The Complete Collection of Yellow River Ghost Coffins

Chapter 18

No, could it be that those black corpses were actually placed there by this thing in the girl's hand?

Filled with suspicion, I got up from the ground and turned around. The black corpse that had been so ferocious just moments before had now turned into a pool of black water. And the young master, oblivious to the danger, asked, "Girl, what are you doing holding this?" As he spoke, he touched his neck and pointed at it.

The girl was about to explode, but upon hearing this, she cried even more bitterly.

"Okay, stop crying!" I yelled, feeling so bad for her crying. "Stop crying! It's just a sanitary napkin, what's the big deal? Don't all women use them?"

The young master seemed to have come to his senses, and his mind had become much sharper. After a long pause, he asked in a daze, "Really? Old Xu, that thing just now... is it afraid of this?"

"How should I know?" I glared at the young master and snapped, "I don't have that!"

The young master chuckled awkwardly. With our comforting words, the girl, her face flushed, recounted what had just happened. Apparently, when we pulled the black corpse away, whether it was from eating something unclean or from catching a chill after falling into the water yesterday, her stomach started hurting suddenly, and she couldn't hold it in to defecate.

Left with no other choice, the girl hid behind the coffin bed and began to poop painfully. But the black corpse was oblivious and actually went to disturb her.

The girl is a grown woman; if she had diarrhea with her bottom exposed, do you think she would welcome someone to visit? So, although the black corpse has been dead for many years, it still maintains a human form, and it's a man at that. Can the girl stand it? Seeing the black corpse grab her, she was both shocked and angry. Unfortunately, she didn't have any weapons with her, so she grabbed the used sanitary napkin and, without thinking, hit the black corpse.

It's really strange, but the fearless, ferocious black corpse was actually killed by the girl's sanitary napkin, fell to the ground, and quickly began to decompose.

The girl was terrified, but she wasn't stupid. She immediately figured out the key point. Just then, she saw us in danger. Without thinking, she pulled up her pants, grabbed a sanitary napkin, and rushed towards the black corpse. The black corpse fell down immediately upon touching the sanitary napkin.

"Is that really true?" the young master said, scratching his head.

The girl's face turned red with anger, her lips trembled, and she seemed about to cry again. I sighed and said, "I've heard people say that these toys are afraid of dirt, and..."

Seeing that I stopped talking, the young master asked curiously, "And what else?"

I shook my head without speaking. I had heard people say that a virgin's menstruation often has some unexpected benefits. I originally thought it was nonsense, but now it seems there might actually be some truth to it. The black corpse on the ground had turned into a pool of black water. Although we were all wearing gas masks, I could still feel the stench of the rotting corpse seeping through the masks, which was indescribably disgusting.

But to our surprise, after the black corpse decomposed, the iron chains that had originally bound it remained. After being soaked in the black liquid from the rotting corpse, they not only didn't corrode, but actually appeared even more attractive, a darker black than before. The girl squatted on the ground, looking at the chains, and said, "Brother Xu, look at these chains..."

Clearly, the maid had also noticed something strange. The young master took out a bamboo arrow and jabbed it at the black iron chain, but the moment the arrow touched it, it hissed and began to rot rapidly. Terrified, the young master released his grip as if holding a venomous snake, exclaiming in horror, "Such potent corpse poison!"

I was startled. These black corpses were still so powerful even after they rotted. Wasn't the young master caught by them just now? Wouldn't that have been dangerous?

"Young Master, are you alright?" I asked tentatively.

"I'm fine?" the young master shook his head repeatedly. I turned my head to look at the black marks on the young master's neck, which looked like human fingers. If you didn't know, no one would ever guess that they were from a corpse strangling him. Of course, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed such a mysterious thing.

Since the wound on the young master's neck hadn't spread, I was temporarily relieved. Just as I was about to examine the white jade coffin bed again, suddenly, I heard a rustling sound again... I turned to look at the maid, who was also looking at me with a surprised expression.

"What's that noise?" The young master heard it too and asked me in a low voice.

I shook my head and remained silent. The girl asked in a low voice, "It sounds like human footsteps..."

Footsteps were coming from the magnificent tomb chamber—how could this be? Footsteps represent the living; normally, the dead don't walk. But in such an eerie tomb chamber, even if a few more dead people came, it wouldn't seem strange. Didn't we just see four walking corpses?

The girl, the young master, and I all turned our stiff heads toward the source of the footsteps. It would be a lie to say we weren't afraid, but there are some situations we can't avoid even if we don't want to face them. Driven by the instinct for survival, humans seem to have become much bolder.

I don't know if I usually have this kind of courage, but now I've calmed down. The sound seems to be coming from the fire door we just came through. The footsteps are very strange, a constant "rustling" sound, as if they're deliberately rubbing their shoes on the ground.

I gently tugged at the young master's sleeve and whispered, "Find a place to hide first, and see what it is!"

The young master agreed, but where should we hide in the tomb? The girl tugged at my clothes and pointed to the beam on the ceiling of the tomb. I thought to myself, "Not bad, that's a good idea. Most people are used to glancing to the left and right when they enter a space, and rarely notice what's above them."

The rope we'd climbed up was still hanging there. Without a word, the young master gestured with his fingers, pointing at the maid and then at me. I understood and immediately nodded in agreement. The young master went first, grabbed the rope, and nimbly climbed up in a few moves. The maid wasn't as quick; by the time she reached the top, the rustling footsteps were getting closer and closer. I didn't have time to dawdle; I grabbed the rope and scrambled up as fast as I could.

Fortunately, the beam above was quite sturdy; ancient people didn't have the habit of cutting corners. The three of us lay motionless on the beam, looking down—but all I could hear were footsteps; I still couldn't see anything. Curiosity piqued my interest, and I suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a type of ancient architecture called an echo wall.

I don't know exactly how it was built, but the purpose of this wall is that when a person is in a state of extreme stillness, it will emit certain sounds, such as footsteps, whispers, or terrifying shouts, which disturb the mind. When I was a child, my grandmother told me that there was a bridge like this in our hometown. People walking on it at night would hear people talking under the bridge, but they couldn't make out what they were saying. Often, people couldn't help but look down from the bridge, and as a result, they would fall and drown in the river. As more and more people died, what was originally nothing strange became strange.

But such structures aren't difficult to dismantle; you just need to pretend you didn't hear anything. Take that bridge, for example. If you walk across it at night, as long as you don't look down, there's absolutely no problem. But for some reason, some people just can't resist looking down.

Of course, I never crossed that bridge; it had collapsed many years before my grandmother told me the story. Later, when I grew up, I heard similar stories from friends. Some were echoes generated by natural conditions, while others were deliberately created by architects. If the echoes here are indeed like that, then in such an impenetrable ancient tomb, it must have been the work of a clever architect.

Since his intention was to catch the architect and cause trouble, it was definitely not to make some noise to scare people. There must be some powerful traps nearby, so that we uninvited friends would stay and keep that old scoundrel Liu company. Thinking about it, Liu is quite hospitable; people just come for a visit, and he sets up all sorts of things to welcome them.

Lost in thought, I suddenly had a thought. That's right, there's a small door now where those four black corpses appeared, but we didn't notice it when we came in, and the tomb is round… Where did that door come from? As I pondered this, I couldn't help but glance in that direction.

It was indeed a small door, but perhaps describing it as a dog hole would be more accurate. A person could barely crawl through it while hunched over, but walking upright was practically impossible. I was a little surprised; those four black corpses from before were all walking upright, not lying down.

Then I thought about it again and found it amusing. All my assumptions stemmed from my understanding of humans, but this was, after all, an ancient tomb, specifically designed for the dead. Who knows if the dead preferred to crawl through dog holes rather than walk on human paths? As I pondered this, I couldn't help but glance in that direction again. What I saw sent a chill down my spine, making my whole body tremble. Right at the entrance I had mistaken for a dog hole, there lay a dark shadow, and judging from its appearance, it seemed to be a person…

The maid nudged me with her elbow, and in my distraction, I nearly fell off the tomb beam. I frantically grabbed the beam, but before I could even speak, I saw the maid and the young master, both deathly pale, staring intently at the doorway. The rustling footsteps still echoed inside the tomb, and I clearly saw another head peeking out from the very stone door the young master and I had just entered through…

Time ticked by, and a figure gradually came into focus. I cursed inwardly – had we run into a mountain? Nanpaizi had finally made it up the mountain, only to have it all ruined by someone else?

Instinctively, I felt that it should be a living person. How could a dead person climb in? I subconsciously grabbed the girl's hand. Her palms were ice cold and wet with sweat, showing that she was extremely nervous.

Strangely, he had no lighting equipment in his hand, and seemed completely oblivious to the obvious light sources in the tomb chamber, walking straight towards the moat. I glanced at the girl; she was trembling all over, clearly recognizing the man as Old Bian, even wearing the same gray clothes we had worn that night when we drank with him.

The young master gently touched the maid, who suddenly flinched. But in this situation, she wasn't prepared to react; instead, she gestured towards me with her hand towards her genitals.

I nodded. Since everyone was sprawled on the beam, movement was naturally difficult. The young master held up a flashlight and shone it directly at Old Bian below. I was startled. The young master was far too reckless. Old Bian's current state was clearly abnormal—no, the three of us had witnessed his death, and it was precisely because of his death that we confirmed the authenticity of the Dragon Coffin Curse. At the same time, it was because of the note he left behind that we found this place. But how did he end up here too?

There are only two explanations now: either Old Bian didn't die back then, but pretended to be dead, and like the professor, came here to rob the tomb in search of a way to break the curse; or someone deliberately transported his body here... I dare not think any further.

The young master's flashlight locked onto Old Bian, shining it on his head. Old Bian seemed to hate the light, raising his arm to shield his eyes. Then, whether out of physical instinct or some other intuition, Old Bian looked up and gazed towards our hiding place—

The moment he raised his head, the young master suddenly cried out, lost his balance, and fell headfirst into the moat. He landed right where the coffin-protecting river was. I was horrified. Leaving aside the strange tentacles in the moat, Old Bian below was terrifying enough. If the young master fell like that, he would likely die, or at least be in grave danger.

Moreover, when Old Bian looked up just now, it was clearly a deathly pale face, devoid of any human vitality, with obvious signs of decay around the mouth and nose. There was also putrid yellow sand in its mouth, and the ground it passed over was soaked, whether from corpse fluid or simply wet underfoot, it was unclear.

Old Bian is already dead, but he has appeared here as if he had risen from the dead. We really don't know what's going on, but the young master is in danger, which cannot be ignored.

I don't know why, but suddenly I seemed unusually clear-headed. I grabbed the rope and swung it at the young master, hoping to pull him up like in a modern TV drama. But this wasn't a TV show. The rope drew a beautiful arc in the air, and the young master, in his frantic efforts, tried to grab it, but ultimately failed.

With a "plop," the young master fell right into the moat protecting the coffin, splashing a huge spray of water right before our eyes. At that moment, I forgot all my fear and grabbed the rope, jumping down. The maid, wearing rubber gloves, wasn't bothered by the friction and slid quickly down the rope. Our entire focus was on the young master; we didn't have time to pay attention to the already dead Old Bian.

Even if the girl was his colleague when he was alive, now that he's dead, I feel terrible and can't worry about him anymore. I frantically pulled off the rope and threw it towards the moat, not caring about anything else, shouting, "Young Master, grab the rope..."

When the maid and I arrived at the moat protecting the coffin, the young master was panting heavily, pulling on the rope with one hand and shouting, "Old Xu, Master Xu, quickly pull me up..."

The entire moat protecting the coffin is now densely covered with clumps of tentacles. Thank goodness, these strange tentacles can't leave the moat, otherwise, we would be in real danger. Strangely, there weren't any tentacles around the young master. My maid and I struggled and, in a panic, finally managed to pull him up.

The young master was clearly terrified, panting heavily. After a long while, he pointed to the moat protecting the coffin and said, "Old Xu... down there... down there... something strange..."

"What's so strange?" I asked, but in my heart I thought, no matter how strange it is, nothing is stranger than Old Bian and the professor appearing here. Is it possible for a dead person to reappear in the form of a living person?

The thought of Old Bian sent a chill down my spine again. The maid and I had been so busy rescuing the young master that we had deliberately overlooked him. I hurriedly turned around, searching for Old Bian, but there was nothing behind me. Where was he?

"Old Xu..." The young master and maid also came to their senses and turned around. The three of us were frozen in place, as if struck by lightning...

I stood there blankly for about a minute, a question swirling in my mind—I'm going to die too, and I've actually seen a ghost.

Of course, encountering ghosts in ancient tombs is nothing new. The green female corpse and the black corpse with chains we just saw were clearly not alive. But these are ancient corpses, which we don't recognize, so we can treat them like foreign objects. But Old Bian and the professor are different. Not long ago, they drank with us, and we even witnessed their deaths. Now they're here, and it gives us an indescribable feeling.

What's even stranger is that Old Bian's appearance was peculiar, and his disappearance was even stranger. The maid and I slid down from the beam to rescue the young master in no more than a minute. Otherwise, the young master would probably have been eaten by the monster at the bottom of the coffin-protecting river by now, and wouldn't be standing here in fear.

The young master gently tugged at my sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Old Xu, where did that old perverted zombie Bian go?"

"How would I know?" I said, shining my flashlight around. The tomb wasn't very big, so it was easy to see everything at a glance. Unless Old Bian had already left, no one could hide in this tomb.

Suddenly the girl cried out, her face filled with terror, "Did you see the professor just now?"

"Professor?" I was startled. I clearly remembered that after the young master clumsily hooked the professor's body out of the moat, he flung the hook away without even looking at the professor's remains before we climbed up the beam to look for Liu Qu's coffin. But now, after looking around again, where was the professor's body?

Suddenly, a thought struck me. I remembered seeing a figure lying prone behind the dog-hole-like opening on the beam. Could that be the professor? As I pondered this, I couldn't help but walk towards it along the moat. The maid and young master hurriedly followed behind me. Still somewhat uneasy, I asked, "Young master, are you really alright?"

It's really strange to think about it. Why didn't those strange black corpses and the tentacles in the coffin-protecting river have any effect on the young master? Could it be that they were just bluffing?

No, that's not right! I don't know what those black corpses are, but those intertwined tentacles are exactly the same as those beneath Sand Town; they're clearly not to be trifled with. But why aren't they touching the young master?

The young master touched his neck and after a long pause, asked, "Old Xu, what time is it?"

I shook my head. How would I know what time it is? The girl had a frosty expression, as if she had also thought of something, but she didn't say a word, just followed behind me. After a moment, I had turned around and walked to the door of the small hole we had just seen, and then, a scene that disgusted me was vividly presented before us.

Right at the entrance to the small hole, Old Bian was sprawled on the professor's corpse, relentlessly tearing at it. The professor's clothes were ripped open, revealing a large, dark hole in his chest, from which reddish-yellow, putrid bodily fluids dripped continuously from Old Bian's mouth and fingers. When Old Bian saw us, his bloodshot eyes swept over us, and then, like some kind of animal, he darted into the small hole with a "whoosh," disappearing in an instant, leaving only the professor's ripped-together corpse lying silently before us.

I looked at the professor's deathly pale face and the gaping wound in his chest, shining my flashlight on it. Suddenly, I noticed something unusual in the wound—something metallic seemed to reflect light. I immediately called to the young master, "Young master, come and take a look..."

I called out once, but after a moment the young master didn't move. I couldn't help but call out again, "Young master..." As I spoke, I looked up at the young master and the maid.

But in that instant of looking up, I felt a chill run through my body. The young master and maid were nowhere to be seen; I was the only living person left in the entire tomb.

"Young Master..." I was shocked. I was alone in this underground tomb, with the body of a professor who had died under mysterious circumstances lying beside me, and Old Bian, who had just crawled into that small hole. I didn't know where that hole led, or why Old Bian had gone into it. But where were the young master and the maid?

My vest was soaked with cold sweat, and I hurriedly shone my flashlight around. Suddenly, I saw a shadow flicker by the moat surrounding the coffin. I mustered my courage and cautiously walked over.

"Old Xu... don't come any closer..." The young master's stammering voice came from beside the moat. I was startled. What was this guy up to? Why was he silently going around to the other side of the moat? The more he told me not to go over, the more I wanted to go and see what was going on.

I held up my flashlight, gripped the bamboo arrow, and stood ready. But when I got there, I saw a scene that was both funny and sad – the young master was standing with his back to the girl, while the girl was squatting on the other side. The light in the tomb was dim, so I couldn't see clearly, but I knew without looking that the girl had an upset stomach again.

I turned away with a wry smile, heeding the sage's teaching—"Do not look at what is improper." I shook my head and said, "Young master, you and the maid left without a word. You should know, this is an ancient tomb..."

"I know!" The young master smiled wryly and immediately recounted what had happened. Just now, the three of us walked all the way to the entrance of the small cave, watching helplessly as Old Bian—or rather, we could no longer call him Old Bian, but some kind of unknown monster—ran into the small cave, while the professor's body was mutilated. I stared intently at the professor's corpse, but just then, the young master noticed that the girl had furtively taken a few steps back, her face flushed, and walked to the side.

The young master, worried that something might have happened to the maid, didn't even bother to greet me and followed along. But what I didn't expect was that the maid had another bout of diarrhea and found a secluded spot to squat down and relieve herself there. The young master, still concerned for the maid, turned his back and stood guard beside her.

I was so focused that I didn't notice the young master and maid's whereabouts, which resulted in a false alarm.

"I just discovered something strange about the professor's body!" I immediately told the young master about my discovery.

The young master nodded and lowered his voice, saying, "That protective moat seems very strange... There's a big hole in it, and a long iron chain, I don't know where it leads. I fell in just now, and if I hadn't managed to grab that chain, I'm afraid I'd be like the professor now..." As he said this, the young master's face was full of fear, and he was still shaken.

"Girl, are you done yet?" I couldn't help but ask when I heard no sound from behind me for a long time. I don't know how other people get diarrhea, but if I had diarrhea, I would inevitably fart a few times and make some noise. But the young master and I stood here for a while and didn't hear a sound at all. The silence behind us was a little frightening.

After I asked, there was still a deathly silence behind me, not a sound. I knew something was wrong; a sense of foreboding rose within me. I quickly asked again, "Girl, what's wrong?" As I spoke, I no longer cared about being discreet and turned around—

Where was the girl who was squatting just now? The young master had also turned around. We looked at each other, both of us filled with doubt and unease. A shadow loomed over our hearts, making us feel very uncomfortable.

The young master shone his flashlight on the spot where the girl had been squatting. A puddle of feces remained on the ground, steaming and emitting an unbearable stench, confirming that the girl had indeed relieved herself there. But where had she gone in such a short time?

"Clang..." Just as we were worried and at a loss for what to do about the girl, suddenly, a loud thud came from above, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground. The young master and I exchanged glances, not knowing what to feel. There were obviously only the three of us alive in this tomb. Since the young master and I were both here, it was obviously the girl who made the noise above.

"Wang girl, what are you doing?" the young master shouted. But after that loud noise, there was no other sound from above.

I thought to myself, "Oh no, oh no, I'm afraid something has happened to the girl too."

The young master had been pursuing the girl all along, so he was naturally more anxious than I was. Without thinking, he grabbed the rope, attached the iron hook, and swung it directly at the beam.

Chapter Two: The Dummy and the White Fox

Perhaps due to his anxiety, the young master swung the rope three times without managing to hook it onto the beam. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, I gave it a powerful swipe, and it finally caught on. Then, I grabbed the rope and climbed up, my mind filled with suspicion. Above was Liu Qu's coffin; we had climbed up using the rope, and the same way we came down. But if the person up there really was a maid, how did she cross the moat, which was more than six people wide?

I struggled upwards, instinctively glancing back. What I saw shocked me again; my grip loosened, and I plummeted to the ground—

"Old Xu!" Luckily, the young master was below and held me tightly, preventing me from falling to my death.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" the young master asked repeatedly.

"Professor...Professor..." I stammered. The professor's body, which had been lying at the entrance of the small hole next to the tomb chamber, had vanished in an instant. And, to make matters worse, the small hole through which Old Bian had crawled closed again. Looking down from above, the entire tomb chamber appeared as a single, seamless unit. If we hadn't witnessed it with our own eyes, we would never have imagined that a doorway had ever existed there.

I finally explained the situation to the young master. He thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Never mind that for now. The most important thing is to find the girl. If we're too late..."

He didn't finish his sentence, and I was startled. It was too late—the girl was in danger. This time, the young master grabbed the rope first and quickly climbed up, and I followed closely behind, climbing onto the beam one after the other. Looking down, we both stared at each other, speechless.

The heavy armor that had been lying on the white jade coffin was now lying to one side. And lying on the white jade coffin was actually a maid...