Not here for wealth?

If tomb robbers weren’t after riches, then what could they possibly be after? Historical research?

That hardly seemed likely.

“What makes you say they weren’t here for the money?” Ji Mingyu asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“They tore through everything, turning things upside down, damaging a lot of artifacts — as if they were searching for something specific. But some of the artifacts they left behind were actually quite valuable, and small enough to carry off easily.”

He Muling tried her best to appear calm and composed in front of Ninth Master, though her voice still lacked much confidence.

She went on, “I-if they’d come for the money, they wouldn’t have wrecked the artifacts like that — some of them were even made of gold… Unless they already knew there was something inside this Northern Emperor’s Tomb that was worth far, far more.”

But what could possibly be worth that much, hidden inside this Northern Emperor’s Tomb?

According to legend, the Northern Emperor’s body had never even been found — so whether this was truly his tomb couldn’t be confirmed to this day.

Because the emperor’s remains had never been located, many still suspected there might be another, real Northern Emperor’s Tomb somewhere else.

After all, most of what had been unearthed here were weapons — jade and gold pieces were exceedingly rare.

If not for the fact that the weapons looked so exquisitely and skillfully forged, people might have suspected this Kingdom of Bei Mu had been an impoverished nation.

And yet, judging by the architecture found throughout Ying’an City, this Kingdom of Bei Mu had clearly once been a prosperous, flourishing realm.

Why would tomb robbers risk drawing so much attention just to break into the Northern Emperor’s Tomb — what exactly were they after?

“Did you check every single part, inside and out?” Lu Feifan suddenly asked.

He Muling nodded, then shook her head. “Every passage and chamber that’s already been excavated, Yan Qiu and I checked thoroughly. But there could still be hidden chambers that haven’t been discovered yet.”

The interior was simply too vast — there had to be hidden chambers still undiscovered.

The Qiao clan’s construction crew had come specifically to excavate according to the archaeological team’s instructions.

“But if it’s somewhere even we haven’t uncovered yet, then the tomb robbers couldn’t have gotten in either. I checked every wall myself, and there were no signs of any extra tampering or damage.”

Everyone fell into thought.

So even the tomb robbers didn’t know for certain whether there were undiscovered hidden chambers.

Perhaps they’d assumed everything inside had already been excavated, and so, before the main team could take everything away, they’d decided to strike first?

They did seem to be in something of a hurry.

Why such urgency — what exactly were they looking for?

“Ninth Master, should I have the security team come secure this area?” Ji Mingyu asked.

When there were no tomb robbers about, having the Qiao clan’s workers on night duty had been enough.

Now that robbers had appeared, things were no longer so simple.

Lu Feifan spoke up at once. “The security team is meant to protect Young Uncle. If you pull them over to guard the royal tomb, who’s going to be responsible for Young Uncle’s safety?”

He seemed to suddenly think of something, and his expression turned complicated.

“What if we had the Qiao clan send more people…”

“They’re just excavation workers — they haven’t had any special training. Having them guard the royal tomb would put them in danger.”

Lu Beicheng stared at Lu Feifan, a sharp glint flashing briefly through his eyes. “Since you’re so worried about my safety, then you can protect me yourself. Have the security team come guard the royal tomb instead.”

Ji Mingyu nodded. “Understood. I’ll go arrange it right away.”