Chapter 128: An Unexpected Turn

Six hexagonal bronze dragon-and-phoenix lamps stood in place, surrounding a noble and luxurious jade coffin. On either side of the coffin, two exquisite puppet women stood in respectful attendance.

Xia Changhan stopped behind the six lanterns. Suddenly, he turned and flicked his wrist, firing several beams of gray spiritual light toward the spot where Qu Yiqiu had been hiding. Pieces of wall plaster fell away, leaving clean holes in the masonry.

Xia Changhan frowned slightly, muttering to himself, "It seems I was overthinking."

This secret realm was vastly different from what he had imagined. When he first entered, he had never expected it to possess the ability to suppress divine sense, which had forced him to act with extreme caution, unable to clearly perceive his surroundings. Even though he held the world's only map and possessed the Return-to-Origin Pearl, he remained vigilant.

Qu Yiqiu, having relocated, felt a sense of relief that she had sensed his suspicion and left the area behind the stone wall in time; otherwise, she would have been exposed to Xia Changhan.

Xia Changhan swept his gaze across the surroundings before focusing on the puppet women beside the jade coffin. Their delicate jade hands were raised above the coffin, palms pale and fingers curled inward, as if cradling something.

At that moment, Xia Changhan parted his lips, and a bright red bead, wreathed in spiritual light, flew toward the palms of the two puppet women. As the red Return-to-Origin Pearl settled into their cupped hands, the flames of the six bronze lamps instantly extinguished, plunging the ancient tomb into darkness.

Before Qu Yiqiu could even feel tense, the eyes of the ancient beasts carved around the jade coffin—which resembled copper bells—flared with beams of light, illuminating the bead held by the puppet women. The tomb brightened once more.

Xia Changhan began to chant, his hands forming seals at his chest as he recited a series of arcane incantations that Qu Yiqiu could not understand.

"Click."

The lid of the jade coffin jolted, opening a narrow slit. Qu Yiqiu dared not use her divine sense to examine the contents, but she could use Xiao Yan's power to perceive what lay within.

"It is the corpse of a beautiful woman, holding a ceramic container to her chest," Xiao Yan reported, withdrawing its perception.

Qu Yiqiu realized instantly that this must be the urn the skull-zombie had spoken of. Xia Changhan continued to chant, his eyes flickering with intense eagerness as he watched the jade coffin gradually open.

As his incantations accelerated, Qu Yiqiu clearly saw terrifying power leaking from beneath the bronze lamps at the six corners.

"Roar—"

A low, monstrous sound erupted from beneath the ground, shaking the very floor beneath Qu Yiqiu’s feet.

*There is a living thing down there!* The thought flashed through her mind. Even without knowing what it was, the mere sliver of pressure leaking from the formation Xia Changhan was activating made her heart tremble and alarm bells ring in her mind.

A fleeting look of apprehension crossed Xia Changhan’s eyes, but he quickly shifted his hand seals, his movements becoming faster and the spiritual light flashing with dazzling colors. The strange roar from beneath the earth grew more ferocious.

Qu Yiqiu, still maintaining her Golden Core cultivation, was able to withstand some of the overwhelming pressure from the roar. Xia Changhan, however, appeared far more exhausted, showing signs of depleted spiritual power. He gulped down a spiritual replenishment pill during a brief pause and pushed the lid of the jade coffin toward the center. Only one final step remained to fully open the sarcophagus.

Seeing Xia Changhan’s struggle, Qu Yiqiu felt a sense of unease. Soon, the face of the woman inside the jade coffin was revealed.

"It’s her!" Qu Yiqiu gasped inwardly.

"Yes," Xiao Yan replied, "she is the woman from the mural you were observing earlier. She must have been the personal attendant to the owner of this jade coffin."

Qu Yiqiu felt an instinctive sense of wrongness. This woman was undoubtedly strange. No sooner had she formed this thought than the woman in the jade coffin suddenly sat up, clutching the urn, her eyes snapping open with a piercing, murderous aura.

"What are you doing?" the woman, who had been dead for years, actually spoke.

Xia Changhan’s incantations were abruptly broken. He stared at her in shock and summoned a long sword, intending to pierce her forehead. Qu Yiqiu noted his decisiveness, but the woman’s face suddenly distorted into something hideous and ugly, revealing two long fangs. With a sharp snap, she bit the magical sword into two pieces.

The force transmitted through the weapon made Xia Changhan’s arm tremble; the sleeve of his right arm exploded into powder. Staring in disbelief, he frantically activated a bell-shaped artifact and shouted, "You beast, why do you not move on to reincarnation? Why cling to this useless object?"

The woman's flowing black hair whipped about, suddenly elongating to lash out at him. Xia Changhan shook his bell with one hand, his throat vibrating with Buddhist reincarnation scriptures.

"Do you think I want to stay here? Do you think I don't want to be reincarnated? You should not have come here; you cannot break the formation he left behind!"

The woman’s face was now hideously distorted, yet Qu Yiqiu could discern a flicker of agony in her glazed eyes. The owner of the jade coffin was truly cruel, having refined a living person into a puppet. From the woman’s intact flesh, she could tell she had been controlled while still alive.

The clear, melodic sound of Xia Changhan’s bell began to affect the woman’s mind. Faced with her relentless assault, he took a few steps back and said, "If you wish to leave, I can grant you your freedom."

The woman in the jade coffin let out a raspy, mocking laugh. "There is no escape. No one can leave. It is too late... too late!"

With that, her eyes turned blood-red, and her hair surged, thick as tree trunks, wrapping tightly around Xia Changhan. The wicks of the six bronze lamps flickered, their flames suddenly flaring up like a soaring phoenix, casting a grotesque glow that turned Qu Yiqiu’s face crimson.

"Roar—"

The roar from the earth intensified. Qu Yiqiu stood as the ground shook violently. The woman in the jade coffin’s red eyes filled with terror. "No, no! This beast has actually been feeding on humans!"

*A beast? An ancient beast?* Qu Yiqiu, hidden in the shadows, pondered the woman’s words.

"Roar—roar—"

The beast's cry was like thunder, deafening. Blood surged within Qu Yiqiu’s chest, and her spiritual energy began to circulate in reverse. She realized immediately that this was an entity no weaker than an ancient beast. Glancing at Xia Changhan, who was ensnared by the black hair, she hesitated for a moment before unleashing her Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon.

After severing the woman's hair, she turned and fled at full speed. She had to get out of here. Xia Changhan was no match for the puppet woman, let alone whatever beast was imprisoned beneath the earth.