His Highness the Madman gave in again today.

The commotion immediately drew everyone's attention.

The lewd man was covering his bloodshot eyes.

It was Lu Jin who did it.

How dare you disrespect Her Majesty! You deserve to die!

Mo Sangyu glanced at him, gave a faint smile, and said nothing.

She turned and walked into the inn.

After passing through the lobby and a narrow courtyard, you arrive at the backyard.

The courtyard was small, paved with blue bricks, and several empty water vats were piled up in the corner.

In the middle of the courtyard stands a crooked jujube tree, with a few shriveled red dates still hanging on its branches.

The three guest rooms are side by side, and the paint on the doors and windows is peeling. When you push the door open, a musty smell hits you.

Lu Jin frowned, about to speak, when Mo Sangyu had already walked in.

She stood by the window, pushed it open, and looked at the street outside. The man whose eyes had just been blinded by Lu Jin's hidden weapon was gone.

They probably don't even know who did it.

This kind of thing is common here.

If someone gets injured or dies, it won't cause a big reaction from the public. At most, people will glance at it a few times, but basically no one will take it to heart.

"General Lu, have everyone park the ice coffin and carriage in the courtyard, and then go back to their rooms to rest."

Mo Sangyu sat down on the wooden bench by the window, turned to look at Lu Jin at the door and instructed, "Tell the shopkeeper what you want to eat. Don't be shy, and there's no need to keep watch."

"Are you all going back to your rooms?"

Lu Jin said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, this place is more dangerous than the wilderness."

"I know."

Mo Sangyu said calmly, "Do as I say."

"Yes."

Lu Jin immediately lowered his head, a hint of annoyance flashing in his eyes.

He shouldn't have questioned the Empress's orders.

"Then I will go and make the arrangements."

"Go."

Night falls.

There is no curfew in Qingshi Town, and the streets are even more lively than during the day.

The taverns and teahouses were filled with a noisy commotion, and occasionally a woman's coquettish laughter would drift down from upstairs, only to be scattered by the night wind.

Mo Sangyu sat by the window, holding a piece of osmanthus cake in her hand, eating it slowly.

Lu Jin brought in a bowl of hot soup and placed it on the table.

"Your Majesty, you haven't had dinner yet. This soup was personally prepared by me, so you can drink it without worry."

Mo Sangyu glanced at the bowl of soup, but didn't touch it, her gaze fixed on the window.

Under the eaves of a building across the street, several dark figures huddled in the shadows, having been crouching there for half an hour.

She put down the osmanthus cake, picked up the soup bowl, and slowly drank it.

Lu Jin stood to the side, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"What did you find?"

"Your Majesty, this shop... is a shady establishment."

"Oh?"

After finishing her soup, Mo Sangyu looked up at him, her smile deepening: "A shady inn, huh? That makes it even more interesting."

"Your Majesty, you..."

"Go back to your room and sleep right after you finish eating. Don't come out before dawn."

Lu Jin didn't know what Mo Sangyu was planning, but he had a vague feeling about it.

Those with ulterior motives are in big trouble if they encounter the Empress.

After Lu Jin left, Yu Chengwei and the Imperial Guards all returned to their rooms.

However, Yu Chengwei was afraid.

As soon as he entered the room, he paced back and forth anxiously, thinking it over and over again. In the end, he grabbed his bedding and ran to Lu Jin's room next door.

As soon as he pushed the door open, Lu Jin's face darkened.

"Lord Yu, what are you doing?"

"General Lu, please have mercy. The Empress said there's no need for anyone to keep watch at night, but I'm really worried. It's safer here. I'll just make do with sleeping on the ground next door tonight. Don't worry, I definitely won't bother you."

"..."

Lu Jin was speechless for a moment.

"This shows you don't trust the Empress."

"No, no, no."

He dared not wear that hat, waving his hands repeatedly: "It's my room...it's drafty, and it gets very cold at night."

Lu Jin rolled his eyes, too lazy to expose him: "Whatever."

"Thank you, General Lu, you're so kind."

"..."

outside.

Mo Sangyu walked into the courtyard. The pale moonlight spilled onto the broken blue bricks, accompanied by gusts of cold wind, giving off a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

She raised her hand, and a ghostly blue spiritual energy condensed between her fingers, drawing invisible talismans in mid-air.

The runes spread out along the cracks in the blue bricks, their faint light hidden in the night, showing no sign of anything unusual.

After setting up the talisman array, she turned around and went back into the house, closing all the doors and windows.

Night deepened.

The noise in the inn's lobby gradually subsided. The innkeeper finished moving the last bead on his abacus, yawned, and winked at the waiter.

The waiter understood and began to attach the door panels piece by piece, then inserted the bolts.

One by one, the lights went out, plunging the entire inn into darkness.

The side gate to the backyard was gently pushed open from the outside.

Three dark figures tiptoed into the courtyard. The one in the lead was bald and had a snake tattooed on his neck.

Under the moonlight, the snake seemed alive, flicking its tongue.

He whispered to the two men behind him, "Keep a close eye on the people outside. Once they're in, we'll have to slaughter them ourselves."

"Don't worry, brother, they won't dare to make any rash moves."

The three of them talked as they walked toward the carriage.

"Look at the workmanship; there must be a lot of good stuff inside."

"Shh, keep your voice down."

"Don't worry, we put a lot of sleeping pills in their food tonight, they're probably unconscious by now."

The group walked around the carriage and headed towards the ice coffin.

Seeing that no one came out to stop them, and with all the doors and windows closed, it was pitch black and no sound could be heard.

The bald man grinned, raised his hand, and the three men prepared to pry open the lid of the ice coffin.

They wanted to see what was inside that chilly coffin.

However, the moment their hands touched the ice coffin, everything went black.

The bald man had no idea where he was. He was surrounded by thick, impenetrable ink. There was no road, no direction, and no sound.

He looked down at his body and realized that he was completely engulfed in thick ink, and he couldn't even see himself.

What's going on?

He called out to the two men in a low voice, but no one answered.

"What the hell is this? Where are all the people? Where did they all go?"

The bald man walked forward for a long time, but he couldn't reach the end.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around, a woman was standing in front of him.

The woman was dressed in mourning clothes and was holding a baby in her arms.

The baby's face was bluish-purple, its lips were black, and it was no longer breathing.

"Give me back my child."

The woman raised her head, blood flowing from her seven orifices, and walked towards him step by step.

The bald man was terrified, but his legs felt like lead, and he couldn't take a single step.

"I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to..." he murmured, his body went limp, and he collapsed.

The other two people had the same experience.

One of them reached out and pried open the ice coffin, only to find a person lying inside—it was himself!

He lay in the ice coffin, his face as white as paper, his mouth slowly opening to reveal a strange smile.

"what!"

He screamed in terror and backed away, bumping into the person behind him.

Before he could even utter a curse, he saw that the ground was covered in blood, gushing out from under his feet, more and more, overflowing his ankles and then his knees.

Something was moving in the blood; it was a hand.

Countless hands reached out from the blood and grabbed his legs, pulling him down.

He struggled desperately, lost his footing, and fell into the bloody water.

He tried to shout, but as soon as he opened his mouth, blood poured in, both fishy and salty.

So this is what it feels like to be thrown into a pool of blood and drown.

Suffocation, despair.

He was wrong, he'll never do it again!

Another saw the sworn brother he had killed.

The man held a knife and stabbed him repeatedly. He couldn't feel the pain, but he was terrified. He curled up on the ground, covered his head, and cried out, "Brother, I was wrong."

The three of them howled and wailed, spinning around in the yard, banging their heads against the walls and trees, fighting each other, and shouting all sorts of incoherent nonsense.

The sound was very loud, but people outside the courtyard couldn't hear it at all.

As time passed, the people waiting outside heard no sound and, growing impatient, went to the door to peek inside.

I saw those three people running around the yard, doing who-knows-what.

"Go in and take a look quickly."

Immediately afterwards, the second group of people went in.

The talisman array had been activated. As soon as they stepped into the doorway, they were instantly plunged into a thick inky blackness.

They each see things differently.

Some found themselves bound hand and foot, kneeling before their own family graves, while their parents crawled out of the graves and asked them why they had killed them.

Some people saw themselves fall into a snake pit, with tens of thousands of snakes coiled around their bodies and crawling into their noses and mouths.

He even saw himself walking on the road to the underworld, with the dark River of Oblivion in front of him. People he had killed floated on the surface of the river, reaching out to pull him up.

Soon, another group of people came in.

Without exception, they all turned into crazy, insane people.

in the room.

Lu Jin, Yu Chengwei, and the Imperial Guards, who had kept their doors and windows closed, strictly obeyed Mo Sangyu's orders and refused to go out once they discovered someone had entered the courtyard.

But as things unfolded, they were all bewildered by the changes that occurred after those people came in. At that moment, everyone had their windows open and were standing in front of them, watching the people in the courtyard.

"What's wrong with them?"

"Did you see a ghost?"

"have no idea."

There, someone was huddled in a corner, covering their head, muttering, "Don't come any closer."

Some people rolled on the ground, shouting, "I'm not human."

Some people knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately, their foreheads bleeding from the repeated kowtows.

Cries, shouts, and pleas for mercy mingled together.

Even so, some people still sneaked into the yard, driven by their own greed.

Mo Sangyu also stood by the window, coldly watching all of this.

Behind me, the air rippled slightly.

Feng Xingyu suddenly appeared in her room.

Seeing Mo Sangyu standing by the window, he walked over, gently put his arm around her waist, and looked at the people in the courtyard.

"A rune array?"

He saw it at a glance: "This formation has no murderous intent, but it specifically targets the dark side of people's hearts."

Anyone who steps into the courtyard will fall into their own inner demons, and past sins, fears, and debts will all come to life.

"Oh?"

Mo Sangyu was somewhat surprised: "You knew?"

"Um."

Feng Xingyu looked down at her, his thin lips curving slightly, a hint of devilish charm in his smile: "My Ayu is truly amazing, making them reap what they sow without lifting a finger."

"They deserve it."

Mo Sangyu's voice was indifferent.

She wanted to see just how many people would come to this no-man's-land tonight.

That night, Mo Sangyu didn't sleep, and Feng Xingyu watched the play with her.

Lu Jin and Yu Chengwei, none of them slept.

Just watching, people outside came one after another, batch after batch, like moths to a flame, knowing there was something inside, but unable to resist their greed and curiosity.

Until dawn, the entire courtyard was full of people.

However, they were lying haphazardly, some foaming at the mouth, some with their eyes rolled back, some curled up trembling, and some already unconscious.

A foul, pungent odor permeated the air.

No one can walk out of this courtyard standing up.

In the morning, Lu Jin and the others dared to go out. They tiptoed and, with disgusted expressions, quickly moved the ice coffin and carriage out of the courtyard from the crowd.

The Empress's methods...

terrible!

Yu Chengwei shivered.

When he gets back, he'll have to have a serious talk with those stubborn officials in the court. They absolutely mustn't offend the Empress, and they're not allowed to mention anything that's detrimental to her.

Once outside, they learned that almost everyone in the shady shop had been wiped out the previous night.

Lu Jin went to their kitchen and almost threw up.

Hidden inside was an enormous pool of blood, filled with bits of flesh, bones, and hair.

Could all of these have been turned into... food?

Thinking back to last night, thankfully the people at that shady inn had put sleeping pills in the food, so they didn't eat any, otherwise...

Lu Jin patted his chest in relief.

Thank you for the sleeping potion.

In the morning, Feng Xingyu had already left, and Mo Sangyu went straight out of the courtyard and got into the carriage.

She had set up a barrier around the carriage, the kind that could be seen but not touched, so it remained clean and uncontaminated.

For some reason, Mo Sangyu still felt a little nauseous when she thought of the people in the courtyard.

I didn't eat anything in the morning, so I quickly left.

Walking to the busiest and most prosperous street, Lu Jin bought some ingredients that looked fairly fresh before quickly leaving the city.

Not long after they left, someone noticed the unusual situation at the inn.

Those lying in the courtyard had all gone mad and were no longer in their minds.

The news spread quickly, reaching the entire town of Qingshi within half a day.

Some people applauded, saying that the shady shop had been operating in town for so many years, causing countless deaths, and it was long overdue for someone to take action.

Some people huddled in a corner, too afraid to make a sound, thankful that they hadn't gone in with them last night.

Throughout the day, people came one after another to claim their pets.

Some were carried away, some were dragged away, and the rest that nobody wanted were just left on the roadside, waiting for stray dogs to collect them.

The townspeople pointed and whispered, saying all sorts of things.

Some say the carriage is carrying a deity, others say it was sent by the King of Hell, and still others say the silver-haired woman is a ghost messenger who comes to collect evil people.

In short, after this experience, those who still want to do evil no longer dare to be as unscrupulous and complacent as before.

Mo Sangyu didn't hear any of these words.

She had already left Qingshi Town and was on the official road heading north.

She hadn't slept all night, but she felt extremely tired and slept fitfully the whole way.

When I woke up, the carriage had stopped sometime earlier.

Mo Sangyu lifted the carriage curtain. The sky outside was completely dark; there was no moon or stars, only a heavy expanse of black.

The air was filled with a burnt smell.

Lu Jin rode over and reported in a low voice, "Your Majesty, something is wrong ahead."

Mo Sangyu alighted from the carriage.

The soil underfoot was black and felt soft and loose like ashes.

She squatted down, picked up a little bit and rubbed it between her fingers.

It was the embers after the grass and trees had burned, mixed with soil, dry and brittle.

Looking around, all that could be seen was barrenness.

The indistinct black outlines in the distance resembled charred tree stumps or collapsed roof beams.

It's too dark to see clearly.

A flock of crows landed on the scorched earth, a dark mass of them motionless.

They didn't call out or fly; they just squatted there, as if they were dead.

But their eyes were bright, glowing green, gleaming eerily in the darkness, staring at the intruding group.

Mo Sangyu stood up and used his soul sense to scan the surrounding area for miles.

There were no living people, no life, only this scorched earth and countless silent crows.

"This place is really eerie, everyone be careful."

"Your Majesty."

Lu Jin walked over, and Yu Chengwei followed closely behind him.

He unfolded the map in his hand: "Look, this place isn't even on the map. It's getting dark now. Should we continue on and pass through here, or turn back and find another place to rest?"