After making up his mind, Ye Tiancheng remained calm. Their car drove for a while. They originally intended to send the child back to his original location, but the child couldn't figure out where he was and claimed to have lost his memory.
Thus, they took a detour. Ye Tiancheng was still preoccupied with finding the Fuxi Qin, but there was no trace of it. Instead, this child was the last shred of clue.
That evening, Ye Tiancheng secretly took out a divine artifact capable of summoning demons and monsters. His intention was to thoroughly test the child, to make him understand that feigning innocence and getting by wasn't that easy. With his fiery golden eyes, he wouldn't let any demon or monster escape. Any demon or monster would be under his surveillance and forced to flee.
If Fatty were present, he would surely mess things up, so Ye Tiancheng sent him away. He deliberately sent Fatty to scout the lower part of the adjacent valley. That area was still some distance away, and Fatty should not be able to hear the commotion here.
Soon after Ye Tiancheng used the divine artifact, there was some movement. Some worm-like monsters burrowed out from underground in the valley. The reason they were called worm-like monsters and not worms was that these creatures resembled worms in appearance, but were about 10 times larger than regular worms and had many legs. Not to mention their attack power, just looking at them was enough to make one feel sick to the point of having goosebumps, extremely nauseating.
These worms quickly charged towards the child. Ye Tiancheng pretended to lie nearby, closing his eyes to rest, but he wasn't actually sleeping. He just wanted to test the child and see how he would react.
Ye Tiancheng was waiting to see a spectacle, but unexpectedly, the child proactively shielded Ye Tiancheng. At the critical moment, fearing Ye Tiancheng would get hurt, he protected Ye Tiancheng with his own body, even though he was terrified.
These were no ordinary worms; they were monsters summoned by Ye Tiancheng. Previously, Ye Tiancheng used this divine artifact to upgrade Fatty's shovel, and it was very powerful. Moreover, the more it was used, the more powerful the summoned monsters became. The levels of these monsters increased with the use of the divine artifact, becoming more and more formidable.
The child cried out in pain but remained shielding Ye Tiancheng, showing no intention of moving away. In such a situation, one could truly see how kind and brave the child was.
Ye Tiancheng stared at the worms, his eyes wide. These worms were truly terrifying. They had already bitten into the child's flesh, and he was bleeding. Under these circumstances, even a test should be sufficient, and it shouldn't continue. If it continued, it would be inhumane. Pushing the test too far would be like pushing himself into a fiery pit. How could such a thing be allowed? Ye Tiancheng could still grasp the scale of things and wouldn't complicate matters impulsively.
Ye Tiancheng unleashed a surge of true qi, scattering the worms. The child then said with a wronged tone.
"If I hadn't used up my last talisman, I could have fought them. It's all my fault for being so useless. Are you okay, big brother?"
The child was clearly bleeding, and his face was swollen from a bite by a worm, making it difficult to open his eyes. Despite his pitiable appearance, he tried to appear strong and asked if Ye Tiancheng was alright.
The impact of this scene was too great for one's psyche. Even if Ye Tiancheng had a heart of stone, he couldn't help but be moved.
Especially since Ye Tiancheng wasn't heartless; he was naturally soft-hearted and often made mistakes when faced with such issues. This was a normal phenomenon.
"I'm fine. Don't move. Your wound might bleed again, and it will hurt more."
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng say he was fine, the child stubbornly checked him from head to toe, then muttered softly.
"You are my benefactor. Even if I were hurt, I wouldn't let my benefactor be harmed. You will be fine."
The child's actions at this moment were truly heartwarming. Just as Ye Tiancheng was hesitating whether to use his true qi to heal the child's wounds, Fatty rushed in.
"I saw the corpses of a few worm monsters. What happened? Were you two attacked? Are you injured?"
Fatty had initially checked on Ye Tiancheng but found him unharmed. He then turned his attention to the child, noticing several wounds, especially a severe one on his face that made it difficult to open his eyes, looking quite terrifying.
Fatty was truly shocked and quickly pleaded with Ye Tiancheng to save the child. At this point, nothing else was as important. The child was already so injured, and they, as adults, couldn't abandon him.
"Alright, I'll treat him right away."
Ye Tiancheng couldn't resist his own conscience. Regardless of how good the actual situation was, it was best to heal the person's injuries first. It was truly pitiful for such a young child to suffer such severe injuries.
Although Ye Tiancheng wasn't extremely powerful yet, healing someone was a relatively simple matter and certainly not that troublesome. He quickly used his true qi to heal the child's wounds.
After Ye Tiancheng finished, Fatty was still not entirely at ease. He checked again himself, his movements as cautious as if he were the child's own mother, showing considerable responsibility.
"Thank goodness, he's finally okay. I was so scared. Such a good child, ruined like that. I was terrified just now. If your Brother Ye had acted sooner, such a big joke wouldn't have happened."
Ye Tiancheng understood that Fatty was subtly mocking him for not intervening earlier, implying that Ye Tiancheng had deliberately let it happen. Of course, Fatty was a bit smarter this time and had guessed correctly.
"Alright, it was an accident. Let's not dwell on the past. It's good that everyone is safe."
Regarding the matter of testing the child, Fatty would likely not be able to guess. Ye Tiancheng didn't need to explain too clearly. There wouldn't be any misunderstandings between them as brothers. It was normal for Fatty to misunderstand Ye Tiancheng a little if he felt the child was pitiful. Ye Tiancheng didn't care about such things. They were brothers, and there was no need to be so explicit.
Fatty checked the child from head to toe again, and only when he was certain there wasn't even a small bruise did he finally relax.
"Thank heavens. This dangerous place is truly perilous for an ordinary child like you. You must protect yourself."
The child nodded, looking serious and well-behaved, with no complaints towards Ye Tiancheng. Ye Tiancheng felt a pang of guilt. What if he had truly misunderstood the child? Then he would have done something wrong, causing the child to suffer for nothing, making him seem very inconsiderate.
After today's sudden incident, instead of sleeping, Fatty was chatting with the child, occasionally glancing at Ye Tiancheng lying nearby, as if worried Ye Tiancheng might do something strange again. Now that Fatty had developed a bit of wariness towards Ye Tiancheng, Ye Tiancheng felt somewhat frustrated.
"By the way, even though you've forgotten your name, your Brother Ye and I will call you Little Fox. You look so pretty, a bit like a little fox. Let's use this as a temporary name. When your memory returns, you can tell us your real name."
When the child heard himself being called Little Fox, he showed no resistance. A normal boy might find the name strange, but he was exceptionally happy. His mouth split into a smile, revealing a set of big white teeth. He looked very pleased.
"Okay, this name is really nice. I like it very much."
The child was overjoyed to have this new name, Little Fox, and almost danced with delight. He truly looked like an innocent and pure child, making it hard to associate him with anything sinister.
"It's good that you like it. Then, from now on, you'll be called Little Fox. Get some rest. I'm so sleepy. If any more demons or monsters appear next time, just shout for your Brother Fatty, and I'll come and help you solve it. I'll definitely prevent you from getting hurt again."
After speaking, Fatty yawned widely, feeling extremely tired. He wanted to say more, but his voice grew fainter and fainter, eventually fading into silence.
Fatty actually fell asleep just like that. Ye Tiancheng was quite surprised. People who are carefree are good; falling asleep takes mere seconds for them.
The boy named Little Fox, seeing Fatty asleep, quickly helped tuck him in again. Despite his young age, he seemed very sensible, to an extreme degree, appearing very well-behaved and holding a grateful heart towards everyone.
Ye Tiancheng began to harbor doubts. Perhaps it was because he had experienced too much, or perhaps it was the so-called cynicism of adults. He always approached anything suspicious with the worst-case scenario in mind. Thinking about it made his head ache.
Had he wronged the child? Was he truly just an ordinary child? If so, and the child had suffered so much for him, Ye Tiancheng felt deeply guilty.
"Big Brother Ye, you should rest too. You've worked hard today to save me. You saved my life twice today. I will definitely remember your kindness forever."
Before falling asleep, Little Fox specifically reminded Ye Tiancheng. He acted like a little adult, which made Ye Tiancheng's heart feel warm, and he increasingly wondered if his judgment was wrong. There's a saying: judging a noble person with a petty mind. And all his previous actions felt like those of a petty person, which made him feel somewhat uneasy.
"Alright, go to sleep. Little Fox. It's a miracle that you survived today from the hands of those jackals and those terrifying worm monsters. You must have been quite frightened. Get some good rest."
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, Little Fox's face lit up with a happy smile, as if he could sense the change in Ye Tiancheng's attitude towards him. This was the most important thing to him.
"Thank you, Big Brother Ye. Thank you for being willing to believe me. I'm going to sleep now."
The child was incredibly sensible. Knowing that Ye Tiancheng harbored hostility towards him, he deliberately tried to please Ye Tiancheng, pushing humility to its extreme. Such a situation was truly difficult to witness, making one's heart feel warm.
The child's innocence was enough to overcome everything. Even if Ye Tiancheng told himself that the child still had many suspicious aspects, sometimes emotions could override reason. Humans are animals easily swayed by emotions, and this was an unchangeable fact. Ye Tiancheng had already resigned himself to it.
"Alright, sleep."
Ye Tiancheng had expected this to be a sleepless night, as he had to guard against the child whose identity was still unclear. Ye Tiancheng couldn't afford any more losses, which made him overly cautious, seeing danger in every rustle of leaves.
But for some reason, perhaps due to exhaustion, Ye Tiancheng couldn't stay awake for even half an hour. He soon fell asleep, and it was a deep, sound sleep. It felt as if he closed his eyes and opened them again, and it was already noon the next day.