Although Qin Yining was delighted, she still maintained some wariness in her heart.

Liao Zhibing, Zhao Yinuo, and Zhao Wanjin once again paid their respects to Qin Yining.

Zhao Yinuo said joyfully: “We’ve finally found the Alliance Leader! We heard that the Alliance Leader killed Khan A’na Ri, and everyone says the Alliance Leader is truly a heroine among women, accomplishing great deeds in Tatar territory. All the brothers in the alliance feel honored to be associated with you!”

“Yes, Alliance Leader!”

Zhao Wanjin was also very pleased.

Their direct forms of address drew puzzled looks from Lu Heng.

Qin Yining couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, but since it had come to this point and Lu Heng wasn’t an outsider, she no longer concealed it. “They’re from the Azure Sky Alliance.”

Lu Heng wasn’t surprised—he had actually suspected this for a while. Hearing this, he merely smiled and pulled his two guards, Flying Lian and Flying Eagle, who had followed him for many years, aside to talk.

“Where have you come from?”

“Reporting to Second Master, from home.”

Lu Heng’s face lit up with joy as he asked anxiously: “How is the situation at home? How is my grandfather?”

Flying Eagle and Flying Lian exchanged glances, both wearing bitter smiles.

“Second Master, when you had trouble outside, everything at home became chaotic. Previously, the Old Master supported you, but once you had problems, all those who had been eyeing the family head position came crawling out. The eldest master has been away from the capital for years and has no connections there. He returned home to attend to the Old Master’s illness, but his influence is limited. He can only watch helplessly as the second and third branches act arrogantly.

“Yes, the second master has now taken over the family’s governing power. Perhaps fearing the Emperor’s blame, the second master actually pushed all responsibility for the treasure map incident and the assassination of the Tatar khan onto you alone. Not only do they say this, but even the subordinates have unified their story. Whenever anyone asks, all the mistakes are yours.

“When the Old Master learned of this, he was furious. Combined with the Emperor repeatedly summoning the Old Master to the palace for scolding, and the Old Master worrying about you while holding back his anger, when we left, the Old Master had already fallen seriously ill.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Heng tightly closed his eyes and painfully tilted his head back. It took him a long time to suppress the tears that were almost beyond his control.

It was his fault. It was his willfulness that led things to this point, that caused such an elderly man to be implicated for no reason.

It was all his fault!

At this point, regret was useless. If grandfather truly suffered some misfortune because of this incident, Lu Heng would never forgive himself for the rest of his life!

“Second Master, please don’t be too sad.”

“Yes, Second Master.”

Seeing Lu Heng so distressed, Flying Eagle and Flying Lian hurried to console him.

The two weren’t particularly eloquent people and said many clumsy words, but none hit the mark.

However, Lu Heng had already felt their goodwill and smiled as he patted both their shoulders. “Being able to see you here also makes me very happy. Rest assured, I won’t be crushed by these matters. What has been lost can be reclaimed.”

Hearing Lu Heng say this, both Flying Lian and Flying Eagle were quite moved and declared with great spirit: “As long as Second Master has orders, we brothers dare not disobey.”

Lu Heng smiled back with deep emotion: “Good, then I’m counting on you entirely.”

Meanwhile, Qin Yining took the three visitors from the Azure Sky Alliance to a distant spot.

Qin Yining smiled and said: “How did you find your way here?”

Liao Zhibing cupped his hands respectfully: “We didn’t know the Alliance Leader’s whereabouts, but after hearing news of your assassination of Khan A’na Ri, we guessed that Khan Wutejin would definitely pursue you, so we decided to try our luck in Tatar territory.”

Qin Yining said gently: “Your luck was good too—we happened to encounter each other.”

“Indeed.” Liao Zhibing smiled: “If we hadn’t had such luck, who knows how long we would have searched outside.”

The brothers Zhao Yinuo and Zhao Wanjin also nodded along.

Liao Zhibing then asked: “Alliance Leader, actually there’s something I’d like to ask you about.”

Qin Yining’s expression became sorrowful: “You want to ask about Madam Liao, don’t you?”

Liao Zhibing nodded: “Yes, I haven’t had contact with my wife for several months. I originally thought she might be with you, but now it seems that’s not the case.”

“To be frank, after Madam Liao hid the treasure, she deceived me into going to a fake cave. Once there, she confronted my people, and in the midst of the chaos, we encountered an earthquake. We fled in panic but were captured by Si Qin and taken to Tatar territory. Because the Zhou Emperor was determined to obtain the treasure, they kept pursuing the investigation, so Si Qin led our group into the desert. The desert environment was harsh, lacking water and food. After Si Qin interrogated Madam Liao and those with her several times without learning anything, he left Madam Liao and two other brothers in the desert.”

“What!” Liao Zhibing stared in shock, his eyes wide: “That beast left people in the desert?”

“Yes.” Qin Yining sighed: “At that time I was bound hand and foot and truly powerless to help. Later, as we continued forward, Si Qin almost abandoned me too, but it happened that Khan A’na Ri brought people into the desert to find Si Qin, and they had sufficient water and food again, so I was kept.”

Liao Zhibing’s eyes turned red as he staggered back two steps, looking deeply stricken.

Although Qin Yining couldn’t determine how much of Liao Zhibing’s feelings toward her were genuine versus false, she felt very sympathetic. In that situation, being left in the desert meant only death for Madam Liao. She wondered if Madam Liao had regretted not revealing the treasure’s location after being abandoned to such a fate.

Seeing Liao Zhibing so distressed, Zhao Wanjin and Zhao Yinuo supported him on either side and couldn’t help but console him: “Big brother, please accept our condolences.”

Liao Zhibing shook his head sadly: “If I had talked to her more back then and stopped her from getting involved with the treasure, she wouldn’t have lost her life over it.”

“Yes, big brother, originally sister-in-law didn’t listen to you about the treasure matter. Now that she’s gone, your grief won’t help anything.”

“Besides, we’ve completely lost track of the treasure’s whereabouts.”

Qin Yining felt suspicious but listened to the three men’s conversation without showing any emotion on her face.

If Liao Zhibing and the others claimed to know nothing about the treasure’s whereabouts, Qin Yining wouldn’t believe it, but looking at their expressions, they didn’t seem to be faking.

However, despite her doubts, Qin Yining could see things clearly. She had already lost so much for the treasure—there was no need to force herself to sacrifice anything more for these material possessions.

Although Qin Yining no longer felt comfortable trusting the Azure Sky Alliance members completely, she figured they also wouldn’t reveal their whereabouts. These Azure Sky Alliance people weren’t loyal citizens of Great Zhou either. They had been marginalized people in Great Yan, and upon arriving in Great Zhou, they had no household registration. They spent their days doing business and earning money on the border between Tatar and Great Zhou territories. Their sense of belonging to Great Zhou was basically nonexistent. Without benefits, they shouldn’t reveal their whereabouts.

As long as she could manage things temporarily, there would be no problem.

Qin Yining kept all three of them and arranged for them to stay in a tent. However, she didn’t reveal their future migration route.

Meanwhile, Lu Heng was very enthusiastic toward his two guards, inviting them to join the group of tribespeople chatting around the campfire with Uncle Alhan and introducing them to the Minuo tribe members.

During this period, Qin Yining rarely saw Lu Heng so cheerful. Seeing him express his joy so openly, Qin Yining thought it over and didn’t voice the warning that had come to her lips.

Lu Heng was a smart man with more experience in business ups and downs than she had. He probably didn’t need her reminder to know to be on guard.

That night, Qin Yining still shared a tent with Cao Yuqing.

Flying Lian and Flying Eagle stayed with Lu Heng.

The next day, everyone set out again.

With these additional people in the group, Qin Yining didn’t feel much different, but Lu Heng was very happy every day.

However, as time passed, their group gradually began encountering or crossing paths with pursuing forces.

Their travel speed became slow. Carrying so much baggage and unwilling to abandon it, everyone could only grit their teeth and fight desperately against Si Qin’s pursuing forces.

Fortunately, with the addition of the three Azure Sky Alliance members and Lu Heng’s two guards—all skilled fighters capable of taking on ten opponents each—having them there was much better than relying solely on the tribespeople’s desperate efforts.

However, the pursuing forces also communicated with each other. When one group discovered them, and it was impossible to guarantee that no enemy soldiers escaped from the battlefield, their situation became increasingly passive. They would often escape for just two days before encountering another pursuing force that had come upon hearing the news.

After struggling like this for over ten days, everyone was exhausted both physically and mentally.

After briefly shaking off the pursuers, everyone quickly set up simple tents to catch up on sleep.

Qin Yining and Cao Yuqing weren’t sleepy, constantly worried about when the pursuers might catch up. Their nerves were very tense.

As Qin Yining was resting with her eyes closed, she heard a low voice outside the tent: “Alliance Leader.”

Qin Yining’s eyes snapped open as she asked quietly: “Who is it?”

“Alliance Leader, it’s Liao Zhibing.” Liao Zhibing lowered his voice: “I have something to report.”

Qin Yining and Cao Yuqing exchanged glances. Cao Yuqing nodded, so Qin Yining said: “Please come in to speak.”

Liao Zhibing said he was sorry to disturb them, then lifted the tent flap and entered, very appropriately squatting just inside the tent entrance.

“Alliance Leader, I just discovered that Second Master Lu has escaped.”

Qin Yining was startled: “Escaped? How do you know? Did you see it?”

Today, the three Azure Sky Alliance members’ tent was right next to hers, and her tent was on the side with the women and families of the tribe members. Lu Heng and his two guards were with Ha’er Bala and Chagan Bala and the others on the other side of the group.

With over eight hundred tribe members, plus the grain convoy they were escorting, the distance between the two sides was particularly far. To personally witness Lu Heng’s escape, one would have to cross the entire camp to the other side. Why would Liao Zhibing go to the other side in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

Seeing Qin Yining’s suspicious expression, Liao Zhibing spoke frankly in a low voice: “To be honest, I lived in Miao territory for several years and know some venomous insect arts. When I first arrived, I didn’t trust that Lu fellow much, so I placed a tracking insect on him. Just now I sensed that he had moved.”