In the very center of the secret room stood an ancient rosewood table, upright and stable, upon which lay a yellowed, old scroll.
The case file's cover was dark and heavy, with worn and old edges. It had no title or mark on it, and was extremely simple. Yet it carried the weight of a sensational theft case from ten years ago, and concealed a truth that had been deliberately buried and forgotten by everyone.
After ten years of being sealed away, it has finally seen the light of day again.
Yin Wujou slowly rose, his Spiritual Power slightly relaxing, and his tense mind finally calmed down a little. He stepped into the secret chamber with light steps, afraid of disturbing this secret that had been sealed for ten years.
The secret chamber had a stable energy field and pure Spiritual Power. There were no hidden killing formations or lingering hidden dangers. It was the most secure place that Yun Su had deliberately created for its safekeeping.
He walked to the desk and gently placed his hand on the cover of the file.
The cool, rough texture of the paper against my fingertips feels real, heavy, and substantial in my palm, a weight that can withstand ten years of time and the turmoil of the city.
He didn't open it immediately, but stood quietly for a moment.
Pei Yuan spent ten years sweeping away dust, ten years waiting, and ten years enduring hardship, seeking neither fame nor fortune, only waiting for a descendant who could unravel the formation and understand the truth; Old Zhou carefully preserved the iron plate for ten years, keeping his promise and waiting for the person to arrive; Yun Su laid out his plans step by step and left blanks layer by layer ten years ago, setting up a trap with himself and locking the truth with the formation.
The waiting and perseverance of countless people, the accumulation and dormancy of countless days and nights, are all condensed into this ancient scroll.
After a long while, Yin Wujou slowly raised his hand and gently lifted the cover of the dossier.
The yellowed pages are flat and smooth, the handwriting is neat and vigorous, and the ink is deep and durable. After being sealed underground for ten years, they are still clear, intact, and undamaged.
The very first line of the case file hits the nail on the head, overturning conventional wisdom.
[In the twelfth year of the Spirit Vein Bureau, in autumn, the main vein experienced unusual activity. This was neither a natural disaster nor theft, but rather a result of institutional collapse and human cover-up.]
This single sentence completely overturned all the conclusions reached back then.
Ten years ago, the consensus reached by both the government and the public was that the theft of the files and the disruption of the spiritual veins were caused by foreign enemies infiltrating and stealing the secret records. The blame lay with the foreign invaders, and the disaster was caused by foreign powers.
The copy of the dossier personally transcribed by Ke Yun Su points directly to the root cause from the very beginning—the trouble started from within, the crime was internal, it was the collapse of the spiritual vein regulations, someone deliberately covered up the crime and tampered with the truth, the so-called theft was a carefully planned hoax from beginning to end.
Yin Wujou's mind sank slightly as he slowly followed the words down, reading each word and sentence carefully, not daring to miss a single detail.
The case file is detailed, meticulous, and well-organized, recording the full truth of the shocking upheaval in the spiritual veins ten years ago.
The main spiritual vein of the imperial dynasty was not affected by natural anomalies or a loss of balance. Rather, it was the result of collusion between the high-ranking officials of the Imperial City Bureau and the regional managers of the spiritual vein. They secretly altered the rules of checks and balances of the spiritual vein, forcibly extracted the Spiritual Power of the main vein, privately nurtured dark spirits, and cultivated private forces to consolidate their power and control the court.
They arbitrarily altered the nodes of spiritual veins, deviated the flow of Spiritual Power, and disrupted the millennia-old rules of balance, causing the spiritual veins of the world to become increasingly disordered, with frequent anomalies in many places and strange phenomena emerging among the people.
Yun Su was the chief array master of the Spirit Vein Bureau, in charge of all the array spirit veins in the world. He was the first to notice the anomaly, secretly investigated and traced the source layer by layer, and finally thoroughly investigated all the inside stories. He recorded all the participants, evidence of tampering with regulations, and traces of intercepting Spiritual Power, and recorded them all in the dossier.
This matter involved a wide range of people at extremely high levels, spanning the Imperial City Bureau, the Spirit Vein Bureau, and high-ranking officials in the court, with deeply entrenched and complex connections. Realizing their scheme had been exposed and their secrets revealed, those involved laid a trap in advance. They fabricated the theft of the files, secretly destroyed the original copies, purged those in the know, altered all official records, and shifted all blame onto a fictitious external enemy to cover up their own heinous crimes.
For a time, the court and the public were shaken and panicked. Everyone was deceived by the illusion and focused on tracking down the enemy. No one suspected that the court was corrupt.
Yun Su knew that the other party was extremely powerful and influential. If he rashly exposed them at that time, it would only alert them and backfire. Not only would it not set things right, but it would also destroy all the evidence and completely bury the truth.
So he patiently laid out his plans, secretly keeping a complete copy of the dossier, setting up a secret underground chamber, improving the formation to seal the evidence, entrusting Old Zhou to forge a special formation plate, and secretly instructing Pei Yuan to stay and wait for the right opportunity, while he quietly withdrew and disappeared, thus preserving the evidence and keeping hope alive.
Ten years of forbearance, ten years of dormancy, all to wait for a descendant with clear Spirit Vision, capable of breaking through formations and reading the truth, with a pure heart, and not swayed by power, to reopen the truth and set things right.
The latter half of the file is filled with a dense list of all those involved, the spiritual vein data that has been altered year by year, the timeline of unauthorized interception of spirits, and evidence of secret collusion. Every record is accurate, detailed, verifiable, and irrefutable.
The last page contains Yun Su's concluding remarks, written in a steady and powerful hand, revealing a sincerity and steadfast commitment that has remained undiminished for ten years.
[The spiritual veins are a public resource, not the private property of the court or a weapon of the powerful. Without eliminating chaos, the nation will not be at peace. I leave this scroll not for worldly fame, but so that future generations may have someone who can rectify the source and restore the veins to their proper place.]
Every word carries Qian Jun, its impact resounding.
Yin Wujou stared silently at the last line of writing, his heart Jiujiu emotions.
Ten years of deception, ten years of being misled, ten years of injustice—finally, at this moment, the veil has been lifted and the true face revealed.
The claim that foreign enemies stole the scrolls is false.
The so-called spiritual vein calamity is a hoax.
All the turmoil, chaos, and injustices are the result of powerful officials in the court embezzling sacred veins, abusing their power for personal gain, and covering up their crimes to deceive the world.
The three undercover agents who infiltrated the old building today were not there by chance.
They are remnants of the forces involved back then. For many years, they have never given up searching for any remaining evidence. They have been secretly keeping a close watch on the former site of the Spirit Vein Bureau for ten years without letting up. Once they detect any unusual activity or activation of the formation, they immediately send people to investigate, erase traces, and destroy evidence.
What they fear is never ghost stories or old cases being brought up again.
What they fear is the truth coming to light, the irrefutable evidence being revealed, and the monstrous crimes committed back then being completely exposed.
Yin Wujou slowly closed the file, his fingertips tracing the smooth cover, suppressing all his emotions.
The truth is clear, and the evidence is irrefutable.
But this is just the beginning.
The court's influence, cultivated over a decade, the intricate network of powerful figures, and the deeply entrenched chain of interests cannot be easily shaken by a single case file. Holding evidence is holding a mountain of trouble; the road ahead is fraught with danger and danger at every turn. A slight misstep could lead to the same fate as Yun Su: disappearance, disgrace, and the destruction of all evidence.
Footsteps came from the end of the passage, light and steady.
Snow Empress walked slowly into the secret chamber, her posture upright and her expression calm, without the slightest ripple of emotion, having already dealt with all external threats. Her gaze swept over the dossier in Yin Wujou's hand, without hastily pressing for the truth, she simply asked, "Got it?"