"I'm also on a tight schedule and in a hurry. I don't know how long you'll need, so I went to deal with other matters temporarily. I didn't expect it to take so long. I apologize."
Ye Tiancheng briefly explained to Nie Chongyang.
Xiao Miaomiao followed closely behind Nie Chongyang. After Ye Tiancheng finished speaking with Nie Chongyang, his gaze shifted downwards and happened to meet Xiao Miaomiao's eyes. Both of them froze.
If this were truly an ordinary child with whom he had some connection, Ye Tiancheng would have greeted her kindly. However, now, facing Xiao Miaomiao, Ye Tiancheng was a bit unsure of what to say.
Knowing that this child was actually the manifestation of Long Miaomiao, Ye Tiancheng's feelings towards her were somewhat complicated.
Finally, the first person to speak was Xiao Miaomiao.
Xiao Miaomiao said to Ye Tiancheng, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to deceive you before."
Ye Tiancheng knew she was referring to the incident where Xiao Miaomiao had pretended to be a bullied child and asked him for help.
Since it wasn't out of malice, Ye Tiancheng didn't dwell on it too much.
Ye Tiancheng nodded slightly and replied to Xiao Miaomiao, "I understand, I don't blame you, so you don't need to apologize."
Xiao Miaomiao was quite frank.
"Regardless, it was still deception, and an apology is necessary. I understand the principle."
Ye Tiancheng shook his head helplessly and said, "I truly don't blame you. Under those circumstances, what you did was understandable. There's no right or wrong, and it didn't cause me any trouble."
As he said this, he glanced at Nie Chongyang and continued, "It's important to get down to business. I assume your time is also limited. Shall we go and examine the mirrors?"
Nie Chongyang nodded.
Ye Tiancheng then asked the Helian family members to step aside and guard the perimeter of the house. They went inside themselves to see what the problem was with the mirrors, and whether the "Hou Mingzhu" who had emerged from them was related to these mirrors.
The Helian family members did not dare to object and quickly withdrew as instructed.
Nie Chongyang looked at Long Miaomiao and the little fox beside Ye Tiancheng. Considering Ye Tiancheng's current situation, he suddenly asked, "Regarding your side... have you gained control over the 'Hou Mingzhu' from the mirror?"
Since everyone else had left, Ye Tiancheng was not afraid to discuss this.
He replied to Nie Chongyang, "She hasn't been exposed yet. We discovered her true nature but temporarily don't want to alarm her, so we haven't exerted much control. We've only implemented a certain degree of isolation. She won't be privy to important or sensitive matters."
After Nie Chongyang nodded, he asked again, "What about your daughter? Wasn't she said to be fine? Why aren't you keeping her by your side for protection? Aren't you afraid that the fake 'Hou Mingzhu' might harm her?"
How could Ye Tiancheng not care for his child? Naturally, he wouldn't forget about this.
Although he hadn't brought Ye Qingcheng up the mountain, and had even made excuses for leaving Hou Mingzhu in the town below, Ye Tiancheng had even less reason to take Ye Qingcheng with him. Thus, she had to remain in the town as well.
However, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't be careless.
Ye Tiancheng said to Nie Chongyang, "How could I not protect my own daughter?"
"I left Qingcheng in the town below because I couldn't reasonably bring her up the mountain. However, I entrusted Qingcheng to the care of Mingzhu's friend, the eldest daughter of the Helian family. There won't be any problems."
Nie Chongyang then said, "It's good that you have it all figured out. Remember to notify us promptly if there are any developments. If you need our cooperation or assistance, we will help."
Ye Tiancheng did not refuse, fully accepting Nie Chongyang's goodwill.
"Then I'll trouble you. It's the same for your side; if you encounter any problems that you can't resolve, feel free to reach out to us."
This was a tacit understanding of their cooperation. The closer they cooperated, the more beneficial it would be for both of them. In subsequent actions, Ye Tiancheng would have much more freedom to do many things due to his close cooperation with the officials, without worrying about causing any other trouble.
As they spoke, the two of them walked into the house, with others following behind. They would exchange a few words if they had something to say, and remain silent if they didn't.
Because the mirrors were clearly problematic, Nie Chongyang and the others dared not get too close to them. If not for Xiao Miaomiao's presence, they wouldn't have dared to move these mirrors. However, it was also clearly impossible to keep these mirrors in their own rooms.
Therefore, after Helian Yi hosted them and arranged for them to stay, Nie Chongyang requested an empty room specifically to house these mirrors.
This room would not be used for living, and under normal circumstances, they would not frequently enter it.
Since Xiao Miaomiao was present, there was no need to worry about any other problems with the mirrors or their loss.
The mirrors looked like ordinary mirrors. If one hadn't personally experienced those strange events, who would believe that these mirrors were problematic?
Nie Chongyang led Ye Tiancheng to the room designated for the mirrors.
As this room did not require inhabitants and there was no concern about the mirrors occupying space and causing inconvenience to the residents, Nie Chongyang and his team placed the mirrors in a conspicuous location. As soon as Ye Tiancheng and the others entered the room, they could see the mirrors at a glance.
Upon entering the room, Nie Chongyang said to Ye Tiancheng, "All the mirrors are here. We've brought back all that we could find."
"At the time, when we retrieved the mirrors, some unexpected incidents occurred, which caused the delay and made the process rather time-consuming. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any danger."
Ye Tiancheng turned his head to look at Nie Chongyang.
"Oh, right, I forgot to ask you, what unexpected incidents happened when you retrieved the mirrors?"
Hearing Ye Tiancheng ask about this, Nie Chongyang, who had intended to tell Ye Tiancheng anyway, answered truthfully.
Nie Chongyang replied to Ye Tiancheng, "Oh, it was like this."
"When we arrived at the guesthouse, we immediately began retrieving the mirrors. It was fine at first, but after we took down the mirrors with Xiao Miaomiao's help, the situation changed."
Ye Tiancheng's heart stirred, and he pressed further, "What changed?"
Nie Chongyang replied, "We had apprehended the guesthouse owner, Mei Mei, and her husband earlier. However, many of the victims had not yet been discovered. But after the mirrors were removed, all the hidden items were instantly exposed to everyone."
"The scene at that time..."
Nie Chongyang paused slightly as he spoke, seemingly still recalling the scene.
He continued, "Among the victims, some were indigenous residents of that village. After the previous events were resolved, those villagers returned. Upon seeing the reappeared victims and realizing what had happened, their emotions became extremely agitated."
"Many villagers had assumed that their missing relatives and friends had gone to the big cities to work and were temporarily out of contact, never expecting that they had already been murdered."
"Later, we explained the situation and informed them why we arrested the guesthouse owner Mei Mei and her husband. Even though the villagers knew that the two had been apprehended, they were still furious. Calming their emotions and tidying up the suddenly exposed items indeed took us considerable effort."
Just by hearing Nie Chongyang's account, Ye Tiancheng could imagine how chaotic the situation must have been.
Ye Tiancheng sighed softly and said, "Given such an occurrence and situation, it was indeed unavoidable."
However, Ye Tiancheng then had a slight realization.
"This suggests that what happened on your end seems to prove that some of our previous conjectures are very likely true."
Nie Chongyang asked with some confusion, "What conjectures?"
Ye Tiancheng remembered that he hadn't told Nie Chongyang about this matter yet. He then said, "I forgot, I don't think I've told you about this... How about this, I'll have Little Fox come and explain to you. He was the one who deciphered the formation and led the way, so he can explain it more clearly."
"Miaomiao and I will study the mirrors first."
With this arrangement, Ye Tiancheng took Long Miaomiao and headed towards the mirrors. The seemingly tiny Xiao Miaomiao also consciously followed along; she could be of assistance, being an external manifestation of Long Miaomiao.
Little Fox was nearby, roughly explaining their previous conjectures to Nie Chongyang.
There was a reason why Ye Tiancheng specifically asked Little Fox to speak with Nie Chongyang.
Nie Chongyang and his group had only recently begun to interact with the peculiar side of this world, and their knowledge in many aspects was very limited. This was a period requiring them to absorb a large amount of knowledge, and it was a good opportunity for knowledge dissemination. It also allowed Little Fox to teach Nie Chongyang and the others some things, thereby enhancing their understanding of these matters.
Nie Chongyang and his group understood Ye Tiancheng's good intentions, so they followed Little Fox to the side, absorbing new knowledge while understanding the situation.
Little Fox could explain these aspects more clearly. It was Little Fox who had broken the formations back then. Ye Tiancheng's strength did not lie in this area, so the responsibility of popularizing knowledge needed to be borne by Little Fox.
Ye Tiancheng could not accomplish this.
Little Fox had no objections to this. Moreover, since Ye Tiancheng had expressed his willingness, Little Fox was even less reluctant to teach Nie Chongyang and the others, and would try his best to break down and clearly explain what he could.
With this knowledge and experience, Nie Chongyang and his group would have more chances of survival and better ways to deal with crises in their future actions.
Whether it was Ye Tiancheng and Long Miaomiao studying the mirrors together, or Little Fox explaining the situation to Nie Chongyang and teaching them things, both required a considerable amount of time. Thus, for a while, the people in the room were divided into two groups.
While Ye Tiancheng was studying the mirrors with Long Miaomiao, he would occasionally glance at Little Fox and the others to confirm the situation.
Overall, there were no other issues.
As time passed, a servant from the Helian family came to inform them about meal arrangements. Ye Tiancheng and the others finally diverted some attention, agreed on the time and place for the meal, and then fully immersed themselves back into the task at hand.
Helian Yi and Helian Sheng, after finishing their conversation, had intended to meet Ye Tiancheng and say something. However, seeing how busy Ye Tiancheng was and unable to attend to them, both of them chose not to disturb Ye Tiancheng at that moment.
This was a critical juncture, and everyone knew that the task was important and time was pressing, so they would not waste time on meaningless things.
Ye Tiancheng and Long Miaomiao had been studying the mirrors together for more than two days before they finally took a short break. This was because Ye Tiancheng now had to meet Helian Sheng and discuss some matters with him.
This was because Helian Sheng was preparing to set out to handle matters for Ye Tiancheng.