Chapter 376: Because of You (Third Update)

The courtyard was empty, save for a single corpse suspended in the center.

Judging by the tattered clothing, it appeared to be a young man, but his flesh had been almost entirely corroded, making it nearly impossible to discern his original features.

The most severely injured part of his entire body was his face.

It looked as if someone had hacked savagely at it with an axe; the face was a bloody mess, making it difficult to even distinguish his facial features, let alone recognize who he was.

Beneath the corpse sat a bronze vat.

The rim of the bronze vat was stained with the color of dried blood.

A thick, pungent stench of blood wafted from it, nauseating to the senses!

However, that was not the most terrifying part.

Because on the ground surrounding the corpse, there were actually several other skeletons!

With just one glance, it was clear that these, too, were human remains!

Unlike the suspended corpse, those on the ground were nothing more than bleached white bones, appearing as though they had been dead for a very long time.

This scene sent a shockwave through the hearts of everyone who entered!

The area fell into a deathly silence, as if space itself had frozen.

After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Jiawen finally snapped out of it and shouted abruptly

"Bring the Empress to me!"

The Emperor was in a towering rage. Even Rong Jin, who had been protecting the Empress earlier, could no longer hold out; his body stiffened as he helped the Empress forward.

The Empress’s eyes remained tightly shut, as if she had completely fainted.

Emperor Jiawen stared fixedly at the skeletons, the veins on his forehead bulging

"Beat her! If the Empress still does not wake, continue beating her!"

Everyone was startled.

Emperor Jiawen was actually ordering people to beat the Empress?

He was truly driven mad by rage.

How could Rong Jin possibly bring himself to do such a thing? He could not stand by and watch others lay hands on his mother, so he hurriedly stepped in front of the Empress and knelt

"Imperial Father! The truth of this matter has not yet been investigated. If you treat Mother this way, you will break her heart!"

Emperor Jiawen strode forward and delivered a heavy kick to Rong Jin's shoulder.

"Get out!"

Rong Jin did not dare resist and was kicked aside.

Emperor Jiawen raised his hand, intending to slap the Empress himself!

Situ Xingchen stood nearby; although she did not want to get involved, she was now caught in the middle.

Seeing Emperor Jiawen grab the Empress by her collar, Situ Xingchen finally spoke

"Your Majesty, please reconsider! The Crown Prince is right; nothing is clear yet. Would it not be better to wait until everything is investigated? When the time comes, if Her Majesty the Empress is indeed guilty, it will not be too late for you to punish her personally."

Emperor Jiawen's movement paused.

At that moment, the unconscious Empress suddenly drifted back to consciousness.

She slowly opened her eyes, and seeing Emperor Jiawen's face so close, a flash of confusion crossed her eyes.

"Your Majesty..."

Then, as if only just realizing she was being gripped by the collar by Emperor Jiawen, her face filled with horror and panic.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing?"

Emperor Jiawen sneered and shoved her directly to the ground.

"Do you not know what kind of 'good deed' you have done yourself?! You had better explain yourself clearly to me—what exactly is going on!"

The Empress knelt on the ground, doing nothing but weeping, constantly crying out her ignorance.

"This servant does not know... This servant truly does not know..."

Emperor Jiawen looked toward Rong Zhen

"Rong Zhen, you speak!"

Rong Zhen took a timid step back, his lips trembling.

"Your Majesty, there is something strange about this bronze vat."

Chu Ning walked up to the bronze vat and inspected it thoroughly, his expression solemn.

"This object seems capable of devouring one's Origin Power."

Hearing this, Chu Liuyue could not help but walk over as well.

As soon as she approached, she sensed a chilling, sinister aura seeping out from the bronze vat!

In the next instant, that aura enveloped her!

"Yue'er, danger!"

Seeing this, Chu Ning immediately tried to pull Chu Liuyue away.

However, Chu Liuyue shook her head, signaling him to wait a moment.

Then, she felt the Origin Power within her body begin to stir restlessly under the influence of that aura!

She looked into the bronze vat.

A mixture of black and red swirled within, and the aura suddenly grew even stronger!

Her brows furrowed—this aura was actually attempting to forcibly strip the Origin Power from her body!

Without hesitation, she retreated!

Once she was away from the bronze vat, the aura dissipated rapidly, as if it had never existed.

However, Chu Liuyue felt a chill in her heart.

—She had been heavily affected just by standing nearby; how much more so for the person suspended directly above that bronze vat?

Furthermore!

That person was covered in wounds and blood; it was obvious that many wounds had been inflicted upon them while they were still alive—as the blood dripped into the vat, the Origin Power would naturally be harvested even more cleanly!

Chu Liuyue was almost certain that the person had been killed by the continuous devouring of their Origin Power until they were completely exhausted!

No, not just that person!

The white bones surrounding them must have suffered the same fate!

Chu Ning pulled Chu Liuyue toward him, and only after confirming she was alright did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"This bronze vat is an object of extreme malevolence and Yin. Do not go near it again."

Emperor Jiawen frowned and asked

"Chu Ning, what did you say about that bronze vat just now?"

Chu Ning explained the situation.

"...Therefore, this bronze vat was likely placed here intentionally to devour the power of other cultivators."

"As I thought..."

After hearing this, there was no look of shock on Emperor Jiawen's face; instead, he looked as if he had confirmed something.

"I once heard of similar matters in the Imperial Secret History. As long as enough power is collected, this bronze vat can upgrade into a higher-level Origin Tool. Whoever becomes its master can obtain all the power contained within, greatly increasing their cultivation..."

Emperor Jiawen's words sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.

Such a method was nothing short of extremely sinister and cruel!

"And besides me, the only one who would know this is the Empress!"

Emperor Jiawen's words fell like a thunderclap!

Everyone turned to look at the Empress!

Chu Liuyue understood instantly.

No wonder Emperor Jiawen's attitude toward the Empress had turned so sour the moment he entered and saw the bronze vat.

It turned out that even then, he had already concluded that the Empress was behind all of this.

"Si Huijing! To think you could secretly commit such acts! You truly have a heart of a viper!"

The mere thought that he had shared a bed with such a woman for years made Emperor Jiawen's skin crawl with nausea!

The Empress's face turned ashen; she could not utter a single word of defense.

Rong Jin also panicked and could not help but argue

"Imperial Father, even if Mother knew, it doesn't prove she did this! Mother is already the Empress; what benefit would this bring her?"

"Indeed, Her Majesty the Empress is already the Mother of the Nation, why is she still not satisfied?"

Rong Jiu suddenly spoke, looking down at the mother and son with dark, inscrutable eyes.

"She did this, of course, not for herself, but for the noble Crown Prince—my Imperial Brother—you!"

Rong Jin was struck with a sudden shock!