The Coffin in Room 42 (Part 2)

  Upon hearing this sentence, Liao Dongfeng suddenly remembered a story about zombies that his grandfather used to tell him when he was young.

  It is said that in ancient times, the corpses of high-ranking officials and nobles were treated with a special method after bathing and disinfection. Their internal organs were removed, and some anti-corrosion materials and fillers were inserted. Then all the places where the corpse communicated with the outside world were blocked, dried at room temperature, and finally a layer of burnt incense was applied to the surface of the corpse.

  After the fragrance of Matsutake has cooled down, all pores are completely isolated from the outside world, achieving a vacuum effect.

  Although this method can preserve the corpse for a long time, there is also a fatal flaw. After sealing, there is still a small amount of air in the body, and most of the anti-corrosion materials used in ancient times were mercury and arsenic-containing substances. Over time, these substances will volatilize and decay inside the deceased's body, causing it to swell rapidly and eventually crack open, which refers to failed products.

  There are successful examples, in the process of corpse bloating, the volatile gases will continuously stimulate the brain of the deceased, making it more possible for the not-yet-dead neural tissues to reignite.

  With the dominance of the brain, fine hairs began to grow on the surface of the corpse. Corpses that used mercury as a preservative would be covered in black hair, and were referred to as "black evil".

  Bodies embalmed with arsenic develop a white down on their skin surface, known as "arsenic whiskers".

  However, in ancient times there was another secret method of preventing decay that was not passed down. It was probably a phosphorus chloride compound and also a way to preserve fish from spoilage. However, if this method failed, the corpse would not crack open but instead collapse inward.

  Afterwards, the muscles of the corpse will regrow, becoming as hard as steel and iron. Red hair will grow on the surface of the deceased's skin, at which point they will possess superhuman strength and resistance to blows, also known as the "red-haired glutinous rice ball" often seen in supernatural stories.

  Ancient people weren't foolish, they had all heard of and even witnessed the three evil spirits rising from corpses to harm people. Therefore, when burying the dead, they would go to great lengths on the coffin, using rare woods like yinquezi, jinsi nan, and lihuang to make the coffin grow together with the bacteria inside the corpse over time, eventually becoming one entity, thereby restraining the three evil spirits from rising from the dead.

  Yellow stone, marble, and Han white jade are used to make coffins that can help lower the body temperature. The microelements contained in them will also inhibit bacterial growth, thereby preventing corpse changes.

  There is also the most stupid method, that is, a metal coffin, which uses the weight of the coffin itself to seal the corpse that may rise from the dead. The sealing degree of this method is also the best, and the overall casting has no space or air, so bacteria cannot grow, and the occurrence of corpse change is prevented.

  Liao Dongfeng started to stare at the coffin in surprise, and there were still voices coming from inside. From the texture of the outer wall of the coffin, Liao Dongfeng could infer that the wood used to make the coffin was extremely rare, not one of the three mentioned earlier, but rather made of iron tree, which he had only seen in legendary stories.

  It is said that the iron tree is called the divine wood, and it is rumored that there is this kind of species on Mount Kunlun. Many people have tried to find it, but most people's purpose was for its own value, and in the end, they did not find it, so they determined that such a thing does not exist. However, now Liao Dongfeng has seen it with his own eyes in this deep cave under Mount Xi, and he can't help but be amazed.

  "Kunlun iron tree, an inch of wood is worth a thousand gold, a big stroke."

  Peng Jianjun heard this and immediately said: "Hey! Dongzi, since this thing is so valuable, when we leave, we should bring some with us, right?"

  "Damn it, if you really take it out, what will you say when others ask where you got it from? Will you say it's from the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang? Ah? It seems like you're really going crazy from poverty."

  After saying that, others also looked at Peng Jianjun with strange eyes. After a while, they heard him explain: "Dongzi, I just said it casually, you guys just listened to it casually. We are poor, but we live with dignity. Besides, the dead man's things are not clean, and I'm afraid of sleeping!"

  Liao Dongfeng listened to him admitting his mistake and didn't say anything else. Afterwards, he turned around and greeted everyone: "I always feel that this place is not safe, so I suggest that everyone go all out to find a way out or a stone gate."

  Everyone dispersed in all directions to find a way out, but after searching around, they found nothing but walls everywhere, and there was no way out.

  At this time, Liao Dongfeng also looked under all the coffins and exchanged opinions with everyone before cursing: "Damn dog emperor, what are you doing putting so many coffins here? Trying to scare people? I don't believe it, you can actually raise a corpse brother?"

  Bang! The sound was so loud that even the iron coffin made by Iron Tree jumped up. This sound was not a good omen, and everyone quickly looked up at the fire oil glass roof, only to see countless cracks spreading in all directions. Liao Dongfeng panicked and said, "We're done for! It seems this kid has decided to leave us here!"