Volume 9, Chapter 596 – Opening the Coffin

“Of course. If I weren’t absolutely certain, how would I dare disturb my lady’s slumber?”

Bai Yun spoke with full confidence.

Jiang Feng’s expression shifted again. Bai Yunwas so sure of herself, what if they managed to open the coffin even if he only pretended to help?

‘No. Until I confirm the Jiang clan was truly annihilated, I absolutely can’t let the evil thing inside that coffin awaken!’

Grinding his teeth, Jiang Feng did the math in the dark. Soon, a do-or-die plan took shape in his mind.

The few fiends waited patiently. Because the yin miasma leaking from the coffin was so dense, everyone felt thoroughly comfortable, and no one showed the slightest impatience.

After a brief exchange, Jiang Feng also learned the names of the other three fiends. The two ghosts at the Demon Realm were a man named Yang Sa and a woman named Bao Ying, and the zombie at early Golden Corpse was called Jiang Yuan.

“I say, all of you… I, the Crown Prince, have been awake for two years now. Why haven’t I seen you before this?”

Jiang Feng worked to keep the chatter going, trying to coax from their mouths the identity of the terrifying being inside the coffin.

“As the our lady’s servants, naturally we can’t leave her side, especially before she awakens.”

Wang Jun explained.

“What? You’re all her servants? Seems your lady’s status is anything but simple!”

Jiang Feng probed again.

“If you want to know who she is, once we open the coffin, you can ask her yourself.”

Wang Jun brushed him off again, and the others kept their mouths shut.

Jiang Feng had to let it drop. It was obvious they still harbored some suspicion toward him.

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Meanwhile, because Qi Huang’s divine sense was blocked by the yin miasma, she still couldn’t clearly probe the situation at the center. Uneasy, she decided it was better to rely on herself than others; her figure vanished from the room in an instant.

Qi Huang quickly reached the edge of the Pingshan Mass Burial Ground and found the Nine Nether Demon Cat’s sanctuary.

“Mimi, I need you to hide my presence.”

Qi Huang asked bluntly.

“All right, Sister Qi Huang.”

Mimi obediently turned into a thin gauze and clung to Qi Huang’s body.

“Sis, have a little dignity, would you? She’s just a mere poop-scooping attendant. As the master, how can you let her order you around?”

Yaoyao immediately started nagging.

Qi Huang couldn’t spare the time to bicker and headed straight for the center of the mass burial ground.

Thud! thud!

Back in the great pit, Jiang Feng suddenly heard a set of heavy footsteps. He looked toward the sound. Two figures came into view: one a short, pudgy elder with thick brows and large, honest-looking eyes; the other tall and thin, wrapped tightly so his face couldn’t be seen. Most surprising of all: both were human.

“Humans? Are these the helpers that Bai Yun mentioned?”

Jiang Feng froze on the spot. He truly couldn’t fathom why anyone would help fiends awaken the terror inside that coffin. Was this some twisted idea of lashing out at the world?

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If Qi Huang were here, she would have recognized them at a glance. The pudgy one was Chief Steward Zhong from the imperial palace, and the tall, thin one was the leader of the Shadow Guard, Thousand Shadows.

Chief Steward Zhong and Thousand Shadows had been sent by the emperor to awaken the root of the evil at this mass burial ground. As fate would have it, Bai Yun was plotting the same thing at the same time. With identical goals, the two sides quickly reached a cooperation.

“These two are our reinforcements.”

Bai Yun made a brief introduction, then went up in person. “You’ve come a long way. Thank you for your trouble.”

“It’s nothing. If anything, we’ve kept you waiting.”

Chief Steward Zhong answered courteously.

Bai Yun smiled politely, then looked around. “Everyone, since we’re all here, I’ll spare the nonsense and get straight to it!”

With that, her massive body moved toward the coffin. “In a moment I’ll use all my strength to pry the coffin open a crack. You must seize the moment and push the lid aside. Understood?”

“Understood. But do you remember our condition? After your mistress emerges, she may only act within the bounds of Huangtian County and must not cross its borders.”

Chief Steward Zhong reiterated his demand.

“Very well. I’ll convey your terms to my lady.”

Bai Yun’s tone was vague.

Chief Steward Zhong could hear the perfunctory note but didn’t press it. After all, the Immortal Alliance would clean up after him.

Jiang Feng watched, dumbfounded. ‘You’ve lived to this age and learned nothing? And you trust fiends like these, who barely count as “people”?’

‘But why is he so willing to ignore the lives of everyone in Huangtian County?’

Questions piled up in Jiang Feng’s mind. The purpose behind these two humans’ aid grew more and more baffling.

“Everyone ready? I’m starting.”

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Bai Yun gave the order. Her towering body reared up, thick forelimbs braced on both sides of the coffin, razor-sharp claws stabbing into the seam at the center.

“Awoo…”

Bai Yun loosed a wolf’s howl. Resentment blazed in her eyes. Endless yin energy poured into her body. At the same time, her muscles bulged; the once-slender frame swelled into something powerfully built, like a small mountain.

“Open—!”

With another bellow, her corded forelimbs exerted every ounce of strength. The pitch-black claws sank deep into the seam between the coffin base and lid. Then she drove both hind feet into the ground and heaved upward with all her might.

Rumble!

A terrifying crash shook the pit. Bai Yun’s hind paws sank deep into the earth, blasting up a geyser of dust like a falling meteor. The bottom of the pit sank several more zhang at once, and the entire Pingshan Mass Burial Ground trembled as if in an earthquake.

The surrounding fiends all hastily retreated for fear of being caught in it.

Creak… Creak…

With Bai Yun straining to her limits, the seam between base and lid finally began to widen, yin miasma flooding out like a bursting dam.

The giant wolf’s body trembled violently under the unbearable strain. She forced out, with difficulty, “Don’t just stand there, hurry and push the lid!”

All six helpers rushed over at once, each placing their hands on the coffin lid and shoving with all their strength. Jiang Feng did the same, only he put in no real strength at all.

Scrape, scrape, scrape…

Unfortunately, even with Jiang Feng only going through the motions, the lid still loosened under the force of the other five and began to slide slowly to one side.

‘Damn it!’

Only now did Jiang Feng realize they hadn’t needed him to open the lid, they just wanted an extra ounce of assurance.

He glanced at the two living men. With a single heave, both had muscles bulging, power surging in their bodies, at least equivalent to mid-stage Divine Realm cultivators, and were making a tremendous difference.

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Growing anxious, Jiang Feng simply withdrew every bit of force from his hands and stopped pretending.

Scrape, scrape, scrape…

Even so, the coffin lid continued inching like a snail toward the side. The terror within was about to show the tip of its iceberg.

“Everyone… hold… we’re about to succeed.”

Bai Yun tried to rally them, a startlingly human joy showing on her lupine face.

‘To hell with it, this prince is going all in today.’

Jiang Feng suddenly drew back both hands. His razor zombie claws flashed and plunged toward the tall, thin man’s left back, because he knew only an attack on the living would have an immediate effect.

Thousand Shadows had never expected a teammate to stab him in the back. His focus was fully on the coffin, and his left chest had no defense at all as the claws punched clean through.

Jiang Feng seized Thousand Shadows’ heart and crushed it in his grip. He whisked his hand back, then stamped the ground and sprang high, vanishing from the others’ line of sight.

“Aaah!”

Only then did Thousand Shadows come to his senses, shrieking in agony. His tall, thin body crumpled to the ground like a torn sack. Without a heart, even someone as strong as him was unquestionably doomed.

With one less helper, the coffin lid stopped moving.

Bai Yun’s focus wavered for an instant. The lid slammed back down, rejoining the base. Her twin claws were severed on the spot, and the backlash hurled his massive body through the air to crash into the ground, kicking up another cloud of dust.

The other “people” staggered backward in disarray, shock writ large across their faces.

Bai Yun struggled on the ground for a moment before she managed to stand. She was caked in mud, her foreclaws broken, and black blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth.

“Dare to toy with me? Die!”

Yin energy surged wildly from Bai Yun. She thundered off in pursuit, four powerful limbs pounding the earth as her hulking form charged in the direction where Jiang Feng had disappeared.