Seeing this situation, the proud Professor Zhou was also at a loss. He originally thought about quietly investigating on his own before telling his young apprentice, hoping to make some discoveries. But looking at the situation now, it seemed that without Huo Sining, nothing could be accomplished.

This left Professor Zhou feeling quite frustrated, glaring at the concrete buildings in exasperation, and finally, he could only hang his head in defeat as he made his way to the hotel where Huo Sining was staying.

Huo Sining was very surprised by Zhou Shitao’s sudden visit.

Because ever since she faxed her article over, Zhou Shitao hadn’t given her any feedback. Huo Sining thought there was something wrong with her article that raised her master’s suspicions, so she didn’t dare to ask rashly.

After all, the paper was something she hastily put together in order to lure her master and the Cultural Relics Bureau to Fucheng. It was done so quickly that she hadn’t had time to check it thoroughly, so flaws and loopholes were unavoidable. Huo Sining was already waiting for her master to call and inquire about the specifics, perhaps even scold her harshly.

Yet, after waiting a whole night, she didn’t receive a call from her master. Unexpectedly, the next afternoon, she saw him at her hotel.

"Master, why are you here?"

Huo Sining was surprised but also very pleased. Judging by her master’s outfit, complete with a backpack and Luoyang Shovel, he was very likely there because of the Han Princess Tomb she mentioned in her article.

However, that question seemed to touch a nerve for Zhou Shitao. Remembering how he tried to show off to his apprentice but ended up fruitless, Zhou Shitao was filled with embarrassment and frustration. He couldn’t help but snort coldly at his young apprentice and then squeezed past Huo Sining to enter the hotel.

Huo Sining was immediately puzzled and subconsciously looked over to her senior brother, asking softly, "Senior Brother Ji, what’s up with Master?"

Ji Kun, of course, knew the reason behind their master’s behavior. It was likely just a facade to hide his inner discomfort.

However, Ji Kun didn’t dare speak the truth to his junior sister in front of their master, so he could only rub his nose and awkwardly smile at Huo Sining, vaguely saying:

"Junior Sister, you know how Master is. Women have a few days every month, and as for our Master, he basically has those days every month too. Just think of it as Uncle Flow, alright?"

Huo Sining immediately burst into laughter. Over there, Zhou Shitao, who had already entered the hotel lobby, kept his ears open for any sounds from their direction. Hearing his apprentice gossiping about him, his face turned red with anger, and he shouted:

"Ji Kun, what nonsense are you spouting? Do you believe I won’t kick you out of the sect if I get unhappy?"

Zhou Shitao, both angry and ashamed, couldn’t help but turn around and glare fiercely at Ji Kun.

Huo Sining and Ji Kun were both familiar with Zhou Shitao’s temperament. Being scolded like this didn’t make them afraid; instead, they found it rather amusing. Especially Ji Kun, who raised his eyebrows and turned to Huo Sining, saying:

"See? Didn’t I say Uncle Flow was visiting Master? Look at how moody he is. Isn’t it just like you women during those days?"

If someone else had said this, Huo Sining probably would’ve slapped them, but since it was from her senior brother and the object of the jest was their master, she was happy to watch the fun.

Looking at Zhou Shitao, hopping mad over there, and then at the composed Ji Kun, Huo Sining couldn’t help but find it funny. How come she hadn’t noticed before that these two were so amusing?

The more Huo Sining looked, the funnier it seemed, and she couldn’t help but grin broadly.

But as they say, "too much happiness can lead to sadness." Just as Huo Sining’s smile grew brighter, a person walked into the hotel lobby, saw Huo Sining, and immediately rushed over like seeing a savior.

The person rushing over was none other than Yue Shuwen.

Upon seeing Yue Shuwen, Huo Sining’s expression froze, realizing something was wrong. She involuntarily twitched the corner of her eye and signaled to Yue Shuwen with her eyes.

However, Yue Shuwen was in too much of a panic to notice Huo Sining’s expression. In a few strides, she rushed over and dumped the kid she was holding into Huo Sining’s arms and started complaining:

"Ningning, your daughter is just too hard to handle. Look, I took her out for less than half an hour, and she peed all over me! I got laughed at a lot, but she’s just laughing like nothing happened! Oh, I can’t take it. I need to go change into clean clothes. Your daughter is now your responsibility. I’m done!"

With that, Yue Shuwen didn’t even notice the familiar faces beside Huo Sining, running straight to the hotel elevator, sniffing her arm and clothes hem while running as if smelling the baby’s urine, grimacing with distaste.

Huo Sining was so mad she could grind her teeth, yet there was nothing she could do about Yue Shuwen.

Turning around, she indeed saw her master and senior brother, who had been bickering moments before, now looking at her and the child in her arms with wide-eyed disbelief.

Zhou Shitao pointed at the kid and then at Huo Sining, his mouth gaping open, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

Beside him, Ji Kun was equally shocked, sharing a similar expression of astonishment.

Huo Sining wanted to explain, but the kid in her arms always seemed to mess things up at crucial moments. Without waiting for her to speak, the kid hugged her neck, adorably nuzzling her neck with drool and shamelessly giggling, calling out to her, "Mama, Mama."

Seeing this scene, even Zhou Shitao, who had weathered many storms, was taken aback.

Especially after Zhou Shitao took a closer look at the little girl in Huo Sining’s arms, he made a startling discovery. This little one bore a striking resemblance to Huo Sining; upon closer inspection, they were about seventy to eighty percent similar! More astonishing, she had a red birthmark on her neck just like Huo Sining, identical in shape.

Such obvious hereditary traits, if not biological, would be truly strange!

Immediately, Zhou Shitao was both angry and furious, already convinced that the little child was indeed born to Huo Sining!

To calculate further, this child seemed about one year old. If calculating backward, Huo Sining would have been an exchange student in Dongyang at that time!