VESSEL - Extinction Countdown 944: Odd Realm Coffin Trap

Before the Clay Buddha Temple, Yi Qing dragged the bodies of Ye Shisan and You Long’er from inside.

She set up a makeshift radio, relaying signals via a drone overhead, streaming the scene a thousand miles away.

Truth be told, Yi Qing had never been so rattled—not even during Fireseed’ life-or-death missions.

An old woman’s voice crackled through the comms—YiQueen:

“Yi Qing, you picked the riskiest path, didn’t you?”

“Yeah! How else could I unravel Ye Shisan’s Pseudo-Spirit mystery? But… I didn’t expect this! Minutes in, I lost contact. When I checked…”

“No pulse, no breath, pupils wide open. Aside from lingering warmth, they’re corpses by medical standards, right?”

“Exactly! What now?! Old Crone, this place is deadly—you should’ve warned me!”

“I did. The advance team scouted Touxiang Village for Ye Shisan and flagged this temple as trouble. But it wasn’t our mission to meddle, was it?”

“Old Crone… you!”

Yi Qing choked, speechless. Her hand brushed Ye Shisan’s face, his skin chilling fast. Tears welled up instantly.

“Enough! A veteran scout crying to an old woman? You’re shaming Zhang Zhuxian!”

“What’s wrong with crying?! Where in Ember Corps’ rules does it ban tears?! Wailing…”

“Like a child… All you can do is wait. If they’re tough enough, they might return.”

“Wait? My playbook doesn’t include ‘leave it to fate’!”

“Well then, what’s your plan? Join them?”

“If there’s a way, I’d go in a heartbeat!”

YiQueen paused and sighed: “Yi Qing, my agency isn’t under Fireseed’ command. Some things I _can’t_ say, not because I won’t.”

“This is a matter of life and death! You know Ye Shisan’s critical value to Fireseed. From what I know, your agency’s invested heavily. Is losing him now worth it?”

“Heh, haggling with an old woman like me? Is that Zhang Zhuxian’s trick?”

“Trick or not, the stakes are clear. You know it!”

“Fine, cool it. Here’s something: after you retired, Fireseed confirmed the Wonder Realm’s existence. You know what that is, don’t you?”

“The Wonder Realm… it’s real?”

Yi Qing fell silent.

The so-called Wonder Realm, a peculiar space every nation’s secret agencies are chasing, lies within each “planar cosmos’s” spacetime, a mosaic of “spacetime plates,” like Earth’s tectonic slabs.

Picture these plates as a multitude of bubbles, each edge taut with near-infinite tension. Neighboring bubbles push back with massive repulsion, balancing their existence.

Crossing from one bubble to another is nearly impossible.

But sometimes, two bubbles merge, due to a unique space between them—the Wonder Realm.

What is it? Even packed bubbles have gaps. Those gaps are special spaces, or tiny bubbles themselves.

The Wonder Realm is like countless minuscule bubbles within the interstices of larger ones, influenced by their own tension and external forces. They might link to the nearest big bubble, get absorbed, or form a tunnel between two in rare cases.

Bubbles are a crude metaphor—spacetime’s energy and mass far exceed them.

Put simply: the known world is the Yang Realm or Mortal Realm. The unknown, where souls go after death, is the Yin Realm or Spirit Realm.

Currently, proving the Yin Realm or Spirit Realm with human tech is tough, but the Wonder Realm has been verified in numerous operational reports, ultimately confirmed by YiQueen’s exclusive intel channels.

And now, although the vitals of Ye Shisan and You Long’er have vanished, from another perspective, they have not perished. They're in an unknown Wonder Realm space.

Under crushing suction, Ye Shisan and You Long’er spun like leaves in a fierce storm, battered by relentless airflow.

“You Long’er! Hold tight! They’re coming!”

“With you here, I’m not scared!”

As they spoke, twenty-four grotesque beast statues—big and small—lunged from the exit. Ye Shisan’s hands clung to the stone edge, but he was slipping.

The moment he let go, a tug yanked them upward, dangling them midair!

Ye Shisan glanced back—a long, translucent hand stretched from his back, clawing deep into the rock!

Before he could react, the beasts surged forward, and with a _Boom_, the rock-hewn entrance shattered!

Larger beasts kept slamming, tearing, and digging, only to be crushed by even larger ones piling relentlessly into the tunnel.

Suddenly, streaks of dust erupted along the outer walls, as if something sharp and swift sliced through the mountain at blinding speed, causing dust and debris to burst forth.

Ye Shisan tightly shielded You Long’er, pain searing through him, as he felt tendrils from his back scraping rock—his Pseudo-Spirit protecting him.

The stone wall was completely severed and shattered, triggering a cascade of collapsing dust and rubble that, along with the fragmented remains of the lead beasts, buried the tunnel.

With the exit sealed, the suction vanished abruptly, and the two crashed down simultaneously.

Ye Shisan staggered up, only to realize that he had been pulled back into the original stone chamber!

Now, the chamber glowed with golden light, its rock ceiling casting a solemn radiance.

Above them, a strange black Suspended Coffin hovered—no supports, no strings, frozen in midair!

An unfamiliar tongue echoed, yet both inexplicably understood:

“Three thousand years, you’re back early!”

You Long’er scanned her surroundings, her gaze locking on the coffin as she gripped Ye Shisan tightly: “That voice—it’s from the coffin!”

Ye Shisan nodded. Even after the asylum’s oddities, a chill hit him. He barked at the coffin: “Who are you?”

“Me? You don’t know me?”

“Who _are_ you?”

“Alas… no wonder. With that radiant girl beside you, how could an old woman like me compare? No surprise you refused to merge with me earlier—it’s because of her, isn’t it?”

Despite her fear, You Long’er snapped: “You dared fake me? If you're dead, go reincarnate! Leave my man alone!”

“My words are for him, not you!”

Before the voice faded, a stone spike suddenly shot out from the wall, flashing toward You Long’er, set to pierce her through!

In a flash, with a _crack_, Ye Shisan stepped in front of her, shattering the spike into fragments!

The coffin quaked: “You… for this woman… you dare harm me? Are you ready to fight me?”

Ye Shisan shook his head, stepping forward: “I don’t know you. I’m here against my will. Speak plainly, or a fight is inevitable!”

The coffin softened, sensing his resolve: “You are Zhu Qiu. I am Xi Qing. Three cycles ago, we swore eternal vows atop Moltenpyre Mountain, forsaking our Celestial forms to stay together. Have you forgotten it all?”

The words stabbed Ye Shisan’s heart. His vision blurred, and he collapsed to the ground.