The Empress's No.1 Lackey

As she spoke, she scooped up the pure black miniature coffin from her waist, opened the coffin lid, and billows of grayish-white smoke spewed out.
"Hold your breath! This is mourning energy, getting contaminated with it will be troublesome!" Zhong Pan warned in a deep voice.
Zhao Douan, Jin Jian, Yu Xiu, and Lang Shiba all held their breath simultaneously.
Immediately, they saw grayish-white "snow" starting to fall from the sky.
It’s snowing...
No.
What was falling was not snowflakes, but ash.
Just like the ash of burnt paper money, drifting across the sky.
A sense of sadness surged in the hearts of all four, and even though Zhong Pan blocked most of the spells, their spirits inevitably withered.
The followers of the Sorrow God can influence our fortunes... Zhao Douan’s face looked grim as he turned to see Jin Jian and the others with a metaphorical large "decline" hanging over their heads.
"Shi Youlian, you from the Evil Path hide and skulk around, daring to appear on the road today? I shall accumulate some merit!"
Zhong Pan’s beard and hair stood on end, his voice like a great bell. He took the third step against the black ash floating in the sky, suddenly drew a great sword, and chopped down fiercely!
"Imperial Decree, Subduing Demons!"
An overwhelming, righteous spirit of utmost yang accompanied the sword as it slashed out in fury.
And Shi Youlian, with her fingers with extremely long nails forming a gesture, manipulated the gray "snow" crazily gathering before her, condensing it into an extremely thick "gray python."
Or a wild spinning storm, where the tranquil courtyard was crossed by the enormous gray storm.
It blocked Zhong Pan’s great sword.
The blade halted mid-air, Zhong Pan’s beard and hair stood stiff, trying to press forward step by step, getting rid of countless ashes with every breath, only for more to surge forth.
For a time, Zhong Pan and Shi Youlian were evenly matched.
"Senior Brother, let us join!" Surrounding Yu Xiu hovered the Green Jade Flying Sword, and the Daoist woman was eager to strike: "Together, we can certainly eradicate this demoness."
Jin Jian also tensed her small face, the golden eye at the tip of her magic wand swiveling.
However, Zhao Douan suddenly became solemn and said, "Something is off!"
The others looked at him in confusion, only to see Zhao Douan breathing heavily. He said, "It doesn’t feel like a trap... If Xu Jingtang had hidden many experts here, there’d be no need to keep hiding at this point, refusing to show up. Besides, if he knew we’d be here tonight, why did he send the group from Divine Dragon Temple outside? Plus... where are the other magicians of the White Clothes Sect?"
Unease churned within his heart.
But for now, he couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Everyone was taken aback, sinking into contemplation.
Yu Xiu said, "So, you mean, is Shi Youlian’s purpose to stall us? Allowing others to take Mu Prince and escape? No... that doesn’t make sense either."
"Hahaha..." At this moment, Shi Luoyi, hiding behind the White Clothes Sect Master in the hall, suddenly laughed. He said triumphantly, "Zhao Douan, you’re indeed sharp. But let me tell you, my mother is indeed here to stall you. However, it’s not for escape; I’ll give you a hint—remember the Empress’ Luoshan Sealing?"
Sealing?!
Zhao Douan was taken aback, then a flash of insight struck him.
Back during the Empress’ Sealing at Luo Mountain, everything was going smoothly. But at the summit, the Emperor Star dimmed, and her fortune plunged from its peak. Later, on the run, Zhenbao mentioned to him that at the summit, a ’Sorrow God’ had acted against her.
And the White Clothes Sect worshipped the "Sorrow God"...
Linking this with the frequent appearances of White Clothes Sect magicians on the frontline since the war’s start, extracting "mourning energy" from the flames of war... Also, when Shi Luoyi clashed with him at the Song Family Manor, it was to gather mourning energy...
"Not good!" Zhao Douan exclaimed: "We must go!"
"Go? Too late!" Shi Luoyi laughed triumphantly, raising his hand to point at the sky, his gaze venomous: "You came today, none of you should dream of leaving!"
Rumble—
In the sky above Jingchuan City, centered around the outside of the Hundred Generations Garden, strange thunder rumbled within the madly gathering dark clouds.
High above, above the clouds, threads of mourning energy billowed from within the garden, coalescing into a gigantic, illusionary coffin.
The coffin stood, booming open, revealing within a slumbering, illusionary deity with hands folded over its abdomen.
This deity appeared lifelike, a middle-aged person whose gender was indistinct and face full of misfortune. The deity wore tattered garments, complexion deathly pale, and a head adorned with a crown woven from gray feathers, the interior of the coffin lined with paper money.
Suddenly.
The "Sorrow God" in slumber opened its eyelids, revealing a pair of dignified, gloomy, despaired, and indifferent eyes.
...
Within the county city.
An alleyway held a gigantic door frame standing here.
Beside the frame, Ji Yue, with drenched robes and disheveled hair, hugged her knees in a ball, waiting silently.
Suddenly, she jerked her head up; through the gaps in her black hair, a pair of ghostly white pupils was revealed.
In her heart, Ji Yue felt a strong sense of crisis, staring fixedly in the direction of the Hundred Generations Garden outside the city.
The night was too dark to see what was happening there, but she vaguely sensed flashes of lightning and thunder.
...
Within the Huai Royal Mansion.
Xu An paced anxiously in the hall. Most of the mansion’s people had already been sent out; the Princely Heir Xu Qian and Commandery Princess Xu Junling stayed by their father’s side.
Anxiously awaiting the results.
Xu An chose not to flee, to momentarily dodge the storm that might come. Having chosen to cast his lot with the court, he gambled his life and entire fortune.
"At this moment, I wonder if Zhao Douan and the others have already met Xu Jingtang," Xu An sighed.
Xu Junling bit her lip, ready to say something to comfort her father, when she suddenly heard the faint sound of thunder.
The Commandery Princess was startled, only to see her brother had already rushed out ahead of her. Xu Qian looked towards the distance in confusion: "What’s going on over there? A celestial phenomenon? Such fine moonlight... Hey, that seems to be the direction of the Hundred Generations Garden. Could it be they’ve started fighting?"