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Ai Xiang jumped in alarm at the person’s words.

The villagers immediately helped the unconscious man onto a bed where Ai Xiang disinfected his wounds and stitched them up.

After taking care of everything, he then looked toward the small path not far from the entrance of the village.

Yun Xiao still hadn’t returned, and worry began to build in his heart.

"Jing Haoran, Che Junqing, let’s go check on Yun Xiao!" Ai Xiang ran to the rest area and called the two of them.

At that time, Jing Haoran and Che Junqing were unaware of the situation.

"What happened?"

Ai Xiang immediately explained, "A villager said she encountered wolves. Yun Xiao saved the villager but has yet to return. I’m afraid something has happened to her. Let’s all go look for her."

"A few wolves shouldn’t be a problem for Yun Xiao, right!" Jing Haoran said calmly and then leered, "Ai Xiang, aren’t you getting a little too worked up?"

"Yeah! Our Special Forces can handle a pack of wolves on our own, let alone just a few. Although Yun Xiao does not speak, her abilities are undeniably strong." After a year of special forces training, everyone had come to understand each other well.

Thus, at that point, Jing Haoran and Che Junqing were not worried about Yun Xiao at all.

After hearing their words, Ai Xiang pondered for a moment. They were right.

However, since Yun Xiao had been gone for so long, he was still a bit anxious.

As for the inexplicable worry in his heart, even he couldn’t figure out why he felt this way.

Ai Xiang forced himself to go back and check on the injured once more, then sat down under the big banyan tree at the head of the village, waiting continuously.

It seemed that he wouldn’t be able to rest easy until she returned.

At the same time, he hoped that she was simply delayed by something and that was why she hadn’t come back.

"Doctor Ai Xiang!" Just then, from not too far behind him, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen hurried over with a bowl of tea.

Standing before him with her cheeks flushing red, especially when she smiled shyly, she looked very pure and beautiful.

"What is it?" Ai Xiang replied absently.

"Thank you for saving my dad. I don’t have anything to thank you with, so this bowl of water is just a small token of my gratitude," the girl said, lowering her head. It was as if, were Ai Xiang to ask again, she would dig a hole in the ground to hide away from embarrassment.

Ai Xiang took the bowl of tea, drank it in one gulp, and returned the bowl to her.

He glanced at the small path in the distance and ultimately decided to go look for Yun Xiao.

No matter what, it was dangerous for a girl to be outside and not return in the dead of night.

Moreover, after the earthquake, traps were everywhere on this stretch of land.

Seeing Ai Xiang walking out of the village, the girl quickly called out, "Don’t go! There are many wolves in our area, especially at night. They move in packs..."

In packs? How many could there be!

Without a second thought, Ai Xiang was so frightened that he immediately ran towards the deep forest.

The girl, seeing that he would not listen to advice, could only stand there anxiously.

In fact, when she said ’in packs,’ she meant as in a large number of wolves—not as terrifying as Ai Xiang imagined. But for these villagers, a pack of wolves was already a daunting quantity.

Ai Xiang followed the small path, and soon, he saw fresh blood on the ground.

After that, he followed the trail of blood all the way into the depths of the forest.

Where he found even more bloodstains.

Along this path, there hadn’t been a single wolf carcass in sight.

Could it be that Yun Xiao had met with an accident?

Thinking this, Ai Xiang became even more anxious.

He kept looking around and calling out Yun Xiao’s name as he went.

Soon, he heard the howling of a wolf pack in the mountains and woods.

Without thinking, he pushed through the underbrush and burst into the forest, shouting into the distance, "Yun Xiao..."

Yun Xiao sat on a tree branch the whole time, not having made her decision despite the passage of time.

The wolf pack beneath the tree bared their sharp claws and howled crazily.

Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name.

Listening carefully once more, it was Ai Xiang’s voice.

For no apparent reason, she grew nervous, and her dark eyes showed a hint of panic.

At the same time, she saw several wolves leaving the tree she was on, heading towards the source of the noise.

"What to do? What to do?" Yun Xiao gripped the tree trunk in a panic, worried.

What if these wolves hurt Ai Xiang?

He was scheduled to undergo surgery at a nearby hospital the next day.

Soon, of the twenty or so wolves that had been surrounding the tree, twenty had already left.

Seeing this, Yun Xiao almost without thinking, leaped down from the tree.

She immediately engaged in battle with the few wolves in front of her.

Now that there were fewer wolves, she handled them with ease, quickly knocking out several.

Afterwards, she ran quickly in the direction the wolf pack had left.

It wasn’t long before she saw Ai Xiang surrounded by twenty wolves.

"Why did you come?" Yun Xiao stood in the distance, anxiously watching Ai Xiang across from him.

Even as he was surrounded by the wolf pack, there was not a trace of panic in his expression.

Seeing Yun Xiao unharmed, Ai Xiang immediately felt somewhat relieved and said to her, "Stay back. I’ll handle these beasts."

But Yun Xiao quickly stopped her, "No! Their ancestors once cared for me, and even though they want to hurt me, I don’t want to harm them."

Ai Xiang raised an eyebrow, "Then what do you mean?"

Yun Xiao quickly released Ice Vines, freezing the wolves’ feet so they couldn’t move for five seconds.

She dashed forward, grabbed Ai Xiang’s hand, and started running back.

Behind them, the enraged wolf pack began to howl helplessly, unable to move.

Yun Xiao grabbed Ai Xiang’s hand and ran back to the village entrance in one go.

They stood under the banyan tree at the village entrance.

Both took a deep breath and looked at each other.

It was only for a moment that Yun Xiao realized she was still holding Ai Xiang’s hand tightly.

Startled, she quickly let go, saying in alarm, "Sorry, I was just too tense, I..."

She was afraid he would misunderstand!

Ai Xiang, however, shook his head, "It’s fine, I’m just glad to see you’re safe."

For some reason, he only felt at ease when he saw she was safe.

Yun Xiao’s heart pounded like a drum as she blushed, then waved goodbye to him.

Especially since she could still feel the burning warmth of his body temperature in the palm of her hand. Her heartbeat lost its rhythm!

*

Quan Shaoqing, accompanied by Zhang Zhi, returned to the tomb, but this time, the journey back was not so smooth. They misjudged several turns and ultimately found themselves trapped in a chamber where six palace maids were interred.

"The chamber we’re in now is different," Quan Shaoqing said gravely, looking at the six coffins on the floor. Normally, there would be a passage right in front of them. But this time, not only was there no passage in front, but there was also no passage on the sides.

Zhang Zhi looked around and finally his gaze settled on the six coffins.

"What’s different?" Zhang Zhi asked Quan Shaoqing.

Quan Shaoqing closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Based on his previous experiences in the tomb,

on the surface, those pathways seemed chaotic, but if one analyzed them carefully, connecting these chaotic lines, they resembled a net.

To be precise, a net that covered half of a huge chamber.

"Initially, there was a passageway leaving this wall. Then when it wasn’t this wall anymore, it became that wall.

.. Later, I discovered that as long as the chamber had one end larger than the other, the door was on the side of the smaller end.

But now, the entire chamber is a perfectly square burial chamber.

Moreover, there’s no space in the walls; I have checked these four walls, and there is no way through," Quan Shaoqing explained.

Zhang Zhi looked around again, then walked over to a coffin.

He pushed the lid open with his hand and peered inside, then turned to Quan Shaoqing with a knowing look, "If I’m not mistaken, the entrance is beneath this coffin."

"Why do you think so?" Quan Shaoqing was puzzled, seeing that each coffin had a palace maid lying as a burial accompaniment.

"Superior officer, please look!" Zhang Zhi had found a button beside the coffin. With Quan Shaoqing watching,

he pressed it.

Quan Shaoqing heard a clicking sound,

and the coffin popped up.

The stone platform rose, revealing a pitch-black cavity beneath it.

Though only as wide as the coffin, the space was large enough for Quan Shaoqing and his companions to pass through.

Quan Shaoqing didn’t think twice, grabbed Zhang Zhi by the shoulder, and jumped down.

They descended rapidly, and gradually, a glimmer of light appeared.

Then, the two plummeted down, landing in a dazzlingly bright space.

It was where Quan Shaoqing and Gu Xiaoxi had parted ways; the golden palace was right beneath their feet.

Quan Shaoqing quickly descended with Zhang Zhi to the ground.

Zhang Zhi, seeing the magnificent palace walls around him, was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t even move.

Quan Shaoqing furrowed his brows, finally understanding the design of this tomb chamber.

Centred around the palace, passages were constructed from all directions, and surrounding the corridors were chambers where palace maids were buried.

This design not only prevented tomb raiders from penetrating deeper but also stopped people from going back out once they came in, its complexity unsurpassed in the world.

"The design of this Underground Palace is truly spectacular! I’ve never seen such a magical place. Every treasure here is priceless!" Zhang Zhi exclaimed incoherently. For a man who loved wealth, antiques, and adventure, this had ignited his desire for conquest.