The familiar clipped voice made Fan Wu's mouth twitch. He didn't need to turn around to know that the person anxiously shouting for him to spare the coffin beneath his sword was that Imperial Astronomy Bureau Lieutenant.
--Xie Jiuyi!!
Fan Wu had thought that staying at another inn for the night would let him avoid seeing anyone from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau again.
But then he discovered.
He had been too naive.
He had acted too rashly!
Sure enough, that fellow Xie Jiuyi came flying over like a martial arts hero from a wuxia film, running along rooftops and walls.
He didn't look very dashing, though. Fan Wu could tell that he was in a sorry state, and there was even a faint smell of blood on him. He was probably injured.
Why had both an Imperial Astronomy Bureau Squad Leader and an Imperial Astronomy Bureau Lieutenant been injured tonight?
A thousand thoughts raced through Fan Wu's mind.
In the end, the sword he was about to bring down did not land on the coffin.
Seeing this,
Xie Jiuyi, who had hurried over, couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that his forehead was already covered in a cold sweat.
Because...
When Fan Wu had raised his sword and was about to bring it down, Xie Jiuyi had seen the scene from afar and had been so nervous that his heart had nearly leaped out of his throat.
Thank goodness... Thank goodness Fellow Daoist Fan had stopped in time. Otherwise, there would have been no way to explain this!
Xie Jiuyi knew exactly how fearsome Fan Wu was.
If that sword had come down...
The coffin would probably have been done for!
"Xie Jiuyi thanks Fellow Daoist Fan for sparing the coffin!" Xie Jiuyi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Still shaken, yet filled with relief, he spoke in heartfelt gratitude.
Then he pulled out a thick stack of talisman papers and tossed them at the coffin.
The talisman papers landed precisely on the coffin one after another.
It was as if some invisible adhesive had stuck them to the coffin's surface.
Every talisman paper bore flowing, phoenix-dancing talisman script.
Xie Jiuyi formed hand seals and muttered under his breath. As he activated the magical power within him, a unique and mysterious force field began swirling around his body.
The talisman script on the papers flashed with golden light in unison.
The coffin suddenly trembled...
Then it fell still again. At last, it stopped moving and no longer leaked sinister energy.
Everything returned to calm.
Fan Wu figured that Xie Jiuyi's smooth, flowing series of actions had been meant to reseal the coffin.
It seemed that the coffin concealed some kind of secret.
But he didn't want to know.
Nor was he willing to know.
However, Xie Jiuyi, who was still filled with relief, took the initiative to speak at that moment. "I don't know what exactly is going on, but this 'Heavenly Mechanism Coffin' has been terribly restless lately."
"Encountering a strange entity on the road that wanted to seize it would have been bad enough, but after arriving in Baihe County, it actually tried to escape on its own."
"Thankfully, Fellow Daoist Fan, you helped restrain it."
Fan Wu: "..."
He had no desire whatsoever to learn about the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin.
But Xie Jiuyi had gone and revealed some of the coffin's secrets.
He didn't know whether it was because, in Xie Jiuyi's eyes, the contents of those words didn't count as secrets...
Or because Xie Jiuyi trusted him, Fan Wu, deeply?!
Damn!
Fan Wu sincerely hoped it was the former!
Seeing Fan Wu remain silent, Xie Jiuyi assumed he had guessed Fan Wu's thoughts and explained on his own, "Fellow Daoist Fan may be curious about why I'm in such a sorry state."
Fan Wu: "?"
Which of your eyes saw me being curious?
Xie Jiuyi continued explaining, "Tonight, the people of our Imperial Astronomy Bureau were preparing to use the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin to uncover the truth behind a strange case."
"But who would have thought that while we were caught off guard, this coffin would forcibly break through the seals placed upon it?"
"We were a little unprepared at the time and were accidentally injured by it. They're only superficial wounds, though. A couple of days of rest will be enough."
"Fellow Daoist Fan, you needn't worry."
What the hell did I have to worry about?
Fan Wu wondered whether he had shared some connection with the Imperial Astronomy Bureau of the Great Zhou Dynasty in his previous life.
Why was it that wherever he went, he ran into people from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau?
And the people from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau were like sticky candy.
Fan Wu didn't want to get involved with them, yet they kept taking the initiative to stick to him and make conversation.
He was numb!
At that moment,
Fan Wu noticed movement coming from elsewhere as well. It seemed someone else was rushing over.
With his exceptionally keen senses, he immediately knew that the newcomers were also from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau.
It was the female Squad Leader he had encountered during the day.
Sure enough.
Another familiar figure appeared.
It was Shen Jiyue!
The moment Shen Jiyue saw the temporarily sealed "Heavenly Mechanism Coffin" inside the inn, her reaction was exactly the same as Xie Jiuyi's.
Her entire body relaxed.
Then Shen Jiyue discovered... a familiar face standing before her.
"Fellow Daoist Fan? Why are you here too?" Shen Jiyue asked in surprise.
One person from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau hadn't been enough. Now another had arrived.
Fan Wu did not respond to Shen Jiyue's curious question.
He silently sheathed the Demon-Slaying Sword.
"Squad Leader, Fellow Daoist Fan happened to arrive in time and helped us restrain the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin when it tried to escape." Xie Jiuyi explained the matter to Fan Wu on his behalf.
Shen Jiyue immediately understood.
When she looked at Fan Wu, her face was filled with gratitude as well. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Fan, for coming to our aid in time! The Imperial Astronomy Bureau is deeply grateful!"
Shen Jiyue sighed with emotion. "As expected of the Old Heavenly Master's disciple. Fellow Daoist Fan is filled with righteous energy!"
At that moment,
Xie Jiuyi was frowning as he pondered something. Suddenly, he asked, "Squad Leader, to use the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin, we have to temporarily remove its seal. But the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin is not docile. If we remove its seal, it may well try to escape again."
"If Fellow Daoist Fan hadn't happened to encounter it just now, it might have escaped Baihe County. By then, we probably wouldn't have been able to find it, and we would also have been held accountable and punished by our superiors."
Shen Jiyue looked at him and replied, "If you have something to say, just say it! You don't need to beat around the bush one sentence at a time."
Xie Jiuyi took a deep breath. "I think that with just the people we have, it may be difficult to keep an eye on the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin while using it. But if Fellow Daoist Fan is here too, that may not be the case."
"I've seen Fellow Daoist Fan fight strange entities before. Without exaggeration, Fellow Daoist Fan alone would be enough to sweep through the Imperial Astronomy Bureau's branch in Baihe County!"
"Now, the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin is here, Fellow Daoist Fan is here, I'm here, and you're here too, Squad Leader. With the three of us keeping watch over the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin, surely, even if we undo its seal, it won't be able to sprout wings and fly away!"
"So, my idea is—we use the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin here!"
Xie Jiuyi voiced his idea, sending Shen Jiyue into deep thought.
Meanwhile, question marks sprouted all over Fan Wu's head.
"Fellow Daoist Fan, we don't want to trouble you, but we hadn't anticipated the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin turning out like this."
Xie Jiuyi thought for a moment before saying to Fan Wu, "If Fellow Daoist Fan is willing to help keep watch over this coffin, the Imperial Astronomy Bureau can offer you..."
"Not interested." Before he could finish, Fan Wu spat out those four words.
Although Xie Jiuyi hadn't tried to morally pressure him and was merely making a request in the form of a transaction,
Fan Wu still didn't want to get too deeply involved in matters concerning the Imperial Astronomy Bureau.
The reason he had interrupted so quickly was that Fan Wu feared he might be unable to resist the temptation.
After all, it was the mighty Imperial Astronomy Bureau...
The promised reward would probably be difficult for anyone to refuse.
To prevent his resolve from wavering, Fan Wu directly cut off the spellcasting with one hand!
This left Xie Jiuyi stunned for a moment.
Xie Jiuyi scratched his head. "Daoist, I haven't even had the chance to tell you what the Imperial Astronomy Bureau can offer..."
As soon as he finished speaking,
suddenly,
the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin that Xie Jiuyi had temporarily sealed trembled once again!
But this tremor was different from the one before.
From inside the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin... there seemed to be some strange sounds as well.
Fan Wu's hearing was extremely keen.
He heard... a sound like the turning of mechanical gears coming from inside the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin.
At the same time...
He even heard the repeated sound of a brush tip writing across paper!
He also noticed that when the Heavenly Mechanism Coffin began making these strange movements, Shen Jiyue and Xie Jiuyi, the two people from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau...
actually revealed identical expressions of shock, as if they had seen a ghost.
Shen Jiyue's eyes widened.
She murmured in stunned disbelief, "The Heavenly Mechanism Coffin... it's running?!!"
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