Seeing Mi’er’s reaction, the young woman grew anxious, quickly grabbing hold of her. “Could it be you actually know? I mean no harm — I’ve come all this way specifically from the northern wastes to find Young Master Xuanyuan!”

Yu Xiaomeng, of course, knew perfectly well — there were plenty of people in this world searching for Xuanyuan Lige, especially after his defeat. Never mind Jun Beiyue and his group — even within the Xiongnu territories alone, plenty of people wanted his life.

She’d traveled all the way from the northern wastes region, hearing nothing but bad news along the way. Having finally tracked her way here, she’d arrived only to find the entire military camp completely empty.

Seeing Mi’er’s reaction, Yu Xiaomeng knew — this girl surely knew something!

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be this frightened; otherwise, a young girl like her wouldn’t likely be out here alone in the first place.

Hearing the words “northern wastes,” Mi’er finally calmed down, studying Yu Xiaomeng carefully.

Yu Xiaomeng hurriedly introduced herself. “My name is Yu Xiaomeng — all the messages from the northern wastes were sent by me!”

Mi’er still said nothing, carefully studying her lip movements.

Only then did Yu Xiaomeng suddenly realize. “You’re Mi’er, aren’t you!” She’d once heard this girl mentioned by Xuanyuan Lige’s subordinates.

They’d said Young Master Xuanyuan kept no maidservants, no guards, and wherever he went, he brought only one girl with him — a girl who’d been deliberately beaten deaf.

“You’re Yu Xiaomeng from the northern wastes!” Mi’er exclaimed in shock. All the letters from the northern wastes had passed through her hands, delivered personally to her young master!

She’d always known her young master had an extremely loyal subordinate in the northern wastes.

Yet she’d never expected it would be such a young, beautiful woman!

Mi’er did indeed recognize her name. Yu Xiaomeng, not caring about anything else at this point, immediately gripped Mi’er’s hand tightly. “Where’s Young Master Xuanyuan! Where is he? Why can’t I find him anywhere!”

Mi’er’s heart was surely a hundred times more anxious than Yu Xiaomeng’s.

Yet she still glanced around carefully before leaning close to Yu Xiaomeng’s ear, whispering her young master’s whereabouts!

“Meng Wanyue…” Yu Xiaomeng found this name completely unfamiliar.

“I don’t know who she is either, but she’s the one who saved my young master. Without her, my young master would have already died at Prince Yao’s hands — they were so despicable, ganging up on him, so many against one!” Mi’er said furiously. She still knew far too little — she only knew what she’d witnessed with her own eyes!

Meng Wanyue truly had come to the rescue just in time — otherwise, her young master at that moment would probably already have been…

She couldn’t even bear to imagine it, gripping Yu Xiaomeng’s hand tightly, whispering, “Come, let’s go find my young master together. I know a shortcut — we can catch up to them soon!”

“Why would she take Young Master Xuanyuan there?” Yu Xiaomeng, being considerably more perceptive than Mi’er, instinctively sensed this Meng Wanyue was no good at all — otherwise, why would Young Master Xuanyuan have kept her locked up in the military camp?

“She told me to lead away the pursuers. I… I… the situation was urgent at the time, I didn’t have time to ask more questions.”

As Mi’er spoke, she gradually began to sense something was wrong — though at this point, realizing it was off hardly mattered anymore!

The most pressing matter now was catching up to her young master as quickly as possible!

Her young master was so gravely wounded — if Meng Wanyue harbored any ill intent, the consequences would be unthinkable!

The two of them wasted no more time. Yu Xiaomeng offered to support Mi’er, but Mi’er insisted she didn’t need it — no matter how exhausted she was, she could still push through!

Her young master was her savior — now was the time to repay that debt!

Soon, the two of them hurried off toward the south together, while Baili Weisheng, who had been trailing behind the entire time, finally poked his head out from the tall grass, a flicker of suspicion crossing his eyes.

“South…”

He murmured to himself, his expression taking on a more serious edge, and silently resumed the pursuit once more.

As for Meng Wanyue and Xuanyuan Lige, where exactly were they now?

Were they in the direction Mi’er was tracking, or somewhere else entirely? Perhaps only Meng Wanyue herself knew for certain.

In a cave within the desolate mountains, Xuanyuan Lige remained unconscious off to the side, while Meng Wanyue crouched nearby, silently studying his pale face.

The reason Meng Wanyue’s instant sealing barrier couldn’t be sustained for very long was, in truth, entirely because she hadn’t actually mastered the instant sealing technique at all.

She was still in the process of mastering it — that particular instance had simply borrowed power from the strength within Xuanyuan Lige’s own body.

The moment Xuanyuan Lige had appeared at the boundless deep sea, she’d known this frail, sickly man’s body was bound by a Five-Element seal — otherwise he would have long since drawn his last breath!

Ever since Xuanyuan Lige had brought her out of the boundless deep sea and confined her within the military camp, every time they met, she’d studied the seal on his body with great care — after all, every barrier master could cast only a single Five-Element seal in their entire lifetime.

But one could draw upon the power of another barrier master’s Five-Element seal countless times!

At the gates of the Xi Chu capital, when she’d instantly sealed Jun Beiyue and the others’ power, she’d done so precisely by borrowing power from the unwitting seal within Xuanyuan Lige’s body.

Having drawn upon fully half of that power, she now discovered, to her genuine delight, that the Five-Element seal’s strength within his body had actually recovered!

After all, the power of a Five-Element seal was supposed to only ever diminish, never increase!

When Meng the Fifth had originally cast the Five-Element seal upon Xuanyuan Lige, his purpose had been to let Xuanyuan Lige draw upon the seal’s power daily once his own vital essence and energy were exhausted, allowing him to continue surviving until, decades later, the seal’s power would finally be fully depleted, and Xuanyuan Lige would perish together with the seal itself.

Yet now, Meng Wanyue clearly witnessed a miracle — the Five-Element seal on Xuanyuan Lige’s body had actually recovered half its strength in this remarkably short span of time!

“Could it be…”

Meng Wanyue blurted out, but the rest of the words caught in her throat.

Within the direct imperial line of Dong Qin, any male heir never lived past the age of ten — only the princesses managed to survive to adulthood!

Every single prince, without exception, was born frail and sickly, yet the exact cause could never be determined!

Could it be that it wasn’t illness at all, but rather a matter of their inherent constitution?

The princes of Dong Qin were born with this very constitution — a constitution that could sustain life for only about ten years!

And wasn’t this constitution precisely the legendary “Five-Element Body” spoken of among the Meng clan’s barrier masters?

This constitution had once appeared among ancient peoples, before gradually vanishing, surviving only in legend — who would have thought it lay hidden within the very bloodline of the Dong Qin imperial house!

Meng Wanyue was overjoyed. After all, this so-called “Five-Element Body” was an extraordinary medium for cultivating barrier arts!

This constitution could be used to nurture a Five-Element barrier — a barrier master had only to draw upon the power of a Five-Element barrier to continuously strengthen their own abilities!

A Five-Element barrier cast upon such a constitution would never diminish in power — it could endlessly, inexhaustibly feed strength back to the barrier master!

Meng Wanyue was so overjoyed she laughed aloud. What incredible luck, falling right into her lap. She’d originally planned to rescue Xuanyuan Lige and lure Jun Beiyue and the others to Nanzhao, intending to expose Han Ziqing’s secret origins before the Nanzhao king, even if it cost her own life.

But now, it seemed she needn’t risk such a mutually destructive outcome at all — she had far more leverage to bargain with Han Ziqing!

She would reclaim her son, her grandson, and the Qiankun poison pouch as well!