A sharp pain darted straight to the top of her head, the burning sensation jolting Zhu Yu into sudden awareness. Accompanied by a salty metallic taste spreading in her throat, she abruptly opened her eyes, finding herself lying on barren land, surrounded by bushes.

She struggled to sit up, glanced around, finding it just dawned, the air carried a slight chill.

Luckily, it hadn’t rained before this, so the grass was relatively dry; besides being somewhat damp, there was no other issue with her.

She climbed up from the ground, brushed off the dirt and leaves sticking to her, and quickly checked herself. She was entirely intact, with no injuries or problems, and her clothes remained unscathed.

After confirming these, Zhu Yu breathed a complete sigh of relief.

In a nightmare, being able to recognize that everything is just a dream and not real is certainly good, but most importantly, it is to struggle free from the nightmare.

Now she had finally done it.

Despite the cold, the slight blush in the sky, the moist smell of earth and leaves, the unmistakable sense of reality brought her inexplicable comfort.

Having somewhat confirmed the direction, she began to search around for traces of others.

Soon, she saw a rune not too far down the slope.

The rune was still unconscious, sprawled on the ground; were it not for the steady rhythm of his back rising and falling, Zhu Yu would have been unable to help but grow anxious again.

Zhu Yu approached, initially intending to rouse him by touch, but then reconsidered and stopped.

She had just emerged from the influence of the sedative, and was well aware that right now the rune’s mind was, under its effect, engaging all memories to deceive its own master; he might not even realize he was trapped, unaware of the "scenario" he was in.

Going over recklessly and pushing him might result in him mistaking her for some menacing figure from the illusion and accidentally choking her to death, which wouldn’t be worth it.

So she opted to find a long stick nearby and, keeping a distance, poked the rune with it.

The first few pokes elicited no reaction; Zhu Yu increased the force slightly and poked a few more times, causing some minor convulsions and twitches in the rune’s body.

Suddenly, he seemed to snap awake, flipping up so quickly he startled Zhu Yu despite her mental preparation.

With a nimble movement, the rune flipped away far, his actions seeming instinctual, indicating his mind hadn’t fully awakened yet.

After a while, his gaze gradually focused, and he could see the figure crouching nearby was his own mistress Zhu Yu.

The rune paused, hurriedly scanned his surroundings, his expression shifting to bewildered and slightly grim, "Second, Second Master... are we... have we been tricked again?!"

Zhu Yu nodded, "I was the first to wake, then began searching for you all, you were first found.

Let’s not talk about anything else first, let’s find the other two as well."

"Should we split up or...?"

"No, search together." Zhu Yu shook her head before the rune could finish, "I want to see where all of us have been thrown."

Though somewhat baffled by Zhu Yu’s thoughts, years of obedience to Lu Qing meant he equally chose to follow this intelligent lady’s arrangement without reservation.

So the two continued down the slope to search, discovering they had been thrown in a completely different direction this time, seemingly beyond the small lodge around the small mountain slope.

That means they were thrown a bit farther than last time.

As they searched further down the slope, they found Lu Qing, who had just awoken.

Lu Qing was now awake, cautiously checking himself and verifying his surroundings. Upon hearing sounds, he looked up and saw it was the rune and Zhu Yu, finally relieved.

"How are you? Any injuries?" Lu Qing greeted her with a few steps, asking without waiting for Zhu Yu to answer, pulling her in front to spin her around.

"I’m fine, and you’re definitely fine too." After inquiring about the rune’s situation, Zhu Yu appeared much calmer now.

Lu Qing nodded, asked the rune, "What about Fu Lu?"

"Haven’t found him yet." The rune shook his head, "To my shame, the Second Master woke first and then woke me; we came searching, just found you, yet haven’t located Fu Lu."

Zhu Yu contemplated briefly, gesturing down the slope, "Let’s search further down; perhaps we’ll find him."

Lu Qing glanced at her, nodded, signaling the rune to proceed ahead while he quietly followed behind Zhu Yu, both walking downward and watching the surroundings.

The three of them walked quite a distance, finally spotting through the trees a familiar fabric patch, the clothes Fu Lu wore.

Without needing Lu Qing’s instruction, the rune promptly moved forward, seeing Fu Lu in serene slumber within the bushes, fully relieved, then unreservedly swung open-handedly at his brother.

Originally unaware, Fu Lu was roused from his slumber with several slaps, realizing he had been sleeping there, becoming slightly angry, punching a nearby tree to vent his frustration, breaking the slender trunk.

"Those bandits are despicable! Such dastardly tricks repeated endlessly!" He cursed angrily, then offered a fist salute to Lu Qing, "Master, Fu Lu was incompetent, ate detoxification pills beforehand and still fell into the trap..."

"It’s not your incompetence; all four of us fell victim with no exception." Lu Qing shook his head at him, gazing past him down the mountain, "Are you feeling discomfort anywhere?"

"No, all is well!" Hearing all four were caught, Fu Lu secretly exhaled in relief, hastily glancing at Zhu Yu, seeing she was alright, finally relieved.

Previously tasked by Lu Qing to protect their mistress outdoors, Fu Lu kept this in mind diligently, constantly vigilant.

"Master, enough is enough! Would you let my brother and I light a fire outside, smoke those villains out, and then capture them?"