The little fox's first encounter with an evil spirit was the mirror spirit in Ou Xiaoxue's room, which proved quite tricky to deal with.
After all, previously these evil spirits didn't directly confront Ye Tiancheng and the little fox. This was largely because Ye Tiancheng and the little fox hadn't attacked them, and both were exceptionally powerful, making direct confrontation a losing proposition.
Moreover, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had realized that Ou Xiaoxue had managed to survive in the villa for two days because there were simply too many evil spirits in her house. They had even started to carve out territories within Ou Xiaoxue's home.
It was precisely because they maintained a balance that they could coexist, albeit precariously. If anything were to happen that disrupted this equilibrium, it would be detrimental to any of them.
These evil spirits possessed intelligence; they understood how to weigh benefits and drawbacks, and how to seek advantages while avoiding harm. Thus, they had tacitly agreed not to target Ou Xiaoxue first. To maintain this balance, they were equally unwilling to clash with Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, preferring to maintain a state of peaceful coexistence.
This was why, when Ou Xiaoxue returned to the villa with Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, although these evil spirits could barely suppress their instincts, they considered that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were constantly by Ou Xiaoxue's side, making it difficult to act.
Therefore, they chose to suppress their instincts at those moments and refrain from attacking Ou Xiaoxue, lest Ye Tiancheng and the little fox notice their clandestine activities and retaliate, which would be far too disadvantageous.
However, the current situation was different. Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were actively initiating conflict with them. If they didn't fight back now, they would appear too easily bullied, and they weren't foolish enough to allow that.
Furthermore, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were here with the intent to eliminate them, leaving no room for reconciliation. While seeking advantage and avoiding harm was an instinct, it was ultimately for the sake of survival. Now, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were stripping them of their right to exist, which would inevitably incite their desperate resistance.
However, one fortunate aspect was that these evil spirits operated independently, having carved out their own territories and not interfering with each other.
Even if Ye Tiancheng and the little fox clashed with them, as long as their own interests were not involved, and given the principle that two tigers cannot share one mountain, there was no possibility of multiple evil spirits, or even two of them, joining forces to deal with Ye Tiancheng and the little fox. Such a scenario was highly unlikely.
The difficulty in dealing with the mirror spirit stemmed primarily from its ability to transfer at will, its elusive and unpredictable movements, and its exceptional skill in concealing its aura, making it exceptionally arduous to handle.
As for the other evil spirits, although the little fox lacked experience and made some mistakes, occasionally resulting in herself and Ye Tiancheng getting injured, fortunately, the little fox was highly perceptive and quick-witted. She could quickly find solutions, and no major mishaps occurred.
The cleanup work was surprisingly smooth, but what remained difficult was that Ye Tiancheng still had no clear idea where the fragments of the Fuxi Qin were hidden.
He could sense the Fuxi Qin fragments were there, but he couldn't pinpoint their exact location. As time passed, this inevitably made Ye Tiancheng anxious.
This was because he was concerned about the situation with his daughter, Ye Qingcheng, and wanted to bring her to him as soon as possible. He feared that if he couldn't be by his daughter's side, Ye Qingcheng might encounter something unfortunate or be taken away by someone else.
If not for this concern, Hou Mingzhu would not have made the decision to send her daughter to Ye Tiancheng. An isolated upbringing was truly not beneficial for a child of a few years old.
Moreover, Ye Qingcheng was a girl. Even with the closest father-daughter bond, there were still certain boundaries to observe if Ye Tiancheng were to raise her alone, and it would frankly be inconvenient. It was also difficult for Hou Mingzhu to send anyone else to care for Ye Qingcheng.
Finding someone of the appropriate gender and who was trustworthy was genuinely difficult. Hou Mingzhu herself wouldn't mind caring for her daughter, but she was simply too occupied. She had too many responsibilities to handle. Otherwise, even if the family of three lived in seclusion, setting aside rationality and thinking purely from an emotional perspective, Hou Mingzhu wouldn't mind it so much.
Even when Ye Tiancheng was cursed, she was willing to risk danger for him, to find him under unpredictable threats and accompany him through his low points. She never blamed him for the curse transferring to her and causing her so much suffering; she did it willingly.
No matter how many times she had to make that choice, Hou Mingzhu would not regret it. She would still choose to do the same.
And the outcome was truly excellent. The current Ye Tiancheng was even better than she could have imagined. Gradually, Hou Mingzhu's resentment towards him lessened, and the past grievances were smoothed over by the passage of time.
Although Ye Tiancheng still had many constraints on him, he genuinely cared for Hou Mingzhu and his daughter Ye Qingcheng, and he no longer entangled himself with past romantic entanglements. This was the ideal state.
After all, Ye Qingcheng needed a complete family. Hou Mingzhu had actually considered that if Ye Tiancheng could maintain this state and was willing, she would choose to remarry him.
It was also because of this that Ye Tiancheng proved himself to be a responsible and caring father who was attentive to his biological daughter. Only after hearing about Ye Tiancheng's situation did Hou Mingzhu make up her mind and finally propose sending their daughter to Ye Tiancheng's side for protection.
After all, it was important to remember that at that time, despite her willingness to do many things for Ye Tiancheng, Hou Mingzhu had for a long time been unwilling to let their daughter have close contact with her biological father.
The reason was that Ye Tiancheng at that time truly couldn't put her mind at ease. There were still many unresolved issues between Hou Mingzhu and Ye Tiancheng, and at that time, Ye Tiancheng was still surrounded by many female companions.
Regarding the curse incident, Hou Mingzhu only found out later and went to him herself. Initially, Ye Tiancheng had sought out other people.
If there was anything left in Hou Mingzhu's heart that had not been resolved, then this matter could certainly be considered a thorn in Hou Mingzhu's heart, still causing pain upon touch.
However, regardless of the circumstances, both Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu now shared the hearts of loving parents, thinking solely of Ye Qingcheng's well-being, which ultimately allowed them to reach a consensus.
Ye Tiancheng wanted to bring his daughter to him as soon as possible. During this time, Hou Mingzhu helped Ye Tiancheng investigate matters and also handled some of her own work. In fact, she was also secretly bringing their daughter Ye Qingcheng to Ye Tiancheng's location, always ready to take her daughter to him.
However, because Ye Tiancheng also had Ou Xiaoxue, who was unexpectedly trapped by a formation, and Ou Xiaoxue was an outsider, for whatever reason, it was better for fewer people to know about these matters. This would be much better.
It was for this reason that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, despite treating Ou Xiaoxue quite well, had in fact kept many things from her.
This was Ye Tiancheng's protection for his family and friends. In fact, by rights, he perhaps shouldn't have revealed his true identity to Ou Xiaoxue either.
However, this wasn't too big of a problem, as Ye Tiancheng had already considered that it wasn't a major issue.
Since it was determined that similar situations to Ou Xiaoxue's would likely occur in the future, preparations must be made. Ye Tiancheng's movements would likely be leaked sooner or later. Such peculiar circumstances would undoubtedly attract the attention of cultivators.
They might not necessarily think of the Fuxi Qin, but based on previous events, they would likely connect it to the Nuwa Stone. Although everyone on Ye Tiancheng's side knew it had nothing to do with the Nuwa Stone, it couldn't stop outsiders from making such associations.
Given this, Ye Tiancheng had to prepare in advance. He also needed to create some false impressions for the outside world.
What could be confirmed first was that the combination of the Nuwa Stone's illusion and the formation was, without exaggeration, unbreakable. And as the Nuwa Stone gradually recovered and grew, it would only become more powerful. In this world, very few people would be fortunate enough to stumble into it.
Moreover, as time went on, the Nuwa Stone's illusion and formation would become more tightly integrated, increasing the Nuwa Stone's control over the formation until it was completely mastered. At that point, even if Ye Tiancheng himself let people into the formation, they would pose no threat whatsoever.
At that time, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox could put on whatever act they pleased.
The pretense that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox used to deceive Hou Mingzhu and Fatty could be modified and then spread outward based on the current external appearance of the formation.
In any case, the more mysterious it was made at this time, the better. On one hand, it was to attract attention. Since exposure was inevitable, the greater the fanfare, the better, so that the outside world would have less energy to focus on extraneous matters.
On the other hand, it was to convey the information that they themselves were also trapped. Even coercion and enticement would be useless, and they wouldn't be able to threaten him, thus maximally protecting the lives and safety of Hou Mingzhu and the others.
Moreover, this would also, to some extent, conceal the whereabouts of his daughter Ye Qingcheng in the future.
No one would ever imagine that Ye Qingcheng was sent to his side and raised by him. Those who coveted his daughter would be misled and would be unable to find Ye Qingcheng's true whereabouts.
The more one experiences certain events, the more one realizes that many things in this world are easily contrary to one's wishes.
For instance, despite all the plans and preparations Ye Tiancheng made, he never expected things to turn out so convoluted. There were simply too many variables, and unexpected incidents that Ye Tiancheng hadn't anticipated occurred every time.
Although Ye Tiancheng could react quickly and devise corresponding solutions each time, with the frequency of such occurrences, even if he could resolve the problems himself, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but think a lot.
His luck was simply too bad. As a result, even his daughter now had to live within the illusion with him.