Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 15 Opening the Coffin

Upon hearing Hu Ming's words, the fat man's face lit up with joy. He pushed Hu Bayi, who was standing next to Hu Ming, aside with his bulky body and replied, "Alright!"

Hu Bayi, who was being squeezed, looked completely helpless.

The fat man immediately took the package off his back, looked at Hu Ming, and asked, "Mingzi, what kind of tools do you need?"

Hu Ming thought for a moment. The guy lying in this coffin was a great general of the Jin Dynasty, tall and mighty, with immense strength and an indestructible body. His only weakness was his slow movement. With that in mind, Hu Ming had an idea. "Fatty, first take out the specially made corpse-binding rope, and oh right, the glutinous rice too."

Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately took out a special red rope, then pulled out a bag of glutinous rice weighing one or two pounds, and ran to Hu Ming's side.

Hu Ming didn't plan to use gasoline right now, after all, he still had the Western Region Fire Dragon Glazed Roof above his head, so he couldn't act recklessly.

Therefore, Hu Ming planned to use the corpse-binding rope as a tripping rope, since he felt that the two were similar and both were used to restrain zombies.

He also planned to scatter glutinous rice around the coffin to better restrict the movement of the rice dumpling.

Fatty Wang said to Hu Bayi, "Old Hu, don't just stand there, come and help!"

Hu Bayi replied, "Okay!"

The "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique" also contains descriptions of glutinous rice and ropes used to bind corpses. After Hu Ming's explanation, Hu Bayi immediately understood the function of the rope and how to arrange it.

Although the rope used to bind the body is simple, it is directly effective.
Hu Ming showed a love for history, archaeology, and feng shui from a young age. Therefore, his maternal grandfather also passed on the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique" to him.

However, when he graduated from high school, he wanted to apply to the archaeology department, but his family stopped him because they all knew that if Hu Ming entered the archaeology department, he would definitely go to search for and go into tombs.

The Hu family all knew how dangerous tomb raiding was, so they all disagreed with Hu Ming studying archaeology. Seeing this, Hu Ming had no choice but to enroll in the history department, but he still frequently audited classes in the archaeology department.

Seeing Hu Ming's actions, Hu Bayi couldn't help but say, "Mingzi, I've discovered that you're really suited for this. Goodness, your movements and preparations are even smoother than I imagined."

Hearing Hu Bayi's words, Hu Ming laughed and said, "Hey, there's nothing I can do. Although I didn't enter the archaeology department back then, I still learned a lot of this knowledge. I've spent a lot of time studying our old man's 'Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique' these past few years, and now I'm no worse than you at using it, hehe."

Hearing Hu Ming's words, Hu Bayi said helplessly, "Mingzi, you bastard, you really did plan to get into this line of work all along, didn't you?"

"Sigh, actually, everyone in the family guessed that you would definitely go into tombs someday, but we didn't expect it to be so soon." As he spoke, Hu Bayi continued to speed up his movements.

Soon, using the tomb's structure, several people appeared with ropes binding the corpses, more than a meter above the ground. One ring after another linked together. Even with the fat man hanging there, they didn't loosen their grip.

"Mingzi, you've really put some thought into setting up the tripwire like this. But is it even effective? Don't let it be a waste of time," Hu Bayi said, expressing his doubts.

Looking at Hu Bayi, Hu Ming knew what he was thinking. The proper way to use a corpse-tethering rope is to simply put a noose around the corpse's ankles; there was no need to go through all this trouble.

However, Hu Ming didn't say much.

Instead, he went to the side of the coffin and said, "Old Hu, this stone coffin is so big, it must be at least four meters long. The thing lying inside must be quite large."

"No way? It can really be that big?" Hu Bayi still couldn't quite believe it.

At this moment, the fat man also came over and said, "Let me tell you, Mingzi, do you think there really were people that tall in ancient times? If there were, wouldn't they be monsters?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Ming calmly said, "Old Hu, take a look at the coffin painting on this stone coffin and the murals on the walls, and you'll understand. I've seen them; this guy is not only invincible, but also undefeated in every battle, possessing immense strength. We'd better be careful." The fat man, looking at the murals with a hint of fear, said, "Mingzi, how about we just leave this guy's stone coffin alone?"

Hearing this, Hu Ming glanced at him and said, "Not going to open it? I say, Fatty, are you chickening out?"

When Fatty told Yingzi and Hu Bayi that he had chickened out, Fatty immediately retorted angrily, "What? Chickened out? You're the chicken! I, Fatty, am a sharpshooter. Do you think I'd be afraid of this guy who's been dead for hundreds of years?"

Hu Ming knew that Fatty was just like that; he couldn't stand being called a coward. He would explode at the slightest criticism and immediately start bragging about himself as a war god.

Hu Ming's words were so offensive that the fat man immediately pulled out a crowbar, ready to pry open the coffin.

"Fatty, what are you doing?" Hu Bayi asked immediately when he saw Fatty holding a crowbar, to prevent Fatty from acting rashly.

Upon hearing this, the fat man said irritably, "What else can I do? I'll open the coffin! That way you won't keep calling me a coward!" With that, the fat man immediately climbed onto the stone coffin, grabbed a crowbar, and was about to start working.

Hu Bayi simply said, "Fatty, if you're not afraid of death, go ahead and pry it open! I can pretend I didn't see it."

Then he turned to Hu Ming and Yingzi beside him and said, "Mingzi, Yingzi, let's move away from each other."

"Okay!" Even the usually oblivious fat man was a little confused when he heard Hu Bayi say that and when he saw Hu Ming and Yingzi deliberately take many steps back.

Seeing this, the fat man had no choice but to say, "Fine, I, Fatty, give up. You guys come on, I'll just watch. Is that alright?"

After saying that, the fat man immediately got off the stone coffin and put the crowbar aside. It was as if some things had never happened at all.

The fat man looked at the coffin and asked Hu Ming, "Mingzi, tell me. Why can't we pry this thing open? You have to make me understand."

Upon hearing this, Hu Ming said, "There might be a zongzi in there. We have to follow the ancestral rules."

Hu Bayi then said, "Humans light candles, ghosts blow out lamps, and when the rooster crows, the lamp goes out; don't touch the gold."

Seeing this, Hu Ming said to the fat man, "Fatty, take out a candle and light one in the southeast direction."

Upon hearing this, Fatty ran over to light the candles. Hu Ming then shared the remaining glutinous rice he had with Hu Bayi and Yingzi, and also left some for Fatty.

After everything was prepared, the three men took a pry bar and pried off all the coffin nails.

Then, together, the group pried open the coffin lid. Boom! The heavy coffin lid crashed to the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

The fat man's spot happened to be the dustiest part of the area.

"Pah! Damn it, Fatty didn't get bitten, but he ended up with a mouthful of dirt, ptooey!" Fatty said.

Seeing this, Hu Bayi and Hu Ming smiled.

At this moment, Yingzi became curious and craned her neck to peek into the coffin.

Upon seeing this, she immediately screamed in surprise...

(End of this chapter)