Reincarnation Paradise: Master is lucky

Chapter 367 Fake Corpse
huh-huh-

Upon entering the square, the biting cold intensified, as if it were freezing one's very soul.

The crystal skull in Chi Yao's hand gradually emitted a hazy light, forming a protective circle that illuminated the path ahead and reduced the icy chill around everyone.

The umbrellaless brother and the confused little man, protected by the dim light, breathed a sigh of relief and began to check the situation in the square.

Brother Wusan mustered his courage, took a few steps forward, and approached one of the statues to examine it closely.

"Wow, these stone statues look really creepy! The details are so intricate, they almost look like real people."

Under the soft glow of the crystal, the surrounding scene gradually became clear. The densely packed gray-blue human figures in the square were in a kneeling posture, with their hands clasped together and raised in front of them slightly above their heads. It looked as if these human figures were offering something to the altar in the center of the square.

However, it seems inaccurate to call these things ordinary stone statues. These human figures have distinct joints, clear textures, and you can even faintly see fine pores and hair. Almost no two statues are exactly the same in detail. Some statues have thicker arms, some have more curved backs, and some have their hands raised higher.

But their faces are distorted and uniform, like a "scream". Each statue has a wide-open mouth and black, empty eyes. From the bottom of the eyes to the cheeks, there is a long and twisted black brand, as if it were a cursed blood tear flowing down, eroding the skin and soaking into the flesh.

"."

"."

Upon hearing Brother Wusan's sentiments, Chi Yao and Old Bal exchanged a glance and fell silent.

huh-huh-

The howling wind grew even sharper in the silence, sounding like a long, endless wail, making the atmosphere even more eerie.

"What...what's the meaning of your silence?"

"."

"Holy crap! No way, could these statues be... people who transformed?!"

Brother Wusan immediately realized what was happening, and couldn't help but shudder, quickly taking a few steps back to distance himself from the statues.

"Ahhh!!! Could these statues suddenly come to life?!"

Upon hearing what Brother Wusan said, Little Confused immediately moved away from the statue beside him and exclaimed in surprise.

Chi Yao carefully observed the humanoid statues and drew a conclusion.

"Calm down, Brother Wusan, Little Confused. They're just some petrified corpses. There's no sign of life yet. Let's move on."

Chi Yao's words calmed the two down a bit, but they became even more careful, keeping their distance from the statues on either side at all times, and continued to move toward the center of the square.

As Chi Yao and his group moved forward, the distribution of the statues gradually became more compact. Chi Yao also noticed changes in the details of these statues. Compared to the previous statues, the skin of the statues in front of him gradually developed scale-like patterns, and their heads gradually became rounder and covered with scales, while their snouts gradually became narrower and longer.

The further they went, the more changes there were in the details of the statues ahead, until the statues completely transformed into monsters with snake heads and human bodies. Chi Yao and the others arrived directly below the altar.

The scene they witnessed along the way was as if Chi Yao and his companions had personally witnessed ordinary humans gradually mutating into snake-headed, human-bodied monsters. The scene of ordinary humans and snake-headed monsters gathering here to offer sacrifices to the central altar was petrified and preserved here, sending chills down their spines.

Brother Wusan looked at the stone coffin on the altar and the two snake-headed statues guarding it, and asked in a low voice.

"This place looks really eerie. What do we do next? Are we going to have to open the coffin?"

In this atmosphere, even the confused little girl lowered her voice, her tone trembling.

"Could what we're looking for be inside that stone coffin?"

Chi Yao glanced at Old Bal, who hadn't spoken since arriving at the square, and paused before speaking.

"Old Baal, the Daughter of the Sun strongly recommended you as her personal High Priest. Your strength must be extraordinary. Why don't you go up and investigate first?"

Chi Yao felt that Old Bal had been unusually quiet along the way, and feared that he might have some ulterior motives, so he decided to test him.

Upon hearing Chi Yao invoke the title of the Daughter of Yang to have him lead the charge, Old Bal's expression stiffened. He looked back and forth between Chi Yao and Little Confused, and finally pointed at Brother Wusan, hesitatingly responding.

"I still have a trump card left by the goddess, which I cannot use lightly before confirming the real target. If we're talking about defensive capabilities, it would be more suitable to let that guy without an umbrella go."

Old Bal's refusal made Chi Yao frown slightly. He gripped the Reverse Element in his hand, pondering whether to reveal the "nano bomb" as a trump card to force Old Bal to take action. However, the "trump card" left behind by the Daughter of Yang, which Old Bal mentioned, also made Chi Yao hesitate for a moment.

Just then, the very responsible Brother Wusan stepped forward and broke the deadlock.

Brother Wusan did not refute Old Bal's words. He himself had the pride and confidence of a main tank, and he patted his chest and immediately spoke.

"Grey Obsidian, I'll go first. After all, I'm the main tank, and I'm more than a pro at initiating fights!"

Seeing that Brother Wusan was determined, Chi Yao nodded and did not stop him, but only gave him a soft reminder.

"Be careful, and do not touch the stone coffin directly once you get up there."

Little Confused showed his support by raising his staff and giving Brother No Umbrella a series of life-saving buffs.

"Agility Enhancement!"

"Endurance Enhancement!"

"Holy Light Protection!"

With the buff, Brother Wusan was radiant. He stood tall and confidently took a few steps forward to the altar. He lifted his right leg and gently stepped forward, landing steadily on the first step of the altar.

Snapped!
The crisp sound of Brother Wusan's footsteps echoed even more clearly in the silent environment, drawing everyone's attention to the stone coffin and the snake-head statue, as if this small step was the switch to awaken them.

Brother Wusan immediately stopped what he was doing. He couldn't help but look up at the two snake-headed statues holding stone axes above him, and even a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

whoosh—whoosh—

There was only silence in the cold wind.

When Brother Wusan stepped onto the steps, he breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering that the snake-head statues remained motionless. He even had the leisure to crack a joke and lighten the mood.

"Haha, it seems there's good news: these two snake-head statues were just decorations after all."

As Brother Wusan laughed heartily and took his second step, the second step sank the instant his foot touched it, accompanied by a sound like gears meshing!

Click-click-click!

As the mechanism whirred, the two snake-headed statues immediately stepped forward, raised their stone axes, and slammed them down in a crisscrossing X-shaped attack!
With his attention focused, Chi Yao reacted swiftly, raising his right hand and pulling sharply back. A rope was now wrapped around Wusan's waist, and with a single pull, he lifted Wusan away from the altar. Bang! Bang!
Before the stone axe fell, Chi Yao pulled Brother Wusan back with a rope. Brother Wusan, who had returned safely, was still a little shaken. He couldn't help but curse when he saw the two snake-headed statues.

"**** (American Classics)! Damn it! I just said these two statues wouldn't move and they hit me with an axe! These two things are slapping me in the face like this, aren't they?! ****!"

The two snake-headed statues were merely merciless mechanisms, completely oblivious to Brother Wusan's curses. After Brother Wusan left the altar area, they did not continue to pursue him. Instead, they picked up the stone axes that had been inserted into the steps and walked heavily to the sides of the stone coffin, guarding it as if they had never moved at all.

Little Confused peeked out and looked at the marks left by the stone axe on the steps. After the dust settled, he noticed the engraved patterns on the steps and said...

"It seems that this second step is the mechanism that triggers the statue's attack, or rather, one of many mechanisms? The remaining steps should also have mechanisms?"

"And these patterns are very similar to the inscriptions we saw in the ruins before. Could this be a puzzle-solving level?"

Chi Yao didn't expect that he could shift the blame back to Old Bal. He turned to look at Old Bal and smiled.

"Old Bal, it seems it's time for you to step in. Can you decipher these patterns?"

Old Bal's face was ashen, but he could no longer refuse in this situation. He could only bite the bullet and step forward, cautiously leaning out to examine the patterns on the second step.

Old Bale's already small eyes narrowed to slits as he muttered to himself.

"Faith. Great Offering to the Supreme Black Mist of the Soul"

After reading everything, Old Barr gave his conclusion.

"Although only parts can be seen, these inscriptions should be praising and venerating the contents of the sarcophagus on the altar, and the surrounding statues should be a 'great sacrifice'."

Little Confused blinked and added.

"The good news is that we can now confirm with 100% certainty that what's inside the stone coffin is related to the black mist, but the bad news is that we still can't unlock the mechanism on these steps."

Chi Yao smiled slightly and raised his hand, pointing forward in reverse.

"Can't solve it? Then don't try! I still prefer the method of brute force that strikes straight at the heart of the problem! Lightning Strike!"

sizzle-

Bright yellow lightning bolts shot out from the sky, like laser beams, directly towards the stone coffin in the center of the altar!

The instant the lightning approached within a meter of the stone coffin, a semi-transparent circular protective shield appeared, enveloping the entire coffin and blocking the lightning.

Chi Yao frowned slightly. This protective shield looked exactly like the barrier that had swallowed the light sphere before. It seemed that only the crystal skull could break through this final protective shield.

At the moment the lightning collided with the protective shield, the two snake-headed statues, which were in a guarding posture, immediately turned to face Chi Yao. As if they had been provoked, they took heavy steps and rushed down from the altar!
Just as Chi Yao was preparing to deal with the two snake-head statues before dealing with the stone coffin, he suddenly discovered that after the protective shield appeared, the stone coffin on the altar also underwent a change.

The stone coffin trembled incessantly, and wisps of black mist seeped from its surface. This black mist seemed incredibly heavy, like liquid nitrogen slowly flowing down in the air, gradually filling the surface of the altar.

Seeing the strange movement of the stone coffin, a scene flashed through Chi Yao's mind: the stone coffin shattered, and the thick black mist that surged out completely engulfed him and Brother Wusan and the others.

Chi Yao knew that this was a warning from his premonition. If he couldn't stop the strange movement of the stone coffin in time, he would be doomed once the contents of the stone coffin came out successfully!

Chi Yao made a quick decision, constructing four jet acceleration vents and a reverse acceleration technique behind him, and immediately spoke to Brother Wusan and Old Bal.

"Old Bal, Brother Wusan, there's no time to explain! You two help me stop these two snake-headed statues, I need to deal with the sarcophagus immediately!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chi Yao rushed out like an arrow, his target the stone coffin on the altar!

"What?!"

Before Brother Wusan and Old Bal could fully react to Chi Yao's words, they saw Chi Yao rushing towards the gap between the two snake-head statues!

Old Bal and Brother Wusan exchanged a glance, both seeing the bewilderment and helplessness in each other's eyes. Since things had come to this, they could only follow Chi Yao's orders for now, after all, Chi Yao was everyone's 'captain'.

Old Bal's body emitted a blood-red flame, his temperature suddenly rose, and his voice became hoarse.

"We have no experience in coordinated combat, so let's each take on one of them, is that alright?"

Brother Wusan nodded, raising his gauntlets in preparation for unleashing his skill.

"No problem at all!"

Chi Yao paid no attention to the snake-head statues. With the help of the four jet nozzles and the double acceleration spell, he passed through the gap between the two snake-head statues almost instantly!
The snake-headed statue seemed to sense that Chi Yao had passed it directly, and immediately prepared to turn around and strike down, trying to stop Chi Yao.

Whoosh! Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle —

Dozens of fire snakes shot out from Old Baal's palm, directly binding the snake-head statue on the left and restraining its movements.

Meanwhile, the guy without an umbrella made a rather strange move. He assumed a horse stance, with his left hand blocking in front of him, his right hand resting on his left hand and stretched forward, repeatedly waving his right index finger back and forth while shouting.

"Come here!!!"

The seemingly strange action and the ordinary sentence exerted tremendous power. The snake-headed statue on the right instantly stopped raising its stone axe and immediately turned to look at Brother Wusan, seemingly giving up on chasing Chi Yao.

Yes, this is the essential skill every qualified main tank should possess! Taunt!
The skill used by Brother Wusan can force the target in front of him to change to himself. He rarely used taunt before because this skill is more of a stationary taunt skill, and he is an evasion tank, so he doesn't usually need to use it.

At this moment, in order to interrupt the snake-headed statue's pursuit in time, this skill was just right. Brother Wusan used "Taunt" and successfully attracted its aggro, with excellent results!

Despite being blocked by Old Bal and Brother Wusan, Chi Yao directly crossed the steps and arrived in front of the protective shield of the stone coffin, raising the crystal skull in his hand.

The crystal skull emitted a bright light, then gradually melted like a candle, transforming into a beam of light that pierced through the protective shield and struck the center of the stone coffin!
As the beam of light pierced through, the protective shield vanished, and a low howl, like that of a thousand-year-old ghost, emanated from the stone coffin!
"GaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

The stone coffin door exploded open instantly, and a thick black mist, like claws, rushed out from inside the coffin and grabbed at Chi Yao.

Prepared for the attack, Chi Yao accelerated and retreated to avoid the claw strike, then unleashed a triple lightning bolt in a backhand strike!
boom! boom! boom!
The moment the lightning and the black mist came into contact, it was like water hitting boiling oil. The lightning flashed and the two exploded, the explosion dispersing some of the black mist and revealing the stone coffin to everyone.

It was a snake-headed mummy encased in golden armor. Strange and twisted runes were etched on the gilded breastplate. Pale white bandages wrapped all the exposed flesh, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding black mist. The gem embedded in the center of its forehead emitted a ghostly light in the darkness, looking like its third eye.

Stimulated by the impact of the thunder, the snake-headed mummy slowly opened its dark eyes. Bang! With a loud bang, as it exerted its strength, its hands, which had been folded in front of it, suddenly stretched out to the sides of its body, completely shattering the remaining stone coffin, as if it had broken free from the constraints within the stone coffin!
Looking at the scene before him, Brother Wusan couldn't help but complain as he walked around the snake-head statue in the distance to relieve the immense pressure of meeting the boss.

"Holy crap! It really is a mummy! According to the usual tomb raiding tropes, wouldn't we be considered to have encountered a zombie that has come back to life?!"

The snake-headed mummy's hollow eyes glared angrily at Chi Yao. It was just a hair's breadth away from completely breaking free of the seal, but now, it was like a giant snake awakened from a long slumber. Hunger and rage made it impatient to tear apart all the creatures in front of it to fill its ravenous stomach.

　A zombie has risen from the dead! Update!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)