And because, at that ruined haunted house, there had indeed been several incidents, and several lives had been lost.
For such a place, where so many lives had been lost, and so eerie.
Who would still be willing to live here?
Therefore, even some homeless people, with nowhere else to go, did not dare to approach it easily.
Even though these homeless people had no homes, some of them would band together, passing information to each other, and they were very well-informed about gossip.
Therefore, there would certainly not be any clueless homeless person who, due to lack of information, would choose to live in that place.
At least, not locally.
If some unaware homeless person from out of town were to move there and something happened.
Now, no one would be living there anymore.
Therefore, even if a homeless person from out of town did encounter an accident there, it was likely that no one would ever know.
The people in this town also felt that they were too close to that place, and many still felt uneasy. Moreover, one could only earn a better life by going to a big city.
Slowly, even this town became more and more desolate.
Even those who still lived there now were because some families were too poor, and some elderly people were too nostalgic and unwilling to move too far, thus supporting the town.
This was already the limit of compromise for these elderly people.
And during this investigation, after Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had pretty much asked everything they could, at this moment, they encountered a face that was somewhat familiar and somewhat strange.
And this person was the first person Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had met in Xiaojing City, twenty years ago, in that timeline.
Of course, it was Old Master Cui.
Back then, Old Master Cui often went to that ruined haunted house to observe the situation there, to see if anyone was coming to adventure there, and then to dissuade them.
Then, Old Master Cui discovered Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, and they got to know each other.
Originally, upon seeing Old Master Cui, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping were only slightly stunned, after all, they had seen a familiar face.
The reason why they felt Old Master Cui's appearance was somewhat strange was because the real world was twenty years later, and Old Master Cui was already quite old. Twenty years later, he would naturally be even older.
Therefore, Old Master Cui looked even more aged, and his appearance had changed to some extent.
However, Old Master Cui was still a very spirited old man.
After all, he was an elderly person who often walked around and exercised, paid great attention to health preservation, and often exercised, so his body was still quite strong, and among the elderly, he was considered a relatively healthy type.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping naturally did not expect that Old Master Cui in the real world would still recognize them.
However, recalling what had happened in the timeline twenty years ago, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping believed that according to Old Master Cui's habits.
Perhaps, twenty years ago in the real world, Old Master Cui might have also encountered Ding Yijie and his group of young people at that ruined haunted house and had some interaction with them, who knew, maybe they could ask something from Old Master Cui.
Therefore, they thought about how to reasonably strike up a conversation with Old Master Cui.
However, what they did not expect was that Old Master Cui also saw them. However, unlike Ding Yijie, whom Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had encountered at the Ding family, in the timeline of twenty years ago.
This Old Master Cui, upon seeing Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, seemed to have a peculiar reaction.
Old Master Cui actually walked up to Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping.
Old Master Cui looked at Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, sized them up, and said with great surprise, "You, you? Aren't you... You two young lads, why do you look so young?"
Completely unexpected that Old Master Cui would suddenly approach and say such a thing.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping were immediately startled in their hearts.
Could it be that Old Master Cui remembered them, and knew that they had met in Xiaojing City twenty years ago?
However, even though they thought this in their hearts, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping did not easily reveal this on the surface.
Therefore, Nie Chongyang appeared a little confused, looking at Old Master Cui, and said with a hint of bewilderment, "Old Master? Are you? Do you recognize us?"
Upon hearing Nie Chongyang say this, Old Master Cui became a little anxious.
"You two don't remember? Twenty years ago..."
Old Master Cui suddenly stopped and changed his words, saying, "No, no, when I saw those two young lads twenty years ago, they were already as old as you are. It's impossible to be this young after twenty years."
"Are you their descendants?"
"Why are you here? Are you here to investigate matters concerning that place?"
Hearing what Old Master Cui said, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping could basically confirm that this Old Master Cui, even if he had not experienced everything in Xiaojing City twenty years ago in that timeline,
However, this Old Master Cui had likely had his memory affected and had completely received the memories of the original Old Master Cui.
Therefore, Old Master Cui had such a reaction upon seeing Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping exchanged glances. After thinking for a moment, Nie Chongyang replied to Old Master Cui, "Although I don't know who you're talking about, Old Master, we're here to investigate a ruined haunted house in a village nearby. Do you know about it?"
"We're here to investigate matters there."
"Do you know anything about that place? If you do, could you tell us about it?"
As he spoke, Nie Chongyang took out his special operations team identification and showed it to Old Master Cui.
Old Master Cui took Nie Chongyang's special operations team identification and looked at it quite seriously before returning it to Nie Chongyang, sighing and saying, "Twenty years ago, that should have been your fathers. When we first met, they looked just like this."
"They met me first and showed me their credentials."
"Judging by your appearance, you two young lads must be the descendants of those two young people from twenty years ago. Back then, it was clear that those two young people had a very good relationship. It seems their descendants also have a good relationship and are together now?"
"Are you both working in this... Special Operations Team that was later established?"
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping knew that Old Master Cui had likely mistaken them for the relationship between fathers and sons, instead of their own appearance in the timeline of twenty years ago.
To make everything reasonable, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping simply accepted this identity and did not intend to refute it.
Since Old Master Cui had already rationalized things himself, they did not need to say much.
Some things were quite troublesome to explain.
More importantly, many things could not be explained at all, let alone let people know the truth.
After striking up a conversation with Old Master Cui, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, having accepted the identity, then stated that they wanted to understand the matter of the ruined haunted house, and were directly taken back to Old Master Cui's home.
Old Master Cui also asked about the situation of the two young people from twenty years ago.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had no choice. Moreover, since they were talking about themselves, they did not hide anything and directly said that their fathers had unfortunately passed away during a mission and were no longer alive.
They managed to get past it like that.
After all, if Old Master Cui reminisced about the past and insisted on contacting those two young people from back then, it would be troublesome.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, in order to avoid such trouble, found it too difficult to explain, and the more they said, the more mistakes they made. Therefore, it was better to simply make those two people cease to exist.
Regarding Xiao Miaomiao's identity, Xiao Miaomiao had been following Nie Chongyang and the others.
When Old Master Cui asked about Xiao Miaomiao's situation.
Nie Chongyang directly said that Xiao Miaomiao was also a member of the special operations team. Old Master Cui was quite surprised when he first heard this.
However, it was normal. Most people would react this way when they first saw this situation, and seeing that Xiao Miaomiao was a child and a girl.
However, considering that Xiao Miaomiao worked in the special operations team, and given the current situation, if Xiao Miaomiao was a member of the special operations team, then Xiao Miaomiao would certainly not be an ordinary child, and would certainly have some special identity and abilities.
Therefore, after being surprised, Old Master Cui did not doubt it further.
After all, who didn't know about the current situation outside?
Even those living in the deep mountains and old forests, either they had already been killed, or they were definitely aware of these matters.
Old Master Cui was the same.
He had a general understanding of what the special operations team was.
Xiao Miaomiao found Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping's unbridled cursing of themselves quite speechless.
However, in front of Old Master Cui, she couldn't say anything to them.
On Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping's side, the investigation had reached the haunted house ruins in the real world, while on Ye Tiancheng's side, they were still in Luoqi Mountain, searching for the whereabouts of the Fuxi Qin fragments.
To be honest, with Bai Long following them and contracting with Bai Long, Bai Long had indeed brought immense help to Ye Tiancheng and the others.
Bai Long had a better understanding of legendary places like Luoqi Mountain, which was why she specifically went to that place to risk waiting for the Dragon Gate to appear and create an opportunity for herself to cross the Dragon Gate.
She could be considered a bold and ambitious great white snake.
It could only be said that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared, and this truth applies to non-humans as well.
Only the great white snake was able to successfully cross the Dragon Gate and obtain the opportunity to transform into a white dragon.
From the fact that the great white snake named herself "Bai Long," one could tell how deep her obsession with transforming into a dragon was.
Following various clues, and with Bai Long's assistance, Ye Tiancheng and the others had surprisingly smooth progress this time, and they soon had some gains.