Ye Tiancheng maintained his previous attitude.
He directly rejected the hotel employee's offer, stating firmly, "No need, we have our own arrangements."
The hotel employee didn't try to force the issue.
He simply nodded and said nothing more.
However, this hotel employee did look quite frightening. Upon closer observation, one would notice that the smile on his face had remained largely unchanged, the curve of his lips showing hardly any variation.
While Ye Tiancheng was conversing with the hotel employee, they had reasonably stayed in the lobby. Thus, during the time Ye Tiancheng and the employee were talking, Nie Chongyang, Liang Ping, and the little fox were looking around, trying to find something like a rulebook.
After Ye Tiancheng finished his conversation with the hotel employee, the little fox suddenly walked directly to the water dispenser next to the front desk and picked up a small stack of booklets from a small table beside it.
Ye Tiancheng noticed that as the little fox walked over, the hotel employee's smile faltered slightly.
The little fox picked up the booklets and flipped through them, then quickly nodded to Ye Tiancheng and the others with certainty.
This confirmed that he had found what they were looking for.
Subsequently, the little fox directly took four booklets and walked away. Ye Tiancheng and the others followed the little fox towards their room.
Their room appeared to be unremarkable, with no indication that anything strange might try to force its way in, at least not during the day.
Of course, with Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping present, their arrangements were even more thorough.
These two walked ahead, confirming that the markers they had deliberately left before leaving were still in place and undisturbed, indicating that no physical entity had entered the room.
If they were truly unlucky enough to encounter someone with the ability to phase through walls, then Ye Tiancheng and the others would have no one to blame but their own misfortune.
After Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping double-checked, the four of them entered the room, conducted another inspection, and then finally sat down to examine the hotel's guest rulebook.
As expected, the booklet indeed contained a rule stating that guests were not allowed to leave the hotel at night. It also mentioned the hotel's offer of breakfast, lunch, and dinner services, with the option to order room service, as the employee at the front desk had specifically mentioned.
However, there was one rather interesting point.
One of the rules stated that because the hotel was a mix of people, some individuals might impersonate hotel staff, delivering food to guests and providing problematic meals. The hotel therefore specifically emphasized that only food served with red utensils was from the hotel. If utensils of other colors appeared, it meant the food had been tampered with, and guests were advised not to consume it.
Many other details were mentioned.
The rules even stated that after 8 PM, the hotel no longer provided any food. If someone, claiming to be a hotel employee, offered to order or deliver food to guests, regardless of the excuse, it was a deception.
Ye Tiancheng and the others recalled that the person who claimed to be the hotel owner last night had wanted to deliver food to them.
However, Ye Tiancheng and the others had refused, opting to reject the offer.
After all, they were not lacking in food and had no reason to take risks. They wouldn't trust the food from this hotel, let alone any food in this entire spatial world.
However, they were currently unable to determine the traps within the rules.
This was because they had not yet experienced some of the situations and events mentioned in the rules, making it impossible to draw conclusions.
Ye Tiancheng did not want to appear too unusual by not eating outside, so at noon, he made an excuse to go out for a walk. He then returned with their prepared food boxes, bringing them back to the room.
However, as Ye Tiancheng returned, he once again saw the qipao woman he had seen in the morning when checking into the hotel.
The woman had changed her clothes, but she was still wearing a qipao, albeit of a different style and color.
This qipao woman appeared very non-threatening and exceptionally delicate.
However, in a place like this, Ye Tiancheng dared not let his guard down, regardless of the appearance of the beings he encountered. Moreover, Ye Tiancheng had already noticed that the hotel owner's attitude towards this woman was somewhat strange, which made Ye Tiancheng all the more cautious.
As they grew closer and the qipao woman approached Ye Tiancheng, not far away, she surprisingly took the initiative to greet him.
The qipao woman's demeanor also felt somewhat out of sync with the times.
Ye Tiancheng felt as if this qipao woman had traveled directly from a century ago. She curtsied slightly towards Ye Tiancheng and then said, "Hello."
Faced with this situation, Ye Tiancheng was a bit unsure how to react.
He felt that the qipao woman's direct bow seemed a bit excessive, and he didn't know how to reciprocate.
However, she was quite polite, and regardless of her intentions or identity, Ye Tiancheng felt it would be impolite to be too dismissive.
Awkwardly, Ye Tiancheng could only nod slightly at the qipao woman and replied, "Hello."
After receiving Ye Tiancheng's response, the qipao woman continued, "I will be staying at this hotel for some time, residing on the third floor. We will be neighbors, and I hope for your kind assistance during this period."
In modern society, addressing unfamiliar gentlemen as "mister" is not a particularly special term but a very common one.
However, Ye Tiancheng always felt that the term "mister" from this qipao woman carried more weight than the common usage.
Ye Tiancheng could only say, "I wouldn't dare to presume such assistance. I have matters to attend to, so I must take my leave."
He truly didn't know how to respond to the qipao woman.
The qipao woman then said, "I dare not disturb your important affairs, sir."
After saying this, she slightly moved aside, making way for Ye Tiancheng.
Ye Tiancheng awkwardly offered a word of thanks and then quickly left.
This encounter in the corridor, a chance meeting, made Ye Tiancheng truly feel that their stay here would likely involve significant interactions with this qipao woman, and that she likely held a very important identity.
Despite this thought, before any actual situation arose, and before he could figure out how to deal with her or ascertain her identity, Ye Tiancheng was truly unsure how to approach the qipao woman.
Furthermore, he couldn't determine if she was benevolent or malevolent.
If, in the end, he needed her help and she turned out not to be malicious, it would be terrible if he had offended her with his previous attitude.
However, if she was malicious, and they didn't have sufficient grounds or notice any of her schemes, the consequences for Ye Tiancheng and the others would be severe.
Upon returning to the room, the little fox saw Ye Tiancheng and asked, "Brother, didn't you send a message a while ago saying you were coming back? Why are you only arriving now?"
As he spoke, the little fox's gaze fell upon Ye Tiancheng, his eyes filled with scrutiny and contemplation.
He said, "You haven't been swapped out, have you?"
Ye Tiancheng looked at him helplessly but understood, saying to the little fox, "Whether I am real or not, you can ask me anything. You'll know after testing me."
The three people who had remained in the room gathered around and asked Ye Tiancheng several probing questions. After confirming that Ye Tiancheng was indeed himself, they relaxed their guard.
Ye Tiancheng sat down and casually put away the food boxes.
These food boxes were indeed just food boxes, used as a cover. They weren't actually carrying food, taking a stroll, and then bringing them back.
During this outing, no one could guarantee that their food wouldn't be tampered with.
This was merely a disguise.
After all, people needed to eat, and they couldn't go without eating, as it would appear abnormal.
Nie Chongyang asked Ye Tiancheng, "What held you up? You said you were already at the hotel entrance earlier. We're on the second floor, and it still took you this long."
Ye Tiancheng replied to Nie Chongyang.
He knew that all three of them were very interested in this question.
Ye Tiancheng said, "After returning to the hotel, I encountered that qipao woman again in the corridor, the one I mentioned briefly to you this morning."
The little fox asked, "You mean the one... the woman wearing the blue qipao that Brother mentioned?"
Ye Tiancheng replied, "Yes, it's her, but she's changed her clothes. Although she's still wearing a qipao, the style and color have changed."
Nie Chongyang asked with interest, "Did you strike up a conversation?"
Ye Tiancheng said helplessly, "We met in the corridor, and she stopped me. She even curtsied and greeted me. You can't hit someone who smiles at you, so what could I do? I had to stop and respond to her."
"However, I do find this qipao woman quite strange. Judging by her words and actions, it's as if she's not from our era."
Liang Ping listened to Ye Tiancheng's words, pondering them, and said, "This is actually quite normal, isn't it? Haven't we already read the Citizen's Notice and Code of Conduct?"
"In the eyes of different citizens, Xiao Jing City appears differently. Perhaps all citizens see the city as it exists in their respective memories, and the time this space has existed is unknown. Who can guarantee that everyone entered here in recent years?"
"Perhaps there are indeed people from the past who also exist within this space."
Ye Tiancheng nodded and said, "That's true."
The little fox asked Ye Tiancheng, "What did that qipao woman say to you?"
Ye Tiancheng told them, "She first greeted me. I was stopped there, and she was quite polite, so I had no choice but to stop and greet her back."
"Then, the qipao woman told me that she would also be staying at this hotel for some time, that she lived on the third floor, and asked for my kind assistance in the future."
Nie Chongyang listened, stroked his chin, and said with a hint of confusion, "It sounds like a polite conversation, but what's the purpose? In a place like this, she wouldn't really expect us to assist her, would she?"
"We're completely clueless, so how can we assist her?"
The little fox also said, "I was thinking the same thing. Besides, we only moved in a day before her. And as Brother said, the hotel owner's attitude towards her is unusual. She might not be staying here for the first time, so she wouldn't need our assistance, would she?"
Ye Tiancheng said, "That's what she said, anyway. But who knows what she's trying to do? We can only wait and see."