"And human blood coagulates faster and is lighter in color, while chicken blood is dark red."
Hou Mingzhu pondered, understanding the difference after Ye Tiancheng's explanation. On her own, she certainly wouldn't be able to distinguish between human blood and chicken blood.
However, this made her curious again.
Hou Mingzhu asked, "But why did such a large pool of chicken blood suddenly appear on the floor by the bed in Fatty and Sister-in-law's room?"
"Fatty's disappearance out of thin air is already strange. The room doors and windows were all locked from the inside, so there's no way Fatty could have gone out, but also no way for anyone else or any animal to have come in?"
Her question was perfectly normal, as it was indeed very strange.
However, Ye Tiancheng couldn't answer this question yet. Based solely on the clues at hand, it wasn't enough for Ye Tiancheng to deduce what had happened to Fatty last night.
Ye Tiancheng shook his head, "I still don't know why this happened."
"But at least Fatty should not be injured. The ground is covered in chicken blood, and judging by the bloodstains, it seems it was poured onto the ground after being contained. Even if I'm mistaken and it's not chicken blood, it couldn't be Fatty's blood from an injury."
Shao Ying's face was full of worry, "But Brother Fatty is missing now, and I don't know if something unexpected happened. I'm very worried..."
Ye Tiancheng didn't know how to respond. To be honest, even if his defenses weren't sufficient, they weren't that sloppy. Yet, without alerting anyone all night, not even the Nuwa Stone reacting, Fatty simply evaporated and disappeared. He suspected that no matter who had the mishap last night, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't have been able to prevent it.
He took a deep breath. It was precisely at times like these that he couldn't rush, couldn't lose his reason and composure. The sooner he could find Fatty, the sooner Fatty could escape danger.
Ye Tiancheng asked Shao Ying, "Sister-in-law, can you deduce when exactly Fatty disappeared?"
"If you can't deduce it, don't worry too much. Just tell me, can you confirm during which time periods Fatty was definitely still here? That would also be helpful."
Concerned about Fatty, Shao Ying knew the gravity of the situation. She tried to calm herself and carefully recalled everything that happened last night. After a long while, she replied to Ye Tiancheng, "I can't give an exact time, and I don't know when Brother Fatty disappeared."
"But I can confirm that around three or four in the morning last night, Brother Fatty was still in the room, and there was nothing unusual. Everything was as usual, at least I didn't notice anything different."
Ye Tiancheng frowned and pondered for a moment, then called out to Xiao Huli, "Xiao Huli, how much of your defensive gear do you have left? Give a set to your sisters-in-law and Qingcheng first. We'll assess the situation, and this might be related to the people or events in the village. We need to ask the villagers about the situation later, so let's hurry."
Xiao Huli quickly nodded and turned to run out of the room, "Okay, wait a moment, I'll go get it!"
He ran in and out twice, carrying a large pile of items from his own room, and then equipped Hou Mingzhu and the other two women from head to toe.
Since they were family, for the sake of safety, Xiao Huli gave them a complete set of both active and passive items that could be worn, and taught them how to use them.
Afterward, as Ye Tiancheng intended, Hou Mingzhu and the others left the space in the room to Xiao Huli and Ye Tiancheng.
As soon as the three women left, Xiao Huli immediately asked Ye Tiancheng if the Nuwa Stone had found anything. Ye Tiancheng shook his head, "Not much was found. There are few traces left in the room, only residual Yin energy. I'm afraid..."
He paused slightly. Although he didn't continue, Xiao Huli understood what Ye Tiancheng had left unsaid.
Although there were no other gains for now, the presence of residual Yin energy basically confirmed that the bride from yesterday might not have come to find him and Ye Tiancheng, but had instead come for Fatty.
Xiao Huli couldn't understand it at all, his face full of bewilderment, "What's going on with Liu Han? Even if she had grievances in life, it shouldn't involve us, right? Shouldn't she be looking for the one who insisted on marrying her? What's the deal with targeting us strangers?"
"And even if she's targeting us, why is she only interested in married men? First, she visited Brother Da's room? And then she went after Brother Fatty?"
"But if she made a move on Brother Fatty, why didn't she make a move on Brother Da before?"
While the answer to the previous questions was still unknown, Ye Tiancheng did know the reason for Xiao Huli's last question.
Ye Tiancheng told Xiao Huli, "There can only be two possibilities for her not making a move on me. First, she might have genuinely not intended to make a move on me, so she did nothing."
"Second, although some humans might have lost this ability, after death, and some animals, they possess the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm, and they can sense danger."
"I had already discovered her, and to protect Mingzhu and Qingcheng, I was fully on guard. If she knew she couldn't win, and if she had any shred of reason left, she wouldn't have attacked me."
Xiao Huli understood and nodded, "But Brother Fatty also has cultivation. Why did she dare to attack Brother Fatty? If she could defeat Brother Fatty, then she must be quite powerful and could be a significant threat."
Ye Tiancheng's expression was also grim. If she could attack Fatty, then she was indeed not to be underestimated.
Xiao Huli added, "I checked the protective measures I left behind yesterday, and they've all turned into black ash."
What he left were talismans, which were easier to hide, could be folded into any shape, or tucked into a crevice, which was why he chose them, and he had left quite a few yesterday.
But looking at them today, they had all turned into black ash, not a single one remaining. Only triggered talismans would turn into this state, and both Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli knew this.
Xiao Huli said, "This must have caused quite a commotion. I placed so many things, how could Sister-in-law Shao Ying not have noticed anything at all?"
Xiao Huli was simply expressing his confusion.
Ye Tiancheng thought he was suspecting something, so he told Xiao Huli, "Shao Ying is an ordinary person. In such a situation, being affected by something without realizing it is not uncommon. She might indeed not have noticed anything."
Seeing Ye Tiancheng's serious reply, Xiao Huli waved his hand, "I just found it a bit strange, I wasn't suspecting Sister-in-law Shao Ying."
"Mm." Ye Tiancheng nodded and said nothing more.
The two of them searched the room together again, trying not to miss any clues, but there were indeed no other abnormal traces.
After the fruitless search, Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli were certain that they couldn't resolve this matter without involving the villagers of this settlement.
Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli went to find Zhao Hai. To clarify the situation with the villagers, they naturally had to find the owners of the house they were renting first. Moreover, the person disappeared from Zhao Hai's house, so they had to find Zhao Hai.
On their way to find him, Zhao Hai happened to be coming to find them, preparing to take them to the banquet again. Seeing Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli approaching, he quickly called out to them, "Where are you two going? It's time to go to Zhao Xudong's house for the feast. Get ready, and we'll leave?"
Ye Tiancheng said to Zhao Hai, "No hurry, we have an urgent matter. We were just looking for you."
Zhao Hai looked a bit surprised and asked Ye Tiancheng, "What is it?"
Ye Tiancheng said, "My friend Fatty, who came with me, the one with a girlfriend, do you still remember?"
Zhao Hai nodded, "Yes, yes, I remember. I have an impression of everyone who came with you, I can basically remember them all. What's wrong?"
"It's my friend Fatty, he's missing." Ye Tiancheng frowned, his face showing some anxiety.
"Today, when we went to wake him and his girlfriend, his girlfriend woke up to find him gone. But what's strange is that the room's doors and windows were all tightly shut and locked from the inside, and there was also a large pool of chicken blood on the floor!"
"How did this person disappear? Does your house have any secret passages?"
Zhao Hai's first reaction was denial, "How could my house have secret passages? Why would ordinary people like us bother with such things?"
"Your friend... Hiss! You said he was locked in his room, and then he disappeared? No, could something have been mistaken? Could it be his girlfriend? Did she take him out at night and then come back to lock the door herself or something?"
Ye Tiancheng stated it was impossible, "Alas, let's not even talk about whether she could do such a thing. Even if she could, my sister-in-law couldn't have."
"And there are no obvious traces in the room, only that large pool of chicken blood. That chicken blood is particularly frightening. My sister-in-law, a woman, with her man missing and a large pool of blood in the room, was almost scared to death. Even after I discovered it was chicken blood, she hadn't fully recovered."
"Moreover, although my brother isn't as fat as before, he's still a bit overweight now. My sister-in-law is so thin and weak, how could she have managed to do all this without leaving any traces?"
Zhao Hai was also flustered upon hearing the news and was making wild guesses, but after Ye Tiancheng's analysis, he felt it was indeed true. What could a woman do?
He also remembered Fatty's physique. While some women in their village who worked in the fields might be able to move him, Shao Ying would likely be exhausted and definitely unable to do it without leaving any trace.
Zhao Hai scratched his head in distress. This was his house, after all. If something were to happen, how could anyone live in this house afterward?
He thought for a moment, then suddenly clapped his hands and looked up abruptly, immediately saying to Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli with great urgency, "Quick, let's go to Zhao Xudong's house!"
Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli exchanged glances and immediately said, "We'll go call the family. We're worried about leaving them alone in this situation, so we need to take them with us."
Zhao Hai hurriedly urged Ye Tiancheng, "Then hurry, hurry! When did this person disappear? If too much time passes, we absolutely cannot delay!"
Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli dared not delay. They rushed to call Hou Mingzhu and the others. Shao Ying, upon hearing that there might be news of Fatty, also came along. However, Ye Tiancheng had no intention of leaving her alone in the house; it was too unsafe.
Fatty had already met with an accident. If he couldn't even protect Fatty's girlfriend Shao Ying, Ye Tiancheng didn't know how he would explain it to Fatty later.
Zhao Hai also called his wife. Seeing that Ye Tiancheng's group was complete, he led them all towards Zhao Xudong's house.
When they arrived at Zhao Xudong's house, the villagers who had come for the feast saw their demeanor and knew something was amiss.