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

Xie Jinchen ignored Wang Dazhuang's mutterings and turned around to naturally grasp Jiang Dusheng's hand.

"Let's go," he whispered.

Then, he sheathed the sword with his other hand.

He took out a luminous pearl, which could illuminate an area several steps in front of him, so that he wouldn't become a target in the dark, and he could see his feet clearly.

Inside the cave entrance is a downward-sloping staircase, roughly carved out, with slippery moss covering the stone steps.

The two walked one in front of the other.

The stairs weren't too long; after descending about twenty or thirty steps, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a small stone chamber.

At the end of the stone chamber was a rusty iron door.

The door was undecorated, with only two rusted door knockers. The gaps in the door seemed to be blocked from the inside, preventing any light from getting through.

"This should be it," Jiang Dusheng said.

Xie Jinchen's heart pounded faster involuntarily, his gaze fixed on the iron gate.

After nearly two decades of searching, my mother's remains may be behind this door.

Wang Dazhuang circled the iron gate once and said, "Master, may I go in and scout ahead?"

Jiang Dusheng thought for a moment and nodded: "Be careful, retreat immediately if there are any restrictions."

"Alright!" Upon receiving the order, Wang Dazhuang's paper figure swayed slightly, and its soul transformed into a faint gray shadow, passing through the iron gate.

A moment later, Wang Dazhuang's spirit suddenly darted back through the crack in the iron gate, trembling excitedly in the air, his voice filled with astonishment:

"Master! Inside...inside there's a beautiful woman! Dressed in gorgeous clothes, lying...lying in an ice coffin! She looks...she looks like she's asleep!"

"An ice coffin?!" Xie Jinchen tightened his grip on Jiang Dusheng's hand suddenly, so much so that Jiang Dusheng frowned slightly, but he was completely unaware of it at the moment.

A chill ran through Xie Jinchen's eyes, his voice low and hoarse, "No wonder...no wonder he stole my mother's body and went to great lengths to hide it here...it turns out he was using this extremely cold Yin Aperture to preserve the body from decay. What exactly is he trying to do?!"

Jiang Dusheng instantly understood the key to it.

The royal family had its own bodies, which were preserved by using spices, medicines, and special methods to prevent decay.

Princess Yong'an passed away from illness, and her body must have undergone such treatment to temporarily preserve its original appearance.

After Xie Dai stole it, he could not keep it in the mansion for long, so he thought of the natural yin orifice in his ancestral home of Qingwu City.

Just then, Ruan Guyan walked up to the heavy iron gate.

In her lifetime, she was the daughter of an official, and her maternal grandfather was a military general. She had dabbled in mechanical arts in her youth, and after becoming a ghost, she became even more sensitive to the flow of energy.

She carefully observed the texture of the iron gate, the subtle wear marks around the keyhole, and the faintly fluctuating barrier of yin energy at the door seams.

"Miss Jiang, Young Master Xie," Ruan Guyan said softly, "this iron gate may seem simple, but in reality, there is an extremely ingenious mechanism connecting the lock cylinder and the door hinge, and it is also connected to the Yin energy node behind the door."

"Forcing our way in might trigger the restrictions. But... this mechanism seems to have left a way out."

Ruan Guyan stretched out her hand and lightly pressed it on an inconspicuous brick above the keyhole of the iron gate.

"The bricks here sound slightly hollow when struck, and there's a subtle swirling of yin energy. If a trace of yin energy is injected at a specific frequency, it might be able to disrupt the internal balance and unlock the lock. Let me try."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng nodded: "Be careful, stop immediately if there are any unusual changes."

Ruan Guyan concentrated her mind and gathered a wisp of Yin energy at her fingertips, slowly injecting it into the sunken brick.

A few breaths later, a slight clicking sound came from inside the brickwork.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of a mechanism turning came from the keyhole of the iron door, and the barrier of yin energy at the door seam dissipated.

"Boom!"

The heavy iron door slowly slid open a crack to the side, and a chilling aura rushed out from inside, instantly causing the surrounding temperature to drop sharply.

Jiang Dusheng pulled Xie Jinchen along and slowly entered.

Inside the door, the scene was breathtaking.

This is a restored natural cave.

The walls and dome are inlaid with dozens of luminous pearls of varying sizes, illuminating the space as bright as day.

The brilliance of the pearl reflected off the crystal-clear ice coffin in the center of the cave, refracting a dreamlike halo.

Xie Jinchen's gaze was fixed on the ice coffin.

Inside the coffin lay a woman, lying quietly.

She wore a magnificent and elaborate palace dress, still bright in color, with her hair styled in a high bun, adorned with exquisite pearls and jade.

Her face was serene and beautiful, her skin was fair with a faint rosy glow, her eyebrows and eyes were exquisite, and her lips were rosy. She truly looked as if she were just asleep.

Even the curve of the eyelashes was clearly visible, showing no signs of decay that a corpse should have.

Only her flat chest and cold breath told us that she had been gone for many years.

Xie Jinchen's body stiffened, his fingertips were icy cold, and he trembled as he reached out, wanting to touch the ice coffin that was so close at hand.

However, his fingers had barely touched the surface of the ice coffin when he tried to push…

"Boom!"

The entire cave, and even the entire mountain, suddenly began to shake violently.

Gravel and dust fell in a flurry, while the luminous pearls flashed erratically.

A powerful surge of spiritual energy emanated from the bottom of the ice coffin and spread rapidly.

Jiang Dusheng's expression changed drastically. He grabbed Xie Jinchen's hand and said urgently:

"Don't move! There's a formation! This ice coffin is connected to the core of the mountain's Yin energy veins! It's the formation's eye! If you force it open, the formation will become unbalanced, the earth's veins will surge, and the mountain will collapse!"

Just then, a hidden door silently slid open in the rock wall on one side of the cave.

Xie Dai walked out slowly.

His gaze, complex and conflicted, fell upon Xie Jinchen beside the ice coffin, then swept over Jiang Dusheng, his voice echoing in the silent, cold cave:

"You... you finally found your way here."

The rumbling from the cave gradually subsided, as if the formation had been temporarily calmed by his appearance.

Xie Jinchen's hand felt as if it had been instantly burned by the bone-chilling cold of the ice coffin, and he abruptly withdrew it.

He slowly turned around to face Xie Dai, who was walking out of the hidden door. The fluctuations in his eyes were completely frozen, leaving only an icy coldness.

Xie Dai's gaze swept over Xie Jinchen's cold face, finally settling on the ice coffin, his eyes filled with obsession.

He seemed oblivious to the coldness in Xie Jinchen's eyes and slowly said, "I've said it before, I won't hand her over to anyone."

His fingers traced the outline of the ice coffin in the air. "The Nine Yin Spirit Locking Array beneath this ice coffin has completely merged with the Yin Aperture Earth Vein of this mountain range."

"As long as the coffin remains, the formation remains, and the mountain remains stable. If you forcibly break the coffin or attempt to move it... the formation will become unbalanced, and the earth's yin energy will surge back like a burst dam, instantly overwhelming you."

"At that time, not only will this mountain collapse and we will all perish here, but the uncontrolled Yin energy will also sweep out, and Qingwu City will be the first to bear the brunt."

Xie Dai paused, his gaze finally turning to Xie Jinchen, a chilling smile even curving his lips:

"The people in the city will have their yang energy stolen and their souls invaded. At best, they will fall seriously ill; at worst, they will die on the spot. Your mother's body will also be eroded by yin energy in an instant, turning into dust, leaving you with not even a trace of her."

"Chen'er, can you bear to let all the living beings in this city be buried with your mother's resting place?"