Opening the left eye to detect ghosts usually leaves nothing unseen, even in the most intense yin energy.
Jiang Nuo scanned the area and spotted the hidden ghost behind the general's statue to the south.
Its form was extremely transparent, more like a shadow, blending into the surrounding darkness; no wonder it could deceive him and Si Yan.
The ghostly figure looked over alertly, realizing it had been discovered, and quickly blended into the wall, afraid of being caught, having already experienced the power of these two.
"You think you can get away with this?"
Jiang Nuo flung out a talisman containing thunder and ghostly fire. When it landed on the ghost, it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. The ghost screamed suddenly and was pressed against the wall, suffering excruciating pain.
Although the brothers couldn't see the ghost, they could hear the sudden scream, which terrified them. Nearly twenty of them huddled together, too afraid to move.
They retreated more and more urgently until the person at the back had their back against the wall, only then did they feel a little safer. Suddenly, it seemed like there was something else in their sight.
He slowly turned his head, glancing to the side out of the corner of his eye, and instantly froze, his festering arm frantically pounding on his companion in front of him, shouting, "There's a coffin!"
His companions were startled and turned around angrily, yelling, "Did you just wake up?! Of course we know there's a coffin!"
"Exactly! Didn't you see this person is exorcising a ghost?"
"No..."
The man was on the verge of tears, and could only grab the head of the person next to him, urging him to look at the corner, "There's another coffin over there!"
Upon hearing this, Si Yan suddenly looked up, her expression serious. "Where?"
"This... this! Come and take a look!"
They left him a way out; if they hadn't come to the third level today, they would never have been so afraid of a coffin before!
"Destroy the evil spirits! Banish them!"
Jiang Nuo quickly chanted a spell, completely annihilating the dying, struggling ghost. Looking back, he saw everyone gathered around the second coffin they had discovered, studying it.
This time, Simazi absolutely refused to open the coffin, standing in front of it, his pipe still held like a weapon, its wrinkles deep enough to trap a mosquito.
"We can't open it... we can't! This tomb is inherently yin, and the coffin's position is exactly opposite the previous coffin, creating particularly ominous feng shui!"
"This is dangerous enough... What if there's a ghost inside the coffin after we open it!"
Jiang Nuo observed Simazi's slightly changed movements and expressions, rolled up his sleeves, and rushed over. "Since there's already a ghost, what difference does it make whether it's one or two?"
But as soon as Jiang Nuo got closer to the coffin, she saw Si Yan and Song Zheng looking at it with complicated expressions. Jiang Nuo followed their gaze in confusion.
"Whoever disturbs my coffin will be childless and never be reincarnated."
Jiang Nuo slowly read the words on the coffin, then exclaimed, "Quite fierce!"
He pulled out a dagger and ground off all the writing on it, muttering to himself.
"The curse won't work if you can't see it."
Everyone: "..." You can do that?!
The coffin in the corner was slightly larger than the one in the center, but it was just an ordinary nanmu coffin, without any of the splendor.
The coffin was opened, and a chilling wind blew out.
This time, Song Zheng was smarter. He waited until Jiang Nuo went over before looking at the contents of the coffin, and was immediately startled.
"How can there be two more people buried in a coffin! This... this must be even more ominous, right?"
"A mother and child coffin! It carries the heaviest ominous energy!"
Simazi didn't even dare to peek inside, only taking A Wu to look at the skeletons from a distance. "I told you we couldn't open it!"
He was so terrified that no one dared to even look at him; just hearing about him was frightening. Where was the swagger he had displayed when he was on top?
"A mother and child coffin... there must be ghosts around it, right?" the man who found the coffin asked curiously. "Will we still be safe?"
"Could this be a family of three? Because they were all buried together as funerary sacrifices?"
The brothers speculated amongst themselves, but Jiang Nuo held up a finger and shook it at them. "Unfortunately, you're all wrong."
He turned over the smaller skeleton. "This coffin also contains Yin-Containing Talisman, but no Soul-Suppressing Nail, so it wasn't a case of a living person being sacrificed."
"And there should be more than one person inside this coffin."
Song Zheng was puzzled. "What do you mean? He looks like he only has two skeletons."
Si Yan pried open the heads of the two skeletons, revealing what lay beneath them like soft pillows, but layered upon each other, some of which were dripping oil.
"What is this?" Song Zheng asked.
Si Yan's voice was cold and calm, "Human skin."
"A single layer of skin represents a human life."
Song Zheng: "..."
He Zhang Da wide-eyed at the layers upon layers of human skin, utterly bewildered.
Jiang Nuo stroked the coffin lid and teased, "If this is a family tomb, then this family must have had a very large and prosperous population."
"No... this could be..."
Simazi narrowed his eyes, recalling something, "My father's book once recorded that these human skins might have belonged to slaves. If their devoted masters died, some slaves would be skinned alive and buried with them in the same coffin."
"And fearing they might escape after death, they placed them under the corpses, signifying that they would continue to serve even in the underworld."
Jiang Nuo: "Ugh, pervert."
Song Zheng was confused. "But aren't the corpses in this tomb chamber meant to be buried alive with the prince? And those who were buried alive even had to create their own burial slaves—it's like nesting dolls here."
Simazi, holding his pipe and fiddling with the human skins, said while fighting off goosebumps, "Yin Sha... if these turned into ghosts, who knows how many lives they would kill."
"You..." Song Zheng frowned as he looked at the pipe in Simazi's hand. He was about to ask a question when Jiang Nuo grabbed him.
"Brave warrior, please lend me your blood."
Song Zheng was speechless. "Didn't you just use your own blood?"
Jiang Nuo blinked innocently, "My blood is too Yin; if I use it now, it will immediately turn into a ghost."
Song Zheng took a deep breath and immediately slit his wrist, and Si Yan took off a small amount of blood.
Then everyone watched as Si Yan sprinkled half a lid of blood on both sides of the skeleton, revealing strange symbols.
Si Yan glanced at it a few more times, then turned her gaze to the one in the very center. "The runes inside both coffins are only half-finished."
Song Zheng took out a notebook and pen from his pocket. "I'll write them all down."
Jiang Nuo still placed the suppressing talismans inside the coffin, and in the blink of an eye, Song Zheng copied both sets of talismans three times each.
Are you here as punishment, copying lines?
He found it somewhat amusing.
Song Zheng's expression was serious. "This might be a crucial clue. We need to keep them separate so that if someone is killed unexpectedly, at least the trail won't go cold."
Jiang Nuo silently tightened the corners of her smiling mouth, admiring the policeman's meticulous thinking.
Both coffins have been opened, but how they will get out is still unknown.
Based on his experience in smuggling goods into tombs, Da Zhu led his men to search the tomb chamber but found no way out.
Just as they were feeling dejected, Jiang Nuo peeked out from beside the coffin, scanned the tomb chamber, and asked, "Where is that dripping sound coming from?"