When Nie Chongyang and his companions entered, there were three of them, and when they emerged, there were still three.
Elder Cui, being familiar with them, stepped forward to speak with Nie Chongyang and the others, inquiring about the situation. He asked why only they had come out and if there was no one else inside.
Nie Chongyang and his group explained that there were indeed traces left by the four individuals inside, suggesting they had been there for a considerable time. However, they could not find any sign of these people, nor any bloodstains or other ill omens.
This led them to suspect that perhaps these individuals had already left.
When Nie Chongyang mentioned this, Elder Cui told him that while they wanted to help, it would be difficult for them to enter the haunted house without becoming a burden to Nie Chongyang and his team. Therefore, they wondered if they could be of assistance elsewhere.
They then searched the village and discovered two unfamiliar cars parked outside.
Elder Cui described one of the cars as the minivan Nie Chongyang and his group had rented, while the other car's owner was unknown.
Elder Cui expressed his strong suspicion that the other car likely belonged to those young people. With their car still there, it was unlikely that the young people had walked back to town.
If they had managed to escape, they would surely have fled quickly by car, and they wouldn't be foolish enough to run on foot.
They also toured the village and asked around, but no one else had come to the village and stayed overnight. This meant that these individuals had not sought refuge in any of the villagers' homes.
If this were the case, Elder Cui believed that the four young people had likely not left.
The evidence indeed suggested that those individuals had not yet departed.
Ding Yijie looked at Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping somewhat helplessly, seeking their thoughts.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping also believed that the four individuals had not managed to escape. They just didn't know where they had gone or why they had vanished without a trace.
After much deliberation, they considered the possibility that they might have entered a place with a different magnetic field or dimension, thus separating them from the living world. This would explain why those searching for them couldn't find them.
To be honest, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping still felt that the four individuals were likely still within the ruins, having not managed to leave the ruined house.
It was simply that they could not see them.
Ding Yijie was quite anxious. The situation was deeply worrying, and he didn't know how they could find his companions if things remained this way.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping stated that there were likely magnetic fields or spaces within that they hadn't yet explored and that they needed to search further, perhaps they could still find them.
However, exploring unknown places carried an inherent risk, so they decided not to bring Ding Yijie with them again.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping would go in first to investigate. If they found anything, they would come out first to discuss with everyone before proceeding further.
Ding Yijie understood that he couldn't help Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping at this time and might even slow them down. Therefore, he did not object to their decision and stayed outside with Elder Cui, going to Elder Cui's home to wait for news from Nie Chongyang and his group.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had been to Elder Cui's home before, so after Ding Yijie left with Elder Cui, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping would be able to locate Ding Yijie, which would be much more convenient.
With that settled, the group parted ways again.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, together, re-entered the ruined house, while Ding Yijie returned to Elder Cui's home with him.
As the story unfolds, on the other side, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, having made an agreement with Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping the previous day, returned to the hotel and met the siblings Lin Yanqin and Lin Yanshu.
The siblings came to express their gratitude to Ye Tiancheng and the little fox.
Moreover, Ye Tiancheng and his group discovered at this time that their situation had gone smoother than they could have expected.
Their main task was likely to travel back in time and help Lin Yanqin avoid her fated death, thereby changing her destiny.
This was because Lin Yanshu later came to thank Ye Tiancheng and his group, stating that his sister had agreed to return home with him and thanking Ye Tiancheng for saving his sister's life multiple times.
As a token of gratitude, he offered to share some information and give them a gift.
Lin Yanshu even brought up a rather outlandish rumor, some of the information that Ye Tiancheng and his group had heard earlier while they were out.
This included, most notably, what Lin Yanshu spoke of: the secret of eternal life.
In truth, eternal life was indeed non-existent.
However, the Lin family did possess a treasure. This item was originally a treasure native to their country, but when foreigners arrived, they stole it and took it overseas. After several transfers, it eventually ended up in the family vault of Lin Yanqin and Lin Yanshu's mother.
When their mother chose to marry into their country, that treasure was then taken out of the vault by her father, their maternal grandfather, and given to his daughter as part of her dowry, allowing her to take it with her.
That treasure was, in fact, a mirror.
It was said that this mirror could allow one to reverse time and alter past destinies. After changing the past within the mirror, it would affect the future in reality.
Ye Tiancheng and his group were greatly shocked upon hearing this.
They had assumed that this place was merely one layer within a complex dimension. If this news was true, then by returning to the past and saving Lin Yanqin, hadn't they changed Lin Yanqin's destiny?
What impact would such an event have on the future?
As everyone knows, there is a famous theory called the butterfly effect. A butterfly flapping its wings can create air currents that may trigger a powerful chain reaction, potentially leading to terrifying outcomes.
Furthermore, Ye Tiancheng and his group also considered that Nie Chongyang's situation was similar. They had encountered people from the past who were already dead.
If nothing unexpected happened, these people's destinies would likely be altered as well. When they returned to reality, would these people, whose destinies had been changed, suddenly appear before them?
This possibility was indeed very real.
Thinking about it this way, it truly made one feel that fortune and misfortune were unpredictable.
However, such a mirror also made Ye Tiancheng's heart stir. He knew that Hou Mingzhu had been missing for a long time, yet he had neither the energy, the time, nor the ability to find her whereabouts.
If it were truly possible to return to the past, could he also change the past and bring Hou Mingzhu back to his side safely, so she would no longer be in a state of life or death, her whereabouts unknown?
Lin Yanshu, of course, was unaware of the myriad of chaotic thoughts running through Ye Tiancheng and the little fox's minds.
Lin Yanshu told them that Lin Yanqin had run away from home because of the mirror's ability. Their elder brother, the son of the lover whom Ye Tiancheng and his group had heard about, who had first revealed their mother's true identity to Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's mother.
That is, Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's half-brother.
Due to his early experiences and misunderstandings regarding his biological mother, coupled with the fact that Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's mother treated him exceedingly well, he couldn't help but regard Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's mother as his own mother, and he deeply respected and depended on her.
After Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's mother passed away, he found it difficult to accept this reality.
He learned of the mirror's existence and became intent on resurrecting Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's mother.
The location of that mirror was hidden somewhere, and a map was needed to find it. As for where that map was, it was naturally within the red ruby pendant, the sole heirloom left by Lin Yanshu and Lin Yanqin's mother, which Lin Yanqin possessed.
Lin Yanqin did not wish to see her elder brother fall into such a state of obsession, and it seemed to involve some very complex emotional entanglements. However, as it was a private family matter, Lin Yanshu glossed over it. But Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, being extremely intelligent, could infer some of it.
Nevertheless, despite their inferences, Ye Tiancheng and his group did not expose them.
In any case, Lin Yanqin's final decision was to run away from home, even wanting to take the mirror with her, to prevent anyone from finding it, preferably hiding it, or even destroying it.
Such a thing sounded very much like Pandora's Box.
After using it, who knew what would happen?
As a result, so many things happened later. Lin Yanqin's pendant went missing, and although Lin Yanqin later claimed to have found it, she hadn't actually. It was just that she and her elder brother had met.
That red ruby pendant was secretly taken by Lin Yanqin's elder brother.
Lin Yanqin had some inkling of this, which is why she was unwilling to reveal too much and refused to speak, even covering for him in the end by saying the pendant had been found.
In reality, after they met, they had a fierce argument, but they both simultaneously saw the treasure map hidden within the red ruby pendant.
Lin Yanqin even went out and, before her elder brother, found the mirror. She then took it to the hotel, intending to hide it, but then Lin Yanqin had an accident, first being stabbed, and then caught in a fire.
If Ye Tiancheng and the little fox hadn't saved her, this secret might have been buried under the dust of history, and no one would have known that a treasure was hidden in that place.
Ye Tiancheng and his group felt a sense of realization upon hearing this.
They had come to this place called Xiao Jing City. Was there any connection to this?
The probability of this was very high.
It seemed their luck was quite good. By stumbling around so randomly, they had managed to hit upon the crucial point. It was likely that once this matter was resolved, they would be able to leave.