No matter how much Baili Xiaosheng didn’t want to be left behind alone, not even a little bit—

still, dawn had broken, and Ziqing and the others had to leave.

The old master and Madam Sheng wanted to see them off a long way, but Jun Beiyue only allowed them to accompany the group to the estate gates.

Baili Xiaosheng waited obediently until her father and mother had finished saying their goodbyes to everyone, then took a deep breath and stepped forward.

She had always believed she was, like her master, someone utterly unsentimental.

But today she suddenly discovered just how useless that belief truly was.

It was only a temporary parting, not forever—so why couldn’t she let it go?

Of course, she buried all her sorrow and reluctance deep inside; her small face remained perfectly composed.

“Godfather, Godmother, farewell!”

Even though Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had long since acknowledged her as their goddaughter, this was the first time she’d ever addressed them that way.

Jun Beiyue nodded, saying nothing.

Ziqing showed no reluctance at all. Instead, she smiled and said in a lowered voice, “Take care of yourself. Kill when you need to kill, be ruthless when you need to be ruthless! Don’t let yourself be wronged.”

“I understand!” Baili Xiaosheng smiled too, brilliantly.

She loved this attitude in Auntie Qing and Prince Yao—it was just a parting, after all, nothing worth being so reluctant over!

They were both such straightforward, decisive people—one ought to laugh heartily up at the sky, not drown in sorrow over parting!

“Auntie Qing, if you see my master, tell him he’d better come find me. Tell him if he doesn’t come right away, I’ll go to the Poison Den and expose all his secrets!” Baili Xiaosheng warned earnestly.

Ziqing blinked, then burst out laughing. “All right, I’ll be sure to pass that along!”

After bidding farewell to Jun Beiyue and Ziqing, Baili Xiaosheng nodded toward Jue Mingzi as well, entirely ignoring Xiong Xiaobao in the process.

Xiong Xiaobao had been waiting the whole time!

Finally, just as Baili Xiaosheng turned to head back toward Madam Sheng, Xiong Xiaobao couldn’t hold back any longer, and said irritably, “You wretched girl, aren’t you going to say goodbye to me?”

“Little Prince, by rank, shouldn’t you be calling me elder sister?” Baili Xiaosheng teased.

Xiong Xiaobao was momentarily at a loss for words. Too lazy to argue the point with her, he said instead, “You dressed up as a boy and deceived me—don’t you owe me an explanation?”

He’d been waiting this whole time. After all, this wretched girl had been running around with him for quite a long while now!

Not quite sworn brothers, not quite best friends, but at least friends, right? At least… some kind of bond, right?

“I already told you, your judgment’s just bad. I never once told you I was a boy,” Baili Xiaosheng said, the picture of innocence.

Xiong Xiaobao was once again at a loss for words. He rolled his eyes several times, and though displeased, still managed to keep his composure.

“Baili Xiaosheng, farewell!” he said, waving his hand, taking the initiative to say goodbye.

In truth, this was exactly what Baili Xiaosheng had been waiting for. She smiled generously. “Little Prince, farewell!”

Saying farewell, and yet no one knew when farewell would actually come again.

Little Prince, in the future we won’t even have the chance to wander the world together anymore—you’ll be ruler of a nation, and I’ll be head of a household. But at least we’ll still be friends!

Baili Xiaosheng mused to herself, and after waving, turned around at once, not looking back at them again.

Watching this child’s small, frail frame and stubborn back, admiration flickered in Ziqing’s eyes. She too turned and walked away, without dwelling on the parting.

After leaving the Sheng estate, Ziqing and the others made their way straight toward Da Zhou, barely stopping the entire way!

The children might not have noticed anything amiss, but the two of them, sharp as they were, had already guessed that something had happened to Baili Weisheng—they simply didn’t want the children to worry.

If nothing had happened, there was no way there would still be no word of him after all this time!

No news of Baili Weisheng, no sign of Meng Wanyue—their trip through Nanzhao had gone so smoothly, so what exactly had happened?

After several days and nights of hard travel, they finally, five days later, deep in the night, passed through the northern gate of the Nanzhao king’s territory and entered Da Zhou!

The moment they stepped off the carriage, Yingzi came hurrying to meet them. “Master, still no news. It’s confirmed they never came back after putting out to sea!”

“Confirmed they boarded the ship and set sail?” Jun Beiyue asked seriously.

“Confirmed! That ship belonged to the Dream Clan. It’s been drifting in international waters this whole time, never once heading toward Nanzhao. This subordinate has already brought back the two girls who were aboard, but they won’t say anything.”

Xiong Xiaobao, who had been dozing on his father’s shoulder, snapped instantly alert, his face full of shock, not daring to ask too much.

Had something happened to Uncle Scholar?

“So you’re saying Baili Weisheng jumped into the sea?” Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed.

Disappearing this long without a word simply wasn’t like Baili Weisheng at all.

“Could it be they realized they were chasing the wrong person, and changed course at the last minute?” Jun Beiyue mused, working through what little they had to go on.

At that moment, Ziqing gasped, struck with sudden realization. “It’s a decoy! Luring the tiger away from the mountain!”

At those words, Jun Beiyue too was startled.

Meng Wanyue had deliberately used that girl Mi’er to lure Baili Weisheng and Meng Duo’er away—more precisely, to deliberately draw Meng Duo’er out to sea!

That was why the ship had been drifting endlessly in international waters, going nowhere at all!

The only one who could hold Meng Wanyue in check was Meng Duo’er. If Meng Wanyue had deliberately drawn Meng Duo’er away, her true target could only be Ziqing and Jun Beiyue!

“Meng Wanyue is in Nanzhao—and so is Baili Weisheng!” Ziqing said, startled.

That much was true, but everyone present understood full well that Baili Weisheng wasn’t merely in Nanzhao—he had very likely run into trouble there!

They had only just left Nanzhao, a country full of inconveniences at every turn, and now something like this had happened. Ziqing found herself unable to hold back her frustration—they had gathered every secret of the lonely island, and yet had lost a person along the way.

Searching for someone in Nanzhao—how could that possibly be easy?

Jun Beiyue, still fairly composed, continued to ask, “Any word from the Dream Clan’s side?” Yingzi shook his head. “Master, the entire Dream Clan, along with that group of shadow guards, have all vanished without a trace. Pulling off something like this would require assistance from some force within Nanzhao itself—otherwise, even Xuanyuan Lige couldn’t manage it.”

“Xuanyuan Lige has an inside connection in Nanzhao…” Ziqing mused. Aside from Nanzhao’s three great clans, only the royal family itself would have that kind of capability.

The royal family could be ruled out outright. As for the three great clans, that was harder to say.

“Ziqing, what if we asked the Sheng family for help?” Jue Mingzi asked tentatively.

Ziqing shook her head at once. The waters within the Beast Clan ran deep, and the Sheng family’s waters ran just as deep. Baili Xiaosheng had only just returned to the fold, and hadn’t gotten a proper grasp on anything yet—rashly calling on the Sheng family’s strength now would bring nothing but harm.

Just as they were speaking, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

“Is Weisheng back?”

“What about Duo’er? Did she come back too?”

Everyone’s faces fell at those words. Madam Jinjiao came walking over, clearly having just woken up, her face still heavy with sleep.

Madam Jinjiao looked around as she approached, but no matter how she searched, she couldn’t spot her son or her prospective daughter-in-law anywhere.

“Weisheng… they didn’t come back together?” she finally asked, turning to Ziqing.

Ziqing bit her lip, at a complete loss for what to say.

To everyone’s surprise, Jun Beiyue made an immediate decision. “Madam Jinjiao, after Baili Weisheng and Meng Duo’er set out to sea, they’ve been missing ever since, and it’s very likely they’re in Nanzhao. Rest assured, I will negotiate with the King of Nanzhao myself and will find them without fail.”

Negotiate…

What did Jun Beiyue mean by that?

…