In the strange gaze of the old woman, I briefly recounted my experiences in Guangxi and also explained how I obtained that style of Lei. After listening, the old woman sighed, “This is quite a coincidence. I never expected that the last one I could never find would be in such a place. If you hadn’t gone to find it, I probably would have never found it in my lifetime.”

I nodded, realizing that these old files might not last for decades. Even if they still existed, they would soon be due for destruction. If I hadn’t stumbled upon them in such an unexpected way, they would have truly become lost to time. It seemed that fate had its own designs.

I thought for a moment and continued, “If that’s the case, then I believe the archaeological team I found in Guangxi must be the one your daughter was part of.”

She nodded, “I have personally been to Guangxi. Why didn’t I uncover these things?”

I thought to myself that my ability to get Pan Ma to speak relied entirely on that piece of scrap metal from the oil bottle. If I hadn’t broken through from Chu Ge’s side, I would have never been able to find any information there. It was no wonder her subordinates couldn’t find anything; after all, the secrets were all beneath that lake.

But what weighed on my mind was not this, as I clearly remembered the story of Pan Ma. That archaeological team had been killed and replaced. This meant her daughter might very well have become one of the remains we recovered.

I hesitated to bring this up, not because I feared it would upset her—I believed the old woman wasn’t too fragile—but because I was concerned about affecting her emotions.

At the same time, many fragments in my mind began to connect. I seemed to have touched upon some unfathomable clues, which were also very strange. I needed to verify some things immediately. If my thoughts were correct, then perhaps the entrance to the whole matter had already opened. So I asked her, “If possible, could you provide me with some information about the archaeological team you looked into? Because I can’t find anything in the archive room. What I’m investigating may also be related to your daughter, and I will send that style of Lei over right away.”

“I have a large envelope with those materials, but most of it is not very useful. You can ask me anything you want to know right now,” the old woman’s gaze suddenly softened a lot. “What exactly are you investigating that led you to that area?”

“It’s a long story. Please answer a few of my questions first. If things are as I suspect, then I think we might be looking into the same matter.”

The old woman looked at me, seemingly still unable to grasp my intentions. “Alright, you can ask.”

“You must have looked into your daughter’s whereabouts. Is her disappearance related to an archaeological activity in the Xisha Islands?”

As soon as I finished speaking, the old woman’s expression changed: “You know?”

Without waiting for her to ask further, I immediately pressed on, “If I’m not mistaken, your family’s tradition is that daughters must take the surname Huo?”

She looked a bit surprised and nodded, “How so?”

“Then, your missing daughter wouldn’t happen to be named Huo Ling, would she?” I said calmly, “Wang—Ling Ling.”