When Chen Yi returned to the burial chamber with Lin Wanxiao, her face flushed and burning with embarrassnt, Empress An imdiately stood up with a "swoosh."
She noticed Lin Wanxiao limping with each step, her eyes full of admiration for Chen Yi’s work.
"Look at that, look at that, such strength,"
Empress An said with a faint smile:
"Yi’er, are you proud of yourself?"
"...Not particularly."
For so reason, facing Empress An at this mont, Chen Yi felt an awkwardness akin to being in front of his parents, at tis not knowing what to say.
But, after all, he was not Xia Qi, and Empress An was not from the Tushan Clan.
"Let’s go, Madam,"
Chen Yi said softly.
As they left the burial chamber, Chen Yi once again saw the waiting female crown who now stood solemnly, radiant and immaculate.
"Shall we continue?" Chen Yi asked.
The female crown smiled and nodded, then followed behind Chen Yi.
"You don’t seem angry,"
Chen Yi said with a chuckle.
"Unmoved by external things, untroubled by personal gains or losses."
The Taichua Goddess, seemingly sensing Chen Yi’s thoughts, asked:
"I have let go. Can you?"
Her words seed to suggest that their past grievances were now settled.
Chen Yi squinted at her for a mont and then said:
"I still prefer the past Yin Weiyin."
The Taichua Goddess smiled faintly and replied:
"I caused you much offense in the past—my apologies. Once I ascend to immortality, I will repay you in full."
Chen Yi listened to her apology in silence,
though her words carried sincerity, he felt a certain detachnt—an aloofness, a disdain for the mundane, that made him uneasy.
Still, Chen Yi said nothing.
In the group of four, Lin Wanxiao lagged behind, seemingly desperate to keep her distance from Chen Yi. The female crown walked neither too close nor too far from him, while Empress An nearly kept pace beside him.
As Empress An followed along, she kept chattering:
"It’s the end of the month—according to tradition, we must sacrifice ten people and ten pigs to the heavens, three young, seven old. Oh, and since you’ve taken a concubine, you must divine her fate before the ceremony. Pick three to kill and see if the heavens approve of your concubine; if not, you can cast her out and make her a servant instead..."
Chen Yi listened with growing irritation, occasionally responding with a mild affirmation, while Lin Family Young Lady at the back turned pale as paper upon hearing words like human offerings and heavenly sacrifices. Yet she dared not flee and could only follow along quietly.
Empress An evidently sensed Chen Yi’s annoyance and gradually quieted down. By the end, she rely muttered to herself at intervals, occasionally glancing at Chen Yi to gauge his interest in her words or whether he might respond.
As they delved deeper into the underground palace, Chen Yi felt an inexplicable sense of chaos.
It was as if so resentful spirits, carrying their fixations and unresolved burdens, were entangling him.
"The heavens are restless, the divine sacrifices are unfulfilled. Xia Qi, kill her to restore the Heavenly Dao!"
"Nüwa repaired the heavens, and the stone fell to Tushan. She is but a remnant, a stubborn piece of stone left over from that act. You have obtained the Nine Argunts and Nine Songs; it is ti to kill her."
"If you do not kill her, and if the heavenly gates crack open again, bringing floods anew—do you possess your father’s virtue? Do you hold your father’s talents? You have already slain Boyi; why not kill one more?"
...The words from nightmares inexplicably surfaced again as Chen Yi clasped his forehead, his vision growing increasingly blurred.
On both sides, shattered bronze fragnts lay scattered, and the corridor they walked down grew wider and vaster. Ahead, sothing seed to await them, as one by one, bronze square lamps appeared along the path.
The flas burned with a ghostly blue hue.
Behind him, Empress An’s gaze had sohow beco unfocused, and she began murmuring incoherent whispers,
"It’s here... it’s here. The Heavenly Altar, the Heavenly Altar. Yi’er, this is where you dismbered your mother..."
Chen Yi’s breathing grew ragged, the voice behind him like a relentless death knell. The female crown’s eyes began to gleam brightly, as if sensing sothing.
Lin Wanxiao remained in a daze, following the others without understanding.
The walls bore carvings of half-eyed gluttonous beasts and inscriptions. Golden script fragnts read "The heavens are restless," followed by depictions of two true dragons pulling a bronze dragon chariot.
Seeing this image, Chen Yi involuntarily paused, only to realize he had unknowingly stepped into a vast open space. Beneath his feet lay sothing substantial. Upon closer inspection, he saw an ancient and imnse turquoise dragon, its white jade-like eyes shaped like spindles. Its huge, curved body exuded a sense of ancient majesty imbued with the primal spirit of early ancestors.
The ground was littered with fragnted bronze artifacts and semi-buried undead corpses—flesh intact, untouched by the corrosion of centuries.
On the distant walls lood the mural of two dragons pulling the bronze dragon chariot: ancient, grand, mystical. The green-scaled dragons etched there seed cold and lifeless, yet their carved scales still glead. Below the dragon chariot, eight golden characters erged faintly, "The heavens are restless, the divine sacrifices are unfulfilled!"
Empress An, as though possessed, suddenly broke into tears:
"Why did you kill your mother? Why did you annihilate your mother’s tribe? Yi’er, mother is suffering. Will you kill your mother again in the future?! Will you?!"
With this anguished cry, the eight golden characters descended like iron shackles, binding Empress An. Her face contorted in a grotesque and twisted display as the entire Heavenly Altar trembled.
...............
The one-ard woman closed her eyes, seemingly invoking so divine power to peer at Chen Yi and the others entering the Heavenly Altar.
Yin Tingxue stood beside her and heard her murmur:
"They’ve entered."
"Where? The Heavenly Altar you’re speaking of?"
"Correct."
The Sword Armor was always concise when answering trivial questions.
Yin Tingxue raised a brow thoughtfully:
"Xia Qi murdered his mother and severed the central corpse. You orchestrated events so... that demon Empress would see Chen Yi as her son to have him sever the central corpse in her place—is that how it is?"
"Mm."
Zhou Yitang wasn’t surprised that Yin Tingxue had deduced part of the elaborate sche.
If Chen Yi killed the Empress, the central corpse would be severed. Thus, only the easiest-to-remove lower corpse would remain.
"Kill the demon Empress, and everything would end. But... what if the demon Empress is also a woman Chen Yi cares about?"
Yin Tingxue seed intrigued.
The Sword Armor shot her a sideways glance.
Yin Tingxue shivered, instinctively falling silent.
"She won’t truly die,"
After a mont, Zhou Yitang said calmly:
"But her heart will die."
A sword through the heart, and she will no longer see him as her son—it would sever the bond of twisted fate.
If he kills her, everything will return to order.
Yin Tingxue caught the hidden aning; she’d always felt she could discern more than others. After so hesitation, she whispered again:
"But what if Chen Yi doesn’t kill her?"
"I’ve divined it—he will undoubtedly sever the central corpse,"
Zhou Yitang replied slowly:
"Which ans he will kill her."
Yin Tingxue then asked:
"What was the divination’s phrase?"
The Sword Armor remained silent.
Yin Tingxue tilted her head, ekly asking again:
"If he truly doesn’t kill the demon Empress—after all, mortal plans cannot control the heavens, and divinations aren’t always flawless—then won’t the demon Empress regain her mory the mont she leaves the underground palace?"
"Yes,"
Zhou Yitang paused for a mont,
"And she would struggle, twist."
"What?"
"She would go mad with the desire to kill him, but on the path to kill him, she would constantly look back... "
Yin Tingxue realized the one-ard woman’s gaze had beco distant and pensive, as though lost in mory,
"Every action of his would fill her with rage, yet simultaneously every action would weigh heavy on her heart.
In the end, she might even seek an extre thod to sever their bond entirely."
Was she talking about the demon Empress, or about herself? Perhaps both... Yin Tingxue couldn’t tell for sure.
Yin Tingxue scrutinized Zhou Yitang and softly asked:
"An extre thod?"
Technically, she shouldn’t continue asking, but she felt Zhou Yitang might answer her.
Being with the Sword Armor was far preferable to staying with Chen Yi. Though Zhou Yitang was distant by nature, she wouldn’t harm her; occasionally, she would even reveal one or two heartfelt words.
"What kind of thod?"
Yin Tingxue asked.
"Yu Shun governed his ruler externally and..."
Zhou Yitang didn’t finish directly,
"His mother internally."
Yin Tingxue froze for a mont.
It was from "Han Feizi," one of those miscellaneous books Chen Yi had bought. Govern his ruler externally, and his mother internally...
Yin Tingxue shivered.
Did this imply that the demon Empress would force Chen Yi... to do sothing similar to what Zhou Yitang did to ?!
Seeing her panic, Zhou Yitang rarely smiled,
"It won’t co to that."
He will kill her; he won’t not kill her.
She still rembered the murderous rampage he went on in the Jianghu after breaking her sword.
He was as guilty as if he had committed matricide, just as when he broke her sword.
Zhou Yitang shifted her gaze, reminiscing about the divination she hadn’t revealed to the Taichua Goddess.
Nine at the top. See a flight of dragons without a leader. Favorable.
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