Outside the Black Coffin, everyone waited for a moment, but the two red lights inside the coffin remained perfectly still.
In the distance, the other groups who had entered the Ghost Ship were also closely watching, waiting for the results of Ancestral Dragon King and the others' investigation.
The Ghost Ship’s reputation for danger was well known, so they were happy to let others take the risks and reap the rewards themselves.
The silence all around was so heavy it felt oppressive.
Ancestral Dragon King exchanged a glance with a subordinate demigod. The demigod understood, summoned his power, and cast layers of defensive divine arts around himself—shields shaped like tortoise shells, with black tortoise patterns appearing on his arms. Bracing himself, he carefully reached into the Black Coffin.
The coffin was enormous, and his hand was still far from the red lantern lights in the darkness. Gradually, the demigod stepped inside the Black Coffin and vanished from sight.
There was no movement inside. After a moment, the demigod’s voice came from within the coffin: “It really is a lantern!”
The crowd outside breathed a sigh of relief, and even Ancestral Dragon King relaxed a little. The demigod emerged from the coffin, grinning, and said, “The red glow in the coffin really is from lanterns—two paper lanterns. I only found one and brought it out. There’s nothing dangerous inside... Why are you all looking at me like that?”
The demigod held up a lantern, looking around in confusion, only to see everyone staring at him as if they'd seen a ghost, quietly edging away.
Ancestral Dragon King also stepped back, tightening his grip on his dragon-headed staff.
Even he had never seen anything so bizarre, and couldn’t help feeling nervous.
In the distance, Logan Cross and the others were silent, and the Prodigy Legion disciples looked on with fear.
“Sword God, what’s happening?” Dragon-Keeper Lord’s voice trembled as he hid behind the Village Chief.
The Village Chief and Dragon-Keeper Lord were old rivals, and Dragon-Keeper Lord had nearly died at the Village Chief’s hands several times. Though they had a grudge, Dragon-Keeper Lord still admired the Village Chief most. Faced with such a strange scene, he instinctively drew closer to him.
As for Quinn Shepherd, his lord, Dragon-Keeper Lord instinctively disliked this brat.
Quinn Shepherd frowned, his gaze fixed on the demigod who’d come out of the Black Coffin. The demigod was holding a paper lantern—the red glow from the coffin had come from it. But in the darkness, it was easy to mistake the light for two blood-red eyeballs.
The paper lantern was very strange. Wind sent it spinning, and on its surface was a face, eyes wide, smiling as it looked around.
However, that wasn’t what had everyone so frightened.
What truly terrified everyone was the demigod himself—there was another paper lantern perched on his neck.
And his head had vanished without a trace!