Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

Helian Jing lay on his back on the couch, watching her lean over him.

Those eyes, which had always been distant and indifferent, now shone with an unprecedented strength in the candlelight. He didn't move, letting her hands, which were propped up beside his ears, trap him on the couch between her arms, a very faint smile curving his lips.

"Then I will allow you to tolerate this for now."

The night wind outside was still blowing against the window paper, and the lamp flame flickered in the copper lamp before resuming its straight burning. He looked up at her, motionless, like a ship that had finally reached the shore, loosely secured by its mooring ropes.

one day ago.

The Dark Pavilion headquarters is located on the tenth basement level.

As the sound of the stone door closing came from behind, Huajianzui was squatting on a stone stool in the corner of the stone chamber, eating sunflower seeds.

She saw that the door was completely closed, spat the last sunflower seed shell into her palm, clapped her hands, stood up, and glanced at the things on the jade table in the center of the stone chamber.

Shen Du had prepared soul-guiding talismans in advance, each engraved with different patterns, corresponding to the return path of different fragments.

He Qingshuang leaned against the stone wall, holding a newly closed prescription in her hand. Shen Du stood beside her, looking down to check the curve of the last silver needle.

On the other side of the stone chamber, Shi Xuanji put Ye Lan down from his back and let her lean against the edge of the stone wall on a low couch covered with thick cushions.

Ye Lan's face was still pale, her breathing was shallow and even, and her eyelashes were lowered.

Shi Xuanji didn't say much. After settling her in, he took a half step back, squatted down beside her, took out a hand warmer from his bosom and placed it next to her knees, then stood up and walked away.

Hua Jianzui tucked the melon seed shell he was holding into his sleeve, walked over and sat down on the edge of the couch next to Ye Lan, glancing at her sideways: "How come you're even thinner than her?"

Ye Lan didn't open her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. "You're much noisier than her."

Xi Yueli stood beside the jade table, turned her head to look at He Qingshuang, then at Shen Du, her gaze lingering on their faces for a moment: "Let's begin."

Shen Du walked to Ye Lan's side first, squatted down, and gently inserted a silver needle into the Fengchi acupoint on the back of her neck, half an inch to the left. He twisted the end of the needle with his fingertips. "It will hurt a little, just bear with it."

Ye Lan's eyelashes trembled slightly, but he remained silent. Shi Xuanji stood three steps away, leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed, his knuckles white as he clenched his elbows.

The second needle was inserted into the inside of Huajianzui's right wrist. She looked down at the silver needle sinking into her flesh, surprisingly without crying out in pain. She simply tilted her head and asked Shen Du, "Can I get up and climb over the wall after this?"

Shen Du replied expressionlessly, "No climbing over the wall for three days."

Hua Jianzui sighed, leaned back on the couch, and closed her eyes resignedly like a cat whose tail had been held down.

One by one, the silver needles fell, and the jade talisman on the jade platform began to emit a warm, dark light.

Xi Yueli sat cross-legged in the center of the jade table. The Nine Heavens Hairpin in her hair was slightly warm, and the light of the jade talisman changed from dark red to warm gold, while flowing towards the phoenix pattern that was slowly emerging in the center of her brow.

When the first wave of fragments returned to their places, Xi Yueli's body trembled slightly.

The chilling aura of the night was like a narrow blade being slowly shoved into its sheath, seeping in from the back of her head, sliding down along Fu Yuan's calm and collected underlay, and finally settling firmly into an old crack in the foundation of her consciousness.

Shi Xuanji suddenly straightened up in that instant, because Ye Lan's body leaning against the couch was falling backward, and Shen Du had already reached out to support her shoulder before he could move.

Her face paled three-tenths of its color in an instant, but only for an instant.

The next moment, her breathing became steady again, and her closed eyelashes trembled slightly.

Shi Xuanji remained standing there, her knuckles loosening from her clenched elbows, then slowly clenching back into a fist, as if to confirm that she was alright.

The second wave of debris returning to its original positions took longer than the first.

The light and lively scent of "Drunken Flower" was like a breeze passing through the hall, carrying the warmth of southern flowers and trees and the sweet aroma of sun-dried sugar, gently sliding down from the inside of Xi Yueli's skull.

The moment the fragments separated from Huajianzui's body, he suddenly leaned forward, as if he had been pushed and pulled back from behind.

Shen Du promptly inserted the needle into her shoulder, causing her to sway slightly before leaning back against the couch, her breathing deep and even, a lingering smile still playing on her lips, as if she were still alluring in her dream.

Xi Yueli sat on the jade table, and the phoenix pattern between her brows, which had been faintly visible after all the fragments were put back in place, became clearly visible.

The warm light of the Nine Heavens Hairpin spread down from the hairpin, like a layer of mercury slowly flowing backward, flowing from her hairline to her brows, from her brows across the corners of her eyes, from the corners of her eyes down her jawline to the side of her neck, and finally gathering at the position of her heart.

When she opened her eyes, the look in them had changed.

It's like someone who used to stand in front of a window that was only half open, but now the window has been pushed all the way in, and all the wind is rushing in.

She could sense the clicking of every mechanism in the ten-story stone chamber of the Dark Pavilion headquarters, distinguish which team the footsteps of the guards passing by on the three floors above belonged to during their shift change, and hear the temperature and humidity changes of the night wind seeping in from behind the iron door on the outer wall of the stone chamber.

Information that used to require deliberate retrieval is now laid out before her like a public sheet of paper, readily available at a glance.

She stood up very quietly. The light on the jade table had completely dimmed. She looked down at her hands, her fingers spread out and then closed again, the lines on her palms were clear and distinct.

She felt that the four fragments had all settled, fitting perfectly into the foundation of her main soul, and all the gaps had been filled.

The four fragments together were heavier than she had expected, so heavy that when she stood in the center of the stone chamber, she could feel her back being straightened by that force.

"I thought I'd be sleeping for three days." She turned her head, her voice returning to its usual clear and crisp tone, but the ending note had an extra layer of subtle toughness, like a piece of iron that had been re-quenched, its blade ground down to its thinnest layer, making its sharpness invisible.

Shen Du put away the last silver needle, looked up at her, his gaze lingering for a moment on the phoenix pattern between her eyebrows, before he lowered his head to organize his needle case.

"The fragments in your body used to be separated by gaps. When they were fused together, you had to suppress the clash of their qi and blood to fall into a deep sleep. Now that the gaps have been completely filled, and your five souls are of the same lineage, there is naturally no rejection reaction."

Xi Yueli walked to the entrance of the stone chamber, pushed open the mechanism stone door, and at the end of the stone corridor outside the door, Helian Jing was leaning against the stone wall waiting for her.

When he saw her come out, he glanced at her first to make sure she was still the same as before. She wasn't weak and needed his help to stand up; she was just standing there with bright eyes, like a bronze lamp that had been refilled with oil, its flame steady and bright.

He twitched his lips as if he wanted to say something, but before he could speak, Xi Yueli had already walked up to him.

"Your Highness," her voice was neither loud nor soft, carrying a calm and almost light-hearted certainty, "the Empress's three bone talismans will backfire from the array's core tomorrow. None of the sorcerers she summoned will survive past midnight tomorrow."

She paused, then looked up to meet his gaze. A night breeze swept in from the end of the stone corridor, ruffling a few stray strands of hair at her temples. She tilted her head slightly. "If Your Highness trusts me, please do something for me before the palace gates are locked tomorrow."