As soon as I stepped into the tree hole, the bone - chilling cold inside made my teeth chatter. I rubbed my arms non - stop. I never expected it to be this cold. The coffin was covered with a thin layer of ice, and white steam was rising from it.
"Gu Yuan, this coffin is almost embedded in the tree. How can we open it?"
Just as I was asking Gu Yuan this question, a torrential rain started pouring outside.
The rain was coming down in sheets, hitting the dry ground. In no time, puddles formed on the ground, which then gradually merged into meandering streams that started to pour into the tree hole.
"We have to open the coffin before the tree hole is filled with water."
I kept holding Gu Yuan's hand without looking back at him. I'd been talking to myself for a while, but he didn't respond at all.
"Gu Yuan, why aren't you saying anything?" I turned to look at him, but I was so startled that I jerked my hand back.
What I was holding wasn't Gu Yuan at all, but a charred ancient tree vine.
"Gu Yuan, Gu Yuan, where are you?" I felt extremely uneasy. I wanted to raise my hand to ring the bell, but then I realized that the current Chi Yu didn't have a bell at all.
The water in the tree hole was getting deeper and deeper. I tried several times to get out, but I couldn't wade through.
The water seemed to form a whirlpool at the entrance of the tree hole. If I stepped in, I'd surely be sucked in.
As I stood in the water, still trying to find a way out, the coffin that had been embedded in the tree trunk was washed out by the water.
The water swirled towards the bottom of the coffin. It seemed that I couldn't get out without opening this coffin.
Where on earth had Gu Yuan gone? I was so anxious that I paced around.
The water under my feet was getting deeper and deeper. I couldn't afford to delay any longer.
I'd never opened a coffin alone before. To avoid offending the owner of the coffin, it seemed I had to offer some incense and tributes first.
Fortunately, when I went to the market for a meal today, I'd bought some chicken, duck, fish and meat, thinking that I and Gu Yuan wouldn't have to eat those tasteless foods after returning to Yunwu.
I quickly took them out of the bag on my back and placed the food on the coffin.
Then I inserted three sticks of incense in the middle of the food.
The incense smoke curled and drifted. In a short while, the tips of the incense glowed with a faint starlight and finally went out.
Two short and one long. This was an extremely inauspicious omen. If I opened the coffin, I didn't know what might jump out.
Just as I was hesitating, a woman somehow appeared on the coffin.
She was dressed in Miao ethnic clothing. At the moment, she was squatting on the coffin, crazily devouring the tributes I'd offered.
I was greatly shocked. This wasn't a man. Had we found the wrong coffin?
I murmured the exorcism incantation, afraid that after she finished the chicken, duck and fish, she'd set her sights on me.
The woman's face was deathly pale, her skin sunken. Her movements were like those of a monkey. She grabbed the chicken with both hands and ate it with great relish.
She looked just like Hu Qingluan when she was lying on the sickbed.
Halfway through eating, she noticed my presence. Her eyes carried a wicked smile, and her greasy mouth curled into a crazy grin.
She threw down the bone and pounced on me.
I formed a hand seal with both hands, bit my finger, dotted the exorcism talisman, and then aimed it at the forehead of the pouncing woman.
Before the talisman could touch her, her figure disappeared.
The tree hole was completely silent. Even the sound of the flowing water was gone.
The leftovers were still lying on the coffin lid, which proved that what I'd just seen wasn't an illusion.
Where had the woman gone?
I looked around but didn't see anyone. At the same time, the coffin lid seemed to have opened a crack, and countless centipedes crawled out densely. They crawled on the leftovers and ate non - stop.
These things should be the Gu worms of the Miao region. I didn't expect them to be brought into the coffin.
Moreover, more and more centipedes gathered. The entire coffin lid was covered with them. They didn't pay attention to me for the time being because there was still meat for them to eat.
If they finished the meat, they would probably target me. Those centipedes were really fierce. They bit the chicken bones so hard that they made a crunching sound, and they ate every bit of the bones.
I was on the verge of having a panic attack due to trypophobia, but I had to stay calm. While they were devouring the food, I stared to see if any more centipedes would crawl out.
After waiting for about a few minutes and seeing no more centipedes coming out, I thought the time was right.
I quickly took out the fire starter from my backpack, blew on it gently to light it, and rummaged through the backpack to see if there was anything I could use to deal with them. To my surprise, Chi Yu had so many talismans in her backpack.
There was even a Yin Fire Talisman, a rare thing. It was said that this fire had no temperature, was not afraid of water, and when lit, it gave off a weak light that was not easily detectable, but it was more powerful than yang fire.
This was the perfect thing to deal with these fast - scurrying multi - legged insects.
I was going to see just how powerful the Yin Fire Talisman was today.
I murmured the incantation and gently flicked my two fingers. A faint green flame ignited at the top of the talisman.
Afraid that I wouldn't be able to throw it accurately with not enough strength, I tied a branch to the talisman and threw them together onto the coffin.
The ghost fire that had been hovering over the coffin seemed to see its nemesis and scurried everywhere, flying towards the top of the tree hole.
The ghost fire could escape, but the centipedes weren't so lucky. They didn't even have time to react. As soon as they were touched by a bit of the Yin fire, the flame spread across the entire top of the coffin lid. In a short while, the centipedes turned into black ash.
In an instant, the coffin lid was covered with the ashes of the centipedes. Not a single one was left alive.
At the same time, the rain outside was pouring in even more violently.
I still couldn't see Gu Yuan. There was nothing I could do. I'd done everything I could. Even if the owner of the coffin didn't agree, I had to open the coffin by force.
I didn't expect the Yin fire to be so powerful. It wasn't for nothing. It not only burned the insects but also the coffin lid into ashes, which fell into the coffin.
I waded through the water bravely towards the coffin. By now, the water was almost up to my knees.
I covered my eyes with one hand, leaving only a tiny slit, and peeked into the coffin.
This peek was a shock. I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my mouth.
What... what... what was in this coffin?
I lowered my hand and stared blankly at the red liquid in the coffin.
A strong smell of blood filled my nostrils. The coffin was filled with fresh blood.
The surface of the blood was almost level with the edge of the coffin. With just a slight shake, the blood would flow out.
The bloody scene was so shocking that I doubted anyone would believe me if I told them.
Looking at the large expanse of bright red, my mind suddenly went blank. I shook my head slightly and looked at the coffin in front of me again.
The level of the blood was slowly dropping, as if there was a leak somewhere in the coffin.
I swallowed hard and looked around, but I couldn't find the leak.
As the blood slowly drained, the things soaking in the blood gradually emerged.