After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

Shi Qinglian abruptly stopped in her tracks, her back stiffening instantly, as if she had been nailed to the spot by an invisible icicle.

His head was lowered, and the wide sleeves of his plain robe hung down, so no one could see his expression at that moment. But his hands, hanging at his sides, were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, which betrayed his inner emotions.

Hidden beneath his wide sleeves, his fingernails dug deeply into his palms, leaving a few drops of crimson blood, but he remained completely unaware.

A flash of pain crossed the depths of Shi Qinglian's eyes.

There was a recollection of the pure days of the past, and a sense of guilt for the immense kindness shown to his senior brother, but these feelings were immediately suppressed, crushed, and reduced to nothingness by his obsession.

He turned his back to Huiming and remained silent for a long time. Finally, he managed to squeeze out only one dry syllable from his throat:

"…good."

After saying that word, he seemed to have unloaded a huge burden, or as if he had been burdened with an even heavier shackle.

Without turning back or hesitating for a moment, Shi Qinglian strode straight out of the alley.

Huiming stood there, watching the figure gradually disappear into the shadows, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The blood wasn't entirely from internal injuries sustained from the death energy of the Emperor's Soul; it was mostly from a sudden attack of internal heat.

It is the heart-wrenching pain of watching helplessly as one's junior brother, who is both a disciple and a friend, completely goes astray, while one is powerless to help and even has to sever the bond with him personally.

At this moment, Jiang Dusheng was completely unaware of everything behind him.

She pushed her speed to the limit and raced towards the city gate.

However, when she finally reached the vicinity of the city gate, her heart sank suddenly.

The city gates, which should have been open to the public in an orderly manner, were now crowded with people.

There were vegetable farmers carrying loads on their shoulders, looking anxious; and traveling merchants with boxes of goods, looking bewildered…

Everyone was trapped inside the doorway, unable to go out, and a cacophony of chatter and complaints filled the air.

The guards on the city wall had cold, hard expressions and ignored the clamor and questions from the people.

A leading guard, gripping the hilt of his sword, shouted sternly at the clamoring crowd:

"Silence! His Majesty has decreed that the entire city is under martial law today. No one is permitted to leave the city without a special imperial edict! Anyone who disobeys will be punished for defying an imperial decree!"

Jiang Dusheng stood at the edge of the crowd not far away, looking at the tightly closed city gate and the strict guards, his heart sinking completely.

As expected, Emperor Cangqi was even more ruthless than she had anticipated.

He went so far as to seal the city gates to keep her inside, so the number of ghosts he sent to kill Xie Jinchen today must be many times greater than that day.

Emperor Cangqi confined her to Changling, and Xie Jinchen lost his greatest support and variable, becoming a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of Emperor Cangqi.

Emperor Cangqi is determined to take Xie Jinchen's life today.

Jiang Dusheng gripped the bone flute in his sleeve, the icy touch spreading from his fingertips throughout his body.

She quickly calmed down and scanned her surroundings.

The city wall is several meters high and has faintly fluctuating restrictive formations. Once touched, it will not only trigger an alarm, but may also cause a backlash from the formations.

Climbing or forcibly breaking through the wall is not feasible.

Jiang Dusheng channeled his consciousness into the bone flute in his sleeve and whispered to Wang Dazhuang inside:

"Dazhuang, you used to roam the streets, do you know if there are any other hidden passages beneath the walls of Changling, besides the city gates?"

Wang Dazhuang's soul immediately responded through the bone flute, his voice thoughtful: "Master, now that you mention it, I'm reminded of a rumor."

"When I was young and still hanging around the streets, I heard some old thieves mention that there seemed to be an old drainage ditch left over from the previous dynasty near the old wall in the southeast corner of the imperial city, next to the mass grave."

"The route was later changed and abandoned. The exit was mostly blocked by silt and rocks, but it is said that it was not completely sealed off, and a small person could barely squeeze through."

He paused, his tone becoming hesitant: "However... that place is extremely eerie. Mass graves are inherently yin, and that old canal has been shrouded in darkness for many years, its filthy energy accumulating, and I've heard that wandering ghosts and spirits dwell there."

"Ordinary people would be terrified just to get close, let alone venture there. Even the soldiers guarding the city would avoid that area on patrol, for the sake of peace and good fortune."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng showed no fear; instead, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes. "Lonely ghosts?"

She repeated softly, a slight smile even playing on her lips, "What a coincidence. Ordinary people wouldn't dare go… but I do!"

Jiang Dusheng released Wang Dazhuang's ghost through the bone flute, letting him explore and guide the way.

The closer you get to the mass grave, the more desolate and dilapidated the surrounding environment becomes.

Most of the low, crooked mud-brick houses had their doors and windows open, but were empty inside, with only cobwebs and dust.

The air was filled with an increasingly strong stench of decay and a certain indescribable dampness, making one involuntarily hold their breath.

Not far away, a clearly low-lying area was shrouded in a light mist.

Amidst the swirling mist, one could vaguely make out the simple, crooked tombstones, the collapsed burial mounds, and the outlines of desolate graves swallowed by wild grass and vines.

Guided by Wang Dazhuang, Jiang Dusheng quickly arrived at an extremely secluded corner.

Here, wild jujube trees and thorny brambles grow in abundance, forming a difficult barrier that separates the city wall from the wasteland outside.

Unless you look for it deliberately, it's extremely difficult to discover the mystery.

Wang Dazhuang's soul passed right through, and a moment later a voice came: "Master, it's right here! Clear away these vines!"

Jiang Dusheng carefully parted the layers of withered vines and thorns, and finally a cave entrance, half-hidden by rubble, was revealed.

The entrance to the cave was small, barely allowing one person to pass through by bending over. Inside, it was pitch black and bottomless.

A strong, nauseating stench of decay, mixed with the rancid smell of years of sewage and the musty smell of soil, gushed out from the cave entrance.

Even though Jiang Dusheng was mentally prepared, the smell still made him frown, his stomach churn violently, and he almost vomited on the spot.

She quickly circulated her spiritual power to temporarily shut down part of her sense of smell, barely managing to suppress the nausea.

Wang Dazhuang had already floated in to scout ahead, and now his semi-transparent head emerged from the edge of the dark cave entrance.

He waved to Jiang Dusheng, his voice transmission carrying a hint of excitement and urging:

"Master, although it's dark and smelly inside, and the path is a bit narrow, slippery, and dirty... with your skills, there's definitely no problem! You can go in!"

Standing at the cave entrance, Jiang Dusheng gazed at the narrow passage that seemed to lead to the abyss of the underworld, smelled the suffocating odor, and thought about the filth he was about to face. A nameless anger mixed with an inexplicable sense of frustration welled up in his heart.

She gritted her teeth, a rare hint of disgust and irritation appearing on her usually cold face, and muttered under her breath, "Xie Jinchen, I must have owed you something in my past life!"

Despite the insults, their actions didn't stop at all.

She took another deep breath of the still relatively fresh air outside the cave entrance, then held her breath and, without hesitation, bent down and crawled into the narrow, abandoned drainage ditch.

The cave was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The air was polluted and thin, filled with a suffocating feeling from years of stagnant water and fermenting rotten matter.

A tiny spark of spiritual fire ignited at Jiang Dusheng's fingertips, barely illuminating the small area in front of him.