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墨書 Inktalez
A sense of inexplicable tension crept into my heart.
The four people trying to light the candles made several attempts, but each time, as soon as the wick touched the spark, it was immediately extinguished.
"Could there be something wrong with these candles?" Fat Ma said.
No one answered him; no one dared to say it was or wasn't the case.
I took a deep breath, then held it in as I stepped forward. In situations like this, one had to take action to have a say.
I pulled out my lighter, the kind with gears. With a click, a flame burst forth from the lighter, emitting sparks different from those of Searchlight.
The candles were placed at the four corners of the stone coffin. I started lighting the one at the southeast corner. I partially shielded it with my hand before igniting it. The flame flickered slightly and then—lit! I slowly released my hand, and the flame grew stronger.
I moved to light the candle at the southwest corner, but just as I shifted my weight to that position, the previously vibrant flame extinguished without warning.
I froze in place; the flame at the southwest corner was weakly flickering back to life.
A chilling aura began to rise quietly around us.
I recalled what Fat Ma had said during our first descent: if any of the four corner candles went out after being lit, it meant that the old man inside was displeased with our presence here.
But now, it was clear that there was no chance for all four candles to be lit simultaneously.
Fat Ma, undeterred by superstition, stepped up to me and said, "Old Sun, go ahead and light another candle; I'll keep this one safe for you."
I nodded, took a breath, and continued walking toward the northwest corner.
I fiddled with the gears of the lighter, glancing back at Fat Ma, who was desperately trying to shield the candle with both hands.
The flickering flame peeked through his fingers.
A sense of relief washed over me as the flame made contact with the wick. At that moment, Fat Ma let out a strange cry, "Damn, it's gone out."
However, the candle in the northwest corner began to flicker back to life.
"It seems it really can't be lit. The old man inside isn't happy," Fat Ma said as he stood up.
I stepped back as well; the gentleman was intently staring at the stone coffin.
The clay man lit a cigarette and began to smoke quietly.
With the candles failing to ignite, everyone fell silent and remained still.
We were all waiting for the gentleman's decision. He seemed to be in deep thought, and after about a quarter of an hour, he finally spoke: "Let's get to work!"
Shovel was the first to step forward. As long as it was a command from the gentleman, he would obey without hesitation, regardless of the danger.
The gentleman exchanged glances with a few others who then moved forward; the rest of us stayed put.
Fat Ma, the clay man, and I had fewer constraints from him, so we also stepped forward.
I carefully examined the stone coffin.
The seal appeared to be completely filled in, seamlessly connected. The first thing we needed to do before opening the coffin was to locate its seal; otherwise, we wouldn't know where to begin.
It was a bit tricky. Shovel first tried to pry it open with a Crowbar, but there was no seam to be found; it was utterly futile.
I pushed hard, but felt not the slightest movement.
Shovel shook his head at the man and let out a helpless sigh.
The man stepped forward, and Xiao Hui followed closely behind. I watched as he pulled out a small iron hook.
Then, he gently scraped along the edge of the stone coffin. Suddenly, to my disbelief, that thin iron hook actually slipped into the coffin.
Ignoring the astonished voices around him, the man continued his actions. Slowly, a gap began to appear in the coffin, becoming more pronounced as he scraped.
After he had opened up the entire southern side, the man exerted force, and the thin iron hook was pulled out, surprisingly bringing with it a strand of Fur.
The man held onto the Fur and twisted it in his fingers without saying a word.
At that moment, Shovel used the Crowbar to pry into the coffin as well, and the others followed suit. Together they exerted force, causing gaps to form on the other three sides of the coffin.
The outline of the coffin lid was now visible.
The clay figure no longer hesitated and stepped forward to help. I looked back and saw that the group beside the man had already aimed their guns at the coffin.
I instinctively tightened my grip on my gun; Fat Ma had already pulled back the bolt.
Just then, a gust of wind blew through, and the extinguished candles surprisingly reignited.
"What’s going on?" Fat Ma exclaimed in surprise, and immediately everyone started talking at once, their tones filled with tension and astonishment.
I couldn't understand it either. Could it be that there was still a tiny flicker of flame left on the candles I had lit before? That was the only way I could comfort myself.
The flames of the four candles grew stronger, dripping wax onto the ground.
The few people opening the coffin were oblivious to everything else, completely focused on their task.
With a sound like an egg cracking, the stone coffin emitted a sharp noise; the coffin lid had already loosened.
The man's expression grew even tenser, his narrowed eyes glinting with a hint of excitement.
I felt a cold sweat forming in my palms and rubbed my thumb against my hand.
With one final push, the stone coffin lid was pried open about ten centimeters from the coffin. They were already exhausted. Seeing this, Fat Ma set down his gun and stepped forward to lift the coffin lid with both hands.
"I'll count to three, and everyone push together," Fat Ma instructed.
When he reached three, there was a loud crash as the stone coffin lid fell to the ground, and everyone peered inside.
Suddenly, a faint gray mist began to seep out from within the coffin.
"Not good," the clay figure shouted. "Get back!" After saying this, he quickly moved away, and Fat Ma turned and retreated at his command.
The rest of us standing behind also backed away.
But one person didn't manage to escape in time. He clutched his throat with both hands, screaming in agony as his face turned blue. He began to foam at the mouth, painfully uttering, "It hurts! Help... help me." With that, he collapsed to the ground.
No one dared to approach him; he had been affected by the corpse's aura and was beyond saving, the clay figure said.
As the Mud Man spoke, everyone put on their Gas Masks in unison. I glared at them, thinking, damn, why didn't you remind him to wear one earlier? Now that someone has died, only then do they decide to put them on. But I held my tongue.
After the layer of gray mist dispersed a bit, we cautiously approached. Our steps were heavy with an unspoken dread.
I took a deep breath; too many lives had already been lost. Instinctively, I quickened my pace, moving ahead of the crowd.
The Mud Man tugged at me and asked seriously, "What are you doing?"
I didn't respond, shaking off his hand and reaching the stone coffin first. The Mud Man had no choice but to follow.
Peering inside the coffin, I saw a corpse lying there, clad in armor. The fur on its head had not yet been removed, and a hairpin was still stuck in its scalp.
The cheeks had withered away, and the exposed hands were desiccated and ghastly.
Its eyes were hollow, resembling two small basins.
"Could this be a General's Tomb?" I said.
The Mud Man didn't respond to my question but scolded me for being reckless. Fat Ma also stepped forward.
Fat Ma immediately spotted the hairpin, which gleamed with a translucent green light; any discerning eye could tell it was made of fine jade.
His hands itched with desire as he glanced around, his round eyes rolling with anticipation. I knew what he was about to do.
I reminded, "Fat Ma, stop trying to take advantage."
Fat Ma glanced at me and reluctantly halted his actions.
At that moment, the gentleman approached and looked into the coffin. There was no sign of anything unusual inside.
His expression was cautious. I noticed he was clearly assessing the armor rather than paying attention to the corpse.
This armor was evidently of high quality. A gem was embedded in the protective mirror at its center.
Fat Ma felt a bit deflated; he had missed such a valuable treasure and only spotted a hairpin instead.
After a moment, the gentleman extended his hand, now gloved with golden-edged gloves.
Fat Ma was immediately captivated, fixated on the gloves as he swallowed hard.
The gentleman's hand seemed to tremble—not out of fear, but rather from an excitement that was hard to contain.
Just as his hand was about to touch the armor, a withered hand suddenly grasped his wrist.
In an instant, Xiao Hui, who had been standing behind the gentleman, swiftly drew his knife and slashed at the withered hand. To our surprise, it produced a sound like metal clashing upon impact.
It had no effect at all. The gentleman panicked as his hand seemed to shrink momentarily, allowing him to pull it back. He retreated, and everyone else was still processing what had just happened.
Xiao Hui had already drawn his pistol and fired several shots into the coffin, sparks flying from the gunfire.
At that moment, the gentleman shouted, "Don't damage the armor!"
At that moment, I was pretty sure that the armor the gentleman was looking for was indeed this one!
Xiao Hui, upon hearing the gentleman's words, shifted his finger off the trigger and holstered his pistol.
Just then, Xiao Hui took a hit and staggered back a few steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The corpse inside the stone coffin had already risen.
At that moment, someone shouted, "It's become a Zongzi." As the voice echoed, everyone stepped back, preparing to open fire.
The gentleman then added a command: absolutely do not shoot.
Although everyone was hesitant, they still followed the gentleman's orders.
The clay figure turned to me and Fat Ma and said, "This is a Millennium Zongzi; be careful."
I was somewhat surprised. Do Zongzi really have age distinctions? Fat Ma exclaimed, "Damn it, don't shoot. The M11 submachine gun is spinning right at its chest."
The Zongzi crawled out of the stone coffin, clad in armor like an invincible general who had returned to life.
At that moment, no one dared to step forward; this Zongzi was definitely not friendly.
Finally, the Zongzi initiated an attack. Everyone scattered in fear, but unexpectedly, it headed straight for the gentleman.
Fat Ma gleefully remarked, "Looks like the old man remembers the gentleman's scent."
The gentleman kept retreating while Xiao Hui kicked the Zongzi from behind. Not only did it have no effect, but Xiao Hui was also knocked back a few steps by the rebound. He shot a glare at Fat Ma before rushing toward the gentleman.
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