At midnight, in the capital of Zhaoyang State.

In the city, Ran Qiyue, who was sleeping soundly in the Imperial Master's Mansion, suddenly sat up from the bed in shock, and then violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Master, are you okay?"

When the disciple guarding the door heard the noise, he immediately pushed the door open and went in to check.

"Quick! Go to the Soul Locking Well and see if the spirit lamp on the wall is still lit..."

Ran Qiyue, who was spitting blood, holding his chest with a look of agony, endured the piercing pain and gave instructions to the disciple who came in.

"As you command, Imperial Master!"

After receiving the order, the disciple immediately went to a locked courtyard in the backyard, found the well with the Qiankun Bagua manhole cover engraved on it, pushed the cover open, and looked down, but there was not even a trace of light inside, only pitch black.

"Master, something bad has happened! The spiritual lamp in the Soul-Locking Well has gone out!" After checking, the disciple immediately went back to report.

"What?"

Ran Qiyue was already thirty-eight this year, but he still looked about thirty. He was dressed like a Taoist priest, and while handsome, he was rather feminine. His phoenix eyes were evil and cold, and now, with anger, they were filled with cruelty, without the kindness and broad-mindedness expected of a cultivator.

"Go, prepare a carriage for me! I need to go to the palace in person to report to the Emperor."

Ran Qiyue opened her thin lips slightly, and while instructing her disciples, she endured the discomfort in her body, staggered out of the bed, and prepared to go out.

"But, Imperial Master, you are now..." The disciple couldn't help but feel worried when he saw Ran Qiyue looking injured and weak.

"roll!"

Ran Qiyue pushed away the disciple who came in front of her, and walked with trembling steps straight to the soul-locking well in the backyard.

Ignoring the piercing pain in his chest, Ran Qiyue personally carried a lantern and went forward to investigate. He saw that the Qiankun Bagua engraved on the Soul-Locking Well's cover was still there, but the Soul-Suppressing Seal he had originally inscribed on it had vanished. The spirit lamps on the well's walls had long since gone out, leaving the well gloomy and dark, without a single ray of light.

"You're so good, Yu Haotian!"

Ran Qiyue spat out blood again upon seeing this. He was eventually carried to the entrance of Chaogan Palace on a stretcher by his disciples.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Master requests an audience!"

At the end of the Chou hour, in the Zhaoyang Kingdom Palace, Su Mutianjun, who was having sex with four women at night, had just fallen asleep in the bedroom when he was suddenly awakened by the eunuch chief Qu Chengde.

"You old eunuch! If you don't have something important to do, I will have you castrated again!"

Su Mutianjun, whose sleep was disturbed, kicked Qu Chengde hard on the butt in anger.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I have no choice but to offend your Majesty. It is because the Imperial Preceptor has an extremely urgent matter to report..."

Qu Chengde, who was crawling on the ground and trembling, responded tremblingly despite Su Mutianjun's anger.

"Ran Qiyue? What could that idiot have up his sleeve that was so important that he would have to come to the palace to see me overnight?"

Although he was very dissatisfied, he thought that since the Imperial Master came to him in the middle of the night, it must be something important, so Su Mutianjun forced himself to calm down.

"Let him wait in the side hall first."

"Minion, obey your command!"

Upon hearing this, Qu Chengde felt as if he had been pardoned. He bowed and walked out of the Chaogan Palace, and personally ordered people to carry Ran Qiyue, who was lying outside the door, to the side hall.

"What important matter does my dear Ran have that would take such great pains to come to the palace in the middle of the night to report?"

Su Mutianjun, dressed in a bright yellow imperial robe, walked into the side hall in a dignified manner. However, he was still deeply surprised when he saw Ran Qiyue lying on a stretcher, her hand covering her chest, her face pale and blood oozing from the corner of her mouth.

"My dear Ran, what happened to you? Who could have hurt you like this?"

This national teacher not only has profound magical powers, but also has superb martial arts skills. Now seeing him suddenly look like a dead dog, Su Mutianjun suddenly became curious.

“Cough cough cough…”

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for not being able to salute you now!"

Ran Qiyue, who was lying on the ground, coughed and looked like he was about to die.

"This is terrible, Your Majesty! There's news about the Holy Son who's been missing for a year!"

"Finding the Holy Son is a good thing, isn't it? Why did Lord Ran say that things are not going well?"

"Your Majesty, you don't know. Three years ago, I removed Tianlang's soul and spirit from the bottom of Mirror Moon Lake and placed them in the Soul-Locking Well in the backyard of the Imperial Master's Mansion. I set up an Eight Diagrams formation and branded it with a soul-suppressing seal. I even lit a spirit lamp on the wall of the well. When the spirit is present, the spirit lamp lights up; when the spirit is gone, the spirit lamp goes out."

"What do you mean, Lord Ran?" Su Mutianjun looked at Ran Qiyue with a puzzled look on his face.

"Your Majesty, now that the spirit lamp in the Soul-Locking Well has gone out, it means that Tianlang's soul and spirit have disappeared. In all likelihood, they have reunited with the reincarnated Tianlang's spirit. This is extremely ominous!"

"The Tian family has been loyal for generations, and Tianlang's spirit is filled with righteousness, making it difficult for ordinary things to suppress it. Over the past eighteen years, I have gone through countless twists and turns to suppress it."

"Three years ago, when I locked Tianlang's soul in the Nether Well, I used the Holy Son's chastity and loyalty as a sacrifice. Now that the spirit lamp in the Soul-Locking Well has gone out and Tianlang's soul has disappeared, it means that not only has the Holy Son's virginity been broken, but he has also betrayed the Emperor. It was only because of an unknown reason that I was unable to sense it before."

Ran Qiyue's eyes were cold, and she became very angry when she thought of Yu Haotian's very deceptive and delicate face.

"Then according to your opinion, my dear Yi Ran, what should we do now?" Su Mutianjun said calmly.

After all, these are souls and spirits, invisible, intangible, and illusory things. He doesn't care too much about them. He asks about them purely to seek peace of mind.

"Your Majesty, when I originally sent the Holy Son to Laifeng Country to search for the 'Chosen Daughter,' the matter was of grave importance, and I feared he might betray me, so I held back. I planted a child of the Heart-Eroding Gu in the Holy Son, and the mother Gu is with me. If he were to betray me, he would suffer the Heart-Eroding Gu's excruciating pain, as if it were tearing out his heart and ripping out his bones. However, an unknown force had previously forcibly suppressed the Gu into dormancy. Now it seems that mysterious force has dissipated, and the child Gu has awakened. It was the backlash of the Heart-Eroding Gu that caused me to be severely injured and vomit blood just now."

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