The black hand was stiff, and the nails had grown to a grotesque length.
Seeing this, Fatty's legs trembled.
"No... no wonder he was a chain smoker, his body is black even after death, and he wouldn't even cut his nails. Old Hu, you can't learn from him anymore."
Fatty said shakily, trying to ease his own tension.
"Fatty, this is what you'll look like in the future, your vital energy drained!"
Hu Bayi retorted, not to be outdone.
"Judging by the appearance, my good disciple, this should be a Xuan Jiang level zombie. Zombie levels are divided into various ranks: Tian Jiang, Di Jiang, Xuan Jiang, and Huang Jiang."
"The Xuan Jiang we are facing now is already quite advanced," Daoist Yimei explained from the side.
He was afraid Zhang Tian and the others wouldn't understand its power.
As Daoist Yimei spoke, Huang Shuliang suddenly sat up. His withered face was devoid of any expression.
He was a bit stiff, though.
"Xuan Jiang: Grandmaster level!"
"Abilities: Immune to blades and spears, extremely sensitive sense of smell and hearing, possesses immense strength, has a certain degree of intelligence, and can ignore all physical attacks."
A description flashed through Zhang Tian's mind.
Zhang Tian swallowed.
Good heavens, he thought he was facing a big boss, but it turned out to be an elite monster.
Grandmaster level. If it were before, Zhang Tian might have had to reconsider.
After all, this thing was a zombie, an evolved and upgraded version of a 'zongzi'.
It had many abilities, but now, Xiao Ge's strength had greatly increased, and he also had his ancestor from beneath the Yellow Springs to assist.
Yes, absolutely no problem!
He could handle it!
However, Zhang Tian still had some doubts. Huang Shuliang, who had absorbed the gold veins, was only at the Xuan level. Shouldn't he at least be at the Di level?
Xuan level seemed a bit off.
"My good disciple, leave the rest to your master."
"A mere Xuan level little zombie, in my prime, I could have annihilated it with a wave of my hand!"
"After all, I am..."
"Master, please..."
Before he could finish, Zhang Tian gave him a look of trust.
"My good disciple, is this your way of praising me? Indeed, my good disciple is the stumbling block on my path to success."
"Although my good disciple didn't verbally say I'm the greatest, I know in my heart that my good disciple surely believes in me."
Daoist Yimei thought joyfully, brandishing his peach wood sword and charging forward.
Beneath his yellow robe, he appeared exceptionally dignified and imposing.
At the same time, the Xuan Jiang in the coffin also leaped out, its nearly thirty to forty-centimeter-long nails looking particularly terrifying.
"Boss, are we just going to watch from here?"
Fatty asked, scratching his ear.
"Of course not. Second brother, you stand guard and be ready to help at any moment."
"Old Hu, once Daoist Yimei lures this thing away, we'll go check out the coffin."
"This guy definitely has more strength than this. There must be some treasure in the coffin."
Zhang Tian said, and Hu Bayi nodded, also looking serious.
"Boss, boss, what about me?"
Fatty pointed to himself.
"You and Young Master Xie can check the surrounding walls for any unique mechanisms," Zhang Tian instructed. Fatty pouted, knowing that at critical moments, the boss always sidelined him.
Then, the group divided their tasks clearly.
After Daoist Yimei, sword in hand, lured Huang Shuliang away, Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi went directly to the coffin area.
Hu Bayi gently ran his hand over the coffin.
"A golden coffin, but not pure. Boss, there's a box and two jade pendants inside."
"And there's an eyeball here too."
Hu Bayi said, taking out the items from the coffin.
Zhang Tian looked at the eyeball in Hu Bayi's hand.
He finally understood where the eyeball in the witch's hand came from.
It turned out to be plucked from Huang Shuliang's eye socket.
No wonder the description mentioned his nose and ears were sensitive; it was because he no longer had eyes.
But how did the witch manage to pluck Huang Shuliang's eyeballs? Or did Huang Shuliang do it intentionally?
"We'll talk about this jade pendant and the box after we get out."
"Let's examine the coffin first. This coffin belongs to the chief of the Eighteen Mansions. It can't be this simple."
Zhang Tian said, and Hu Bayi continued to run his hands inside the coffin.
Gradually, Hu Bayi's brow furrowed.
"Boss, this coffin seems to be double-layered."
Hu Bayi said.
Zhang Tian suddenly had a bad feeling.
"There's another mechanism here."
Hu Bayi said, his hand already touching a mechanism in the corner.
Zhang Tian was startled; the strong premonition intensified.
"No, something's not right. Old Hu, don't press it!"
Zhang Tian said coldly, with a hint of urgency.
"Think about it, how could a place with gold veins only nurture a mere Xuan level zombie? And there's a hidden compartment here, isn't that..."
Zhang Tian trailed off. Hu Bayi understood immediately.
"Boss, you mean the one outside isn't Huang Shuliang at all!"
"Most likely not."
Zhang Tian replied. He had been wondering why the description didn't mention a name, only that it was a Xuan Jiang.
But now it seemed that it wasn't the real Huang Shuliang!
They had always assumed the one outside was Huang Shuliang, without thinking too deeply. But now, it seemed much more likely to be a decoy.
"Open it or not?"
Hu Bayi hesitated. In the current situation, not opening it seemed like the best option.
"We don't have a choice anymore."
Zhang Tian said with a sigh. At this moment, inside the coffin, after the wooden box was removed, the mechanism had been triggered.
The entire coffin began to shake.
And at the very bottom of the coffin, a faintly visible seam appeared.
The seam widened gradually.
Then, the second layer of the coffin slowly revealed itself to the two of them.
The seam continued to widen.
And the real Huang Shuliang gradually appeared before the two of them.
"Old Hu, we... we've caused trouble."
Zhang Tian took a breath.
Hu Bayi also nodded blankly.
Before them, in the coffin, a corpse wearing a Taoist robe, with a sharp mouth and a peculiar face, appeared.
As soon as the coffin was opened, the corpse's eyes snapped open.
Its eyes were strange, like those of a beast, an eerie green.
Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi were startled and quickly retreated.
"Such potent corpse qi."
Daoist Yimei, who was currently fighting the Xuan Jiang, paused for a moment and glanced towards Zhang Tian.
"What the hell is my good disciple up to?"
"Making it harder for me?"
Daoist Yimei was bewildered.
What, one Xuan Jiang wasn't enough? Now another one?
As Daoist Yimei wondered, a robed corpse suddenly sat up from the coffin.
It reached out a hand towards Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi.
Zhang Tian reacted quickly, blocking with his peach wood sword.
But Hu Bayi couldn't. Before he could even use his Qinggong, a yellow-haired hand reached for him.
"Let go of my third disciple! If you have the guts, come at this genius!"
Just as the corpse's hand was about to grab Hu Bayi, Daoist Yimei abandoned his fierce battle with the Xuan Jiang and rushed over.
"My ancestor said, if I don't go to hell, my disciples must. For the sake of my disciples' happy lives, your master is here."
Daoist Yimei's voice echoed through the tomb.
All eyes seemed to be on Daoist Yimei.
In an instant, Daoist Yimei arrived in front of Hu Bayi.
Under everyone's gaze, he used his spiritual body to block the attack!
Zhang Tian, quick as lightning, grabbed Hu Bayi with one hand and Daoist Yimei with the other, pulling them away from the coffin.
After rolling several times on the ground, Zhang Tian realized one hand had grasped nothing.
It was as if he had grabbed air.
"Mas... Master?"
Seeing this, Zhang Tian was stunned.
He was naturally calm and sometimes joked, and he thought things through, but when he truly faced the departure of his loved ones and his master.
Zhang Tian still found it difficult to accept.
Hu Bayi looked around. Daoist Yimei had vanished, leaving only a pile of bones on the ground.
Hu Bayi stood frozen, completely stunned.
For a moment, the air seemed to fall silent, with only Huang Shuliang slowly climbing out of the coffin.