The Iron Box Holds a Secret

Lin Chen opened his sea of consciousness and condensed his spiritual sense.

His soul power was no longer what it used to be.

He was absolutely certain that the figure before him was He Yiliang.

"I died... so... horribly..."

An ethereal, terrifying voice rang in Lin Chen's ears as the figure drew closer.

Hearing that voice, every hair on his body stood on end.

"It's not like I was the one who killed you, so why come after me?"

Lin Chen shouted, turned around, and bolted.

He was genuinely terrified!

This had nothing to do with cultivation level—the fear came from the memories of his soul from his past life.

"It hurts... I'm so cold... save me..."

Lin Chen yelled, slammed the door open, rushed into the room, and dove onto the bed.

He threw the covers over himself with both hands.

"It hurts... so cold... save me..."

Who would have thought the voice would appear right inside the blankets?

Lin Chen opened his eyes and immediately saw He Yiliang's soul staring at him from within the covers.

"Ghost!"

Lin Chen let out a miserable scream. On instinct, he unconsciously activated the Soul Forging Art, unleashing his spiritual sense and smashing it directly into the ghost.

This time, the ghost actually let out a wail and vanished from the blankets.

Lin Chen blinked, looked at his own fist, then threw off the covers and sat up.

"That's right—I've opened my sea of consciousness and condensed my spiritual sense. Why should I be afraid of some damn ghost!"

Once he realized this, his courage swelled.

He jumped off the bed and rushed outside.

He immediately saw He Yiliang's ghost plastered against the wall he'd just been near.

It was twisting and writhing in pain, its form already much dimmer.

From the look of it, it had been injured and was on the verge of dissipating entirely.

"I'm this strong?"

Lin Chen couldn't quite believe it. He looked at his fist again, steeled his nerves, and walked over to the wall.

"You dead bastard, why are you clinging to me?"

As if hearing his words, He Yiliang's ghost stopped writhing and slowly knelt down.

"Save me..."

His voice was hollow, as if coming from another dimension.

"I have no connection to you. Why should I save you? You're not trying to trick me into letting you possess me, are you?"

Hearing Lin Chen's words, He Yiliang's ghost lifted its head.

Its eyes gradually regained focus, and finally it let out a sigh. "Lin Chen, we share the same fate. Are you really going to just watch me rot in the wilderness?"

"So you can finally talk properly?"

Lin Chen shook his fist and glared with wide eyes. "Tell me—what do you mean by coming to scare me in the middle of the night?"

He wasn't about to believe a ghost's lies.

He Yiliang stood frozen in place for a long time. Seeing that Lin Chen was unmoved, his expression turned vicious.

"Lin Chen, what I am now is what you will become. We're bugs on the same string—neither of us is getting away."

A threat!

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, stepped forward, and reached out to grab.

With his spiritual sense backing him, he actually caught He Yiliang's ghost in his hand.

"You..."

Terror appeared in He Yiliang's eyes. "You can catch me?"

Hehehe.

"What else did you think?" Lin Chen had figured it out now. Ghosts being scary? It was nothing special.

Even caught in his hand, he could still beat them up.

Seeing the shock on He Yiliang's ghostly face, he sneered. "That Iron Box in the deep pool—you hooked it onto my fishing line, didn't you?

You've been meticulously planning this step by step. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lin Chen saw no trace of panic in He Yiliang's ghostly eyes.

After hearing his interrogation, the ghost instead grew calm.

"Lin Chen, I admit that everything I did was to get your attention, but I can swear by the Heavenly Dao that everything I said is true."

He Yiliang's ghost grew even more ethereal. "I don't have much time left. That iron box is evidence of my He family's annihilation. I leave it to you..."

"Wait!"

Lin Chen watched as the man was about to dissolve into specks of light, then suddenly changed his mind. "How do I save you?"

He had only been testing him just now, and the result was clear—He Yiliang wasn't lying.

And this man had already met with an accident.

Would he be next?

A sense of crisis surged within him.

Ever since cultivating the Soul Forging Art, he had never seen those purple eyes again.

He had thought the problem was already resolved.

Now it seemed it wasn't at all.

So this He Yiliang's ghost was very important. He absolutely couldn't let it die.

"My body is below the Heavy Mountain Path, sucked into a cave entrance. Inside there is..."

Before He Yiliang could finish, he could no longer hold on. He turned into a shower of light specks and flew back into the mirror inside the iron box.

Lin Chen hurried over. He could still sense the soul force rippling within.

This guy probably wasn't completely dead yet.

He let out a slight sigh of relief and left the iron box and mirror to continue basking in the moonlight.

He also took out his own family's iron box, opened it, and placed it on the table.

Then he looked at the token and the letter.

He waited for a long time, but nothing changed.

"No use!"

Lin Chen felt a bit dejected.

He also took out the black iron box from Lord Qin's warehouse.

When he first got that iron box, besides ten Spirit Stones, there was also a hairpin inside.

He opened it as well and set it under the moonlight.

To his pleasant surprise, that ordinary-looking hairpin actually began to glow with faint light.

The hairpin, the mirror, and the token—these three items definitely meant something.

Things that were utterly ordinary before now shimmered with unusual radiance under the moonlight.

They were certainly not common objects.

Lin Chen even suspected that the iron box in Lord Qin's treasury had been stolen from someone else's home.

Whose home exactly, there was no way to verify now.

"He Yiliang should know, right?"

Lin Chen's mind churned with thoughts. "Three families have been found destroyed so far. This matter is getting more and more complicated."

Lin Chen lay back in his chair and slowly drifted off to sleep.

That night, he slept soundly.

The iron boxes on the table kept shining with light.

The dragons and phoenixes carved on them also became lively.

While he slept, the three iron boxes emitted faint beams of light that intertwined in the air.

Scattered and dotted, they looked like a fragmentary map...

Lin Chen knew nothing of this.

He was even less aware that the cloth rabbit at his waist had climbed onto the table while he slept.

Bathed in the radiance, it sparkled brightly.

As if it were recharging.

The next day, when Lin Chen opened his eyes, he saw Third Senior Brother Qi Ruming sitting at the table, examining the three iron boxes.

"Third Senior Brother, why are you here so early?" Lin Chen asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

Qi Ruming wasn't his usual joking self. His expression was grave as he nodded.

"Little Junior Brother, where did you get these three boxes?"

Hearing this question, Lin Chen sat up straight and looked at the boxes on the table.

"Third Senior Brother, one of them is from my family, another is from the He family, and I don't know whose the last one is."

Lin Chen answered truthfully, his eyes filled with surprise as he asked, "Third Senior Brother, do you recognize this box?"

If someone knew the origin of this kind of iron box, it would save a lot of time investigating and avoid taking wrong paths.

Besides, he really wanted to know what this box actually signified.

Unexpectedly, Third Senior Brother shook his head, his brows tightly furrowed. "I don't recognize it."

Hearing this answer, Lin Chen wasn't surprised either.

But Qi Ruming continued, "This thing is crafted seamlessly, flawless in every way—even the carvings show not a single trace of variation. This forging skill is definitely above mine."

Qi Ruming analyzed it from a professional perspective.

"More importantly, this kind of iron box looks simple on the surface, but it actually has hidden depths—it's double-layered inside."

What?

Lin Chen quickly stood up and came to the table. "Third Senior Brother, can you open it? This iron box is tied to the massacre of my family."