Prince Nolan and Empress Serena bickered and joked along the way, living carefree and at ease. But Rory (Little Dumpling), Tyler Cui, Max Zhai, Zed Bloom, Leo Si, Evan Yu, Shane Wang, Miles Lan, and their group weren’t so lucky…
Even with the map and survival tips Serena gave them, they were still just half-grown kids. When danger struck, they couldn't handle it as easily as Serena and Nolan, especially since three of them didn’t even know martial arts.
Even with the Eighteen Riders—Prince Nolan and Empress Serena’s elite guards—leading the way, Rory and the others still ran into plenty of trouble. Luckily, though there were lots of close calls, everyone made it out alive. But…
“Is there really nothing to eat here?” Evan Yu was about to cry.
Water was manageable—they could always catch some rain whenever it fell. But food?
They couldn’t just eat dirt, could they?
One of the Eighteen Riders shook his head. “We haven’t found anything edible here.” It was nothing but corpses—were they supposed to feed the ghosts?
“What did Prince Nolan and Empress Serena eat when they were here?” Max Zhai asked weakly, his hunger sapping all his strength.
Teenage boys could eat their parents out of house and home. At their age, they could devour mountains—going hungry for two days, or even just missing one meal, was torture.
“I’m going to die,” Leo Si groaned, collapsing on the ground and refusing to get up.
Those two were still doing alright. But Miles Lan, Shane Wang, Tyler Cui, and the rest didn’t even have the strength to speak.
Hungry—just unbearably hungry. If this kept up, they really would end up eating dirt.
“Just hold on a little longer, young masters. Young Master Zed Bloom has already gone to look for food—he should be back soon.” The Eighteen Riders were hungry too. Five days ago, they’d started rationing their own food to save some for the kids.
For the past three days, they hadn’t eaten anything at all. But being trained soldiers, they handled it much better than the kids.
“Back then, when Prince Nolan and Empress Serena were here, didn’t they stay for a whole month? How did their food last?” Rory wondered too. The rations he’d brought were already stretched to the limit—any longer and they wouldn’t even make it inside.
Uh…
The Eighteen Riders exchanged glances and, in perfect sync, bowed their heads in silence.
That question was honestly impossible to answer.
Last time they’d come to the imperial mausoleum, they hadn’t starved—all thanks to Empress Serena. They hadn’t even needed to bring food. But could there possibly be another person in the world like her?
No way!
So all they could do was wait—wait for Qu Zhe to find food, or wait for someone to come rescue them.
“Wooo…” The Snow Wolf pressed its front paw onto Little Dumpling’s hand and, with a pained expression, exposed its own thigh—so hungry it was offering itself as food.
It was so noble!
But Little Dumpling wasn’t moved at all. “Silly Snow Wolf, you’re overthinking it. You’re my partner—how could I ever eat my own partner? You really don’t know me at all.”
Little Dumpling gave the Snow Wolf a pat on the head. Normally, the Snow Wolf would’ve yelped and acted pitiful, but now…
The Snow Wolf just felt sad—Little Dumpling’s slap didn’t hurt at all, barely had any strength left in it.
“Awoo…” The Snow Wolf snuggled into Little Dumpling’s arms, nuzzling him with concern: I’m willing, you know.
“Alright, alright, don’t be so gloomy.” Little Dumpling managed a weak smile. “Trust Brother Qu—he’ll definitely bring food.”
Little Dumpling said this mostly for the Snow Wolf, but even more for Zhai Xiaoming and the others—to keep their hope alive.
Miles Lan was the most inconspicuous among them. After all his hard work putting on some weight, it looked like he was about to lose it all again…
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” Cui Xiaoting and Wang Xiaosheng said weakly.
Fu Xiaolin didn’t say anything either, his eyes darting around—clearly not the type to just accept his fate.
In fact, none of them were the type to give up. Little Dumpling was already thinking through backup plans. No matter what, they couldn’t just starve to death here…
If his parents found out he’d survived all the mausoleum’s traps, only to starve to death, that would be the ultimate embarrassment.
Ninth Uncle Nolan and Serena Feng kept a close eye on Little Dumpling’s progress. As soon as he entered the mausoleum, all news stopped. At first, Serena wasn’t worried, but now, after two months, even she couldn’t help but get anxious.
“The rations Little Dumpling brought are already gone. If they don’t come out soon, they’ll starve to death in there.” Serena was worried—her dreams of the grasslands would have to wait.
“If there’s still no word in two days, I’ll send the Black Riders in to rescue them.” Ninth Uncle didn’t say much, but he was constantly thinking about Little Dumpling.
It wasn’t just because he had only one son and one daughter—even if he had a dozen kids, he couldn’t just stand by and watch something happen to them.
“With the Black Riders on it, I’m relieved,” Serena sighed.
No matter how smart or grown-up Little Dumpling was, Serena still saw him as her child. As a mother, she could never truly relax—especially since he was still so young.
"Little Dumpling and the others will be alright." Ninth Uncle held Serena close, gently rubbing her shoulder, his gaze fixed ahead…
In fact, ten days ago, Ninth Uncle had already sent word to the Black Riders, ordering them to charge into the mausoleum and search for Little Dumpling—even if it meant destroying the place.
Ten days had passed, and there was still no news from the Black Riders. Ninth Uncle felt both relieved and anxious.
No news was good news, at least for now.
But for now, he couldn’t let Serena know about any of this—he didn’t want her to worry more than she already was.
To distract Serena, Ninth Uncle casually brought up Xiling Tianyu and Cui Wanjun.
“Tianyu wrote to say he’s heading to Beiling to try his luck finding some wild ginseng. Is there anything you want him to bring back?”
Once Serena was sure Ninth Uncle would send help for Little Dumpling, she let go of her worries. When he mentioned Xiling Tianyu, she asked with concern, “Does Tianyu really need ginseng?”
“It’s different when you find it yourself.” In other words, people get bored and do reckless things.
Wild ginseng is wild ginseng—as long as it works, who cares who finds it? Only Tianyu has the time for this sort of thing.
"He’s probably just dodging Jun," Serena said. She didn’t believe Xiling Tianyu would really trek out to the snowy mountains just for wild ginseng.
"No escaping her." Cui Wanjun’s persistence was even stronger than expected—she was sticking to Tianyu like glue now.
Serena shook her head. “They’re a real pair of troublemakers.” They must have been enemies in a past life, which is why they’re always at each other’s throats now.
“But since Tianyu’s heading to Beiling, have him keep an eye out for news about Sihang. Feng Li Youge said that after Sihang went into the mountains, there’s been no word—like he vanished. I’m really worried something happened.”
Since Tianyu had so much free time, she might as well give him something to do—otherwise, next time he’d probably run off to the South Sea looking for pearls.
"With Ling Mo around, Sihang will be fine." If something really happened, they’d hear about it: "Let Tianyu look for him in Beiling—maybe he just got lost in the snow."
Beiling was chosen by the ancestors of the Feng Li clan as a place to retreat from the world. That place was sure to be full of unknown opportunities and dangers…