Ye Tiancheng stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Listening to you, this Dragon God doesn't seem like a bad guy..."
The little fox interjected, "Whether the Dragon God is good or bad right now doesn't mean much to us. It's more important to find a way out."
"Besides, I've thought about it carefully. Even if the guesthouse's illusionary space is connected to the Dragon God's water territory, it doesn't necessarily mean that the guesthouse owner, Mei Mei, and her husband are involved with the Dragon God. Perhaps they stumbled upon this place and started using it. Maybe they don't even know what this place is?"
If anything, they should be figuring out how Mei Mei and her husband knew the method to enter and exit this illusionary space, and where the entrances and exits were.
Ye Tiancheng reminded the little fox, "You can't say that entirely."
After listening to Nie Chongyang's account, Ye Tiancheng had also thought about many things and discovered many inconsistencies.
"Little fox, think about it," Ye Tiancheng said to the little fox. "When Nie Chongyang and his group were evacuating people, the villagers were unwilling to cooperate, and then the Dragon God appeared, successfully making the villagers leave voluntarily. But how did the Dragon God know everything and appear in time?"
"Then let's look at it from another angle. If the Dragon God always knew what was happening outside, wouldn't that be even stranger? Couldn't he know that he was being impersonated by a big black snake? If he knew, why didn't he do anything?"
"And if this is the Dragon God's water territory, and Mei Mei and her husband from the guesthouse broke in and started using this space, he should definitely know by now, shouldn't he?"
The little fox scratched the back of his head. "It seems so. So, what should we do now?"
This was indeed quite a predicament.
If this lake was indeed real, then they had to consider whether they would come into conflict with the so-called Dragon God and cause unnecessary trouble.
Whether the other party existed, to what extent they could act, and how powerful they were, were all very important. This would determine what they might encounter later.
However, they had no channels at all. The little fox said that the suspected exit was in the lake, and the Dragon God's water territory was also suspected to be here. This was truly unsettling. If the other party had any ill intentions, it would be very disadvantageous for them.
After all, going into the water would impose many restrictions on them as humans. If an accident occurred, Ye Tiancheng and the others could protect themselves, but they couldn't ignore Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, two ordinary humans. They definitely wouldn't be able to cope, and if an accident happened underwater, Ye Tiancheng might not be able to save them.
They were at a loss for a while. Liang Ping thought about it and asked Ye Tiancheng about the Dragon God.
Although they had some vague understanding, as Ye Tiancheng had mentioned some things when he contacted them earlier, they couldn't say they knew everything. Due to insufficient time for communication, there were many things they couldn't understand in time.
It seemed they couldn't proceed further, so discussing these matters wouldn't hurt. Ye Tiancheng agreed.
Then he asked the little fox to inform Nie Chongyang and the others.
When they were reviewing the records, they had divided the work. Ye Tiancheng was not responsible for the village records, so he had not seen them himself. He had only heard about them from Fatty and the little fox's retellings. The little fox, who had not seen the village records firsthand, would be more knowledgeable.
The little fox then told Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping about the contents of the village records.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had never heard of the deeds of a real dragon. Given that the Dragon God in this village was very likely a dragon, they were very interested from any perspective and listened to the little fox's narration very carefully.
After hearing about the Dragon God's deeds from the little fox, Liang Ping recalled a point of doubt.
He asked somewhat strangely, "By the way, little fox, you calculated that the exit of this illusionary space is in the lake. The guesthouse owner Mei Mei and her husband likely enter and exit this illusionary space frequently. Do they also enter and exit this way? Do they have to go into the water?"
The little fox had not seen how the guesthouse owner Mei Mei and her husband did it, so he couldn't say for sure.
He could only say to Liang Ping, "I can't answer that. If I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I can't say anything. I can't be completely sure how they do it. Perhaps there are other exits, but my skills are not proficient enough, and I can only find this one."
Liang Ping said, "You can't say that. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have found this exit at all."
The little fox was talking with Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping. Ye Tiancheng occasionally interjected, but he mainly stayed by the side, observing the surroundings. Fatty was placed aside, still lying quietly.
For a moment, Fatty's presence was so weak that everyone almost overlooked him.
Finally, as they couldn't reach a conclusion, Ye Tiancheng and the others decided to try going into the water first. However, Fatty would be a problem because he hadn't woken up yet. No one could guarantee whether Fatty would recover normally after waking up or remain in his previous state.
After some discussion, the little fox decided to go first and test the water for everyone.
Ye Tiancheng was initially unwilling to agree, but the little fox pleaded with him. Moreover, Fatty was still unconscious, and Ye Tiancheng was the one among them who could least afford to have an accident. As long as Ye Tiancheng was fine, even if anyone else among them had an accident, with Ye Tiancheng present, there might still be hope.
But if Ye Tiancheng had an accident first, the consequences would be very difficult to predict.
Thus, Ye Tiancheng was eventually persuaded.
The little fox voluntarily walked towards the lake and began to step into the water. The water at the edge of the lake was still quite shallow, so the little fox could stand in the water and walk forward directly. He walked quite a distance before the lake water gradually deepened.
He struggled to advance in the lake water until the water reached his waist. Suddenly, the little fox lost his balance, and his body began to float unstably.
A buoyancy that seemed to come from nowhere suddenly appeared, as if trying to lift him towards the surface of the water.
With his obvious movement, Ye Tiancheng and the others, who had been watching the little fox, thought he had gotten into trouble. However, before they could react and ask about the little fox's condition, everyone saw that the lake surface suddenly rippled with a hazy golden light, and then the little fox completely floated onto the surface of the lake.
The little fox was no longer in the lake water. He was entirely on the surface of the lake, as if lying on flat ground.
He looked blankly at the lake surface beneath him and then subconsciously looked towards the exit location he had calculated. It was on the side of the lake center, where a floating golden halo could be seen, with spiritual light flowing within it.
The little fox was overjoyed. He quickly got up, stood straight, and waved to Ye Tiancheng and the others on the shore.
He shouted loudly to Ye Tiancheng, "Big Brother! Hurry up and come over! Bring Fatty Brother with you! The lake surface can be walked on directly now. I've seen the exit! We can go out!"
Let alone the little fox, even Ye Tiancheng and the others saw the golden halo in the center of the lake.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had never seen such a situation. They walked to the edge of the lake and tried again. Even in the shallow water closest to the shore, as soon as they stepped onto the lake surface, they would no longer step into the lake water, but rather walk as if on flat ground, very steadily. The lake surface beneath their feet was even as solid as concrete.
"It really can be walked on!" Nie Chongyang exclaimed in surprise, stomping on the lake surface.
Liang Ping looked at his "three-year-old" captain and silently rubbed his forehead.
Seeing this, Ye Tiancheng immediately picked up Fatty on his back again and walked towards the lake. The three of them walked towards the little fox. After meeting on the lake surface, they all walked together towards the exit.
"If we had known it would be like this, we might as well have tried walking on it earlier," Liang Ping sighed.
Nie Chongyang said, "Who could have guessed? Anyway, it's good that we can get out. We've spent a lot of time here. A lot of time must have passed outside. I just hope nothing has happened outside."
Ye Tiancheng said to Nie Chongyang, "Actually, there's no need to worry so much. That big black snake has already been dealt with. Logically speaking, as long as others don't act rashly and enter this illusionary space, there won't be any major problems."
Nie Chongyang thought about it and calmed down a little.
Fortunately, they were not a disorganized, undisciplined ragtag group. The obedience of his subordinates was very strong. Unless the situation got out of control, his team members would not disobey his orders.
From then on, things went much more smoothly. They were getting closer and closer to the exit.
Although they didn't completely let down their guard, everyone unconsciously relaxed a lot, filled with the joy of leaving this place soon.
As Ye Tiancheng carried Fatty towards the exit, suddenly, the weight on his back suddenly became lighter. He was startled and was about to turn his head to look when he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He lowered his head blankly and saw the sharp blade protruding from his chest.
Ye Tiancheng looked back again. Fatty had already gotten off his back and was holding a sharp knife. From his back, he had directly pierced through Ye Tiancheng's entire chest.
"...Fatty? Why..."
Ye Tiancheng couldn't believe it, yet it had happened.
Fatty, with a cold expression, pulled the knife out of Ye Tiancheng's back again. Ye Tiancheng's chest blood immediately gushed out. His face was filled with coldness as he said in a deep voice, "You owe me. This is just a little interest."
Because Ye Tiancheng was covering their rear, carrying Fatty, the little fox and Nie Chongyang were walking ahead, so they hadn't noticed the problem in time. By the time they heard the commotion and turned back, Fatty was already pulling out the sharp knife that had pierced through Ye Tiancheng's body and chest.
Everyone was stunned.
The little fox cried out in shock and rushed over, "Fatty Brother, what are you doing... How could you?! Big Brother!"
Not far from the exit, in an instant, the supporting force beneath their feet, which had become as solid as the ground, disappeared. Everyone inevitably began to sink into the lake.
Only Fatty, as the supporting force of the lake surface disappeared, his figure silently vanished before everyone's eyes, like a dissipating wisp of smoke.
As for the remaining four people, Ye Tiancheng, the little fox, Nie Chongyang, and Liang Ping, their vision suddenly went black, and they lost all consciousness, sinking directly into the lake.
In the small mountain village nestled among the mountains, in the guesthouse, Fatty's figure reappeared in the room where Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were staying.
In the room where Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were staying, at this moment, Fatty was not the only one present.
And the other members of the special operations team guarding the guesthouse outside had no idea about everything that had happened here, nor did they know what had transpired inside the illusion.
Fatty stood in the room, lowered his head, and saw the bloodstains still on the sharp blade.