Chapter 660

Just now, the zombies that had been restless, at the instant I raised the jade tablet in my hand, all paused for a moment, as if sensing something.

Then, they uniformly lowered their heads and knelt on one knee.

This kneeling truly startled us.

They are zombies, after all— their bodies have become so flexible they can kneel on one knee?

It shows that over these years they have been cultivating by breathing in the tomb, and their cultivation has reached a certain level.

From their protruding fangs and the purplish-black all over their bodies, they seem not to have absorbed Spiritual Qi but rather Resentful Qi.

As soon as the tomb door opened, these zombies confirmed our earlier speculation: the purpose of this ancient tomb's existence is likely to absorb the Resentful Qi of the severed-tailed flood dragon, thereby maintaining superficial peace!

It is precisely because these zombies have attained a certain cultivation and opened a bit of spiritual awareness that they immediately sensed the aura of the jade tablet in my hand and willingly submitted.

The jade tablet I hold is the Red Armor Army's command token left by my grandfather Xuanye, passed down through the direct line of the Shi Family.

The death warriors are true to their name; even dead, even turned into zombies, the deep-rooted death-warrior spirit in their minds has not been forgotten.

"Go!"

I, holding the jade tablet, was about to rush into the tomb first.

Shi Yin stepped in front of me and said, "The area near the tomb gate is relatively clean because these zombies exhale nefarious qi, but the deeper we go, the greater the danger. The Red Armor Army are originally the vanguard of the Xieling Strongman lineage; we should go first."

Having said that, Shi Yin had already entered the tomb chamber.

The remaining Red Armor Army filed in one after another.

I counted them; the Red Armor Army that descended into the tomb numbered only thirty-odd.

And our rear... is basically empty.

The Red Armor Army left outside must guard Longbei Mountain.

Once we step into the tomb, we must prepare ourselves for the possibility of no return.

Shi Yin and they led the way, clearing the path, while I and Jin Wuya followed behind.

The tomb gate's mechanism has already been destroyed; it cannot be closed.

Although the Red Armor Army zombies now submit to the jade tablet, they are still enslaved by whatever lies within the tomb; there's no guarantee they won't subject us to a tribulation when we retreat.

Anything is possible.

As I went deeper, I roughly tallied the Red Armor Army zombies along the way.

Their number reached a hundred!

They far outnumbered the force we brought!

After passing the Red Armor Army zombie contingent, three stone doors appeared ahead.

Those three stone doors were all damaged, covered with bloodstains, claw marks, and breaks; I even saw a black donkey's hoof half-buried in dust more than a meter in front of the doors.

That black donkey's hoof had completely petrified, hard as rock.

We lack sufficient manpower to split into three groups to explore the worlds behind the three stone doors, making the choice at this moment especially crucial.

Jin Wuya said, "We don't have much time to waste; our immediate priority is to locate the main tomb chamber. I reasonably suspect that this ancient tomb originally existed, and those seeking the earth fetus merely took over someone else's nest."

His analysis made sense.

That is to say, other tomb chambers might still contain other people's remains; we need not provoke trouble, so locking onto our target right away is best.

"Let me try."

I took out the small Blood Compass again and walked past each of the three stone doors.

Regardless of how the tomb's layout is distributed, the chamber where the Thousand-year Female Corpse lies will either have the ultimate nefarious qi or the most vigorous Spiritual Qi—in other words, the position of the heart in the flood dragon's outgoing sea feng shui pattern.

My Blood Compass was handed down from my ancestors; on my eighteenth birthday, my grandfather gave it to me as a birthday gift, and later he specially sought out an expert proficient in this art to give me guidance.

At that time my father also studied alongside me, but his talent was not as high as mine, so he could never learn it.

I, on the other hand, grasped it instantly; before long I had completely mastered its use.

This Blood Compass not only can locate, but it also conceals a hidden weapon.

Grandfather said it is also a spiritual artifact; if one could bond with it… each time he mentions this he sighs, for neither he nor my father managed to form a contract with this spiritual qi—how could one not feel regret?

At the first stone door, the needle of the Blood Compass began to spin continuously, emitting a faint sound.

When we reached the second stone door, the Blood Compass's needle instead stopped, merely pointing toward the interior of the stone door.

At the third stone door, the Blood Compass's needle also did not turn.

Upon closer inspection, I found that the tip of the Blood Compass's needle was pressed downward, almost touching the base of the compass.

That feeling… was as if something especially heavy were pressing down on that needle.

I tentatively took another step forward, drawing even closer to the third stone door.

All I heard was a click from inside the Blood Compass.

The needle… the needle actually snapped clean off!

"What a strong nefarious qi!" Jin Wuya said, "Even the Blood Compass can't suppress it."

I felt terrible and quietly asked Jin Wuya, "Can it be repaired?"

Ordinary people simply cannot repair it; I can only hope for the skill of the strange craftsmen.

Jin Wuya nodded: "Yes, when we return I will definitely help you fix it."

Only then did I put my mind at ease.

However, with the needle broken, the Spiritual Qi is not as strong as before, but the hidden weapon concealed in the dial can still be used normally.

So I still held the Blood Compass and cautiously stepped a little further inside.

This step, I heard another click.

The base of the needle that had just broken actually snapped off a bit more, leaving it completely bald.

Even the side of the dial now has a tiny crack.

Such intense nefarious qi… it seems the Thousand-year Female Corpse is very likely behind this third door.

Shi Yin still wanted to lead the brothers to take the vanguard, and I and Jin Wuya said in unison: "Guard our rear; we'll go in first to have a look."

Charging around recklessly in such a place would more likely quickly get us into a predicament from which we could not break free.

Every action must be taken with extreme caution.

After I and Jin Wuya stepped into the third door, we had walked only a few dozen meters when suddenly our feet gave way, and we stumbled forward.

Before we could steady ourselves, we heard a low, deep roar like a dragon's roar.

But it sounded extremely painful.

Following closely was a violent crustal tremor, like an earthquake.

Jin Wuya always kept a tight grip on my hand.

The ground shook too violently for us to keep our footing.

Jin Wuya suddenly shifted sideways, pulling me down with him, rolled to the side, and he successfully wedged our bodies into the corner of the wall.

Strangely, after we steadied ourselves against the wall corner, the crust stopped trembling!

This is obviously not a good thing.

This can only mean that we inadvertently stepped on some mechanism… but where is that mechanism? And what does it correspond to?

At this moment, Jin Wuya's voice sounded a bit tense as he reminded: "Shi Rou, look up."

I looked upward.

Upon looking, I was shocked!

On the ceiling of this Mushi, like bats hanging upside down were numerous already desiccated and blackened corpses…