Just as a few people didn't find anything and were somewhat disappointed, Mo Jiuye suddenly stopped his movements.
"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Sixth elder brother, if I'm not wrong, there should be an entrance here."
Hearing Mo Jiuye's voice, everyone gathered around.
Mo Jiuye pointed to the place his hand had touched and said, "It's not as smooth here, and it's a bit more concave compared to the other walls."
The elder brothers reached out and touched that spot, and indeed felt the same as Mo Jiuye.
"Ninth younger brother, let's try pushing it," Sixth elder brother suggested.
Mo Jiuye nodded lightly, and his palms began to gently push the different spot.
They had thought it would take some effort, but unexpectedly, with Mo Jiuye's light push, the stone slab moved.
In the silent basement, a sudden loud rumbling sound rang out.
The stone slab in front of the brothers quickly disappeared, revealing a dimly lit passageway.
Mo Jiuye went in first, while also remaining vigilant at all times, wary of things like hidden arrows.
The passageway was very spacious, wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Sixth elder brother very naturally walked to Mo Jiuye's side, also adopting a defensive stance.
The passageway was about a hundred meters long and completely flat the whole way.
Unexpectedly, as the brothers walked all the way to the end, they did not discover any hidden arrows.
The only difference was that the temperature here became lower and lower.
If the initial temperature felt like spring or autumn, upon arriving here, it felt like the onset of winter.
Although it hadn't reached the point of biting cold winds, one couldn't help but want to rub their hands together to stay warm.
However, the brothers all had some martial arts skills, so with a little internal energy, they could easily dispel this feeling of cold.
Stepping out of the passageway, the view opened up before them.
They hadn't gone above ground, but rather the path ahead was completely illuminated.
The light here didn't come from oil lamps, but from seven luminous night pearls hanging overhead.
These seven night pearls were a bit smaller than the ones Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran had taken from the Dashun Country Treasury, but the light they emitted was comparable to the daylight of incandescent lamps.
Thanks to the good lighting, the scene before them was in full view of the brothers.
A huge painted lacquer coffin sat squarely in the middle of the open space.
Hanging from the four corners of the coffin were two silver bells, but with no wind here, the bells just hung quietly.
Most distinct was the carving of lifelike flying phoenixes and monkeys on the coffin lid.
Although such an extravagant coffin here would easily draw the brothers' attention, at this moment, they couldn't focus on it at all.
Because kneeling in front of the coffin was an emaciated person.
His clothes were about the same as when the brothers first saw Eldest Brother and Second Brother, and could only be described as tattered.
His head of silver hair was matted into clumps on top of his head.
Moreover, at first glance this person looked like a desiccated corpse, giving off no signs of life.
In his hands he still grasped a stack of paper money, while in front of him was a bronze basin, with ashes from burnt paper money inside.
It was very obvious that this person was kneeling here burning paper for the person in the coffin.
The brothers simultaneously felt a strange suffocating sensation, and quickly crowded around.
Mo Jiuye gently brushed aside the silver hair covering the man's cheeks. Upon seeing his true appearance, the brothers' eyes reddened around the rims.
"Father."
"It really is father."
Eldest Brother made a motion as if he was about to reach out and touch Mo Qing, but was stopped by Mo Jiuye.
Being stopped didn't upset Eldest Brother, as he also realized that the ninth younger brother was very wise now, and must have had a reason for stopping him.
After blocking Eldest Brother, Mo Jiuye carefully extended a hand and placed it under Mo Qing's nose to check his breathing.
From his terrible complexion, they could judge that father's condition was not very good.
Second Brother anxiously asked, "Ninth younger brother, how is father?"
Mo Jiuye didn't answer immediately. Instead, like He Zhiran had done before, he placed his hand on father's carotid artery.
Then he exhaled heavily.
"It's alright, he still has breath."
Hearing that father still had breath, Sixth elder brother hurriedly moved closer.
"Let's take father away now."
As he spoke, he was about to pick up the unconscious Mo Qing on his back.
Mo Jiuye shook his head. "Don't move him for now. Father's condition is very worrying, and moving him might endanger his life."
Hearing the ninth younger say this, Sixth elder brother's outstretched hand immediately froze in midair.
"Then what should we do? We don't know medicine, so how do we treat father?" Sixth elder brother asked anxiously.
This was also the biggest worry for Eldest Brother and Second Brother.
Mo Jiuye was also nervous now, but after following his wife for so long, he had picked up some medical knowledge.
He knew that without figuring out the situation first, moving was unwise, as it could accelerate death.
He was also very clear about another thing - the control interval for the Puppet Worm.
From interrogating Mr. Si Meng, he knew that the Puppet Worm afflicting father was that man's lifework.
They as brothers had already captured Mr. Si Meng for over half a month now, and the control periods for the Puppet Worm were irregular, at minimum 10 days or half a month for manipulation to enable the host worm to move the host like a puppet, which was to maintain basic survival.
This was also why the brothers had rushed day and night to get here.
From father's current state, Mo Jiuye analyzed that he should have lost the mother worm's control, and lost many survival behaviors, leading to his current condition.
In short, the biggest reasons were likely the long period without food, along with the cold indoor temperature, resulting in father's current dire state.
Thinking of this, Mo Jiuye hurriedly took out his water skin.
He poured water into the lid of the waterskin, then gently pried open Mo Qing's mouth, slowly pouring water in bit by bit.
After doing this several times and seeing that Mo Qing didn't reject it, he handed the lid and waterskin to Sixth elder brother for him to continue feeding Mo Qing water.
As for himself, he took out the cardiac stimulant his wife had given him.
With father's situation so critical now, he didn't care if this item was suitable to take out.
At this moment, nothing was more important than father's life.
Of course, if his elder brothers asked later, he would take full responsibility for the item's origins - there was no way he would expose his wife's secrets.
Mo Jiuye quickly injected the cardiac stimulant into Mo Qing's muscle, then continued watching Sixth elder brother feed him water.
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, checking Mo Qing's breathing and pulse again showed improvement.
Although he was still very weak, it was much better than when the brothers first saw him.
Having done what they could for now, the only thing left for the brothers to do was wait for father to regain consciousness.
In his current condition, it wasn't suitable to immediately remove the worm - he was too frail.
