“Why me?” Still, if it meant leaving this place, He Muling was willing enough.

She just didn’t understand.

Why had she been singled out?

“You can stay here if you’d like. I’ll have someone else come along instead—Xiao Shengyuan, perhaps?”

“No, no, no, I’ll go with you.” He Muling said quickly.

“Then let’s go.”

Zhen Jiu’er glanced at Yan Qiu.

Yan Qiu didn’t think much of it either; having been named, he simply went along.

“Wait, wait a moment.” Ren Qiqi grew flustered, looking at Lu Beicheng. “Ninth—Ninth Master, I’m a doctor. My medical kit has… has drugs that cause nerve paralysis…”

She looked at Zhen Jiu’er next, growing anxious. “But I carry those to treat injuries for everyone! On fieldwork like this, people get hurt easily—I have to bring them.”

“I know. No need to panic. I’ll go take a look first.”

Zhen Jiu’er left, taking Yan Qiu and the trembling He Muling with her.

As for everyone else, for now, they could only stay where they were, keeping watch over the professor’s body.

“Ninth Master, most of the information has come through.” Ji Mingyu used A’Ke’s communication device and had finally picked up a signal from the main team.

Everyone’s hearts jolted.

The main team was coming.

But the professor was dead…

“Notify them. Bring anyone with proper credentials. Without the professor, no one may enter the ancient tomb to investigate.”

“Understood.” Ji Mingyu nodded and went to handle it at once.

“Ninth Master, I really am not the murderer. My permit still hasn’t come through, I have no license, and I can’t leave the professor’s side. Killing him would mean nothing for me.”

Xiao Shengyuan immediately explained himself to Lu Beicheng. “Ninth Master, I truly have no motive.”

Lu Beicheng said nothing, his gaze drifting elsewhere.

Xia Zi sat there, simply staring blankly at the professor’s body. From start to finish, she hadn’t said a single word.

Most young women wouldn’t dare look at a corpse, yet she not only dared to look, she stared at it fixedly.

Ji Mingyu followed Lu Beicheng’s gaze, then walked over to Ninth Master’s side, bent down, and lowered his voice.

“She’s probably more than just the professor’s assistant. I’ve seen… the professor putting his hands on her.”

The relationship was obvious enough.

Not just an assistant, but the professor’s woman.

But Xia Zi was only in her twenties, while the professor was already in his fifties.

Still, this kind of thing was common enough in society—nothing worth being surprised about.

Just another young woman who had found herself a wealthy, well-known patron.

Staying by the professor’s side certainly came with plenty of perks.

After glancing once more at Xia Zi, Lu Beicheng said nothing further.

He opened the tray on his wheelchair, set his laptop on it. Still no signal, so he could only handle the simplest of tasks.

But at least he could keep himself occupied.

What was actually on his mind, though, was Zhen Jiu’er’s movements just now.

That figure, that profile… when she turned serious and focused, it was as if she carried her own light.

Beautiful enough that it was hard to look away.

She wasn’t Zhen Jiu’er.

Or rather, she wasn’t the Zhen Jiu’er the files described.

The original Zhen Jiu’er had never possessed such formidable skill.

She looked so small and unassuming, yet she seemed to understand everything?

This girl was no ordinary person.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but just as everyone was reaching the point where they could no longer suppress their restlessness, Jiu’er, Yan Qiu, and He Muling returned.

As they came back, He Muling could still be heard talking. “She really was with me all night, really, even when we went to the bathroom, we went together, we were never apart.”