Sheng Lingyuan's footsteps lightly tapped the soft ground of the tomb passage.

It was difficult to explain the court affairs in just a few words. The crack between him and Dan Li began with the witch clan and completely broke off during the 'Thousand Dreams' incident.

By the time they built the Chiyuan formation, everything was just a facade of peace.

Once upon a time, the teacher and student were like fierce beasts circling around the arena, subtly testing each other in a game of strength. The right to construct the Chiyuan Formation was not voluntarily given by Dan Li, but rather taken by force.

However...Dan Li lost the small-scale battle with grace and did not make any trouble for him afterwards.

Xuan Ji had just lost his sword body and was not in a clear state of mind. As a confused bystander, he was able to think abstractly: "Think about it, Meng Xia couldn't be caught by the secret guards of the Qingping Division because she knew Dan Li's methods so well. And in the end, she was caught at Chiyuan precisely because Dan Li did not participate in the defense. Don't you think it's like Dan Li intentionally left a 'back door' that we didn't know about?"

After four years on the run, the Shadow person Meng Xia was finally caught in a formation that could trap Dan Li.

Was it a coincidence or were these two acting?

Xuan Ji sighed, "If this is true, then this 'good story' is too plastic. How can I enjoy watching shows with little ladies patronising Dan Li happily in the future?"

Sheng Lingyuan snapped out of his thoughts and jokingly scolded, "What does that have to do with anything? Build up some good karma!"

"Speaking of which," Xuan Ji asked, "since you suspect someone, there must be a suspect, right? If she's not Dan Li's Shadow person, then who could it be?"

"Dan Li knows the risks of Shadow people and wouldn't carry someone else's with him," Sheng Lingyuan said, "If...the only person I can think of is the half-blooded Vermilion Bird Princess Wan Fei."

"Your..." Xuan Ji forcibly swallowed the two words "your mother" that almost slipped out of his mouth. "Ah?"

Sheng Lingyuan didn't think much of it. He had never had any expectations for his family and friends.

When he was young, any hope he had for his mother was crushed by Empress Chen in his infancy. He spoke of his birth mother and the history of the previous dynasty as if it were nothing.

"In their time, almost every noble family raised Shadow people, and many nobles raised more than one. Some, like Jiu Xun, raised hundreds. Dan Li was created by Wan Fei using the 'Great Light Sacrifice.' If Dan Li and the sacrificer Wan Fei had a contractual relationship, then the Shadow person left behind by her is likely a... how should I put it? Similar to a 'supervisor.'"

"If that's the case, then if Dan Li directly attacks Meng Xia, it would be a violation of the sacrificial text?"

"Mm," Sheng Lingyuan nodded cautiously, "as a Shadow person, being able to maintain consciousness after the owner's death, maybe it's also related to the Great Light Sacrifice...but this is just my guess, it may not be accurate. Among all the sacrificial texts, the Great Light Sacrifice is the most special one. As far as I know, no one before or after has ever performed this sacrifice, except for those involved. Probably no one in the world dares to say they understand it."

As they spoke, the two of them had already arrived at the end of the narrow tomb passage.

The tomb chamber was quite small, and its contents had been moved and sealed as cultural relics. There was no coffin - coffins were a custom only for humans, and it was not surprising that the demon race did not pay attention to this.

There was only a small octagonal altar, empty and without a body. It was normal to have no corpses. When a powerful demon was about to fall, there would be around eight hundred pairs of eyes staring and waiting for their share of the spoils.

Unless the tomb had formidable mechanisms and formations that were difficult to break, corpses wouldn't last long. Especially in a tomb like this, built on top of a powerful earth vein, it had probably been dug up countless times before.

The walls and floors of the ancient tomb were well-preserved, with energy monitoring devices still functioning in the corners. The numbers on the devices jumped steadily, indicating that nothing had happened here.

"Is this an illusion?" Xuan Ji reached out and ran his hand over the smooth octagonal altar, unsure of what he was seeing.

He had no interest in digging up graves and using corpses, so he wasn't very knowledgeable about these methods.

Sheng Lingyuan circled the octagonal altar twice, then drew a complex inscription on it with his bare hands. The dust on the altar rose up instantly with a cold and musty aura, but Sheng Lingyuan brushed it away, revealing an ancient array inscription on the blank altar.

He half-knelt down and carefully traced the lines on the formation. The demonic energy and the aura of the formation collided, and sparks flew from Sheng Lingyuan's fingertips, each stroke familiar - it was Dan Li's style.

But it wasn't Dan Li's handwriting.

Dan Li was a person who even aligned the bowls and chopsticks with the seams of the table. In the entire court, no one could match his neatness in writing memorials.

However, the inscription on the formation was very impulsive, with some parts almost like they were hacked out with a knife.

"But if she is the Shadow person of that princess, why is she a woman? Besides, aren't Shadow people usually of the opposite sex?" Xuan Ji squatted beside him and looked at the formation. "I don't think I've ever heard of her being bisexual."

"There's nothing strange about a Shadow person being a woman," Sheng Lingyuan chuckled oddly. "Maybe her face is just a reflection of her own. Only the appearance of a Shadow person who has lost their master become blurred and unnoticed."

Xuan Ji was stunned. "Are you saying... she's narcissistic?"

Everyone has their own preferences. Some people like those who complement them, some like those who are similar to them, and some people love no one but themselves.

In history, there were indeed many shadow slaves who looked exactly like their masters' twins.

"Her shadow clone can be seen as her incarnation left in the mortal world then," Xuan Ji squatted beside him, staring at the array that he only half-understood, scratching his head. "Then...Does that mean she also took care of you?"

Sheng Lingyuan responded nonchalantly, "Naturally. Even weapons and armor require maintenance, let alone the Heavenly Demon that was so difficult to refine. Since She still needed it and it can't take care of itself, of course she has to trouble herself to take care of it."

"That's not what I meant," Xuan Ji said. "Do you remember when I was a scared little kid and would wake up from nightmares at night? You sang me a lot of lullabies to help me sleep."

Sheng Lingyuan couldn't remember these trivial things. "Nonsense, when did I ever..."

Xuan Ji hummed a little tune.

His voice was deep and resonant, as is typical of the winged race who all possess exceptional singing abilities. When he hummed a song, it was like a particularly poignant string melody that could suddenly bring back the furthest memories.

"Where did you hear this song?" Xuan Ji asked softly. "The guards only sing when they're drunk, and it's not this tune. It couldn't have been Dan Li humming it."

Shen Linyuan made a clean and precise chop with his hand, severing a connection point in the formation. A small puff of white smoke emerged from the formation, but he remained expressionless and silent.

"You didn't grow up by Empress Chen's side, and you only met her for the first time when you were quite grown up, yet you still regard her as your mother," Xuan Ji said. "Where did your concept of 'mother' come from before that?"

Sheng Lingyuan was mature and reserved. He learned at a young age to keep his likes and dislikes hidden from outsiders. Only when he argued with Sword Spirit could he show a bit of precious childishness.

He wasn't even close to his own brother, Prince Ning. However, he often secretly glanced at Empress Chen.

One time, while walking behind her, Xuan Ji noticed that Sheng Lingyuan deliberately tripped to grab her hand.

That was the only time Xuan Ji had ever seen him use such a clumsy approach to get close to someone.

But Empress Chen only lectured him from a position of superiority, saying "A ruler should be steady," and then coldly pushed him away.

Since then, Sheng Lingyuan had never been 'reckless' again.

"Lingyuan..." Xuan Ji began to say, but the octagonal altar, covered in inscriptions, completely crumbled and the stone slabs twisted and rotated with a creak.

After a moment, a tunnel was revealed below.

"This fake tomb is really poorly made...Also, Little Ji," Sheng Lingyuan said with a hint of sarcasm as he walked into the tunnel with his hands behind his back. "Our assumption about Meng Xia being a the demon clan's princess Shadow person is still just speculation. We don't even know if it's true. Why are you singing the praises of a mother's love?"