Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, after confirming they had both hidden themselves well, began to observe the situation at the door.
The person stopped at the door but did not act immediately. Listening to the sounds, they were likely standing behind the door. After a pause, they turned the doorknob.
With a soft click, under the watchful eyes of Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, the village chief's bedroom door was gently pushed open from the outside. They saw an old woman with white hair walk in.
The old woman's steps were steady, and her build was robust. However, upon seeing her appearance clearly, both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were stunned.
Wasn't this the village chief's old mother?
They had previously confirmed that the village chief's old mother was truly both deaf and blind. While not completely losing her sight and hearing, she was not far from it. Her health was also poor, and she appeared unlikely to last many more years.
Yet, the old woman before them looked significantly healthier. As she surveyed the room, whether her hearing was impaired was unknown, but it was clear her eyesight was definitely not failing.
Seeing this, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox both felt something was amiss. They didn't rush to leave but quietly observed the unfolding events, curious to see what the old woman intended to do.
The village chief's mother stood in the bedroom, looking around. She didn't notice anything unusual. Although her gaze swept over Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, they had taken measures to conceal themselves, making them invisible to ordinary people. Thus, her gaze passing over them was of no consequence.
The old woman found nothing out of the ordinary and a hint of confusion appeared on her face.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox heard her murmur, "Did I hear wrong? I distinctly heard someone come..."
Now it was confirmed: the village chief's old mother was not only not blind, but her hearing was also perfectly fine, even quite sharp.
The old woman searched for a long time without finding anything amiss and had to give up. Ye Tiancheng and the little fox thought she would leave then, but to their surprise, the old woman walked towards the wall where they knew the secret room was located.
Could the old woman also know about the secret room?
Ye Tiancheng thought about it and felt it was plausible. After all, this was their home; how could the village chief's mother not know what was inside?
Initially, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox assumed the village chief's mother intended to activate the mechanism and enter the secret room. However, they saw the old woman stand before the wall, not approaching the mechanism, but instead, fumbling around.
"If I miss this chance, there won't be another. That kid isn't here anyway, let me look for it," the old woman said.
This clearly revealed another layer of information.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox exchanged glances.
This indicated that the village chief's mother knew about the secret room but didn't know how to enter it. Furthermore, she had likely kept this knowledge hidden, never revealing it to her son.
The mother and son had drifted so far apart.
Therefore, the conclusion was obvious: the village chief's private worship of the "Mountain God," or rather, the evil god, was conducted in secret, without any intention of informing his mother. The village chief's mother, for some reason, had discovered this matter.
However, upon learning of this, the village chief's mother had not revealed her knowledge but had concealed it, even feigning ignorance.
Otherwise, when Ye Tiancheng and the little fox investigated, they would not have encountered an old woman who was both deaf and blind, and gravely ill.
If the village chief did not know his mother was faking her illness, and that her vision and hearing had not truly deteriorated, then perhaps in his carelessness, he might have revealed many things.
As for the old woman's reasons for doing so, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had a general understanding.
Most people in this village had previously worshipped the Dragon God. Therefore, the village chief's mother was likely no different. If she knew her son had not only changed his faith to another "god" but was also worshipping an evil god and helping the evil god impersonate the Dragon God, her actions would seem understandable.
She certainly could not condone what her son was doing.
Perhaps the reason she didn't directly intervene was that there was some danger involved, making the village chief's mother realize she couldn't expose the matter directly and had to resort to hiding it.
The old woman fumbled at the wall for a long time but, unlike Ye Tiancheng and the others, did not find the location of the mechanism. Ultimately, she had to leave in disappointment, departing from the village chief's bedroom.
Seeing the old woman finally leave, Ye Tiancheng felt it was a good thing.
The village chief was already worshipping the current "Mountain God." For those who worshipped an evil god, driven by greed, it was hard to say whether they could retain their conscience, and if they did, how far they could go.
This was especially true when this "Mountain God" demanded its followers harm others.
The village chief's mother not discovering the secret room somewhat ensured her safety. At the very least, she didn't have to worry about her secrets being exposed and facing some dire consequences.
"I really didn't expect this," the little fox suddenly said. "Things here are truly complicated. We haven't even found the fragments yet, and we've already gotten so involved."
Ye Tiancheng was listening to the little fox when he mentioned the fragments, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.
They had indeed investigated many things, but none of them were related to the fragments. Instead, they had become entangled in a mess of other affairs. If they ultimately didn't find the fragments, Ye Tiancheng didn't know what to say.
However, even if they investigated to the end and found that the matter was unrelated to the fragments, Ye Tiancheng thought about it and felt he wouldn't regret it or feel that his time was wasted.
Considering how many lives might be at stake behind these events, Ye Tiancheng couldn't simply ignore it.
Ye Tiancheng said, "I think that since we've learned about this matter, regardless of whether it's related to the fragments or not, we can't just stand by. If all our efforts can at least eliminate this unknown malevolent entity and prevent innocent people from being harmed, then it won't be in vain."
The little fox nodded and then asked Ye Tiancheng, "By the way, I haven't asked what your gains were, Brother. Did you get the village chronicles? What do we do next?"
Ye Tiancheng told the little fox, "We're going back to the guesthouse to meet up with Fatty. I found all the village chronicles and took them all. I also found some other useful things and brought them along. When we get back, everyone will examine them closely to see if we can find any other useful information."
The little fox was stunned and said in surprise, "You took them all? Won't that be too obvious, alerting the enemy?"
Ye Tiancheng shook his head. "Don't worry too much. We're not afraid of alerting them. Even if the other party knows we're here, they won't know our true identities, and they won't find us so quickly. Besides, evil gods are often greedy and perhaps very arrogant. Even if they discover they've been exposed, they might not run."
"We haven't shown any threat. Given the current gains of this 'Mountain God,' I believe he won't be willing to abandon so many followers and run, nor will he think that he can't deal with us."
"As long as he doesn't run, then it's fine."
Since Ye Tiancheng had said so, the little fox chose to trust him and said nothing more.
Having obtained what they wanted, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox immediately returned to the guesthouse, maintaining the effect of the concealment talismans throughout the journey, effectively returning stealthily.
Since Fatty needed to protect and accompany Xiao Miaomiao, Ye Tiancheng and the others had agreed not to knock on Fatty's room door and would find a way to enter themselves, to avoid Fatty letting any dangerous entities into the room.
After learning Ye Tiancheng's intention, Fatty handed over his room key to Ye Tiancheng. They waited for Ye Tiancheng to return and simply opened the door.
When Ye Tiancheng and the little fox returned and opened the room door, Xiao Miaomiao was quite puzzled. In her eyes, the door had opened out of nowhere, but she couldn't see anyone outside.
However, soon after Ye Tiancheng and the others entered the room and closed the door behind them, they removed the talismans, revealing themselves to Fatty and Xiao Miaomiao.
Xiao Miaomiao's expression was one of great novelty. It wasn't the first time she had seen this. To avoid frightening the child, Ye Tiancheng and the others had shown her the effects of these items before, so Xiao Miaomiao was not startled.
In Xiao Miaomiao's eyes, Ye Tiancheng and the others were akin to deities. After all, children couldn't understand much and found it all very magical.
Seeing Ye Tiancheng and the little fox return, Fatty greeted them, "Brother Ye, Little Fox, why are you back so soon?"
Ye Tiancheng told Fatty, "We've found some things, and now everyone needs to work together, so we hurried back. Plans can't keep up with changes."
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox sat down to rest and then roughly explained what they had discovered to Fatty. Fatty listened with great surprise. Xiao Miaomiao didn't understand much, and this was adult business, so she sensibly didn't interfere.
After listening to Ye Tiancheng and the little fox's account, Fatty couldn't help but ask them, "Since you found the true statue of the 'Mountain God' in the village chief's place, saw the secret room, confirmed that Boss Mei is also suspicious, and Brother Nie and the little fox encountered trouble before, could there be similar existences in this guesthouse?"
"I mean, could there be a secret room, or perhaps in some room, there's a statue of a god or something like that?"
Ye Tiancheng said, "We can't rule out that possibility. However, for now, it's not the most important thing. Let's focus on examining the village chronicles. There are quite a few books, so let's divide the work and finish things here as quickly as possible."
The little fox and Fatty agreed.
Ye Tiancheng then took out the items he had collected and distributed them. He divided the village chronicles into two halves, giving one half to the little fox and the other to Fatty.
"So many?!"
Both the little fox and Fatty were stunned.
Fatty looked at the notebooks Ye Tiancheng kept for himself and thought they didn't seem like village chronicles. He asked, "Brother Ye, what are you holding? They look a bit different?"
Ye Tiancheng explained to Fatty, "You two are responsible for looking through the village chronicles, focusing on records related to the Dragon God, its deeds, its abilities, and the location of the lake. However, it's best to record anything related to the Dragon God."
"What I have here is the village chief's diary. I found that he had a habit of writing a diary for many years. Some of the content might be related to the origin of the 'Mountain God,' so I brought it back. I'll be responsible for reading these, so we can research how to deal with that 'Mountain God'."