With Jiu’er’s abilities, as long as nothing went wrong, no matter how far she wandered, there was no way she couldn’t find her way back.

Still — Ninth Master being missing… something about this felt strangely off.

Zhen Jiu’er stepped out of the tent and saw, from a distance, Yan Qiu and Qin Fei heading off in two different directions.

Ji Mingyu was nearby, apparently giving A’Ke some instructions.

Jiu’er hurried over. “Did you tell them to come back before sunrise, whether or not they find him?”

There was no way to communicate out here — if someone really wandered too far, they might genuinely fail to make it back.

Ji Mingyu suddenly seemed to remember something and rushed off, shouting, “Yan Qiu, Qin Fei, before sunrise—!”

“Ninth Master’s back!” Qin Fei’s voice rang out even louder than his.

Hearing this, Yan Qiu, who had nearly walked off into the distance, hurried back at once.

Jiu’er and Ji Mingyu also rushed over quickly to meet him.

Ninth Master returned in his wheelchair, nothing at all seeming wrong with him — in fact, he looked quite at ease, his breathing calm and unhurried.

“Ninth Master, did you… go out to enjoy the scenery nearby?” Qin Fei scratched his head, too embarrassed to mention how anxiously everyone had been searching for him.

Who would dare complain, after all?

Ji Mingyu and Jiu’er arrived as well.

Everyone else was a little out of breath, while Lu Beicheng, by contrast, remained perfectly composed.

It was as if he were the only one who hadn’t taken any of this seriously at all.

“Yan Qiu?” He finally noticed there was one more person in the group.

Yan Qiu quickly explained, “Tonight I was tracking tomb raiders and ran into this Miss Zhen at an abandoned manor. I followed her back here.”

An abandoned manor?

Lu Beicheng’s gaze settled on Jiu’er.

Jiu’er didn’t want to lie, but she knew no one would believe the truth.

Who would ever believe that, not so long ago, she had actually lived in that very manor?

People would only think she was mentally unwell.

So she made up a casual excuse instead: “I just wanted to take a walk and look around. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going, and I happened to run into Yan Qiu there.”

“You two know each other?”

“I saw his photo on Qin Fei’s phone.”

Ji Mingyu glanced at them and quickly said, “Ninth Master, why don’t we go into the tent first and talk it through slowly?”

With tomb raiders involved, things were clearly getting more complicated.

Jiu’er had mentioned before that several groups had arrived here ahead of them.

One group was the archaeological team. Another was the tomb raiders.

And the last group?

No one knew.

Inside the tent, A’Ke was brewing tea.

The aroma of tea filled the air.

Yan Qiu hadn’t had tea this good in a long while; after a small sip, he couldn’t help but sigh, “With A’Ke around, it’s like they brought the whole household along.”

A’Ke’s screen displayed a smug, satisfied smile.

Once the tea was ready, he poured Jiu’er a cup of hot milk. “Drinking warm milk before bed helps you sleep better.”

Yan Qiu looked a bit surprised. “A’Ke seems especially good to Miss Zhen.”

Far from denying it, A’Ke openly admitted it: “Any girl Ninth Master likes, A’Ke likes too. Likes a lot.”

Everyone fell into a stunned silence.

A girl Ninth Master liked?

A’Ke really wasn’t afraid to say anything!

“Are you trying to be a woman again?” Qin Fei whispered as a warning.

A’Ke quickly shut his mouth and went back to pouring tea for everyone.

There was a brief moment of awkwardness, though Lu Beicheng, from start to finish, kept his face utterly expressionless.

“What’s this about tomb raiders?” he asked.

Yan Qiu answered quickly, “Earlier we discovered the Tomb of the Northern Emperor. Around it, I found signs of tomb raiders.”