“Shengyuan, what’s the situation inside?”

This Northern Emperor’s tomb—no, it was Prince Xiao’s tomb—had only been discovered yesterday, and no one yet knew what lay within.

All they knew was that the soil at the mausoleum entrance had been freshly overturned—clearly the work of tomb robbers.

The robbers had already been inside; there was no telling how much had been stolen.

“The interior has collapsed. The path in is blocked. But from the look of it, someone really did try to dig further in. They probably ran out of time—once they realized we’d arrived, they left.”

So the deepest Xiao Shengyuan and Meng Xiao had been able to reach was the collapsed section; they’d had no chance to go even one step further.

“There’s truly no way in at all?” The professor refused to give up.

Having finally found an ancient mausoleum of such scale, not being able to go in and look around left him deeply unsatisfied.

“Let’s keep searching. There may well be another entrance we haven’t found yet, though the odds aren’t great. But…”

Xiao Shengyuan glanced at him, his gaze finally settling on Ninth Master.

Here, it was still Ninth Master who had the final say—even the professor had to defer to him.

He had something he wanted to say. “Ninth Master, since this Prince Xiao was conferred his title by the Northern Emperor himself, that means the Northern Emperor truly reigned back then. If even a mere prince’s tomb is this massive, the Northern Emperor’s own tomb must be far more magnificent.”

Everyone understood exactly what Xiao Shengyuan meant.

The Northern Emperor’s tomb—that ought to be their real target!

“More importantly, those tomb robbers couldn’t have easily stumbled onto this tomb. They must also know that a grander, more monumental imperial mausoleum lies not far from here.”

“Which means they’re likely searching for the Northern Emperor’s tomb right now. If they find it first…”

Xiao Shengyuan didn’t need to finish that thought—everyone understood.

Lu Beicheng’s handsome sword-like brows drew together slightly.

Though Professor Xiao’s expression looked somewhat odd, he said nothing.

Everyone waited for Ninth Master’s decision.

After a moment, Lu Beicheng spoke, his tone flat. “Search for the Northern Emperor’s tomb first.”

Xiao Shengyuan’s face lit up with delight. “Good, I’ll have everyone get ready right away. We’ll set out for the Northern Emperor’s tomb immediately.”

Professor Xiao shot him a look, his expression clearly not pleased.

Unfortunately, Xiao Shengyuan didn’t notice—he had already turned and walked off to notify the others to prepare for departure.

…The imperial city was vast. Jiu’er remembered once riding on horseback from the northern end of the imperial city all the way to the south.

Even on horseback it had taken more than two hours, and that was with her exceptional riding skill—she rode faster than most people.

Now, traveling on foot, they’d split into groups to search, and after a full day had barely covered less than half the imperial city’s area.

Ren Qiqi and He Muling, the two girls, had gone through over a month of physical training before coming, yet their whole bodies still ached from the walking.

At dusk, everyone made camp by the moat.

Just as Jiu’er was about to go find Lu Beicheng, she faintly heard Yan Qiu’s voice coming from inside the tent: “…something’s wrong with the archaeological team… who could it be?”

Jiu’er paused, then quickened her steps toward the tent. “Ninth Master, it’s me. May I come in?”

“Come in.” Lu Beicheng’s voice was, as always, cool and touched with a faint indifference.

Very steady—worlds apart from the wariness in Yan Qiu’s tone.

Yan Qiu looked at Zhen Jiu’er.

Once inside, Jiu’er shrugged at him. “Sorry, I did overhear you saying something’s wrong with someone on the archaeological team. But I wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose—you two should be more careful when you talk. It’s not really my fault.”

She could hardly be expected to keep everyone from coming near whenever they wanted to talk, could she?

If they didn’t want that, fine—but then someone should stand guard.

With nothing at all in place, anyone could wander close at any time.

There was no need to fix her with such a guarded look.