Ye Tiancheng ordered a rather lavish spread of dishes. As for psychological trauma, Ye Tiancheng hadn't witnessed it firsthand, and the little fox had also forgotten by now, so she was no longer as averse to meat. She could still eat meat, just not in such large quantities.
Since Ye Tiancheng didn't want to tire the little fox and himself by running around, they stayed at the restaurant for quite some time before Ye Tiancheng finally left with the little fox.
They needed the cover of night to conceal their movements, so it wasn't until it was very dark that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox truly set off. They disguised themselves, with Ye Tiancheng inflicting some wounds on himself.
While the little fox sustained no injuries, Ye Tiancheng smeared some of the blood from his wounds onto her.
Before their actual operation, they had contacted the construction site. Hou Mingzhu had left people to secure the site, and the foreman of the construction site would cooperate with Ye Tiancheng in staging a scene.
As for the stone at the construction site, the Nuwa Stone could not be returned. However, making the stone disappear into thin air would be troublesome. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng planned to make the stone reappear, but this time, it would be a fake stone.
Ye Tiancheng would not reveal the truth to the foreman and the others. He would only tell them that the problem had been solved and leave the stone there before departing. Anyone who came to investigate, seeing Ye Tiancheng leave with the little fox in such a sorry state and the stone still in place, would not pursue Ye Tiancheng for trouble.
As for whether those people would discover that Ye Tiancheng had swapped the stone, that was not something to worry about at all. No one could detect anything amiss. After all, even those who had previously investigated the Nuwa Stone could not discern any difference between it and an ordinary stone.
Under the cover of night, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox evaded the sight of all observers and reached a hidden spot. They removed their old disguises, donned new ones, and then, with the little fox using talismans, they openly and brazenly headed towards the construction site.
It was thanks to the little fox's talismans that they could act so boldly. Under the concealment of the talismans, no one could see them.
Once Ye Tiancheng and the little fox entered the construction site, Ye Tiancheng communicated with the Nuwa Stone in his heart, instructing it to proceed with their plan.
After the Nuwa Stone informed Ye Tiancheng that it was ready, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox struck a pose. Then, enveloped in a blinding white light, a stone identical to the original appeared in its former location, leaving no trace of any alteration.
What everyone could see was Ye Tiancheng adopting a protective stance over the little fox, appearing before the large stone with her.
The matter did not end there. Ye Tiancheng had other loose ends to tie up, particularly concerning the fat man who had entered the illusion with them. The fat man's situation needed to be addressed.
Furthermore, whether it was Ye Tiancheng's distrust of people or not, he intended to use the Nuwa Stone's power to alter the memories of everyone present, including the foreman, the construction workers, and even the people Hou Mingzhu had left behind.
The reality they perceived would become the truth they believed, and they would forget that Ye Tiancheng had already left the site once.
Ye Tiancheng had already informed Hou Mingzhu of such matters before he set out, and he had done the same for those who accompanied them back.
Other people's assurances were not enough to put his mind at ease. After all, even if they were loyal to him at this moment, who knew if their loyalty would remain unchanged in the future? Even if their loyalty remained constant, there was still the concern that they might be subjected to other threats and reveal Ye Tiancheng's secrets.
Only when others could no longer speak of these matters could he truly feel at ease.
However, in that case, Ye Tiancheng could not possibly harm other people's lives. Fortunately, the Nuwa Stone was now available to help Ye Tiancheng resolve the issue of secrecy, so he was not too troubled.
After all, if he couldn't be absolutely sure, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't have chosen such a foolish plan. It would have been better to let others believe that he had already escaped with the Nuwa Stone and not even return for this trip.
Indeed, everything proceeded as planned, without any hitches. With the Nuwa Stone in hand, many things became much more convenient. The Nuwa Stone could create illusions, so Ye Tiancheng instructed it to create an illusion of a fat man who had fallen unconscious and was severely injured, to be taken away by someone.
People outside did notice Ye Tiancheng, but upon seeing him in such a disheveled state and the stone reappearing, although those who had been sucked in earlier were still missing, the fact that the stone was back in place caused most people to temporarily let Ye Tiancheng off the hook.
As for the remaining few who were not thinking clearly, Ye Tiancheng released his aura as a cultivator. Under the intimidation of his cultivation, no one dared to approach him thoughtlessly.
To perfect the plan, Ye Tiancheng also left an illusion there, a weakened version of the illusions used by those foreign races for hunting. It could only be activated once, and then the second group to enter would know what the first group had experienced.
Moreover, they would not know that the stone had been swapped, because they too had been drawn into it and could not detect any anomaly with the stone, so they would not suspect anything. Their attention would be focused even less on Ye Tiancheng.
This was Ye Tiancheng's way of preventing people from remembering him, someone who had entered and exited, after repeatedly failing to investigate the Nuwa Stone's situation, and then trying to find out what he had experienced inside, thus causing him trouble.
As long as everyone else could know the truth and falsehood, the real and the illusory, these matters could be passed over, and no one would ever know the truth.
Before leaving, Ye Tiancheng did tell the foreman that the matter of the stone had been resolved. However, he also had the Nuwa Stone subtly influence the foreman, advising him not to approach the stone again.
As for how to explain that the stone's situation had been resolved, yet it would still draw in another group of people, that could only be resolved by the Nuwa Stone, causing them to subconsciously ignore the anomalies.
The foreman and the others were very grateful to Ye Tiancheng. They would only remember that Ye Tiancheng had saved their lives before, and now he had helped them resolve the anomaly caused by the stone, even suffering such serious injuries.
The foreman wanted to treat Ye Tiancheng to something, but Ye Tiancheng, citing the need to treat his brother and his urgency to return home, left in a hurry.
As for Hou Mingzhu's whereabouts, that was left to Hou Mingzhu, and a reasonable explanation had already been provided, so Ye Tiancheng did not need to worry about it. Hou Mingzhu had already been dealt with earlier.
In any case, everyone would only know that in the period before Ye Tiancheng "finally appeared," Hou Mingzhu had temporarily left the construction site due to some matters and was not present, so she would know nothing.
Seeing that the plan had been executed perfectly and without any flaws, Ye Tiancheng breathed a sigh of relief. Shortly thereafter, the plane sent by Hou Mingzhu arrived in time, taking Ye Tiancheng away from this city once more.
And after this, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would likely never return to this place in their lives.
After Ye Tiancheng and the little fox left, Hou Mingzhu's people also withdrew from the construction site. For the sake of the foreman and the construction workers' lives, Ye Tiancheng told them not to get involved in the dispute over the stone anymore, lest they be drawn in and lose their lives for no reason.
So, after Ye Tiancheng left, the foreman and the others came out to discuss, feeling that the construction site was too unsafe and that the stone could not be resolved. Nothing was more important than their lives, so they decided to take everyone out to live elsewhere until things settled down.
The foreman was actually quite worried. He didn't know if their houses could still be built after so many incidents. He only hoped that they could still get paid and pay the construction workers their wages.
The foreman's behavior of seeking advantage and avoiding harm was normal. After all, Hou Mingzhu's people were no longer there to protect them. Fearing for their lives and leaving was not strange, and no one suspected that at such a critical juncture, anyone would let go of the Nuwa Stone to make things difficult for them. Therefore, the foreman's withdrawal was considered safe.
After this, with even Ye Tiancheng having left, there was naturally no shortage of people to investigate the secrets of the Nuwa Stone. Naturally, after a fight, the illusion left by Ye Tiancheng was activated, and many people entered the illusion once more.
And this time, the people who came out were no longer just Ye Tiancheng and the little fox.
To be honest, given the situation of the previous illusion, if Ye Tiancheng hadn't lowered the difficulty of breaking the illusion this time to find an excuse for himself, it would have been difficult for so many people to escape the illusion. Although they were all in a sorry state, Ye Tiancheng was completely safe.
Ye Tiancheng no longer had to worry about this incident implicating his family and friends, or causing Hou Mingzhu and the others to be threatened by those cultivators.
After all, if one were to be precise, Ye Tiancheng and the others had returned empty-handed. On the surface, they were no different from others. Ye Tiancheng was not someone to be trifled with, and thus, the matter truly came to a conclusion.
However, Ye Tiancheng, who was currently sitting on a plane and leaving this city with the little fox, could not know these things. But these situations were within his expectations. He had been mentally prepared before anything happened, and it could be said that what happened later basically did not exceed his predictions.
This time, with the little fox's cooperation, the plan could be even more perfect. Although the Nuwa Stone could affect the memories of others and make some alterations, altering too many people's memories on a large scale would consume a lot of energy. Therefore, the little fox's talismans could be said to have played a significant role.
Ye Tiancheng also told Hou Mingzhu to prepare some delicious food to reward the little fox when she returned. The little fox had gone through hardships and faced dangers for him this time, and Ye Tiancheng wished to compensate her well.
Hou Mingzhu, of course, did not hesitate and immediately had everything arranged. In matters like these, she always handled things for Ye Tiancheng with great thoughtfulness, never letting Ye Tiancheng worry about anything. She was truly a wonderful woman.