"What the hell is this thing?" Facing the bizarre and terrifying scene, Young Master Liu felt a chill run down his spine; his calves seized up as if cramped, refusing to move an inch.

Seeing the situation turn dire, Zhang Enpu gritted his teeth, stooped down, tossed the Qin King Bone-Revealing Mirror aside, and shouted urgently at the two men, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and put the lid back on!"

In that split second, the corpse’s body underwent a strange transformation. Its originally smooth and moist skin withered rapidly, exposing the rotting flesh beneath. The corpse began dripping thick, yellowish ** with a sputtering sound, swaying as it tried to crawl out of the coffin.

Young Master Liu and Tian Guoqiang scrambled to close the coffin lid. As it shut, they caught a glimpse of the flower that had grown from the corpse's head now in full bloom—it looked like a scarlet mouth, lined with barbs, teeming with countless white filaments writhing like pale cocoons.

Both men felt a wave of nausea churn in their stomachs. Daring not to look further, they strained their arms and slammed the coffin lid shut with a resounding bang.

From inside the stone coffin came a series of thudding impacts: thump, thump, thump. It sounded as if the horrific corpse was struggling violently to climb out.

Young Master Liu and Tian Guoqiang pressed down hard on the lid, demanding of Zhang Enpu, "What in the blazes is this thing inside the coffin?"

Zhang Enpu stammered urgently, "I don't know! We need to leave here, now!"

As Zhang Enpu spoke, Young Master Liu suddenly caught sight of numerous white, pale objects surfacing in the pool of blood, slowly swimming toward the octagonal platform where the three stood.

Young Master Liu couldn't help but yell, "Damn it, what is that now?"

Tian Guoqiang and Zhang Enpu stared intently into the blood pool. The pale, white things turned out to be countless women wearing bizarre masks, lying flat on the water's surface in strange postures. What they had seen were their rounded bellies, from which wisps of black mist continuously jetted out of their navels. Their limbs were bent backward at exaggerated angles as they paddled desperately in the water. These grotesque women swam toward them like hordes of fiddler crabs, splashing noisily.

Zhang Enpu’s face instantly turned deathly pale. His lips trembled as he managed to say, "Quick... let's go... These are the Jī Nǚ (Spirit Medium Women)!"

Jī Nǚ!

At that moment, no one had time to ask Zhang Enpu about the origin of these Jī Nǚ. The situation was critical; several of them had already climbed onto the octagonal platform and were scuttling rapidly toward the trio.

The Jī Nǚ moved with their limbs inverted behind them, crawling strangely across the ground, puffing out wisps of black smoke—clearly not entities to be trifled with.

Young Master Liu shouted at Zhang Enpu, "Old Daoist, you go up first!"

Zhang Enpu knew this was no time for pleasantries. He nodded, then leaped onto the stone coffin.

Young Master Liu held the coffin down firmly, signaling Tian Guoqiang to go help Zhang Enpu. Tian Guoqiang jumped onto the coffin and stood steady. Zhang Enpu stepped onto Tian Guoqiang's shoulder, used the leverage to spring up, and grabbed the dangling iron chain.

"Brother, your turn!" Tian Guoqiang called to Young Master Liu.

Young Master Liu swiftly cycled the bolt of his gun, blasting the foremost Jī Nǚ dead. He then hopped onto the stone coffin. "Qiangzi, you go first!"

"No! Big Shao, you go first!" Tian Guoqiang countered.

"Damn it, arguing with me? Go!" Young Master Liu roared at Tian Guoqiang.

Tian Guoqiang nodded. "Big Shao, I'll cover you from above!"

Saying this, he stepped onto Young Master Liu's shoulder and vaulted up. However, Tian Guoqiang didn't move forward; instead, he straightened his body, hanging from the chain, then executed a perfect inverted hook kick, locking his feet onto the chain. His upper body flipped down, and he extended his arm, shouting to Young Master Liu, "Hurry up and climb!"

By now, the Jī Nǚ were swarming up densely. The octagonal platform was completely covered in pale bodies; falling meant certain annihilation.

The Jī Nǚ desperately tried to scramble onto the stone coffin, but Young Master Liu blasted them back down fiercely with his pump-action shotgun. One Jī Nǚ was riddled with pellets; deep blue blood flowed out, emitting a pungent, foul stench.

The other Jī Nǚ, as if smelling a delicious scent, immediately swarmed toward the corpse of the pierced one, gnawing frantically. In the blink of an eye, that Jī Nǚ was devoured by its companions.

Those that had fed on their comrade became even more frenzied, closing in on the stone coffin. As the saying goes, two fists can't fight four hands; even a master craftsman is beaten down by a barrage of bricks. No matter how brave Young Master Liu was or how slick his shooting, he couldn't withstand this tide of Wūtóng attacks. Furthermore, the monster inside the stone coffin was stirring restlessly, constantly jostling the lid, trying to push it open.

Young Master Liu took a deep breath, silently recited 'Taishang Laojun,' and launched himself into the air, latching onto Tian Guoqiang's hands with a thwack. Simultaneously, the stone coffin lid was thrust open with a whoosh. The monster, its head split into four quarters and spitting out blood-red flowers, swayed as it rose from the coffin. The flower bud in the center of its head flickered in and out like a serpent's tongue, emitting a sizzling sound that was utterly horrifying.

The Jī Nǚ saw the monster as if it were their commander and let out a strange, excited clamor.

The monster slowly lifted its head. The vibrant flower bud swiveled like a radar dish a few times, then stopped, pointed directly at Young Master Liu.

Young Master Liu inwardly cursed his luck, shouted "Up!", twisted his waist violently, performed an aerial (carp flip), and swung himself onto the chain.

In a flash, the flower bud in the monster's head shot out with a pop. The bud instantly split open like an ugly gaping mouth and lunged, whoosh, towards Young Master Liu's rear end.

Luckily, Young Master Liu was agile enough to evade the strike; otherwise, he would certainly have suffered the dreaded 'Thousand Kill' maneuver. Seeing its attack miss, the flower bud traced a bizarre arc in the air and retracted back into the monster's head, trembling incessantly.

The monster suddenly emitted a strange sound from its throat. As if receiving an order, the Jī Nǚ immediately split into two groups. One group quickly retreated back into the pool of blood, swimming rapidly toward the opposite bank. The other group formed a human ladder underneath, stacking one upon another like human pyramids, growing taller and taller.

Zhang Enpu and the others were stunned, never expecting such coordinated combat ability from the Jī Nǚ. Young Master Liu kicked back, sending the topmost Jī Nǚ tumbling down, but others immediately climbed up, swiftly filling the gap. The scene reminded him of ancient siege warfare, countless soldiers surging up scaling ladders, wave after wave, with piles of corpses littering the base of the city wall.