Mu Jingjing, clutched in Xiao Mi Tao's hand, was still chirping in dissatisfaction, its small paws waving towards the stone coffin, as if it wanted to continue its unfinished feeding task.
Xiao Mi Tao, still a little shaken, held it tightly, worried it would do something astonishing again.
"You little rascal, you're too bold!" Xiao Mi Tao chastised in a low voice, gently tapping Mu Jingjing's small head with her finger.
Just as everyone's suspended hearts began to settle slightly, their gazes involuntarily refocused on the White Phoenix Beast in the coffin.
That faint glimmer, though fleeting, was like a stone dropped into a deep pool, stirring up huge ripples in everyone's hearts.
It was definitely not an illusion; the zombie crystal's energy was indeed absorbed by the White Phoenix Beast, even if it was just a tiny trace.
Da Mi Tao stared at the White Phoenix Beast's beak, where a faint glow from the melted crystal seemed to linger. She gasped, "It... it really absorbed it! Although it's not awake, it can absorb zombie crystals!"
These words were like a splash of cold water, instantly making the relaxed atmosphere tense again.
What did this mean?
It meant that these two Mutant and their companion beasts were not completely dead!
Their state was extremely bizarre, somewhere between life and death, or rather, a deep, incomprehensible dormancy.
Being able to absorb energy indicated that there might still be some kind of activity within them!
Zuo Feng's expression was extremely grave. He slowly withdrew the hand he had originally intended to use to stop Mu Jingjing, his fingertips even feeling a bit cold.
He stared intently at the pair of sleeping twin sisters in the coffin and the companion beasts on their arms, especially the White Phoenix Beast that had just "eaten."
Lotus Seed's unprecedented violent trembling from before resurfaced in his mind; that was definitely not a reaction one would have to a dead object.
Now, even the companion beast could absorb zombie crystals...
"Xiao Nan Ren..." Da Bai Tu's voice held an almost imperceptible tremor, her charming phoenix eyes now filled with gravity and worry. "The situation is more complex than we thought. They... perhaps they've just been dormant for too long and need... a large amount of energy to awaken?"
This conjecture sent a shiver down her own spine.
"No, perhaps they don't need to be awakened at all,"
Zuo Feng's voice was low and hoarse, his gaze sharply sweeping over the ancient runes on the surface of the stone coffin.
"It's this coffin. The runes on it are suppressing them, maintaining this bizarre balance.
Wen Wudao couldn't separate them, or even remove their clothes, probably because of the power of these runes at work."
The mysterious fluctuations he had felt when he touched the runes earlier now seemed even more significant.
Upon hearing this, the girls all looked at the obscure runes, feeling as if they had come alive, exuding an unsettling aura.
The stone coffin was no longer just a container; it was more like an incredibly powerful seal.
Just then, Mu Jingjing, who had been staring at the White Phoenix Beast, suddenly began to struggle in Xiao Mi Tao's arms again. It no longer tried to feed it, but instead pointed its small paws at the ancient and beautiful garment on the White Phoenix Beast, chirping urgently, as if trying to indicate something.
Zuo Feng and the girls' gazes immediately followed the direction Mu Jingjing was pointing.
They saw that near where Mu Jingjing had just fed the zombie crystal, on the ancient robe of the White Phoenix Beast, which should have been impervious to blades and fire, a tiny, almost imperceptible... crack had appeared where it had been stained by the melted zombie crystal liquid near its beak!
The crack was as fine as a hair, slightly darker in color than the surrounding fabric. Had it not been for Mu Jingjing's deliberate guidance and everyone's current focused attention, it would have been impossible to discover.
"Cr... cracked?" Xiao Mi Tao's voice trembled with disbelief.
An indescribable chill instantly swept over everyone.
The garment, bolstered by the power of the runes and impervious to even Wen Wudao's best efforts, had developed a crack simply because Mu Jingjing had inserted a seven-line zombie crystal, exposing it to a tiny bit of melted energy?
This was simply unbelievable!
This tiny crack, however, was like a thunderclap exploding in everyone's hearts.
It broke through a barrier of understanding and heralded an unknown balance being quietly shifted by that insignificant bit of energy.
The danger and strangeness of this stone coffin, and the existence sleeping within it, far exceeded their initial imagination.
The air seemed to solidify, leaving only the heavy, suppressed breathing of the crowd and Mu Jingjing's continuous chirping, tinged with a strange excitement, echoing in the silent room, like the whispers of death.
A layer of cold sweat quietly seeped from Zuo Feng's palm.
He could even hear his own heart beating heavily and slowly in his chest, each beat like a death knell for the solidified silence.
The tiny crack, like a cold eye, silently watched them, mocking their ignorance and insignificance.
After a long while, Zuo Feng squatted down, a thoughtful expression on his face. Clearly, the little Mu Jingjing knew something.
He gently stroked Mu Jingjing's small head and asked in a low voice, "You know something, don't you?"
Mu Jingjing put its small paws on its hips and nodded proudly.
A flash of understanding crossed Zuo Feng's mind. When it came to understanding Mutant, the companion beasts were undoubtedly the most knowledgeable. He guessed that the other companion beasts also knew things, but they just hadn't expressed them, while Mu Jingjing, being the most eager to show off, was the first to jump out and cause this scene.
After a brief thought, Zuo Feng pointed at the two Mutant in the coffin and asked in a calm tone, "Little fellow, are they still alive?"
Mu Jingjing nodded vigorously, confirming Zuo Feng's guess.
Its small paws gestured in the air, first making a tight clasping motion, as if holding something, then pointing to its own fluffy chest, mimicking a beating heart, and finally repeating the clasping motion, repeatedly emphasizing the meaning of "sealed."
Zuo Feng's heart sank.
Indeed, these two terrifying beings with thirteen vertical stripes were not completely dead, but rather had their life fluctuations forcibly sealed by some incomprehensible power, falling into the deepest dormancy.
What kind of terrifying power could seal Mutant of this level?
Was it the work of some existence far beyond comprehension, or... did they choose self-sealing themselves?
If it was the latter, what could force thirteen-stripe Mutant, with their world-destroying power, to resort to such a state of suspended animation to evade something?
This thought, like an ice pick, sent a chill down his spine.
Regardless of the possibility, it meant that the secrets and dangers behind this stone coffin were far beyond what they could currently fathom.
"Sealed..."
He muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping once more over the obscure and ancient runes on the surface of the stone coffin.
These runes were probably the key to maintaining this bizarre seal.
Wen Wudao's inability to separate them, or even remove their clothes, all the anomalies, stemmed from this.
They appeared to be sleeping, but in reality, they were imprisoned in the gap between life and death.