Ye Tiancheng hesitated, feeling that staying by his side would only lead to more trouble. It seemed that everyone who had been with him had met with misfortune, and none had ended well.
Recalling those who had suffered because of him, Ye Tiancheng still felt immense guilt and could not let it go.
Otherwise, Ye Tiancheng would not have chosen such a reclusive method to solve problems back then. It was because he was guarding against inadvertently involving those around him.
Seeing Ye Tiancheng's hesitant expression, Hou Mingzhu continued to persuade him, "Don't think I'm crying wolf. If I truly want to follow you, you know I'm not someone who acts on impulse, nor would I ever joke about Qingcheng."
"What could be more important than the safety of our daughter's life? Of course, I'm considering everyone when I say this. After all, traveling with you across the country, and facing the risk of danger, is not an easy task, is it?"
"So, listen to me first. The outside world might not be clear to you since you've been confined here for some time. In reality, it's very chaotic. Cultivators have suddenly appeared, and there are quite a lot of them, causing some disruption to order. Otherwise, there wouldn't be cultivators with impure intentions targeting our daughter, Qingcheng."
"If you leave me and Qingcheng at home, it's truly easy for something to happen. I have no confidence that I can protect myself and our daughter from cultivators. At such a time, we all need to rely on you, Ye Tiancheng."
Hou Mingzhu looked steadily at Ye Tiancheng, meeting his serious and firm gaze, and said, "In this chaotic time, if we don't stay by your side, we will truly be in danger. Do you understand?"
With Hou Mingzhu saying so much, how could Ye Tiancheng not understand? He just frowned slightly, "Has the outside world become this chaotic?"
He indeed had not been to the outside world for a long time. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't quite normal. He recalled the incident involving Ou Xiaoxue not too long ago. The scale of the events within the entire school was clearly not a normal atmosphere.
This had affected a school, and it was merely a microcosm of the outside world. Peering into a well to see the sky, what was the outside world truly like?
Hou Mingzhu nodded firmly, "If you don't believe me, since you're going out anyway, you can see for yourself."
Ye Tiancheng's heart sank, because he remembered that when he had finally gathered the fragments of the Fuxi Qin, at least what he thought was the complete set, the restored Fuxi Qin was snatched away by the woman in red. The Pure Land had completely lost the protection and suppression of the Fuxi Qin fragments, and the consequences were truly unpredictable.
No one could say for sure what consequences would arise from so much black energy being released at that time.
Ye Tiancheng finally said, "I understand. I'll think about it carefully. But this time, I must send you and our daughter out first. You go home and wait for me. It's just a matter of these two days. Believe me, you'll leave, and I'll follow right behind."
"Notify your family to send a plane to pick you and Qingcheng up here. It would be best to leave tomorrow."
Hou Mingzhu frowned slightly, "Then what about you, Tiancheng? Qingcheng and I will leave tomorrow. When will you return?"
"This place is too remote, and it's difficult to get out of quickly. It's a wilderness. If you don't need too much time, Qingcheng and I will wait, and let the plane take you too."
Ye Tiancheng understood Hou Mingzhu's good intentions, but he finally said, "Actually, if you're talking about my situation, conservatively speaking, it will take at most a day to resolve, so it's really very quick."
"But I'm letting you and Qingcheng go first because it's truly for your own good. You should still remember how many evil spirits were trapped by the formation when you entered. When they are all released, it will be a chaotic scene. Even if I can protect you and Qingcheng, one wrong move could implicate those who come to pick us up, and it would lead innocent people astray."
"That's why I'm letting you go first. By then, Xiao Huli and I will be enough to protect ourselves, and it won't be a problem to get out. We'll come back to find you soon."
Hou Mingzhu knew that Ye Tiancheng might be hiding something in such matters, but when she was determined to have him do something, it was definitely because it was the safest choice for them.
She didn't insist further, "Alright, I just hope I can help you in some way. It's really inconvenient in a place like this. Since that's the case, I'll still listen to you. I'll have our family's plane wait in a nearby city, no need to rush back."
"When you come out, you'll have to go to a city to take a car or a plane anyway. Then we'll leave together. It won't matter, right? We won't be in the mountains anymore, and we won't be directly harmed or impacted by those things."
Ye Tiancheng glanced at Hou Mingzhu. This time, he didn't refuse her any further but nodded, "That's fine. Then you and Qingcheng wait for us in the nearest city. Xiao Huli and I will be back soon."
He pursed his lips, wondering if Xiao Huli would still be among those returning by then.
Ye Tiancheng knew that although he couldn't figure out why Xiao Huli's inner core origin was consistent with that of the ghost fox, it was definitely not a trivial matter. Xiao Huli must have some connection with the ghost fox, the only difference being whether Xiao Huli was aware of it.
However, because Ye Tiancheng had never told Hou Mingzhu about the potential issues with Xiao Huli, Hou Mingzhu didn't notice this. She only thought that Ye Tiancheng was still worried about the upcoming events.
By dinnertime, the whole family gathered in the dining room. Ye Qingcheng learned that Ye Tiancheng could go home with them. Then she learned of the arrangements made by Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu: she would leave with Hou Mingzhu by plane tomorrow, and Ye Tiancheng would come to find them the day after tomorrow to return together.
As for Xiao Huli, Ye Tiancheng didn't know how the Nuwa Stone had managed him, but Xiao Huli already knew about the matter and had no objections.
He always listened to Ye Tiancheng. So, when Ye Tiancheng wanted to live in seclusion in the illusion, he followed. Now that Ye Tiancheng said he was going out, he had no objections and would go out with Ye Tiancheng.
After the matter was settled, Ye Tiancheng spent the evening accompanying Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng. Hou Mingzhu contacted someone, and the next morning, the Hou family's plane arrived. Ye Tiancheng destroyed the formation outside and watched Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng leave.
The Odd Market had not yet noticed that the formation outside had been unsealed, and indeed, they couldn't discover it.
Because the entrance had been sealed off by A Zi, they couldn't come out to check, and naturally, they didn't know that the formation had been lifted.
After Hou Mingzhu and Mr. Ye had left for a while, Ye Tiancheng then proceeded to handle the next matters. Ye Tiancheng and his companions' luggage had already been packed and taken away. It was better to deal with things earlier to make leaving easier.
Ye Tiancheng took Xiao Huli straight to the entrance of the Odd Market. Unexpectedly, as the two of them entered, a purple shadow flashed up like lightning, and upon seeing them, it began to scratch.
Ye Tiancheng instinctively defended himself and protected Xiao Huli. The purple shadow missed its target and stopped in front of them. Ye Tiancheng looked closely and realized it was a purple fox, and he immediately knew this was likely A Zi.
The Nuwa Stone was now also with Ye Tiancheng, and it could already see A Zi.
Ye Tiancheng said to A Zi, "What are you going crazy for? We've found a way to solve the problem and came back here early to take you out, but you attack people as soon as you show up?"
"You found a way?" A Zi transformed back into human form and was slightly surprised. However, he quickly reacted, shook his head vigorously, and then put his hands on his hips, pointing at Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Huli, "No, no, why would I hit you for that?"
A Zi put one hand on his hip and pointed at Xiao Huli, angrily questioning, "You gave my pearl to someone else?"
Then Ye Tiancheng immediately understood why A Zi was so angry. A Zi had been unwilling to let anyone other than Xiao Huli have the inner core back then, but Xiao Huli gave the inner core to him, so he was bound to be angry.
Ye Tiancheng stopped him from questioning Xiao Huli further. Instead, he took out the purple pearl and tossed it to A Zi, "Don't blame him. I asked for it. Isn't this to solve the problem of you and your skin not being able to fuse and get out of this space?"
"Now that I'm returning this to you, give it to your old skin to swallow, and then you two can leave the entrance together. This time, you'll definitely be able to get out."
A Zi caught his inner core, his expression still very displeased, clearly still angry. However, given that the problem could be solved, one had to bow their head when under someone else's roof. He just grumbled a few complaints and said no more. Without a word, he summoned his old skin and fed his inner core to it.
Ye Tiancheng saw that he was concerned about the inner core and continued, "But don't worry, you still have to agree to a few conditions for us to leave this time."
"You see, we've returned your pearl, so we no longer have the leverage to control you. Therefore, you have to agree to sign a contract with me, allowing me to control you, otherwise..."
Before Ye Tiancheng could finish speaking, A Zi's face changed, "You returned it to me yourself, who can you blame? If you want me to sign a contract with you, it's absolutely impossible, unless it's your younger brother."
"Then I have to say, it can only be me. Even Xiao Huli won't do." Ye Tiancheng refused to back down.
A Zi narrowed his eyes, bared his teeth at Ye Tiancheng, and his face subtly shifted between human and fox features before returning to normal. "I absolutely cannot agree to be controlled by you."
Ye Tiancheng nodded, his expression unchanged, still very calm, "Then you mean you want to fight?"
In an instant, the atmosphere became tense. Ye Tiancheng and A Zi's powers collided, creating an impact that caused widespread destruction.
A Zi's form changed again. This time, he transformed into an adult human size, but he appeared too frail. Ye Tiancheng found him a bit familiar.
A Zi clashed with Ye Tiancheng and found that he didn't have a complete advantage. His expression sank, and a hint of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes. He suddenly shouted, "Still not acting? What are you waiting for!"
Ye Tiancheng's body stiffened, and his spine instantly felt cold. However, he didn't dare to be distracted at this moment. He could only mobilize a part of his cultivation to protect the open flank behind him.
But as Ye Tiancheng and A Zi fought fiercely, the being A Zi had called upon remained unresponsive for a long time. He watched as A Zi fought Ye Tiancheng alone. Ye Tiancheng, within the scope of his abilities, diverted some attention to Xiao Huli's direction, and his eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
Because Ye Tiancheng discovered that where Xiao Huli should have been standing, there was a familiar red figure standing quietly. Red clothes, long hair, and a beautiful face – it was him!