We all stepped back a few steps. Although we had expected that there would be some problems with the coffin, we still gasped when we actually touched it. This movement clearly indicated that there must be a master inside. If the things in the coffin could move, it was definitely not a good thing.
Da Kui turned pale and trembled as he said, "It seems like there is something alive inside. Third Master, I think we should not open this coffin."
Uncle San looked at the seams of the coffin carefully and shook his head, saying, "Impossible. This coffin is sealed very well, and air cannot circulate at all. No matter what is living inside, even if it has a lifespan of 3,000 years, it would have suffocated to death long ago. Besides, this is just a coffin, and there are several layers of coffins inside. Let's pry off one or two layers first and then listen carefully."
I roughly estimated the weight of this thing. As far as I can remember, the heaviest bronze coffin should be the giant coffin in the Zenghou Yi Tomb at Leigudun, which weighs about 9 tons. This one is about the same size, but the one in the Zenghou Yi Tomb was made of bronze inlaid with wooden boards, and this one is made entirely of bronze. I'm afraid its weight is far more than 9 tons. I have no idea how much it is exactly.
Da Kui and Third Uncle used a knife to scrape off the sealing wax at the joint, then inserted the pry bar into it, shouted, and pressed down hard. With a pop, the bronze coffin board lifted up. I hurried over to help and pushed the bronze board out. This board weighed at least 800 pounds. It took a long time to move half of it out. We were so tired that we were out of breath. Finally, several of us used our shoulders to push the board to the side, and finally the coffin inside was revealed.
It was an exquisite jade-inlaid lacquer coffin, which was inlaid with jade. The jades were arranged very neatly in two ways, diamond and circle, summarizing the saying that the sky is round and the earth is square. Inside the jade-inlaid coffin was a painted lacquer wooden coffin. Because the outside was covered with jade, I couldn't see what was painted on it. When Pan Zi saw the coffin, his eyes almost fell out. He covered his wound with half of his face crying and the other half laughing: "Damn, there are so many jades, I can walk sideways now!" He gritted his teeth and was about to take action, but his third uncle hurriedly shouted: "No! This is Xinjiang Manas jade. If you want to split the jade and sell it, you can only sell it for hundreds of thousands. There are so many of us and it's not enough to share. You have to take down the entire jade inlay to make it valuable!"
Pan Zi had already gotten into trouble, so when his uncle glared at him, he dared not do anything else. He scratched his head and stepped aside.
Third uncle knocked on the painted lacquered wooden coffin and said, "Generally, the princes of the Warring States Period had double outer coffins and three layers of coffins. If the tree is counted as the first layer of the outer coffin, now we have removed the second outer coffin and two coffins, so the bottom layer should be the most valuable." After saying that, Third uncle carefully used a knife to remove all the gold threads from the lacquered coffin. In order not to damage the jade-nested coffin, he was very careful. It took him half an hour to finally take out the entire coffin.
As soon as the jade nested coffin was removed, I saw the colorful paintings on the wooden coffin. These things were easier to understand than the inscriptions. I lit a mining lamp and looked carefully. There were several narrative paintings on it. The one on the coffin board might be the scene when the coffin was just buried. I saw a huge tree with a hole in the middle. The bronze coffin was being carried by many skeletons, and the lid had not been closed yet. There were many people on the side, kneeling there respectfully.
Uncle San carefully folded the jade nested coffin and put it in his backpack. I tried to carry it, but it was very heavy and looked difficult to carry.
Encouraged by this thing, Da Kui suddenly became excited, and without saying a word, he continued to open the painted lacquered wooden coffin. Uncle San grabbed him and scolded him : "You get dizzy when you see a ghost, and you don't want to live when you see money. There is only one layer underneath, don't be clumsy, take it easy." He squatted down, put his ear against the coffin board, and made a gesture for us to stop talking.
We held our breath, afraid of disturbing him. He listened for a long time, turned around, and said with a pale face: "There seems to be breathing sounds inside his mother."
We were all stunned. If we heard a ghost screaming inside, we might be able to accept it, but now there is something breathing inside, which is too bizarre. Da Kui was so scared that he stuttered and said, "Is it a living dead person ?"
Uncle San said, "Bullshit! Stop talking nonsense here. It has come to this. Are we going to put the coffin lid back on ?" He took out his black donkey hoof and put it under his armpit. He gestured to me. I raised my gun and Da Kui took up the crowbar in his hand. We stood by the coffin, ready to hit anything that jumped out.
Uncle San spat into his hands twice, stretched his arms to give himself courage, and was about to insert the pry bar inside. At this moment, a voice behind him shouted, "Stop!"
We looked back and saw that the fat guy had woken up at some point and was stroking his head while waving his hands at us : "No, no, this will only lead to trouble. You guys are so inexperienced and yet you want to overthrow him. You are like a flashlight in a toilet, looking for death."
Uncle San snorted, "So what do you mean by that?"
The fat man waved his hand to let Uncle San go away, and reached into the gap between the lacquer coffin and the bronze coffin. He closed his eyes and fumbled for a long time. Suddenly, he exerted force with his hand, and we heard a snap, and the coffin split neatly in the middle. At that moment, we all seemed to hear an extremely miserable scream coming from the coffin. I was so scared that my hands softened and the gun almost fell out of my hand.
The fat man immediately jumped back, spread his hands, and said "Back off!"
I unconsciously raised my gun, pointed it at the coffin, and quickly stepped back several steps. The lacquer coffin rose from the outer coffin like a lotus, and then the coffin lid, which was cracked on both sides, turned down. This ingenious design was truly breathtaking, and we couldn't help but stare in amazement.
At the same time, we saw a man in black armor sitting up from the coffin. I raised my shoulder and was about to shoot, but the fat man grabbed my hand and said, "Don't move, he's wearing a treasure, don't damage it!"
At this time, I finally saw what the mysterious King Lu Shang looked like. It was a rare wet corpse. The skin all over his body was so white that it seemed transparent. His eyes were closed. It seemed that he died in great pain. His facial features were almost distorted. I was very puzzled. Since he had a way to keep the girl's body from decaying for a thousand years, why couldn't he preserve his own body?
Uncle San walked over to the side and said, "I thought it was another zongzi. Look, there is a piece of wood supporting him from behind. No wonder he can sit up."
We all walked over and found that it was a very ingenious mechanism. As long as the coffin was opened, the corpse inside would be propped up by a wooden stick and sit up. If it were an ordinary tomb robber, he would probably be scared to death.
We all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that King Lu Shang was really scheming. Unfortunately, he should have thought that those who are afraid of ghosts don't rob tombs, and tomb robbers are not afraid of ghosts. Those who dare to open other people's coffins at night are all desperate criminals. Such a trick of scaring people is underestimating us.
We all gathered around. I saw the armor he was wearing. It was actually the last coffin. Its scientific name was Jinlu Yuzhou. But for some reason, the jade pieces on it had turned black. I walked closer and was stunned. I saw that the chest of the corpse was still rising and falling, as if it was still breathing. The breathing sound was very obvious now. I could almost see moisture coming out of its nose.
Da Kui opened his mouth in surprise, "This...this...this thing seems to be alive!"