Chapter 9: The Thirtieth Person Inside the Bronze Coffin
“How… how is there an extra person!”
“Who… who is it?”
The voice of the person asking trembled.
All phone screens lit up as the crowd fearfully scrutinized those around them, terrified that a strange face might appear before them.
Those who knew each other tried to huddle together, nervously scanning their surroundings.
At that moment, everyone finally confirmed that there was indeed an extra person, leaning not far away in that corner.
“You… who are you?”
“Are you human or ghost?”
Trapped inside the mysterious giant bronze coffin, anything eerie or demonic could happen, and everyone present was deeply uneasy.
A heavy cough came from that pitch-black corner. The dark figure moved its body, then let out a low, hoarse voice: “Ghost… ghost…”
The hoarse voice echoed within the bronze coffin. At that moment, everyone felt a chill from head to toe, their hairs standing on end as a chilling coldness spread through the air.
The crowd felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar. Many were terrified, some female classmates letting out piercing screams and loud sobs, nearly collapsing to the ground.
“Ghost… place…” The voice was somewhat weak, and one could sense the dark figure was very exhausted. It swayed as it tried to stand up.
“What a… damn place… are we… inside a bronze coffin?” The dark figure in the corner slowly stood up, letting out this slightly confused question, its voice gradually growing stronger.
Seeing that tall dark figure rise, many involuntarily stepped back.
The dark figure moved toward them while continuing to speak: “It’s me, Pang Bo.”
“Stop! Don’t come closer!” Everyone raised their phones, using the faint light to peer forward.
Ye Fan parted the crowd and slowly stepped forward, saying: “Are you really Pang Bo?”
“Can’t you even recognize my voice?” In the darkness, the light of a phone screen lit up, and a familiar figure holding a phone appeared ahead—thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a sturdy build.
Pang Bo was Ye Fan’s best friend from university. He hadn’t been able to attend the gathering due to some personal matters, so his sudden appearance now made everyone suspicious.
“I don’t believe it. Pang Bo never came to the gathering. You… who are you?” Someone behind spoke with a trembling voice.
A person who absolutely shouldn’t be there was standing inside the bronze coffin, making many present feel their scalps go numb.
“I am naturally Pang Bo. Does anyone have water? I’m dying of thirst.” The dark figure continued walking forward.
“Stop!” The crowd still found it hard to believe.
Pang Bo had no choice but to stop. To prove his identity, he explained himself earnestly, recounting many memories from their university days.
“I believe he is Pang Bo,” Ye Fan said in a firm tone, then strode over to Pang Bo’s side. Though they hadn’t seen each other for a while, even under these circumstances, they gave each other a strong embrace.
“At first, due to some family matters, I couldn’t make it to the gathering on time. Later, I heard everyone was coming to Mount Tai. After handling things at home, I naturally rushed over…”
Pang Bo took the bottle of mineral water Ye Fan handed him and gulped down several big mouthfuls before explaining how he had entered the bronze coffin.
When he arrived, everyone had already gone up the mountain. He had taken the cable car along the ropeway.
Overall, he was quite lucky. Just before the nine dragon corpses and the giant bronze coffin crashed into Mount Tai, he had safely reached the Jade Emperor Summit via the cableway. Instead of fleeing downhill with the crowd, he had clung tightly to a large tree, waiting until Mount Tai calmed down, and emerged uninjured.
Afterward, he saw from a distance Ye Fan and the others falling into the giant pit. When he ran over, he witnessed ancient characters shining into the sky. He was frozen outside the pit, unable to move a step. Only when the giant bronze coffin shook and the lid shifted did he follow the others and get pulled inside.
Perhaps because he was outside the Five-Colored Altar, Pang Bo was knocked unconscious when he fell into the bronze coffin.
Only now did the crowd gradually dispel their doubts, finally relaxing their taut nerves.
“We must find a way to save ourselves. Being inside this bronze coffin makes me uneasy. I always have a bad feeling…” Li Xiaoman’s face was somewhat pale, her beautiful eyes fixed on the pitch-black depths of the coffin. Compared to the other female classmates, she and Lin Jia both appeared very calm.
Hearing this, many felt a chill run through their bodies.
“Let’s all stick together and not separate,” Zhou Yi suggested.
The crowd gathered close, using the faint light from their phones to survey their surroundings. Pressed against one side of the bronze coffin, they could see blurry bronze engravings—a ferocious nine-headed divine bird spreading its wings in flight, a massive ferocious beast covered in foot-long stiff bristles roaring up at the sky…
Some of the bronze engravings, covered in green patina, depicted ancient ferocious beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, such as Taotie, Qiongqi, and Taowu—massive, ferocious, lifelike, and awe-inspiring.
Walking along the inner wall of the bronze coffin for a distance, the crowd also discovered many engraved figures, resembling ancient ancestors and primordial deities. Then, they came across a large area of peculiar patterns—dense, dotted like stars—resembling a star map.
The giant bronze coffin was twenty meters long and over eight meters wide, and what they had seen was only a small part. They didn’t continue looking, because at that moment, they sensed that something else might be present deeper inside the coffin.
All phones were raised together as the crowd bravely stepped forward a few paces. Vaguely, they could make out a blurry rectangular object in the pitch-black center of the giant bronze coffin.
Clearly, it wasn’t a corpse or anything living, which somewhat reassured them. They took a few more steps forward.
“A coffin within a coffin—it’s actually another bronze coffin!” When they truly saw the object ahead, many gasped.
At the very center rested another bronze coffin, less than four meters long and less than two meters wide. It was ancient and dim, engraved with old patterns, covered in green patina, and etched with the weathering of time, sending chills down their spines and inspiring fear.
“It’s not a coffin within a coffin. This one is the real coffin, the vessel for holding a corpse. The outer giant bronze coffin is called the outer coffin, or outer casing. Together, they are known as the inner and outer coffins,” Pang Bo explained to those who weren’t entirely clear on the terminology.
Hearing that the coffin within a coffin ahead was the actual container for a corpse, many immediately stumbled backward, their hearts filled with terror.
What kind of figure was buried in such a mysterious ancient bronze coffin? The crowd was both astonished and fearful.
Compared to the archaeological secrets and imperial tombs they had heard of in the past, this bronze coffin made them seem utterly insignificant!
Who had ever seen a twenty-meter-long bronze inner and outer coffin set? Who had ever seen a mysterious giant coffin falling from the sky? Who had ever seen nine dragon corpses pulling a coffin? It made one wonder if it even held a human corpse—it was impossible to imagine what was buried inside.
The upload time was too short. Although it ranked among the top, it failed to reach the summit. Please, fellow book lovers, give it a little more push to let *Zhetian* surge up the charts.