The Beast on the Bronze Coffin

"Yu Xuan, now that I am a part of the Outer Sky Shelter territory, perhaps you could tell me more about what I will be walking into? The more intel I have going in, the better I can perform." Han Sen knew the mission would be dangerous, so he would have preferred going in with at least some semblance of an idea of what he might face.

Yu Xuan looked at Qing Le, prompting him to speak. He said, "Unfortunately, we don't know much about the shelter. And as for what our previous team faced on the inside, there is no proof that can verify the claims made by the three who made it out."

Han Sen wasn't sure what the implication was, but he frowned.

He allowed Qing Le to continue talking, after a pause. "The three men that returned claimed the same things, but when pressed to elaborate, their explanations for what transpired when they were all killed were different. Still, we were fortunate to hear much of anything, with the pain they were in following their escape."

"What did they tell you, then?" Han Sen asked, with a frown.

"They told us that when they entered, they saw something horrible in front of the palace there. That was where most of the men who entered died. Three made it out, as we have stated."

Qing Le went on to say, "But the three men described what killed them differently."

Han Sen didn't say a word.

Qing Le continued, "They all said they saw a bronze coffin inside the palace. On this coffin was said to reside a fox or a cat with a red body. They all spoke of this, so we can assume that part to be fairly sound."

Han Sen thought to himself, "A nine-life cat, maybe?"

"Was the cat alive? Or was it something inanimate?" Han Sen asked. If it really was associated with Blood Legion, being a nine-life cat, there was every chance he could survive.

Han Sen was proficient with the Blood-Pulse Sutra, and furthermore, he was in possession of the pendant. Perhaps the shelter was warded to prevent those who weren't affiliated with Blood Legion from entering. If anything transpired on the inside, the least Han Sen could do was pretend he was a member.

"I am not sure. The details were sparse," Qing Le said, shaking his head in regret. "One of them said a beast emerged and slew everyone there. Another said there was the statue of a beast there, and that everybody simply started to die after they opened the coffin. The other person claimed that, after seeing a beast there, they all started killing themselves."

"Could they all be hallucinating different things?" Han Sen asked.

"It is not out of the realm of possibilities, but then, why would they have died after escaping with their lives?" Yu Xuan said.

Han Sen nodded. There was no reason for the perfectly capable humans to die, if all they had experienced were hallucinations. There was something wrong with all this, there was no doubt about that.

"How did they die? Were they severely wounded or something?" Han Sen asked.

"They... had no wounds. Their blood crystallized, clogging the blood flow and preventing proper operation of their organs," Qing Le explained.

Han Sen did not say anything, but he most certainly believed the shelter had a connection to Blood Legion. If the red beast or creature there was the nine-life cat, Han Sen was starting to think he'd get the answers he had been waiting for. This was a big opportunity, and it would be silly to squander it.

Yu Xuan and Qing Le did not take Han Sen to Outer Sky Shelter, and they delivered him to that spooky shelter directly. When they arrived, Han Sen saw three humans. They were right, saying it had been difficult trying to assemble a new team.

There weren't many humans in the Fourth God's Sanctuary, and the ones who had been killed on the last mission had been reported as missing in the Alliance.

It was a spectacular feat, knowing they had managed to assemble nearly thirty humans for the last venture. But that also made it profoundly upsetting, learning what had occurred to each of them.

It was difficult finding more humans to replace those that were lost, and it'd take a lot of time for the shelters to recover that number.

"And what, please tell me, was the point in bringing a bronze geno core human on this expedition?" A female spirit scoffed, while looking at Han Sen with her nose upturned.

Yu Xuan was very polite to her, despite her tone. He said to her, "Sister, you know finding humans has been difficult for us all, after what last transpired. He is willing to try, so why not allow him?"

The female spirit smiled, then, and said, "Mister Li, your allies may not be the hardiest, but I pray you are successful."

"I'll do what I can," Mister Li said, with a coarse voice not so different from toned grunts.

Han Sen looked at this Mister Li, who was a human, and observed him.

Han Sen was surprised, seeing a human garner such respect. The woman spirit seemed to hold him in high regard.

The man looked to be in his thirties, and he'd undoubtedly be an accomplished fighter. Just like Han Sen, he was hiding the true extent of his power.

The female spirit almost spoke like a student would, before their master.

Next to Mister Li were another two humans. One was old, and the other was young.

They were both very powerful, from the look of them, and it was highly likely they possessed gemstone geno cores.

The two of them stood next to Mister Li like bodyguards, though. Clearly, Han Sen would be the odd man out.

Han Sen thought to himself, "It looks like this Mister Li really is well-respected. He and the others must be the big guns of the spirits. They're at their wit's end, trying to secure this shelter, and it is highly unlikely they would call upon such strong humans unless this was their last and only shot. If these three really are that powerful, though, how come I've never heard of them before?"