The coffin lid also revealed a crack as it shook.
A strange aura immediately enveloped everyone present.
Then, under the pull of an invisible force, everyone was sucked into the Ancient Coffin.
With a loud clang, the coffin lid closed again.
Afterward, the nine Dragon Corpses rose into the air, pulling the Ancient Bronze Coffin into the Ancient Starry Road opened by the Five-Colored Altar.
As the Ancient Path closed, all the jade blocks and stone slabs on the Five-Colored Altar exhausted their divine power and turned to ashes.
A breeze swept past, scattering the ashes with it.
Only the cracks remained, as though recounting everything that had just happened.
Caught in a sudden disaster, a group of people found themselves locked inside the pitch-black Bronze Giant Coffin.
Some of Ye Fan's more timid classmates had already broken down. Bewilderment and helplessness filled their hearts. They were terrified, yet did not dare cry out loudly, afraid of disturbing the Lost Souls inside the coffin.
"Wuwu."
But their muffled sobs only added to the coffin's terrifying atmosphere.
"What do we do? Can someone come save us?"
"Are we really inside the copper coffin?"
"Why did this happen? Is there any way out?"
Where there were timid people, there were naturally bold ones as well. After initially adapting to the darkness, they began to speak up.
Hearing someone speak, they seemed to realize only then that they had not been sucked into the coffin alone. A whole group of them had been drawn inside together, so they had one another to rely on.
After that, everyone grew bolder.
They took out their phones. Some began dialing and making calls, while others switched on their phone lights, adding at least a little brightness to the pitch-black space.
Unfortunately, the light from their phones was far too weak to illuminate the entire interior of the coffin.
A trace of fear still lingered in their hearts.
"Everyone, don't panic. Although we can't contact the outside world for the time being, such an earth-shattering incident has happened on Mount Tai. The relevant authorities will definitely come rescue us at the first opportunity."
At that moment, Zhou Yi, one of Ye Fan's classmates and one of the organizers of their trip to Mount Tai, finally displayed a hint of leadership. At this critical moment, he loudly reassured everyone.
"Zhou Yi is right. Don't panic, everyone. Stay calm to avoid suffering secondary injuries. Take out your phones and turn on the flashlight function. Move closer together, and don't spread out too much." Another organizer of the gathering, Wang Ziwen, immediately called out from the darkness.
Their words calmed their classmates considerably. Everyone switched on their phones and gathered toward the sources of light.
Lin Jia then also spoke up to reassure everyone. "Don't panic. What's done is done; fear won't help us. The most important thing now is to count everyone and see whether anyone is injured."
Although Ye Fan had also turned on his phone, he did not move closer to the others. Instead, he continually swept the flashlight around him, apparently searching for Li Zhi.
His instincts told him that Li Zhi might be able to give him the answers he wanted regarding what had just happened. That dark and mysterious passage constructed from the Bagua Diagram kept surfacing in his mind. Could this be the Ancient Cultivator civilization returning to the light of day?
"Brother Li?" Ye Fan softly called out after failing to spot Li Zhi nearby.
Perhaps his voice had been too quiet, or perhaps the noise from everyone gathering together had been too loud. Ye Fan did not hear any response from Li Zhi.
Afterward, their group began counting heads.
"One, two, three, four... twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty."
The person doing the counting said in a trembling voice, "How are there thirty people?"
Their group had consisted of twenty-nine people. Now there was one extra, instantly making them feel a chill run down their spines. Could someone inside the coffin have stood up?
At that moment, Ye Fan spoke. "One of my friends also fell in here with us."
Then he shouted toward the darkness, "Brother Li, say hello to everyone."
While they waited for Li Zhi to greet them, a towering figure rose from the ground in a dark corner.
The noise it made immediately drew everyone's gaze.
After the shadow rose from the ground, panting heavily and coughing several times, it walked toward the area where the group had gathered around the light. Everyone assumed it was Li Zhi.
"What a damn place." The shadow muttered as it walked, apparently having taken quite a fall.
"Pang Bo?" Ye Fan said in surprise after hearing the shadow speak.
"It's me." Pang Bo answered, then walked up to them and asked, "Are we inside the copper coffin?"
Before everyone could react and ask why Pang Bo had appeared here, a dense, muffled series of slaps against the coffin boards suddenly rang out inside the coffin.
"Bang, bang, bang."
Ye Fan's classmates instantly froze in terror.
"Clatter, clatter." The sounds of phones dropping to the ground rang out one after another, instantly leaving some people limp with fear.
"Ah!"
At last, a female classmate could no longer endure the oppressive feeling and let out a shrill, piercing scream.
In an instant, the group that had just settled down descended into chaos again.
Everyone squeezed desperately toward one another.
They soon crowded into the southeastern corner, continuing to burrow inward, terrified of being left standing on the outside.
"Don't panic, everyone. Don't push!" Zhou Yi and Wang Ziwen shouted one after another.
In the end, everyone still huddled in the southeastern corner. Some were squeezed so tightly that they became short of breath and nearly died on the spot.
Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, Lin Jia, Li Xiaoman, and Kai De formed an arc-shaped wall of people, shielding the other classmates behind them.
Only then did they cautiously take out their phones, switch on the flashlights, and shine them together toward the source of the noise.
Then they saw a smaller copper coffin resting in the center. It was less than four meters long, less than two meters wide, and less than two meters high.
Moreover, a figure with long hair covering its face was sprawled atop the Small Coffin, repeatedly waving its hand and pounding on the coffin lid.
The "bang, bang" sounds had come from there.
Perhaps feeling the glaring lights, the figure turned its head toward them and said impatiently, "Turn off the lights. Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Click, click, click, click." The sound of chattering teeth immediately came from the corner. There was even a faint smell of urine wafting out.
"Brother Li?" Ye Fan called out, somewhat startled.
"Ye Fan, you all go on with whatever you're doing. Leave me alone." Li Zhi clearly had no desire to interact with Ye Fan's classmates.
Seeing that Ye Fan seemed to know the disheveled freak, Lin Jia, standing beside him, quietly asked, "Ye Fan, who is he?"
"My neighbor, Li Zhi." Ye Fan looked at Li Zhi, who was still pounding on the coffin lid, and answered helplessly.
Lin Jia asked curiously, "What is he doing?"
"I don't know." Ye Fan shook his head.
After hearing their exchange, the classmates huddled behind them seemed to understand. That disheveled man, like them, had been sucked into the coffin by the Bronze Giant Coffin.
Fury instantly rose in some of their hearts.
Ye Fan then said to Lin Jia, "I'll go take a look first."
Pang Bo, standing on his other side, also spoke. "Yezi, I'll go with you."
Ye Fan nodded and walked with Pang Bo toward the Central Area, stopping near the Small Coffin.
Only after getting closer did they see what Li Zhi was actually doing.
Li Zhi was making Rubbings of the patterns on the Inner Coffin.
"Brother Li, what are you doing?" Ye Fan asked, puzzled.
Without turning his head, Li Zhi said, "Can't you see? I'm making a Rubbing of the greatest miracle in the universe."
At that moment, Pang Bo seemed to recognize Li Zhi as well. He said in surprise, "You're Boss Li from Antique Style Jewelry Shop."
Li Zhi turned to glance at him. "Pang Bo, you actually managed to catch this earth-shaking opportunity too."
"An earth-shaking opportunity?" Pang Bo looked bewildered.
Just then, Zhou Yi and Wang Ziwen also led their classmates over.
"This is an Inner Coffin, isn't it?" Zhou Yi began explaining coffin-related knowledge to everyone.
Seeing that Li Zhi actually dared to lie on the Inner Coffin and make Rubbings, the fear in everyone's hearts seemed to fade somewhat, replaced by curiosity.
As more and more people gathered around him, Li Zhi said to Ye Fan, "Ye Fan, give me a hand. Make a Rubbing of the patterns on the coffin lid for me. I need to hurry and make Rubbings of the four walls."
Ye Fan took the Rubbing Pad Li Zhi handed him and began tapping along the same route as Li Zhi. At the same time, he asked, "Brother Li, why are you carrying all this stuff?"
"Didn't I tell you? I came to Mount Tai this time to investigate a cave dwelling left behind by an Ancient Cultivator. Of course I came fully prepared." Without looking up, Li Zhi continued taking more sheets of paper and Rubbing Pads out of his bag.
Several of Ye Fan's classmates looked at the two of them suspiciously.
The words "tomb raider" appeared in many people's minds.
Lin Jia walked over to Ye Fan and asked, "Ye Fan, were you looking for him when we were climbing the mountain earlier?"
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