Forced to Be a Villain: Starting With My Brain Extraction System-Chapter 142: Chu Liang Fled Embarassingly!

"It should be here. Damn... so close to the center. I almost died so many times."

Chu Liang cursed in slight anger, but his face looked a little brighter. His gaze was focused on the ordinary compass in his hand, its needle pointing toward the cave ahead.

’So the map I got really belongs to this secret realm. Tch... tch... who knew this place was also the resting ground of an ancient sect? I just hope I can dig out some good treasures.’

Chu Liang had a special knack for grave digging. His luck was extremely good in this field. That was why he had already reached the Peak Qi Condensation realm, even though his talent was not particularly good.

And if the information stored in the map he bought from the market was real, he might build his foundation today.

Of course, he was excited.

"Fortunately, there are no monsters around this cave. Still, I need to hurry."

Chu Liang did not dare to waste too much time and immediately entered the cave, remaining fully alert.

Surprisingly, the cave felt more like the entrance to a tunnel, as Chu Liang found himself walking deeper and deeper inside. He could also feel the presence of an ancient array that concealed this location from others.

But since he already knew there was a tomb here, he still managed to reach the bottom in no time.

’Whoa...’

The bottom of the tunnel opened into a vast cavern.

Inside, countless tombs and burial boxes were arranged in a circular pattern. One coffin rested at the very center, placed upon a raised stone platform, while the others surrounded it like silent sentinels.

It seemed this place had once been sealed and preserved by an ancient array. But now that the array had failed, time had finally caught up to it. Cracks covered the coffins, their surfaces eroded and dilapidated.

Even so, the moment Chu Liang laid eyes on the scene, his heart leapt with excitement.

’So many coffins.’

’There must be at least something of value. Not to mention the main thing mentioned on the map.’

His breath hitched, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.

This is even better. Saves me the trouble of digging.

With that thought, he walked toward a coffin at the edge of the cavern and pushed it open.

"Nothing..."

Not even bones, let alone treasures.

Yet Chu Liang wasn’t completely disappointed.

Rather, after confirming that there were no traps, he began opening one coffin after another.

Nothing...

Nothing...

Still nothing...

Even though he had all the patience in the world, Chu Liang’s face still darkened.

He felt that something was wrong with this place.

Even though so much time had passed, there should have been at least some bones or remains.

But every single coffin he opened was empty.

Until only the large one at the center remained.

This is bad... Did someone come here before me or what?

Chu Liang was truly confused.

He had never seen such a strange situation before. Yet he also felt no one’s presence in this place.

In fact, the broken array was still operating clumsily, wrapping everything in an illusion.

If someone had come here before, they should have left some traces behind.

Now only this large coffin remains. I hope there’s something inside. Otherwise...

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Feeling dejected, Chu Liang finally climbed the ladder and approached the large coffin at the center.

After making sure there was no danger, he placed his hand atop the coffin lid and tried to open it; only for it to remain stuck.

"Hmm?"

Chu Liang increased the force in his hand, using every bit of strength he could muster, but no matter what he did, it wouldn’t budge.

’Seems it’s locked by some mechanism. Shit... why am I so unlucky?’

He couldn’t help feeling extremely speechless.

He never thought that all the risks he had taken to come here would be wasted. If he couldn’t even open it, how was he supposed to loot anything?

’Hmm? Isn’t this symbol similar to the one on the map I got?’

As Chu Liang examined the coffin more closely, searching for any mechanism, he noticed an ancient dark lotus symbol engraved in the top corner.

’They really are the same. Maybe there’s a hidden message to unlock it?’

Since the map had circulated outside, someone must have used it at some point.

That meant the map might hold the key to opening the coffin.

With that thought, Chu Liang placed the paper atop the symbol to compare the demonic lotus carefully, when, to his surprise, the paper suddenly began to burn.

’What the—’

Before he could react and pull it back, the paper was already reduced to ashes.

However, he noticed that the ashes quickly seeped into the Black Lotus engraving on the coffin, dyeing it pitch black and ashy.

"Click!"

Sure enough, Chu Liang heard a click as the coffin lid loosened on its own.

So the map was the key all along?

Chu Liang felt both excited and nervous.

Even though the lid had opened, he didn’t rush forward. Instead, he waited, wary of anything suddenly springing out.

After all, he had seen corpses rise from their graves far too many times.

Only when he sensed nothing crawling out of the huge coffin did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and push the lid open.

"Thud!"

With a deafening thud, the coffin lid fell onto the platform, scattering dust everywhere.

Now, Chu Liang could finally see inside.

’Really? This one doesn’t have a corpse either. Is this place truly a tomb?’

He complained inwardly and looked toward the bottom of the coffin, only to spot two items inside.

’A storage ring... and a token?’

Aside from those, there was nothing else. Even they looked worn down, marked by the vicissitudes of time.

’Well, better than nothing, I guess.’

Chu Liang bent down and reached toward the bottom of the coffin, his eyes fixed on the two items resting there.

Up close, the storage ring looked old and cracked, its spiritual fluctuations faint and unstable. The token beside it felt heavier, as if it carried a lingering weight of authority and death.

Just as his fingers were about to touch them, though, a cold voice rang out from behind him.

"You really opened it, huh. It seems you knew what it was from the beginning."

The sound hit him like a blade to the spine.

Chu Liang’s heart lurched violently at the sudden, unknown voice right behind. His scalp went numb as every hair on his body stood on end.

"Crap."

He never thought there really was someone here who arrived before him.

Someone who had entered this place without triggering the array, without leaving a single trace, and without releasing even the faintest ripple of presence.

That realization filled his chest with dread.

This was bad. Extremely bad.

Chu Liang had never believed himself to be fearless. He survived because he was cautious, because he knew when to retreat, and because he trusted his instincts more than his greed.

Right now, those instincts were screaming at him to run.

Without hesitation, he snatched the worn token from the coffin, ignoring the storage ring entirely.

Then, the moment his fingers closed around it, he turned and crushed the amulet hanging at his chest.

It was a dull jade talisman, given to him long ago by his aunt, Elder Chu Yuxuan. She had told him to use it when his life was truly in danger.

Spiritual light burst from the amulet the instant it activated, covering him in a layer of dense, thick barrier.

Just from the look, it wasn’t that easy to break it, even for a foundation realm cultivator.

But Chu Liang didn’t stop. Rather, once he was safe, he took out a special teleportation jade from his ring and crushed it instantly.

He didn’t even look behind to see who the person was.

In the blink of an eye, his figure blurred and vanished, leaving the cavern empty once more.

"...."

Everything he did was so fast that the figure behind was totally stunned.

"...Interesting," Mo Zhiran muttered softly, feeling quite funny.

He found Chu Liang’s caution rather intriguing.

No wonder that guy survived and became a Legendary Grave Digger.

"To think he would abandon loot without hesitation."

Mo Zhiran glanced at the coffin’s interior and saw that only the storage ring remained. A faint smile crept onto his face.

From how Chu Liang fled, if he wanted, he could always take the storage ring too.

But that guy clearly left this on purpose and only took the Jade Slip.

"A grave digger who knows his limits. No wonder he survived this long."