Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 214: Chapter 159: Two-in-One

A stone coffin was set against the wall, its lid pried open and leaning askew to one side. On the stone platform around the coffin, a few rust-spotted objects were scattered in disarray.

Sun Beixi stood in the center of the grotto, and as he took in the scene, the color slowly drained from his face.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but held it in for a long moment.

"Fuck!"

Li Weiran walked over and patted his shoulder, his tone tinged with a sort of professional sympathy. "My condolences. This is pretty normal. Information can be recorded in more than one place. Besides, some of the really skilled tomb raiders can tell if there’s anything here just by looking at the terrain."

He crouched down, examining the signs of looters’ digging on the ground.

"A real master has been here..."

Then he stood up, looked around, and added, "And more than one."

Wan Ze ignored all this.

He walked to the stone coffin and reached his hand inside.

Empty.

But the instant his fingers touched the inner wall of the coffin—

[Stealing Celestial Secret: Magic Sense +188%]

Wan Ze froze.

He looked down at the stone coffin, his gaze growing profound.

’An empty coffin, but it gives me a 188% boost to my Magic Sense?’

’This coffin... there’s something strange about it!’

Wan Ze pulled back his hand and began feeling around the grotto.

The few rusted old artifacts yielded nothing when he touched them.

The carvings on the stone wall yielded nothing, either.

Only this coffin... triggered Stealing Celestial Secret.

Wan Ze walked back to the stone coffin and lowered his head to examine it carefully.

The material was very unusual—not ordinary stone. Its surface held a dark, dull luster, and it felt inexplicably warm and smooth to the touch.

"Professor Song, could you take a look at this?"

Professor Song came over, crouched down, and shone his flashlight on the coffin’s material, studying it for a long time. Then he stood up, walked to the other side of the grotto, and picked something up from the ground.

It was a rust-covered tool, long and bar-shaped, with one end slightly curved. It looked something like a hoe, but not quite.

"A hammer-hoe," Professor Song said, his voice a bit heavy. "Used for tomb raiding."

He turned it over, looking at the marks left on it. After a few seconds of silence, he raised his head and looked at the others. "This thing... it’s at least a thousand years old."

Sun Beixi was stunned. "A thousand years?"

He repeated the words mechanically, and then...

"WAAAH—FUCK!!!"

He let out a loud wail.

He squatted on the ground, clutching his head, and cried like a child.

’Someone beat me to it a fucking thousand years ago, goddammit!’

Li Weiran and Chen Chong exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

Professor Song sighed and walked over, wanting to say something but not knowing what.

Just then, Li Weiran suddenly looked up. "Wait, where’s Master Wan?"

The three of them simultaneously looked around.

The grotto was completely empty; aside from the four of them, there was no fifth person.

The beams of their flashlights frantically swept across every corner...

No one!

The air suddenly fell deathly silent.

There was only the sound of Sun Beixi’s sobs, one after another.

Suddenly...

A hand reached out from inside the stone coffin, resting on its edge.

"HOLY SHIT!!!"

Li Weiran and Chen Chong both took a step back, their faces ashen!

Professor Song nearly dropped his flashlight!

Then, they saw Wan Ze sit up inside the coffin.

Looking at the three people who had been scared out of their wits, he said calmly, "I’m over here."

Li Weiran leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Chen Chong’s legs had gone soft.

Professor Song clutched his chest, taking a long moment to recover. He looked at Wan Ze, his expression complicated... This young man’s nerve was truly something else.

’He’s truly fearless.’

Wan Ze hopped out of the coffin, walked a circle around it, touched its walls, and then crouched down to look at the bottom.

There was nothing special about it.

But for the few seconds he had been lying inside, there was indeed an indescribable comfort, as if something was nourishing his body. It was very faint, but it was definitely there.

’I want to take this coffin with me.’

’But... where would I even put it?’

He stood before the stone coffin, lost in thought.

Over on the other side, Professor Song walked up to Sun Beixi and patted his shoulder, saying gently, "Alright, stop crying. In our line of work, you see this kind of thing a lot. Sometimes you work for years only to find an empty tomb in the end. Now that’s what you call..."

He trailed off, feeling it wasn’t the right time to say such things.

Sun Beixi sniffled and stood up, wiped his face with his sleeve, glanced at the hammer-hoe, then bent over, picked it up, and cradled it in his arms.

’At least it’s an antique.’

But after a moment, Sun Beixi, still hugging the hammer-hoe, stood his ground and suddenly asked, "Do you guys feel it?"

Li Weiran and Chen Chong immediately tensed up. "Feel what?"

"Like someone’s watching us."

The two of them paled again, shining their flashlights all around, but there was nothing.

Professor Song looked at Wan Ze.

Wan Ze shook his head.

Sun Beixi scratched his head, thinking he must have imagined it. He glanced down at the hammer-hoe in his arms, and a fresh wave of sorrow washed over him, almost bringing him to tears again.

"All that heart-pounding suspense, and all I get is a single hammer-hoe... Damn it. If I’d known, I would’ve just let them take it."

Professor Song shook his head and chuckled in amusement.

The group gathered themselves and started to head out.

Li Weiran and Chen Chong supported Sun Beixi, with Professor Song walking in front and Wan Ze bringing up the rear.

They exited the grotto, walked back along the narrow passage, passed through the statue’s mouth, and slid down the rope.

As his feet hit the ground, Sun Beixi, still clutching the hammer-hoe, looked up at the stone statue, silent in the night.

His heart felt empty.

"Let’s go," said Professor Song.

The group turned and headed back the way they came.

The beams of their flashlights danced about, illuminating the path ahead.

Wan Ze took a few steps, then suddenly stopped.

He looked back at the stone statue.

Twenty meters up, the statue’s eyes were swallowed by the darkness, impossible to see clearly.

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