By the time Jiu’er woke up, everything had already settled.

Yan Qiu had led a team in to rescue the people trapped inside.

The Northern Emperor’s tomb had not collapsed; only that small chamber inside it had caved in.

The moment Jiu’er woke up, she wanted to rush in to help with the rescue, but the instant she stood up, she felt a stabbing pain in her ankle, and the pain made her collapse back onto the ground with a thud.

“Jiu’er, don’t move around, your ankle is injured!”

Qiaoqiao, who was nearby, saw this and immediately rushed over to support her.

“Don’t move, or your ankle will get worse!”

“Ninth Imperial Uncle!” Jiu’er struggled to stand up, wanting to head toward the entrance of the mausoleum.

Qiaoqiao pulled her back again. “Jiu’er, don’t go over there, it’s dangerous!”

“Ninth Imperial Uncle… Ninth Master and Third Young Master are inside, they’re inside!”

“Jiu’er, they won’t be in danger. Yan Qiu and Old Ji have already gone in to rescue them.”

A’Ke also came over at this point, scooping Jiu’er up into his arms and letting her sit against him.

“A’Ke, put me down, I want to go see them!”

A’Ke was too tall, and with Jiu’er’s injured ankle, there was simply no way for her to get down from his arms.

Although A’Ke was also anxious, he kept trying to persuade her. “Jiu’er, they’ll come back, don’t worry.”

“They’re coming out!” Qiaoqiao suddenly cried out in surprise.

Everyone looked up, and indeed saw Yan Qiu emerge first, followed by two men behind him.

Ji Mingyu, and a man covered from head to toe in dust and dirt—Lu Beicheng.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle!”

Jiu’er wanted to get down.

A’Ke moved even faster, carrying her over to stand before Lu Beicheng first. “Ninth Master…”

Lu Beicheng’s expression was heavy and grim as he looked at the girl in A’Ke’s arms, his eyes dimmed with a trace of gloom.

After a long moment, he said, expressionlessly, “…He’s gone.”

…

Lu Feifan had vanished!

The excavation team had brought in equipment, carefully clearing away the sand and rubble that had collapsed inside the secret chamber.

Since no one knew whether other parts of the mausoleum might collapse as well, the workers who went in to search proceeded with extreme caution at every step.

But once the sand and rubble in the secret chamber had been completely cleared away, aside from the section of the ceiling that had collapsed and couldn’t be restored, everything else had returned to its original state.

Yet Lu Feifan was nowhere to be found!

Not even… a body.

Lu Feifan seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind not a single trace.

No one knew why this had happened, but that was simply the reality!

He had truly disappeared!

If Jiu’er hadn’t insisted that Lu Feifan had truly been inside, everyone might even have doubted whether the Third Young Master had ever actually gone in at all.

But Ninth Master trusted Zhen Jiu’er, and so, everyone else had no choice but to believe it too.

Still, there would always be voices of doubt.

“Jiu’er, don’t mind what those people say, they just don’t understand you.” Qiaoqiao trusted her completely, one hundred percent.

Seeing that Jiu’er had remained silent for a while, Qiaoqiao couldn’t help but gently take her hand. “Jiu’er, don’t be like this. Seeing you upset makes me feel awful too.”

“I’m fine.” Jiu’er finally snapped back to herself.

At this moment, she actually didn’t feel too sad.

“Third Young Master must still be alive.” If there was no body to be found, that didn’t necessarily mean something terrible had happened to him.

Although, it had already been three days, and he still hadn’t shown up.

But not being found was also, in a way, a kind of hope.

“I’m going to go see Ninth Master.” After three days of rest, her ankle had mostly healed.

“I’ll go with you.” Qiaoqiao wanted to support her.

Jiu’er waved her hand. “I’m really fine now.”

She went alone to Lu Beicheng’s tent.

Before she even entered, she heard someone speaking inside: “Feifan ran into trouble—isn’t that Zhen Jiu’er’s responsibility?”