Outside the Changheng Secret Realm passage in Yonghe Town, not all of the Fu Family members responsible for guarding the passage had withdrawn.
Four people were still there.
The night sky was filled with brilliant stars.
The four remaining guards were playing cards in a makeshift tent, with the now-closed passage entrance not far away.
âI wonder what the Young Master is thinking. The passage has been closed for two days, and heâs still making us guard it. Isnât this redundant?â
A guard, holding a hand of unplayable cards, spoke with indignation.
In the past, guards like them, who watched over Mystic Ground passages, could all withdraw as soon as the Mystic Ground closed.
Unlike this year, where the passage had been closed for two days, and they were still left here, exposed to the sun and rain.
Another guard opposite him glanced at him: âDonât you know? The Young Masterâs friend hasnât come out of the Mystic Ground yet. Heâs making us guard here to wait for that Xiao Guniang.â
âHeh heh, the passage is closed, how could she come out? That girl must be dead already!
A snot-nosed kid, trying to explore a Mystic Ground like others? See? She had the life to explore but no life to come out!
Itâs fine if she dies herself, but sheâs inconveniencing us! How unlucky!â
The more the man spoke, the angrier he got, slamming down his cards and saying with extreme impatience, âIâm not playing anymore, Iâm not playing anymore, wasting my time!â
It was unclear if he meant playing cards was a waste of time, or staying there to guard was a waste of time.
âIâm going to take a piss.â
With that, he didnât care what the other three thought, turned and walked to the corner.
He was about to pull down his pants to relieve himself.
He was standing to the left of the Mystic Ground passage.
If it werenât for the Fu Familyâs strict rules, he would have wanted to unleash a hot, steaming stream right at the passage.
Just then, the passage, which had clearly turned into grayish-white stone, showed an energy fluctuation.
The black vortex grew larger and larger.
Then, a slender figure, holding a lamp, walked out of the black vortex.
The guard was dumbfounded.
His hand, clutching his zipper, trembled, and he instinctively yelled, âOh my god!â
Having just emerged from the silent, dark passage, Mingxi was still a bit dizzy.
Hearing a human voice beside her, she turned to look, only to see a man with a pale face under the dim moonlight, as if he had been greatly frightened.
Mingxi blinked, somewhat bewildered.
She quickly surveyed her surroundings, and after realizing she was in the familiar Yonghe Town, she subtly let out a sigh of relief.
It was good that she wasn't taken to a desolate place a thousand miles away.
Judging by the manâs reaction just now, she had thought she appeared in a place she shouldn't have.
âExcuse me, are you Miss Ming, Mingxi?â
The other three also noticed the commotion, but they wouldn't think Mingxi was a ghost.
Mingxi nodded at the three, âItâs me.â
The three were delighted, and one of them quickly said, âThatâs great! Miss Ming, itâs good that youâre back safely. Our Young Master ordered us to wait for you here; heâs still in town and hasnât left.â
Mingxi was a little surprised, and she sighed inwardly: Senior Fu is truly a great person.
âThen please take me to see him.â
âOkay, please come this way.â
The three excitedly escorted Mingxi down the mountain, none of them paying attention to the man who had failed to relieve himself.
At this moment, the great person Fu Yifan was dealing with his motherâs incessant calls.
The main point of his motherâs call was that he must return to the city tomorrow.
â...Fanfan, your Junior is now missing, and no one knows if sheâs dead or alive. Staying in Yonghe Town wonât solve the problem, will it?â
Fu Yifan sighed helplessly: âMom, donât worry, I know what Iâm doing. Iâll be back in Haizhou on Sunday, I promise I wonât delay school.â
He had only taken a week off and couldn't stay here indefinitely.
âYour mother knows that, and she doesnât really want to manage you, but tomorrow is the day your cousin, Sushu, is participating in the Changheng Cup finals. You should at least go cheer him on, shouldnât you?â
Fu Yifan was stunned, almost forgetting that the Changheng Cup semifinals and finals would be held tomorrow.
It was a pity that Junior...
Fu Yifanâs eyes suddenly widened.
His eyes lit up, and he quickly said to his mother on the phone, âMom, I know, Iâll definitely go back to the city tomorrow to watch cousinâs match! Mom, I have something else to do here, Iâll hang up first!â
Then he hung up the phone without waiting for his motherâs reply.
Without even putting away his personal terminal, Fu Yifan walked towards the girl who had just entered, his face full of joy and eagerness.
âMingxi!â
âSenior Fu, thank you for helping me hide my disappearance from my Grandma.â
On the way down the mountain, Mingxi immediately contacted her Grandma to report her safety, only then learning that her Grandma did not know she hadn't returned from the Mystic Ground on time.
Because Fu Yifan had hired a mimetic puppet.
Mimetic puppets could 100% simulate human appearance, almost achieving a level of perfect deception.
The only drawback was that it couldn't speak human language, so Fu Yifan found a professional voice actor with a sound card.
With the mimetic puppet as a living background, and the sound card and his Beast Tamers responsible for the voice-over, they conducted a video call with Mingxiâs Grandma.
This successfully deceived Ruan Qinghe.
Moreover, to be safe, he also contacted Shao Dingding and asked her to help keep an eye on Mingxiâs Grandmaâs situation.
One could only say that Fu Yifan had gone to great lengths.
Fu Yifan scratched his head: âItâs nothing.â
âBy the way, Junior, where have you been these past â NĐŸvĐ”lđght â (Exclusive on NĐŸvĐ”lđght) few days? Did you not enter the Changheng Secret Realm at all?â
Mingxi nodded and briefly recounted her experiences of the past few days.
Fu Yifan listened, dumbfounded.
â...You mean you entered a Mystic Ground with a danger rating of 6 stars or higher? And you encountered King-level or even Emperor-level Transcendent creatures?â
He thought that Mingxi must have had a wondrous encounter on this trip, but he didnât expect it to be so wondrous and so dangerous.
A Mystic Ground with a danger rating of 6 stars or higher was a domain only Beast Tamers of B-rank or above dared to venture into, and Mingxi, at only 14 years old, had already played around in it.
What kind of divine being was this?
Mingxi explained: âTo be precise, I only faced off against King-level Transcendent creatures.â
She had only heard the names of the Ice Soul Lynx's parents from beginning to end.
âThatâs still very dangerous!â
Fu Yifan shuddered just thinking about it; accidentally entering an unfamiliar Mystic Ground and being chased by a King-level Transcendent creature was simply terrifying.
It was truly fortunate that Junior could return completely unharmed.
â...By the way, tomorrow is the Changheng Cup final. Since youâre back, youâll definitely go back to participate, right?â
Mingxi nodded, saying that was a given.
She had originally thought she had missed the finals, but unexpectedly, she was lucky enough to just make it.
Although the Time Realm now offered a storage function, it would naturally be better if she could obtain a space button, which would also make it easier for her to conceal things.
âThen you should go rest now. We can talk about anything else tomorrow.
Iâve already told the maid to prepare the guest room.
You get a good nightâs rest tonight, and weâll head back to Han Ning City together tomorrow morning.â
They were both still young, so there werenât too many taboos.
The laws of this world were still very sound.
Fu Yifan actually wanted to know more about that Mystic Ground. From Mingxiâs words, it was very likely an undiscovered Mystic Ground.
But seeing her slightly weary expression, and considering she still had a competition tomorrow, he thoughtfully didnât press further.
Mingxi indeed needed rest.
She had just been drenched in rain not long ago. Although she wore a constant-temperature suit underneath, it couldn't prevent dampness, so she needed to take a hot bath as soon as possible.
Moreover, it was almost nine oâclock.
So, without being polite to Fu Yifan, she thanked him and followed the maid to the guest room.