Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 18: The Strange Iron Coffin
"One, two, three—go!"
The yamen runners shouted slogans in unison, and every time they shouted "Go", they pushed the heavy iron coffin lid hard together.
Squeak, squeak...
The iron coffin lid made a harsh friction sound and was being opened little by little.
At this moment, everyone's heart was in their throat. No one knew what would appear in the coffin.
Xu Zun and Qiu Yongnian came closer and stared at the inside of the coffin intently.
Zhao Yu and several nimble constables all drew their swords and acted as if they were facing a formidable enemy, fearing that some monster might emerge from inside.
“This… this is…”
When a corner of the coffin lid was pushed open, Xu Zun was the first to see a grey robe inside, and there seemed to be a person lying inside!!!
When the bailiffs saw something inside, they immediately lost their rhythm. Instead of pushing the iron coffin lid, two of them staggered.
"Hurry!" Qiu Yongnian urged, "Everyone, work harder and move the entire coffin lid away! Hurry!"
“Yes… yes!”
The bailiffs responded fearfully, then readjusted their slogans and pushed hard on the coffin lid once again.
Finally, the coffin lid was pushed open most of the way, and Xu Zun and others could see clearly what was inside.
But there was a person lying flat inside wearing a grey Taoist robe. It turned out to be a Taoist priest!!!
Boom!
With a loud bang, the heavy coffin lid was finally pushed to the ground, shaking the entire stone bridge.
"Wow……"
Looking at the Taoist priest lying in the coffin, everyone's faces were filled with surprise and their thoughts were in a mess.
The painting style of iron coffin + Taoist priest is really weird, which makes people feel cold all over.
But the Taoist priest was lying flat in the iron coffin, with his hands folded on his abdomen and a handful of dust in his hands.
This man had a long, messy beard, wore a Hunyuan scarf on his head, and Shifang shoes on his feet. He was definitely dressed like a standard Taoist priest.
However, his face was ferocious and his mouth was wide open, as if he had encountered something extremely terrifying.
Gurgle...
Xu Zun swallowed his saliva and felt that his belief in materialism was slightly shaken. This was really too weird!
"How...how come he's an old Taoist?" Zhao Yu's eyes widened in disbelief, "Did he fail to transcend the tribulation?"
"You...you guys..." Qiu Yongnian asked everyone tremblingly, "Do you know this Taoist priest? Who...who is he?"
The yamen runners looked at each other and shook their heads.
"There is no Taoist temple in Xinye County," Zhao Yu muttered, "where does the Taoist come from?"
"Oh, what should we do?" Qiu Yongnian asked Xu Zun anxiously, "What happened to our Xinye County? Did we offend someone? Sigh..."
While speaking, Qiu Yongnian looked up at the sky, as if he was suspecting that Xinye County had not offended "people"!
"Jiying, such a big thing has happened, do we have to report it to the county magistrate immediately?" Qiu Yongnian asked Xu Zun in a panic.
"Don't be anxious!" Xu Zun looked around and said, "Master Qiu, don't forget that there were 37 bodies in the last iron coffin case! We have to search the surrounding area first!"
"Yes, yes, yes," County Magistrate Qiu hurriedly ordered Zhao Yu, "Captain Zhao, send your men to check around to see if there is anything else going on."
"yes!"
Zhao Yu did not dare to delay and immediately arranged people to check the situation in all directions.
"Jiying!" Magistrate Qiu said to Xu Zun again, "This is so strange! I think... um..."
He stopped talking immediately before he finished speaking.
Because he saw Xu Zun carefully observing the Taoist's body, as if he had discovered something?
Xu Zun discovered that the Taoist's robe was patched and had holes in some places, which seemed to indicate that his financial situation was not very good.
Looking at the dust again, there is still oil stain on it, and it has a strong smell of fireworks.
In addition, the Taoist priest was thin and looked as if he was not full.
Also, there is a scar on his left cheek, it seems that he was burned by something...
In order to get a closer look, Xu Zun almost buried his face in the coffin, and even did something with his hands, which made the yamen runners stunned.
"Ji...Jiying!" Magistrate Qiu's eyes almost flashed to the ground, and he hurriedly reminded, "Be careful!"
Magistrate Qiu’s reminder was intriguing, as if the Taoist priest could suddenly jump up and strangle Xu Zun’s neck.
However, Xu Zun himself knew that the Taoist's body was stiff and cold, and he was definitely dead.
If it can explode again, that would be really weird!
Originally, Xu Zun wanted to investigate the cause of death of the Taoist priest, but as soon as he bent down, he suddenly discovered a problem.
Why?
He found that the Taoist was lying flat in the coffin, but his position was quite shallow, and there seemed to be a lot of space between him and the bottom of the coffin.
This is……
He quickly retracted his body and checked the outside of the coffin, and indeed found something strange at first glance.
The corpse was only located in the upper part of the iron coffin. There must be a lot of space underneath the corpse.
"Come!" Xu Zun waved his hand at the yamen runners and said, "Carry this man out to me!"
"What?" The bailiffs almost fell to the ground, "Carry them out?"
"Yes!" Xu Zun pointed to the bottom of the iron coffin and said, "Look, there is still a lot of space . Maybe there is something inside!"
this……
The yamen runners looked at each other in fear.
"Oh? That's right!" Zhao Yu saw the clue and hurriedly called the yamen runners, "Could there be any burial objects? Are you going to get rich?"
Xu Zun's forehead was filled with black lines. He didn't expect that this guy was still thinking about getting rich.
"Is there anything else?" Magistrate Qiu came closer and urged, "Move the body away quickly and see what else is underneath?"
Under the order of County Magistrate Qiu, the yamen runners had no choice but to carry the corpse with Xu Zun.
The corpse smelled a bit, but was not heavy. Several people lifted it out of the iron coffin with ease.
After the body was removed, Xu Zun checked again and found an iron partition inside, with a handle on it!
When I knocked on it with my hand, it made a hollow sound, and it was obvious that it was hollow underneath.
"Come on!" Xu Zun grabbed the handle and said to everyone, "Move it away!"
"Master Xu, Master Xu," Zhao Yu came up to remind him, "Let us do it! Don't have any traps down there, or you'll get hurt!"
"Yes, yes, everyone should be careful!" Qiu Yongnian also echoed.
Xu Zun had no choice but to let go. Zhao Yu and the other yamen runners rushed forward, and together they worked hard and quickly lifted the iron plate out of the coffin.
"ah !!?"
"ah……"
Before the iron plate was put down firmly, Xu Zun and Qiu Yongnian cried out in unison!
Because they saw an even more incredible scene from the bottom of the coffin!
Zhao Yu and others quickly put the iron plate in place, and then all looked into the coffin. After seeing this, they also exclaimed in shock , and some people even knelt on the ground in fear!
"How...how could this be?" Qiu Yongnian also felt dizzy and leaned against the iron coffin to avoid collapsing.
But there was another corpse at the bottom of the iron coffin!
He was an old man in green official uniform, and it was none other than the chief clerk of Xinye County - Liu Zhang!!!
