Ghost Tree?

"Actually, the fact that you survived from Coffin Village already speaks volumes about your strength. Pretending to be weak and frail isn't a problem. Everyone in this line of work has a couple of quirks; they're all ways to release stress."

Uncle Zhang smiled and seemed quite gentle and kind, but only by listening carefully to his words could one discover the man's meticulousness and shrewdness.

He didn't deliberately lower his voice, but many team members were intentionally not paying attention to those around them. Uncle Zhang was testing the newcomers, and it wasn't something they should be listening to.

Yu Xing just smiled along, neither refuting nor agreeing.

"You just encountered Water Ghost. Although it's true that Water Ghost only bother you and not others, it's clear that you were unlucky. But obviously, your strength is enough to ignore the Water Ghost. Carlos said you have a strong mind. I thought you were weaker in terms of physical skills, but I didn't expect you to be so versatile." Uncle Zhang concluded about Yu Xing in just a few words, showing that he wouldn't listen to any excuses.

Yu Xing chuckled, "Even now, what else do you want to know from me?"

Uncle Zhang looked at him with interest. "Can you cook?"

Yu Xing: "...?"

That's an unexpected question.

Is it possible that you find cooking alone too tiring and want to drag someone else down with you?

He immediately became cautious, determined to lie down rather than sit, and answered against his will, "No. At home, the servants do the cooking."

"Sigh... what a disaster." Uncle Zhang slapped his thigh in frustration. "These young people nowadays are all the same, one worse than the next. A man needs to know how to cook to win over a girl he likes!"

"So you really want someone to help you cook?" Yu Xing glanced sideways at him, and seeing Uncle Zhang nod, he smiled, "Uncle Zhang, forgive my bluntness, but you were a good cook back then, yet you still lost to Master Li. So don't lie to young people; young people are already suffering enough."

Master Li had sharp ears; he was calculating the landing point of the Big Dipper formation when he suddenly heard his own name called and looked over.

Uncle Zhang cleared his throat and waved his hand at Master Li: "This is none of your business!"

Master Li stared at her suspiciously for a while, but ultimately said nothing. Uncle Zhang glared at Yu Xing and said in a low voice, half-jokingly, "Don't bring up things that are hard to talk about. To be honest, what happened back then hurt him much more than it hurt me. If you bring it up, I won't be upset, but he will be in a bad mood."

"Okay~ okay~" Yu Xing obediently shut her mouth, leaned against the wall, and kept her eyes scanning the surroundings, noting down where people could hide and where the roads were difficult to run.

"Hey, we haven't even finished the main point yet! I've gone off-topic, and you're really not going to steer the conversation back on track." Uncle Zhang saw that Yu Xing had no intention of continuing the conversation, so he had to personally bring him back on track. "What I wanted to ask was, you were found and brought in by Sun Dacheng. Their team could barely manage in small tombs, but coming to the demon daoist Tomb Palace was just courting death. So you—"

Sun Dacheng?

Yu Xing took a moment to realize, so Brother Sun's name was Sun Dacheng?

He understood. Uncle Zhang was worried that he wasn't strong enough to survive without protection, because Brother Sun's team had both skilled and ordinary members, and there wasn't such a strict strength restriction as this team.

"Tell me honestly, do you think you can escape from a gatekeeper ghost?" Uncle Zhang planned to use the gatekeeper ghost as a unit of measurement for strength.

Apart from Unica, everyone else in the group who went into the water was confident they could survive the gatekeeper's attacks without serious injury. Once they saw the coffin, they wouldn't need to worry about these people at all. Only San's strength was still uncertain.

"A gatekeeper ghost..." Yu Xing had never encountered one before and had no concept of such a ghost, but based on the tone of everyone's voice when they mentioned the gatekeeper ghost, he guessed from their reactions and got an idea.

If we have to measure it by what he's seen, the Gatekeeper Ghost is probably equivalent to 0.8 Alice in her ghost form. Both are physical entities, but the Gatekeeper Ghost is definitely inferior to Alice in terms of speed and physical abilities. However, the Gatekeeper Ghost knows some illusions and curses, such as causing people to get sick, which makes up for some of its shortcomings in ability.

When he faced Alice, he couldn't find a way to kill Alice, so he used the destruction of the rose to cause Alice to lose her life force as well.

However, at that time his physical condition had not yet recovered and he was very weak. When he encountered Alice, he could only run away, and there were also rules protecting him. If it were now, he might still be able to fight her head-on.

Therefore, the gatekeeper ghost shouldn't pose too much of a threat to him. If he finds that he will get hurt in a fight, he won't be unable to escape.

Yu Xing didn't want to cause chaos, so he said directly, "If the gatekeeper suddenly attacks, don't worry about me, I can run away myself."

"Are you sure it can run?" Uncle Zhang asked again to confirm.

Yu Xing: "Otherwise, how could you kill him?"

Uncle Zhang: "Then we still can't kill him, so let's forget about it."

Having received a satisfactory answer, Uncle Zhang walked away.

Yu Xing sighed, then something touched her ankle.

His pupils contracted slightly, and with a sweep of his long sword, the object shattered into pieces without a sound.

Paper scraps fluttered down, and a small paper head with a hint of grievance rolled to the side. Yu Xing paused, looking at Carlos not far away.

Carlos was also watching him, and after a few minutes, he seemed to have come to his senses.

The little paper doll died before it could achieve its goal. Carlos got up, pursed his lips, and came over.

Yu Xing looked up, and the Mingzhu above shone brightly, hiding Carlos's face in darkness.

"Are you really this cruel to my paper doll?" Carlos's voice still carried a hint of amusement. If it weren't for the scattered pieces of paper, the scene would have been more harmonious.

Yu Xing yawned, relaxing her body. "Who told you to touch me without saying a word? Isn't this just an instinctive reaction?"

"Tsk, alright, my mistake." Carlos sat down where Uncle Zhang had been sitting, paused for two seconds, and then asked, "What's the mission all about?"

Given the background of this tomb raiding expedition and the shared mission, everyone would instinctively think of competition, framing, and other such scenarios, which would undoubtedly increase the uncertainty involved.

However, rational people will either secretly plan to make themselves invincible or eliminate potential threats.

A wise person doesn't leave themselves any future troubles, and Carlos was no fool either.

"You took the Ghost Controlling Seal too, right?" He glanced at Yu Xing, noticing Yu Xing unsurprised expression, then leaned back, bringing himself to Yu Xing's level. "What do you think? Are we competitors?"

The fact that Carlos came to ask this question shows that he doesn't want to have a conflict with Yu Xing.

Yu Xing smiled enigmatically, "That depends on you. Regardless of the mission requirements, whether we're competitors or allies, it all depends on your attitude."

Carlos seemed a little confused; this was an answer he hadn't expected.

What do you mean by his attitude?

However, Yu Xing clearly didn't want to say anything more, so Carlos also remained silent, pondering the key point.

The sound of Shi Jiu came through the earphones. Shi Jiu was watching Master Li and Lin do the calculations; in other words, she was practically causing trouble.

Until Master Li could no longer bear it. "Nineteen, shut up."

Shi Jiu: "... Hmph."

Without the distractions of Shi Jiu and wine, Master Li and Lin quickly reached a conclusion.

The two people were originally sitting in the corner, but as soon as they stood up, everyone's eyes immediately turned to them.

"They're out. We can begin." Lin's expression was indifferent; he looked somewhat haggard. He glanced around, his gaze lingering briefly on Yu Xing and Carlos before shifting away. "Master Li will speak with you."

Master Li clapped his hands. "Everyone stand up, get ready to go."

Everyone regained their spirits, their eyes shining.

"We can proceed!"

The bespectacled man walked up to Master Li and said, "I'll lead the charge."

Master Li waved his hand. "No need, this isn't your forte. I'll handle it, you just follow along."

The crowd gathered around, and Master Li squinted, holding the paper he had just used for calculations, comparing it with the actual scene.

Then, amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, he stepped onto the ground, took a large leap forward, and landed steadily.

Yu Xing's eyes flashed, and she saw that the ground beneath Master Li's feet was no different from the rest of the place, but it was safe and had not triggered any mechanisms.

"Remember my position, and follow me one by one later." After saying that, Master Li jumped to a rather tricky spot.

The bespectacled man was very loyal and immediately followed, taking up the first spot.

There are seven points in total, with the last point located at the coffin, meaning there are six points distributed around the coffin.

These people all had good jumping abilities, and even Unica was quite agile. After observing for a while, Yu Xing concluded that ordinary people in this world were generally stronger than people in reality.

After all, even a naive young man like Zhou Qinghai could use a futon to fight zombies, which actually had a certain offensive effect.

He secretly remembered this, and then fell to the last place. By the time he stepped onto the first spot, Master Li had already safely reached the edge of the coffin.

The safe area around the coffin was large, and the group arrived at the location one after another without any mishaps.

Yu Xing arrived last, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at him.

"The Big Dipper formation is here. According to the normal procedure, we can go this way now and head directly to the depths of the tomb." Master Li pointed to the straight path leading to the middle of the three large doors, spreading his fingers, "Walk along the wall, and you can enter the left and right sides."

"What if we have to open the coffin?" Unica was assigned to Ash's protection. She stood to Ash's left, peering into the coffin with her hand already raised, looking as if she couldn't resist touching it.

An occupational hazard of archaeologists: whenever I see an artifact, I want to pick up a small brush and scrub it.

"Look at the end of the coffin." Master Li raised his chin. "Go and see if there's anything different about the end of this coffin."

Unica moved carefully, bending down.

The coffin was narrow at the end and not very large in size. It was carved with strange patterns, arranged in a series of separate sections, somewhat like a narrative.

"It's very valuable for research!" Unica exclaimed excitedly.

"The coffin containing the guardian spirit must be engraved with parts of the tomb owner's life and characteristics. Only then can a hidden contract be completed, making the guardian spirit watch over the tomb entrance for the tomb owner." Uncle Zhang was also very interested in this. He looked at it carefully, muttering to himself, "The things depicted are quite unique... What is this, a tree?"

Tree?

Something was triggered in Yu Xing's mind, and he quietly pushed aside the bespectacled men surrounding him, taking in the full picture of the pattern.

The pattern was mostly covered in dust. Master Li had brushed the dust away, but it still looked somewhat blurry.

However, the general outline is already discernible.

The first pattern depicts a person planting a tree, while a woman sits on the ground watching the person planting the tree.

The second pattern depicts a man kneeling before a woman, who then cuts off his hands.

The third pattern depicts no one, only a large, leafy tree covered with human heads. Beneath the tree are carved arms, as if reaching out from hell, helplessly yet yearningly stretching upwards.

The fourth pattern depicts an armless man standing beside a coffin, his head severed by a woman with a knife.

Woman... Tree... Head...

In Yu Xing's mind, images of coffins embedded in the cliff face flashed by, but when he tried to grasp them, it was as if a cloth had been drawn over his head, and he could no longer find the memory from before.

"I must have seen or heard about this woman and the tree," he was certain of, then his attention shifted to the strangely patterned tree.

The patterns are rough, and much of the imagery requires guesswork, but the dark emotions and unparalleled fear emanating from that tree cannot be separated even by the rough lines.

"This woman is the demon daoist," Uncle Zhang said in a deep voice. "I've heard that over a thousand years ago, demon daoist suddenly appeared, wreaking havoc, disrupting social order, and instigating wars. The feudal lords at the time hunted her down everywhere, and one of them even beheaded her and displayed her head on the city wall for forty-nine days."

"No way, and then what?" Ash asked as if he were listening to a myth.

"Then what happened? The head disappeared without a trace, causing widespread panic. The monarch was furious and launched a massive search for the thief, but his methods were inexplicably brutal, sparking strong resentment among the people. Soon, a neighboring country attacked, the monarch increased taxes, and the people complained bitterly, rejecting the monarch. The country didn't even last three months before it collapsed."

Master Li picked up the thread, chuckling, "The most interesting part is yet to come. The monarch who conquered this country, to boast of his nation's bravery and to appease the grieving people, beheaded the defeated monarch and hung his head on the city wall for forty-nine days. On the last day, no one touched the head, and it fell down on its own, only to be crushed to pieces by a passing carriage."

"That monarch beheaded the demon daoist, and then he himself was beheaded. He hung the demon daoist's head for forty-nine days, and he himself was hung for forty-nine days as well." Unica exclaimed. "It all started after the demon daoist's head disappeared. You just said that, for some reason, the original monarch became cruel?"

"That's right. Historically, that monarch was originally a wise ruler who single-handedly conquered the land, established a kingdom, and bestowed titles upon his subjects. But once the demon daoist's head was lost, he seemed like a completely different person." Uncle Zhang pointed to the patterns at the end of the coffin. "The reason for this is probably related to this tree."

After a long silence, Master Li said somewhat uncertainly, "Old Zhang, look at this tree, doesn't it resemble the legendary... Ghost Tree?"