The whole podium started to rotate, which produced clanking sounds as it rotated. The subsurface stream blasted strongly, the chime-bells on top of the podium bellowed when the blasts pounded against them. The crystal coffin sunk slowly until the entire base was submerged beneath the podium.

“What happened?” The businessman came over immediately. He then asked Xu Lan with a surprised look, “You activated the hidden mechanism?”

Xu Lan frown and kept a death stare on the sinking crystal coffin. The darkness did not change according to the trends of the subsurface stream. The podium shuddered violently instead, creating swirls of dust in the air.

“Quick! Secure it! Don’t let it sink!” Xu Lan shouted suddenly while pointing toward the crystal coffin.

A group of baffled people gathered around. Although they did not understand what Xu Lan had in mind, they still joined forces to carry the crystal coffin. Some of them pushed the crystal coffin to one side, the others stuffed rocks into the groove, which gradually reduced the sinking speed of the coffin.

‘Clang… Clang…’ The moment when the crystal coffin stopped moving, the sounds of the internal machinery inside the dimension went off. Instantly, the exquisite murals started to come alive. Goddess with gossamer robes and the magnificent and mighty general started moving on the walls. Some carried bows and arrows, there were also people playing zithers and drums. It was as if they were holding a grand ceremony.

All of a sudden, the sounds from the zither, thumping drum, and darting arrows all charged toward the podium.

“This!”

“We fell into a trap! Quick! Fall back!” the businessman urged as they return to the open ground with a stern expression.

“No! If we leave, there’ll be no other way for us to escape from this place!” Xu Lan shielded Bai Wu from the arrows by holding him within his arms and said without batting an eyelid.

“But!”

“There’s no other way! Why was the hidden mechanism activated once the coffin ceased moving? The mechanism was set to kill all of us. We were safe when we started our journey but we were attacked halfway through. This should be the centermost of the catacomb and the hidden mechanism was activated when we moved the coffin. Think about it, aside from preventing outsiders from entering, the tomb builder would also prevent those who had entered from leaving!”

Xu Lan avoided the darting arrows with difficulty. Luckily, he had a few moves up his sleeves as he was trained before. Several feeble members that got killed by the poisonous arrows. There was froth at their mouths and their bodies started turning black. Pungent white smoke started coming out from the bodies. After a short while, the only thing left was a pool of blood on the floor.

“… The arrows are poisonous! Be careful guys!” The businessman was contemplating Xu Lan’s analysis and did not know how to answer.

“F*ck! We’ll die here if we don’t move! Can’t we head over to the other side and come back after the poisonous arrows stopped shooting?” the crew-cut guy asked fearfully.

‘Swoosh, swoosh.’ There were no signs of ceasing at all. The shooting of poisonous arrows increased in speed and force instead.

“You pathetic peasants! How dare you use Xue Yin as a Gu vessel! I’ll let you feel the pain of Gu worms gnawing on your bodies! I want all of you to be buried with Xiao Ya!” The furious voice of the unofficial deity, Xue Feng, blared in the sky.

“F*ck! What the hell is this! We were not involved in Xiao Ya’s death! Furthermore, Wu Ling is already dead!” the crew-cut guy shouted toward the sky.

The crew-cut guy’s voice echoed throughout the empty chamber. Just when his sound faded away, the crystal coffin opened instantly. All sorts of nauseating venomous worms started crawling out from the coffin.