That's right, the old man rowing the boat is a ghost.

And not just any ghost, but an old ghost at least at the Grain Avoidance Realm. He has appeared in physical form, with Yin Qi condensed to be indistinguishable from a fleshly body, and even dares to walk under the daylight.

Seeing a ghost in broad daylight, it's been a while since I've encountered such a thing. Zhang Kui felt a bit excited inside, chuckled, and leaned lazily on the bow of the boat, picking up a wine flask to take a sip,

"Old man, where do you come from, and where are you heading?"

The old man in the river raised his murky, blackened eyes,

"Where do I come from... The old man can't remember clearly, but where I'm heading, I've already arrived..."

Already arrived?

Zhang Kui's eyes narrowed; he initially thought it was a passing wild ghost, but he didn't expect it to come to him directly.

Zhang Kui sneered coldly, pointing to the large banner behind him, "Can you read?"

The old man nodded slowly and dully, "I can read... it says 'National Guardian and Exorcism'..."

Zhang Kui grinned, "And you still dare to come to me voluntarily? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"

"True Man Zhang... Please do not be angry..."

The old ghost hobbled along the small boat, leaving blood-red footprints along the way, and picked up an item, tossing it over to Zhang Kui.

Zhang Kui caught it and found it was a sheepskin map, covered with mildew and rotten.

"What is this?"

Zhang Kui frowned and asked.

The old ghost sat at the bow of the boat, pulling out a foul-smelling black root, chewing it leisurely as he slowly said:

"Thirty years ago, National Guardian True Man Li Xuanji cleared out a demon nest, obtained a useless coffin ancient artifact and stored it in the inner treasury, but no one knew this ancient artifact was only half..."

Nether Soil Stone Coffin?

Zhang Kui's eyes narrowed slightly, as he recalled that when taking it from the inner treasury, there was no coffin lid, and he thought it was just meant to be so.

But the more pressing question is:

How does this old ghost know so much about him?

Just as Zhang Kui was about to ask, this old ghost coughed a few times, "True Man Zhang, don't worry too much, the old man is just a pitiful runner, the master wants me to deliver a message to you."

"Find the coffin lid as soon as possible, and... try to stay alive..."

As soon as the words fell, the old ghost along with the small boat vanished instantly.

Next to him, Fatty Tiger's eyes widened, "Where did he go? How does this old ghost, only Grain Avoidance Realm, have such capabilities?"

Zhang Kui shook his head slightly, "That boat is an ancient artifact."

He said, looking down at the map in his hand.

He originally thought it was aimed at him, but it turned out to be about the Nether Soil Stone Coffin. Could it be that this coffin is something remarkable?

The map was mottled and decayed, with a faint word "Yu" in the upper right, while the center was filled with mountains and rivers, standardized like something from the court.

Although many places were blurred, the red line representing the North-South Canal was exceptionally prominent, and at a corner of the central red line, someone had circled a spot with fresh ink.

Could the coffin lid be hidden here?

Zhang Kui carefully discerned for a moment, murmuring while looking ahead: "No wonder it was waiting for me here..."

"What's ahead twenty miles?"

Zhang Kui turned and asked.

The black-clothed Profound Guard operating the boat quickly clasped his fists and replied, "Reporting to the True Man, ahead is the Nine Bends Gorge, full of hidden currents and reefs."

Zhang Kui nodded, "Proceed at full speed!"

No matter what the other's motives are, the truth will eventually come out in the future. Now it's right to find the coffin lid first.

Before long, they reached the location marked on the map, where the river water was turbulent, swirling in places, with fine rain misting the banks, and the ridges winding and undulating.

The operative black-clothed Profound Guard was sweating profusely, "Sir, it's difficult to dock the boat here."

"No problem..."

Zhang Kui stepped forward, hoisting the stone coffin, "Fatty Tiger, you stay, follow them and wait for me up ahead."

With that, there was a rumbling sound as he leapt into the water.

The black-clothed Profound Guards looked at each other but dared not ask more, steering the official boat downstream.

Hululu, the sound of water came rushing at him.

Zhang Kui used the Forbidden Water Skill, pushing the stone coffin to the riverbed, then flipped himself inside. Accompanied by rolling black smoke, the stone coffin quickly sank into the ground.

The location marked on the map was on the right bank, where cliffs and rocky mountains were aligned. Whether it's a cave or buried deep underground, using the Nether Soil Stone Coffin was undoubtedly the best choice.

The special vision of the stone coffin appeared again.

Above was the surging river, surrounded by darkness with many sunken ship wrecks around, and many arm-thick loaches hidden in the soil.

Wow, there's all this good stuff here!

Zhang Kui couldn't help but swallow hard, but the task was urgent, and he continued to control the stone coffin toward the right.

There's one thing about it, if you want to dig for treasure, it's an excellent tool.

In the darkness, whether those massive tree jades or the fossils of ancient animals were all visible at a glance.

Including the center of a stone mountain, a sealed cave...

That easy?

Zhang Kui was a bit surprised, expecting layers of traps or lurking demon ghosts, but it was just a simple stone cave.

No passages, no cracks, as if it was hollowed out of a giant stone, clearly showing a skeleton leaning against the wall and a large stone slab inside.

It's the past owner of the stone coffin...

Zhang Kui immediately understood, only the Nether Soil Stone Coffin could achieve this effortlessly.

Amidst swirling black smoke, the Nether Soil Stone Coffin slowly rose from the cave; the cave wasn't big, and the coffin seemed cramped as soon as it entered.

However, before Zhang Kui could react, the coffin lid flipped up like a magnet, clapping onto the stone coffin snugly, as if glued together.

Soon after, his entire mana poured out like a tide and was quickly emptied by the Nether Soil Stone Coffin.

Zhang Kui wasn't startled but delighted, not expecting the ancient artifact to recognize a new master a second time; he hadn't forgotten this was the best opportunity to refine pills quickly.

The last time in the inner treasury cave, he was somewhat unprepared; this time, how could he miss it?

Without hesitation, Zhang Kui took out a Purple Mansion Spirit Nourishing Pill and swallowed it, refining it quickly.

This time the Nether Soil Stone Coffin recognized a new master, the process was lengthy, pills were consumed one after another, mana was depleted and replenished continuously, until the Grain Avoidance Skill reached the second level, it finally stopped.

Zhang Kui felt carefully, first with confusion, then with surprise in his eyes.

After merging the Nether Soil Stone Coffin, not to mention the speed and vision increased significantly, the aura didn't leak at all, equivalent to swapping a sports car engine and coated with invisible material.

More importantly, it didn't have an artifact spirit, clearly not a divine artifact, yet it could be absorbed into the body like Longevity.

Rolling black smoke scattered, the Nether Soil Stone Coffin rapidly vanished, revealing Zhang Kui's figure.

"What a treasure!"

Zhang Kui exclaimed in admiration, looking toward the skeleton, his brow furrowing, feeling a bit creeped out.

The previous owner of the Nether Soil Stone Coffin, under the tattered yellow robe, was just a skeleton, who knows what happened in life, with dense black marks all over the bones.

Those marks were actually patterns of eyes!

Is it a curse... or natural?

Zhang Kui furrowed his brow, then made another discovery; under the skeleton's right hand were some skewed words, obscured by stone dust, unclear.

Zhang Kui lowered his head, waved his hand, the dust scattered, and the words became visible:

Do not go to the Underworld!

...

The history of the Qian Dynasty's North-South Ancient Canal is very long, existing even before the Great Zhou, but having been widened over three dynasties, it has now become a water transport network connecting the entire Central State.

After obtaining the complete Nether Soil Stone Coffin at Nine Bends Gorge, the official Astronomical Bureau's ship traveled nonstop, sailing swiftly, and finally arrived at Jiangzhou a week later.

This was already the south of Qian, with beautiful mountains and waters on both banks, and lush lotus leaves, clearly displaying a water town scenery.

Zhang Kui stood at the bow, watching the cargo ships coming and going on the river, most carrying grain.

It seemed that the south had also received the news, and various wealthy families were preparing to stockpile grain to resist disaster.

Zhang Kui wasn't surprised, turning his head to the east side.

Though Jiangzhou was rich, the cities were built along the west side canal, few dared to set foot in the east's endless mountains.

Because there was a dreaded forbidden area: the General's Tomb!

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