Li Miao, Yin Minjun, and Yongjie finally leaped into the cave, using the rock walls for leverage as they descended eighty zhang, where they saw a pool of water below.
Those with insufficient Qinggong, unable to react, fell into the water. Even with their Zhou Tian True Qi protecting them, they couldn't help but shiver.
"This water! Why is it so cold!"
Li Miao struck out with his palm in mid-air, hitting Yin Minjun and Yongjie, lightly sending them flying to the bank, and then used the momentum to fly to the bank himself.
Lao Qifeng was standing on the bank, looking into the distance, with steam rising from his body. The Beggar Clan's Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms was extremely Positive and Just, and he was using this pure yang True Qi to dry his clothes.
"Li Daxia, we've stumbled into big trouble."
He said without turning his head.
After the previous events, he and Li Miao had implicitly become the leaders among the people present, so he only spoke to Li Miao, preoccupied with his thoughts.
Li Miao walked over to him, looked around, and couldn't help but exclaim.
"Ho, quite a scene."
They saw that everyone was on the edge of a stone platform, with stalactites hanging above, occasionally dripping water, which must have accumulated over a long period to form this pool. Below this stone platform was a vast cave that stretched into the darkness, seemingly endless.
And within this cave, countless coffins were densely arranged.
Cave burial, the Miao people call it "Ba Dong She."
It refers to the custom where, after death, people are not buried in the ground but are placed in coffins and then carried by strong young men into caves for burial. Judging by the number and style of these coffins, it was likely the ancestral tombs of the Miao people's Twelve Sect Branches.
After a cave burial, living people are not allowed to enter. Let alone outsiders like them.
If discovered by the Miao people, these individuals would have forged a mortal enmity with all Miao people. At that time, what they would need to guard against would not be blades and swords, but strange, Weird, and all-pervasive Witchcraft.
But Li Miao chuckled softly.
"Chief Lao, even if the Miao people don't seek trouble with us, we still have to seek trouble with them, don't we?"
Lao Qifeng sighed lightly; he was an experienced veteran of the martial world, and he naturally had his own conjectures.
"Indeed."
"The art of Witchcraft has been passed down through generations of the Miao people; outsiders can't learn it even if they try."
"The Miao King's Tomb, the news of Jia Yi Divine Skill, the insider who planted Gu worms and killed... A moment of greed, and we fell into a trap. If we can survive, we naturally have to repay them."
At this point, Lao Qifeng turned to look at Li Miao.
"Let's explore further first. Since they could bring coffins in, there must be an exit."
"Alright," Li Miao replied.
After those who had fallen into the pool came ashore and dried their clothes, everyone descended the stone platform together and walked forward along the cave wall.
They naturally passed by the densely arranged coffins.
Everyone had witnessed the dangers of Witchcraft firsthand from above, and had seen bodies containing Gu worms like Yong Nu. Their hearts were still unsettled, so as they passed these coffins, they cautiously walked around them, fearing that something might suddenly emerge from within.
Fortunately, these coffins seemed to be ordinary ones; everyone had walked halfway without anything happening.
In the vast cave, only the sound of their footsteps and the dripping of water from the stalactites echoed continuously.
Lao Qifeng, who was walking at the very front, could already faintly hear the sound of water coming from ahead.
Where there is flowing water, there is a way out.
Just as everyone's anxious hearts were gradually settling.
Crack.
A soft sound.
Lao Qifeng suddenly turned his head, only to see Yuan Yuang, the lone swordsman who had been surrounded by everyone earlier, now pale-faced, gripping his sword hilt.
He had just walked through the gates of life and death, and he knew that for now, there was a way out, so he had temporarily put the matter aside. If something else happened later, everyone would bring it up again and blame him.
Preoccupied with worry, and distracted, his sword scabbard at his waist brushed against a coffin as he passed by it.
And that coffin, having been stored in this cave for who knew how long, had long since decayed. With just a light touch, a hole immediately appeared.
He instinctively moved to dodge, but saw Lao Qifeng suddenly raise his hand, making a gesture to stop.
Lao Qifeng had taken the lead in jumping into the cave earlier, and had already subtly established his authority.
Seeing his action, Yuan Yuang forcefully stopped his movement, standing still in place, with cold sweat continuously running down his face.
Just then, a faint sound came from the opened coffin.
Click, click.
From within that coffin, breaking through the lid, a pitch-black arm stretched out.
"Damn it!"
"Is this still Great Shuo!"
"Yuan Yuang! You motherfucker!"
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Everyone cursed inwardly, not daring to make a sound, slowly moving their feet to distance themselves from that coffin.
People of the martial world were all well-traveled, and those present were among the best of them; even if blades and swords struck them, their eyes wouldn't even blink.
But who the hell had ever seen a ghost!
The coffin was rotten; logically, the corpse inside should have been reduced to dust, so how could an arm still extend out!
There were hundreds of other coffins nearby; if they were all like this, and they all jumped out together, then we might as well just smash our own balls and commit suicide!
Just as everyone was sweating profusely, their hearts pounding, waiting only for something unusual to happen so they could immediately escape with Qinggong.
Li Miao, however, strode over.
"Li Daxia!" Lao Qifeng lightly called out.
Li Miao waved his hand behind him, saying nothing.
He walked to the arm, examined it, and then actually reached out and grasped the arm!
"Holy shit!" Everyone was shocked.
Li Miao didn't seem to exert any force, just lightly grasped it, and the arm actually broke off, leaving a hand and half a forearm clenched in Li Miao's hand.
That hand was still slowly clenching and unclenching, and the wrist was even shaking.
A few people felt like throwing up, but Li Miao remained completely unfazed. Instead, after examining it up and down, he casually threw the arm to the ground.
Thump!
He directly reached into the coffin, fumbled around, and then suddenly pulled something out!
He actually pulled out a pitch-black, emaciated, skin-and-bones corpse! It was slowly struggling in his hand!
"!!!"
At this, even Lao Qifeng cursed inwardly.
Li Miao, however, didn't pay attention to their reactions, but instead seriously looked at the seemingly living corpse, examining it up and down.
Then, he joined his palms like a knife and directly cut open the corpse's chest and abdomen.
Whoosh~
From its cavity, a stream of insects poured onto the ground, struggling for a few moments before stopping.
Li Miao squatted down, picked one up, examined it for a moment, and then threw it to the ground.
He did not speak, but rubbed his fingers, deep in thought.
"The Gu worms in this corpse... are they the same kind as the Ming Cult's Gu Soldiers?"
"The degree of decay of these coffins suggests they've been here for a hundred years or more. Shouldn't the Ming Cult's creation of Gu Soldiers have happened fifteen years ago, after the Ming Cult suffered heavy losses?"
"Ji Tianrui, according to Yun Zelin, is most likely still alive... What is his relationship with the Twelve Sect Branches of the Miao surname?"
"Ji... that surname is very rare. Where did he come from?"