344: Tears of the Underworld, this trip was worthwhile.

When the crack in the door fully opened, a foul stench rushed out, making one want to vomit.

"How can there be such a stinky smell here?" Meng Ziyi couldn't help but cover her nose.

Ye Bai held his breath and stepped over the threshold.

As soon as he stepped through this door, he felt a thick wave of resentment wash over him, making his whole body tremble.

The space here wasn't very large, and it contained a dozen or so coffins, all of which had their Coffin Lids open. Inside every coffin lay a corpse; their appearances were hideous and distorted, looking extremely terrifying.

Meng Ziyi was so scared she covered her mouth.

"Big Brother Ye, they..." she asked fearfully.

"It's fine," Ye Bai comforted her. He looked up and scanned the surroundings, finally discovering a Bead in the far left corner. This Bead was roughly the size of a thumb, and its shape was somewhat like a crescent moon.

"That's it!" Ye Bai immediately rushed over.

"What kind of treasure is this?" Meng Ziyi watched curiously as Ye Bai picked up the Bead.

"A soul guiding stone, there's one here," Ye Bai said happily.

"This thing is quite a treasure!" Yang Mi walked over with a chuckle. "It's said that with a soul guiding stone, one can summon deities to descend into the world. Ye Bai, since it's such a precious item, I'll leave it in your care."

Ye Bai put away the soul guiding stone, then turned to the group and said, "I've already observed them; the people in these coffins aren't truly dead."

"A master is buried here. These coffins were used by him for sacrifices. Now that the coffins have been opened, they have died as well; what remains here are merely their physical shells."

"Ye Bai, are their physical bodies still there?" Meng Ziyi asked curiously.

Ye Bai nodded, then took out his entrenching shovel and pried open a Coffin Lid. With a dull thud, the Coffin Lid was completely opened.

The person inside was covered in talisman paper, their face flushed red as if they had been cooked. They looked at Ye Bai with a bizarre expression, black smoke constantly spewing from their mouths.

Ye Bai quickly used a handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth; this black smoke was highly toxic, and without precautions, one would likely lose their life in an instant.

"What kind of Talismanic Incantation is this?" Yang Mi asked in shock.

Ye Bai shook his head. "This should be some kind of curse that can extract a person's life force and transfer it to other parts of their body."

"Oh my god!" Yang Mi was stunned. She remembered the group of zombies she had encountered before and felt a lingering fear. "No wonder those zombies became so powerful. It was all because of these Talismanic Incantations."

Ye Bai said, "It seems now that the Corpse King is also affected by the curse. Otherwise, he couldn't be trapped in this area. The so-called soul guiding stone would also never exist in a place like this. We must find the soul guiding stone quickly now, otherwise, it will be difficult to find once it disappears."

Everyone deeply agreed.

These people had been dead for many years, their bodies long since cold. Their bodily functions had severely aged, their organs had necrotized, and it was basically impossible for them to come back to life.

Their only value was their corpses, but the corpses had been decaying for years; aside from corpse water, they were of no other use.

Therefore, if they wanted to find the soul guiding stone, they could only start with these corpses.

After a careful search, Ye Bai found a coffin in a corner.

He lifted the Coffin Lid, and inside unexpectedly lay a rusty bronze Dagger. He used the Dagger to cut his wrist and let his blood drip into the Dagger's interior. Immediately, the Dagger emitted a faint glow, with a vague flow of golden light.

"This is..." He stared at the Dagger in surprise. "This is the Tears of the Underworld!"

He remembered it vividly; this Dagger had once appeared in the Underworld.

"Ye Bai, what is this?" Yang Mi leaned over and asked curiously.

"It's the Tears of the Underworld, a spiritual item."

Ye Bai explained, "It contains extremely pure yin-sha qi. If one can utilize this yin-sha qi to temper oneself, efficiency can be increased several times or even more, and cultivation speed will also multiply."

"I remember there's a rule in the Underworld: anyone who slays a fierce ghost and obtains the Tears of the Underworld will be rewarded with five thousand merit points."

"Then let's hurry up and find the soul guiding stone," Meng Ziyi urged impatiently.

"Mm." Ye Bai nodded and then continued his search.

This Ancient Tomb was very large, with three floors in total; they were currently searching the second floor. Ye Bai's current task was to find the soul guiding stone and then take it away from here.

Suddenly, Meng Ziyi cried out, "Ah!"

Ye Bai and Yang Mi quickly ran to Meng Ziyi's side.

Meng Ziyi pointed in a direction, her pretty face pale.

"What's wrong?" Yang Mi asked anxiously.

"There's a... zombie here!" Meng Ziyi said tremblingly. "It's walking toward us!"

"A zombie?"

Ye Bai was startled. He looked in the direction Meng Ziyi pointed and indeed saw a shriveled, thin humanoid creature standing up.

Its clothes were tattered, revealing bony skin and a wrinkled face. Its eyes were dim and lifeless, and its entire face looked as if it had been weathered for years—pale and bloodless, emitting the breath of death.

Ye Bai knew that this should be the zombie Meng Ziyi was talking about.

"A zombie?" Upon hearing the name, Yang Mi's expression instantly froze, and she stared wide-eyed at the zombie.

She had seen this kind of creature many times in movies, but seeing one so powerful and frightening with her own eyes was a first.

She trembled with fear, a look of terror appearing on her face.

Ye Bai patted her shoulder and said, "It's okay, it's just a corpse."

"Ye Bai, what do we do? How about... I hide in a coffin first," Meng Ziyi suggested. She was so nervous that even her voice was shaking.

"Don't worry, I can suppress it," Ye Bai said. "If it dares to hurt you, I'll make sure it stays here forever."

The zombie walked closer slowly, with less than a hundred meters left between them.

"Ye Bai, it's coming over!" Meng Ziyi shrank behind Ye Bai's back in fear.

Ye Bai gave a light snort and suddenly thrust out his right palm, striking the zombie's chest.

Boom—

The zombie's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

Ye Bai gave a low growl and pushed forward with his right arm, forcefully knocking the zombie to the ground. He then delivered several hard kicks, stomping the zombie half to death.

"So powerful!" Meng Ziyi praised. "It's just like in a movie."

Ye Bai gave a faint smile and said, "Although this zombie is strong, its intelligence is low and it's not much of a threat. Let's go, let's check the next floor."

The three of them went up the stairs and arrived at the center of the second floor. This floor was also filled with coffins, but these were all intact, without a single trace of a corpse having been gnawed on.

Many coffins were placed in this area as well. After Ye Bai checked them one by one, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper. These coffins were all intact, yet their interiors were completely empty.

Ye Bai guessed that perhaps every certain period of time, a batch of corpses would appear here, and then these corpses would be transported to the lower levels of the Ancient Tomb.