Ancient tomb excavation traces

Just as the young Taoist priest pulled away the ancestor's red copper scimitar, I instinctively grabbed him and said, "There must be... there must be a way to save them. Don't do anything, they are all my dearest relatives..." In an instant, I forgot to cry and only knew to plead without thinking, my whole body feeling a little weak.

But there was no other choice. While I was hallucinating, the three ancestors had already scratched their skin, and several pieces of flesh were gone, leaving only pitted, rotten flesh. The smell of that flesh was even more disgusting than the smell of pork in a summer market. Even if a way to save them were found, I'm afraid current medical technology wouldn't be able to restore their skin and flesh. If Old Tai saw himself in this state, he would definitely choose to end his own life.

I forced myself to suppress my nausea, unable to believe that the three of us who were perfectly fine just moments ago had become like this in such a short time. But then I quickly realized that there were impurities in the wine.

The wine was offered to the gods, so it was filtered with thatch grass. However, when our ancestors drank it, this process wasn't done. The foam in the wine was in a dormant state, but when someone opened the seal of the bronze vessel, it sensed the air and came to life. In my hallucination, the foam I saw resembled tiny cockroaches.

I'm not sure if my thoughts are right or wrong, but I believe it's a punishment for disrespecting the gods. Once someone drinks the divine wine, those frothy insect-like bodies become deadly weapons… And as Lan Quexi said, when Mi Ling sought revenge, she retaliated against the court officials, and those people were also “living and dying at the same time.” It seems their deaths were also related to this wine…

A chill ran down my spine. This insect was far too strange and insidious; I had no idea how to save my family and friends. Just as I was at a loss, the three of them stopped convulsing, and the entire space became deathly still. I even had a feeling that those damned descendants of the Eight Witches were crouching and watching us from every dark corner.

I controlled my breathing and slowly approached the ancestor. Just as I got close, the ancestor suddenly sat up straight. I was so frightened that I stumbled and sat down on the ground. He stared at me coldly, his face showing clear signs of rigor mortis, and his flesh was completely loose, layers of dead flesh piled up like soil loosened by earthworms.

I stood there, stunned, and then the phrase "the dead are alive" came to mind. Before I could react, the young Taoist priest grabbed me and quickly pulled me to the back.

Right now, I'm secretly regretting it. Even if I had to fight Chen Yu, I should have stopped them from drinking this stuff... But it's too late for regrets now...

Chen Yu suddenly leaned back and slowly approached Bao Cai. Fear filled Bao Cai's eyes; he was so terrified that he could only gape and instinctively move backward...

I can't describe how I feel right now. My friends have become like this. I have a knife in my hand, which could free them, but I can't bring myself to do it. Yet, being soft-hearted would lead me to hell. I kept telling myself: They're already dead, already dead... I have to make a choice... I was sweating profusely, and with great courage, I finally drew the Mongolian knife from my waist.

Through dealing with the corpse cocoon last time, I discovered that the living dead retain some kind of consciousness from their previous lives, such as fighting. I can't deal with the ancestor, only the little Taoist priest can handle him... and Chu Ba's knife skills are superb, I can't withstand them, but I have no choice but to tough it out.

I stared at Chu Ba with a heart full of pain. Bao Cai, standing not far from me, said, "Young Master... have you... have you ever heard of true love reviving a plant... a person in a vegetative state?"

In this atmosphere, I never expected Bao Cai to say something so absurd, but I couldn't listen to it and wasn't in the mood to reply.

However, Bao Cai started rambling, trying to wake the brain-dead old man. He said, "Fatty Chen, who was it that... swore to be my brother forever... You said you'd leave me and Young Master here, and now that you're dead, can... can you rest in peace...? And, to be honest, if you leave, who will talk to me? Who will still treat me, Liu Bao Cai, like a character?" Bao Cai became more and more sentimental as he spoke, and even I was a little moved.

I looked at the eight that were no longer human. They had just changed and their reactions were not yet strong; their joints were just moving mechanically.

"Make your move! They are no ordinary people. It would be better for them to die than to live on like this!" Elsewhere, the young Taoist priest was behind the old ancestor, his knee pressed against the old ancestor's lower back, grabbing his arm, and baring his teeth as he spoke to me. Clearly, the old ancestor was no ordinary person.

In despair, I turned my gaze back to Chu Ba. His eyes were devoid of any luster, only filled with a cold, murderous aura.

"It's time to make my move," I thought. As my trembling hands reached towards the still-uncompletely transformed Chu Ba, his gaze suddenly met mine, and his hands swiftly gripped my neck. It all happened so fast; I only felt a tightening around my neck, and I didn't even have a chance to fight back.

My hands still held the lingering warmth of Chu Ba, a warmth that was deadly to me. I was facing Chu Ba, a man of lightning-fast reflexes, more agile than anyone else present. My momentary hesitation cost me the only chance I could have given him a quick death.

In a daze, I heard Bao Cai still talking to Chen Yi, but soon his words turned into screams of agony as Chen Yi began to attack. In his haste, the young Taoist priest tore off one of the ancestor's arms... The entire main coffin chamber became a burial ground where we brothers killed each other.

Blood rushed to my head, and I gave a bitter laugh, muttering to myself: This shouldn't be happening...

Just as the light in my eyes shone through a thin slit, I heard a loud crash as some bronze artifact toppled over. Chu Ba's hand instantly loosened, and I collapsed to the ground, my hand on my neck, sweat dripping down my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another person kneeling on the ground, panting heavily... It was none other than the ancestor whose arm had just been torn off by the young Taoist priest.

He knocked over the bronze vessel on the table, turned his gaze to me, and gave me a faint smile. I noticed that his hands were intact, which filled me with a strange sense of unease. Was everything just an illusion? My head was spinning, and I didn't know what was happening, but looking at the bronze vessel next to Chen Yi, a surge of resentment rose within me. I immediately stood up and kicked it away.

Chen Yi looked completely bewildered and asked me, "What the heck, Liu Zi, what's wrong with you and Boss? I just picked up the bronze wine vessel, and you two suddenly started pulling at it, then knelt on the ground like you were possessed, muttering something unintelligible."

Looking at the people in front of me, my heart was surging, and I couldn't speak. I could only gasp for breath, and tears silently streamed down my face. The scene just now was too real, so real that I still haven't recovered.

At this moment, the patriarch stood up and said, "There's something wrong with that wine; it's the culprit that killed the third son."

"What?" Chen Yi was shocked, but quickly recovered and said, "No wonder, when we entered Wu Xia's tomb, the third brother was in such a state. Now I remember, he was the one who drank the wine from the musician's tomb. So it was the wine that caused the problem. Damn it, if you guys hadn't suddenly run into trouble, I probably would have pried the wine off and drunk it myself."

The old man laughed and said, "You always say you have nine lives, and I think that's true." As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at me and said seriously, "Little rascal, are you alright?" When he spoke to me, his tone was gentle, just like my grandfather's tone when he spoke to me.

I looked at him, confused, and said, "Just now... I saw..."

The old man patted my shoulder and smiled slightly, saying, "I know what you saw."

What? I was even more confused, staring blankly at the ancestor. He uttered a few words that shocked everyone: "This is an omen..."