Chapter 79: The Giant Stone Coffin

Knowing that strands of Zhao Shuihe's hair were stuck with my blood made me feel rather weird inside.

Still, there was no other choice. To prevent a repeat of the former platoon leader's corpse suddenly springing back to life, we had no alternative but to use this semi-superstitious method to test the "creature" inside the stone coffin.

Thus, Little Ah-Si stretched out his stubby hands, holding the blood-stained strands of hair close to the giant stone sarcophagus. After keeping them there in stillness for a good long while, he let out a long sigh and said, "There's no zombie in there, it's a living person!"

"What?!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Your method is actually that effective? It can even tell the difference between the living and the dead?"

"Not really!" Little Ah-Si squirmed, looking embarrassed as he shot me an apologetic look. "There's a crack on the stone coffin. I just saw it."

Little Ah-Si's words made my blood boil with anger!

I demanded, "Knowing there was a crack all along, why did you still make me bleed?"

"I only just saw it."

"Get lost!" Annoyed and in no mood to listen to his excuses, I shoved him aside and snapped, "Step aside! Let me look!"

Right after that, I spotted the crack myself.

From my angle, there were actually many cracks along the four walls of the stone coffin. The widest one was about the width of a pinky finger and ran vertically all the way through, likely blasted open by the Japanese explosives back in the day. It had simply gone unnoticed earlier due to the dim lighting in the burial chamber.

I leaned closer, picked the widest crack, and peered in with one eye, finally managing to catch a glimpse of the scene inside the coffin.

In there, I saw two hands—a pair of hands bound tightly hand and foot.

Upon seeing the hands, I was extremely surprised. Although the lighting in the stone coffin was poor, I could still tell that those hands were struggling very flexibly to break free from their restraints, clearly belonging to a living person. Furthermore, the owner of the hands was mumbling some words. Though the voice was very faint and indistinct, I could clearly make out a vague sounding curse akin to "Your mother..." Was he actually swearing?!

Suddenly, it all dawned on me.

This Taoist Priest Duan was truly ruthless! Not only did he commit robbery along Old Qi Road, but he also engaged in hostage-taking.

Taoist Priest Duan's actions had reached a truly intolerable level. Fortunately we came, otherwise the person locked inside the stone coffin, given that fiend's "habit" of consuming raw flesh, would have been torn apart and devoured alive!

Filled with righteous indignation, my inner fear was replaced by wrath.

To save the person, I searched among the debris in the tomb until I found an iron shovel. Then, aiming for one of the cracks, I wedged the shovel into the gap and slowly pried it, pushing the lid of the stone coffin open bit by bit.

Three or five minutes later, through the combined efforts of myself and Little Ah-Si, the coffin lid was finally pushed all the way open.

With a dull, heavy thud, the heavy coffin lid crashed to the ground.

Following that, without even waiting for me to rescue him, the person inside the coffin sat up with a sudden jolt, just like a corpse coming back to life. He straightened his back and persistently made faces at me.

That sight gave me a real fright.

Yet after the shock subsided, I realized that I actually knew this person. Although at this moment he was dressed in nothing but a pair of briefs and tied up like a zongzi, and despite his mouth being stuffed with a piece of burlap which left his expression distorted and anxious, I recognized him instantly. This person was none other than Old Man Lei, Lei Ren, who had "competed with me in mental willpower" over the kitchen knife at noon.

Taoist Priest Duan had actually kidnapped this old man and imprisoned him here?

Amidst this sudden turn of events, failing to grasp the situation, I reached out, yanked the burlap out of Lei Ren's mouth, and demanded, "What are you doing here?"

Seeing me was no different to Lei Ren than seeing a family member. With tears welling up in his eyes, he cried out to me as if he had just run into the Liberation Army, "You've finally come! It's all because of that wretched man surnamed Duan!"

Uncomprehending, I asked, "Why would Taoist Priest Duan capture you?"

"Ah!" Lei Ren let out a long sigh and spilled the beans, "It's all because of the kitchen knife!"

Now, everything became crystal clear to me.

After Taoist Priest Duan had been infuriated into leaving by Lei Ren, he had not given up on acquiring the Zhao family's heirloom kitchen knife. When gentle persuasion failed, he resorted to force. During the time before and after our arrival, he had instigated the cat demon to recreate the scene where the Lamp King confronted us on Old Qi Road. Only this time, his target was Lei Ren.

Consequently, I asked Lei Ren how he had been "kidnapped and brought here" by Taoist Priest Duan.

However, Lei Ren's answer left me feeling both astonished and awkward.

Looking somewhat red in the face, Lei Ren told me that after leaving the Zhao family, he had cursed all the way back with Lei Wangcai to the empty rented house. After resting for a short while, he suddenly felt a stomachache and headed for the latrine.

Rural latrines are relatively primitive and often connected to pigpens. As a "Taiwanese businessman" accustomed to being waited on hand and foot by generations of disciples, Lei Ren naturally found it difficult to bear, but having no choice under the principle of when in Rome, he couldn't very well complain.

Yet right when Lei Ren was halfway through enjoying his relief, he suddenly felt something licking his backside from beneath him!

Startled out of his wits, Lei Ren hurriedly bent down to take a look.

Right after that, he saw an oversized pig's head smiling right at him. And perched atop that pig's head was a black cat.

Lei Ren was advanced in years, and given such a fright, his legs went weak on the spot, causing him to tumble headfirst into the cesspool.

At this point, Lei Ren let out a long sigh and said, "Ah, it's shameful to admit, but I passed out right then and there. When I woke up, I was already inside this coffin."

If these words hadn't come directly from Lei Ren's own mouth, I would never have believed them.

He had actually fallen into a cesspool and been kidnapped by a pig straight into Taoist Priest Duan's den?!

Hilarious, truly hilarious.

Hearing this, Zhao Shuihe could no longer hold back and burst into laughter on the spot.

As she laughed, she asked, "Why on earth did that man surnamed Duan kidnap you? The kitchen knife isn't even in your hands."

Embarrassed, Lei Ren told me, "I told him the exact same thing, but he flew into a rage, beat me up, and then went back out to look for you. Say! Were you kidnapped by him too?"

Listening to Lei Ren's words, I understood why Taoist Priest Duan was not in his lair.

Upon learning from Lei Ren that I was the one who had taken the kitchen knife, Taoist Priest Duan must have been burning with anger. Thus, he had locked Lei Ren inside the coffin and set off alone with the cat demon to return to the Zhao family and exact his revenge on me.

I immediately realized that I had to head back. Because the kitchen knife was in Xian Hongye's possession, given Taoist Priest Duan's extreme personality, he would undoubtedly treat my friends the exact way he had treated Lei Ren.

Having figured this out, I hurriedly drew my knife, cut the ropes binding Lei Ren, and pulled the old man out. Looking at his skin-and-bones appearance, I couldn't help but jokingly remark, "You know, running a black shop at the service station had such a promising future, why on earth did you have to come all the way here to suffer this ordeal? Just for a kitchen knife, you almost lost your life."

Hearing my words, a trace of anger flashed across Lei Ren's panicked expression. He roared at me, "You think I wanted to come? It was your master who, while he was still alive, specifically begged me to come and help you! You brat, turning kindness into slop! You're going to drive me to an early grave with anger!"

Lei Ren's words struck my heart like a bolt from the blue.

My master, Zhao Haipeng, was the one who asked him to come? What did this mean?