The opening scene reveals the story of Yao Lao, alarming the Soul Emperor.

These words split the atmosphere in the hall in two.

The kneeling Dou Zun relaxed, while the seated Tian Zun tightened his grip.

Hun Miesheng's vertical pupils were a shade brighter than before, and a blood-red light shone through the gaps in the black mist, falling on Hun Yu's white clothes and illuminating half of his shoulder with a dark red hue.

"You won't tell me your name."

Hun Miesheng's voice was slow, with a short pause between each word.

"So what do you plan to do?"

Hunyu coughed.

It's not a fake cough, it's real.

Something was rising in his chest, which he held back firmly with the back of his tongue.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed back the metallic taste.

"My solution is very simple."

"No investigation."

"Let the mole show himself."

Hun Yue's cold snort came from the side.

"joke."

"The mole has been hiding for three months, and even the Palace Master couldn't find him. You think he'll just show himself because you say so?"

"Do you think the mole is your pet dog, that he'll come wagging his tail whenever you whistle?"

This statement would be quite rude under normal circumstances, but in this context, no one found it inappropriate.

Because everyone in the hall had the same question.

Hun Yu ignored Hun Yue.

His gaze remained fixed on the black mist.

"The Palace Master knows the principles of fishing."

"The fish aren't biting, not because they're not hungry."

"The bait is wrong."

He made a gesture in the air with his fan, as if he were throwing a line.

"The temple master's approach over the past three months has been to cast a wide net."

"We'll investigate everyone who's ever been exposed to intelligence; the more we investigate, the more we find, and the more chaotic it gets."

"The mole was mixed in with the forty-seven people, wearing the same robes and making the same fearful expressions as those who were truly innocent."

"It's normal that you can't tell the difference."

"Because the mesh is too big."

He put his fan away.

"My solution is to change the net."

"Leave only one mesh in the mesh."

"Put a bait in; only the real mole will be attracted by that bait."

"Others cannot touch it, cannot see it, and are not even aware of its existence."

His throat itched again, and this time he couldn't help but tilt his head and cough twice.

He pulled the handkerchief from his sleeve and covered his mouth.

When the white handkerchief was removed, two fresh red patches appeared on it, the color was very dark, almost black.

Hunyu crumpled the handkerchief into a ball and stuffed it back into his sleeve, his movements unhurried and unhurried, as if the two bloodstains had nothing to do with him.

Several eyes in the hall noticed the handkerchief.

Hunyuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

Hun Yue snorted, but didn't say anything more.

The black mist above the throne churned for a moment.

"What's your bait?"

Soul Extinction asked the most crucial question.

Hunyu shook his head.

"This junior cannot be mentioned here."

His fan swept around both sides of the main hall.

There were too many people there.

"If the contents of the bait spread throughout this temple, it's like telling the traitor where the net is, and the fish won't take the bait."

Soul Extinction remained silent.

Everyone in the hall was waiting for the decision to be made on the throne.

Hunyu stood still, the dark red light on his white robes swaying with the churning of the black mist above his head.

His face was a shade paler than when he entered the hall, and his lips had a thin layer of dry cracks, but his posture remained unchanged.

"You want me to clean up the palace."

The statement about the annihilation of the soul and the birth of life is not a question, but a statement.

"The Lord of the Palace is wise."

"You're really not being polite."

When these words came from the black mist, they were accompanied by a very faint smile.

It wasn't a friendly laugh.

It's the smile of a hunter examining his prey.

"This child from a collateral branch is seeing the grand scene of the Heavenly Gang Hall for the first time. He doesn't kneel or bow, which is fine, but he wants to clear the area right away."

"The clan chief's decree says you are a capable person."

"But I've seen far too many capable people."

"Most of them died because of their own incompetence."

Hunyu raised his head.

"The Palace Master is right."

"My body can't hold on much longer either."

"So I don't want to waste any more time."

He coughed one last time, this time without a handkerchief. A tiny drop of blood slid down the corner of his lips, which he slowly wiped away with the pad of his thumb.

Then he put his hands behind his back, held the white feather fan upright next to his right shoulder. The golden light on the fan had dissipated, leaving only a faint glimmer of light hanging from the tip of the feather.

His gaze pierced through the black mist, meeting those blood-red vertical pupils.

"If the Palace Master trusts my ailing body..."

He paused for a moment.

"Within three days, I will make that ancient ghost carry a human head to your throne."

When those words were spoken, not a single person in the hall uttered a sound.

Even their breathing was suppressed.

The black mist tumbled three times, and its vertical pupils blinked once.

Then a very low, deep laugh came down from the throne.

The laughter lasted only two breaths before it stopped.

The sound after the laughter ended was colder than before.

"interesting."

Soul Extinction's hand emerged from the black mist, its pale, sickly palm flipping over with its five fingers spread.

Five dark red lights clung to his fingertips.

"Qingdian."

He said two words.

The twenty-six Dou Zun who were kneeling on both sides stood up as if their spines had been removed, bent over and retreated to the side doors on both sides, their steps chaotic as if they were fleeing for their lives.

The Celestial Venerables on the high platform also began to move. Hun Yue was the first to turn around. His back view carried a long-suppressed anger, and his heavy footsteps made the steps shake.

The gray-robed celestial being in the front row followed closely behind, while the two shadowy figures in the back row silently disappeared into their respective passages.

The last place they went was the Abyss of Souls.

He stopped a step as he passed by Hunyu.

Their eyes met.

Hunyuan didn't speak, but his lips opened and closed again, as if he had chewed up some words and swallowed them back.

Then he left.

The sound of the side doors of the main hall closing came one after another.

After the final muffled thud of the door closing faded away, only three things remained in the entire council hall of the Heavenly Gang Palace.

Black fog.

White clothes.

And the dried-up corpse on the steps.

Soul Extinction's vertical pupils were fully revealed from the black mist, two blood-red beams of light fixed on the thin figure below.

"The person is now clean and tidy."

His voice changed tone, becoming lower, more authentic, and more dangerous than when he was in front of everyone before.

"Speak."

"What exactly is your bait?"

Soul Feather twirled the fan halfway between his fingertips, the golden feathers at its tail flashing in an arc of light.

A very slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Lord of the Palace."

"I am the bait."