Zhang Enpu shook his head. "I don't know. In the previous painting, Ming Xizong Zhu Youjiao was clearly dead, so how could he come back to life and become emperor? This is obviously wrong. And according to historical records, Ming Xizong Zhu Youjiao was supposed to have drowned while playing, contracted an illness, and then died of it. What's in this painting... it just feels inherently bizarre."

Young Master Liu inexplicably felt a chill crawl down his spine.

"Let's go," Zhang Enpu said, taking one last look at the mural and pointing toward the circular gate in the center. They walked deeper and deeper, drawing closer to the main subject, and the palm of everyone's hand was slick with sweat.

They passed through the circular gate one by one. To be safe, Tian Guoqiang took the lead, holding his hunting rifle, ready to shoot any desiccated corpse they encountered. As they walked, Tian Guoqiang suddenly stopped. Young Master Liu asked him what was wrong. Tian Guoqiang pointed ahead, saying with an incredulous tone, "My God, what kind of place is this?"

Before them yawned an artificial cavern, easily the size of half a football field. Countless jagged stones hung suspended from the ceiling, sharp as daggers and axes. In the center of the cavern was a pool, but it wasn't filled with ordinary fresh water—it was a shocking, visceral pool of blood. The entire cave was permeated with a thick, metallic stench of gore so potent it made one nauseous. At the very center of this blood pool sat an octagonal platform constructed of black stone. At each of the platform's eight corners stood a large banner of a different color, each flag covered in strange, bizarre talismans, clearly forming some kind of grand magic circle. In the heart of this array rested a human-shaped coffin sculpted from white jade. The entire formation radiated a bone-chilling, evil aura, and dense miasma surged upward from the array, churning in the air like successive waves of black tide.

The group stared blankly at the formation in the center of the blood pool, too horrified to speak for a long time.

After what felt like an age, they finally snapped out of their stupor and slowly moved toward the pool. Bubbles constantly rose to the surface of the blood, bursting with a soft pop, making the entire pool sound as if it were boiling water, emitting strange, gurgling noises. A cascade of questions exploded in their minds like those same bubbles: Was Ming Xizong insane? Why was his coffin sealed by a magic circle? And what purpose did this blood pool serve?

It was the first time any of them had witnessed such a bizarre scene, and for a moment, they simply looked at each other, none able to utter a word.

After a pause, Zhang Enpu suddenly spoke, "I vaguely recall that the records of past Heavenly Masters also mentioned blood pools and arrays like this."

"What? You mean..." Young Master Liu looked at Zhang Enpu with astonishment.

Zhang Enpu shook his head. "I just have a feeling that something went wrong at some stage here. Think about it?"

Er Lianzi Bai asked, "Everything here is in plain sight, but no matter how much I look, I can't see where the exit is."

Tian Guoqiang scoffed, "Idiot. If secret passages were that easy to find, they wouldn't be called secret passages!"

Young Master Liu clapped his hands together. "Now is the time to test our intellects! Comrades, employ all your wisdom and find the secret path out of here!"

Having spoken, he exchanged a look with Zhang Enpu, and together they directed their gaze toward the white jade coffin at the center of the array.

Er Lianzi Bai stammered, looking at us, "You... you guys... you're not thinking of going... into the center of that array, are you?"

Young Master Liu nodded. "No pain, no gain. Since we're here, there's no reason to retreat!"

Young Master Liu’s words ignited a fighting spirit within Zhang Enpu as well. "He's right. Perhaps the answers to all our questions are hidden inside that coffin!"

"But how do we get onto that octagonal platform?" Tian Guoqiang asked.

Er Lianzi Bai chimed in, "Yeah, we can't exactly swim across that blood pool, can we!"

Zhang Enpu shook his head. "Everyone rest first. We'll figure out a plan after we regain our strength!"

They sat down in a circle. They hadn't had water in a long time. Their nerves had been stretched taut on the journey, so they hadn't noticed until now, once the tension eased slightly, that their throats were parched. The four of them shared a flask of water. Though it didn't quench their thirst, they felt their spirits lift considerably. Only one flask of water remained in the bag; they couldn't waste it unless absolutely necessary.

Suddenly, Er Lianzi Bai shouted, "Hey, I've got an idea!"

Young Master Liu nearly jumped out of his skin, looking suspiciously at Er Lianzi Bai. "Do you have a way across?"

Er Lianzi Bai pointed upward with his finger. "Aren't there iron chains up there? We can just climb across them!"

Iron chains above them?! Everyone quickly looked up and saw a chain, as thick as a man’s arm, anchored into the rock wall on one end and leading to the ceiling directly above the octagonal platform on the other. Following the chain's path, they finally noticed something hanging from the ceiling above the platform. Although the chain spanned the open air, it had been concealed by the poor lighting and the stalactites overhead, which is why they hadn't spotted it initially.

The chain was suspended about five meters above the ground. With some teamwork, they should be able to climb up. However, the distance from their position to the octagonal platform in the center of the blood pool was still more than ten meters. Once they grabbed the chain, they couldn't let go halfway, or falling into that blood pool would be no joke. Even though they didn't know if the pool was harmful to the human body, it was best to avoid contact for safety's sake.

They rested for a few more minutes, then decided to send three people over to the octagonal platform, leaving one person behind as support. Young Master Liu immediately thought of himself, Tian Guoqiang, and Er Lianzi Bai. Since the three of them were young, strong, and their skills and stamina were sound, traversing the distance by hanging from the chain to the array should be child's play for them. They just needed to overcome their psychological fear of the blood pool.

But what surprised everyone was that Zhang Enpu insisted on going to the array himself this time. He claimed he had some knowledge and understanding of these matters, so they wouldn't be completely clueless and cause an accident through ineptitude.

Young Master Liu considered that Zhang Enpu had a point, but he harbored doubts about whether Zhang Enpu’s frail physique could handle the climb.

Zhang Enpu took off his Daoist robe. "Don't underestimate me; my physical condition is excellent."

Young Master Liu assigned Er Lianzi Bai to stay behind for support. Er Lianzi Bai grumbled, saying he wanted to go check if there were any zongzi (mummies) in the array.

Young Master Liu shot back, "Stop your ill-omened chatter! Those zongzi are serious business. If there really are any, we'll have to sacrifice you to feed them!"

Tian Guoqiang handed his double-barreled shotgun to Er Lianzi Bai. "Good comrade, the defense of the Motherland rests on you!"

Er Lianzi Bai sighed. "Brother, it will be the regret of my life that I cannot charge into battle alongside you!"

These two loved to spar verbally like that whenever they met, as if they were deeply involved with each other.

Young Master Liu also took off his jacket and pack to reduce his load, though he secured the gun to his back in case of unforeseen danger. Once all preparations were complete, the group began to move.

Er Lianzi Bai was the most robustly built, so he served as the sturdy base. Tian Guoqiang climbed onto his shoulders. With a deep shout, Er Lianzi Bai lifted Tian Guoqiang high up. Next, Young Master Liu nimbly stepped onto Er Lianzi Bai's shoulder, climbed onto Tian Guoqiang's back, gave a hard stomp on Tian Guoqiang’s shoulder, grabbed the chain with both hands, and then, calling out "I'll go first!" to the others, he began to crawl forward rapidly, alternating his hands.

Tian Guoqiang looked back at Zhang Enpu. "Daoist Zhang, it's your turn now!"

Zhang Enpu nodded, gracefully hopped onto Wang Jian's shoulders, then climbed onto Tian Guoqiang's shoulders, grasped the chain, and began crawling forward behind me.

"Brother, hold tight!" Tian Guoqiang said, slowly standing on Er Lianzi Bai's shoulders. He counted one, two, three. When he reached three, Er Lianzi Bai vigorously shrugged his shoulders upward. Tian Guoqiang stomped hard on Er Lianzi Bai's shoulder and jumped, managing to grasp the chain. After swinging a few times to stabilize himself, he followed Young Master Liu and Zhang Enpu up.

Er Lianzi Bai stood below, watching the two intently, terrified they might slip and fall into the blood pool. Zhang Enpu and the others were now suspended over the blood pool. The blood churned and bubbled below, and the intense, fishy stench washed over them. They dared not breathe deeply, having to hold their breath as they crawled forward.

Before long, they arrived directly above the magic array. Layers of malevolent energy swirled restlessly above the formation like cloudy waves. Submerged in this energy, they felt the world turn dark, and strange noises constantly assaulted their ears, agitating their minds so much that they felt an urge to let go and end it all.

Zhang Enpu, behind them, suddenly yelled, "Dàshǎo, bite your tongue hard and keep crawling!"

Hearing this, Young Master Liu immediately bit down hard on his tongue. The sudden pain brought him considerable clarity. Young Master Liu quickly crawled forward a few more meters, and then, he suddenly discovered that at the very end of the chain, a giant cowhide drum, about two meters in diameter, was suspended. Beside the drum, three more chains stretched in from different directions, holding the massive drum aloft. A single character was painted on the hide. Young Master Liu focused his gaze; wasn't that the character Míng (), from the Great Ming Dynasty?

While Young Master Liu was stunned, Zhang Enpu and Tian Guoqiang had reached him. Tian Guoqiang shouted from behind, "Dàshǎo, get down quickly! The wind up here is fierce as hell; I'm about to be blown away!"

Young Master Liu stretched his arms out as far as possible, letting his body relax. This reduced the distance between him and the platform by nearly two meters. Young Master Liu glanced down at the human-shaped coffin; it was about 1.5 meters high. This meant the vertical distance between him and the coffin was now only a little over one meter. Young Master Liu gently released his grip, and his entire body settled steadily onto the human-shaped coffin, then he jumped down onto the platform. Zhang Enpu and Tian Guoqiang followed his example and jumped down. The three of them waved to Er Lianzi Bai across the pool, signaling that they were safe.

Now, the three stood upon this octagonal platform. It was built of some unknown stone; standing on it gave them a deep, pervasive chill. The platform wasn't very large, perhaps twenty to thirty square meters. Eight banners of different colors were planted at the eight corners. Zhang Enpu said these flags were called zhaohun fan (Soul-Summoning Banners), reputed to call forth the spirits of the dead. The group examined the banners; besides the bizarre talismans, they saw nothing particularly unusual, so they dismissed them and focused their attention on the white jade coffin.

The human-shaped white jade coffin was uniquely crafted. Wisps of cold mist continuously rose from the coffin, only to dissipate into the air. The white jade was incredibly smooth, icy to the touch, and a faint, ghostly luminescence flowed back and forth across its surface, making it appear both real and illusory.

Tian Guoqiang looked at the others and asked, "Should we open the coffin?"

Young Master Liu deferred the decision to Zhang Enpu. Whether to open it or not depended on his judgment.

Zhang Enpu looked at the white jade coffin, then at the others, his expression grave. "The evil energy here is very heavy. Opening the coffin might bring unexpected danger, but it must be done."