331: An impenetrable fortress, far more powerful than the Skeleton King.

"It seems a special key is needed to open this door," Ye Bai said.

The three of them began searching the surroundings for a key. Just then, Meng Ziyi noticed a stone on the ground with a shape somewhat similar to the groove. She picked it up and tried placing it into the groove; to her surprise, it fit perfectly. With a rumble, the Stone Door slowly opened.

Behind the Stone Door was a massive Cave filled with all sorts of gold and silver jewelry. In the center of the jewelry stood a Stone Platform, upon which sat a jade box.

"Wow, so much jewelry!" Meng Ziyi exclaimed in awe.

"Don't touch anything yet; there might be a mechanism in these jewels," Ye Bai warned.

They walked cautiously toward the Stone Platform. Just as they were about to reach it, a sinister laugh suddenly echoed through the Cave.

"You greedy humans, how dare you trespass into my domain!" a voice reverberated through the Cave.

"Who's there? Come out!" Ye Bai shouted loudly.

Suddenly, a monster emitting a black aura crawled out from the pile of jewelry. Its body appeared to be pieced together from countless skeletons, and its eyes flickered with an eerie red light.

"This is the Skeleton King, an evil creature guarding these treasures. Everyone, be careful!" Ye Bai said.

The Skeleton King lunged at them, and Ye Bai met it head-on, engaging in combat. The Skeleton King's attacks were incredibly sharp, its skeletal arms stabbing at Ye Bai like blades. Ye Bai dodged left and right, looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

"Yang Mi, Meng Ziyi, look around and see if there's anything that can restrain it, just like how we dealt with the Dried Corpse last time!" Ye Bai shouted.

Yang Mi and Meng Ziyi searched everywhere in the Cave. Yang Mi discovered some ancient Murals on the Cave walls. One Mural depicted a person holding a Bell-like object toward a skeleton, rendering the skeleton unable to move.

"Ye Bai, there's a clue on the Mural! It looks like we need a Bell to deal with it!" Yang Mi shouted.

While maneuvering against the Skeleton King, Ye Bai said, "Look around and see if there's a Bell."

Meng Ziyi began rummaging through the pile of jewelry. Suddenly, she felt something hard. Pulling it out, she saw it was an exquisite Bell.

"I found it!" Meng Ziyi cried out excitedly.

"Ring the Bell!" Ye Bai said calmly.

Meng Ziyi rang the Bell with force, and it emitted a crisp sound. Upon hearing the Bell, the Skeleton King's body began to tremble, and its movements became sluggish.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ye Bai threw a punch at the Skeleton King's chest. With a miserable scream, the Skeleton King collapsed to the ground.

"What... what happened?" Meng Ziyi asked in surprise.

Ye Bai looked at the Skeleton King with a grave expression. After a moment of reflection, he said, "It seems the Skeleton King is subject to some kind of restriction; as long as the Bell rings, it stops moving."

"I see," Yang Mi said, realization dawning on her.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Since the Skeleton King has been controlled, we can enter the Tomb Chamber and take a look," Ye Bai said.

"Isn't... isn't this too reckless? After all, this Tomb Owner was a very powerful existence in life. What if we encounter an even stronger enemy?" Meng Ziyi asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure if there's an existence stronger than the Skeleton King inside either, but we have to go in and see, don't we?" Ye Bai shrugged.

"Alright then, I'll go in with you," Meng Ziyi agreed, gritting her teeth.

Ye Bai nodded. "That's good. With your help, our chances of success are higher."

"Let's go." Ye Bai led the two women into the Tomb Chamber.

The interior of the Tomb Chamber was vast and dark, devoid of any decorations, appearing quite desolate.

As Ye Bai and the others stepped into the Tomb Chamber, the candle flames inside lit up automatically.

The candlelight illuminated every inch of the Tomb Chamber, making it bright and warm.

Ye Bai saw an outer coffin deep within the Tomb Chamber. The outer coffin was made of red sandalwood and carved with various patterns of flowers, birds, fish, insects, and dragons and phoenixes bringing prosperity.

Ye Bai walked up to the outer coffin. He reached out to lift the Coffin Lid but was blocked by a layer of Iron Chains outside the coffin.

"Why are there chains? Did someone nail the coffin here?" Meng Ziyi asked in confusion.

Yang Mi frowned. "Did you notice the writing on the coffin?"

"What writing?"

"Lying within the coffin is our Huaxia national treasure, the remnant scrolls of the 'Evergreen Formula'."

"So there really is a national treasure in the coffin?" Ye Bai said excitedly.

"Yeah, it's very likely. But what exactly is this national treasure?"

Meng Ziyi crouched on the ground, carefully examining the writing on the coffin. Finally, she pointed to the top left corner of the coffin and said, "Look here, it says 'Suppression'."

"What does that mean?" Meng Ziyi asked, puzzled.

Neither Yang Mi nor Ye Bai understood.

"Perhaps there's a corpse buried beneath this coffin?" Meng Ziyi guessed.

Just as Meng Ziyi finished speaking, a creaking sound came from the top of the coffin. Ye Bai and the others looked up and saw the cover plate on the coffin slowly rising, revealing the situation inside.

"What on earth is that!" Yang Mi cried out in terror.

Meng Ziyi covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes widening as she stared at the thing inside the coffin.

Ye Bai narrowed his eyes at the object in the coffin. It was a human head—a bloody, mangled head covered in scars.

"This is..." Yang Mi was shocked beyond measure.

"Could this be the Tomb Owner?"

"It must be!"

There was nothing else in the coffin besides this head. The head's eyes were wide open in anger, dying with grievances, looking hideous and terrifying!

What kind of great figure was this to suffer such torture? Ye Bai couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"This... this... I'd better stay back a bit so I don't dirty your senior's place." Meng Ziyi shivered and took two steps back, closing her eyes in fear.

"This is a Tomb Chamber, not a graveyard. Why would such a terrifying thing exist here?" Yang Mi also said nervously.

"Heaven only knows the answer to that," Ye Bai said helplessly.

"Ye Bai, what should we do now?" Yang Mi asked anxiously.

Ye Bai thought for a moment and said, "We don't have any other choice now. We must continue further in and find the treasure as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the Skeleton King recovers, we'll be in trouble."

"Alright." Yang Mi had no choice but to agree, bracing herself.

The three continued forward. Although this grotto looked sinister and terrifying, it wasn't as dangerous as they had imagined.

Reaching the middle of the Tomb Chamber, the three of them stood right in the center.

Suddenly, the entire Tomb Chamber shook violently. Dense runes emerged on the walls of the Tomb Chamber, enveloping the three of them within.

"We're in trouble," Ye Bai said, frowning.

"Ye Bai, what do these runes mean?" Meng Ziyi asked curiously.

"These runes are a Seal," Ye Bai explained.

"Are these runes very powerful?" Yang Mi asked nervously.

"I don't know either, but we're safe for the time being," Ye Bai said.