My heart was pounding in my throat, my gaze fixed firmly on the bronze staff in my hands.
Earlier, the person's face, clothing, and figure kept appearing before my eyes, overlapping with the statues we saw when we first entered the High Heaven Daoist Monastery!
No, not just the statues, but also the faces that appeared on the ground, walls, and ceilings as we descended along the way...
High Heaven Daoist Monastery!
It's not right! Yang Guijin held that thing, and he didn't have any problems!
Old Gong saw it too and said there were no issues, so why does it suddenly become a problem when I hold it?!
Suddenly, his smile and the look of satisfaction on his face earlier floated into my mind.
I can't help but come up with an answer...
Is it the qualification?
Is it the talent!?
Yang Guijin, does he not have the talent?
So, holding the bronze staff, he didn't have any reaction? He couldn't activate the High Heaven Daoist Monastery?
My talent, and who I am, must satisfy the High Heaven Daoist Monastery for me to see it!
Ah, that's it! Demons are like that by nature!
"Old Gong, you've been daydreaming!" shouted Lao Gong.
I shivered, flung the bronze staff violently towards the passage behind us, and let it go!
My strength was great, and the bronze staff flew directly into the passage we came from, missing the bricks on the ground.
Yang Guijin's face changed instantly, and he hurriedly exclaimed, "Manifest the spirit! That's a magical artifact!"
Huāyíng also looked confused, and Lao Gong kept making sounds of agreement.
"High Heaven Daoist Monastery... It was just next to you a moment ago!" I blurted out, causing Yang Guijin, Huāyíng's face to pale instantly, and Lao Gong's eyes to bulge.
Yang Guijin was shocked, and his body began to tremble, like he was shaking like a leaf.
"Not... that's not possible... Your Highness, you have discernment, with these eyes of mine, even the old devil can't see it..." Lao Gong was extremely uneasy.
"That means... the soul of High Heaven Daoist Monastery has been stirred, which has never been seen by anyone before. It only appeared when the spirit of the artifact touched it..."
"But it's not right... How can we not see him?" Huāyíng was equally confused and uneasy.
My breathing grew more labored, but I couldn't explain everything now.
"Go! Get out as quickly as possible!" I whispered, ordering.
Yang Guijin shuddered and snapped back to reality, continuing to lead the way forward.
Soon, we passed through this layer.
The next layer was much smaller, roughly a hundred square meters, and there were six pools.
The water inside was gently rippling, though not boiling, and there was a smell of sulfur in the air. These waters must be hot springs, seemingly intended for people to bathe and rest in.
"We can leave soon... The next layer is the tomb room where High Heaven Daoist Monastery's army was buried." Yang Guijin spoke with trembling lips.
My foot suddenly stepped on something, causing me to slip, almost falling to the ground!
"Holy Spirit!" Huāyíng exclaimed, quickly helping me up.
I didn't fall, but I stared at my feet, the hairs on my body standing on end.
What made me slip was none other than the bronze staff.
Mingming, I threw it back into the channel we entered on the previous layer, yet it reappeared here.
Another hand suddenly pressed down on my shoulder.
Yang Guijin was leading a little ahead, Huāyíng was supporting me on the right side, so whose hand was on the left?
I suddenly raised my head.
A man taller than two meters stood next to me, slightly lowering his head, with a smile on his face.
This time, I didn't just see his face; the proximity and angle made it seem like I was seeing two faces and four eyes looking at me simultaneously.
I bit down on my tongue fiercely and spat out a mouthful of blood!
My body suddenly felt weak, but the blood arrow seemed to have a solid substance to it, directly piercing through that ghostly thing's face!
Ping! He turned into a gray mist and vanished once again...
My breathing was extremely labored, and goosebumps covered my entire body.
Yang Guijin stared at me in terror, and Huāyíng was also extremely uneasy.
Lao Gong was panting heavily.
"It still hasn't been seen, right?" My voice was hoarse.
"No... No..." Huāyíng looked even more frightened.
Yang Guijin nodded uneasily as well.
"Let's go!" I whispered again.
I kicked the bronze staff hard with my foot, sending it flying and falling into one of the hot spring pools, making a splashing sound.
Exiting this layer, we entered the final tomb room.
The tomb chamber was much simpler than I had imagined.
The space was approximately 40-50 square meters, centered in the middle, with a coffin in front of it.
The coffin was very simple, made up of just a few thin pieces of wood.
The air was filled with a warm atmosphere.
The rest of the tomb chamber was empty, which was rather surprising for a high-level Daoist with such a stature, as he didn't even have any burial objects.
As I looked around, I saw no other exits or doors.
"But there's no way..."
Huāyíng uncomfortably looked at Yang Guijin.
"It's not a path, it's a cave... You can't see it until you walk through it."
Yang Guijin pointed in a direction and walked straight towards it.
He went straight through the coffin with almost no glances to the side.
When Huāyíng and I followed, I also kept my eyes straight ahead as we passed the coffin.
Suddenly, my head was twisted by a pair of hands, forcibly turning it towards the coffin I was looking at!
My body felt as if it was glued in place, unable to move an inch.
The scene before my eyes was a dead body lying in the coffin!
The dead body had a bronze mask on its head.
At a glance, the bronze mask seemed to have a front side and two sides to the left and right, completely covering the face of High Heaven Daoist.
The Daoist robe on his body was a deep purple color, faintly tinged with white.
The skin on his exposed neck had an even more profound purple hue.
I desperately tried to struggle, but I couldn't move at all.
"Holy Spirit? What are you looking at?" Huāyíng also stopped, looking slightly uneasy.
I forced myself to breathe heavily, muttering under my breath, "Too high the starry sky..."
But as soon as I uttered these words, my tongue felt as if it had been cut off, sending a sharp pain.
I couldn't even purify my heart to break free from High Heaven Daoist's suppression.
I wanted to turn back, spitting out a mouthful of blood from the tip of my tongue to break through the ghost spirit of High Heaven Daoist, but I couldn't turn around, could only stare at the body of High Heaven Daoist inside the coffin.
As I looked closer, I noticed the strange anomaly.
The eyes, mouth, and nose on the front of the bronze mask all had holes in them.
In fact, the hole in the mouth was actually inserted with a piece of bronze.
The end seemed like a hilt, as if it were a sword, directly piercing and inserted into the head.
High Heaven Daoist was killed by someone?
Earlier, Huāyíng clearly told me that according to the rumors, he died of severe injuries that could not be treated...
A sword piercing his mouth—how could this be due to severe injuries that could not be treated? It must have been a murder...
Lao Gong let out a hiss, his head snapping up, landing on the edge of the coffin, staring straight into the interior.
"Lao Gong... What are you doing..." Huāyíng surprisedly called out.
At that moment, the bizarre scene happened again.
I felt my body losing control... Yes, like being possessed by an old Daoist ghost, slowly walking towards the coffin!
"Holy Spirit!?" Huāyíng shouted at me, even more suspiciously.
But I couldn't control my body or answer.
As I approached the coffin, I reached out my hand and directly tried to pull out the hilt of the sword stuck in High Heaven Daoist's mouth!
