Chapter 33: Empress Wu of Zhou — The Zombie Awakens!

The space was deathly quiet.

Only the sound of Chen Fan digging echoed in the air.

After he unearthed the third soul-calling lamp, the bronze coffin remained still.

“Is it a zombie?”

“I’ve made such a ruckus, and it still hasn’t come out.”

Chen Fan didn’t doubt the system, but he was genuinely puzzled.

Before long, he uncovered the fourth lamp.

The bronze coffin remained motionless, showing no signs of life.

“Could it be that the coffin is sealed too tightly… perfectly soundproof?”

After finding the fifth lamp, the bronze coffin had been more than half exposed.

Soon, the sixth lamp emerged, and by now, the area surrounding the coffin had been fully excavated.

After the debris had settled, the lamps were still scattered around the coffin.

“Something’s not right…”

“There’s a crack in the coffin lid…”

Chen Fan shook his head.

At this point, he felt much more at ease.

He had dug for so long, unearthed so much, and was only one lamp away from completing the set.

Still, the bronze coffin remained unmoved. If not for the system’s prompts, he would have suspected it was empty.

Crack!

As he continued digging, what he uncovered this time wasn’t a lamp, but a plaque.

It was covered in patches of green rust.

Chen Fan picked it up, slightly surprised.

Lines of characters were engraved on its surface—not Chinese, but a script he had studied before.

“A spirit tablet?”

“What kind of custom is this—placing a spirit tablet within a tomb?”

After studying the characters, Chen Fan gleaned a shocking revelation:

“Spirit Tablet of Empress Wu of Zhou…”

He read slowly.

“Empress Wu of Zhou?”

“A coincidental imperial title?”

Clearly, this wasn’t that Wu Zetian.

The characters were different, and the burial customs clearly belonged to another world entirely.

“Spirit tablet?”

“Just a title, surely…”

“Otherwise, this would be ridiculous…”

With little more to glean, Chen Fan stored the spirit tablet in his storage ring.

Something felt off—after all that digging, aside from six lamps and the spirit tablet, he hadn’t found a single burial item.

Taking a deep breath, he resumed his excavation.

But even after clearing the soil around the coffin, the seventh lamp still hadn’t turned up.

“It must be under the coffin…”

Staring at the last bit of soil and some greenish stone still pinned beneath the heavy bronze coffin, Chen Fan speculated inwardly.

“Empress Wu of Zhou, forgive me for the offense.”

After some thought, Chen Fan decided to move the coffin.

He gave a slight bow toward it in respect.

Still, the coffin gave no response.

Chen Fan no longer stood on ceremony.

He placed his palm on the coffin—and shoved.

BOOM!

The piled-up dirt collapsed, and the heavy bronze coffin toppled with a thunderous crash.

As the coffin tipped over, Chen Fan glimpsed the final soul-calling lamp, and immediately snatched it up, slipping it into his storage ring without even bothering to wipe it clean.

BOOM!

Just then, another loud noise erupted.

In Chen Fan’s field of vision, the coffin lid was blasted into the air, rolling several times across the ground.

“She’s finally… awakened…”

Chen Fan muttered.

Because the coffin had fallen with its back facing him, he couldn’t yet see the zombie inside.

Still, he remained calm.

From the force that had flung the coffin lid away, Chen Fan could already tell the zombie was powerful.

At the very least, it possessed immense strength.

But not to the point of being beyond comprehension.

Chen Fan was confident—if the zombie made a move, he had time to escape.

Besides, he already had all seven lamps. He had no regrets.

“Huh?”

Standing vigilantly, Chen Fan waited and waited, but still heard no further movement.

Curious, he circled to the front of the toppled bronze coffin.

And finally, he saw the true form of the Empress Zombie.

She wore an imperial robe embroidered with golden thread, a dragon crown atop her head forged entirely from gold, her jet-black hair pinned with gold hair ornaments.

All around her, sparkling jewels surrounded her remains, including glowing night pearls as burial items.

Her eyes were closed, yet the oppressive majesty she once carried could still be felt.

Her complexion was pale and bloodless, but even that could not conceal her beauty.

A kind of sickly allure clung to her.

At her waist hung a sword, hinting she had once been a sovereign who led armies to expand her realm—a war-empress.

But what truly drew Chen Fan’s gaze was the corners of her mouth.

Sure enough, two sharp fangs protruded, glowing with a cold, moonlike sheen.

BZZZZZ…

Under Chen Fan’s scrutiny, the Empress Zombie slowly opened her eyes, cold and bloodthirsty, swirling with a murderous aura.

The aura surged out of the coffin—

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…

Yet as soon as it escaped, it was purified into wisps of blue smoke.

“So that’s it…”

“She didn’t emerge before… because she was avoiding the light?”

Chen Fan finally understood why she hadn’t shown herself, no matter how much noise he made.

It wasn’t until he accidentally toppled the coffin that she lashed out in irritation and flung the lid away.

“But the light here is so dim…”

Chen Fan still felt confused.

The lighting in this place wasn’t intense at all.

Could she not stand any exposure to light?

“Why have you disturbed this Empress!”

To Chen Fan’s surprise, the Empress Zombie spoke.

Thanks to his studies, he could more or less understand her words.