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Secret Realm passage in Yonghe Town, not all of the Fu Family members responsible for guarding the passage had withdrawn.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.

“I wonder what the Young Master is thinking. The passage has been closed for two days, and he’s still making us guard it. Isn’t this redundant?”

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: “Don’t you know? The Young Master’s friend hasn’t come out of the Mystic Ground yet. He’s making us guard here to wait for that Xiao Guniang.”

“Heh 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!

It’s fine if she dies herself, but she’s inconveniencing us! How unlucky!”

The more the man spoke, the angrier he got, slamming down his cards and saying with extreme impatience, “I’m not playing anymore, I’m not playing anymore, wasting my time!”

It was unclear if he meant playing cards was a waste of time, or staying there to guard was a waste of time.

“I’m going to take a piss.”

With that, he didn’t 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 weren’t for the Fu Family’s 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, “Oh my god!”

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 man’s reaction just now, she had thought she appeared in a place she shouldn't have.

“Excuse me, are you Miss Ming, Mingxi?”

The other three also noticed the commotion, but they wouldn't think Mingxi was a ghost.

Mingxi nodded at the three, “It’s me.”

The three were delighted, and one of them quickly said, “That’s great! Miss Ming, it’s good that you’re back safely. Our Young Master ordered us to wait for you here; he’s still in town and hasn’t left.”

Mingxi was a little surprised, and she sighed inwardly: Senior Fu is truly a great person.

“Then please take me to see him.”

“Okay, please come this way.”

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 mother’s incessant calls.

The main point of his mother’s call was that he must return to the city tomorrow.

“...Fanfan, your Junior is now missing, and no one knows if she’s dead or alive. Staying in Yonghe Town won’t solve the problem, will it?”

Fu Yifan sighed helplessly: “Mom, don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I’ll be back in Haizhou on Sunday, I promise I won’t delay school.”

He had only taken a week off and couldn't stay here indefinitely.

“Your mother knows that, and she doesn’t 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, shouldn’t you?”

Fu Yifan was stunned, almost forgetting that the Changheng Cup semifinals and finals would be held tomorrow.

It was a pity that Junior...

Fu Yifan’s eyes suddenly widened.

His eyes lit up, and he quickly said to his mother on the phone, “Mom, I know, I’ll definitely go back to the city tomorrow to watch cousin’s match! Mom, I have something else to do here, I’ll hang up first!”

Then he hung up the phone without waiting for his mother’s 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.

“Mingxi!”

“Senior Fu, thank you for helping me hide my disappearance from my Grandma.”

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 Mingxi’s Grandma.

This successfully deceived Ruan Qinghe.

Moreover, to be safe, he also contacted Shao Dingding and asked her to help keep an eye on Mingxi’s Grandma’s situation.

One could only say that Fu Yifan had gone to great lengths.

Fu Yifan scratched his head: “It’s nothing.”

“By the way, Junior, where have you been these past ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) few days? Did you not enter the Changheng Secret Realm at all?”

Mingxi nodded and briefly recounted her experiences of the past few days.

Fu Yifan listened, dumbfounded.

“...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?”

He thought that Mingxi must have had a wondrous encounter on this trip, but he didn’t 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: “To be precise, I only faced off against King-level Transcendent creatures.”

She had only heard the names of the Ice Soul Lynx's parents from beginning to end.

“That’s still very dangerous!”

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.

“...By the way, tomorrow is the Changheng Cup final. Since you’re back, you’ll definitely go back to participate, right?”

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.

“Then you should go rest now. We can talk about anything else tomorrow.

I’ve already told the maid to prepare the guest room.

You get a good night’s rest tonight, and we’ll head back to Han Ning City together tomorrow morning.”

They were both still young, so there weren’t too many taboos.

The laws of this world were still very sound.

Fu Yifan actually wanted to know more about that Mystic Ground. From Mingxi’s 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 didn’t 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 o’clock.

So, without being polite to Fu Yifan, she thanked him and followed the maid to the guest room.