Chapter 862 — Reunion with an Old Acquaintance in the Coffin

The two of them stood atop the hanging coffin. Below, countless Fire Dragon Crows and bird-winged demigods surged madly toward the ancient well beneath the hanging coffin, but in the glow their flesh and blood dissolved one after another, turning into countless white bones. Even so, countless more Fire Dragon Crows and bird-winged demigods rushed toward the ancient well. The white bones below piled higher and higher, tumbling forward with a clatter, and before long the mountain of bones would roll right up to the well's mouth.

"The Fallen God Valley is not large, ringed by mountains on all sides; exploring it once is no great difficulty. But I sensed that the Fallen God Valley is merely the entrance to the true treasure." Xing An stared at Shen Mu and said slowly, "Hierarch Shen, you must act decisively, or else those powerful ones will pile up hundreds of thousands of lives and still trigger the sword-light in the well."

"Xing An, if you turned your cleverness to the proper path, your achievements would not be inferior to Imperial Preceptor Jingping. A pity you always turn your cleverness to crooked paths." Shen Mu shook his head and took out the Heavenly Venerable Mu token. Calmly he said, "The Shen token you obtained is of no use to me. The two characters 'Shen Mu' on this coffin refer to two people — one is me, and the other is the owner of the Shen token. To open this coffin, I must use my own token myself."

He placed the token in the groove; it fit exactly. At that moment, below, the bones had become a mountain piled up to the edge of the ancient well, and several skeletons tumbled into the well. Within the well, that sword-light rose again, hanging beneath the coffin. The groove held the Heavenly Venerable Mu token, and the chains shuddered — clatter — one chain came loose and dropped, and then another chain came loose. Shen Mu stood atop the hanging coffin as it began to sway. One chain after another opened on its own, and at that moment the sword-light below suddenly erupted, covering the whole of the Fallen God Valley.

The Heavenly Dragon King, Yan Qiling, Mu Qiubai, and the others immediately trod the sword-light and raced over, charging toward the hanging coffin. At last all the chains came undone. The hanging coffin suddenly lurched downward. The ground fell away beneath Shen Mu's feet, and together with the Dragon Qilin and Xing An he plummeted with a whistling sound into darkness.

"We've fallen into the hanging coffin!"

His shoulder stung — the Green Sparrow Yan'er perched there had grown frantic and dug its talons into his flesh. Shen Mu hurriedly patted Yan'er's back, and the Green Sparrow came to its senses and released its claws. They were still falling. The hanging coffin looked small, but its interior space was truly frightening. Shen Mu looked up and saw a four-cornered patch of light at the top of the coffin. Then the light abruptly dimmed, and several more people rushed in before the coffin sealed shut. The moment those few rushed in, the hanging coffin closed.

Thud.

The sound of water came from outside. Shen Mu's heart stirred slightly. "This hanging coffin has fallen into the ancient well."

The upright hanging coffin fell into the well and sank toward the bottom. Even in the dark, lightless coffin, they could feel it falling faster and faster. Not only that — they too were falling within the coffin. The depth of this hanging coffin was terrifying. At last Shen Mu saw light coming from below and hastily circulated his mana to steady himself. Before long his feet touched solid ground. He looked up and saw that within the hanging coffin there was actually an octagonal pavilion, with eight lanterns hanging from it, their light dim and quiet. Xing An was alarmed inwardly. He cautiously studied the pavilion and did not go forward. This hanging coffin was too strange. There were no terrifying corpses, only a pavilion — but still he had to act with caution. The pavilion had light, but all around was pitch darkness. Who knew whether a green-haired corpse might suddenly leap out of the dark?

Shen Mu, however, walked forward into the pavilion. Within it was a stone table and four stone stools. On the table were two teacups and a pot of tea. One cup was empty, the other full — the tea a jade green, giving off curling steam. Shen Mu sat down on the side with the tea. He lifted the cup with both hands, bowed toward the opposite seat, head lowered, paying his respects to the empty air. He raised his head, his heart full of emotion. "When we met, you called me junior brother, and I was always harsh with you. You blamed me for being arrogant. You didn't know that a hundred generations separate us — but I did. Later, when you met Niu Ben and Niu Sanduo again, you must have understood. You left this cup of tea — did you mean to drink with me?"

Xing An came over and said coldly, "Hierarch Shen, you dare drink the tea here? Careful — it might be poisoned!"

Shen Mu drained it in one gulp, his heart surging. The tea was astringent with a sweet aftertaste, still warm, as if the one who sat across from him had poured this cup and just risen to leave. Complex emotions crossed Shen Mu's face. He set down the cup, lifted the teapot, and filled the empty cup across from him with green tea. Then he poured himself another cup and said softly, "How I wish you could sit across from me and drink with me. A pity — you are not here." He drained it again. Though it was only tea, he felt somewhat drunk. Drinking alone, he said in a low voice, "Will you come back?"

Though the seat across from him was empty, Xing An still dared not sit. He stood outside the pavilion instead. At this moment Yan Qiling and Mu Qiubai descended with several maidservants. The maidservants warily surveyed the surroundings. The Heavenly Dragon King also descended with several powerful ones under the Earth Mother's command, each of their eyes blazing with divine light that pierced the darkness, searching for danger. But Yan Qiling, Mu Qiubai, and the Heavenly Dragon King all fixed their eyes on Shen Mu, drinking alone at the stone table. On Shen Mu's shoulder, the Green Sparrow rose, flew to the stone stool beside him, and transformed into a demure, lovely girl. She lifted the teapot to pour tea for Shen Mu, then raised the cup to his lips. With a beauty beside him and red sleeves leaning close, Shen Mu looked somewhat unrestrained and rakish.

"The Fallen God Valley hides a great secret." Mu Qiubai said suddenly, "Our master and senior siblings were ordered by His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor to explore this place. Heavenly Dragon King, you must have been ordered by the Earth Mother Yuanjun? The Earth Mother Yuanjun has long dwelled in Yuandu; the secrets of the Fallen God Valley naturally cannot escape her."

The Heavenly Dragon King was silent a moment, then said, "The Earth Mother told me that a Heavenly Venerable is buried here, and sent me to find this Heavenly Venerable."

Suddenly Xing An sniffed and said suspiciously, "You came seeking this deceased Heavenly Venerable — did you bring someone with you?"

Everyone was slightly startled.

Xing An said, "I smell another person's aura. Could someone have slipped in behind you while you entered the hanging coffin?"

At his words, the others too sensed that there was one more person in the hanging coffin, and could not help growing anxious. They were all formidable powerhouses. Who could have mingled behind them without any of them noticing?

"There's no need for alarm."

A laugh came from the darkness, drawing closer to the pavilion. Gradually a youthful face was lit by the pavilion's lanterns. It was a familiar face, wreathed in smiles, bowing to everyone around. He laughed and said, "I mean no harm. I only came seeking an old friend."