The fatty glanced at Ye Tiancheng, then at Little Fox.
He suddenly let out a cold laugh, "Ha, Brother Ye, of course you would say that. Now you and Little Fox are so close, like two peas in a pod, doing everything together. But what about me?"
"Before, it was always me following you. No matter what we did, we were always together. But now you've abandoned me and become so close to Little Fox!"
The more the fatty spoke, the more resentful his expression became. He seemed completely consumed by jealousy and hatred, his mind filled with the idea that Ye Tiancheng had wronged him.
He shouted, "Your heart has already been swayed! In your heart, you truly believe Little Fox is your good brother. What am I then? I can't even say a word about him? Is his identity problematic? Is it fake? Has he never done anything wrong?"
"Was I wrong to question him?!"
"And you say there needs to be evidence! Little Fox's very existence is the evidence! You only believe him now, not me! You are no longer the Brother Ye I knew! No longer my Brother Ye!"
Ye Tiancheng's expression grew increasingly solemn, while the fatty became more agitated. He failed to notice that Ye Tiancheng's hand, which had been on his shoulder earlier, had not been withdrawn. Instead, it had subtly moved closer to the back of his neck, unnoticed by him.
Just as the fatty was venting his anger and resentment, he suddenly went limp.
It was Ye Tiancheng who, taking advantage of the fatty's inattention, had knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck.
He did not want the fatty to continue speaking.
Regardless of whether this fatty was genuine, or if his words truly came from the heart, or if he genuinely harbored dissatisfaction and hatred towards him and Little Fox due to these matters, Ye Tiancheng could not allow him to continue.
With such an incident occurring, if the situation escalated further, how could the three brothers continue their journey together?
Would Little Fox be able to help but be bothered by these words?
Moreover, Little Fox would inevitably be hurt by these words. Hearing them would only make him sadder and more upset. If this led to a rift, causing discord within the entire team, it would certainly not be a good outcome.
As the fatty collapsed after being knocked out by Ye Tiancheng, Ye Tiancheng supported him. Seeing this, Little Fox immediately came over to help Ye Tiancheng support the fatty, moving him to a stool and letting him rest his head on the stone table.
After Ye Tiancheng had settled the fatty, he looked up and said to Little Fox, "We don't know the fatty's current condition, but he's clearly not himself. Don't take what he said to heart. Once the fatty recovers, I will definitely handle this matter properly."
Little Fox listened to Ye Tiancheng's words, nodded obediently, and said, "Don't worry, Big Brother. I understand. I won't overthink it."
However, he did notice some issues in Ye Tiancheng's explanation and seemed to realize something. Little Fox asked Ye Tiancheng, "But Big Brother, from what you're saying, this fatty brother should be the real fatty brother, right? He hasn't been replaced by something strange?"
Ye Tiancheng paused slightly before nodding, then said to Little Fox, "None of us have discussed our pasts since arriving here, but the fatty... he knows about your identity."
"So I think it's highly likely this fatty is himself. Unless the entity that replaced him can read the minds or memories of at least one of us – me, you, or the fatty – then it's unlikely the fatty is fake."
Little Fox fell silent for a moment after hearing this and said nothing further.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, having overheard some of Ye Tiancheng's private matters, played dead the entire time, pretending they hadn't heard anything and not getting involved.
On one hand, they were not skilled in these strange supernatural or metaphysical matters and couldn't understand the current situation. They couldn't get involved, and if they rashly intervened, they might only cause trouble for Ye Tiancheng and the others.
On the other hand, the topic of conversation between Ye Tiancheng and the others was too explosive and too personal. It was a conflict within their small group of three. As long as Ye Tiancheng and the others weren't fighting, and Nie Chongyang and the others didn't know the full story, they couldn't offer personal opinions, let alone do anything.
There was also the saying, "Even a wise official finds it hard to settle domestic disputes," which, while not entirely true, was not entirely false either.
At least in the current situation, it was very applicable to Nie Chongyang and the others.
Seeing that Ye Tiancheng and the others had finally stopped arguing, and Ye Tiancheng had knocked out the fatty and finished speaking with Little Fox, Nie Chongyang saw an opportune moment and walked over to Ye Tiancheng.
He spoke to Ye Tiancheng, "I didn't expect something like this to happen. What should we do next?"
Ye Tiancheng blinked, then remembered that outsiders were present. Seeing that Nie Chongyang and the others didn't ask further questions, he didn't dwell on the earlier argument with the fatty. After a moment of thought, he replied, "Little Fox, let's continue researching what we were working on before. Getting out of this damned place is the priority. We'll discuss other things later."
At this moment, not knowing how to help the fatty recover, staying in this unknown space was the most dangerous thing. It was best to escape the predicament and handle the most urgent matters first.
Little Fox immediately agreed, "I've already figured out the general direction. With a little more time, I should know what to do."
Ye Tiancheng and the others could only continue to wait.
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping were not entirely without curiosity about what had happened before, but they knew their position was inappropriate. After several hesitations, they still chose not to ask further questions. Although curiosity made them restless and eager to know the truth, it was truly difficult for them to get involved.
However, the four people who were still conscious at the scene did not know that after the fatty was knocked out by Ye Tiancheng, he had a hazy dream.
In the dream, he, Ye Tiancheng, and Little Fox – at that time, Little Fox was still a child – went to a village for some unknown reason, seemingly to investigate something.
However, one day, while they were eating together, the fatty fell into a deep sleep after eating.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself weak, his limbs soft, unable to move even a finger. Just as he was about to look for Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox, he discovered they were both by his side.
He himself was lying on the ground, and had been moved to a completely unfamiliar room at some point. No, that wasn't right! It wasn't a room at all!
It was... the kitchen!
The fatty's limbs were bound by ropes, while Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox were completely awake and able to move freely, without any restraints. Not only were they fully conscious, but they were also each holding a cleaver, sharpening them nearby.
The fatty couldn't help but feel a chill. He didn't want to suspect his brothers, but why would they do this?
He heard himself ask tremulously, "Brother Ye, Little Fox, what are you doing? Why am I so weak, and how did we end up here? Please untie my ropes."
Then, Little Fox stopped sharpening his cleaver.
He glanced at the fatty with interest and smiled at Ye Tiancheng, saying, "Look, he's still dreaming."
Ye Tiancheng looked up at Little Fox, his expression cold, and simply said, "Why bother talking to him? It's time to slaughter the sheep for meat."
But there was no intention of releasing the fatty.
The fatty felt both scared and utterly confused. He asked, "Slaughter the sheep for meat? Brother Ye, Little Fox, hurry and let me go!"
However, no one paid him any further attention.
When Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox finally turned their gaze back to him, both of them raised their cleavers towards him.
The fatty did not die immediately, as he was not killed on the spot.
He witnessed many things before reluctantly breathing his last.
With another moment of disorientation, he seemed to wake up from the nightmare, finding himself in the mountain villa previously occupied by Hou Mingzhu. In a room within the villa, he lay on the bed, with Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox guarding his bedside.
One of them watched him without speaking, while the other told him that while they were investigating something outside, he had an accident and might have lost some memories, asking if he had recovered them.
The fatty was disoriented again, and then another dream began.
Waking up from another nightmare, he suddenly realized that this was not the first time he had had this dream. However, each time he woke from the dream, he forgot what had happened in it.
And what had happened in the dream was not just a dream.
It was the memory he had lost.
He had never doubted Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox. Even after learning that Little Fox had issues, he had never expressed any malice towards him and had still tried to accept Little Fox because Ye Tiancheng trusted him.
Later, the fatty felt that due to something, somewhere, he had a fierce argument with Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox. Because of those past nightmares, and the accumulated feelings of unwillingness, jealousy, hatred, and anger in the fatty's heart during this time, they all erupted at once.
He finally revealed his suppressed emotions to Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox, expressing his dissatisfaction and accusing Ye Tiancheng of unfairness.
And then, he lost consciousness again.
Ye Tiancheng did not know how much the fatty had dreamed or what misunderstandings had arisen in his heart. Unable to help Little Fox, he couldn't help but wonder when the fatty had been affected.
His gaze fell on the shattered teacup on the floor.
Ye Tiancheng suddenly thought, did Little Fox really knock the teacup away in time? Did the fatty really not drink any of the tea?
This was not to question Little Fox, or to suggest he deliberately allowed the fatty to drink the problematic tea, causing the fatty to have issues. Because the fatty's act of drinking the tea there was already very problematic in itself. It wasn't that Little Fox had misled him; he had poured the tea himself and picked up the teacup to drink.
Therefore, it was highly likely that the fatty had already been affected and confused before this.
Perhaps even earlier.
A sense of unease began to grow in Ye Tiancheng's heart. He recalled that after he and Little Fox moved into the guesthouse, they had encountered various strange incidents one after another. However, the fatty had been completely unaffected, without any accidents.
Wasn't this... somewhat abnormal?
Even if the fatty himself had told them that he hadn't encountered any strange incidents, how could Ye Tiancheng and Little Fox prove that the fatty had truly been fine?
What if the fatty had indeed been affected without their knowledge, and it was only now manifesting?