Chapter 1347 - 1023: A Headless Corpse

Seeing that there didn’t seem to be any traps, Ashina Zhuxie and Wang Shaoqiu exchanged glances and slowly moved forward. Standing behind them was Lei Yu, who had just been protected and made to step back by Ashina Zhuxie. She glanced concernedly at Lu Xiao beside her.

"Are you alright?"

"..."

Usually sharp-witted, Lu Xiao remained silent, her expression complex as she lifted her head to glance at the person beside her. Finally, she steadied herself and nodded at Lei Yu. Both followed the others to ascend the stone platform again, surrounding the coffin.

At this moment, everyone pinched their noses to endure the stench. They finally saw the situation inside the coffin, and whispers of amazement filled the air.

Inside the coffin, there was indeed a corpse.

Moreover, it had been buried for countless years. The body had already dried up, turned to bones, and even its clothing was nearly decayed and decomposed. However—Lu Xiao slightly furrowed her brow, unsure if it was her illusion—a faint familiarity seemed to linger about the clothing on this skeleton, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

Yet, none of this was the most shocking.

The most incredible part was that the corpse was a headless one!

What astounded yet delighted them was that a golden human head was placed atop the stump of the neck!

Golden artifacts do not perish but gleam even brighter after the passage of time. Several torches shone on the coffin, causing the golden human head to emit a dazzling brilliance. The moment the coffin was opened, the golden light that burst forth clearly emanated from this head.

"Is this gold?"

Amidst the tense and astonished silence, someone finally spoke, his voice indescribably excited and elated. Immediately, a Turkic soldier cautiously reached out to touch the golden head, but before he could, Ashina Zhuxie stopped him with a low shout: "Stop!"

The soldier was startled and quickly regained his senses, hurriedly withdrawing his hand and bowing his head.

Ashina Zhuxie stared intently at the golden human head, then turned to Wang Shaoqiu, whose face was illuminated by the golden light, yet his expression was heavy, his gaze somewhat melancholy: "What’s going on?"

Wang Shaoqiu didn’t speak, clearly bewildered by the sight before him.

Ashina Zhuxie asked, "Who is this?"

Wang Shaoqiu replied, "I don’t know."

"Is it Zuo Chen An?"

"Doesn’t seem like it."

"Why?"

"Zuo Chen An died of illness. He should’ve been buried in burial clothes. But this corpse seems to be wearing armor."

"Armor?"

Ashina Zhuxie’s brows furrowed instantly, and Lu Xiao beside him gasped.

Indeed, it was no wonder she felt familiarity at a glance at the decayed clothing. So that was it. Yet, the familiar sensation likely didn’t only come from the nearly decomposed armor.

With this thought, her gaze shifted to the somewhat dazzling golden human head. Everyone’s eyes were also fixed intently on it.

The coffin didn’t contain the expected gold and silver treasures, only this one golden human head. Compared to their expectations, it indeed seemed a bit sparse—families richer than commoners buried with more valuable items. It could hardly be considered a treasure.

But what kind of person’s coffin would not contain a skull and instead use a golden human head as a burial accompaniment?

More importantly—

The golden human head was intricately carved, its features clear, with tiger eyes that seemed alive gleaming from the golden light as if this person had a fierce gaze in life, carrying such spirit into the silence of death.

Those eyes, and their spirit, were very familiar.

Memories surged into Lu Xiao’s mind, vivid faces and unmentionable past events flashed by, engulfing her in recollections, bewildering her, as she unconsciously reached toward the golden skull in the coffin.

Just as her slender fingertips almost touched the golden human head, Wang Shaoqiu noticed the decayed clothing on the skeleton seemed to move.

"Watch out!"

He shouted, reaching out to stop her.

Startled by his voice, Lu Xiao looked down, seeing the decayed clothing suddenly bulge as if the skeleton beneath was raising its hand toward hers. Before she could retract her hand, a black snake suddenly darted out from the collar, its mouth open revealing stark fangs, snapping toward her.

Just as the fangs neared her hand, Wang Shaoqiu struck the snake’s head.

The snake jerked aside, angered, coiling up and hissing, then lunged at Wang Shaoqiu!

No one expected a snake to be hidden in the coffin. This sudden change left everyone dumbfounded. Before anyone could react, the snake had already wrapped around his neck and bit deeply into his side neck!

"Ah!"

A scream resounded in the stone chamber. Wang Shaoqiu’s eyes reddened with pain, staggering backward several steps, then fell off the stone platform!

Ashina Zhuxie was stunned, urgently shouting, "Quick!"

Raising his hand, the other Turkic soldiers snapped out of their shock and quickly surrounded him. Wang Shaoqiu, holding his neck, clutched the snake tightly and pulled down hard. With a tearing sound, blood spurted from his neck as the venomous snake bit off a piece of skin, which he violently tossed aside against the stone wall.

Several soldiers immediately stepped forward, swinging swords to chop the snake into many pieces.

The snake was dead, but the fear it instilled expanded a hundredfold instantly. Amidst shock and disbelief, they watched Wang Shaoqiu rise slowly, clutching his bleeding neck, his face pale with terror, staring at the sliced snake, panicking, "This, this is—"

Before finishing his words, his gaze dimmed almost completely.

Though cut, everyone could tell it was a venomous Silver Ring Black Snake!

As Wang Shaoqiu teetered on the verge of collapse, two eyes turned dark, his thin body wavering, a sound as light as wind whispers in his ear—

"Why you...?"