The stone door of the inner mausoleum had finally been opened.

But this inner mausoleum was much larger than anyone had imagined—far larger.

Most importantly, the paths inside the inner mausoleum were tangled and complex, with countless hidden chambers. One moment of carelessness and you could end up lost anywhere.

“Master Nine!” Seeing Yan Qiu wheel Lu Beicheng in, Qin Fei hurried over to greet him.

Everyone turned toward the sound and greeted Lu Beicheng one by one.

Zhen Jiu’er also stood among the crowd. Looking at Lu Beicheng now, she felt an inexplicable sense of unreality, as if worlds apart.

Thinking back on everything from last night…

She gave her head a small shake, brushing away thoughts she shouldn’t be having, her hand instinctively moving to her wrist.

The Tongxin Key was still there.

She wanted to go over and ask Lu Beicheng whether he was the one who had put it on her, and where he had gotten it in the first place.

But with so many people around, there was no chance to say any of it.

She could only suppress the urge and wait until they were alone again.

Lu Beicheng, for his part, gave her only a brief, indifferent glance, the same way he looked at everyone else—his gaze didn’t linger.

Zhen Jiu’er felt an indescribable tangle of emotions but could only push all her words down for now.

Once the stone door of the inner mausoleum opened, a vast hall stretched out before them.

“Master Nine, the air in here isn’t great, but the toxin levels aren’t high enough to seriously harm anyone.”

Most likely, after they’d opened a ventilation shaft in the mausoleum yesterday and let the air start circulating, even the air inside the inner mausoleum had begun to flow.

Even the stone door wasn’t sealed—the area around it had long since corroded away.

As long as wind passed through, the air inside would stir and circulate; it wasn’t difficult at all.

Lu Beicheng nodded and said, “As for the layout of this inner mausoleum, I’ll have to trouble the professor to study it.”

Ji Mingyu quickly added, “The signal tower picked up some response today, so the excavation team should arrive soon. Professor, if there are areas you’re not confident about excavating, you can wait until the larger team arrives to discuss it.”

“Understood. I won’t act recklessly in places that shouldn’t be excavated.”

Professor Xiao was in an excellent mood, because today, the first person Master Nine had spoken to upon entering was him.

Xiao Chengyuan hadn’t been acknowledged at all!

Xiao Chengyuan felt a flicker of resentment in his heart, but he could hardly vent his temper at Master Nine.

He could only endure it.

At the same time, he looked for more chances to make himself stand out in front of Master Nine.

“Master Nine, I’ll help the professor study the terrain.”

After greeting Lu Beicheng, Xiao Chengyuan led He Muling off through one of the side passages.

There was airflow in the passage, meaning the air inside had already fully circulated.

But the terrain was so complicated that it was still unclear which chamber held the North Emperor’s tomb.

“Master Nine, I’ll go look too!” This was Qin Fei’s first time inside an ancient imperial mausoleum, and his excitement was unmistakable.

After Lu Beicheng gave a nod, Qin Fei happily started toward another passage.

But on second thought, he stopped and turned back to look at Zhen Jiu’er, who stood rooted in place, seemingly lost in some daze of her own thoughts.

Qin Fei waved her over. “Jiu’er, let’s go together.”

“Okay.” Jiu’er had been wanting to hurry and find Mu Mu’s grave all along—she was afraid that… that his remains might be disrespected by all these unrelated strangers.

She knew that the bones of an ancient emperor who had slept for nearly a thousand years would surely be taken out and put on display for the world to gawk at.

How could she bear that?

If it came down to it, she would rather send “him” away herself.