Chapter 18: The Jade Burial Suit

Zhang Wuxun took off his gloves and burned them with his lighter. "If I accidentally disrupt the original plot line later, will that damn world consciousness intervene to correct it again?"

[Only when crucial plot points are compromised will the world consciousness intervene.]

"Fine, understood."

Zhang Wuxun popped a candy into his mouth, his expression blank.

Over by the bronze sarcophagus, intermittent exclamations could be heard—mentions of "Manas jade," "jade-embedded coffin covers," and cries that there was a living person inside. It was quite a spectacle.

Bored, Zhang Wuxun stretched out his legs and leaned back to loosen his neck. Suddenly, he heard someone call his name. He turned to see Uncle Three beckoning him over.

What now?

Zhang Wuxun curled his lip, stood up, dusted off his trousers, and grabbed a handful of Tianxin rock ash before heading over.

"Need something?"

Uncle Three smiled affably. "Muyu, I can't handle this coffin alone. I need a hand."

Zhang Wuxun glanced at the coffin. He knew this old fox still doubted his origins and his motives for getting close to Little Innocent, and was now testing him.

He leaned over, squinting into the gap between the lacquer coffin and the outer sarcophagus, then stood up and waved at Fatty. "This is a job for Brother Fatty. I'm not confident enough."

In the memory fragments the system had provided, it was Fatty who opened this lacquer coffin.

Hearing this, Fatty squeezed over, took a look, and chuckled. He shoved his hands into the gap, and after a long moment, a sharp "snap" echoed out as the lacquer coffin split cleanly down the middle.

Zhang Wuxun pulled Wu Xie back a step, his eyes fixed on the lacquer coffin rising slowly from the sarcophagus.

*Crack.* The two halves of the coffin lid flipped onto the ground, revealing a person—or rather, a living corpse—clad in black armor.

Panzi instinctively raised his gun, about to pull the trigger, before Uncle Three stopped him. "Don't move. This black armor is a treasure."

"If I'm not mistaken, this must be the legendary Jade Suit," Zhang Wuxun said, casting a questioning look at the Silent One.

The Silent One nodded. "It is indeed a Jade Suit, also known as the Golden-Thread Jade Shroud."

He spoke slowly, his voice steady.

The Jade Suit shed a layer of skin every five hundred years, and it could only be removed during the shedding process; otherwise, the person inside would turn into a blood corpse.

The Silent One pointed to the lone blood-corpse head. "That blood corpse was the previous owner of the Jade Suit. King Lu Shang found him while raiding the tomb, removed the Jade Suit, and climbed inside himself."

Wu Xie chimed in, "So the one nestled inside now is King Lu Shang?"

The Silent One ignored him. His gaze turned icy as he strode forward, reached out, and gripped the Jade Suit's throat. "You've lived long enough. It's time to die."

He tightened his grip, and the Jade Suit let out a short, sharp scream before the Silent One crushed its throat bone, killing it instantly.

Wu Xie shuddered, his mouth agape. The look he gave the Silent One was one of deep shock, and beneath the fear, even greater curiosity.

Zhang Wuxun patted his shoulder. "That's probably not King Lu Shang inside, but his strategist, Tie Miansheng."

Wu Xie turned to him quickly. "How do you know?"

Zhang Wuxun pointed to the purple jade box at the back of the lacquer coffin. "The answer is in there."

Fatty was already rummaging through the Jade Suit, looking for the threads to pull it apart.

Wu Xie opened the purple jade box, took out the gold-threaded yellow silk, and huddled with Uncle Three to study and read it.

Seeing there was nothing left for him to do, Zhang Wuxun went back to staring at the blood-corpse head.

Although the original plot claimed Tie Miansheng had schemed against King Lu Shang, pulling him out of the Jade Suit to take his place, Zhang Wuxun felt it didn't make much sense. Since Tie Miansheng knew the Jade Suit could bring the dead back to life but could only be used once, and that King Zhou Mu had already become a blood corpse—given how clever Tie Miansheng was—how could he have been foolish enough to climb inside himself?

Furthermore, when he mentioned that the person inside was Tie Miansheng, he had noticed a subtle, unnatural flicker in the Silent One's expression.

The Silent One had been gone for a long time; he had likely already secured the Ghost Seal, so there was no need for him to intervene.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was how to get Wu Xie out safely.

After Fatty finished stripping the Jade Suit, he began rummaging for other treasures in the lacquer coffin.

Zhang Wuxun suddenly saw the blood-corpse head move. *Here it comes,* he thought.

The head began to shake violently. A protrusion on its scalp was wriggling rapidly, and soon, a tiny red corpse beetle crawled out, flapping its wings as if preparing for flight.

"Damn it, run! It's a King Corpse Beetle!" Zhang Wuxun shouted without looking back, grabbing it with his left hand the moment it took flight.

"What? What?" Fatty, traumatized by the previous beetles, sprang up on instinct. He didn't even forget the purple jade box on the ground, though it was too heavy to carry.

Seeing Zhang Wuxun holding the King Corpse Beetle, the Silent One’s pupils constricted. "It's poisonous!"

Zhang Wuxun could feel the fuzzy legs crawling against his palm, searching for an exit. Enduring the revulsion, he shouted at the Silent One, "Take them and go! I can't hold on much longer!"

The Silent One took a step forward, as if to help. Seeing this, Zhang Wuxun grabbed the blood-corpse head with his right hand and dove into the nearest cave.

The Silent One gritted his teeth. He had no choice but to turn to the others. "Go! The King Corpse Beetle is here. My blood can't suppress the beetles here. Run while the swarm is still under control!"

Only then did the group snap to reality. Seeing the swarms of beetles emerging from everywhere like a rising tide, they swore, smeared themselves with rock ash, and scrambled up the thick trunk of the Nine-Headed Snake Cypress.

After climbing ten meters, Wu Xie looked back and saw the Silent One hadn't followed. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "Silent One, what are you standing there for?!"

"I'm going to find him." With those words, the Silent One drew his blade and dashed into the cave.

The cyan beetles were fast, and the base of the tree was dense with them. Falling would mean being picked clean to the bone.

Though worried for Zhang Wuxun and the Silent One, Wu Xie knew he couldn't delay; any further hesitation would mean death for everyone.

Perhaps because the King Corpse Beetle was still alive, the swarm hadn't lost all control. Wu Xie was bitten on the calf for being a second too slow, and Fatty had two beetles clinging to his backside—likely because he had so much meat there.

The group scrambled up the trunk and out through the crack above.

Uncle Three rushed over from the grass, carrying a barrel of gasoline. "Hurry, grab the gas! We'll pour it in and burn these beetles to death!"

"No!" Wu Xie blocked him. "Muyu and the Silent One are still down there."

Uncle Three cursed him for being indecisive, but Wu Xie stood firm, blocking the crack.