He lay down on the bed in the darkness, looking up at the vague shadows of the roof beams in the night. The wooden bed wasn't soft enough, the hard surface pressing against his back bones, but after a long day, he didn't feel uncomfortable. The fatigue and the relaxation after his meridians were unblocked blended together, making his limbs feel heavy on the bed as if they were filled with lead.
The last thing he thought of before falling into a deep sleep was: tomorrow at dawn, they would go to the old archives building of the Spirit Vein Bureau. The entrance to the secret room on the third basement floor contained a modified Cloud Tracing Formation, and he now had the complete array diagram, a time and direction chart, and an iron plate with the lines already drawn on it. All preparations were complete, and every link in the chain was fastened.
All that's left is to keep going.
As night fell over Capital, the city's hustle and bustle gradually subsided and subsided.
The hawking cries in the alleyways had completely faded away, and the rumbling of carriages had also fallen silent. Only the soft sound of the evening breeze passing through the eaves of the old alleyways remained, brushing against the wooden windows of the inn again and again. The entire Capital had lost the warmth and vibrancy of the daytime, but the countless spiritual veins beneath the ground had never rested. The fine and continuous Spiritual Power flowed slowly through the cracks in the foundation bricks and stones, silently nourishing this ancient city with a history of thousands of years.
Yin Wujou lay in bed, not fully asleep.
The feeling of unobstructed flow through his meridians lingered throughout his body. It wasn't a sudden burst of heat, but rather a long, warm Spiritual Power that flowed slowly along the orderly meridians, like a stream flowing through a smooth riverbed—steady, resolute, and without any obstruction. Although his Spirit Vision had been reduced to a shallow level, his senses were several times sharper than before. He could clearly hear the rustling of grass outside the window, the low sniffing of the foal in the yard, and the faint rustling of clothes in the next room.
He knew that the Snow Empress was also awake.
The footsteps next door were extremely light, their rhythm steady and regular, without a trace of anxiety or weariness. It was the unique gait of someone who had spent years navigating life and death, accustomed to vigilance and preparedness, each step landing firmly and without deviation. The brief silence she had lingered by the window just now was not a moment of relaxation, but rather a process of probing the surrounding energy field, scanning the activity in the streets and alleys, and taking in all the flow of people and Spiritual Power fluctuations around the inn.
Having traveled together with her, Yin Wujou had already figured out her habits. The Snow Empress was always like this: she planned everything in advance, proceeded steadily, never relied on luck, and always made sure to clear away any potential dangers and leave herself a way out.
As night deepened, the moon rose high in the sky. The cool moonlight filtered through the cracks in the window, filtering in sparse, silvery-white spots that spread quietly across the floor beside the bed.
Yin Wujou slowly opened his eyes, his gaze devoid of any sleepiness. He raised his hand, his fingertips barely touching the night sky. The warm Spiritual Power hidden within his ten fingertips subtly shifted. Under his Spirit Vision, every tiny spiritual particle floating in the air around him was clearly visible, flowing into his meridians Sisi his breath and merging with his own Spiritual Power.
The Cloud Tracing Formation is taking shape.
The twelve nodes, intersecting rings, and four positioning holes on the iron plate—every pattern precisely matches the original Yun Su diagram and the time and location chart left by Pei Yuan, without the slightest deviation. The foreshadowing accumulated over ten years, the tightly interlocking clues, and the opportunity awaited by generations—all have now come together.
Only one step remains—aligning the time, summoning the spirits to activate the array, and breaking through the secret chamber's restrictions on the third basement floor of the old archive building of the Spirit Vein Bureau.
Yin Wujou turned to the side, his gaze piercing through the window paper, looking into the deep night. The old archives building of the Spirit Vein Bureau was located in the center of the old city, just a few streets away. During the day, the bustling activity concealed its aura, but after nightfall, the Spiritual Power fluctuations in that area became particularly abrupt. It was a silent, desolate, almost deathly aura, like an ancient well sealed for hundreds of years, concealing unknown undercurrents, and constantly sealed off by layers of restrictions, isolated from the world.
The theft of the case files caused a sensation in the court and among the people. The Imperial City Bureau conducted a thorough investigation throughout the city, digging three feet into the ground to no avail. Everyone believed that the case files had long been lost overseas and their whereabouts were unknown. Only Pei Yuan sat guarding the warehouse for ten years, cleaning for ten years, observing for ten years, and waiting for ten years, firmly believing that the case files had never left the Spirit Vein Bureau.
Looking back now, the depth and meticulousness of Yun Su then are astonishing.
He foresaw the impending disaster in the case file, secretly created a copy, set up a private underground chamber, improved the array formations and restrictions, and entrusted Old Zhou to forge a special iron plate. He laid the groundwork step by step and left room for interpretation, all in preparation for a descendant who could fully unblock his Spirit Vision and completely drive the twelve time nodes.
Ten years of silence, ten years of dormancy, all the groundwork laid for today.
Yin Wujou closed his eyes, reviewing the entire array diagram in his mind. The twelve two-hour periods corresponded to the twelve directions, and the twelve nodes connected to the twelve branches of spiritual veins, interlocking and endlessly generating each other. Any misalignment of the two-hour periods or imbalance of Spiritual Power would cause the array to backfire, permanently sealing the secret chamber. Pei Yuan had spent ten years guarding the area, and every deviation in the two-hour periods and fluctuation in Spiritual Power he had recorded was crucial to breaking the array; not a single mistake could be made.
After some time, a soft rustling of fabric came from next door; it was Snow Empress getting up.
Upon hearing the sound, Yin Wujou rose, dressed, and slipped on his shoes, his movements slow and silent. He walked to the table, raised his hand, and lit the candle. The warm yellow flame suddenly ignited, dispelling the darkness of the room. The light fell on the flat iron plate of the table, clearly revealing the fine forging texture and crisscrossing array patterns. The silver-gray lines flickered in the firelight, faintly radiating a lively Spiritual Power.
He carefully wrapped the iron plate, neatly stored it in his satchel, and then gathered all the paper documents together and hid them close to his body. After doing all this, he heard a light knock on the door, three knocks, a regular rhythm, a signal from the Snow Empress.
Yin Wujou opened the door in response.
A cool night breeze blew under the eaves outside the door, and the moonlight was as bright as water. Snow Empress was dressed in a plain, fitted outfit, her hair neatly tied back, without a single superfluous accessory. A slender short sword hung at her waist, its scabbard simple yet powerfully suppressing the night wind and the silence of the city. Her eyes were clear and sharp, showing no sign of sleepiness, clearly indicating that she had already rested and was ready to go.
"The time is approaching." The Snow Empress spoke, his voice clear and deep, spoken very softly to avoid the sleeping guests in the inn. "The beginning of the Yin hour is the key time for the exchange of energy in the spiritual veins today. The underground spiritual veins are flowing most steadily, and the tension of the restrictions is weakest, making it the most suitable time to break the formation and enter the secret chamber."
Yin Wujou nodded. "I'm ready."
The Snow Empress's gaze swept over him quickly, confirming that his aura was steady and his Spiritual Power stable without the slightest disorder. She nodded slightly. "Let's go."
The two walked lightly through the quiet courtyard of the inn. In the stable, two horses lay obediently with their heads bowed, tamed by the night, and did not neigh. They led the horses out of the courtyard, gently closed the wooden door of the inn behind them, and after a soft sound, the entire courtyard returned to silence.
Capital at night is a completely different city from the city during the day.
The long street, bustling with traffic and noise during the day, is now deserted. The bluestone pavement shines under the moonlight, and the shop signs on both sides hang quietly, having put away their daytime liveliness. The entire city is so quiet that only the sound of the wind, the chirping of insects, and the crisp clatter of horses' hooves on the stone pavement can be heard, each sound clear and echoing in the empty streets.