TGCFNM -Chapter 199 The Upright Coffin

“Master! Master!”

Wan Sanjin shouted in alarm, “The coffin… it’s placed upright!”

Chu Ling’s expression changed immediately, and she hurried over. Su He also packed up his tools and followed.

“Master, an upright coffin is inauspicious… we shouldn’t dig it!” someone cautioned.

“Yes, Master, you really shouldn’t!”

“Master, you can tell just by looking—this isn’t a feng shui treasure site, so placing it upright is a serious taboo!”

Chu Ling frowned silently, staring at the black coffin that had already been partially exposed. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she had the impression that the coffin smelled a bit foul.

Wan Sanjin sniffed and asked curiously, “Does this coffin… smell a little strange?”

“Master Wan, the coffin has been soaked in medicinal fluids, so naturally it smells,” one of the diggers explained.

“Why would the coffin be soaked in medicinal fluids?” Chu Ling asked hastily.

The diggers exchanged uneasy glances, each looking grim and unsure how to answer. In the end, they pushed forward the oldest among them, hoping his presence could somehow ward off the misfortune.

Chu Ling called the man aside, then signaled Wan Sanjin to continue with the digging alongside the others.

This coffin had to be unearthed.

Holding his nose, Wan Sanjin looked at the hesitant diggers and decided to increase the pay: “Five times the usual wage. We’ll settle once we leave the mountain!”

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. Now that five times the pay was offered, even though they were still afraid, the diggers gradually began to work.

The old man followed Chu Ling to the side, his face full of worry. “Master, why must you dig this grave? The person has no descendants anyway.”

Chu Ling sighed. “Old man, I have no choice. So… could you tell me what it means that the coffin was placed upright, and soaked in medicinal fluids?”

The old man twisted his hands nervously, looking like he wanted to speak but held back.

Chu Ling smiled and handed him a silver coin or two. “Buy yourself some wine.”

Seeing the silver, the old man nearly dropped it in surprise. “M-Master…”

“For drinking,” Chu Ling said, nudging it toward him to accept.

The old man took a deep breath, pocketed the silver, and finally mustered the courage to speak. “Master… placing a coffin upright causes the person’s resentment to linger after death, preventing reincarnation. The spirit may become a vengeful ghost. Such a ghost must kill ninety-nine people before it can finally be reborn.”

Chu Ling tilted her head slightly toward the general’s ghost. Indeed, the figure was terrifying in appearance—but it wasn’t actually killing anyone.

“And the coffin being soaked?” she asked.

“Soaking the coffin in medicinal fluids seals it, preventing the vengeful ghost inside from escaping. But at the same time, it also blocks any chance of reincarnation,” the old man explained.

Chu Ling nodded. So whoever killed Ma Zhao must have harbored an extreme hatred for him—even in death, they wouldn’t let him go.

Bai Su quietly added, “I wonder who this person’s enemies were… to show no mercy like this.”

Chu Ling turned to the increasingly deepening grave and murmured, “A general from an orphaned background… who could he have offended…”

And why had his wife remarried into the Xuanyuan family?

Even if the Xuanyuan family in Dongle City was just a collateral branch, they had plenty of options for alliances. Why choose a widow who had already been married?

All of this… is so strange.

“Master!”

Wan Sanjin shouted loudly, his tone off somehow.

“Su He says something’s wrong with the coffin!”

Chu Ling immediately walked over and asked the solemn-looking Su He, “What’s going on?”

“The liquid on this coffin is highly toxic. Although time has weakened it considerably, we still need to be extra careful,” Su He said. He then instructed everyone to cover their mouths and noses, tightly bind their hands with cloth strips, and carefully lift the coffin bit by bit, placing it aside.

With a loud bang, everyone immediately stepped back.

Su He, wearing special gloves and covering his mouth and nose, approached.

Wan Sanjin wrapped his hands with cloth as well and went to help.

From a distance, Chu Ling looked at the already somewhat deformed coffin and guessed that its quality must have been very poor. Suddenly, a harsh ripping sound rang out—Wan Sanjin had pulled open the coffin lid.

“Ah!”

Wan Sanjin instinctively let out a shriek.

Chu Ling grabbed a handkerchief to cover her mouth and nose, strode over, and pulled the startled Wan Sanjin aside to look inside.

Inside was a skeleton bound in chains. Hair still clung to its mouth and eyes. Apart from that, the bones were pitch-black, many limbs broken, and the ribs in the chest cavity riddled with cracks—one could imagine the inhuman torment this person had suffered in life.

“Master,” Su He said in a low voice, “I suspect the deceased wasn’t dead when he was bound in here. He was tortured to death inside this coffin soaked in poison.”

Chu Ling’s expression darkened. “It seems we can’t perform a proper autopsy for now.”

“That’s fine,” Su He said. He had Chu Ling help him carefully lift the skeleton by the burlap underneath.

As the skeleton was raised, the chains clinked crisply, and the hair on its face was gently blown away by the wind, falling back into the coffin.

By now, Wan Sanjin had recovered his composure and stepped forward to help carefully set the skeleton down.

Su He took a porcelain vial from his waist and tossed it to Wan Sanjin. “Have everyone take this, then step back.”

Wan Sanjin stepped back with Chu Ling, unwrapped the cloth on his hand, popped a pill into his mouth, and after showing everyone he was fine, distributed the remaining pills to the others.

Cui Xi cautiously tugged at Chu Ling’s sleeve, fearfully whispering, “Miss, he’s opening his eyes.”

Chu Ling felt a chill run through her and slowly turned to look. The hair on Ma Zhao’s eyes and mouth was disappearing. He had opened his eyes—and his mouth.

There were no eyeballs, no tongue, no teeth. His face was even more horrifying than if it had been sewn shut.

Steeling herself, Chu Ling stepped forward, lowering her voice. “You have no family. Only a wife. Your wife has remarried, so if anyone knows anything, it can only be your ex-wife.”

Blood tears fell from the hollow eyes of Ma Zhao, his mouth opening as he silently cried out, trembling.

Chu Ling sighed and turned to Su He.

This autopsy was extremely long, but everyone waited quietly. No one showed impatience. They simply retreated in fearful respect, carefully watching the skeleton on the ground.

After an unknown length of time, Su He finally stood and walked over to Chu Ling.

Chu Ling looked up at the sky and softly said, “It’s going to rain.”

Su He replied, “Then the skeleton will have to stay here for now. We can’t take it to the mortuary.”

Chu Ling nodded, and together with a few others, carefully placed the skeleton back in the coffin. They didn’t have time to bury it before hurrying down the mountain to the carriage.

Thunder rumbled across the sky, and soon, large raindrops began to fall.