85: Bronze coffin

Initially, Qin Shou was a bit apprehensive, but as he discovered that the zombies retreated like a tide whenever he took a few steps forward, his heart finally settled, confirming that this group of zombies indeed had reservations about Nuo Nuo.

"Brother Qin, Jiang Tao and Dr. Zhong are right in the middle, behind that largest stone door; you can go straight there."

Qin Shou had only taken a few steps inside when Yang Weiguo's deep voice echoed through the walkie-talkie.

"Understood."

Qin Shou responded into the walkie-talkie and then walked straight towards the largest stone door.

Before Qin Shou even got close to the stone door, he felt a bone-chilling coldness rush towards him, making his body instinctively shiver.

"My goodness, it's so cold; the people inside must be frozen to death!"

Qin Shou couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Qin Shou's body was trembling slightly, and Nuo Nuo's body was also trembling.

However, unlike Qin Shou, Nuo Nuo was not trembling from the cold, but from excitement.

Qin Shou could clearly feel that as he approached this stone door, Nuo Nuo's eyes became more and more fervent, more and more eager.

This eagerness came entirely from her instinct; even Nuo Nuo herself didn't understand why she was so excited.

"Master, there's something strange and ominous inside this stone door!"

As Qin Shou was wondering, Ling'er in his mind spoke again, her voice carrying a hint of solemnity.

"You don't need to tell me; it's as cold as an ice cellar in there. I know it's not clean without you saying so." Qin Shou replied grumpily in his mind, his confusion deepening.

"It's not just the temperature, Master. Look at what's under your feet," Ling'er reminded him.

Hearing this, Qin Shou instinctively lowered his head to look at his feet. He saw that inside the door, faint wisps of thick, almost solid black mist were slowly drifting out from the door crack.

"My goodness, what is this stuff! Poison gas?" Qin Shou instinctively jumped back a step in fright, quickly covering his mouth and nose, fearing to inhale any harmful substances.

"Don't worry too much; this is Yin Fiend Qi, it won't kill anyone. However, if normal people are exposed to it for too long, they are prone to being possessed; at best, they'll suffer a serious illness, and at worst, evil spirits will invade their bodies, damaging their souls." Ling'er in Qin Shou's mind comforted him, her voice carrying a hint of helplessness, feeling that her Master was a bit too timid, probably the legendary 'Old Six' in games.

"My goodness, that doesn't sound much better than poison gas! I think I should make a quick escape."

After hearing Ling'er's words, Qin Shou, without another word, turned and tried to slip away.

However, Qin Shou pulled Nuo Nuo, but found that she was rooted to the spot and couldn't be moved at all.

"Brother, I want to go inside and see."

Nuo Nuo looked up at Qin Shou with pleading eyes, clearly indicating that whatever was inside the stone door held a great temptation for her.

Now Qin Shou was in a dilemma; without Nuo Nuo by his side, he couldn't handle those hundred-plus zombies!

Qin Shou couldn't help but complain in his heart about this damn system mission, which was truly designed to kill people without compensation!

"Master, don't worry too much. Although Master only has Yellow Rank Peak cultivation, the energy in your body is actually spiritual energy, not true qi. Your Skill: Plucking Yin to Supplement Yang is actually a method of immortal cultivation, and its grade is quite a bit higher than the true qi cultivated through general martial arts. For a short period, you can resist the Yin Fiend Qi here."

Seeing that Qin Shou wanted to leave, Ling'er quickly spoke to reassure him.

"Just tell me directly, how long can I resist?" Qin Shou asked grumpily.

"Half an hour at most."

"Alright, then let's go in and take a look. Half an hour should be enough." Qin Shou gritted his teeth and made a decision.

Since Nuo Nuo refused to leave, he could only risk going in to see the situation.

"But I finally understand why the Blood God Cult chose this place as their lair." Just as Qin Shou was about to move, Ling'er suddenly spoke thoughtfully.

"The conditions for successfully refining a Fiend Blood Demon Corpse are extremely strict. Besides needing the essence blood of at least nine hundred and ninety women, it also requires a naturally extremely Yin place to absorb the Yin Fiend Qi from the earth's energy. This place perfectly meets that condition. However, Master, Yin Fiend Qi this dense is generally unlikely to be naturally formed; I'm afraid there's something inside."

Ling'er explained.

"No matter what it is, let's go in and see first."

With that, Qin Shou took Nuo Nuo's small hand and, with a wary expression, stepped inside the stone door.

As soon as Qin Shou entered, what greeted his eyes was a huge bronze coffin, lying silently in the center of the stone chamber.

The Yin Fiend Qi was slowly seeping out in wisps from the cracks in the lid of this bronze coffin.

"My goodness, what is this?"

Qin Shou instinctively felt a shock in his heart, a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and he became fully alert.

Qin Shou waited for a long time and found no other movement, only then did he calm down slightly, forcibly suppressing the unease in his heart, cautiously approaching, and carefully observing the huge bronze coffin.

The bronze coffin was entirely an ancient and heavy bronze color, with intricate and ancient patterns carved on it, giving it a sense of antiquity and vicissitude.

However, to his surprise, the body of the bronze coffin was as new and smooth as if it had just been cast, without the slightest trace of erosion by time.

In front of this bronze coffin, there was also a raised stone carved prayer mat, the surface of which was already extremely smooth from wear, clearly due to years of kneeling and worship.

"Master, what's carved on this is writing from the Ancient Era."

As Qin Shou was wondering, Ling'er in his mind suddenly spoke.

"Ancient Era?" Qin Shou was even more surprised to hear this.

"Indeed."

Ling'er nodded affirmingly, "This is the script from the era when I was created."

"What does it say? Tell me quickly." Qin Shou asked eagerly.

"Who... are you?"

Just as Qin Shou's attention was completely focused on the bronze coffin, he suddenly heard a slightly trembling, somewhat hoarse voice.

The voice was sudden, deep, and hoarse, like a ghost, scaring Qin Shou so much that his hair stood on end. He thought the person inside the coffin had turned into a vengeful spirit and come alive, making him retreat several steps, staring at the bronze coffin with a tense expression.

"Senior, I was just passing by, a mere bystander, and stumbled into this place by mistake. I hope Senior will not blame me."

Qin Shou pleaded tremblingly, his voice even shaking, almost on the verge of kneeling on the ground and kowtowing.

"What senior? You're not from our Criminal Police Team?"

The voice said weakly, sounding very feeble.

"It's not the one inside the coffin!"

Only after hearing this second sentence did Qin Shou realize he had been too nervous and misunderstood. He thought to himself, 'This is really embarrassing.'

Now calm, Qin Shou finally heard that the voice was coming from behind the coffin.

He cautiously walked around the coffin and discovered that, indeed, there was a man and a woman huddled behind it. Their bodies were shivering from the cold, and they were tightly embracing each other for warmth.

The woman, perhaps due to the extremely low temperature here and the invasion of Yin Fiend Qi, had already fainted, her face frighteningly pale. The man still had a breath left, but he was also on his last legs, and his situation was not optimistic.