After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

Xu Youwei broke the silence first: "In other words, if I'm unstable, she can't wake up."

Lin Qingxue said, "If my eyesight is unstable, she won't be able to wake up."

Zhou Ran said, "If I lose control, she will be even less likely to wake up."

Fatty Wang had slipped back in at some point and chimed in on the channel: "To sum it up, everyone, don't mess around."

Zhou Ran: "Do you want to go into the Yin Law Well to calm down?"

"Brother, I suddenly realized there are still some nails left to be removed in Dongcheng. Goodbye."

All that could be heard on the channel was the sound of his footsteps running away.

Emperor Song clutched the letter, cracking the broken armrest of his throne.

"Since Meng Po left these things behind, why did she also write 'Don't trust the Emperor's son'?"

Zhou Ran pressed his fingertips against the letter, but did not reply.

The three characters of the Emperor's Bone are: Wait, Judge, Kill.

The old letter contained four words: "Don't believe the emperor's son."

The two statements are contradictory.

The last paragraph of the old letter came into view.

"The emperor's son once saved this world."

"But the savior is not necessarily compassionate towards the world."

"The bones he left behind may not necessarily be his own corpse."

"The mark he left behind may not necessarily be for Earth."

"If the Emperor's bones reveal the three characters, investigate before killing; do not believe them beforehand."

As the letter reached this point, the gray-white flame began to dim.

Zhou Ran spoke.

"Meng Po".

The ashes of the letter trembled.

Inside the hall, the attention of both the living and the dead was focused on him.

Zhou Ran stared at the old letter that was about to turn to ashes, and said in a calm tone: "Since you have a backup plan, don't play dead to the end."

Emperor Song's eyelids twitched: "You're so rude to the dead too?"

Zhou Ran: "She owes me an explanation."

The white bone pen fell down on its own.

He used his own blood to write the word "question" heavily at the end of the letter.

Yinlu Well immediately trembled!

The ashes of the old letter did not scatter; instead, they twisted and coalesced into the silhouette of a hunched old woman.

The outline appeared for only a moment.

His hair was gray, and he held a chipped porcelain bowl in his hands.

She looked at Zhou Ran, her eyes deep-set, her weariness seeming to emanate from eternity ago.

"You're too late."

Zhou Ran looked directly at her: "That's because you didn't clean yourselves up properly 30,000 years ago."

The old woman's outline paused.

"His mouth is harder than the night sky."

The Taihuang Black Blade trembled slightly.

The sword no longer carries the voices of those who once knew him, only the faint glow of old military salutes remains.

Zhou Ran's shoulder slumped almost imperceptibly.

Meng Po's lingering image saw the mark and whispered, "He's gone too."

"Let's get down to business."

"The remains of the Emperor's son cannot be fused, cannot be used as a sacrifice, and cannot be opened alone," said the lingering image of Meng Po. "You did the right thing."

"The third character in 'Emperor's Bone' is 'Kill.' Kill whom?"

Meng Po's lingering image remained silent for a moment.

"Disciples of the Old Gods".

Li Zhiyao pressed further: "A disciple of the Moon Emperor?"

"no."

The afterimage looked up, and the void in front of her distorted, revealing the scene of an island.

The island has no national flag.

White lighthouses surrounded the area.

A black experimental tower stands in the center.

"Holy Radiance is just a shell."

"Marcus is just an accountant."

"The real guardians of the imperial prince's bone fragments are overseas."

The scene flashed by.

On the island, a row of cryogenic chambers are lit up.

Each hatch has a number on it.

One of the numbers is "Emperor's Son Sample No. 1".

Chen Ya's call came in, and she spoke very quickly.

"Zhou Ran, I just finished decoding the remaining data from the White Tower."

"The global funding chain has been broken, and the healthcare system has been completely replaced."

"But Marcus left behind a stateless experimental island overseas."

"His name is..."

Meng Po's afterimage and Chen Ya spoke at the same time.

White Pagoda Island.

The yin fire in the third hall was half its original height.

Zhou Ran asked, "Coordinates."

Chen Ya said, "It's still being unraveled. It's not affiliated with any country; it relies on Sheng Hui, overseas supernatural organizations, and several private military-industrial enterprises for funding. The last bit of traffic from the White Tower system flows there."

Meng Po's lingering image looked at Zhou Ran.

"Don't rush off."

Zhou Ran sneered.

"That's what all you people who leave your last words say."

"Jiangcheng has just closed its gates, the new laws of the Underworld are not yet stable, Yue Zhao cannot wake up, Xu Youwei's eye power will still backfire, and Lin Qingxue's eyes can only recover 70%," said the afterimage of Meng Po. "If you go on an expedition now, the Moon Emperor will pass the knife through the door, and Jiangcheng cannot withstand it."

Zhou Ran did not refute.

Lin Qingxue spoke up: "Stay put for three days."

Xu Youwei continued, "Within three days, I will press my left eye down until it can open and close on its own."

Li Zhiyao said, "I will compile the list of names for the first batch of old cases in the underworld within three days."

Chen Ya said, "I will compile all the information about White Pagoda Island's coordinates, personnel list, and financial chain into publicly available evidence within three days."

Watching this group of people efficiently dividing their tasks across the realms of Yin and Yang, Emperor Song finally managed to stammer, "Do you all usually push yourselves this hard?"

Zhou Ran said, "You're on the list too."

Emperor Song's face twitched slightly: "My injuries haven't healed yet."

Li Zhiyao said, "Ghosts don't need to sleep anyway."

Emperor Song shut up.

Meng Po's lingering image grew fainter and fainter.

She looked at Zhou Ran one last time: "Zhou Ran, remember this."

"The Moon Emperor wants to open the door."

"The emperor's son may not want to close the gate."

"If one day, the Emperor's Bone commands you to kill an innocent person to save all living beings..."

Zhou Ran interrupted her.

"Then it's not evidence."

He raised his hand, and the Taihuang Black Blade was drawn half an inch from its sheath.

"He is the defendant."

The outline of Meng Po's lingering image froze.

Then she smiled.

That smile vanished in an instant, like the last glimmer of light on the surface of the River of Oblivion, sinking into darkness.

"That's why I choose you."

The afterimage faded away.

The old letter transformed into a grayish-white paper imprint, which fell into Zhou Ran's palm.

There were only two words printed on the paper.

[For review and approval].

Zhou Ran sealed the paper seal into the end of the white bone pen.

"Li Zhiyao".

"exist."

"The old cases in the underworld will continue to be investigated, with priority given to the Zhao family, former subordinates of Yama, and the Sheng Hui trading network."

"clear."

"Emperor Song".

Emperor Song raised his eyelids slightly.

"What are you doing now?"

"The Third Palace will be lent to her."

Emperor Song laughed in anger.

"Did you ask me?"

Zhou Ran looked at him.

The hole in Emperor Song's chest let in a slight draft.

He remained silent for two breaths.

"borrow."

Zhou Ran turned around and stepped out of the Yin Realm rift.

The next moment, he returned to the Xiao family manor.

It was just dawn.

The gray line over Jiangcheng has faded considerably.

But there was something watching from outside the door.

Chen Ya stood in front of the command platform, her eyes bloodshot.

The evidence box was placed beside her.

The emperor's bones hung silently in the box, and the three words "wait, trial, kill" appeared in turn.

Zhou Ran shared the contents of Meng Po's old letter with Chen Ya, and also had Lin Qingxue and Xu Youwei join in reading it together.

After reading the part about Yue Zhao in the letter, Lin Qingxue pressed her fingertips against the black silk between her eyebrows.

"She can wake up."

Zhou Ran said, "But we can't rush it."

Hsu Yu-Wei lowered her voice: "I will practice my eye control."

Lin Qingxue said, "I will keep the Dharma Eyes stable."

Zhou Ran said, "I will sweep the road clean."

Chen Ya projected a newly deciphered document onto the screen.

On the screen is a gray-white island.

Stateless.

No flight routes.

No official serial number.

A silver streak hung in the sky above the island.

Lin Qingxue's body tensed up.

A drop of blood seeped from beneath the black silk covering her brow.

"Zhou Ran".

"I saw it."

"The silver pattern above the experimental island is not the Moon Emperor's eye."