Letting a girl miss you doesn't necessarily have to be about longing; it can also be about hating you so much her teeth itch.

See? That fixed it. The light's much brighter now!

But, I couldn't say that at the time! If I did, the trick wouldn't work.

Thankfully, Leng Gou understood me and delivered the timely blow.

Xiao Ying's words must have been taught by Ye Yang. He wouldn't say it himself, so he had Xiao Ying say it. That guy is wicked!

I deliberately avoided looking at Wang Xiao Huan in the lamplight. "Alright, we're all family here. No one in Liangjie Hall dislikes you, except maybe Ye Yang's cats. Besides, they only dislike you because you're too bumpy to lie on. They don't run away from Lin Zhao and Shijie because they're soft!"

"Let's talk business first. When we get back, I'll have Shijie get you a long-haired rabbit skin to make underwear. That'll guarantee the cats won't run!"

When Xiao Ying saw the light dimming on his side, she quickly added, "Ye Yang said: Long-haired rabbit won't do. You'll need at least an old, well-fleeced sheep. Lots of wool!"

That did it. The light was bright, the reflection very clear. You could even see the white vapor coming out of Wang Xiao Huan's nostrils.

I said in a deep voice, "Hurry up and tell me, what's going on?"

Ye Yang and Butcher Wang quickly recounted their experiences.

I frowned. "Hua Lianqing, mechanical arts, Fan Fang..."

I pondered. "Lin Zhao, contact Nie Xiaochun immediately and have her check if there's a Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren named Fan Fang."

I said in a deep voice, "Now, the secret of Beishui Town isn't on one person, but comes from the struggle over a secret burial!"

"Back then, Hua Lianqing stayed in Beishui Town and never left, and continuously created several mechanisms, most likely to excavate some secret beneath Beishui Town."

"Just when she was about to succeed, an incident occurred, forcing her to retreat halfway. At the same time, she set fire to the entire Beishui Town and slaughtered Mati Village. From then on, she completely concealed the secret here."

Butcher Wang said in a low voice, "Looking at it this way, the secret of Beishui Town should still be there. Hua Lianqing has returned; she wants to reopen Beishui Town."

I shook my head. "No, Hua Lianqing didn't return to Beishui Town immediately. The first person to seek this secret should have been Fan Fang."

"The photo you saw in Fan Fang's office should be a photo of Fan Fang and Hua Lianqing together. I don't know why the two of them got together, but they even became husband and wife."

"However, the leader who built Beishui Town was definitely not Hua Lianqing."

"Hua Lianqing knew the situation of Beishui Town like the back of her hand. Since she rebuilt Xihua Lou, she should be able to open the secret chamber from back then."

"Why hasn't the secret chamber been opened yet? And why is Xihua Lou surrounded by a hotel?"

After asking two questions in a row, I answered myself, "If I'm not mistaken, the people who captured Xihua Lou back then didn't find Hua Lianqing's real secret chamber."

"Although their fire burned down Xihua Lou, it didn't burn down the real secret chamber. The secret of Hua Lianqing's true form is hidden in that secret chamber."

"Fan Fang must have discovered the secret chamber. He rebuilt Beishui Town and also put the secret chamber back in Xihua Lou. But, he didn't completely restore Xihua Lou to its original state. At least, he didn't rebuild Xihua Lou exactly as it was."

"That's why he hasn't been able to find a way to open the secret chamber."

"Ye Yang, am I right?"

Ye Yang said in a deep voice, "A lock within a building; it's another pinnacle work of the Southern Lock and Northern Core."

"A lock within a building means that the entire Xihua Lou is actually a huge lock, locking the secret chamber inside."

"This Xihua Lou is both the lock and the key. As long as the owner walks around the building according to a certain route, they can be led to the room they want to enter."

"Walking different routes opens different rooms. So there's no such thing as a key."

"The most amazing thing about a lock within a building is that it can automatically hide the core position according to the amplitude of the building's vibration."

"If someone is fighting, smashing, or robbing in the building, it's like sending a signal to the lock within the building—this building has been breached."

"The mechanisms inside the building will transfer the core secret chamber to other places, and may even replace the core with another secret chamber."

"The secret chamber opened by the heroes of the arts back then was actually just a smokescreen. Later, Beishui Town suddenly caught fire and was burned to the ground, which should also be due to that moved secret chamber."

Ye Yang paused slightly before saying, "If Fan Fang wants to completely restore Beishui Town and Xihua Lou, he should first find the secret chamber and rebuild the building outward with the secret chamber as the core."

"If he builds Xihua Lou first and then puts the secret chamber in, he won't be able to open the door of the secret chamber no matter what."

I clapped my palm and said, "That's right!"

"Fan Fang can't open the secret chamber, and neither can Hua Lianqing."

"So, the two sides launched a good show of mutual slaughter in Beishui Town."

"Fan Fang's people don't want the other side to touch the blueprints he hid in his office."

"Hua Lianqing's people also don't want anyone to approach Xihua Lou."

"So, after we came, every step we took made people feel that there were contradictions. This is why we have always been unable to see through Beishui Town."

I lit a cigarette and said, "Shijie, Ye Yang, you don't need to bother anymore. Go to Beishui Town, find a good restaurant to sit down, order a few dishes, and wait for me to come over. We'll meet the guests."