"You're on the right track with your research. Chiyuan has indeed had its ups and downs in recent years. If it crosses the line, I will come out to suppress it. The last time this happened was over seventy years ago."

"Can I ask a question?" Wang Ze cautiously spoke up.

He didn't know how to approach Xuan Ji at the moment, feeling like he was dealing with a prehistoric dinosaur that could talk.

"Go ahead, Old Wang," Xuan Ji said. "I won't bite you."

"If that's the case, then did this kind of thing happen frequently before?" Wang Ze gestured, "There must have been those people against ordinary mortals who wanted to set Chiyuan on fire again and rule the world - so, according to this, how long has the history of the True Nature Sect been?"

Dr. Wang couldn't help but correct him, "Chiyuan is not a stove, it can't be lit just by setting it on fire. It was active before, mostly related to disasters and wars, and only in recent decades has it been abnormal."

"I don't know how long the history of the True Nature Sect is," Xuan Ji said, "but these demons and monsters have only recently emerged. Every time I seal the Chiyuan, I have to break a Vermilion Bird bone. Due to historical reasons, Vermilion Bird bones are a non-renewable resource. Over the years, I have already used up thirty-five bones, and now there is only one left. If it breaks again, it will be extinct.

"It's also because the bone seal has loosened that the hibernating demons and monsters can be awakened, and the Yin Sacrifice rituals can be successful. That's why they are causing trouble... Unfortunately, it's your generation that has to deal with it."

As soon as he finished speaking, his large porcelain bowl of burning incense suddenly made a "gurgling" sound. The incense had burned out and the fire fell into the water, creating several ripples as it landed.

However, the fire continued to burn quietly on the surface of the water as if it had weight. The water in the bowl quickly boiled from the heat, producing a large amount of steam that did not scatter but instead formed a snow-white "water curtain" on the surface of the bowl.

Then, as if a projector had shone a light on it, a figure appeared on the water curtain. The water curtain rippled a few times, as if stabilizing the signal, and then the image became clear.

It was a close-up of a sword against a decaying face.

Curious, Wang Ze leaned in and ended up face-to-face with the knife.

Mr. Carp, stone-faced, had an irregular heartbeat and turned into a wooden fish on the spot. He almost ended up performing his own funeral rites.

Xiao Zheng's hands were shining with electricity, and his back was arched.

Dan Lin pulled Chief Huang behind him.

Only Yan Qiushan was slightly surprised and turned to ask Xuan Ji, "Is this... a spirit weapon?"

"Yes, the original form of Dao Yi is also a sword - the Horse-Slaying sword, but the body of the weapon is too damaged."

In the time it took for two sentences, a cloud of smoke rose behind Dao Yi. It turned out that other spirit weapons had heard their leader's voice and gathered around.

For a while, there were skulls, hands holding half of their own brains, and limbs fighting each other... there was even something that couldn't be identified at all.

Compared to them, Dao Yi's face, which could have played a role in the movie "Train to Busan," was surprisingly beautiful!

These weapon spirits with strong visual impact jostled forward eagerly, their postures reminding Xiao Zheng of the several big dogs he kept at home, who would wag their tails and rush to the door when their owner returned.

Soon, he realized that these weapon spirits were not much smarter than dogs - their body language was not as rich, since they had no limbs. Except for Dao Yi, who could manage to say a few incomprehensible words, the others were basically unable to communicate.

Unfortunately, Dao Yi claimed that he had not encountered anything unusual that day and could only ask the other weapon spirits.

Chief Huang didn't mind the foolish nature of these potential witnesses, and he quickly took out the photos of Han Guo and the videos he had taken before, showing them one by one to the lively spirits. He even pulled out the old case files, found the exact location where the body was found, and used satellite images to show the surrounding environment...

Finally, going from hope to disappointment, and then to despair.

Xuan Ji sighed, "All the spirits I have collected have suffered serious damage to their bodies and cannot live alone. They have been imprisoned in Chiyuan for a long time and gradually lost their sense of time. Their memories are as confused as their thoughts. Ten years ago, it is possible that..."

"Step aside." At that moment, Sheng Lingyuan walked over.

The artifact spirits may not remember what happened ten years ago, but the recent beating was still fresh in their minds. As soon as they saw Sheng Lingyuan, they became like smoke and dust swept up by a strong wind, colliding with each other and making a clanging sound as they flew through the mist.

"Quiet," Sheng Lingyuan ordered calmly. "Stop making noise."

Wang Ze couldn't help but rub his eyes.

He felt like the moment the boss spoke, the water curtain shook a little. The terrifying artifact spirits across from them suddenly fell silent, too scared to even tremble.

Sheng Lingyuan looked around and said, "Those of you with a spiritual-type ability, don't be so fearless. Control your curiosity and plug your ears."

In the conference room, only Dan Lin had a spiritual-type ability. As an experienced veteran, she knew when to stand her ground and when to back down. Without hesitation, she pulled out her earplugs and blocked out the noise.

Then, Sheng Lingyuan began speaking in a peculiar rhythm of the demon language. Perhaps due to his mixed heritage, his intonation and pauses were reminiscent of elegant music, making it sound like a delightful and obscure foreign language.

It lacked the obvious "non-human" quality of true demon language. His voice seemed to carry a bewitching quality, and even though no one could understand him, it made people want to keep listening.

Gradually, all other sounds faded away, and everyone was entranced by his voice, except for Dan Lin. The youngest Zhang Zhao couldn't help but open his mouth to echo the chant.

Suddenly, he snapped out of it and felt a chill in his forehead. Cold sweat dripped down his body as he caught the coin thrown by Xuan Ji, asking in a low voice, "What is this?"

"This is the full version of the 'Curse of Subjugation'. In the past, the great demons would use puppets to recite it loudly in the 'human fields,'" Xuan Ji moved his lips and replied almost inaudibly, "This thing is highly contagious. If you listen to it for too long, you can't help but follow along and can't stop until you recite yourself into a corpse."

The members of the Bureau were relatively firm in their willpower and could barely maintain their clarity. On the other hand, the weapon spirits in the water curtain couldn't help but recite intermittently along with Sheng Lingyuan.

Zhang Zhao asked, "What about them?"

"It's okay, the weapon spirits are not living beings," Xuan Ji said. "Even if they recite the original curse a thousand times, they won't be able to draw a drop of blood. At most, they'll just have a few nightmares..."

Xuan Ji didn't finish his sentence before a small artifact suddenly screamed, abruptly interrupting the original curse.

The 'small' artifact was probably a piece of armor or shield, covered in dark black iron armor. It originally looked like a legendary dark soldier who walked the night, but most of its body had rusted away, leaving only half a helmet fastened to a piece of leg, giving it a strange sense of humor.

The artifact suddenly deflated like a balloon, bouncing and flying up and down in the water curtain, its high-pitched screams waking up the previously distracted crowd.

With a flick of his finger, Sheng Lingyuan sent out a black mist that coiled around the floating flame on the porcelain bowl like a spirit snake. The mist was quickly engulfed by the snow-white flame and then spewed into the water curtain, entangling the screaming spirit.

"So, it was you who stumbled upon it back then," Sheng Lingyuan chuckled. "That's why, on September 6th, ten years ago, you heard this original curse at Chiyuan. Who recited it? Let me see. Good girl, don't move."

The helmet of the spirit suddenly lifted, revealing the face of a woman with peeling skin. The contours of her bones and flesh vaguely outlined her appearance in life.

Xuan Ji immediately waved his hand, creating a brilliant flurry of feathers that covered Chief Huang's line of sight, preventing him from seeing the tragic state of his deceased wife.

"We're not asking about her, Little Fifth Armour!" Xuan Ji shouted at the candy cane-like iron rod. "It's someone else!"

Little Fifth Armour... Sheng Lingyuan was taken aback, unsure of what to feel - he had actually given a name to every piece of junk.

How lonely must he be?

The spirit on the water curtain trembled, as if not understanding their chief's words.

Just as Xuan Ji was about to rephrase his question, a fresh and tender green vine slowly wrapped around the head of the female corpse.