After three pries, it still wouldn't budge. This camphor wood coffin had clearly been preserved exceptionally well.

Da Xiong grunted, telling us to stand back, then gripped the shovel handle, putting his two hundred-plus pounds of weight into the leverage.

With a loud bang, the coffin lid flew upward and landed heavily in the distance.

I snapped, "Couldn't you be a little gentler? This is an artifact!"

Da Xiong ignored me, craning his neck to peer into the coffin. Then he let out an "Eh?" and looked back toward the doorway.

Liang Qian was leaning against the wall by the door, unconscious.

I wondered why he was looking at Liang Qian, but then I looked inside the coffin myself and was equally shocked, whispering, "She looks so much like her. Why does the person in this coffin look so much like Liang Qian?"

The ancient corpse, over two thousand years old, bearing such a strong resemblance to Liang Qian, should have been terrifying. However, the reason I wasn't scared was that I could tell the corpse in the coffin was male.

A second thought calmed me: with so many people across all of history, it wasn't strange for two people to look alike.

I had to admit the corpse was preserved astonishingly well. He was clad in a long robe of white fox fur, his long hair draped over his shoulders. His pale face, framed by the fox fur, appeared refined and dashing. He must have died without pain, as there was even a faint smile playing on his lips; he could truly be described as lifelike. If he hadn't been lying in this sealed coffin, one might have thought he was merely asleep.

"Damn! This guy died so long ago, but he looks like he's posing for an MV. He died too beautifully!" Da Xiong whistled in amazement.

I paid Da Xiong no mind, instead focusing on a jade plaque hanging from the corpse's belt. Engraved on it in standard script were the characters: Wei Wang Si Chou.

Jie Yuting and I were startled simultaneously. Wei Wang must be this person's title, and the characters afterward likely indicated the time the belt was made: Si referring to the Year of the Snake, and Chou being the twelfth month.

Judging by his title, he must have been a leader of the Wei Kingdom from some generation.

Yet, this man looked so handsome, a stark contrast to the hairy people of the Wei Kingdom described in the Shan Hai Jing.

I thought, That’s not right. The Wei people in the ice painting were drawn by themselves. Why were they depicted as hairy, while this Wei Wang looked like this?

Since entering this subterranean ruin, so many unusual things had happened that my mind felt hopelessly jumbled. I couldn't be bothered to ponder why this Wei Wang lacked the black hair; perhaps he used a depilatory cream? Though I doubted such a thing existed back then.

By then, Jie Yuting had skillfully hopped into the coffin. He took out a nylon rope from his bag, fashioned a loop, slipped it around the ancient corpse’s neck, and shouted, "Heave!" With a tug, he pulled the corpse into a sitting position.

Jie Yuting sat astride the corpse, face-to-face with that pale countenance.

Even though the corpse was strikingly handsome, he was, after all, dead. Seeing the scene before me still sent a chill down my spine.

Jie Yuting closed his eyes, mumbling a phrase we couldn't understand. Then he turned to Da Xiong beside him and said, "What are you waiting for? Feel around!"

Da Xiong made an "Oh" sound, switched on his flashlight, and moved to the side of the coffin.

I leaned closer as well. After sitting up, the space beneath the corpse revealed a ceramic pillow, predominantly white, decorated with patterns resembling conch shells and seashells. Judging by the glaze, it looked like white porcelain from the Tang Dynasty Xing Kiln. Recalling the jade plaque at the waist, also inscribed in the prevalent Tang Dynasty standard script, I began to wonder: could this be a corpse from the Tang Dynasty?

Earlier, Jie Yuting had mentioned that the Wei Kingdom flourished from the Warring States period until the Tang Dynasty. If the corpse in this coffin was indeed from the Tang Dynasty, we might find clues about the fall of the Wei Kingdom.

Da Xiong carefully lifted the pillow and handed it to me.

I examined it in my hands and confirmed it was Tang Dynasty Xing ware, and moreover, it was a xiapillow (casket pillow). A casket pillow meant it was hollow inside, concealing space for objects.

However, the edges of the pillow were sealed with wax, clearly to prevent the contents from decaying.

Da Xiong then started feeling around the space next to the corpse. His technique was incredibly clumsy, like a bear trying to fish in a small river. Having learned his lesson from the hair incident earlier, he now kept his head turned to the side, afraid his face might touch the corpse's hair.

None of the three of us spoke. The secret chamber was already dim, the only light coming from the beam of my flashlight illuminating the coffin. I couldn't even clearly see Jie Yuting’s face opposite me.

The bronze dishes on the floor reflected the flashlight beam, casting an eerie glow. A sudden, inexplicable gust of cold wind made the corpse’s hair drift slightly, and the strange fragrance of camphor wafted into my nostrils...

Gazing at the corpse’s back, for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was still alive, that he could turn his head and look at me at any moment. It was a profoundly strange sensation that made the hairs on my arms stand up.

Just as I was pondering this, Da Xiong suddenly exclaimed in fright, "Damn it, this is bad! There's an extra foot here!"

Startled, I was about to ask what he meant when I heard Jie Yuting curse from across the way, "You good-for-nothing, can't you feel properly? That's my foot!"

I inwardly chuckled, ready to mock Da Xiong, who claimed to be so brave, when a cold laugh suddenly drifted to my ears: "Hmph hmph…"

Hearing that laugh, every hair on my body stood on end, because the sound clearly originated from the corpse right in front of me. Could it be that this fellow really was still alive?

Da Xiong had obviously heard it too. He jumped up instantly, saying, "Holy crap, did you guys hear that? He's laughing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the corpse laughed again, this time I heard it very clearly. "Hmph hmph…"

That sound, laced with mockery, disdain, and immense arrogance, sent a wave of cold sweat washing over me!

Just as Da Xiong and I were petrified with terror, Jie Yuting on the other side said, "Come over here and look."

When we moved to Jie Yuting's side, we saw he had already unfastened the corpse's robe, exposing his chest and stomach.

I noticed a patch of skin on the corpse's chest that was distinctly different from the original skin, much darker, almost like a piece of attached pigskin.

Whenever Jie Yuting pressed on that patch of skin, the corpse would emit a slight 'hmph' sound from his nostrils, as if he were a wineskin.

I realized this was air escaping through the nasal cavity due to the compression of the chest cavity, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"This Wei Wang’s chest cavity seems to be hollow," Jie Yuting told us.

Da Xiong’s eyes lit up. "Is there some treasure hidden inside?" he asked.

Jie Yuting shook his head. "I don't know. It could also be a hidden weapon."

He took a dagger from his waist and carefully slit that strange patch of skin. We then saw that the inside of the Wei Wang's chest cavity appeared as if it had been scorched—a pitch-black void.

And within that inky cavity, a mass of faintly glowing blue substance caught our attention.

"There really is treasure! Is it a luminous pearl?" The faint, ethereal blue light sparkled intensely in Da Xiong's eyes. As if entranced, he reached out to grab the light source.

At that moment, Jie Yuting grabbed his hand, leaped up like a startled rabbit, pulling Da Xiong along as he ran, shouting back to me, "Get back farther!"

I didn't understand what was happening but instinctively retreated a couple of steps. Then, with a deafening boom, blue flames erupted across the entire corpse, instantly turning it into a fireball.

The flames were dazzling, and the heat was terrifyingly intense. My eyebrows instantly singed, emitting a foul, burnt smell.

I stared at the corpse in astonishment, backing away several more steps. The flames had already ignited the camphor wood coffin.

The three of us were pressed against the wall by the massive blaze, the entire room illuminated by the firelight.

It was then I noticed Liang Qian, who had been lying near the door, subtly furrowing her brow from the intense heat and actually waking up.

Then, the utterly unexpected happened: the fully engulfed corpse stood up, freezing us all in shock.

The corpse was burned beyond recognition, yet it still held a human shape. Whether it was my imagination or not, it seemed to float upward like a fiery phoenix and drift toward Liang Qian.

I watched as it spread its arms, mimicking an embrace—a sight that felt deeply unsettling.

Liang Qian, who had just woken up, stared blankly, making no move to avoid it.