Afterward, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox reappeared in the public eye in a rather ostentatious manner.
They wandered around outside for a bit before returning to the inn where they were staying.
Upon their return to the door of their room, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox unexpectedly encountered someone sent by Lin Yanshu.
There was only one person guarding the door to Ye Tiancheng and the little fox's room.
Seeing Ye Tiancheng and the little fox return, the person immediately greeted them with a warm smile, approaching them and saying, "You two are finally back. We've been waiting for you for quite some time. Why did you take so long?"
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox exchanged a look. Ye Tiancheng then stepped forward and asked the person, "We went out on an errand, but then some unexpected things happened. We had to deal with other matters, and then went elsewhere, which caused further delays, hence our late return."
"You've been waiting for us here. Does Master Lin have something to instruct us on?"
The person replied to Ye Tiancheng, "Oh, it's like this."
"We heard that you two were going to do something for our master. Our master is very concerned about the progress of this matter, and seeing that you two have been gone for so long, he naturally became anxious. That's why he sent me to wait here."
"Since you two are back, if you have some free time, please go and see our master."
Ye Tiancheng thought to himself, does Lin Yanshu not know the progress on their end?
The other party clearly knew everything, yet still sent someone to monitor them secretly and received reports from the people they dispatched. Now, they were pretending not to know.
However, upon further reflection, perhaps Lin Yanshu, upon learning that the whereabouts of the Kunlun Mirror were unknown, would naturally be unable to help but pay attention and want to know what had happened to cause the mirror to go missing.
Lin Yanshu had no way of knowing the situation in the cellar at that time, and the people he sent out could only watch from the shadows and could not follow them into the cellar. Therefore, if Lin Yanshu wanted to know the true situation in the cellar at that time, he could only ask Ye Tiancheng and the little fox.
These thoughts flashed through Ye Tiancheng's mind in the blink of an eye.
Afterward, Ye Tiancheng replied to the person, "So that's how it is. Indeed, something like that happened. I didn't expect Master Lin to be so concerned and anxious about this matter. It's our brothers' fault for the delay."
"My brother and I will rest for a while, tidy ourselves up a bit, and then we will go and see Master Lin."
The person said to Ye Tiancheng, "That would be good. I apologize for disturbing you two. Thank you for making the trip. I will go and report back to our master."
Ye Tiancheng nodded slightly and said, "My brother and I will follow shortly."
After receiving Ye Tiancheng's confirmation, the person left directly to report back to Lin Yanshu.
When Ye Tiancheng and the little fox returned to their room, the little fox said, "Big brother, why do you think Lin Yanshu is looking for us? What could it be about?"
Ye Tiancheng replied to the little fox, "What else could it be about? He must want to know what happened in the cellar and how the mirror went missing. Seeing how anxious he is, it seems the disappearance of the mirror was not within his expectations."
"Moreover, he definitely wouldn't want the Kunlun Mirror to go missing, so he's naturally very concerned."
"However, he has no way of knowing the situation in the cellar through his subordinates, so he can only come and ask us."
The little fox nodded and continued, "Besides, he entrusted this matter to us earlier. No matter what, he should still care about it."
"It wouldn't seem appropriate if he didn't inquire about it."
Ye Tiancheng nodded and said, "That's exactly the reasoning."
The little fox pouted, somewhat displeased, and said, "That person spoke so politely, putting on a show of enthusiasm and respect. If he has the ability, he should act and speak in the same way he presents himself."
"He knows we worked hard and ran around outside, returning so late, yet he didn't tell us to rest properly. He's implicitly urging us to go and see their master quickly."
"Is this what they call 'smiling with a hidden dagger'?"
Ye Tiancheng turned to look at him and said, "It depends on how you see it."
As they spoke, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox tidied themselves up briefly. Without much rest, they immediately went to Lin Yanshu's room to meet him, fulfilling their promise.
Ye Tiancheng was not one to be perfunctory or break his word to others in this regard.
Moreover, their hard work running around was merely how others perceived it.
In reality, they hadn't done much. At most, they had been a little bored during the earlier period, and they hadn't walked around much.
After all, Lin Yanshu was quite a homebody. He didn't wander around much and mostly stayed in his room, handling some work. If he needed anything, he would call his subordinates to help him.
Other than that, there was basically nothing else.
During this time, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had spent most of their time observing Lin Yanshu. Therefore, as long as Lin Yanshu didn't leave his room, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox didn't either.
They wouldn't be foolish enough to mistreat themselves.
So, during this period, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox basically found a place to sit, chat, discuss the situation, and analyze clues.
This kind of activity was generally not tiring.
When Ye Tiancheng arrived at Lin Yanshu's room, he first knocked on the door. Then, Lin Yanshu's voice came from inside.
Lin Yanshu said to the person outside the door, "Who is it?"
Ye Tiancheng raised his voice and replied, "It's me, Ye Tiancheng. Earlier, I saw your subordinate waiting at the door of my brother's and my room, saying that Master Lin had something he wanted to see us about. So, after seeing him upon our return, my brother and I immediately rushed over to meet you."
From inside, Lin Yanshu immediately said, "Please come in quickly."
Ye Tiancheng responded affirmatively and, directly taking the little fox with him, pushed open Lin Yanshu's room door. Lin Yanshu had not locked the door, but with so many subordinates around him, and having booked an entire floor, it was understandable.
Besides, Lin Yanshu often needed to summon people for his work. His subordinates would come and go from his room, and it would be impractical for Lin Yanshu to personally go to the door every time to open it for his subordinates.
Therefore, Lin Yanshu not locking his door was not particularly strange.
For people from many prominent families, apart from certain specific locations, individuals of their status indeed had no habit of locking their doors.
This was because in their homes, there were numerous servants and subordinates who served them at all times, requiring frequent movement between various places. If they locked their doors, they would be locking these people out, preventing them from serving them.
Thus, in the etiquette of many wealthy and noble families, locking out servants and causing trouble for their work was considered quite impolite.
This point was clearly very different from ordinary households.
Ye Tiancheng had not been very aware of these matters before, as he was not a young master born into a prominent family. He was of ordinary background, but through some fortunate encounters and opportunities, coupled with his own efforts, he achieved success and thus came into contact with this social stratum.
Furthermore, Ye Tiancheng had Hou Mingzhu as his wife. Hou Mingzhu would certainly not allow Ye Tiancheng to have too many deficiencies in this regard. Previously, she probably didn't want Ye Tiancheng to embarrass her.
Later, they developed genuine feelings for each other, went through divorce and remarriage, and so on. Since they were back together, they certainly wished the best for each other. Therefore, Hou Mingzhu would naturally pay more attention to these aspects.
After all, before Hou Mingzhu went missing, Ye Tiancheng's daily life, including his food, clothing, housing, and transportation, was all taken care of by Hou Mingzhu.
As it was now, with Hou Mingzhu missing, although Ye Tiancheng had developed some habits of paying attention to these matters from being with Hou Mingzhu before, he was originally quite rough in terms of managing his life.
Therefore, now that Hou Mingzhu was no longer helping him manage things, even though Ye Tiancheng paid some attention to these aspects, his attention was still quite limited. Compared to when Hou Mingzhu was present, he was still a bit rough.
However, this was a digression.
Returning to the current situation, Ye Tiancheng, along with the little fox, entered Lin Yanshu's room.
Then, Lin Yanshu said to Ye Tiancheng, "My subordinates are not very competent. You two have only just returned, and they didn't tell you to rest for a while before coming."
"What's so urgent about my matters that it made you two run around so hard, and you still have to come without resting after returning."
The little fox inwardly thought "hypocritical," but outwardly, he showed no unusual expression. He was not ignorant of how to pretend when necessary.
Moreover, when operating outside, most of the time, unless Ye Tiancheng requested it or under special circumstances, the little fox would usually remain hidden behind Ye Tiancheng, acting as a quiet follower. If there was no need, he generally wouldn't speak much.
Anyway, as long as the little fox didn't reveal himself intentionally, he had very little presence.
Just looking at the little fox's face, it was quite a remarkable thing.
Furthermore, the little fox was indeed good at pretending. Unless he intended to, no one would discover what kind of mischievous thoughts were going on in the little fox's mind.