Ye Tiancheng was a little curious as to why Lin Yanqin was so certain.
He asked, "If this person already took your ruby pendant, why wouldn't they be after money? If not for money, then what?"
Lin Yanqin shook her head in confusion at Ye Tiancheng's question.
"I don't know, but it seems that if such a person exists, their actions really don't seem to be motivated by money."
"Although I woke up and found my ruby pendant missing, not knowing how it was lost, I immediately searched everywhere, so I know that besides my ruby pendant, nothing else was lost."
"I... I have many valuable possessions, so if the other party was really greedy for money, why did they only take my ruby pendant?"
Ye Tiancheng understood this point upon hearing it.
This was indeed a suspicious point.
However, Ye Tiancheng still shook his head and said, "We can't jump to conclusions just because of this. What if they just felt they couldn't take everything at once, so they chose the most precious item first and planned to come back later?"
"If I may be so bold, Miss Lin, you need to be more vigilant. If this person comes back to take your other belongings, your situation will be very dangerous."
Lin Yanqin blinked, but accepted Ye Tiancheng's kind reminder.
What Ye Tiancheng said made sense, and it was indeed a very big risk.
However, Lin Yanqin still said, "No matter what, I still want to get my ruby pendant back. If I can't get the pendant back, how can I leave?"
Ye Tiancheng didn't insist. It was all in the past, and no matter how many reminders he gave now, it was already a fact, and nothing he said would be useful.
He said, "It's good that Miss Lin knows what she's doing. Even if you can't leave here for now, please pay attention to your safety."
Lin Yanqin nodded thankfully and said, "I understand. I will pay more attention to my personal safety from now on. Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Ye."
Ye Tiancheng glanced at Lin Yanqin, his mood a little complicated.
His reminder to Lin Yanqin, and his concern that the "villain" who took her ruby pendant might return, was not without reason.
Combining what they already knew, if such a thief existed and truly would return to find Lin Yanqin, and Lin Yanqin had not left the hotel to search for her lost ruby pendant, then it was bound to make people think.
The hotel owner said that every time Lin Yanqin appeared, from the moment she started searching for the ruby pendant until the end of her special incident, for a total of seven days, no more, no less, Lin Yanqin would inexplicably disappear.
The disappeared Lin Yanqin vanished without a trace, and no one knew why.
However, it wasn't as if they couldn't guess anything.
In fact, the reason Lin Yanqin would inexplicably disappear after seven days was that her residual soul, burdened by deep obsession, was trapped in a loop of memories. When the loop ended, there could only be a few possibilities.
If Lin Yanqin truly died during this memory loop, then the result would likely be very clear.
It was possible that she was murdered during the period of her inexplicable disappearance, and if her ruby pendant was indeed taken by someone, it was highly likely that the person who took her ruby pendant had returned.
This person was either a very important witness, or very likely, the real culprit who had killed Lin Yanqin.
He had killed Lin Yanqin and disposed of her body without a trace, so no one knew how Lin Yanqin disappeared or what had happened.
Ye Tiancheng was even more interested in how Lin Yanqin's residual soul was collected here. Collecting so many residual souls burdened by deep obsession was not an easy task, but it was not disadvantageous to them. In fact, it even used its own power to solidify these residual souls, preventing them from dissipating easily.
If this was charity, it didn't seem like it.
If one had such ability and experience, why not simply dissolve their obsessions and allow these residual souls to be freed, instead of making them constantly cycle and repeat in the memories they were attached to, unable to find release?
Ye Tiancheng learned what he needed to from Lin Yanqin. Since there were no new clues for the moment, he didn't continue chatting with her. Instead, he quietly discussed and chatted with the little fox on the side.
Lin Yanqin was also perceptive and did not approach or speak up unless called upon.
Ye Tiancheng exchanged ideas with the little fox and roughly explained all the current clues and his thoughts.
When Ye Tiancheng said he couldn't understand why the manipulator behind Xiaojing City collected so many residual souls to loop here and what benefit it brought him, they had also had this doubt before.
It was just that after confirming that Lin Yanqin was indeed a residual soul, their guess was confirmed, and they couldn't figure out the other party's purpose, which made them even more puzzled.
The little fox fell into deep thought after hearing Ye Tiancheng's words.
He tried hard to think and recall. He had studied and read a lot of information on these matters. Only the knowledge points that were used more frequently and triggered more often were easier to recall quickly.
After all, as the ancient saying goes, "Reviewing the old allows one to learn the new," and there are also modern sayings like "A good memory is not as good as writing it down" and "If you don't practice often, you'll become dull." Only through repeated contact and review can one quickly recall the corresponding content when applying it.
As for other knowledge that was not used frequently and rarely seen, even for someone as intelligent as the little fox, he couldn't guarantee that he could immediately match it to the corresponding phenomenon and quickly recall the relevant knowledge points.
After a long while, the little fox suddenly said, "Regarding this point, I do recall some things."
Ye Tiancheng looked at the little fox and said, "Hmm? Did you think of anything useful?"
The little fox said with some difficulty and hesitation, "M-maybe..."
"I just suddenly remembered that when I was reading a book before, I seemed to have seen some similar content. However, these things are a bit like forbidden arts, and they are quite obscure. I haven't seen much of them, and I rarely use them, so I didn't remember them earlier."
The little fox propped his arm and stroked his chin, pondering, "This kind of method is more inclined towards evil arts, the kind that would be severely cracked down upon."
"Most orthodox cultivators rely on the spiritual energy between heaven and earth to cultivate. However, there are also some demonic cultivators, those who don't follow the proper path of evil, who also absorb spiritual energy to cultivate, but they also supplement it with other things, such as resentment, which is very normal."
Ye Tiancheng nodded.
He also knew this. Ye Tiancheng had encountered evil cultivators before, so he had some understanding of them. He knew some of them, but he had certainly never tried this path himself.
The little fox continued, "What I recall is that this is also a similar method. For example, these residual souls, because they cannot let go of their obsessions, some are not just stubborn, and these memories containing obsessions naturally cause them pain."
"I remember that in ancient feudal superstitions, people also sought psychological comfort, hence the saying of the eighteen levels of hell."
"However, people nowadays also know whether places like the eighteen levels of hell truly exist, and everyone has their own opinion... No, no." The little fox said, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head, changing his words, "Whether the eighteen levels of hell exist or not is not important, that's not the point."
"Phew, I almost went off-topic."
Ye Tiancheng smiled, "I know, it's okay, please continue."
The little fox went on to say, "The reason I mentioned the eighteen levels of hell is that one of the eighteen levels of hell is called the most painful and unbearable level."
Ye Tiancheng said, "I think I know this. Ordinary people have some understanding of these folk customs. It's called Avici Hell, right?"
The little fox nodded.
He said, "Yes, the punishment in Avici Hell is to make the souls being punished suffer the most painful memories from their time in the mortal world, and to cycle through this memory."
Ye Tiancheng was stunned.
"It feels like these residual souls, deeply trapped in obsession, are no different from being in Avici Hell?"
The little fox said, "In a way, yes. The memories that deeply obsess them and prevent them from letting go even in death, obsession is also suffering, so it naturally causes them pain."
"And by constantly repeating this memory, it inevitably leads to various negative emotions."
"And the evil art forbidden technique that I learned about can actually allow people to cultivate through these negative emotions, making their cultivation advance by leaps and bounds, and making themselves stronger."
Ye Tiancheng's expression darkened and he said, "So, everything is built upon the suffering of these residual souls?"
The little fox nodded slightly, indicating that this was indeed the case.
When speaking of it, this method might sound understated, but in reality, hidden beneath these words are drops of blood and tears, and mountains of white bones.
Ye Tiancheng pondered and said, "If this guess is correct, then this so-called Xiaojing City is like the source of power for the entity behind Xiaojing City, its energy field?"
The little fox confirmed, "If the other party is indeed using such an evil art, then that is indeed the case."
Ye Tiancheng's expression was solemn, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Then, why did the entity behind it lure so many ordinary people here and then trap them?"
The little fox was able to analyze this point.
He was quite knowledgeable in this area.
The little fox said, "This is easier to guess. If it is confirmed that this evil art is being used, then even if ordinary people are trapped here, their fear and their evil thoughts for survival, how can it be said that they cannot serve as nourishment for the other party?"
Ye Tiancheng felt a chill in his heart, and he already understood the chilling implications behind it.
The little fox continued, "Moreover, besides providing negative emotions as nourishment for the entity behind it, the ordinary people lured here can also have other uses, although it is rather cruel to say."
Ye Tiancheng listened and looked at the little fox.
The little fox said, "If we are to say what use ordinary humans have in this place, then they have other great uses."
"We already know that in this Xiaojing City, besides ordinary humans, there are still many residual souls burdened by deep obsession who are alive. They cycle through their past obsessive memories at fixed times and places at regular intervals."