Ye Tiancheng and the little fox went down to the ground. Planting vegetables was something that, although the Nuwa Stone could help, most of the time they had to do the planting and harvesting themselves.
Just as the Nuwa Stone had playfully said before, they couldn't be too far removed from ordinary people's lives; occasionally, they still needed to experience what it was like to be an ordinary person.
However, this time, Ye Tiancheng took the little fox down to the ground not to plant, but to pick vegetables.
It was snowing in the illusion. Strictly speaking, it was snowing outside. To balance the feelings of Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, the Nuwa Stone not only regulated the flow of time, day and night, but also the seasonal changes, according to the external situation.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were now experiencing the first snow of winter. Ye Tiancheng planned to make a big meal.
Of course, even though he said that, they had only recently started living independently and hadn't been doing so for too long. Ye Tiancheng's cooking skills hadn't improved much yet, so he was actually just planning to have hot pot.
Hot pot was the simplest way to have a big meal. One could stir-fry a hot pot base themselves, or if they were too lazy to stir-fry, they could just buy a packet of hot pot base. Even though Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were still in the mountains by the sea, buying hot pot base wasn't a particularly difficult task for them.
However, Ye Tiancheng chose to make the hot pot base himself. After all, it would take about a day to walk out of these mountains, and at least two days to return. It wasn't worth it just for a hot pot.
Stir-frying a hot pot base didn't require much skill, especially when Ye Tiancheng had all his ingredients prepared.
Another reason for choosing hot pot was that it was winter, and it was suitable for warming up the body with hot pot.
They now had a refrigerator, and inside, Ye Tiancheng had placed a large basin of bone broth. This was what he used when he was too lazy to cook properly and wanted to have noodles or vermicelli, to avoid using artificial broths like stock cubes every time. That large basin of bone broth was perfect for making hot pot broth.
A few days earlier, because the weather had already turned cold, even though it hadn't started snowing yet, Ye Tiancheng had already prepared the materials and built a greenhouse over the vegetable patch.
Even with the Nuwa Stone's existence, these vegetables and fruits probably didn't need much protection, as none of them grew according to normal patterns; they were all off-season and defied growth cycle rules.
However, Ye Tiancheng chose to build the greenhouse so that he and the little fox wouldn't have to suffer so much when picking and planting vegetables.
Just like now, when Ye Tiancheng and the little fox went down to the ground to pick vegetables, they wouldn't be rained on or get too cold.
They had the vegetables for the hot pot readily available, saving them the effort of going to buy groceries. Moreover, the vegetables they grew themselves, with the Nuwa Stone helping to hasten their growth, were far superior to any vegetables bought outside; there was simply no comparison.
They also went to the fruit trees to pick some oranges. There were watermelons in the melon shed, and they picked a not-too-large one. After eating the hot pot, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox could each have half, holding it in their hands and scooping it out with a spoon.
Actually, according to adult habits, one might also have a bottle of wine on the side. However, the little fox was a minor, and considering the presence of a minor, Ye Tiancheng felt that if the little fox couldn't drink, it wouldn't be good for him to drink alone, so he didn't buy any wine.
Afterward, stir-frying the hot pot base and pouring in the bone broth to boil was a quick matter. The bone broth quickly came to a boil, and they added the vegetables, meatballs, and sliced beef and lamb. Ye Tiancheng and the little fox easily enjoyed a hearty hot pot dinner.
The aroma of the hot pot filled the room. In the rising steam, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox looked at each other, feeling an unexpected sense of happiness and warmth.
In fact, living like this was much more comfortable. After experiencing so many things, Ye Tiancheng actually just wanted to live a stable and leisurely life. However, if it were outside the illusion, Ye Tiancheng's desire for such a life would be like a dream that came true faster than he could dream it.
Perhaps he wouldn't even be able to rest peacefully in his dreams, as he would be woken up and forced, or have to voluntarily participate in all sorts of troublesome matters again.
It wasn't that he couldn't rest at all, but he would inevitably be forced into trouble again before long.
However, what Ye Tiancheng feared most wasn't being forced into trouble again. After all, no matter what happened, one would get used to it after encountering it many times. And he himself wasn't afraid of the things he encountered.
What he feared more was that because he was involved in those troubles, the people around him would also be dragged into them, burdened, encounter all sorts of dangers, and even lose their lives.
This was the consequence that Ye Tiancheng could least bear, which was why he had resolutely chosen to distance himself from Hou Mingzhu and Fatty.
After finishing the hot pot and cleaning up the pots and pans, Ye Tiancheng walked out of the old house again. Ye Tiancheng had also built a crude, handmade house outside, which was reasonably well-equipped inside, looking like a place where someone lived.
This crude, handmade house was mainly built by Ye Tiancheng to deal with Hou Mingzhu and Fatty. Otherwise, if he had simply brought out the old house, it would have looked like he had premeditated it.
Moreover, the old house contained many things, as well as their vegetable patch. If anyone saw it, they would immediately realize that they had prepared long ago to live there permanently.
Ye Tiancheng usually made video calls to Hou Mingzhu and the others from this house.
Before this house was built, Ye Tiancheng would directly set up a tent outdoors and make calls from inside the tent.
Sometimes, when making calls, Ye Tiancheng would also bring the little fox along. Occasionally, Fatty would call the little fox directly, so the little fox would also come over sometimes. Both of them needed such a place.
They were also very careful about this normally. They never took calls inside the old house and would even confirm that there were no flaws visible from any angle before choosing to take calls.
Furthermore, because of a previous accident, where a large lizard was also trapped in the illusion, Ye Tiancheng had fought with that large lizard to collect the fragments of the Fuxi Qin.
Since the large lizard could be trapped, they had to be a little cautious. It was very possible that other creatures could also be trapped. If it were anything else, it would be fine, but if a person were trapped, it would be troublesome.
The illusion now did not have any lethal power. Moreover, if someone accidentally stumbled into it, neither Ye Tiancheng nor the little fox could kill them to silence them just because of this. That would be too absurd. Neither of them was the type of person who disregarded human life; they would absolutely not do such a thing.
Otherwise, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't have been so bothered by Hou Mingzhu's actions towards Hou Qing'er, and he still remembered it. It was difficult for him to get over such things. It could only be said that so much time had passed, and there was no use saying more.
Moreover, the relationship between Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu was now different from before. They had gone through so much together, and with the birth of their daughter, Ye Qingcheng, Ye Tiancheng finally stopped dwelling on it so much. However, this did not mean that he had forgotten about it; Ye Tiancheng just didn't mention it anymore.
Since they couldn't kill those who trespassed, they still needed to be careful. Even if they didn't take the correct path, it didn't mean there was no way to approach the old house. Even people who didn't understand illusions and formations could stumble upon the correct path.
So, to be safe, Ye Tiancheng and the Nuwa Stone joined forces to set up a barrier and a new formation near the old house.
This way, except for Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, even if someone accidentally stumbled into the illusion and approached the old house, they would not be able to see or get close to it.
And if someone entered the illusion, the Nuwa Stone would also remind Ye Tiancheng and the little fox in advance. At that time, they would both conceal themselves and go to the backup crude handmade wooden house.
This way, it would be foolproof. No one could discover the old house, and no one could reveal the true situation of Ye Tiancheng and the little fox here in any form.
As for if someone really trespassed, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't let them leave so quickly, because he needed to maintain the setting that he and the little fox couldn't leave the formation. Therefore, he would only open the formation after a certain period to let people go, and then close the formation again after a short while, and move away.
This would be a complete closed loop. In the eyes of others, everything would be fine, and Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would have no risk of exposure.
Ye Tiancheng came to this crude, handmade wooden house tonight mainly to call Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng. After all, winter had arrived, and it was the first snow on his side, which was worth calling home for.
Moreover, the warm and happy feeling of eating hot pot just now made Ye Tiancheng unable to help but think of them. Although he had decided to live separately, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but miss them.
With winter arriving and the first snow already fallen, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox clearly wouldn't be able to spend the New Year with Hou Mingzhu, Ye Qingcheng, and Fatty, a total of five people, this year.
And for a long time to come, they probably wouldn't be able to spend the New Year together. This kind of life would last for a long time, and Ye Tiancheng had a lot to endure.
According to the estimated time Ye Tiancheng gave Hou Mingzhu and the others, Hou Mingzhu and the others knew that Ye Tiancheng couldn't return home for the New Year this year. Hou Mingzhu didn't blame Ye Tiancheng for anything; she just hoped that Ye Tiancheng would return home safely as soon as possible. Ye Tiancheng couldn't say anything, and he actually felt suppressed and pained.
However, his progress in collecting the fragments of the Fuxi Qin was almost complete. In about seven or eight more days, Ye Tiancheng would be able to completely take the fragments of the Fuxi Qin from here. At that time, the formation here would automatically transfer, along with the illusion, to a place where the fragments of the Fuxi Qin were located.
Ye Tiancheng thought to himself that if he were ever to go home, it would probably be after he had collected all the fragments of the Fuxi Qin.
After he collected all the fragments of the Fuxi Qin and obtained the Fuxi Qin, he could do the things he was supposed to do. After doing those things, Ye Tiancheng thought that, no matter what, he should be able to return home with the little fox.