The third artifact

The third divine artifact is located in Nandu, which is currently the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty. To pinpoint the location of this artifact somewhere in Nandu, it would have to be within the inner palace of the imperial palace. It is said that a local official from the north obtained this artifact, found it quite unique, and sent it to the palace as tribute.

Yan Dan glanced at Yu Mo with ill intent, thinking to herself, "They really do have an inextricable connection with the royal family." Years ago, Yu Mo somehow acquired the Extraordinary Eye—a treasure imbued with the essence of heaven and earth, capable of seeing through the cycles of life. It was accidentally obtained by a beautiful flower spirit girl. While fleeing Yu Mo's pursuit, that flower spirit girl fell in love with a mortal, who happened to be the true emperor, now ruling the world with endless glory and wealth.

Just thinking about the love and hate entanglements involved made her feel that it was more exciting than any play.

“There are still two divine artifacts left, and the one in Nandu might not be the Earthly Stop.” Liu Weiyang led the way, but they walked through the underground caves in this area. Because of her previous dream, Yan Dan still clearly remembered the appearance of the giant serpent monster at the bottom of this cave. The serpent monster was very imposing, with two eyes like big, bright yellow lanterns, and sharp fangs that could swallow her whole when it opened its mouth.

Tang Tianshi hadn't been in a bad mood lately, and when he heard Liu Weiyang say this, he replied nonchalantly, "I know it won't be that easy, but if we keep searching, we'll find it eventually."

Liu Weiyang nodded slightly: "It's good that you think that way."

Yan Dan found it very strange. It seemed that Palace Master Liu had been unusually polite to Tang Zhou these past few days. Normally, she would discuss the law with him, but she was not as sparing with her words as before.

As they spoke, they arrived at the cave where they had encountered the basilisk. In the darkness, two large, yellow lanterns slowly moved in front of them and then suddenly stopped.

Yan Dan immediately became alert and on guard.

As soon as Liu Weiyang took a step forward, the snake-like monster immediately crouched down, rubbing against his feet in a fawning manner, practically wagging its tail—a complete lackey. Liu Weiyang, however, didn't even glance at it, simply brushing past the snake-like monster. When Yu Mo walked past, the snake-like monster visibly flinched, inching backward, as if it still vividly remembered how he had dealt with it that day. Yan Dan, resting her chin on her finger, thought to herself, "Its body is obviously enormous; even if it shrinks, it's still clearly visible." When Tang Zhou passed by, the snake-like monster merely twitched its tail, remaining motionless on the ground.

Yan Dan was completely relieved. She figured that Liu Weiyang must have fallen into this underground cave when he was disguised as Wu Shun. With his abilities, he could make this snake monster remember his methods for eternity.

She had only taken two steps when the triangular snake face covered in scales suddenly came close to her, hissing twice, and its forked tongue swallowed and spat out in front of her.

What a sycophantic, bullying, and cowardly lackey!

Yan Dan was furious. She pried off a stalagmite standing beside her and lashed it hard at the snake's face. The snake monster, not expecting her to suddenly become angry, was beaten and rolled pitifully on the ground twice before slowly crawling into the shadows.

Yan Dan tossed aside the stalagmite in her hand, brushed the stone dust off her hands, and huffed, "Did you really think I was someone you could just bully so easily...?"

She took a few steps closer and then she could see the strange expressions on the faces of the three people in front of her.

Tang Zhou said, "Demons and monsters are essentially the same thing, and besides, it really does look quite like you."

Yan Dan's anger deepened: "How is it similar to it? It's a monster, I'm a demon; it's a snake, I'm a lotus; it has scales, I don't!" Although she didn't know if this snake monster could be considered a beautiful one, in her opinion, it was indeed rather ugly.

Tang Zhou smiled slightly: "I'm not talking about appearance, but personality."

Yan Dan herself couldn't quite describe her personality, so she could only turn to look at Yu Mo and ask, "Am I like it?"

Yu Mo actually avoided her eager gaze and turned away in silence.

Yan Dan could only go to Liu Weiyang. They had at least shared similar experiences and had some connection. But Young Master Liu clearly supported Tang Zhou, nodding slightly and saying, "Very similar."

Yan Dan was greatly shocked.

The snake monster slowly crawled back, shyly showing a fawning expression to Palace Master Liu.

Yan Dan followed at the back with a gloomy face. When she passed the snake monster, she could no longer restrain herself and stepped directly on it.

Even traveling day and night from Zhu Cui Mountain in the southwest to Nandu, it would take more than a month. Their group spent two months on the journey, arriving in Nandu in early autumn. Autumn in Nandu is always rainy and humid, shrouded in mist and haze. If this ancient city were a court lady, then Nandu in autumn would be a captivating beauty, weary and languid after removing her makeup, yet still possessing undiminished elegance.

Yan Dan liked Nandu. Even at night, it wasn't desolate or quiet. That's why she could sit on the rooftop and listen to the songs and laughter coming from the banks of the Zhangtai River on many sleepless nights in the past.

However, this return to familiar places brought her no joy. As one of the demons and monsters, she was forced to travel with celestial masters and immortals—a form of torture in itself. Tang Zhou's mouth was sometimes far too vicious, Liu Weiyang was inexplicably very polite to him, and Yu Mo, who should have been her ally, abandoned her, watching her fend for herself. Thus, these past two months had been an immense mental ordeal for Yan Dan, enduring three times the usual torture. Even reflecting on it, she felt a sense of weariness creeping into her heart.

"The third artifact is in the palace. I'll stay outside to provide support. You'll have to deal with the rest yourselves." Liu Weiyang walked into the inn's guest room and sat down at the table. He also instructed the waiter to buy a chessboard and pieces, presumably intending to play chess with himself to pass the time.

Tang Zhou nodded: "Let's wait until dark before we set off, after all, this is going to be a thief."

Yan Dan thought for a moment and felt that stealing things from the palace under the emperor's nose was both exciting and interesting: "I know how to use illusions, so it won't be difficult to sneak into the palace. However, if we encounter any powerful spells, we'll still have to rely on you to deal with them."

Tang Zhou looked at her with a slight smile on his lips: "Then if we get caught, just don't rush to give me away."

Yan Dan immediately retorted, "Who knows if you got caught first?"

Suddenly, Yu Mo spoke quietly: "The two of you are enough, I won't go."

Yan Dan was surprised: "You're not going? Why?"

Yu Mo kept a straight face and didn't say anything.

"Do you think it's too shameful to be a thief?"

"Or do you still think the palace is too big and you're too lazy to walk around?"

"Could it be that you're afraid of running into some old acquaintances in the palace?" Yan Dan asked several times, but Yu Mo remained silent, so she had to give up. "Alright then, it's fine if you like to stay at the inn to rest. Anyway, Tang Zhou and I should be able to handle it."

With the most important matters settled, everyone returned to their rooms, some to rest, others to prepare for tonight's events.

Yan Dan walked towards her guest room and couldn't help but whisper to Tang Zhou, "Have you noticed that Yu Mo has been wearing a long face lately? Even when you ask him, he won't say a word, as if someone owes him money and won't pay it back. I clearly remember not making him angry recently..."

The past twenty years have been enough for her to slowly come to understand a person.

However, for a demon, these twenty years were only a short time. She thought she understood Yu Mo, knowing that he liked peace and quiet and wouldn't deliberately try to get close to anyone, and that he wasn't truly indifferent. Now she realized that this understanding was far from enough. In the hundreds of years before they met, she knew nothing about his past, his joys and sorrows, his loves and hates, and his separations.

Just like she never mentions the time she spent in Heaven.

Tang Zhou was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Didn't you always say that you could tell what Brother Yu was thinking just by looking at a single hair on his head? Shouldn't you know this better than I do?"

Yan Dan sighed and muttered, "If I knew, why would I ask you? I'd only ever heard that girls' hearts were more delicate and fickle, but I never imagined that even men were so difficult to deal with these days."

As evening approached, the inner city roads were closed, and Xuanhua Gate was shut shut.

Yan Dan used a trick to slip in with Tang Zhou during the change of guards. She had only ever seen descriptions of the grandeur of imperial palaces in books, but now that she had seen it with her own eyes, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Actually, I think that in terms of magnificence, there is no better place in the world than this imperial palace, but in terms of elegance and grandeur, Mirror Lake is even better. In the Southern Capital, there is the wise Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and in the Southwest, there is a local tyrant."

Tang Zhou replied without hesitation and decisively, "Nonsense."

Yan Dan snorted twice, not wanting to argue with him.

The Great Zhou Imperial Palace has five gates. They entered through the Huayang Gate on the east side, which leads directly to the Imperial Study.

Yan Dan thought it over and over and felt that since it was a divine artifact, it must be an extraordinary treasure. Even the most powerful emperor would be curious about such a thing and might put it in his study to admire.

When they arrived at the Imperial Study, it was just getting dark. The eunuchs serving in the study lit up several colorful and gilded lamps around the room, then took a white cloth and wiped all the desks and cabinets clean. Seeing that the white cloth was free of dust, they closed the door and left.

As soon as the eunuch left, Yan Dan immediately stepped forward, opened the door, and slipped inside, casually removing the illusion spell from her body. Continuously using demonic magic was exhausting and mentally taxing for them.

Yan Dan rubbed her hands together and said, "Let's search the study first. If we don't find it there, we'll check the storeroom. If we still don't find it there, we'll just grab someone and ask them."

Before she could finish speaking, Tang Zhou began searching on his own. Yan Dan also walked to the cabinet and examined it closely for a while. There were indeed several antique treasures on the cabinet, but none of them looked like artifacts. She couldn't help but think that she had read in history books that an emperor of a certain dynasty had no other hobbies besides cricket fighting, resulting in his study being filled with bottles and jars for crickets. But now it seemed that this Emperor Rui didn't have any particular hobbies either. Apart from a few nicely displayed antiques and several shelves full of books, and on his desk, apart from two neatly stacked stacks of bright yellow silk memorials, there was nothing out of place.

Tang Zhou frowned and said in a low voice, "It seems we still have to search the warehouse. I'm afraid we might not be able to turn the warehouse upside down by dawn."

"It's a pity I've never seen what that artifact actually looks like. You can only feel it when you hold it in your hand. Otherwise, you could dig it out with just one spell."

"It's alright. If you don't have time, you can come again tomorrow night."

Yan Dan looked at him without saying a word, but thought to herself, "Does he think it's fun to sneak around like this and use tricks to jump in and out?"

As they were talking, they suddenly heard footsteps approaching from afar, followed by a high-pitched, thin voice saying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please slow down." Then came the sound of rustling fabric, and a dozen completely different voices shouted in unison, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Yan Dan shuddered, sensing something was amiss. She felt Tang Zhou gently tug at her and point upwards. Yan Dan immediately understood, leaping onto the high roof beam with him and crouching quietly. Perhaps because the beam was so high, it was clear it wasn't cleaned regularly; far from spotless, two shallow footprints were immediately visible beneath its surface.

Yan Dan inhaled the dust and almost coughed.

Tang Zhou reacted quickly, immediately covering her mouth with his hand before finally letting out a sigh of relief. If they were discovered barging into the palace like this, it would be a capital offense.

Yan Dan's face was half covered, leaving only her eyes visible. Her eyes darted around a few times, and she fiercely gestured for Tang Zhou to let go. However, Tang Zhou was looking down and didn't loosen his grip at all.

A tall, imposing figure in bright yellow robes entered, followed by several eunuchs and palace maids. The man walked to the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down, picking up a memorial to read. The head eunuch beside him took a teacup from below, took a silver needle from his sleeve, stirred the tea, poured some into an empty cup, took a sip himself, and after a moment gently placed the teacup on the emperor's left.

Yan Dan looked down and could vaguely make out the face of the person sitting at the desk, which was somewhat different from twenty years ago. She and Yu Mo had met this Emperor Rui twenty years ago on the banks of the Zhangtai River outside Nandu City. At that time, he was involved in the struggle for the crown prince position and was ambushed in the middle of the river by assassins lying in wait. She couldn't stand seeing such an act of bullying the weak in broad daylight, and driven by a sense of justice that burned from head to toe, she drew her sword to help.

Time waits for no one. Compared to twenty years ago, Emperor Rui has indeed aged considerably, with some graying at his temples. However, his features remain handsome, and his eyes are still bright and piercing. He sat there, flipping through memorials one by one, sometimes adding annotations, and sometimes just glancing at them quickly before closing and setting them aside.

Yan Dan felt uneasy squatting on the roof beam and couldn't help but peek out to look at the sky. If he was going to spend several hours reviewing memorials, wouldn't she have to squat up there for several more hours?

Tang Zhou loosened his grip and used his internal energy to transmit a message to her: "Don't move around, just bear with it and it will pass."

Yan Dan forcefully pried his hand off her face.

Then the head eunuch said in a high-pitched voice, "Your Majesty, it's getting late. Why don't you serve the meal first?"

Emperor Rui gave a soft "hmm" and said in a deep voice, "No need, we'll go to Consort Jiang's place later."

Yan Dan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This emperor was truly devoted to the affairs of state; he didn't even have time for dinner, and in the end, he just mooched a late-night snack at his beloved concubine's place. She slowly moved closer to Tang Zhou's face, lowering her voice to a whisper: "I know this emperor. Do you think it's better to just ask him for something, or to continue being a thief?"

She had thought it through clearly. Unlike Tang Zhou, she couldn't use her internal energy to transmit her voice, so she could only strain to get close to his ear and speak. As a result, she only managed to say one sentence before Tang Zhou suddenly pushed her away.

Before Yan Dan could even struggle, she fell off the roof beam.