392: It's a mix of truth and falsehood, but it still has to be you.

Ye Bai frowned. "This girl is a zombie?"

Fatty shook his head. "She's definitely not a zombie. The Evil Qi on her is very faint; it doesn't look like a sign of corpse transformation."

"Besides, didn't you just say that the purpose of the Soul-Sealing Coffin is to suppress evil spirit? If this stone coffin really contained a zombie, it would have broken out and slaughtered everyone long ago."

"So I think this girl is likely a pet kept in the stone coffin by someone."

Ye Bai: "A pet?"

"Look over there, there's some calligraphy on the stone table." Fatty pointed to a corner of the Tomb Chamber.

Sure enough, several bamboo slips were placed on the stone table. The handwriting was mottled and messy, appearing to be very old.

Fatty flipped through a few pages of the bamboo slips and clicked his tongue in wonder. "This handwriting is really ugly."

Ye Bai glanced at him. "It's not the handwriting that's ugly."

Fatty looked at him in confusion. "Then what the hell is written there?"

Ye Bai slowly spat out two words: "Talismanic Incantation."

Fatty: "What do you mean?"

Ye Bai explained, "These scrolls should be Talismanic Incantations left by the Maoshan Sect, specifically used to suppress evil spirit."

"The effects of these Talismanic Incantations are similar to the Five Thunder Talismans in Taoist tradition. They are incredibly powerful, but they take time to cast, and each use consumes a great deal of energy, requiring at least ten days to half a month to recover."

Fatty's eyes widened. "That's so badass?!"

"Nonsense!" Ye Bai said with disdain. "Maoshan Arts are a national treasure. They're more than just 'badass'!"

Fatty rubbed his hands excitedly. "So, as long as we find the Talismanic Incantations passed down by Maoshan, there's hope of cracking the Soul-Sealing Coffin!"

"Mhm." Ye Bai nodded.

Yang Mi frowned, worriedly saying, "But I've never heard of any Maoshan descendants still existing."

Ye Bai said, "You'll have to ask me about that. Back when I was at Maoshan, someone chatted with me and mentioned that the descendants of the Maoshan Sect aren't just one person, but a whole group of people."

Yang Mi: "...That many people?"

Ye Bai smiled. "Yeah."

Yang Mi looked suspicious and doubted, "Since it's a group of people, why don't they live in the same place?"

Ye Bai shrugged. "Who knows."

Yang Mi pressed further, "Could they be living in seclusion, away from the world?"

Ye Bai: "Heh."

"You actually believed that?"

After saying that, he changed the subject and pointed to the female infant in the center of the Tomb Chamber. "Tell me, if this girl really is a zombie, why would she be sealed in this stone coffin? And what's the deal with this coffin?"

"I don't know." Fatty shook his head.

Yang Mi also shook her head and said, "I've thought about this question too, but there's never been an answer."

Ye Bai said thoughtfully, "I think another item closely related to the Soul-Sealing Coffin should have something to do with this female infant."

"What is it?" Yang Mi immediately followed up.

Ye Bai: "...Uh, it's a secret for now."

Yang Mi glared at him fiercely.

Ye Bai: "Let's go, we'll start moving now."

Fatty asked, "Do you have a way to crack the Soul-Sealing Coffin?"

Ye Bai nodded. "Mhm."

Fatty's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Wow, are you for real?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Ye Bai raised an eyebrow at him.

"What do you plan to do?" Yang Mi couldn't help but ask.

Ye Bai picked up the incomplete scroll and examined it carefully, then let out a soft breath and closed his eyes.

The material of the scroll was very special; it was phoebe zhennan wood.

Even though it was incomplete, it remained structurally sound, showing its hardness. It was definitely not something ordinary human strength could destroy.

Ye Bai tried to shave off two pieces with his Dagger, but it remained completely unscathed.

The toughness of this phoebe zhennan wood was extraordinary.

Unless high-temperature burning was used, no other tool could destroy it.

In the bottom right corner of this scroll, four seal script characters were written.

Ye Bai folded the scroll and put it back on his back. He turned and instructed Fatty, "Help me guard the stone coffin. Don't let any other evil entities get near it. If an evil entity runs out now, drive it back immediately!"

Fatty patted his chest and guaranteed, "Leave it to me!"

Ye Bai then said to Yang Mi, "I'll go ahead. Remember, you must stay by the stone coffin at all times and not go anywhere."

"Oh." Yang Mi nodded obediently.

Ye Bai quickly ran toward the front of the stone coffin.

Fatty hurriedly called out, "Hey, wait for me. You're only taking me? What if something happens?"

"Are you afraid of dying?" Ye Bai countered.

"Nonsense, of course I'm afraid of dying. It hasn't been easy for me to live to this age!"

"If you die, who's going to be my free labor?"

"..."

Fatty was choked up.

By then, Ye Bai had already reached the front of the stone coffin.

He reached out and pushed open the coffin lid, leaped inside, placed the scroll in front of the female infant, and crossed his arms over his chest, quietly observing this strange infant.

The appearance of this infant was truly terrifying: her small face was deathly pale, her lips were purple-blue, and her eyes were hollow. She was curled up in the center of the stone coffin, surrounded by a thick layer of black sludge.

The sludge emitted a thick, decaying scent.

Ye Bai thought to himself that it seemed the stone coffin was originally meant to seal a corpse, but for some unknown reason, a female infant was buried in the soil. Combined with this graveyard being nourished by corpse qi for a long time, it had created a scene of corpse transformation.

Fatty followed and jumped into the stone coffin.

Although the stone coffin was spacious and bright, with three grown men squeezed inside now, it suddenly felt incredibly crowded.

Fortunately, Fatty wasn't short; standing beside Ye Bai, he managed to partially shield their bodies.

Yang Mi sat in the corner, staring at the strange female child in the stone coffin without a word, her expression solemn.

Outside the stone coffin was a ring of exquisite and complicated rune patterns, dense and intricate.

Ye Bai looked down and examined these patterns, his mind quickly deducing their respective meanings.

Fatty leaned into his ear and whispered, "Brother, do you really understand Feng Shui?"

Ye Bai glanced at him sideways, his tone calm. "I know a thing or two."

"Then tell me, what treasure is hidden in this coffin?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Then don't bother me." As Ye Bai spoke, he suddenly kicked the ceiling of the stone coffin.

With a bang, the tomb ceiling exploded, and debris flew everywhere.

The stone slab beneath the stone coffin was revealed.

Ye Bai flipped and jumped out, grabbing a stone brick as he landed. He pulled it open forcefully, lifting the slab over half a meter high, then leaped into the pit at the bottom of the stone coffin.

Fatty was startled. "Oh, holy crap, what the hell are you doing?"

Yang Mi was also a bit dazed by Ye Bai's actions.

Ye Bai squatted on the ground, carefully inspecting the grain of the stone slab. After a moment, he frowned and muttered, "Strange..."

"What's strange?" Fatty hurriedly came over to ask.

"The arrangement and combination of these stone slab patterns seem familiar. I have a feeling I've seen them somewhere before."

Fatty scratched his cheek. "Damn, Boss Ye, stop keeping me in suspense. Just tell me what treasure is hidden in here!"

"There is indeed a treasure in here..." Ye Bai looked up and said to Fatty seriously, "But this treasure requires a special condition to be opened."