Chapter 17: The Empty Coffin

“Empty!?”

Upon hearing this, Lao Qifeng could no longer hold back. Using his lightness skill, he leapt across the platform and landed atop the coffin, peering inside.

To his astonishment, the coffin was completely empty—not even a burial shroud remained. There was absolutely nothing inside.

“Could this be a ‘decoy coffin’?” Lao Qifeng exclaimed in surprise.

When high-ranking officials or nobles were buried, they often took precautions to prevent grave robbers from disturbing their tombs. One such method was the “decoy coffin,” which involved placing an empty coffin inside the tomb or building a separate burial mound altogether, confusing thieves as to the true resting place of the deceased.

In Chapter 78 of the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, it was recorded: “(Cao Cao) ordered seventy-two decoy graves to be set up outside the military city of Zhangde Prefecture,” and, “Do not let future generations know of my burial place, fearing it would be unearthed.”

Although Lao Qifeng understood this, he couldn’t help but glance back at the corpses kneeling on the ground, his throat tightening with emotion.

These young girls, barely twelve or thirteen years old, had been mutilated by having their facial features gouged out, forced to endure two to three years of suffering, trapped and left to die in this tomb.

And all of this was just for a decoy coffin!?

What kind of monster was this Miao King!?

“Amitabha,” Yongjie sighed deeply.

Afraid his voice would be recognized, he had remained silent throughout. He stepped forward beside the bodies, placing one hand gently on a corpse’s head, the other held before his chest as he began silently chanting sutras, offering prayers for their souls.

“Hmph, not surprising at all,” Li Miao snorted coldly.

“This witchcraft has been relentlessly suppressed throughout the ages for a reason. Constantly dealing with flesh, blood, and poisonous insects, nurturing parasites within oneself, turning oneself into neither human nor ghost—what good can come of that?”

“Let’s first open the coffin and see if we can find any clues for escape.”

Lao Qifeng snapped out of his thoughts at Li Miao’s words, his anger still burning. He suddenly lifted the coffin lid and flung it aside.

He jumped inside, crouching down to examine every corner.

“Hmm?”

He seemed to have discovered something and quickly called out, asking a Beggar Sect disciple to toss over a torch. By its flickering light, he scrutinized the interior carefully.

“Hero Li... come take a look.” He pointed to a place on the coffin wall.

Li Miao stepped forward and glanced over.

The coffin’s inner surface was densely covered with hundreds of pale scratches.

Judging by their appearance... they looked as if clawed by fingernails.

Li Miao crouched down, wiping the coffin’s bottom with his fingers, then rubbed his fingertips together, frowning deeply.

“Body oil. This is not a decoy coffin.”

At that moment, the others who had followed closely approached, though none stepped onto the platform. Upon hearing Li Miao’s words, they all expressed surprise.

“If it’s not a decoy, where’s the body?” asked the head of Kongtong Sect.

“The coffin is locked with iron chains; even if the person inside were feigning death, they couldn’t have escaped,” Li Miao replied shaking his head. “Not sure.”

“We’re not here to rob the tomb. Let’s set this aside and see if there are other clues inside the coffin.”

With that, Li Miao and Lao Qifeng meticulously inspected the coffin inside and out but found nothing else.

Apart from the eerie claw marks and body oil, it seemed to be an ordinary coffin of fine workmanship.

Li Miao and Lao Qifeng descended lightly, while others unwilling to give up also examined it carefully—still no discovery.

Li Miao twirled his fingers, surveying the hall.

Lao Qifeng approached quietly, speaking softly to Li Miao, “Hero Li, what shall we do?”

Having witnessed the recent events, Lao Qifeng understood that Li Miao was their only hope of escape, and his martial skills were no weaker.

Taking advantage of the others’ rotations inspecting the coffin, he came over to consult Li Miao.

“Everyone here has their own agenda. Food supplies are limited; if we’re trapped here for a day, morale will start to crumble, and bloodshed could break out.”

“If you find anything, Hero Li, no matter how uncertain, speak up first. Hope is what keeps us going.”

Li Miao turned to look at him, about to respond.

“Shen Ziyang, you!”

Suddenly, a shout came from behind.

Li Miao whipped around to see a man stepping one foot onto the platform holding the coffin.

The Kongtong Sect leader shouted in alarm and rushed forward to stop him—but it was too late.

The kneeling corpses beneath the platform lifted their heads, their hollow facial features opening wide in unison.

At that moment—

*Shh!*

Blood splattered everywhere!

Yin Minjun’s sword flashed, striking the man’s throat, pulling it aside and severing his head.

She then swiftly stepped forward and with a palm strike sent the headless body flying, preventing him from taking another step.

~~

The Ming Cult had just been nearly wiped out by Li Miao, and now here was the Miao King’s tomb, known to house divine martial arts, arriving under such suspicious circumstances. Naturally, Li Miao remained on guard.

Having fallen behind to speak with Yin Minjun earlier, he had already discussed certain matters with her, including the possibility of a traitor.

Yin Minjun had noticed the man pacing nervously with his head down, acting suspiciously. Quietly slipping behind him under the cover of the crowd, she confirmed his ill intentions.

Had he fully stepped onto the platform, the parasitic insects would have erupted, killing perhaps seventy or eighty percent of those present.

“Whose disciple is this?” Yin Minjun demanded sternly.

“He is Shen Ziyang of the Qingcheng Sect!” the Kongtong Sect leader answered, turning to glare bitterly at the Qingcheng Sect leader.

He had tried to intervene upon sensing something amiss but was too late; now he was filled with both dread and fury and nearly lost control, ready to clash with Qingcheng Sect.

The sudden chaos had just dawned on everyone, and they quickly surrounded the remaining four Qingcheng disciples.

“Chief Hao, what is the meaning of this?”

Lao Qifeng stepped forward, glancing at the corpse on the ground, then at the Qingcheng Sect leader.

“Those who entered this tomb are all second-rate or higher—chosen personally by the sect leaders.”

“This Shen Ziyang seems to be your personal disciple, Chief Hao?”

“If Elder Yin hadn’t intervened just now, most present would have been killed by your disciple... Chief Hao, you owe everyone a reasonable explanation.”

The Qingcheng Sect leader’s face turned pale as he surveyed his three remaining disciples, his mind racing but unable to find words.

Then Li Miao’s voice came from behind.

“Perhaps this isn’t Qingcheng Sect’s doing—someone framed this Qingcheng disciple.”

Lao Qifeng turned sharply to Li Miao.

Li Miao was crouching beside the headless corpse, curling his fingers into a claw and tearing open the back of the corpse’s clothing with a *shh* sound.

There, on the corpse’s shoulder, was a sword wound slowly oozing blood.

Forming his hand into a blade shape, Li Miao plunged it into the corpse’s chest. After a moment’s search, he pulled out a writhing, screaming insect.

He crushed the insect casually under his fingers, tossing it aside, then looked at everyone.

“Someone secretly injured this disciple, inserting a parasitic insect into his body.”

“With the insect inside, his mind was clouded, causing him to step onto the platform.”

(End of chapter)