Zhang retorted, "Damn it! Your temper is still as explosive as ever."
I didn't want to talk to him anymore and hung up. I was feeling tense; my palms were sweating. Damn it! I moved closer to the coffin while the other four stood frozen in place. Gao Ling quickly called out to me, "Fei, come look!"
Gao Ling's tone was somewhat excited. I hurried over, and when I saw the body inside the coffin, I was stunned. The corpse lying there looked just like a living person—vividly lifelike, with flawless skin and exquisitely defined features—a handsome man.
I gasped in shock and said, "Is this a dead person? Damn it! Why does he look like he's just sleeping?"
Gao Qing's gaze remained fixed on the corpse as mine did too. After a few glances, my eyes moved to the area between the corpse's eyebrows. The Taoist had told me to carve a blood hole there. However, Gao Qing probably wouldn't let me do that so easily.
Gao Ling said, "Fei, you're right! This person really does look like he's sleeping!"
Damn it! There really seemed to be no difference from a living person.
I glanced at Gao Qing and asked, "What do you think?"
Gao Qing replied, "He's dead. The Dark Wood can preserve this corpse for a thousand years without decay, so it's quite normal."
I asked, "Is it really possible for things to be this normal?" Gao Qing's expression changed slightly, and then he replied, "There's nothing impossible about it."
Thinking about the possibility of having to compete with Gao Qing for the corpse later made my head spin. Gao Qing had a fiery temper, which could be quite troublesome. If it came down to a one-on-one fight, I would be beaten to a pulp in minutes! I needed to come up with a peaceful solution that both of us could accept.
As it stood, there was only one corpse in the coffin, dressed in exquisite clothing. Suddenly, a question popped into my mind: Could this person inside the coffin be Jiang Changsheng?
I asked, "Is it Jiang Changsheng in there?"
Zhao Fan was the first to respond, "No, I've seen Jiang Changsheng before, and this person isn't him."
Zhang Xun glanced over but remained silent. Gao Qing shook his head. Gao Ling and I were both uninformed and had no say in the matter. If it wasn't Jiang Changsheng, then that was good. Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind. I paused for a moment and asked Gao Qing, "Gao Qing, what do you want from the coffin?"
Gao Qing looked at me and said, "I want..."
But before he could finish his sentence, my phone rang again. I answered it; it was Fatty Zhang. I said to him, "Spit it out."
Fatty Zhang said, "Chen Fei, I'm not joking with you. Something really happened at Mountain Lodge—there's a ghost sighting."
Damn it! What on earth was Fatty Zhang talking about?
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