His Highness the Madman gave in again today.

It was a very ordinary side courtyard, which on the surface was just a place to store miscellaneous items.

Therefore, it was overlooked before, and Mo Sangyu didn't explore that area at all.

At that moment, she glanced over there unintentionally and sensed a faint energy fluctuation.

The fluctuation was different from true qi, and also different from any power she had sensed before.

It was a kind of indescribable coldness, a deathly aura, yet concealing a faint glimmer of life.

It was like a wisp of something that had been tightly sealed away, which had been accidentally leaked out.

There must be something wrong there.

"What's wrong?"

Feng Xingyu looked in the direction she was looking, but did not notice anything unusual.

"What did you discover?"

"I'm not sure yet, let's go and take a look."

The two walked over quickly.

As soon as they got a little closer, they were surprised to detect Chu Canglan's presence.

The two immediately dodged and hid in a crack in the wall.

It was a narrow gap between two courtyard walls, so narrow that the two people were almost pressed together tightly.

Mo Sangyu's back was pressed against the rough, cold wall, and in front of him was his warm chest and strong arms.

Feng Xingyu raised his hand and placed his palm behind her head to prevent her head from hitting the wall directly.

In the darkness, Mo Sangyu looked up at him, silently accusing him.

There are so many places to hide around, why do you have to squeeze into this narrow space with her?

Feng Xingyu lowered his eyes, pretending not to see the dissatisfaction in her eyes. He intentionally or unintentionally pressed her closer to him, squeezing her even tighter, and his thin lips curled up slightly.

"..."

This was clearly done on purpose.

Wasn't he always very upright and gentlemanly?

It seems that he started to change, or rather, started to reveal his true nature, ever since he was brought to Youdu City...

No wonder he said last time that she had a deep misunderstanding about him; it seems he really isn't a good person.

Very bad.

Both of them held their breath and concealed their presence.

Before long, the inconspicuous little door in the side courtyard creaked open from the inside.

Chu Canglan and Yan Xu walked out together.

The gentle smile that usually graced Chu Canglan's face was gone; his brows were furrowed, and his expression was grave.

"We can't wait any longer."

He stopped and said in a low voice, "The Moon Worship Ceremony must begin earlier, Yan Xu. You should start making arrangements immediately, the sooner the better, otherwise things may change."

"Yes!" Yan Xu's expression turned serious, and he quickly replied.

"Also, arrange for people to keep an eye on Mo Sangyu and her servants, and make sure they don't discover anything about the Moon Festival ceremony."

Chu Canglan's tone grew more serious: "This is our last chance to awaken Yue'er. There can be no mistakes; we must succeed, we can only succeed!"

"Understood!" Yan Xu replied in a deep voice.

The two exchanged a few more words in hushed tones, then quickly left the side courtyard gate, their figures soon disappearing into the night.

Once their presence had completely faded away, Mo Sangyu gently nudged the person in front of her.

Feng Xingyu released her, and the two retreated from the narrow crack in the wall.

"The Moon Worship Ceremony..."

This was the second time Mo Sangyu had heard these four words.

Is it related to the women who were arrested?

Awaken the moon?

Mo Sangyu pondered for a moment and suddenly realized: "I know. When I first heard about the Moon Worship Ceremony, I thought it was some kind of sacrifice on the night of the full moon, but from what Chu Canglan said just now, it seems to be about waking up someone named Yue'er."

"wake?"

Feng Xingyu's eyes shifted slightly, and he smiled faintly: "In that case, that person named Yue'er is very likely Chu Canglan's Achilles' heel and weakness."

After thinking about it carefully, Mo Sangyu realized that it was indeed possible.

If that's the case, then we can give it a try and take the city without losing a single soldier.

"Shall we go in and take a look?"

"Um."

Taking advantage of the darkness, the two quickly entered the side courtyard.

The courtyard looked even more ordinary than the outside, with some old and worn-out items piled up, making it look like an abandoned warehouse.

Mo Sangyu scanned the area with his spiritual sense, and sure enough, there was more to it than met the eye.

If nothing unexpected happens, the source should be underground.

After carefully searching the courtyard, Mo Sangyu and Feng Xingyu finally found the mechanism under a loose blue brick in the corner of the wall.

Pressing the mechanism, accompanied by a slight turning sound, a seemingly flat area of ​​the ground in the courtyard slowly slid open to both sides, revealing an entrance extending downwards.

Below the entrance are cold stone steps.

The two exchanged a glance, and without hesitation, they descended the steps one after the other.

The stone steps weren't long, and we soon reached the bottom.

What lies below is not the dark, gloomy cellar one might imagine, but rather a small but exquisitely crafted palace built underground.

Outside the hall, there is an extremely heavy stone gate.

This door effectively isolates all the atmosphere inside, making it difficult for outsiders to detect anything unusual.

Mo Sangyu was able to discover it because when her soul sense inadvertently swept over, she happened to see Chu Canglan come out from inside, open the stone door, and reveal a trace of his aura, which allowed her to discover the secret of this place.

After another round of searching, the two found the mechanism again.

The stone door, so heavy, opened with an incredibly soft sound, so there was no need to worry about disturbing the people above.

The moment the stone door opened, a chilling blast of air rushed out.

The temperature inside the hall was probably even colder than the winter on the ground.

The walls and floor seemed to be made of some special ice-blue stone, emitting a cold, eerie light.

In the center of the main hall, a completely transparent crystal coffin was placed prominently.

Upon entering the main hall, Mo Sangyu sensed a cold, viscous, and evil aura.

This aura originated from the same source as the cold, deathly aura I had sensed before, but it was much denser and more tainted.

The two walked quietly toward the crystal coffin.

Only when you get closer can you see the contents of the coffin.

A woman was lying quietly inside.

The woman was dressed in a magnificent bright red wedding gown, wearing a phoenix crown. She had a beautiful face, fair and radiant skin, a faint blush on her cheeks, and bright red lips.

If it weren't for the fact that her chest was completely still and she didn't exude any signs of life, one would truly think she was just asleep.

Mo Sangyu's gaze fell on the woman, and his spiritual sense slowly swept over her, immediately discovering something amiss.

The woman's soul did not leave her body, but was forcibly imprisoned within this already dead body by an extremely insidious and evil forbidden technique.

This forbidden technique is called the Resurrection Technique, which Mo Sangyu has heard of.

It must be maintained by a special formation, and every six months, a large number of young women of similar age to the deceased are needed to nourish the magic with their blood in order to ensure that the soul does not dissipate and the body does not decay.

So, the women Chu Canglan brought into the villa were there to nourish this forbidden technique with their blood?!

However, this forbidden technique comes at a fatal cost.

The soul forcibly imprisoned within a corpse will be constantly eroded and polluted by yin energy, death energy, and resentment, gradually becoming impure.

In the future, even if they do wake up, their souls will either be incomplete, turning them into fools, or they will be completely corrupted by resentment, their nature will change drastically, and they will fall into evil ways, becoming monsters that only know how to kill.

Does Chu Canglan know the consequences of this?

A chill ran through Mo Sangyu's heart.

Feng Xingyu did not approach the crystal coffin, but instead cautiously surveyed the surroundings of the hall.

He discovered that behind the crystal coffin, there was a small compartment separated by a heavy black cloth curtain.

He walked over and gently lifted a corner of the curtain.

A nauseating stench and a chilling aura instantly wafted out.

Inside the cubicle, a large number of white bones were piled up.

Judging from the size of the bones and the remaining fragments of clothing, they belonged to a young woman.

The number of them was so great that they almost formed a small hill.

Above these skeletons, a thick, swirling black mist hung in the air.

The mist was filled with endless resentment, hatred, pain, and despair...

Just one glance at it is enough to make one uneasy and feel a chill down one's spine.

As soon as Feng Xingyu got a little closer, all sorts of dark thoughts and strong negative emotions uncontrollably arose in his mind.

The scenes of being bullied and insulted by palace servants when I was a child, the grief and anger of witnessing my mother perish in a fire and being powerless to stop it, the cold hatred when I was rejected and banished by my father...

All sorts of memories and emotions buried deep in his heart surged wildly in his mind like wildfire.

His breathing suddenly became heavy.

Beneath the mask, his eyes began to glaze over, turning crimson. The veins on his sword-wielding hand bulged, and his aura seemed to be spiraling out of control.

"Feng Xingyu!"

Mo Sangyu noticed his unusual behavior, rushed over, grabbed his wrist, and forcefully pulled him back from the cubicle.

"It's resentment."

She gave a low shout, her voice carrying a calming and focused spiritual power: "Don't come any closer, keep your mind steady."

Startled by her tug and shout, Feng Xingyu snapped back to reality, his unfocused gaze quickly returning to clarity.

He broke out in a cold sweat.

After calming his mind, he slowly suppressed the surging killing intent and violence.

"Such strong resentment."

Just getting a little closer almost caused me to lose my mind to the resentment of those tragically murdered women, which shows how many lives were buried in this place.

Mo Sangyu looked at the churning black mist, then at the woman in the crystal coffin who seemed to be asleep, her eyes cold.

Using the blood and lives of countless innocent women to keep the body of a long-dead person from decaying and their soul from dissipating—this Chu Canglan is truly depraved.

"I have an idea. Let's test how important this woman is to Chu Canglan. If possible, we might be able to take this city without bloodshed."

Feng Xingyu: "You want to use this corpse to threaten him?"

"It's not really a threat."

Mo Sangyu's gaze fell on the beauty in the ice coffin again, without offering any further explanation: "Help me lure him over here."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Once you go there, it means you're entering a state of combat from that moment on.

"Sure."

Mo Sangyu nodded to him: "You just need to lure him in. Once Chu Canglan comes in, no one else in the manor will be a match for you. You should be able to control him and buy some time."

"You're going to deal with Chu Canglan yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Xingyu clearly disagreed: "No..."

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden, urgent commotion came from outside.

It seems that Chu Canglan has already discovered that someone has broken into the underground palace, so there's no need to lure them out anymore.

"He's here."

Mo Sangyu calmly walked to the ice coffin, looked at Feng Xingyu and said, "Go and help me stop the others. Trust me."