Holy Bone

Chapter 2095 Ruins and the White Coffin: A Beautiful Warning

The old Taoist priest sat down to rest for a while.
His breathing had become smoother.

In addition, he was getting a little bored while waiting.
So he got up and observed the ruins.

I want to see which deity was worshipped at the site.

Unfortunately, the ruins were so dilapidated and old that the old Taoist priest wandered around for a while but found no clues.

It wasn't that the statue was too big and heavy, weighing thousands of pounds, making it difficult for him to turn it over and check its front after it was overturned; it was just that his Dao Qi, being only at the Qi Refining stage, was too limited to play a significant role in this ruin.

After searching for a while, the old Taoist priest, panting heavily, finally returned to the white coffin. He patted the white coffin and said slowly, still panting, "This ruin is really... hehe, I don't understand it. Forget it, I won't look at it anymore. It's more humane to stay with you, Senior White Coffin."

The old Taoist priest had just finished talking about human kindness when he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Talking about human kindness with a corpse felt so strange.

The old Taoist priest laughed too much and couldn't breathe properly, so he bent over and coughed uncomfortably.

"Cough cough cough..."

"Cough cough cough..."

Once you start coughing at high altitudes, it's not so easy to catch your breath quickly. The old Taoist priest coughed for quite a while before stopping. But just as his coughing stopped, he suddenly let out a soft "Eh!"

It turned out that when he bent over and coughed, he noticed something unusual on the ground.

The old Taoist priest immediately squatted down and began clearing away the rocks and soil on the ground. As he cleared, a black crack in the ground gradually appeared before his eyes.

This black crack in the ground is very small, only about a finger's width, and it's easy to miss if you're not paying attention.

The old Taoist priest was greatly encouraged. No matter how he looked at it, this black crack in the ground looked exactly like the entrance to a cave!
So he sped up the cleanup.

Before long, a section of broken wall ruins, which he had cleared of dust and soil from, appeared before him, and that section of broken wall ruins blocked the entrance to the cave.

The old Taoist priest tried his strength a few times, but the broken walls and ruins weighed at least a hundred pounds. As an old and frail man who was also a Taoist cultivator, he simply couldn't move them.

"Fortunately, I know Taoist talismans and how to invoke spirits to possess me."

The old Taoist priest immediately took down the Tai Chi Bagua satchel draped over his shoulder, then took out a yellow talisman and a writing brush, and immediately drew a Six Ding Six Jia talisman.

Then, chanting a spell, stick it to your body.

"rise!"

This time, the old Taoist priest finally managed to move that piece of broken wall ruins, panting heavily.

After all, the old Taoist priest was not Jin An. He did not have great magical power or cultivation. It was already very difficult for him to draw some Six Ding Six Jia talismans to invite the gods to possess him. We cannot expect him to be able to forcefully cleave through the second and third realms of the divine path after inviting the gods to possess him, just like Jin An.

As the broken walls and ruins were removed, a cave tunnel was indeed revealed underneath. The entrance to the tunnel had a downward staircase that led down into the darkness below.

"There really is a cave entrance!"

"It seems that following Senior White Coffin is the best path to success, with endless opportunities ahead, hahaha!"

Moved, the old Taoist priest immediately took out three incense sticks from his Tai Chi Bagua satchel, lit them, and inserted them into the crack of the white coffin, paying his respects to the fierce corpse in the white coffin, Da Piao Liang.

After doing all this, the old Taoist priest came to the entrance of the underground tunnel and looked down. Unfortunately, there was no light source below, and it was pitch black. He could only see the entrance.

A set of stone-carved steps leads downwards.

"Although this place has been sealed off for many years, there has always been a small gap. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be a lack of air down there, so it shouldn't cause suffocation?"

"Or perhaps there isn't any highly poisonous aura lingering there?"

The old Taoist muttered a few words, then lit another torch and threw it down into the tunnel entrance.

The torch was burning continuously and had not gone out, indicating that there was sufficient air below.

Then, he stood at the entrance of the tunnel for a while, took a few deep breaths, and felt no discomfort. He was in good health and full of energy, which meant that there was very likely no poisonous gas down there.

If there were poisonous gases, they would have already drifted up through the tunnel entrance and poisoned the people outside.

The old Taoist priest waited for a while, but when Jin An and Xiao Jian still hadn't returned, he couldn't resist his curiosity. Besides, being alone with nothing to do was also quite boring. So, holding a torch in one hand and a piece of stone from the ruins in the other, he carefully went down into the tunnel entrance.

This wasn't the first time the old Taoist had traveled the world and explored alone. Before he met Jin'an, he was already a Taoist who roamed the world alone, so he had both courage and boldness.

Exploring a tunnel entrance wasn't a big deal for him.

The tunnel entrance was quite long. The old Taoist priest went down for a while, but he still hadn't reached the end and was still going down the steps.

“Judging by this depth, this tunnel must be four or five zhang deep.” The old Taoist priest held up a torch and looked around. Unfortunately, the tunnel was dark and a single torch could not illuminate the way far, so he could not see the detailed environment outside the steps.

Fortunately, after walking for a while, he finally made it down to the bottom of the tunnel.

The old Taoist priest held a torch and looked around. The tunnel was very empty, and apart from some stone carvings, he did not find any other unusual features.

Those stone sculptures were several meters tall, but they were all knocked over and destroyed, making it impossible to discern their original appearance when intact.

In addition to the stone carvings, there are also more than a dozen stone pillars that support the entire tunnel from top to bottom.

Driven by curiosity, the old Taoist priest examined the dozen or so stone pillars and finally discovered some clues: the pillars were carved with images...

The old Taoist priest was increasingly astonished by the images, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes. He had already gained a general understanding of this site.

Then, holding a torch, he continued deeper into the tunnel. Apart from those dozen or so stone pillars, he found nothing else along the way.

Until, a heavy bronze door blocked his way.

Outside the heavy bronze door, a deity was carved, but half of the deity's body was destroyed, revealing a crack behind the bronze door.

The crack wasn't large, just big enough for one person to pass through.

The old Taoist priest was cautious by nature, so he didn't immediately go behind the bronze door. Instead, he found a thick candle, about the thickness of a human arm, in the tunnel entrance. It looked like it was used for lighting incense, so he lit it and threw it behind the bronze door.

Then the person looked behind the bronze door.

……

"Mother!"

The desolate and tranquil snow-capped mountain was suddenly punctuated by the old Taoist priest's loud shout. Jin'an and Xiaojian, who were picking up dead branches not far away, immediately dropped what they were doing and hurried back.

Then I noticed the entrance to the tunnel that the old Taoist priest had dug open.

Without hesitation, the two rushed into the tunnel entrance to find the old Taoist priest. Soon, they found him at the bronze doorway.

"Young man, look quickly at the bronze door!" The old Taoist priest grabbed Jin An's arm and pointed into the bronze door.

The next moment, Jin An and Xiao Jian both looked behind the bronze door, and their expressions changed upon seeing it.

Behind the bronze door lay countless corpses.

The corpses included both men and women, but without exception, they had all been frozen into dark, mummified bodies by the icy weather in the snowy mountains.

Judging from their dark skin and mummified state, these corpses have existed for at least several hundred years.

There were so many mummies behind the bronze door. Before they died, these corpses were all embracing each other, as if comforting each other, soothing each other, and seeking warmth and a sense of security...

But in the end.

They only brought about a tragic end.

They all died.

None survived.

Jin An's expression darkened, and he said, "These people seem to be under some kind of threat and have no choice but to hide behind the bronze door to seek safety and avoid disaster."

"In the end, they still couldn't escape it, and they all died."

The old Taoist priest, his face grim, then spoke up: "Young man, these people were killed by the mountain god!"

Jin An looked surprised and asked, "Oh, old Taoist, how did you know?"

The old Taoist priest's expression darkened as he said, "Young brother, you'll understand as soon as you look at those stone pillars outside. They're carved with scenes of these people fighting against the mountain god!"

"These people are all Han Chinese, and this is the final battle of the Han Chinese's grand scheme to destroy the heavens and the earth!"

Upon hearing this, Jin An's expression changed, and he immediately went to check the stone pillars.

He felt the tunnel was too dark, so he unleashed several streams of Samadhi Fire to provide illumination, setting the entire tunnel ablaze, and then examined each of the stone pillars one by one.

Just as the old Taoist priest said, the stone pillar was carved with the Four Symbols Formation of Heaven and Earth, and the scene of Taoism and Buddhism slaying demons.

Snow Mountain, East China Sea, Wuzhou Prefecture, and Western Regions are the four locations of the Four Symbols Formation of the Heaven-Severing and Earth-Severing Bureau.

"Although the original appearance of the talisman is not clearly carved on this stone pillar, it is probably because the talisman and its family were not carved out. However, the location is clearly carved: snow mountain, East China Sea, Kangding Kingdom, and Western Regions."

"We have encountered the latter three, but the snow mountain is the one that surprised me the most. I never imagined that the Taiyin Bureau's North Water Black Tortoise was located in this snow mountain right beneath our feet."

"If the Taiyin Formation is right here, and the Mountain God has been revived in the Rakshasa Kingdom, wouldn't that mean that the Taiyin Formation is the first of the Four Symbols Formation that has been broken? The Taiyin Formation is like blocking the doorway of the Mountain God's house. In order to be revived and reappear in the mortal world, the Mountain God must break the Taiyin Formation first in order to escape and go anywhere in the world."

The old Taoist priest came to Jin'an's side and looked at the stone pillar with a very ugly expression.

"The fact that the Taiyin Bureau is actually located in these snowy mountains is indeed surprising to me," Jin An nodded and said.

He continued to examine each stone pillar carefully, one after another.

"what?"

"Old Taoist priest, look at this stone pillar. Does this scene seem somewhat familiar?"

Jin An suddenly pointed to a stone pillar and said something.

The old Taoist priest hurried over to check, but after looking for a while, his eyes remained blank. He said, "Young brother, just say what you have to say. You've really made me feel uneasy."

"I didn't see any clues on the stone pillar."

Jin An patiently said, "Old Taoist, don't you think these people are eating the flesh and blood of the mountain god?"

"Look, this stone pillar describes the struggle between humanity and the mountain god, which takes up a great deal of space, indicating that this battle was extremely difficult and protracted."

"Then, the scene shifts to many children eating flesh and blood."

"Humans are skilled in Taoist and Buddhist supernatural powers, and can summon wind and rain, ensuring favorable weather and abundant harvests, so there is certainly no shortage of food. First, it describes a battle with the mountain god, and then it describes children eating large mouthfuls of flesh and blood. This flesh and blood is most likely the flesh and blood of the mountain god."

The more the old Taoist listened, the more he nodded. He also felt that Jin An's analysis made a lot of sense. Then he asked in surprise, "But why would humans make these children eat the flesh and blood of the mountain god?"

Jin An glanced at the shaving sword and then said, "Old Taoist, you should know about the training methods of folk corpse retrievers from childhood, right?"

The old Taoist priest frowned and nodded, saying, "The bodies of corpse retrievers are special; they have the appearance of living people who have died. Each corpse retriever is trained in a unique way. They must start eating the flesh of the dead from a young age, first in small bites, then in large bites, and then they must eat three meals a day without fail. Eating the flesh of the dead makes it very easy to contract corpse poison, so most corpse retrievers are infected with corpse poison at the very beginning and die from it."

"Even if you survive temporarily, it doesn't guarantee that you've become a corpse retriever. You have to eat human flesh for one or two decades and accumulate enough corpse energy and death energy in your body to avoid being killed by corpse demons and become one of them in their eyes. Only then can you be considered a successful corpse retriever."

"It is precisely because the cultivation of a corpse retriever is extremely difficult and requires a lot of time to eat the flesh of the dead, that a corpse retriever must start cultivating from a young age and begin eating the flesh of the dead in order to have a certain probability of becoming a corpse retriever when he or she reaches adulthood."

After the old Taoist priest finished speaking, he suddenly realized something, looked at the sword-sharpening, and clapped his hands heavily, saying, "Young brother, are you saying that these children eat the flesh and blood of the mountain god, just like the corpse retriever who sharpened the sword, and start cultivating from a young age, so that when the children grow up, they will not be afraid of the mountain god and can fight against it?"

Jin An said with a solemn expression, "I don't know, but I think it's highly likely."

The old Taoist priest's eyes lit up as he said, "This method is indeed possible, because after the Four Symbols Formation of Severing Heaven and Earth was established, the Mountain God was sealed. This means that the human race a thousand years ago must have found a way to deal with the Mountain God, which is why they were able to seal him."

Jin An nodded and said, "Yes, it's a pity we don't have much time left. Otherwise, I could try to get some of the mountain god's flesh and blood to give it a shot."

"but……"

"If you really asked me to try it, I probably wouldn't. After all, the fate of corpse retrievers is not good; only one in a hundred survives, the mortality rate is too high. I wonder if the mortality rate is high with the flesh and blood of the mountain god."

"I would only take the risk if it really came to a point where there was no other way, a critical moment where humanity's survival was at stake," Jin An said with a sigh.

He would never try this method unless he was truly at his wit's end.

After all, no one knows how high the mortality rate is for this method.

He's not the kind of maniac who doesn't care about other people's lives.

"Indeed," the old Taoist priest sighed softly.

“Young brother, tell me, we were able to find this tunnel, learn so many truths hidden a thousand years ago, and discover that eating the flesh and blood of the mountain god is one way to fight against the mountain god… Do you think all of this was deliberately arranged by Senior White Coffin?”

"Did they deliberately arrange for us to know all this so that we could prepare to fight the mountain god?"

The old Taoist priest suddenly spoke to Jin An.