TEFSCBSS Chapter 62

Chapter 62: So You Belong to Prime Minister Su as Well

“You… are you sure you didn’t take the wrong path?”

Zhao Wen swallowed hard as he stared at the eerily familiar coffin in front of him.

“Of course not! After leaving the Earth God Temple, I took a left turn and walked straight! That should’ve led us to the big iron gate!” Jiang Liang started to doubt himself. What was going on? Had his memory as a second-rate martial artist failed him?

The two of them stood awkwardly between the black wooden coffin and the graveyard.

Unwilling to accept this bizarre situation, Jiang Liang grabbed Zhao Wen and retraced their steps, aiming to return to the Earth God Temple—only to find it completely missing. In its place stood a massive ancestral hall from which strange, slapping sounds echoed.

Feeling emboldened by Zhao Wen’s presence, Jiang Liang craned his neck to take a look inside. “Huh? Isn’t that Li Tiechui—mmph!”

Just as Jiang Liang blurted out the name, Zhao Wen clamped a hand over his mouth. “Shh! Don’t speak. Something’s off about him!”

Jiang Liang’s pupils contracted. Something off? Could it be that Li Tiechui, like himself, was another agent sent by Prime Minister Su to stir up trouble? Otherwise, why would Zhao Wen suspect a fellow player?

The thought excited him. He immediately let go of Zhao Wen, no longer bothering to support him.

What a joke! In a situation like this, some pampered nobleman was far less reliable than a comrade sent by Prime Minister Su.

Jiang Liang considered himself a second-rate martial artist, but Li Tiechui, standing at an imposing nine feet tall with bulging muscles, looked far more formidable—probably a first-rate bandit or rogue hero!

Ah, Prime Minister Su, you cunning man. So you had a backup plan all along! But you could’ve at least given me a heads-up so we could watch each other’s backs!

Growing more and more thrilled, Jiang Liang’s excitement translated into action. Without warning, he shoved Zhao Wen straight into the graveyard.

To his surprise, the small mound of dirt in the middle of the graveyard was nothing more than a hollow shell. Zhao Wen fell right in without resistance, the surrounding soil collapsing on top of him—performing, in real time, an accidental self-burial.

Zhao Wen wanted to cry. But with the coffin before him and Li Tiechui behind him, he found an odd sense of security in the tightly packed earth surrounding him.

After all the walking, running, and constant fear, exhaustion finally overtook him. Drowsy and spent, he drifted into sleep.

Meanwhile, Jiang Liang was overwhelmed with emotion.

Brimming with excitement, he took a bold step into the ancestral hall. His eyes instantly locked onto Li Tiechui, who sat there exuding an air of calm wisdom.

The entire scene was steeped in eerie, bone-chilling winds, with ghosts lurking in every corner, yet Li Tiechui remained focused on the dirt in his hands—truly the mark of an enlightened master!

Jiang Liang quickly set aside his usual arrogance and pride, adopting a humble demeanor as he approached Li Tiechui. With enthusiasm, he asked, “You’re also one of Prime Minister Su’s men, aren’t you? What’s your mission?”

Hearing the question, Li Tiechui combed through his memory of his character’s backstory, recalling the second-act script he received upon entering the coffin.

Nowhere did it mention anything about a Prime Minister Su.

Could it be… that this guy was trying to probe his mission?

Narrowing his eyes, Li Tiechui scrutinized Jiang Liang. His disciple had once told him that character backgrounds didn’t always spell out the full story—there were always hidden details that only others knew and many more that had to be pieced together from clues.

According to his new script, the coffin carried a unique curse. Anyone who lay inside would be marked, allowing the soul of the previous coffin owner to merge with their body.

In other words, this was essentially a soul-swapping technique.

From the moment he entered the coffin, he ceased to be Li Tiechui, the potter. Instead, he had become a native of Shan Shi Village. From then on, he had to cooperate with the village chief, ensuring that the ritual proceeded as planned.

However, the script did mention one additional detail:

The curse couldn’t be broken—but it could be transferred.

Li Tiechui narrowed his eyes further, studying Jiang Liang until the latter felt a chill run down his spine.

“Uh… S-Sir? Wh-What’s wrong?”

To avoid raising suspicion, Li Tiechui went along with Jiang Liang’s assumption and made up a story on the spot. “It’s perfectly normal that you didn’t know about me. Prime Minister Su was worried you’d be too reckless and fail the mission, so he brought me in as well. That’s why I know who you are.”

Good. Establishing himself as Jiang Liang’s “ally” while subtly positioning himself as the superior. Now, Jiang Liang would be more likely to follow his lead.

Jiang Liang let out a sigh of relief. Under normal circumstances, he would have felt insulted and insisted on challenging Li Tiechui to a duel to prove his worth. But this was a horror scenario, filled with walking skeletons and supernatural threats. In a place like this, if someone told him, “I’m your superior,” he’d take it as reassurance rather than an insult.

“So, boss, what do we do next? This place is haunted! Did you see that?”

Haunted? Li Tiechui internally rolled his eyes. As a skilled carpenter from the Li family, he could spot mechanical tricks a mile away. Even with all the fog, he had already noticed the sliding tracks on the ground and the wooden planks positioned along them inside the ancestral hall.

Jiang Liang, that fool, must have assumed the skeletons were floating because they moved without walking. But Li Tiechui could tell—they were probably fixed onto the wooden planks, then either operated by a mechanism or pulled by people, creating the illusion of them gliding through the air.

Of course, there was no way he was going to explain any of this to Jiang Liang. He still needed a “scapegoat” to help him escape this scripted role and regain his freedom as a player.

So, tapping into his well-practiced ability to bluff, he said, “You are cowardly. Have you seriously not figured out the secret of this place?”

Jiang Liang stiffened in shock. As expected of a true expert! He’s already discovered a hidden secret that I don’t know!

Li Tiechui scoffed. “Yes, there are ghosts here, but there’s also a way to protect ourselves.”

“Think about it—why did Zhao Huolang arrange for us to stay in the villagers’ houses? Why did the villagers insist we sleep in coffins?”

“If this scenario was designed just to have us encounter ghosts without any investigation, then why even have a mission?”

Jiang Liang shook his head.

“Hah. Idiot.”

“The whole point of that arrangement was to give us protection right from the start.”

“Zhao Huolang is our guide. That means he’s on our side. He arranged for us to enter the coffins at the end because, once we do, we absorb the aura of the ghosts. That makes the ghosts see us as their kind, so they won’t attack us!”

Hiss—! Jiang Liang gasped. “Is that true?”

“Hmph. Try it and see.”

“But there’s no coffin in this hall…” Jiang Liang anxiously looked around. He didn’t see a single coffin inside the ancestral hall. Suddenly, he remembered—on the way here, he and Zhao Wen had passed a black wooden coffin in the middle of the road!

“I get it now! Boss, wait for me! I’ll be right back!”

Without another word, Jiang Liang dashed out of the ancestral hall and sprinted toward the black wooden coffin.

Behind him, Li Tiechui reached out, trying to grab him—but his fingers didn’t even brush Jiang Liang’s sleeve. He could only watch helplessly as Jiang Liang ran off, screaming in his heart:

No! Come back! I meant for you to go to my original room and lie in the coffin I used! Not the random one some bastard left by the entrance! If you mess around like this, how am I supposed to break free and regain my player status?!

Unfortunately, Jiang Liang could no longer hear him.

Brimming with excitement, Jiang Liang reached the black wooden coffin, mustered all his strength, and flung the lid open—only to find someone already lying inside.

What the hell? So I was the only one who didn’t know this secret?!

Frustrated, he reached in, grabbed the person, and tossed them out of the coffin without a second thought. Then, with a dramatic spin and leap, he threw himself inside.

The person he had thrown out—Wan Niang—climbed up, grimacing in pain.

Who?! Who the hell just threw me out?!