Hou Mingzhu was very pleased that she had easily settled things with Wen Yao.
When they left with Wen Yao, they would not attract much attention at first. It would only be at the final checkpoint, at the main gate, that the departing people would be discovered.
At that time, leaving would not be difficult, and it would not easily lead to other complications.
To avoid making her purpose too obvious, since Hou Mingzhu had laid the groundwork earlier, she naturally would not show herself too conspicuously after her goal was achieved. With her goal accomplished, she had nothing else to do, and the rest of the time was spent chatting normally with Wen Yao.
Ye Qingcheng was a child and slept more. Although she had claimed to be tired and sleepy to help her mother Hou Mingzhu, and had gone to rest, she easily fell asleep. Hou Mingzhu patiently did not rush her. It was only in the evening, when Ye Qingcheng woke up, that Hou Mingzhu bid farewell to Wen Yao and took her daughter Ye Qingcheng back to their own residence to have dinner with Ye Tiancheng and the others.
After returning, Hou Mingzhu informed Ye Tiancheng that everything was settled on her end and that she had already made arrangements with Wen Yao, so they could prepare to leave.
Seeing that Hou Mingzhu had handled it, Ye Tiancheng notified Fatty and Little Fox, telling them to prepare to leave with Wen Yao the next day.
The next day, Ye Tiancheng and his group set off. They had arrived with six people, but only five were returning. Shao Ying, having exposed her true identity, had been detained by Nie Chongyang and was no longer with the Helian family, nor was she with Ye Tiancheng and the others.
For Fatty, the Helian family was truly a place of sorrow. He had lost a lover with ulterior motives, then inexplicably slept with the eldest daughter of the Helian family, only to be disliked and asked to pretend nothing had happened, with no responsibility expected.
Fatty felt that unless it was absolutely necessary, or if Ye Tiancheng needed to come again, he would probably never want to set foot in this place again.
After Ye Tiancheng departed, he went to Wen Yao's location. The two groups met and then truly left together.
The departure process was as smooth as imagined. The gatekeepers probably did not know much, as the Helian family did not want the events that had occurred to be publicized. They had enforced a gag order, and even many within the Helian family were unaware of the details, let alone a gatekeeper.
Therefore, even when the gatekeeper saw Ye Tiancheng and the others leaving, he did not think anything of it. Instead, he felt that Ye Tiancheng and the others were distinguished guests of the Helian family, especially since the Helian family had hosted a banquet for them. Thus, he respectfully sent them off.
After leaving the Helian family, Ye Tiancheng and Wen Yao traveled together for a while. Since their final destinations were inevitably different, they eventually parted ways.
Once they were alone again, Hou Mingzhu began to discuss with Ye Tiancheng. She asked him, "Tiancheng, what are your plans now? Should we return to our previous residence and rest for a while, or should we get straight to business?"
Ye Tiancheng pondered for a moment, then shook his head, choosing neither.
"I think it's better to rest for a while longer. It's still within our planned rest period, but let's not go back to our previous residence, as it might be a bit troublesome. Let's go to a new place."
As for concealing the fact that they had taken the fragment of the Fuxi Qin from that place from Fatty and Shao Ying, with Shao Ying's true identity exposed, Ye Tiancheng had truthfully told Fatty. Therefore, they did not need to return to their previous location.
After all, there was nothing left to conceal.
Hou Mingzhu always deferred to Ye Tiancheng on such matters. However, she asked him, "That's fine, but if we're not returning to our previous residence, where should we go next? Do you have any ideas, Tiancheng?"
Ye Tiancheng thought for a moment, glanced at Fatty and Little Fox, and asked them, "Fatty, Little Fox, we'll rest a bit longer during this time. Are there any places you'd like to go? Tell me about it."
Fatty and Little Fox exchanged glances upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's question. They looked at each other for a moment, then both shook their heads.
These two were straightforward and only wanted to follow Ye Tiancheng and help him. Wherever their elder brother went, they would go. They had never thought about such matters before, so when suddenly asked, they naturally had no ideas.
Ye Tiancheng also seemed to understand and added, "You can think about it carefully, there's no rush. We're not in a hurry now."
Fatty scratched his head upon hearing this, "Brother Ye, I truly have no ideas. I don't have any hobbies for traveling or vacationing. If you ask me, I really can't think of anything. Why don't we listen to Little Fox?"
Seeing Fatty pass the buck to him, and seeing that Ye Tiancheng genuinely wanted to hear their opinions and wanted them to have a good time, Little Fox began to think seriously. However, Little Fox had amnesia, so it was difficult for him to think of much, but he could consider other issues.
Little Fox knew that Ye Tiancheng's most important task was to collect all the fragments of the Fuxi Qin and restore the Pure Land. He also wanted to help. If he thought about it from this perspective...
After thinking for a moment, he said to Ye Tiancheng, "Brother, I actually don't have many ideas. You know my memory is problematic, and I don't know much about these things. If Fatty doesn't have any ideas, then I certainly don't."
"However, I think perhaps we could go to the next place where we need to collect fragments. Maybe there's somewhere along the way that's worth visiting. We could rest there for a while, which seems fine. Since we don't have a specific destination, finding a place that saves time to have fun is also very good."
Ye Tiancheng was amused and exasperated, not knowing what to do with these two, but he also knew that they were genuinely sincere.
His original intention was certainly to hope that Little Fox and Fatty could relax properly. Seeing how things had turned out, Ye Tiancheng was also unsure of what to do.
However, Hou Mingzhu had an idea after listening to the conversation between Ye Tiancheng, Fatty, and Little Fox.
Hou Mingzhu said to Ye Tiancheng, "Since we're going to play and relax anyway, it doesn't matter where we go, and we don't have a specific destination we particularly want to visit. Why don't we just follow Little Fox's suggestion? It would also be much more convenient and beneficial for us."
Fatty nodded repeatedly, "I also think this is very good, a win-win situation."
Seeing that Hou Mingzhu and Fatty had agreed with Little Fox's idea, Ye Tiancheng hesitated for a moment and finally adopted the idea.
"Alright then, since you all say so... let's tentatively decide on this."
After making up his mind, Ye Tiancheng said, "Then let's find a place to settle down first, rest, and also see where our next destination is, so we can determine where we can go."
The others agreed. Suddenly, a clear child's voice rang out from the carriage, "I think it's good too."
At this, everyone's gaze turned to one spot. The speaker was Ye Qingcheng. The adults had not avoided the child when discussing, but they had not considered her opinion. Yet, Ye Qingcheng had listened to the entire conversation.
Seeing that the adults had expressed their opinions and she had no opportunity to interject, and now it was time for agreement and affirmation, she felt she should also express her thoughts. However, she also felt she should obey her parents and prioritize their ideas, which was why she suddenly spoke.
After a moment of stunned silence, everyone couldn't help but chuckle, wondering how they had overlooked the child's thoughts.
Ye Tiancheng, seeing his daughter so adorable and vaguely guessing the reason, felt he should also respect her. He asked Ye Qingcheng seriously, "It's my fault, I forgot to ask Qingcheng's opinion. Do you really think so, Qingcheng? If you have your own ideas, you can say them too. Mom and Dad will seriously consider them."
Hou Mingzhu, Fatty, and Little Fox also chimed in.
Ye Qingcheng blinked her eyes, propped her head, and truly thought seriously for a moment. Then she said to Ye Tiancheng with determination, "It's okay, Dad. I also think this is very good. I really think so, I'm not just agreeing with the adults. Because Qingcheng also doesn't know where she should go."
As she said the last sentence, Ye Qingcheng unconsciously shook her head.
Ye Tiancheng smiled and stroked her hair, "Okay, Qingcheng has no objections either, so it's unanimous!"
Ye Qingcheng also clapped her hands and cheered, "Yes, it's settled!"
Seeing his adorable daughter, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but feel a sense of regret that he hadn't witnessed all of his daughter's growth, having been separated from Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng for such a long time.
However, Ye Tiancheng also knew that given the circumstances at the time, both he and Hou Mingzhu had their faults and areas where they couldn't get along. Reaching that point was inevitable. No matter how many times they relived it, the outcome would have been the same.
It was everything they had experienced that had shaped them into who they were today. No matter how he thought about it, at least their current state was the best outcome they could achieve with all their effort. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng only felt a moment of emotional regret and didn't dwell on it further.
The past cannot be chased; one should focus on the present and the future.
At the very least, by learning from past experiences, they should not end up in an even worse situation.
Ye Tiancheng's inner thoughts did not manifest outwardly, nor were they spoken aloud, but they churned within him for a while. Hou Mingzhu vaguely sensed something but only glanced at Ye Tiancheng and said nothing.
Hou Mingzhu was also a sensible person and understood many things. Therefore, most of the time, she did not overthink things and felt even less regret than Ye Tiancheng.
After all, if there were too many regrets and too much thought, it would inevitably lead to imperfection.
At this point, letting go of what needed to be let go was the only way to move towards a better future. Hou Mingzhu understood this very clearly, which was why she chose to reconcile with Ye Tiancheng and with herself.
As for the others in the carriage, they were completely unaware of their deep thoughts. Their focus was mainly on the present matter, which was their upcoming rest and leisure.
After leaving the Helian family, this group chose to travel further away, so they drove directly to the neighboring city and then found a hotel to stay in.
That night, Ye Tiancheng sensed the Nuwa Stone and confirmed with the collected fragments of the Fuxi Qin. He finally identified their next target. Unexpectedly, their next destination required them to go out to sea.
Although they did not need to go abroad, due to the special nature of the destination, they needed to obtain a permit to go there. As for other specific details, they could only be determined after setting sail. It was still a long way off, and the sense was not strong enough to ascertain everything clearly. Therefore, it could only be said that they had a direction.