The next morning, the group set off again.

By evening, they finally reached the outskirts of Ying’an City.

Along the way they had come across quite a few ancient structures, bumping and stumbling over rough terrain.

But most of the buildings had already collapsed, worn down over a thousand years of sun and rain and wind.

So the ancient structures they’d passed so far had not been very intact.

Ying’an City, though, was clearly different.

Even the city walls were still standing!

“The Imperial City!” At the sight of that ancient yet still magnificently proportioned wall, Zhen Jiu’er could no longer hold herself back and dashed forward.

The Imperial City!

She knew this wall so well!

Everything felt as though it were still yesterday.

Yet the wall before her had weathered a thousand years of wind and rain.

The people she had known, her family, her friends — one by one, they were all gone now.

How would she ever find her Ninth Imperial Uncle, ever make it back to that era, ever see her family and friends again?

Father, Jian Yi, Qiao Mu, Mu Mu…

“Jiu’er, what’s wrong?” Qin Fei hurried over to her.

Seeing her eyes red, he grew anxious at once. “Jiu’er, are you feeling unwell? Is it the air around here?”

He wasn’t an archaeologist and knew nothing at all about ancient things.

But he vaguely recalled hearing that ancient tombs sometimes had toxic gases that could harm a person’s health.

Still, that was supposed to be true only of tombs buried underground — this was aboveground, so there shouldn’t be any toxic gas here.

“Jiu’er?”

“I’m fine, it’s just… the first time I’ve seen such a magnificent ancient structure, it’s stirred something in me.”

Jiu’er rubbed at the corners of her eyes, nearly squeezing out a couple of tears.

She looked up at the sky, forcing herself to calm down.

She couldn’t lose heart, couldn’t give up — if she’d made it here, then surely she could find her way back.

They would meet again someday.

One day, she would see everyone she cared about once more.

“Ninth Master, there are footprints here.” Ji Mingyu was intent on searching for traces left by the archaeological team and hadn’t noticed anything amiss with Jiu’er.

Lu Beicheng’s gaze also withdrew from Zhen Jiu’er, and he lightly wheeled his chair over to Ji Mingyu.

Jiu’er and Qin Fei hurried over as well.

“Let’s go in and take a look.”

This was the gate of Ying’an City — the name “Ying’an” itself had only been recorded by later generations.

But this record didn’t come from official history, only from a scrap of unofficial account.

Ying’an might have been nothing more than a small town beside Bei Mu City, a minor city, even just a small village.

But since these two characters had once appeared in the records, for now this city would be called by the name Ying’an.

As for Bei Mu — Lu Beicheng had only ever heard that name in his dreams.

The four of them, along with A’ke, entered through the city gate.

Everywhere lay ruined, abandoned structures. After a thousand years, the grass and trees had grown so tall they nearly blotted out the sky.

But the outlines of the buildings remained.

“Someone’s walked through here.” Qin Fei was the first to spot the traces.

The marks were, in fact, quite obvious.

Ji Mingyu looked at Lu Beicheng, quite certain this time: “These are from the archaeological team.”

“But the footprints here seem a bit different.” Zhen Jiu’er quickly noticed another set of tracks.

“They came before the archaeological team did.”

Hearing this, Qin Fei looked utterly astonished. “You can tell who came first and who came after, just like that? Jiu’er, you’re practically a miracle worker!”

Jiu’er ignored him, looking instead at Lu Beicheng: “The ones who came in before and after — it isn’t just two groups. There was… a third group as well.”