Tourists, like Ye Tiancheng, were outsiders. The world bustled, all for profit, all for gain. What drove these people to rush forward was nothing more than self-interest. Therefore, the highest probability of success in eliciting information lay in appealing to their desire for profit.
They came seeking profit, so the information they possessed could naturally be exchanged for profit.
Ye Tiancheng believed that as long as he offered a sufficient price, extracting some harmless minor clues and then connecting them all would make it not difficult to uncover the final truth.
The little fox also understood this point. "If we want to extract information, it's indeed best to inquire from people like us who are from outside."
"If we try to get close to the locals, I fear that a careless question might overstep boundaries, and within a few sentences, we'd be suspected. Then, we'd be alerting the enemy, which would be very disadvantageous for us."
Ye Tiancheng nodded and said, "Moreover, we must be mindful that those deeply connected with the locals might, to protect their own interests, deliberately mislead us or even betray us."
The little fox's expression sharpened. "That's right. So, before trying to extract information, we need to observe more carefully. The risks involved are not small."
Some people might even play both sides. A single misstep could lead to their complete annihilation.
If they were to continue sleeping, both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox found it difficult to do so. Previously, after encountering the evil spirit knocking at their door, they had a sense of security and could still sleep. However, in the situation tonight, the method of subtly possessing people was truly insidious and unavoidable. Both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were somewhat hesitant to close their eyes.
What the little fox found even more perplexing was that he genuinely couldn't sense any unusual aura, which made him even more uneasy.
If the other party was not adept at concealment, wouldn't that imply they were truly powerful? They might truly be facing an unprecedentedly formidable opponent.
Although they were reluctant to think of the worst, they had to prepare for it.
After pondering, the little fox quietly suggested to Ye Tiancheng, "Big Brother, I've thought about it carefully. The situation here is so bizarre that there shouldn't be no rumors from the outside. Perhaps it's just well-hidden and not widely publicized, but it wouldn't be entirely without traces."
"Didn't Nie Chongyang and his group form a team to specifically investigate and research this matter? Why don't we ask them if they've collected any relevant information, or if they can provide us with some clues? It's possible."
Ye Tiancheng's thoughts were interrupted. After carefully listening to the little fox's suggestion, he realized it was a direction he hadn't considered before.
Perhaps, in these matters, it wasn't impossible to leverage some official power.
Compared to them, official personnel actually possessed significant advantages in certain matters that Ye Tiancheng and his group could not compare with. Even those established families could never bypass the authorities.
So, why not?
Ye Tiancheng was suddenly delighted, as if he had broken through some bottleneck. He said to the little fox with some excitement, "Little fox, your brain is indeed smart. This is indeed a good idea. I'll contact Captain Nie tomorrow morning. Time is of the essence, and perhaps with their assistance, we might even have some unexpected gains."
The little fox let out a soft sigh. "It's good if we can help. We've been wandering around like headless flies for a long time, and we desperately need a breakthrough."
Especially now that the time was drawing near, if they couldn't obtain more useful clues, and something were to happen during the evening event, Ye Tiancheng and the others would likely be at a significant disadvantage.
However, the little fox still had some doubts.
The little fox said to Ye Tiancheng, "Actually, I can't quite figure out why we were targeted. Have they realized that our intentions are not simple?"
"Why was I singled out as a target? The evil spirits have come for us for two consecutive nights."
Ye Tiancheng's expression darkened. "We still know too little. We can't figure out their criteria for selecting targets, nor do we know what we did to be targeted. After dawn, we still need to confirm the situation with Fatty."
"However, I don't think it's related to them discovering our impure intentions. If that were the case, their methods would be too gentle. But I can't be too sure. As long as we confirm whether Fatty encountered anything similar to us tonight, we can basically confirm this point."
"I'm still more inclined to believe that they targeted us for some reason we don't know." kuAiδugg
The little fox said, "We're also quite unlucky. The other guests in the guesthouse haven't had any issues. It's been us for two nights in a row, and we haven't heard of any other guests encountering anything. If there were, we would have a new room."
Ye Tiancheng was about to nod when suddenly, he thought of something.
The little fox noticed the change in Ye Tiancheng's expression and couldn't help but ask, "Big Brother, have you thought of something?"
Ye Tiancheng pondered for a moment and said uncertainly, "I think that the fact that it's been us for two consecutive nights might be because we were targeted as soon as we checked into this guesthouse, so they've only come for us. But that doesn't mean no one else has had any trouble."
"Perhaps before we checked in, others had already met with misfortune."
After a moment of surprise, the little fox carefully considered it and realized that this was not impossible.
Ye Tiancheng mused, "Perhaps this could also be a breakthrough point during future investigations."
The little fox muttered, "What I want to know most is why I couldn't sense any abnormal aura. If even I can't detect it, isn't that guy much more powerful than us?"
Ye Tiancheng knew the little fox was uneasy, and he couldn't confirm the answer. However, when the little fox mentioned it, he suddenly recalled a saying and some of his own feelings since arriving at this place.
He hesitantly said to the little fox, "Perhaps... Little fox, have you ever heard the saying, 'Living in a fragrant room for a long time, one does not smell its fragrance; entering a fish stall for a long time, one does not smell its stench'?"
The little fox understood but was also somewhat bewildered. "Huh? Wh-what do you mean?"
Was it really what he understood it to mean?
Ye Tiancheng felt hesitant when he said it, but after speaking, he felt it made more and more sense the more he thought about it.
He explained to the little fox, and the more he explained, the more reasonable it seemed. "If a person is constantly exposed to a certain type of information, and it's not the focus of their attention, then over time, they will easily overlook it."
"Think about it. After arriving here, I tried to sense the location of the Fuxi Qin fragment, but I felt that the aura of the Fuxi Qin was everywhere and constantly surrounding me. Moreover, I myself carried quite a few fragments. Over time, even though the aura of the Fuxi Qin fragment was constantly enveloping me, I would sometimes directly ignore this information."
This meant both feeling it and not feeling it at all.
"It can be like that?"
The little fox thought about it confusedly and was actually persuaded by Ye Tiancheng.
He felt that he couldn't sense the abnormal information, but if this information had surrounded him from the beginning, causing him to have a misconception, subconsciously ignoring it, or interpreting it as normal, it was also a very likely possibility.
They had discussed for a long time, and in fact, they were also calming their emotions. Once they had recovered sufficiently, they basically stopped talking much.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox still needed to rest. After all, they were still mortal. No matter how powerful they were, they would still feel tired. They hadn't rested well for two consecutive nights. If they had to work intensely afterward, they would easily collapse.
Even if they could still manage to hold on, in a state of mental fatigue, they were prone to overlooking danger signals, leading to unnecessary risks.
Therefore, if they could rest a little more now, it would be for a little while longer.
Although they said they were going to rest, because they couldn't sleep well, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, strictly speaking, could only be considered to have rested their eyes for the entire latter half of the night. They simply lay down with their eyes closed. As for falling asleep, neither Ye Tiancheng nor the little fox could truly fall asleep.
The consequences of staying up late were that everyone was listless.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had to take turns washing their faces with cold water to cool their minds and force themselves to be more awake.
The water in the bathroom was ice-cold, and the effect was exceptionally good. After a jolt, it truly had a spirit-boosting effect. Both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox's conditions improved considerably, at least not as bad as before.
Ye Tiancheng was thinking about seeking help from Nie Chongyang. Because the matter involved was not small, Ye Tiancheng did not intend to communicate only through the little fox. Going to ask in person would show more importance and sincerity.
However, the matter of checking on Fatty could not be delayed. Confirming Fatty's current condition was also an extremely important matter for Ye Tiancheng and the little fox's subsequent judgment.