As Ye Tiancheng approached, both the fatty and the little fox immediately stopped their argument.
The fatty immediately said to Ye Tiancheng, "Brother Ye, the little fox just hit me!"
The little fox was utterly bewildered, not understanding what was going on and finding the fatty's behavior strange and abnormal.
However, the little fox wouldn't allow himself to be misunderstood. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong and didn't want to take the blame.
So he immediately followed up, "Brother, I didn't mean to hit anyone! It was Fatty Brother, he wanted to drink tea just now! The tea here is problematic! And how can you casually drink food placed in a place like this?"
"If I hadn't been quick, Fatty Brother would have almost drunk the tea!"
When Ye Tiancheng came to stop the argument between the fatty and the little fox, he had actually heard what they were saying. At the very least, he had heard the little fox's previous defense.
Therefore, when the fatty started complaining to him, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but feel a sense of surprise.
After the little fox further explained the situation, Ye Tiancheng felt even more that something was amiss.
Before Ye Tiancheng could say anything, the fatty, provoked by the little fox's defense, started shouting loudly again.
"What's wrong with me drinking a cup of tea? If the tea is placed here, isn't it for people to drink!" the fatty argued self-righteously, completely oblivious to anything wrong with his behavior. "I'm thirsty, can't I drink tea? You hit me and knocked over my teacup, isn't that your fault?!"
Under normal circumstances, the fatty would never have behaved like this.
He wasn't as smart as Ye Tiancheng and the others, but he wasn't an idiot either. How could the fatty not see something so abnormal? Any normal person wouldn't dare to put food and water from such a place into their mouths carelessly. They would rather die of thirst than eat it.
Not to mention this, there was also a very important point.
That was, given the relationship between the fatty and Ye Tiancheng, and how much the fatty listened to Ye Tiancheng, being Ye Tiancheng's most loyal follower, even if he wasn't smart and couldn't grasp such common-sense concepts, wouldn't he understand Ye Tiancheng's intentions if Ye Tiancheng remained silent?
And how could he not act according to Ye Tiancheng's wishes?
The fatty's face showed obvious anger. His face was flushed red, enraged like a bull in a bullfight provoked by a red cloth and a matador. His eyes were wide open, bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead, clearly showing genuine anger and being infuriated by the little fox's actions.
Seeing the fatty like this, the little fox's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes subtly revealed a hint of worry and doubt.
Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but step back a few paces, moving closer to Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping. He tilted his head and quietly asked Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, "When you two came to find us with the fatty, did you separate at any point?"
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had also felt that the atmosphere was subtly off. However, they weren't as familiar with the fatty, so they couldn't sense much at first. But upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's question, they both widened their eyes slightly.
Liang Ping hesitated, his speech stuttering and not flowing smoothly. He asked hesitantly, "Wh-what do you mean?"
Nie Chongyang looked at the situation before him and quietly moved closer to Ye Tiancheng. He didn't ask many questions for now but chose to answer Ye Tiancheng's question first. He replied to Ye Tiancheng, "We didn't separate, but I can't be sure if we encountered any strange illusions during the process, leading us to not notice anything unusual."
"...Right!" Nie Chongyang added after thinking for a moment, "When we found the room with the secret passage leading down, the fatty took the lead when we entered. When we went to turn on the lights, we hadn't entered the room yet, but after the lights turned on, everyone's vision flashed white, and we were all inside the room, with the door closing behind us."
"Is it possible that the problem occurred there?"
Nie Chongyang carefully recalled what had happened before, thinking that if the fatty had been swapped, it was most likely at that time.
Although Ye Tiancheng hadn't explicitly stated whether the fatty had been swapped when he asked the question, Ye Tiancheng's intention was clear. Even without Ye Tiancheng directly stating it, Nie Chongyang could understand.
Upon hearing Nie Chongyang's words, Ye Tiancheng subtly shook his head and then said in a low voice, "Not necessarily. When the little fox and I came in, something similar happened, but I can basically confirm that there were no problems on our side."
He looked at the fatty's abnormal behavior and said softly, "I'll try to test him. It's possible there's another reason."
After exchanging words with Nie Chongyang, Ye Tiancheng walked towards the fatty and the little fox. The little fox, sensing something was wrong, quietly distanced himself from the fatty and occasionally argued with him to attract the fatty's attention.
This was because he also noticed that Ye Tiancheng and Nie Chongyang were communicating privately, and he was worried that the current fatty would see it, notice the abnormality, and cause bigger trouble.
Now, seeing Ye Tiancheng walking towards the fatty so directly, the little fox couldn't help but look at Ye Tiancheng with some concern.
Ye Tiancheng signaled to the little fox with his eyes, telling him not to worry.
He was prepared, and even if the fatty in front of him had a problem, he would be able to handle it in time.
Because of the eye contact with Ye Tiancheng, the little fox stopped arguing with the fatty. Without the little fox attracting attention, the fatty's focus shifted, and he noticed Ye Tiancheng approaching.
When Ye Tiancheng arrived, he tentatively patted the fatty's shoulder and then said to him, "Fatty, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so angry?"
"Don't misunderstand the little fox. The little fox isn't lying to you. This tea is indeed problematic. The little fox and I discovered this when we came in, but you all arrived later and we didn't have time to tell you. The little fox was genuinely worried about you drinking the problematic tea, which is why he acted that way."
Upon seeing Ye Tiancheng, the fatty's reaction became noticeably slower. He blinked his eyes lightly, appearing somewhat dazed, as if he hadn't heard what Ye Tiancheng said. He showed no reaction, appearing somewhat vacant.
Ye Tiancheng found this strange and thought to himself, "Could he be persuaded so easily? That shouldn't be the case!"
If the fatty were so easily persuaded, why would he have argued with the little fox with such a red face and thick neck?
Seeing that the fatty remained silent for a long time, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but pat him a couple more times, trying to bring him back to his senses, "...Fatty?"
The fatty blinked again, and as if a switch had been flipped, he said, "Brother Ye, how did you know the tea was problematic?"
Seeing him like this, Ye Tiancheng initially thought the fatty was finally starting to return to normal, so he instinctively replied, "The little fox discovered it. You know, the little fox he..."
Unexpectedly, before Ye Tiancheng could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the fatty.
After Ye Tiancheng gave his answer, the fatty immediately put on a heartbroken expression and earnestly retorted and persuaded Ye Tiancheng, "Brother Ye, if you had discovered it yourself, I wouldn't say anything more. But if it was just the little fox who discovered it, how can you prove that everything the little fox says is true?"
"How can you believe what the little fox says? You know his identity is problematic, so how can you trust him?"
What he said stunned everyone present.
The little fox was even more incredulous, unable to believe that the fatty brother he knew would say such things in front of him.
The fatty did not directly deny Ye Tiancheng's points and words. Instead, he shifted the blame directly onto the little fox, throwing a large pot of black over onto the little fox.
His expression was very genuine, as if he truly thought this from the bottom of his heart. The fatty looked at Ye Tiancheng as if he were earnestly persuading Ye Tiancheng, but Ye Tiancheng refused to listen, which made him heartbroken.
Ye Tiancheng frowned.
He didn't believe that the fatty would really say such things to the little fox. Even if he later learned that the little fox's identity was indeed problematic, and the fatty no longer liked the little fox as much as before, he wouldn't go this far.
However, the fatty's mention of the little fox's problematic identity made Ye Tiancheng feel strange.
Since entering this strange illusion space, none of them had mentioned anything about their own matters. If the fatty knew what had happened before, was this fatty truly him?
But if the fatty was real, why would he say such things?
Even though he still couldn't figure it out, Ye Tiancheng still had to say what he needed to say.
He shook his head at the fatty and then said, "Fatty, I don't care if what you're saying now is truly what you think in your heart. But I still have to say that although the little fox has some issues with his background, he is one of us, our partner. Without concrete evidence, how can you question him like this and hurt his feelings?"
The little fox was indeed saddened by what the fatty said, but seeing that Ye Tiancheng supported and trusted him, he felt a little better. He then thought that the fatty's current state was clearly abnormal, so he stopped overthinking.
He knew there were issues with his identity. Since losing his memory, the fatty hadn't been very close to him. Compared to what others said about the fatty's past relationship with him, it was completely different. However, the fatty had never spoken ill of him, nor had he questioned him.
The current fatty's actions either meant that the fatty wasn't sincere, in which case he didn't need to care, or this fatty wasn't real, in which case he certainly didn't need to take these words to heart.
The little fox thought to himself.
Even if... even if this was truly the fatty's hidden true feelings, which had never been spoken before, at least Ye Tiancheng still trusted him, so the fatty's doubt and distrust wouldn't matter to him.
Unless one was betrayed by everyone, or the other person was the most important person to oneself, no one would completely turn evil and hate the world and everyone because of someone's words.
Ye Tiancheng's words in defense of the little fox were not overly biased. The meaning of his original words was that he didn't forbid the fatty from questioning the little fox, but questioning required evidence.
He had suffered too much from such things in the past, and therefore felt guilty towards the little fox. Having had such an experience, when facing a similar situation now, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but speak up for the little fox and wouldn't easily do such a thing.
But in the fatty's eyes, it was as if Ye Tiancheng was completely on the little fox's side, and the scales had completely tipped.