Chapter 9: Copper Coffin's Thirtieth Person

**Chapter 9: The Thirtieth Person in the Bronze Coffin**

"How could this be... there's an extra person!"

"Who... who is it?"

The voice of the person who asked trembled. All phone screens lit up as everyone fearfully scrutinized those around them, terrified of a strange face appearing. Those who knew each other huddled together, nervously scanning their surroundings.

At that moment, everyone finally confirmed there was indeed an extra person, leaning in a nearby corner.

"You... who are you?"

"Are you human or ghost?"

Trapped within the mysterious bronze coffin, anything sinister seemed possible, leaving everyone deeply unsettled. A heavy cough echoed from the dark corner. The shadowy figure stirred, then emitted a low, hoarse voice: "Ghost... ghost..."

The hoarse voice reverberated within the bronze coffin. At that moment, everyone felt a chill from head to toe, their hairs standing on end as an icy dread spread through the air. Everyone felt as though they had plunged into an ice cellar; many were petrified. Some female students shrieked, crying loudly and nearly collapsing to the ground.

"Ghost... place..." The voice was slightly weak, indicating the shadowy figure was exhausted. He swayed as he tried to stand. "What a... ghostly place. Are we... inside the bronze coffin?" The shadowy figure in the corner slowly rose, posing this slightly bewildered question, his voice gradually growing stronger.

Seeing the tall shadowy figure stand, many instinctively recoiled. As the shadowy figure moved towards them, he continued, "It's me, Pang Bo."

"Stop, don't come any closer!" Everyone raised their phones, peering forward in the faint light. Ye Fan parted the crowd and slowly stepped forward, asking, "Are you really Pang Bo?"

"Can't you even recognize my voice?" A phone screen lit up in the darkness, revealing a familiar figure holding a phone: broad-browed, wide-eyed, and powerfully built. Pang Bo was Ye Fan's best friend from college, and due to personal matters, he hadn't been able to attend the gathering. His sudden appearance now raised doubts in everyone's minds.

"I don't believe it. Pang Bo never came to the gathering. Who... who are you really?" A voice from behind trembled. The presence of someone who shouldn't have been there, standing in the bronze coffin, made many present feel a tingling sensation on their scalps.

"Of course I'm Pang Bo. Does anyone have water? I'm dying of thirst." The shadowy figure continued to approach.

"Stop!" Everyone still struggled to believe him. Pang Bo halted. To prove his identity, he went to great lengths, recounting many past events from their college days.

"I believe he is Pang Bo," Ye Fan stated firmly, then strode over to Pang Bo's side. The two hadn't seen each other in a while, and even under these circumstances, they shared a strong embrace.

"Initially, I couldn't make it to the gathering on time due to some family matters. Later, when I heard everyone was coming to Mount Tai, I finished up my affairs at home and naturally hurried over..." Pang Bo took the mineral water bottle from Ye Fan and gulped down several large mouthfuls before recounting how he had entered the bronze coffin.

By the time he arrived, everyone had already ascended the mountain; he had taken the cable car up the ropeway. Overall, he was quite fortunate. Just before the nine dragon corpses and the giant bronze coffin crashed into Mount Tai, he had safely reached Jade Emperor Peak via the cableway. He didn't flee down the mountain with the crowd but clung tightly to a large tree until Mount Tai settled, remaining unharmed.

Afterward, he watched from a distance as Ye Fan and the others fell into the colossal pit. When he ran over, he saw ancient characters illuminating the air, and he became rooted outside the pit, unable to move an inch. It wasn't until the bronze coffin shook and its lid shifted that he was drawn into it, right behind the others. Perhaps because he was outside the five-colored altar, Pang Bo was knocked unconscious upon falling into the bronze coffin.

Only then did everyone's doubts gradually subside, and their taut nerves finally relaxed.

"We must find a way to save ourselves. Being inside this bronze coffin makes me uneasy; I have a bad feeling about this..." Li Xiaoman's face was pale as her beautiful eyes gazed into the dark depths of the coffin. Compared to the other female students, both she and Lin Jia remained remarkably calm. Hearing this, many felt a chill run through them.

"Everyone stick together. Don't separate," Zhou Yi suggested.

Huddling together, they used the faint light from their phones to examine their surroundings. Pressed against one side of the bronze coffin, they could make out blurry bronze etchings: a ferocious nine-headed divine bird soaring with outstretched wings, and a massive, fierce beast with foot-long stiff bristles roaring towards the sky. The bronze engravings, covered in verdigris, depicted ancient mythical beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, such as the Taotie, Qiongqi, and Taowu. Their enormous, ferocious, and lifelike forms were truly awe-inspiring.

Walking further along the inner wall of the bronze coffin, they also discovered numerous carvings of figures, resembling ancient ancestors and primeval deities. Following this, they found a vast expanse of peculiar patterns, dense and dotted, strongly resembling a star map.

The giant bronze coffin measured twenty meters long and over eight meters wide; the carvings they had seen were merely a small section. They did not continue to observe them because, at that moment, everyone sensed the presence of another object deep within the coffin. All phones were raised collectively as everyone, gathering their courage, took a few steps forward. They could faintly discern a blurry, rectangular object in the dark center of the colossal bronze coffin. Clearly, it was neither a corpse nor a living being, which offered them a measure of relief, and they proceeded a few more steps.

"A coffin within a coffin! It's another bronze coffin!" Many people gasped upon clearly seeing the object before them. In the very center lay another bronze coffin, less than four meters long and under two meters wide. It was ancient and dim, adorned with archaic etchings, covered in verdigris, and inscribed with the wear of ages, inspiring both dread and awe.

"It's not a 'coffin within a coffin' in the way you might think. This inner one is the actual coffin, the vessel for containing a body. The outer bronze behemoth is called a 'guo'—a sarcophagus or outer coffin. Together, they form a 'guanguo'," Pang Bo explained to the few who were unfamiliar with the terminology.

Upon hearing that the inner coffin was the true vessel for a body, many immediately recoiled, stepping back in extreme fear. What kind of figure could possibly be interred within such a mysterious ancient bronze coffin? A mix of wonder and terror filled everyone's hearts. All the archaeological secrets and imperial tombs they had ever heard of paled in comparison to this bronze coffin before them; they were utterly insignificant! Who had ever seen a twenty-meter-long bronze sarcophagus? Who had ever witnessed a mysterious colossal coffin descending from the sky? Who had ever seen nine dragon corpses pulling a coffin? It made them question whether it even contained a single human corpse; it was simply unimaginable what lay buried within.