Hearing the strange noise, I quickly turned my head to look.

Wang Zhanggui, Mr. Liao, and Hong Jie had clearly heard the same sound and were also looking towards where it came from.

Immediately after, I saw a tomb robber, forty or fifty years old, who seemed to have lost his mind. He was using the diving knife in his hand to chop at the tree trunk in front of him, blow after blow.

The hair-raising sound was precisely the sound of the diving knife hitting the tree trunk.

Wang Zhanggui was immediately enraged. He glared and said, "Old Liu, what the hell are you doing? Everyone else is looking for the coffin, what are you chopping the tree for? Are you sick in the head?"

Old Liu was scolded, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he pointed at the black ancient tree in front of him and said, "Boss, this is *yin chen mu* (sunken wood), it's worth a lot of money! While the brothers are looking for the coffin, I'll chop a few pieces off and sell them for tens of thousands!"

Wang Zhanggui was speechless. "You think I don't recognize *yin chen mu*? This stuff is valuable, but to sell it for a good price, you have to transport the whole thing out. How much can you sell a few random pieces for? You might as well save your energy to carry out the bronzeware and jade."

Despite Wang Zhanggui's劝阻, Old Liu had his own ideas, pointing to the tree trunk in front of him. "Boss, take a look at the quality of this *yin chen mu*! This is no ordinary product, it can definitely sell for a lot of money!"

As he spoke, Old Liu had already chopped a wound two fingers deep into the tree trunk. Seeing that he couldn't be dissuaded, Wang Zhanggui could only shake his head and say, "Chop if you want, I give up..."

But just then, Old Liu struck another blow and suddenly cried out, "Ouch!"

Wang Zhanggui impatiently said, "What the hell are you yelling about again? Always jumping at shadows."

I couldn't help but turn my head to look as well, and all of us were stunned!

Old Liu's face, chest, and arms were covered in a bright red liquid, which at first glance looked just like blood, making it quite eerie!

Old Liu himself was also greatly startled. He held up the diving knife and looked at the tree trunk, then at his own body, exclaiming, "Damn it! Boss! The tree is bleeding! The tree is bleeding!"

"Bullshit! This tree has been dead for four thousand years, it's turned into *yin chen mu*, where would blood come from?" Wang Zhanggui scolded unhappily, walking over to examine it closely.

Hong Jie and I couldn't resist our curiosity either, and followed along.

But when we saw the "wound" that Old Liu had chopped into the tree, we were all astonished.

From within the trunk of this ancient tree, which had long since died and was almost fossilized, a dark red liquid was actually continuously seeping out. Although this liquid wasn't as thick as real blood, it did look like the tree was bleeding.

"My god!" Hong Jie cried out on the spot, "The tree is really bleeding!"

Wang Zhanggui didn't jump to conclusions. He first observed the "wound" on the tree trunk for a while, then turned around and walked up to Old Liu, smelling the "blood" that had splashed on him.

After sniffing twice, Wang Zhanggui suddenly slapped his thigh, his face showing joy, and said happily, "Haha! I found it! I found it! I've found the tomb owner's coffin!"

I was completely baffled, and even the knowledgeable Mr. Liao was puzzled. We asked in unison, "Where's the coffin?"

Wang Zhanggui didn't say it directly, but instead pointed to the "bleeding" tree trunk and asked, "Do you know what this red water is? Let me tell you, it's not the tree bleeding."

I shook my head blankly, having no idea what the red liquid was.

Mr. Liao narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Could it be, coffin liquid?"

Wang Zhanggui put his arm around Mr. Liao's shoulders and said with a hearty laugh, "As expected of Mr. Liao, truly amazing! That's right! This is coffin liquid!"

"Coffin liquid?" I was only vaguely familiar with these terms, and quickly asked curiously, "Boss, what is coffin liquid?"

Wang Zhanggui was in a great mood and patiently explained to me: "So-called coffin liquid is the accumulated water in the coffin. Most of the tombs discovered so far are water-filled, and coffins inevitably accumulate water. This water soaks in the coffin year after year and becomes coffin liquid."

I felt a wave of nausea. Coffin water that had soaked corpses for years, how foul must it be! No wonder I could vaguely smell a sour stench.

Old Liu, who had been splashed with coffin liquid, began to retch on the spot, his face turning as pale as paper.

Hong Jie then asked, "Boss, why is this coffin liquid red? It looks just like blood."

Wang Zhanggui smiled and said, "Little Hong, you asked a good question. Why is coffin liquid red? That's because ancient people used cinnabar to preserve corpses. They would smear cinnabar on the body to ensure that it wouldn't decay for thousands of years. In 1972, the body of Xin Zhui, a woman who had been incorruptible for thousands of years, was unearthed in Mawangdui, Hunan. Her coffin liquid was dark red because it contained a large amount of cinnabar. Mr. Liao, you're from Xiangxi, you must know about this, right?"

Mr. Liao immediately nodded and said, "Of course, everyone in our area knows about Xin Zhui. Last year, it was even made into a TV series, which was shown on TV. Her corpse was indeed incorruptible for thousands of years, I never knew it was because she was coated with cinnabar."

Wang Zhanggui pointed to the ancient tree and said, "I didn't expect that the technique of using cinnabar for preservation was already being used more than four thousand years ago."

Then he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahaha... I said long ago that the tomb owner's coffin must be under the guardian dragon. I thought the coffin was hidden in the tree, but I didn't expect that this ancient Shu king would actually use the tree trunk as a coffin and the bark as an outer coffin, hiding his body in this old tree!"

Hong Jie listened in shock, and asked blankly, "Boss, how did the ancient Shu king hide his body inside? I can't see any traces of excavation on this tree trunk."

Wang Zhanggui said, "I guess that when the ancient Shu king was entombed, this tree must not have died yet, it should have still been growing. The Shu people smeared the ancient Shu king's remains with cinnabar, embedded them in the tree trunk, and then sealed the wounds on the tree trunk. After that, the tree grew and healed on its own, and over time, the scars on the surface of the tree trunk disappeared, and the ancient Shu king's remains were sealed inside the tree trunk."

Hong Jie suddenly understood, and I also agreed with Wang Zhanggui's speculation.

Now that it was confirmed that the tomb owner's remains were inside the tree trunk, Wang Zhanggui immediately beckoned for all the tomb robbers in the trees to come down.

Uncle Mei, hiding in the branches, finally climbed down under the cover of the mole men and came to my side.

"Rongsheng, I just heard that the tomb owner buried himself inside the tree trunk?"

He asked in surprise as soon as he came over.

I nodded and said, "Yes, I also think it's incredibly imaginative, but we haven't found the remains yet, so it's not certain whether the tomb owner is actually in the tree trunk."

Before I could finish speaking, Wang Zhanggui directed Old Liu, "Old Liu, weren't you chopping the tree with great enthusiasm just now? Why aren't you chopping anymore? Keep chopping! Hurry up!"

Old Liu had been splashed with coffin liquid and was feeling nauseous, so he was unwilling to chop the tree again. He said with a bitter face, "Boss, this coffin liquid is too disgusting, it's stinky and fishy, I can't stand it!"

Wang Zhanggui glared at him and said angrily, "Stop talking nonsense! Chop the tree for me! You have to finish what you start, what kind of behavior is it to give up halfway? Hurry up! Get to chopping!"