After bidding farewell to Lin Ran, Lin Yu led the way.
She remained silent, and Chu Tian was content with the quiet. Who knew what new trickery would arise if he spoke to her.
Before long, they arrived outside a tall, walled compound.
The gate was surprisingly made of rosewood.
Such a unique, self-contained courtyard was a rare sight on this street, perhaps even in the entire Shengdu.
There was a plaque above the gate, inscribed with "Huang Mansion."
Chu Tian exclaimed, "Holy cow, this is a wealthy family!"
In a city of steel and concrete, there was a standalone courtyard.
It hadn't been demolished during development.
However, when he saw the plaque on the wall beside the gate, he understood.
"Historical and Cultural Building."
Six large characters were written on the plaque, with a lengthy description below.
Chu Tian paid no mind, following Lin Yu as she pushed open the rosewood gate and entered.
As soon as they stepped inside, they saw Gao Kai and Jing Kaiyu sitting by a stone table in the courtyard.
Moreover, Zhao Lei, who had been missing for a long time, was also there.
Seeing him, Chu Tian paused, then walked over and asked, "Lei Zi, where have you been?"
"Brother Tian..." Zhao Lei saw Chu Tian and waved, greeting him.
In response to Chu Tian's question, he awkwardly said, "Don't even mention it. When we got to the hospital, I was hungry and saw they were selling Jianbing Guozi, so I went to buy some.
I asked if anyone else wanted any, but you were all engrossed in listening to Xiao Liuzi babble about the water monkey, and no one paid me any mind.
I got one for myself and thought it tasted good, so I got a few more to pack for you all.
Who would have thought, when I took out my phone to pay, I discovered my phone and wallet were gone!
Damn it... I never imagined someone could pickpocket me.
After a lot of pleading, the vendor finally let me go. I had no way to contact you, so I went directly to the ICU to find you.
But you were gone. I had no choice but to return to the gym to find Sister Xi Xi.
Then, all your phones were unreachable. Only just now did I manage to get through.
So, with Sister Xi Xi's phone, I came running."
Zhao Lei rambled on, and Chu Tian listened with a frown.
He took out his phone from his pocket, tapped Zhao Lei's contact, and played a 59-second voice message.
He then asked, "Isn't this what you sent?"
The voice message contained no speech, only static: Zzz... Sss... Zzz-zzz...
Jing Kaiyu and Gao Kai had both heard this message.
They too waited curiously for Zhao Lei's answer.
After listening, Zhao Lei shook his head, pointing to the timestamp.
"Look at the time. I should have already been back at the gym then."
He then took out Qi Xi's phone, opened it, and scrolled to a call record.
The call time there was a few minutes earlier than the timestamp of the voice message.
Chu Tian nodded and said, "By the time I figured out the content of that voice message, I already knew it wasn't from you."
His statement made Gao Kai and Jing Kaiyu even more perplexed.
Because when Chu Tian had played it for them, he had asked if they could discern anything from it.
After listening sequentially, neither of them had found anything.
Chu Tian had even had a wild thought, asking them if it was Morse code.
After listening, they both shook their heads.
If it wasn't Morse code, then how had Chu Tian deduced its content?
Seeing them all looking at him, Chu Tian picked up a stone and began scratching on the ground.
He played the voice message again and drew a 0 for each "Zzz" sound and a 1 for each "Sss" sound.
Finally, a dense pattern of zeros and ones appeared on the ground of the Huang mansion.
Chu Tian used the stone to circle two sets of numbers at the beginning.
These two sets of numbers were:
111010011001100110110111
111010011001100010110001
Chu Tian pointed to the first line of numbers and said, "This is the most basic computer language, binary.
The first line translates to '[Xian]', as in a trap. The second line, naturally, is '[Jing]', as in trap.
The following sets of binary numbers, strung together, are: Illusion, little girl...
When I figured this out, I knew for sure that the message wasn't from Zhao Lei.
But this person must know me very well, as my major was Software Information Engineering.
This was my most basic course, but who was sending me messages and stealing Zhao Lei's phone to do it...
It was precisely because of this message that I focused my attention on that little girl, and indeed discovered her unusual nature."
Chu Tian spoke eloquently, leaving Zhao Lei and the others dumbfounded.
Zhao Lei rubbed his forehead and muttered, "Who would bother sending messages like this? It's too troublesome! They're either an idiot or completely bonkers!"
Just as he finished speaking, the door opened, and Lin Ran returned.
He was carrying a bottle, presumably the black dog blood without any mixed fur.
Lin Yu heard the door and came out of the room. Seeing him, she excitedly, and with a hint of deliberate provocation, shouted, "Second Brother, you're back!"
*Swish...*
As soon as she finished speaking, someone rushed out of the room.
It was Lin Chi, who had already transformed.
His speed was incredible after transforming. With a *swish*, he was beside Lin Ran.
He immediately threw a kick.
Lin Ran, unable to dodge in time, was hit squarely in the chest.
*Crackling... Ping pong... Clanging...*
Chu Tian, Gao Kai, and the other two were stunned at first.
Then they winced, and finally looked bored.
Conversely, Lin Yu pulled up a small stool, munched on sunflower seeds, and watched Lin Ran being beaten by Lin Chi with great interest.
The fight lasted a full fifteen minutes.
Finally, Lin Chi, perhaps exhausted, stopped fighting, panting heavily.
Lin Ran, who had been covering his head, finally lowered his arms.
His face, completely unharmed, wore a tearful expression as he asked, "Big Brother, why did you hit me?"
Lin Chi, breathing heavily, calmed himself and said, "How dare you ask me? You said before you'd use my blood to draw the Spirit Suppressing Talisman, and I didn't say anything, letting you go, right?
Then, where did you go? Looking for wild dogs without any mixed fur! Isn't that what you said?"
Lin Ran, hearing this, understood what was happening. He lay on the ground, trembling, and pointed at Lin Yu, "Lin Yu, you... you..."
*Pfft...*
He couldn't finish his sentence and spat out a mouthful of blood before passing out.
Lin Yu cheerfully stood up, walked over to him, and kicked him, "Hmph, Lin Ran, this is the consequence of you scolding me!"
Lin Chi, listening from the side, looked bewildered and blinked as he asked Lin Yu, "Little sister, what did Second Brother call you? Should Big Brother beat him up again?"
Lin Yu waved her hand, "Thank you, Big Brother. It's fine about me. I don't know what you're thinking, but I can't stand Second Brother calling you a wild dog with mixed fur!"
After speaking, she crouched down, and a yellow mist emanated from her hands as she began to heal Lin Ran.
Indeed, her energy was truly miraculous. The visible bruises on Lin Ran's body disappeared within seconds.
All of this happened before Chu Tian and the other three. They exchanged glances, seeing a look of speechlessness in each other's eyes.
They wanted to laugh but didn't know if they should; their livers ached.
Were the three siblings of the Lin family really this bizarre?
One reported, one beat, the beaten was unharmed, and finally passed out from anger.
The one who reported then healed the one who beat him.
At the same time, they didn't forget to add fuel to the fire.
Looking at Lin Chi, it seemed as if he wanted to beat Lin Ran again.
The four of them thought the matter was over, but it was only just beginning.