Chapter 14: Taiyin Formation Blocks the Way

  Looking at the stone coffins in front of us, which are as dense as a forest and stand upright, everyone is extremely terrified. The countless stone coffins make the interior of the tomb chamber appear gloomy and eerie, making people feel like they are in hell. It seems that the owner of this tomb has made great efforts to prevent his remains from being disturbed after death. We have just passed through a sacred place of Buddhism, but now we have arrived at a sacred place of the dead. Even I, a coffin carrier who is used to dealing with corpses every day, can't help but be shocked by the scene in front of me. Such a large-scale stone forest is something I've never seen before in my life.

  By the faint light of the wall lamp, a patch of golden light could be seen flashing at the end of the stone coffin. At this moment, the treasure seemed to be tempting us to cross the stone forest in front of us and take it into our hands.

  Lao Liu rubbed his hands and the look of terror was gone from his eyes. He kept glancing at me, I knew he was waiting for my words.

  "It seems that the tomb owner should be buried here. These coffins placed upright should be people who accompanied the tomb owner after death. So many accompaniments can't help but make one marvel, it seems that this tomb owner was a big shot or an emperor in his lifetime. And the people inside the coffin must be the wife and concubines of the tomb owner or important people." My second brother guessed beside me.

  Just as he was about to instruct everyone to cross the stone coffin forest to the treasure, Sima Lin said uneasily: "Everyone, don't rush to get the treasure. I think these stone coffins in front of us are quite strange. They're all standing upright. My predecessors once said that vertical burial pits and tombs should be avoided, so let's be careful."

  Simar Lin's words make sense. Just now, I almost led everyone directly into the stone coffin forest. I think the tomb owner will not let us approach his body easily.

  "Brother Sima is saying that at this moment, we must not be tempted by the treasure in front of us and lose our lives. We still have to think carefully and figure out the hidden dangers in this stone coffin forest," suggested Er Ge after Sima Lin finished speaking.

  I nodded and carefully walked forward to take a closer look at the coffin in front of me, but my mind was wondering what kind of death the person inside had met. However, opening a dead person's coffin has always been a major taboo for our sect, unless it's absolutely necessary.

  Only the stone coffins in front of us are exquisite, and the stone coffins cannot be nailed like wooden coffins. They are often made up of stone slabs, and if they stand upright, they may collapse.

  These stone coffins are able to stand upright without collapsing, thanks entirely to the pressure of the top stone slab. The top stone slab is not only extremely flat but also much thicker than the other stone slabs that make up the coffin. As a result, under the heavy pressure, although the coffin stands upright, the other stone slabs seem to be fixed in place and cannot be scattered. This alone can be seen as evidence that the person who built the tomb was an outstanding craftsman who could already correctly and fully utilize the different physical properties of these stone slabs at that time.

  After being reminded by Sima Lin and my second brother, everyone hesitated on the spot, each with a look of uncertainty. Seeing this, I said: "You see the end of this stone room? That's where the treasure is stored. We can't hesitate anymore. The longer we stay here, the more danger we'll face. So now we must think of a way to get through this forest of coffins."

  Everyone seemed unmoved by my words. Their faces couldn't help but look anxious, and they hastily said: "How can no one say anything? If none of you dare to go forward, then we'll have no choice but to return the way we came."

  Suddenly, San Di said, "Big brother, don't be impatient at this moment. Look at these stone coffins, they are arranged in a very regular pattern, which is obviously a very powerful formation. I'm afraid that if we rashly walk in, it will be difficult to get out easily."

  Third brother said so, I have no choice but to suppress the impulse in my heart and ask: "Old three, do you know what kind of formation this is and how to dissolve it?"

  Third brother shook his head and replied, "It's too dark here to see the whole picture of this stone coffin array. It's really hard to crack. However, I've only heard Master say that there is a Taiyin array using coffins with dead people as array stones. I think it's probably this kind of formation, but he didn't tell me how to crack such an array. Maybe the old man himself doesn't know the way to crack it." After finishing speaking, he fell silent, seemingly thinking about something.

  "What is this 'Taiyin Formation' you're talking about, Third Brother?" I asked curiously.

  "The Taiyin Formation requires the use of coffins with dead people inside as array stones, and wooden coffins can also be used. However, it can only be set up in places with extremely heavy yin energy, because this formation must rely on very strong yin energy to produce illusions. I observe that the yin energy here is overwhelming, which should meet the conditions for setting up this formation. If one accidentally enters, they will see a scene of ghosts wailing and gods howling, and can see vengeful spirits and other infinitely terrifying things. Although everything is an illusion, it can still cause great mental torture to humans. It's enough to take someone's life away. After entering, it's impossible to walk out, and one might even be scared to death."

  After listening to San Di's words, I was shocked and thought it was fortunate that I hadn't rashly rushed in, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.

  "But from what I know about formations, the best way to break any formation is to disrupt the positions of its array stones. This will mess up the formation's shape and render its effects useless." The third brother continued.

  If the stone coffin is moved and the formation of the stone tomb is disrupted, the master of the tomb will definitely consider this aspect. Otherwise, it would be a waste to set up such an elaborate tomb.

  Just as he was about to say that the stone coffin's structure couldn't be easily moved, the sixth brother had already lifted his arms and started moving it, saying "This is easy, I'm best at doing things that don't require brains."

  His heart was greatly shocked and he wanted to shout out to stop him, but it was already too late. He saw his sixth brother had already moved the stone coffin in front of him. The sixth brother did not know the mystery behind this stone coffin's construction. With this one move, all the stone coffins would definitely collapse at once. At that moment, he could only close his eyes and dare not look at what was about to happen next.

  It's strange that there was no "rumbling" sound in my ears. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Old Six was surprisingly clever and didn't go to touch the pressure plate on the top first. The others were also busy helping Old Six, each supporting the stone coffin that had not yet scattered.

  He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, secretly rejoicing that the stone coffin hadn't collapsed, otherwise all the stone coffins here would have fallen over. Although it would be a spectacular sight, I don't know what the consequences would be.

  As everyone carefully dismantled the stone coffin, a long female corpse suddenly appeared before our eyes.

  The female corpse was wearing a luxurious silk imperial concubine's dress and was still standing upright, which was somewhat strange.

  The wide and large queen's dress completely covered any part of the female corpse, plus the long hair that fell down and hung over, even the face that might have turned into white bones could not be seen at all.

  "This is impossible! This person has been dead for hundreds of years, how can he still be standing? And her bones are really hard and solid." I said to everyone.

  As they spoke, they had already walked to the front of the female corpse. They parted her hair and took a look at her forehead, and were shocked to find that there was a yellow talisman stuck on it.