Wang Ze's eyes almost rolled out of his sockets.

This doll was nothing like the ones he had seen before, which looked like they were made for a haunted house.

Although it was also made of wood, it was almost like a work of art.

All the joints were highly realistic, and the eyes were made of obsidian, exquisitely glazed, and even seemed to have a hint of natural blood color.

Even the strands of hair were not neglected.

The doll was dressed in a simple, moon-white robe, with a white jade pendant hanging from its waist.

Although the proportions were a bit exaggerated compared to a real person, the facial features were captured with extreme precision, allowing one to immediately recognize that this doll was modeled after Zhi Chun.

What in the world was this thing?

The wooden doll struggled violently, almost slipping out of Yan Qiushan's hands, but was then bound by a snake-like black mist.

"Heart-Piercing Grass?" the doll was engulfed by the black mist and forced to turn around, facing Sheng Lingyuan.

The doll seemed to recognize His Majesty, and the wooden face accurately expressed caution and fear.

The black mist forcibly pulled it out of Yan Qiushan's hands, hanging it in mid-air.

Sheng Lingyuan looked up and asked, "Who is this demon?"

"Wait," Yan Qiushan stumbled and stood between Sheng Lingyuan and the wooden doll, gasping for breath.

He held his left rib and fixed his gaze on the wooden doll's face, asking in a hoarse voice, "Who...who are you?"

The wooden doll tightly closed its mouth, and the stone-made eyes seemed to harbor a heavy soul.

Yan Qiushan stared at those eyes, his calm features contorting for a moment as his expression almost broke.

After a long while, he squeezed out a sentence from his throat, "Who are you? Why did you save me? You...you and..."

He wanted to ask about the relationship between the doll and Zhi Chun, but the two words "Zhi Chun" seemed like some forbidden spell, and he couldn't bring himself to say them no matter what.

Xuan Ji folded his wings and descended from mid-air, patting Yan Qiushan's shoulder before turning to scrutinize the wooden doll.

He empathetically asked on behalf of everyone, "Who is behind the Heart-Piercing Grass puppet? What is your relationship with Zhi Chun? Why did you use someone else's face...hmm?"

Xuan Ji suddenly frowned. He grew up with a group of sword spirits who were so shabby that they couldn't even tell each other apart by appearance alone.

He had become accustomed to recognizing spirits by their feelings and breath.

At this moment, his "spirit radar," which had never been wrong before, notified him that this wooden figurine was Zhi Chun.

He had seen with his own eyes the Zhi Chun who had been destroyed by a sword, consumed by dark energy, and buried in the thunder and lightning...

Xuan Ji's mind worked quickly.

He made a decisive decision and turned to instruct Wang Ze to contact his colleagues.

Then, while Wang Ze was not paying attention and Yan Qiushan was lost in thought, Xuan Ji suddenly struck Yan Qiushan's neck with a swift chop. Yan Qiushan's body was infused with a metal that automatically defended against special attacks, but he didn't expect to fall without any defense against this mortal technique.

Xuan Ji caught him and then stuffed him into the stunned Wang Ze's arms.

"Director Xuan, you..." said Wang Ze.

Xuan Ji waved his hand at him, half-knelt down, lowered his gaze, and carefully spread his divine consciousness on the wooden doll using the caution he had developed from fighting prehistoric monsters every night in the world of the "Shanghai Compendium of Monsters and Beasts".

"Let me ask you something, you are Zhi Chun, right?" said Xuan Ji.

The wooden doll's eyes suddenly widened.

"What?!" exclaimed Wang Ze.

Xuan Ji was afraid that his loud voice would wake up Yan Qiushan, so he raised his index finger and said to the wooden daoll, "I have dozens of ancient sword spirits at home, all of which have rotted together. I have never made a mistake before. I think you are Zhi Chun... or rather, this heart-shaped grass puppet is being manipulated by Zhi Chun. Where is your true body?"

The doll looked shocked and said, "You..."

"Don't be silly," at this moment, Sheng Lingyuan suddenly interrupted Xuan Ji.

The black mist held the wooden doll's neck and lifted it up in the air.

"The body is damaged, the spirit is destroyed, and the Zhi Chun sword was only born with a special body. There are multiple bodies in one furnace, which is why it was lucky enough to escape. Do you think that as a small sword spirit, it is also an immortal creature? I think your training over these past few days has been wasted."

"Wait, hold on," Xuan Ji raised his hand to stop the black mist, "I really haven't mistaken the weapon spirit before. Zhi Chun is Wei Yun's last resort, and since he can have multiple tool bodies, there may be other special features. This heart-clearing grass is likely left behind by Wei Yun..."

Sheng Lingyuan was too lazy to listen to his "likely": "Impossible, move aside."

Wang Ze looked at Xuan Ji and then at Sheng Lingyuan, unsure of who to listen to.

After hesitating for a moment, his emotions ultimately defeated his logic: "Uh...well...maybe we should ask again, Director Xuan said...oh my god!"

Without finishing his sentence, Wang Ze saw a sharp spike emerge from the black mist in the hand of the "Sword Spirit".

Without warning, it stabbed towards the hand that was blocking him, but luckily Xuan Ji had developed a conditioned reflex during this time and quickly pulled back his hand.

Only the cuff of his light gray sweater was corroded by the black mist.

Xuan Ji's temple throbbed with anger, "Sheng Xiao!"

He didn't understand why His Majesty was so convinced that if the body of the artifact was destroyed, the spirit of the artifact would die.

After all, the Heavenly Demon Sword Spirit had only one body and yet it lived until the sixth year of the Qi Dynasty.

This stubborn old man, who used to hold a high position of power, was simply unreasonable!

Sheng Lingyuan couldn't be bothered to ask slowly.

The Heart-Penetrating Grass Spell originated from the witch people's spell, but it was still able to be passed down and used by these useless people because it was personally improved by the Emperor back then.

Previously, the wooden puppet from Old Lady Yu was able to self-immolate because he was restrained by King Wei Yu for a moment and didn't have time to deal with it. Since this one dared to show off in front of him, he couldn't blame him for extracting the manipulator's knowledge from the puppet's mind.

As soon as the doll fell into his hands, the demonic energy immediately drilled into the seven orifices of the doll's body.

Xuan Ji had a bad premonition and couldn't help but explode in anger: "Show some mercy!"

As the black mist was about to tear apart the wooden doll's body, a flash of gold suddenly appeared around its neck.

Sheng Lingyuan felt a sting and the black mist that had been binding the doll was instantly torn apart by the golden light.

Seizing the opportunity, the wooden doll silently uttered something and broke free from the mist, disappearing in a flash of gold.

A wooden plaque fell from its body and was caught by Sheng Lingyuan. As he looked at the plaque, the expression on his face suddenly froze. "Golden Crow Feather Wood..."

Golden Crow Feather Wood was a type of divine wood that was offered as tribute by the Mountain people in ancient times.

It was entirely black, but when placed in sunlight, patches of golden threads could be seen on the dark wood, as fine as bird feathers, hence its name. This type of wood was extremely hard, impervious to water and fire, and had a natural spirituality that allowed it to recognize its owner.

It could withstand spells that ordinary wood and iron could not.

Legend has it that this type of wood grows in the deep sea and can only grow a small piece after being carefully watered with mermaid songs for thousands of years. After the mermaids were extinct, this precious wood disappeared from the world.

The last piece of Golden Crow Feather Wood was presented to the human race when King Wei Yu surrendered. Sheng Lingyuan used a piece of it to make the scabbard of the Heavenly Demon Sword, which was later destroyed along with the sword.

He then used the remaining scraps to make a pardon token, which had extremely powerful protective spells engraved on it by Sheng Lingyuan himself.

It could withstand his full force when he was in a rage.

He gave out two of these pardon tokens, one to the Crown Prince and the other to Wei Yun as a reward.

The Golden Crow Feather Wood never rots or decays, with a "pardon" symbol on the front and a talisman on the back.

The sharp strokes of the pen have not faded for three thousand years, but a corner was just burned by himself, rendering it useless - it was the pardon he gave to Wei Yun.

Although the Golden Crow Feather Wood can last for thousands of years, the emperor has always been stingy with his blessings. His talismans are not so abundant that anyone who receives a pardon can use it.

Unless the original owner dies young before reaching adulthood, the pardon can be passed down to their offspring, but only if they are the original owner's biological children.

Nephews and nieces who are adopted do not count, and neither do second-generation grandchildren. Furthermore, it can only be used once and only protects one person.

However, Wei Yun was sent to him as a hostage by the Mountain tribe just as he came of age, and he died young before having the chance to start a family.

How could he have had children?

Even if he had illegitimate children, how could he possibly live for three thousand years?

Who was the manipulator behind that Heart-Piercing Grass earlier?

Xuan Ji, seeing his uneasy expression, was just about to ask when he suddenly felt a chill at the back of his neck. Before he could react, Sheng Lingyuan's black mist had already transformed into sharp claws, fiercely reaching towards him.

Wang Ze has been stunned by the series of events.

"Director Xuan!"

Xuan Ji's pupils slightly contracted, but for some reason he didn't dodge.

The next moment, he heard a "pu chi" sound and a few warm drops of blood fell on him - Sheng Lingyuan had squeezed a sparrow out of a tree hole next to him.

The sparrow was almost crushed into a blurry mass of flesh, but its small black bean-like eyes still shone with a faint light.

Immediately after, a figure that was almost impossible to discern with the naked eye floated up from the sparrow's corpse and rushed towards the sky like a gust of wind.

A chill ran down Xuan Ji's spine as the emblem on his forehead suddenly appeared.

"Puppetry technique?"

Wasn't that a secret technique only known by Dan Li?

Apart from Dan Li and the Emperor, no one else should know it...

Sheng Lingyuan's black mist, like a sharp sword, pierced towards the shadow.

Just as it seemed to pierce through the shadow, the shadow suddenly burst into flames and transformed into a small bird the size of a palm, chirping, "Brother Lingyuan!"

Sheng Lingyuan's pupils shrank as the black mist sword was deflected. The "little bird" was about to escape, but the deflected black mist sword miraculously turned around and heartlessly split the "little bird" in half.

The "little bird" let out a piercing cry before being swallowed by the black mist.

Xuan Ji's hair stood on end - that was the voice of the Heavenly Demon Sword Spirit when it was young!

The cry sounded like the most vicious curse, piercing straight into Sheng Lingyuan's ears. It caused his mind to overturn and his brain to boil like hot lava.

The black mist swirled around him like an angry dragon, and Xuan Ji felt as if he was becoming ethereal.

Sheng Lingyuan's fingers turned pale as he pressed them against his temple. The tip of his finger transformed into a foot-long needle made of black mist, which he then plunged into his own temple.

It was unclear whether he was using poison to fight poison or what, but he stirred the needle inside his temple.

"Stop!" Xuan Ji's scalp tingled as if the long needle was stirring his own brain.

In a moment of desperation, he lunged forward and grabbed Sheng Lingyuan's wrist, spreading his wings and wrapping him up inside.

Blocking out the light, he quickly performed an unfamiliar hand gesture and a feather fell from his wing, melting into fragments in his palm. He pressed it against Sheng Lingyuan's forehead and covered the emperor's eyes with his hand.

Sheng Lingyuan stumbled and his vision went dark. His features felt as if they had been washed by a clear spring, and he lost all connection to the outside world.

In this distorted time and space, he seemed to have returned to the paradise of the witch clan's ancestral home.

The wind rustled and birds chirped, pear blossoms merged with the moon, and a familiar voice clumsily sang a witch clan nursery rhyme in his mind... Then he was caught in someone's arms, the person tightly restraining his self-mutilating hand.

A soft cashmere scarf brushed against the back of his neck, and the warmth of it mixed with the scent of detergent and camphor on the scarf, instantly easing his pounding headache with a clean, refreshing breath.

Sheng Lingyuan was a master of talismanic arrays.

As his headache subsided, he immediately understood the talisman that Xuan Ji had struck into his forehead, and couldn't help but be stunned. He had never seen such a talisman before, because it was a huge waste of energy and completely useless.

It couldn't heal, nor did it have any offensive capabilities - it could only temporarily block his senses and nourish his sea of consciousness with the cultivator's life force, using the most clumsy and wasteful method to help him relax his tense and chaotic emotions.

It seemed to be... specifically targeted at his headache.

Xuan Ji couldn't remember where he learned this talisman, but in the moment he hugged Sheng Lingyuan, he instinctively used it as if he had been wanting to do so for a long time.

Sheng Lingyuan struggled slightly, and the little demon immediately nervously held onto his hand.

As their fingers intertwined, Xuan Ji felt like his hands were as cold as a small stove, and his pulse was so intense that it seemed to tremble uncontrollably from his wrist to his palm.

Something lightly brushed over the old demon's heart, like a gust of wind that blew away a bit of the old dust on the coffin.

However, in the next moment, Sheng Lingyuan ungratefully pushed Xuan Ji away and gave him a cold glance.

"Didn't I tell you not to learn useless tricks?"

Xuan Ji: "..."

He snapped back to reality, furious.

But the strange talisman seemed to have drained his body temperature by three degrees, as if sucking a tube of blood from his heart. His teeth clenched so tightly that he couldn't even speak to retort.

Sheng Lingyuan retrieved the black mist of the "little bird" in his hand. The mist rolled into a ball in his palm, and countless scenes flashed quickly on its surface - the convoy of Yan Qiushan entering Pingzhou, Yan Qiushan secretly changing cars for the second time, Du Ruo and them exchanging at a private gas station, and the scene of the group leaving from the Yuyang sub-bureau...

The puppetry technique behind those eyes had been following them since Yuyang, and now it was linked to Yan Qiushan!

Wang Ze reacted quickly and pulled out his phone to record a video. The black mist ball continued to backtrack, and the screen quickly flashed through snowy forests, wilderness, and mountainous areas... Finally, the last image stopped in front of a "person".

The person was tall and straight, with a large mask covering their face, revealing only a pair of eyes with irises that shimmered with a strange emerald green. The corners of their eyes curved slightly, as if they were smiling.

With a snap, the ball of black mist broke apart. At the same time, the sound of engines and voices could be heard, and the Wind Gods and Xiao Zheng arrived.

Wang Ze enlarged the screenshot of the person's eyes and said, "This person has been following Captain Yan's team all along..."

"Do you have a way to find this person as soon as possible?" Sheng Lingyuan rarely spoke seriously. "Puppetry is an ancient forbidden technique that has been lost for three thousand years. This person is likely a demon of the Shadow people."

"Give it to me!" Xiao Zheng heard this as soon as he arrived.

Without even stopping the car, he jumped out and took Wang Ze's phone, sending the video to himself and quickly mobilizing all available resources.

The efficiency of the central dispatch office was astonishing. In less than five minutes, the technicians had compared the terrain, topography, and environmental features in the video with satellite images, and had already pinpointed the location of the "green-eyed" person - Qingping in Jiangzhou.

Once the location was determined, both the Wind God team and the central dispatch office immediately sprang into action.

All on-duty and off-duty members of the Wind God team near Jiangzhou were mobilized and rushed to Qingping.

Xiao Zheng immediately notified the Jiangzhou branch to enter a level one alert, collect data from all abnormal energy detection points within their jurisdiction in the past 72 hours, and contact Chief Huang to set up checkpoints at major transportation hubs and entrances and exits to Qingping.

The group had just arrived in Pingzhou when they immediately rushed towards Jiangzhou via helicopter, 500 kilometers away.

"The first three instances of the Yin Sacrifice ritual caused significant abnormal reactions," said Xiao Zheng.

"The first time, the Chiyuan trees had a violent outbreak, and we sent a team to deal with it. The second time, it happened in Dongchuan, and because the Master Yue De and his disciples monopolized the local abnormal event management rights, we were unable to obtain data in a timely manner. After the fact, we discovered that the abnormal index in the entire Dongchuan area had increased by an order of magnitude on the night of the Yin Sacrifice. And then there was the Yin Sacrifice in the underwater ancient tomb in the South China Sea a few days ago, where almost all the local branches along the coast reported abnormal activity.

"If this 'green-eyed' creature is a heavenly demon hybrid, given the distance between Jiangzhou and headquarters, we should have detected abnormal energy reactions immediately."

At this moment, Xuan Ji couldn't care less about arguing with the old demon about his ingratitude.

He picked up the phone and instructed the aftermath department team to monitor public opinion at all times.

Then, he began to rack his brains to gather more information about the "Shadow people" in his "heritage".

"It's hard to say. Even 3,000 years ago, the shadow clan was an exceptionally mysterious and special race. To be honest, I can't imagine how the Shadow people could form a heavenly demon... Your Majesty, if this heavenly demon was never sealed, would there be no need for a Yin Sacrifice ritual to 'awaken' him?"

Xiao Zheng was disgusted by the use of the term "Your Majesty" and felt a shiver run down his spine. "Can you speak normally and not be so creepy?"

Xuan Ji remained silent.

He goes by the name "Sheng Lingyuan" or "Your Majesty" because he's afraid of scaring his colleagues.

But if he goes by "Sheng Xiao," he's afraid of scaring himself.

It's all because of that old demon who can't even be bothered to give himself a code name.

He's just too difficult to deal with.

Sheng Lingyuan played with the black mist fragments in his hand like he was kneading clay, not answering the question about how a person from the Shadow Clan could be a heavenly demon and why they had been silent for three thousand years.

It was a puzzle that he couldn't figure out.

"Also, if I'm not mistaken, that was puppetry just now, right?" Xuan Ji briefly explained the puppetry technique used by Emperor's Teacher Dan Li, and then asked Sheng Lingyuan, "Has Dan Li ever raised a Shadow person? Wait, didn't you mention that Dan Li had a 'beloved'?"

Wang Ze interjected, "Shouldn't we ask the graduate student in your department who studies the history of the Great Qi? The 'Red Chamber Confidante' sounds like a scandalous tale, is it true?"

Sheng Lingyuan paused for a moment before responding, 'There was indeed such a person.'

"Ah?"

"Who was it?"

Sheng Lingyuan either felt exhausted from his long journey or didn't want to recall this particular event.

He rubbed his forehead and wore a tired expression as he spoke, "In the early years, when Dan Li fled with the young...Emperor Wu to escape the chaos caused by rebels and foreign invaders, there was a maid named Meng who accompanied and took care of them. Over time, rumors spread that she was Dan Li's "Red Chamber Confidante."

Suddenly, Xuan Ji's mind flashed back to the silent 'Aunt Meng Xia' from the memories of the Heavenly Demon Sword Spirit.

It's strange to say that the maid was not at all noticeable among the dirty men, and even though Xuan Ji had carefully looked at her before, he couldn't remember her face now for some reason.

Her presence was like air, barely there.

Sheng Lingyuan furrowed his brow slightly, "Meng Xia...is indeed a Shadow person."