Qin Jiujiu and Liu Jin changed into palace maid outfits, while Xie Jing and Xiao Yuan donned guard uniforms.
As for Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo, they were familiar faces in the divine observatory and naturally did not need to disguise themselves.
Inside the divine observatory, Sheng Huaizhi stood before the ice bed.
"Yaoyao, you'll be back in my arms soon. Huai'an, our child, he's grown up, and he looks... so much like you!"
His gaze shifted from gentleness to madness.
"Your Majesty, the time has come!"
Ling Ye knelt before him, his half-mask lending him a mysterious and eerie air.
Sheng Huaizhi cast a deep look at the woman on the bed, and then—
This secret chamber concealed an altar.
However, the deepest part of the secret chamber was Yun Yaoyao's room. Entering that room would normally make people believe they had reached the end, unaware that behind that room lay another stone chamber.
The room housing the altar had two entrances.
One was in the National Preceptor's room, and the other was a decorative item in front of Yun Yaoyao's bed.
This room was identical to the one Yun Yaoyao resided in during the previous dynasty, with only one additional item.
But ordinary people would never discover it.
This item was the decorative piece placed before her bed.
Yun Yaoyao never placed anything before her bed.
Sheng Huaizhi gently tugged at the decorative item, and soon the stone wall behind the ice bed opened, and the ice bed slowly moved backward into the wall.
The mechanisms below also moved with the opening of the stone door.
This design was for today's ceremony.
As the stone door opened, the ice bed moved into another room where a large altar was set up.
Su Ming stood before the altar, calmly lighting incense.
The altar was large, with densely packed incense sticks, at least a hundred of them.
He was in no hurry, having already lit half of them.
Sheng Huaizhi stood behind Su Ming, surveying the entire room.
Above the altar, red smoke billowed as the incense was lit.
From a distance, it resembled a red glow.
The ice bed gradually moved to the center directly below the altar, and beside it were three stone beds.
On these stone beds lay three bound women.
One of them was Wu Jinchu.
The three women appeared to be asleep, their eyes tightly shut, showing no signs of life.
The ice bed slowly moved to the vacant spot in the center, placing Wu Jinchu, who had been missing for days, next to Yun Yaoyao.
Sheng Huaizhi's cold eyes narrowed slightly, and then he averted his gaze towards the red smoke swirling above the stone chamber.
As the number of burning incense sticks increased, the smoke gradually gathered, growing larger and larger, as if it would burst through the roof.
An unusual fragrance filled the room.
This incense was made by soaking in the blood of missing women for many days, thus the scent was inevitably mixed with the smell of blood.
In Anzhou, there was a secret art. The yin energy of souls was very strong, and to summon spirits, it was necessary to create something that would attract them. This something was the incense refined from women's blood.
Such a method, being too absurd, had never been heard of being attempted throughout history.
Therefore, Su Ming was unsure whether this ceremony would be successful.
However, in his pursuit of power, he had returned to Shengqi Kingdom with the secret art and could no longer turn back.
"Your Majesty, this incense cannot be interrupted. They must be lit one by one in sequence, so some tasks will have to trouble you to perform personally!"
Sheng Huaizhi was already impatient, "What you asked me to prepare, I have already prepared."
Sheng Huaizhi took out a silk handkerchief from his embrace. Wrapped in the bright yellow silk were Yun Yaoyao's hair and an item – a jade pendant engraved with the character Jing.
The hair of Yun Yaoyao, lying on the ice bed, was already largely burnt away, and the remaining hair was scorched yellow. But the hair in Sheng Huaizhi's hand was black and lustrous.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that these were actually two different strands of hair entwined together.
Their shape formed a love knot.
Sheng Huaizhi's eyes instantly turned crimson.
He stared with rage at the hair and the jade pendant in his hand.
If it weren't for this day, he would have destroyed this knot long ago.
He had searched the Xie family from top to bottom on that day, all for this love knot and this jade pendant!
This was no ordinary love knot; if it were undone, it would instantly turn to ash and dissipate into the air.
Thinking of this, Sheng Huaizhi gnashed his teeth in hatred.
This was because the other strand of hair belonged to Xie Qing!
"Your Majesty, please place the Empress's hair and an item she cherished in her lifetime into the brazier before the altar."
The brazier had not yet been lit.
"Then, light the fire and burn them together."
As for those three women, they would be sacrificed, dying permanently in place of Yun Yaoyao…
Their birth dates matched Yun Yaoyao's perfectly.
Sheng Huaizhi, without hesitation, threw the items in his hand into the brazier.
Then, with a sweep of his hand, he tossed a fire into the brazier.
Instantly, flames engulfed the bright yellow silk.
In a daze, Sheng Huaizhi recalled the fire ten years ago.
"Yaoyao, come back!"
Su Ming was still lighting incense. Something gradually floated out of the brazier and drifted towards Yun Yaoyao.
Su Ming closed his eyes tightly, muttering something, and cold sweat continuously beaded on his forehead.
The sweat soaked through his inner garments.
"Ah!"
The person on the ice bed let out a cry of pain, followed by gasping breaths.
"Jingling~ Jingling~"
Through the stone wall, Sheng Huaizhi heard the sound of bells filling the room.
Someone had broken in!
Sheng Huaizhi rushed towards Yun Yaoyao. At this moment, she was nearly rolling off the ice bed due to her large movements.
Seeing this situation, Sheng Huaizhi's eyes seemed on the verge of bleeding.
But he dared not touch Yun Yaoyao's body, fearing she would vanish if he did.
"Yaoyao, bear with it, you'll be back soon!"
Sheng Huaizhi repeatedly chanted this sentence. The person on the bed clearly could not hear.
His words seemed to be directed at Yun Yaoyao, but more so at himself.
How much pain must she have felt from that fire that day!
Jingling~ Jingling~
The sound of bells continued to ring, making Sheng Huaizhi even more agitated.
On the other side.
Ling Ye, sword in hand, blocked Qin Jiujiu and the others.
Qin Jiujiu looked at the masked figure standing before her and suddenly exclaimed, "Ling Ye?"
Everyone: ?!!
Xie Jing pulled Qin Jiujiu into his embrace, tightly holding her waist.
Because the person before them reminded him of the illusion in Anzhou.
At that time, he had the consciousness of Yue Beiyang, and Qin Jiujiu was Xing Ru.
And the person before them was Ling Ye, the dark guard who protected Xing Ru.
He was also the one who truly saved Xing Ru!
Ling Ye's eyes flickered, but only half of his face was visible, so no one knew the expression beneath his mask.
"Who are you?"
But his actions at this moment proved—he was very unstable!
Before Qin Jiujiu could speak, Ling Ye's blade was already at her throat.
The tone Qin Jiujiu had just used was Xing Ru's.
The words "Ling Ye" were bitten out by her, crisp and delicate.