Bai Shan didn’t sleep well. He seemed to hear noises outside, and his ears caught the familiar thumping sound, which even in his dreams made his heart tighten...

He was in a daze for a moment, and when his mind realized it was the sound of hooves, he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, with a faint firelight casting on the tent. Beside him, Bai Erlang, Yin Huo, and Liu Huan were still sleeping deeply, but Daji and a family guard from the Yin family were gone.

He carefully lifted the quilt and got up. As soon as he stepped out of the tent, he saw a few people standing not far away.

Mr. Zhuang and Manbao were standing wrapped in cloaks. They turned their heads at the sound and smiled in unison, "You’re awake too?"

Manbao’s hair was still down, and she was only wrapped in a cloak, indicating she got up directly like that.

Manbao said, "Why aren’t you wearing more? Be careful not to catch a cold."

Daji went to fetch a cloak for Bai Shan. He walked to stand beside Manbao, looking up at the hillside, and asked, "Has someone arrived?"

Just as he finished speaking, a firelight lit up in the night, and everyone saw a group of more than twenty riders stopping in the distance.

Bai Shan squinted and asked Assistant General Nie, "Are those the only people?"

Assistant General Nie replied, "I’ve sent scouts to investigate. The others may be hiding elsewhere, but not nearby, otherwise, we would have noticed."

There was nothing to conceal around here. The emptiness of the surroundings was both a disadvantage and an advantage.

The disadvantage was that they couldn’t hide well, but so was the other side. It was equally difficult for them to hide if they wanted a surprise attack at night.

Daji came out with a dark cloak for Bai Shan and put it on him. A scout who was sent to communicate with the other side galloped back to report, "My Lord, they said they’re local herders. They’ve come out at night because children are missing from their tribe."

The scout paused and continued, "I’ve explained our identity to them, and they said they wanted to apologize in person for disturbing you and to ask for a bowl of hot water."

Everyone exchanged glances. Manbao said, "Let them come up."

Assistant General Nie nodded to a person and said, "You go inside the tent and watch them. If they wake up and cause trouble, just kill them."

The soldier went to carry out the order, and the scout left to invite the people over.

Manbao fiddled with her somewhat messy hair. Bai Shan glanced at her and offered his hair tie. She casually gathered her hair and tied it up.

After receiving the report from the scout, the group of more than twenty riders galloped straight to the camp. All the guards in the camp were awakened, and even the two travelers peeked outside. But seeing that Zhou Man and the others were in regular clothes, they retracted their heads and continued laying down. Although their eyes were closed, their ears were perked, ready to run if anything were amiss.

The group of riders approached rapidly, and Manbao felt a wave of fierceness wash over them. She smirked; could such an imposing presence really pass for herders?

The three people at the front dismounted while the others stayed on their horses. The three walked forward, their eyes barely sweeping over Zhou Man in the middle before settling on Mr. Zhuang on the side. The leader placed his right hand over his heart, bowed slightly, and said, "My Lord, we disturbed you. Please forgive us."

Mr. Zhuang glanced at Manbao, then smiled and said, "No need to be so polite, young man. However, it’s late at night, and there isn’t any hot water ready. I’ve already ordered someone to boil some."

Mr. Zhuang stepped aside and gestured to a large fire pit not far away, "Traveling afar, it’s rather simple here. The children are all asleep in the tent. If you don’t mind, why not sit here and rest a bit?"

The three smiled and agreed. They turned around and gestured to their men, who dismounted and gathered around the fire pit with them.

Assistant General Nie lowered his eyes, slightly waved his hand at his side, and stopped the soldiers and guards who were ready to surround them.

Manbao and Bai Shan exchanged a glance and followed Mr. Zhuang to the front. When they reached the fire pit, neither of them took the main seat, leaving Mr. Zhuang in the primary position and Manbao in the adjunct seat.

Assistant General Nie sat down behind Zhou Man, inviting the three to sit across from them. The small stools came from the wagon, and there weren’t many to spare, so not many people could sit.

The visitors didn’t mind and just sat cross-legged on the grass, though the three leading figures did sit on the stools.

They discreetly scanned their tents and happened to make eye contact with Bai Erlang, who was awakened and poking his head out to see what was going on.

By then, Bai Erlang hadn’t fully opened his eyes, his face crinkling as he squinted at them, but his mind didn’t register them. He only noticed the bright roaring fire, so he withdrew and said to Liu Huan and Yin Huo, who were sitting up in a daze, "I don’t know who can’t sleep and started a fire. Let’s continue sleeping."

With that, he lay back down, hugged his quilt, closed his eyes, and fell asleep again.

Liu Huan, hearing him, also slid down and pulled the quilt up to his neck.

Yin Huo was about to lie down but then thought something might be off. He tried hard to open his eyes, looked around the tent, and asked, "Where’s Bai Shan?"

The two half-asleep mumbled, "Who knows?"

"Maybe he went to relieve himself. Do you need to go too?"

Yin Huo didn’t feel the need, so he lay down. Then he vaguely heard Mr. Zhuang’s voice, strange, why was Mr. Zhuang up so late?

The thought passed fleetingly, and his breathing soon slowed as he fell asleep...

Bai Erlang withdrew, and their gaze returned, smiling as they asked Mr. Zhuang, "What position does your lordship hold? Where are you heading for your new post?"

Mr. Zhuang replied with a smile, "Unworthy as I am, I am a minor official from the Honglu Temple, currently ordered to go to the Anxi Protectorate."

"Didn’t expect you’re traveling so far. Well, Anxi, is it a good place to settle?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled and nodded, "It’s a good place. We subjects naturally follow His Majesty’s desires. If His Majesty commands, we naturally remain."

Someone next to him couldn’t help but ask, "Second Brother, where is the Anxi Protectorate?"

Second Brother shot them a glance and said nothing.

Mr. Zhuang answered with a smile, "Anxi is in Gaochang, near the Kucha region."

That explanation made them understand, and they couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment; that was far indeed.

The Second Brother wanted to ask more, but Mr. Zhuang, still smiling slowly, asked, "The scouts said you lost some children?"

They nearly forgot the excuse they had used to justify coming. Hearing this, they immediately nodded, putting on a worried expression, "Yes, we don’t know where they went."

Mr. Zhuang asked sternly, "How many children are missing? How old are they? Did they run off by themselves or encounter kidnappers?"

Even knowing it was a lie, Manbao couldn’t help but ask, "Are there really kidnappers on the grassland?"

Mr. Zhuang glanced at her and said, "Why not? Kidnappers can be found anywhere, so you must be cautious and not let yourselves be taken."

After chastising his disciple, he looked at them with concern.

They could only use the rehearsed lines, "The children are all around ten years old, five in total. They went missing while herding. The cattle and sheep are still there, but the kids are gone. The family is worried sick. It’s the first time the tribe has lost so many kids, so we came out searching."