"What's going on?" Already on edge in this environment, the sudden noise sent a chill down Fatty's spine.

The thing inside the coffin... moved. But whether it was the corpse of the night watchman, the bones of the Great River Goddess, or some other bizarre thing, they didn't know.

"Ugh..."

A few seconds later, Chen Hao, holding the Soul Calming Bell, suddenly groaned. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, as if he were in immense pain.

Upon seeing this, Yu Chengmu, Jia Jinliang, and A Biao immediately distanced themselves from him.

Even more eerily, the paper figures and horses walking in front also stopped simultaneously.

Lei Mingyu and Du Moyu quickly rushed over. Lei Mingyu, with quick eyes and hands, supported Chen Hao's shoulder, preventing him from falling.

"Are you okay?" Du Moyu asked anxiously.

Chen Hao's face was filled with pain. Gritting his teeth, he forced out each word, "This... this Soul Calming Bell has usage restrictions. Each person... each person can only use it once!"

"Only used once..."

Before Du Moyu could think further, Chen Hao let out another groan, his complexion worsening, even taking on a greenish hue.

Du Moyu dared not delay any longer and quickly snatched the Soul Calming Bell. "Brother Hao, don't worry. I'll do it next time. We'll each take a turn. How's your body? Can you still walk?"

"I can," Chen Hao nodded with difficulty.

Seemingly confirming Chen Hao's words, after the Soul Calming Bell left his hand, Chen Hao's complexion improved significantly, and his body no longer trembled for no reason.

When Jiang Cheng saw Du Moyu take the Soul Calming Bell, he couldn't help but frown. He hadn't spotted the problem yet, but he felt uneasy.

How did Chen Hao know that the Soul Calming Bell could only be used once?

If Yu Chengmu had said this, it would have been more convincing.

Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng subconsciously turned his head to look at Yu Chengmu. Yu Chengmu was staring warily at Chen Hao, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"It moved..."

Fatty's voice brought Jiang Cheng back to his senses. He turned back and saw the paper figures and horses continuing to move forward, the blood-red joint burial coffin exuding a bewitching aura under the night.

"Pay attention to the steps." Chen Hao pushed away Lei Mingyu, who was supporting him, and turned to remind Du Moyu, "Forty-nine steps is one small Zhoutian cycle. You need to ring the bell once!"

"Okay, I'll remember," Du Moyu, who had taken the Soul Calming Bell, stared intently at the procession in front.

He had taken the bell out of desperation. Looking at Chen Hao's condition, if no one replaced him, he would die. But relying on Yu Chengmu, or even Jiang Cheng, was unrealistic.

There was no time.

The procession moved forward slowly, not far...

"Bang!"

Another sound, this time even more violent than all the previous ones combined.

The coffin lid even jumped slightly.

Fatty's eyes widened. From his position, he could see clearly that the coffin lid had shifted slightly, revealing a small gap.

And as they continued to walk, the coffin lid was being pushed open little by little.

Just then, an unexpected situation occurred.

The paper figure in the middle on the left side suddenly reached out and grabbed the coffin lid.

The banging sounds inside the coffin gradually subsided, and the thing inside quieted down.

Yu Chengmu stared at the paper figure that had suddenly acted, a hint of gloating flashing in his eyes.

"Quick... quick, ring the bell!" Chen Hao reminded sharply.

Du Moyu didn't suspect anything, but the moment he rang the Soul Calming Bell, he felt a wave of weakness wash over him. Lei Mingyu, with quick eyes and hands, immediately supported him.

Since they had seen Chen Hao's example, no one paid much attention.

"The bell... the bell to you." Du Moyu held the bell, shaking his head slightly, as if trying to clear his head.

He looked extremely weak. The ringing of the bell just now seemed to have drawn out his soul.

At the same time, Chen Hao also came over, grabbed Du Moyu's arm, and asked with concern, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Du Moyu reassured him.

As before, after the bell rang, the paper figures and horses stopped almost simultaneously. And after a new person took over the Soul Calming Bell, the procession moved forward again.

They could already hear the sound of water, indicating that they were not far from the Waterside River. "I'll take the next turn. It looks like we'll reach the Waterside River before we all rotate once." Lei Mingyu lowered his voice.

Sure enough, as the village chief had said, they didn't need to carry the coffin this time, because there were paper figures and horses. And the danger on the road clearly came from this coffin.

The village chief had specifically warned them not to let the coffin open along the way.

The thing inside couldn't stand the loneliness any longer and was about to come out.

"Let's hurry up," Jia Jinliang urged.

The group continued on their way.

Lei Mingyu gripped the Soul Calming Bell tightly, following closely behind the corpse-driving procession, paying attention to the steps of the procession.

But this time, Jiang Cheng's attention was focused on the "weakened" Chen Hao and Du Moyu.

After a moment, Jiang Cheng frowned. He noticed that Chen Hao and Du Moyu were acting strangely.

These two didn't seem to care about Lei Mingyu, their teammate who was holding the Soul Calming Bell, but were secretly observing him, as well as Yu Chengmu and the others.

Even stranger, Yu Chengmu and the other three had the same attitude towards Chen Hao and Du Moyu. The two groups maintained a delicate distance, as if on guard.

Jiang Cheng looked back at the paper figure holding down the coffin lid. Slowly, a bold guess emerged in his mind.

He thought of the corpse painting mission last night, when Fatty and the others' souls had traveled into the body of a paper figure.

Could it be that... there were souls inside the paper figures next to the coffin?

And the person who rang the Soul Calming Bell... would have their soul swapped with the paper figure next to the coffin?

In other words, the bodies of Chen Hao and Du Moyu were no longer controlled by their original souls!

Jiang Cheng thought of a very fitting term: seizing the body (duoshe).

Perhaps... this was the real crisis tonight.

Otherwise, Jiang Cheng couldn't understand why the paper figure would suddenly act, helping them suppress the coffin. This was because the soul inside that paper figure was Chen Hao!

He didn't want to see his brothers die!

And Yu Chengmu and the others had seen through all of this, so they kept their distance from "Chen Hao" and "Du Moyu."

His thoughts raced. A few seconds later, Jia Jinliang's seemingly honest voice came, "Brother Jiang."

Jiang Cheng turned his head and faced Jia Jinliang's righteous face. "After Brother Lei Mingyu is done, you and Brother Fugui should ring the bell first. We've discussed it with Old Man Yu. The last and most dangerous part of the road, near the Waterside River, will be our responsibility!"

If it was just a guess before, after Jia Jinliang said this, Jiang Cheng was at least 90% certain.

It seemed Chen Hao wasn't so lucky. He had bet wrong. This Soul Calming Bell was a complete pitfall. The real treasure was that cloth.

"Bang!"

"Screech—"

A harsh scratching sound came from inside the coffin. One could imagine it was made by exceptionally sharp nails scraping across the inner wall of the coffin.