The frail counselor you said, you fight against three heroes alone?

Cai Fu roared angrily, with a fiery light burning in his eyes, and lifted the heavy bronze tripod from the altar.

The veins on his arms bulged out like ropes, and then he threw the tripod towards the distant imperial city with amazing strength.

The bronze tripod cut through the sky, like a black cannonball under the blood-red sky, leaving behind it a trace of wind and the stench of ancient magic.

Xi Yu and Cai Wenshuang, who were temporarily forgotten in the chaos, both gasped.

As the bronze tripod streaked across the sky, a ghostly image flickered and emerged above the distant capital.

A star map exactly the same as the one engraved on the floor of the altar flickered eerily in the darkening sky.

It envelopes the city like a giant net, with disturbing energy surging in its lines.

Cai Fu was panting and coughing violently.

A bloody little goat pendant, meticulously carved from bone, fell to the cracked earth.

His voice was hoarse and labored, and he panted in the tense silence: "Check the list of doctors who served the late emperor on the night he passed away..."

Before he could explain further, a suppressed and dull collective groan was heard in the distance.

It was the sound of hundreds of suffering people, a horrifying symphony of agony.

The sound seemed to vibrate through the ground beneath their feet, and a palpable wave of pain washed over them.

Xi Yu and Cai Wenshuang looked at each other in horror.

Something terrible happened.

This has to do with Cai Fu’s cryptic words and that eerily familiar voice.

The wind direction changed, and there was a metallic smell in the air. It was... the smell of blood, without a doubt.

Cai Fu clutched his chest and stumbled back, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and triumph.

He pointed his trembling finger towards the capital, his lips moving silently.

Then, a drop of blood-red liquid splashed onto the dusty ground beneath his feet.

It beats, dark and ominous, like an evil heart.

"That...that seal..." He choked, his voice almost inaudible.

Cai Wenshuang raised her hand to cover her mouth, and understanding and fear gradually emerged in her eyes. "Father..."

He turned to her, his eyes burning with a terrible heat, a strange mixture of madness and clarity.

"This game..." He panted, blood foaming at the corners of his mouth, "It has just...begun..."

He fell down, holding the little goat pendant tightly in his hand.

The silence that followed was heavy and oppressive, filled with unspoken fear, broken only by the sound of the wind and the eerie echoes of distant agony.

The moonlight was hazy, and the night wind blew across the ancient palace walls, making a rustling sound.

Cai Wenshuang held Xi Yu tightly. The latter's face was as pale as paper, and fine beads of sweat on his forehead sparkled in the moonlight.

Blood flowed from the corners of Xi Yu's mouth from time to time. He endured the internal injuries and his eyes were determined.

"Prime Minister Xi, we're almost there." Cai Wenshuang whispered. She was also extremely nervous. The pendant in her hand seemed to be beating, as if resonating with Xi Yu's heartbeat.

However, at this moment, hundreds of people in the Dark Guard Camp coughed in pain at the same time, and the air was filled with the blood-stained tattoo of the woman in purple.

Xi Yu frowned and quickly flipped through the list of the late emperor's imperial physicians in his arms. His pupils suddenly contracted.

At the top of the list was the word "Su Heng". That name was like a bolt of lightning, striking Xi Yu's heart.

"Su Heng..." Xi Yu murmured in a low voice, with a barely perceptible hint of shock in his voice.

Father Cai suddenly grabbed Xi Yu's sleeve, his eyes flashing with madness and determination.

"Follow me, time is running out!" he hissed, with an unmistakable sense of urgency in his tone.

Xi Yu nodded, endured the pain in his body, and followed Cai Wenshuang and his father to rush to the underground palace of the imperial city.

Along the way, murals of prime ministers from past dynasties pierced by bronze chains appeared on the stone walls. The patterns were hideous and eerie.

"Every dynasty has a new king, but the blood vessel of Tianji Pavilion will always be the prime minister!" Father Cai's voice echoed in the empty underground palace, bringing with it a creepy chill.

Xi Yu's gaze slowly swept across the mural, and an indescribable complex emotion surged in his heart.

His steps suddenly stopped and his eyes were fixed on a mural. In the mural, a prime minister was pierced by bronze chains with a smile of relief on his face.

"This is..." Xi Yu whispered to himself, feeling slightly touched in his heart.

Father Cai did not stop and continued to run forward.

Finally, they arrived at the deepest part of the underground palace, where a tightly closed bronze door blocked their way.

The door was engraved with intricate patterns and had a groove in the center, a shape very similar to Xi Yu's jade pendant.

"Su Heng!" Xi Yu said sternly, his voice echoing in the empty underground palace.

After a moment, there was a slight sound of footsteps behind the door. Su Heng slowly walked out from the shadows, holding a bronze medicine box in his hand. The medicine box automatically unfolded, revealing the "Royal Key" inside, the shape of which was exactly the same as Xi Yu's jade pendant.

"Twenty years ago, you saved old man Cai in exchange for me giving up control of the late emperor's Heavenly Secret Lock." Su Heng's voice was low and calm, with a hint of complex emotions in his eyes.

Xi Yu understood immediately and he stared at Su Heng coldly.

"So that's how it is. You have been manipulating all this behind the scenes."

Su Heng smiled slightly, with a hint of sarcasm in her smile.

"You are very smart, Xiyu. But now, everything is coming to an end."

Cai Wenshuang tightly grasped the pendant in his hand, and a surge of resolute courage surged in his heart.

There was a determined light in her eyes, and her hands were shaking as she pressed the twin pendants into the key groove...

"Librarian of Heaven, unlock the secrets of the past!" Father Cai's voice echoed in the underground palace, with unparalleled majesty in his voice.

At that moment, everything in the underground palace seemed to be still. Only Su Heng and Xi Yu's eyes met. The air was filled with a tense and oppressive atmosphere.

Xi Yu's pupils suddenly contracted, as if he had seen something incredible.

"Prime Minister Xi, what's next... is up to you." Cai Wenshuang said in a low voice, with a hint of firm belief in his voice.

Xi Yu nodded, took a deep breath, slowly stretched out his hand, and pressed on the key groove...

The next moment, everything in the underground palace seemed to be controlled by a mysterious force. The ancient stone walls began to tremble, the bronze chains made sharp sounds, and an indescribable tension filled the air.

"Click——"

It was like the sigh of an ancient giant beast, or like a mechanism that had been sealed for thousands of years being triggered.

The twin pendants in Cai Wen's hands fit perfectly into the grooves on the bronze door.

At that moment, the earth shook!
Cai Wenshuang felt her feet go empty and she nearly fell down. Fortunately, Xi Yu was quick to act and pulled her into his arms.

The two looked down and saw that the solid ground of the underground palace was cracking like a spider web, revealing a bottomless black hole.

"This is..." Cai Wenshuang exclaimed, his voice trembling.

In the black hole, crystal clear coffins slowly rose up.

In each coffin, lies a lifelike ancient person quietly. They are dressed in costumes from different dynasties, with peaceful faces, as if they have just fallen into a deep sleep.

"These... are all the masters of Tianji Pavilion from past generations?!" Xi Yu's voice also carried a hint of shock.

He was well-read and naturally knew the legends of Tianji Pavilion, but he had never thought that he would see these legendary figures in person in this way.

Su Heng stood aside, watching all this with a complicated expression.

Her eyes swept across the crystal coffins one by one, and finally fell on Father Cai.

"You...already knew it, right?" Su Heng's voice was very soft, but with a barely perceptible tremor.

Father Cai did not answer. He just stared at Su Heng with a crazy light in his eyes.

At this moment, Xi Yu suddenly took action!
He grabbed Su Heng's wrist with lightning speed, with such force that it seemed as if he could crush her bones.

"Is the blood letter in your sleeve the farewell letter that Father Cai wrote to me twenty years ago?!" Xi Yu asked harshly, with rage burning in his eyes.

Su Heng's face changed. She tried to break free, but found that her wrist was like being clamped tightly by an iron clamp and she couldn't move at all.

"You...how do you know?" Su Heng's voice finally showed a hint of panic.

Xi Yu sneered and did not answer.

He had long suspected Su Heng's identity, but had no solid evidence.

It was not until just now, when he saw Su Heng touching her cuffs subconsciously, that he finally confirmed his guess. "Tell me! Who are you?!" Xi Yu pressed again, his voice as cold as a knife.

"I..." Su Heng opened her mouth but said nothing.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
Father Cai suddenly let out a wild roar, picked up the huge bronze tripod beside him, and smashed it hard at Su Heng!

"Old Cai, you're crazy!" Cai Wenshuang exclaimed and wanted to stop him, but it was too late.

"boom--"

The huge bronze tripod fell heavily on Su Heng...

However, the expected scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere did not occur.

The huge bronze tripod actually penetrated Su Heng's body directly, as if she was just a phantom.

"This..." Cai Wenshuang and Xi Yu were both stunned.

What's even more bizarre is that the "royal key" that was originally embedded in the groove of the bronze door actually flew out automatically and shot straight into Su Heng's back!
"Ah——" Su Heng let out a shrill scream and his body began to tremble violently.

"You are the real core of the Heavenly Secret Lock!" Father Cai roared, his eyes red, looking like a madman.

Xi Yu's gaze fell on the leader of the secret guards.

He was shocked to discover that on the neck of the leader of the secret guards, there appeared bronze patterns identical to those on Su Heng's neck!

Those lines seemed to be alive, slowly wriggling and emitting a strange light.

"Could this be..." A thought flashed through Xi Yu's mind.

Su Heng raised his head slowly, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth: "Do you think... you are the only one... who can scheme?"

The bronze cauldron, as heavy as a falling moon, rushed towards Su Heng.

Cai Wenshuang's cry of "Father, don't!" was drowned out by the whistling sound of the air flow.

The sound of bones breaking and blood splattering that should have been heard did not occur.

On the contrary, the big tripod "passed through" Su Heng directly, as if she was a phantom or a wisp of smoke.

Cai Wenshuang and Xiyu stared in amazement.

Silence fell, and the air was thick with the stench of ozone.

Then, the "Imperial Key" embedded in the complex carvings of the bronze door flashed an eerie blue light.

It broke free, cut through the air with a sharp metallic whistling sound, and then pierced into Su Heng's back.

Su Heng screamed, and the sound seemed to tear apart people's sanity.

Her body twitched like a puppet with tangled strings.

"You...you are the real core of the Heavenly Secret Lock!" Father Cai roared, his eyes bloodshot and his face distorted with anger.

But Xiyu's eyes fell on the captain of the guards.

Bronze lines that were exactly the same as those now spreading to Su Heng's body were climbing up the captain's neck, flashing a sickly light.

A terrible thought flashed through Xiyu's mind.

*Could it be… ?
*
Su Heng slowly raised her head, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"Do you really think... you're the only one... calculating?"

Xiyu staggered back, feeling a sharp pain in his right arm as if it were being cut by a knife.

Cold, hard emerald scales emerged from beneath his skin, spreading like a malignant tumor.

He gasped, his mouth full of the taste of copper.

"The forbidden technique of the Xi family that you stole many years ago..." a hoarse voice said, making him shudder.

Xi Wujiang's ghostly form emerged from the ground, fragments of his shattered armor swirling around him, reassembling themselves piece by piece.

He was a horrific puzzle of bone and steel, his eyes burning with a cold, otherworldly fire.

Then, a figure rushed out from Xi Wujiang's chest, breaking through the ghost armor like a newborn baby breaking out of its mother's womb.

It was the woman in purple. She revealed her true form, emitting an ancient and evil power.

Xiyu's breath hitched in her throat.

Only then did he see that there was a mark on his brother's neck that was exactly the same as the twinkling stars on his own forehead.

"You've always been *bait*!" Xi Wujiang's voice was filled with venom, and a thousand years of resentment were condensed into one sentence.

"I am the vessel chosen by the Tianji Sect! I am the legal heir!"

Cai Wenshuang raised his hand to cover his mouth, trying hard to hold back a scream.

She watched in horror as the simple little ornament from her childhood—a goat pendant—trembled violently around her neck, then broke free from the leather rope and flew towards Xi Wujiang.

The double stars on Xiyu's forehead flickered with the irregular flight of the pendant.

A sharp and painful memory flashed through Cai Wenshuang's mind - the fire that engulfed the Xijia army camp, and the screams that echoed in the night.

"Did you set fire to the Xi family army... to cover up the fact that *you*...are the true heir?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart.

Xiyu's dark eyes, filled with pain and confusion, met Cai Wenshuang's gaze.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

He staggered, his body suddenly heavy, the weight of the betrayal suffocating him.

The bronze scales on his arms pulsed, emitting a sickly heat... [Event]
Xi Yu suddenly laughed out loud, his laughter full of sarcasm and determination.

That laughter, like a demon crawling out of the Netherworld, tore through the eerie silence.

He was shocked, and the bronze scales that had spread to his chest were forced back to his right arm!
“Hahahaha…Xi Wujiang, do you really think that I, Xi Yu, am a puppet at the mercy of others? Do you think that this so-called forbidden blood contract technique can really control me?”

He swung his right arm violently, and the bronze light that was originally wrapped around it, like a tamed beast, rushed towards Xi Wujiang madly!

That light carried an aura of destruction, as if it would devour all living things in the world.

Xi Wujiang's expression finally changed.

His face, which was pieced together from broken armor, was distorted like charred charcoal burned by fire.

He roared and struggled, trying to stop the erosion of that power, but it was all in vain.

"No... Impossible! This forbidden technique... This forbidden technique clearly..."

"You obviously learned it from me, right?" Xi Yu interrupted him coldly, "You only know one side of the story. This forbidden technique is a double-edged sword! It can control others, but it can also backfire on you!"

"Crack...knock..."

The bronze armor on Xi Wujiang's body shattered into pieces, like glass crushed by a huge force, making a teeth-grinding sound.

Fragments flew everywhere, drawing cold streaks of light in the air.

Each piece of debris was like a sharp blade, cutting the surrounding air.

As the armor peeled off, Xi Wujiang's face hidden under the armor was finally revealed.

It was a... very ordinary face.

Not hideous, not twisted, even a bit... elegant?
That face was 70% similar to Xiyu, but lacked the sharpness and domineering look between Xiyu's eyebrows, and was a little more feminine and... calculating.

"You...you..." Xi Wujiang's voice became weak and trembling, like a beast with its throat strangled.

"Do you think that my secret patrols over the years were really to hunt down traitors? Was it really to consolidate the imperial power?" Xi Yu approached step by step, and every step seemed to step on Xi Wujiang's heart. "I'm just looking for a suitable opportunity, an opportunity... to completely eliminate you!"

He paused, his eyes as sharp as knives, staring at the faintly visible tattoo on Xi Wujiang's neck.

"And you, my dear brother, the tattoo on your neck...it should also be returned to its original owner."

As Xi Yu finished speaking, the tattoo on Xi Wujiang's neck seemed to come alive and began to twist and wriggle.

Then, in front of everyone's horrified gaze, the tattoo actually began to... peel off!
Like a torn painted skin or shed snake skin, the tattoo gradually peeled off Xi Wujiang's skin, revealing the skin underneath... as smooth as jade.

At the same time, the real body of the woman in purple suddenly let out a shrill scream.

The scream, as if coming from the Netherworld of Hell, pierced everyone's eardrums.

Her originally solid body instantly turned into thousands of blood threads!
Each strand of blood looked like a tiny poisonous snake, twisting and struggling, emitting a disgusting bloody smell.

These blood threads, as if they had life, rushed madly towards... Old Cai! (End of this chapter)