We all stepped back in fright, and although we had anticipated that there would be some issues with the coffin, the actual encounter still made us gasp. The noise clearly indicated that there was definitely something alive inside. If there was something moving in the coffin, it could not be a good sign.

Da Kui’s face turned pale, and he trembled as he said, “It seems like there’s something alive inside? Third Uncle, I think we shouldn’t open this coffin.”

Third Uncle examined the seams of the coffin closely and shook his head, saying, “Impossible. This coffin is sealed very well; air can’t circulate at all. No matter what living creature is inside, even if it had a lifespan of three thousand years, it would have suffocated long ago. Moreover, this is just a coffin; there are several layers of coffins inside. Let’s pry off one or two layers first and then listen carefully.”

I estimated the weight of the coffin. In my memory, the heaviest bronze coffin was the giant coffin from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng, which weighed about nine tons. This one was similar in size, but the coffin from the Marquis Yi’s tomb was made of bronze inlaid with wooden boards, while this one was entirely bronze. It was likely that it weighed far more than nine tons, but I couldn’t estimate the exact weight.

Da Kui and Third Uncle first scraped off the wax sealing the seams with a knife, then they inserted a pry bar and shouted before pushing down. With a loud crack, the bronze coffin lid began to lift. I hurried over to help push the bronze plate outward. This piece weighed at least eight hundred pounds, and after a long struggle, we managed to move half of it. Exhausted, we finally used our shoulders to flip the plate aside, revealing the coffin inside.

It was an exquisite painted lacquer coffin inlaid with jade, covered with neatly arranged jade stones in both diamond and round shapes, embodying the concept of “heavenly roundness and earthly flatness.” The jade was set into a painted wooden coffin, but since the outside was covered with jade, I couldn’t see the designs on it. When Panzi saw the coffin, his eyes nearly popped out. Holding his wound, he was half crying and half laughing, saying, “Damn, so much jade! Now I can walk sideways!” As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and was about to make a move, but Third Uncle quickly called out, “No! This is Xinjiang Manas jade. If you take the jade apart to sell, you can only get about a hundred thousand. With so many of us, it won’t be enough to share. You need to take the entire jade-inlaid coffin to make it valuable!”

Panzi had already gotten into trouble before, and when Third Uncle glared at him, he dared not act recklessly and scratched his head, retreating to the side.

Third Uncle tapped the painted wooden coffin and said, “Generally, the kings of the Warring States period had double coffins and triple layers. If we count that tree as the first layer, we have already removed two layers of coffins. The layer below should be the most valuable.” After saying that, Third Uncle carefully used a small knife to detach all the gold threads from the lacquer coffin. To avoid damaging the jade-inlaid coffin, he was very cautious and spent half an hour finally extracting the entire set of coffins.

Once the jade-inlaid coffin was removed, I saw the colorful paintings on the wooden coffin. These images were easier to understand than the inscriptions. I lit a mineral lamp and looked closely; there were several narrative scenes depicted. The one on the coffin board might represent the moment the coffin was just sealed. I saw a giant tree with a hole in the middle, and a bronze coffin being carried by many skeletons, still uncovered. There were many people kneeling respectfully beside it.

My uncle carefully stacked the jade-inlaid coffin and placed it in his backpack. I tried to carry it, and it was incredibly heavy; it looked like it would be quite a struggle to haul around.

With this object as motivation, Da Kui suddenly became energetic. Without saying a word, he continued to open the colorful lacquered wooden coffin inside. My uncle quickly grabbed him, scolding, “You faint at the sight of a ghost, but when you see money, you throw caution to the wind! There’s only one layer left down here, so be careful!” He squatted down, pressed his ear against the coffin board, and gestured for us to be quiet.

We held our breath, afraid to disturb him. He listened for a long time, then turned around, his face pale, and said, “Damn it, it sounds like there’s breathing inside.”

We all froze. If we heard a ghostly cry from inside, we might have been able to accept it, but now something inside was breathing—this was too bizarre. Da Kui stammered in fear, saying, “Could it be a living dead person?”

My uncle replied, “Shut… up! Don’t talk nonsense here! We’ve come this far; are we really going to put the coffin lid back on?” Saying this, he pulled out a black donkey hoof and tucked it under his arm, signaling me. I raised my gun, and Da Kui swung the crowbar he was holding, standing guard by the coffin, ready to shoot anything that jumped out.

My uncle spat into his hands twice to gather his courage, then prepared to insert the crowbar inside. Just then, a voice shouted from behind, “Stop!”

We turned around to see the fat man, who had somehow woken up, rubbing his head and waving his hands at us. “No, no, this way will cause trouble. With your limited experience, you think you can deal with it? This is like using a flashlight in a latrine to look for shit (death).”

My uncle snorted, “Then how do you suggest we open it?”

The fat man waved his hand for my uncle to step aside, then reached into the gap between the lacquered coffin and the bronze coffin, closing his eyes and feeling around for a long time. Suddenly, he applied force, and we heard a loud crack as the coffin split cleanly in half. In that instant, we all seemed to hear an extremely mournful scream coming from inside the coffin, and I was so startled that my hand went weak, almost dropping the gun.

The fat man quickly jumped back, arms spread wide, and said, “Step back!”

I instinctively raised my gun, aiming at the coffin, and quickly retreated several steps. The lacquered coffin rose like a lotus flower from the coffin, and the lid split open, falling down. The exquisite design was truly breathtaking, and we couldn’t help but stare in awe.

At the same time, we saw a figure clad in black armor sit up from the coffin. I raised my shoulder, nearly ready to fire, but the fat man grabbed my hand and said, “Don’t move! He’s wearing treasures; don’t break them!”

At that moment, I finally saw what the mysterious King Lu Shang looked like. It was a rare wet corpse, with skin so white it almost seemed transparent. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to have died in great pain, with his features almost twisted. I was very curious; since he had a way to keep that young girl’s corpse from decaying for a thousand years, why couldn’t he preserve his own body?

My third uncle walked over to take a look and said, “I thought it was just another zongzi (sticky rice dumpling). Look, there’s a piece of wood propping him up from behind. No wonder he can sit up.”

We all walked over, and indeed, it was a very clever mechanism. As soon as the coffin was opened, the corpse inside would be propped up by a wooden stick, which would probably scare ordinary tomb raiders to death.

We all sighed in relief. We thought to ourselves that the King Lu Shang was truly scheming, but he should have considered that those who are afraid of ghosts do not raid tombs, and those who raid tombs are not afraid of ghosts. Those who dare to open someone else’s coffin at night are all desperate characters; this kind of scare tactic really underestimates us.

We gathered around, and I could see the armor he was wearing, which was actually the last coffin, scientifically known as the “Golden Thread Jade Armor.” However, for some reason, the jade pieces on it had all turned black. As I approached, I couldn’t help but be stunned. I saw that the corpse’s chest was actually rising and falling continuously, as if it were still breathing. The sound of that breathing was now very clear, and I could almost see moisture spraying out from his nose.

Da Kui was astonished, his mouth agape: “This… this… this thing seems to be alive!”