Chapter 663: Extra Chapter 1: It Was Actually Shi Yin

I considered myself a bold person, having weathered many great storms over the years, but when faced with this sight before me, my hand resting on the coffin's edge still trembled uncontrollably.

In that instant, countless possibilities flashed through my mind, each enough to overturn my understanding of the past thirty years.

Who is she? What is her relationship to me? Why was she sealed here?

She……is she the legendary female corpse that has not decayed for a thousand years and nurtures the earth fetus?

Waves of fragrance from the golden-thread nanmu wood drifted out of the coffin, blowing onto my face and drawing me to investigate further.

I wanted to lift the black talisman on the woman's face to confirm again whether what I had just seen was real.

As if some kind of induction in the dark, when my hand involuntarily reached for the black talisman, a gust of yin wind blew, lifting a corner of the talisman toward my hand.

If I just moved my finger forward a little, I could pinch that lifted corner.

Boom!

A sudden loud boom came from my rear right, startling me to jerk my hand back and turn my head that way, where I saw a person standing in the mist.

No, not a person, but the stone statue I had seen on the way here earlier.

But those stone statues had never been this close to me before.

At that moment, the stone statue's head rolled off and came to a stop at my feet, gurgling as it went.

An unknown liquid flowed from the break in the skull, carrying a foul, fishy stench.

I instantly pulled back my foot and stared fixedly at the stone statue's head.

That head was obviously petrified, yet as it rolled on the ground its petrification kept regressing, and soon it turned into a vivid, lifelike head.

That head was tinged with purplish black, clearly already corpse‑transformed; the liquid spilled on the ground……was corpse oil.

So, the stone statues I saw earlier were all made by refining the corpses of the Red Armor Army?

Otherwise, where would all that corpse oil come from?

What kind of dark art could refine corpse after corpse into stone statue after stone statue?

Boom!

As I stared at the head by my feet, lost in thought, another sound of a head hitting the ground came.

This time it was directly behind me.

The same scene replayed, instantly putting my whole body on edge to the extreme.

It was then that I realized, unbeknownst to me, many shadowy stone statue figures were continually approaching in the mist around me.

Just moments ago I had been wholly absorbed in the female corpse inside the golden‑thread nanmu coffin, unaware that I had already been surrounded by these stone statues.

Someone is controlling all of this!

Boom!

Another stone statue's head fell to the ground.

This time, however, I seemed to hear someone calling my name: "Shi Rou……"

My heart pounded wildly, as if it were Jin Wuya!

I immediately opened my mouth to respond, but a hand silently reached out from behind me, clapped over my mouth, and dragged me backward forcefully.

I struggled frantically, straining to lift my head and look back, trying to see clearly who was scheming against me.

I didn't see his face, but I knew him all too well.

Just a glance from the corner of my eye, and I recognized him.

It was actually Shi Yin!

Why would it be Shi Yin?!

I couldn't understand—he was a death warrior, my grandfather's trusted aide; he should have been the least likely to betray me.

Even just moments ago, during our descent into the tomb, his behavior had still seemed completely genuine—why did he change in an instant?

Shi Yin dragged me back to the coffin, covered my mouth, bound my hands behind my back, tied my feet, and folded me into the coffin.

Above, the coffin lid slammed shut with a boom, plunging my vision into darkness.

The coffin was filled with the distinctive fragrance of golden‑thread nanmu wood, pleasant to smell, yet I felt miserable.

Beneath me lay a corpse!

I dared not move too much, fearing that I might rub off the black talisman stuck to the woman's face and invite further trouble.

Betrayed by the one I trusted most, I had not expected it and had no chance to resist.

All I can do now seems to be wait.

Wait for Jin Wuya to break through and come rescue me.

But Jin Wuya trusts Shi Yin completely and is completely off guard against him.

If Shi Yin merely employs a little trick, he could be transferred away from this area and never discover where I am.

I don't know if it's because I'm too nervous or the coffin is too dark, but I feel that all my meridians have become somewhat abnormal.

I sense a current surging through my meridians, rushing back and forth.

After a while, that current unexpectedly converged all at once toward my lower abdomen.

In an instant, it felt as if something had exploded in my mind.

According to legend, the formation of an earth fetus occurs when earth qi continually gathers and condenses within the body of a corpse that has not decayed for a thousand years, eventually nurturing an earth fetus in the lower abdomen.

But I am clearly still alive… alive… who can guarantee that the legend is true?

Who can dare guarantee that the female corpse beneath me was already a corpse when it was placed into this golden‑thread nanmu coffin back then?

If Shi Yin could betray me, what else could possibly not happen?

If from beginning to end the thousand‑year female corpse and the earth fetus are nothing but a scam, then our Shi family would be the biggest victims in this scheme.

I am not even the worst off.

The worst off is my grandfather.

He spent his whole life giving his all to protect the earth fetus and to protect the Shi Family.

Even in death, he died unsettled, wracking his brain to pave the road ahead for me as best he could.

No matter which path I chose, he wished nothing more than to let my journey be smooth and untroubled.

But he never imagined that from the very beginning, the greatest danger had already lain in ambush beside him.

Indeed, many of his decisions might have been made under Shi Yin's guidance.

It was Shi Yin who guided my grandfather, step by step, leading me here.

While I was slowly feeling my way through the mist, Shi Yin hid in the darkness, quietly watching my every move.

If Jin Wuya hadn't discovered something and repeatedly destroyed the stone statues, Shi Yin would not have rashly revealed himself.

Terrifying, truly terrifying.

Just how old is Shi Yin, anyway?

He is a direct descendant of the Red Armor Army, but who does he truly serve?

As I thought, I realized my emotions were off.

In this situation, I ought to be furious, trying every means to save myself.

Yet, immersed in the distinctive fragrance of golden-thread nanmu, my whole body grew tranquil, even a bit drowsy.

My lower abdomen was warm, with a steady flow of Spiritual Qi gathering there; I knew that as time passed, my belly might gradually swell, and I would conceive a child.

As for whether this child is the legendary earth fetus, I do not know……