Ye Tiancheng would feel particularly bad if anything happened to the little fox. Although he was suspicious of the little fox at first, no matter how suspicious he was, he didn't want anything to happen to him.
Moreover, through the past few days of getting along, Ye Tiancheng felt that he had developed feelings for the little fox. Now, not only was Fatty protecting him, but Ye Tiancheng was also protecting him and was unwilling to let her suffer any harm.
"Brother Ye, what do we do now? That child just disappeared in this art gallery. Was he taken away by the woman in red? If I can't even protect the child, I'll be very guilty my whole life."
Although the little fox was an unexpected interruption, she had gradually become one of them. If this member were to suddenly disappear, it would be a huge loss for all of them.
"Don't worry, I almost forgot. I brought this artifact for finding people. I can try to look for it and see if it can provide any guidance."
Ye Tiancheng used the artifact for finding people, and it pointed to a location in the west, leaving Ye Tiancheng confused. Finally, he discovered a dilapidated room in a very secluded part of the exhibition. There was a large lock on the outside of the room.
It was previously blocked by wooden boards. If it weren't for the guidance of the artifact for finding people, Ye Tiancheng would never have been able to find such a magical place, even if he worked himself to death.
"How do we deal with this big lock?"
Fatty, wearing a bracelet, took out a shovel from his waist and struck the big lock with it. The big lock fell to the ground with a clang, and it was done.
Ye Tiancheng almost forgot that he had someone with super strength by his side and should make good use of him. He directly let Fatty handle it, and Fatty solved it with one strike. He felt it wasn't too difficult and was quite easy.
After the big lock was opened, there was a narrow room inside, filled with cobwebs. As soon as the door was opened, a strong black aura rushed out.
"Good heavens, so this is the source."
Ye Tiancheng was excited and a little nervous at the same time. They seemed to be closer to the truth. No matter what, it was much better than blindly rushing around like headless flies before.
Ye Tiancheng and Fatty began to search the small room. Then, Fatty found some clues. Fatty felt some weeds on the ground and kicked them casually. To his surprise, this kick directly revealed some wooden boards. There were nails on the wooden boards, and some nails had come loose. Fatty kicked them a couple more times and was surprised to find that it was a wooden lid.
When the lid was lifted, it revealed a cellar, which could be used for storage. At that moment, Ye Tiancheng and Fatty looked at each other, their eyes wide open, because they had a guess that the person they were looking for, the little fox who had just disappeared, was hidden in this cellar.
"Brother Ye, the person is probably here."
Fatty whispered, and then Ye Tiancheng nodded. Then, the two of them lifted the wooden board. As expected, with a puff of dust, there was a cellar beneath the wooden board.
"Little fox, are you in there?"
Fatty shouted, but there was no response from the cellar. Fatty couldn't wait any longer and went down into the cellar. To his surprise, it was empty, and there was no one to be seen.
"That spot seems to have a figure."
In the dark environment, Ye Tiancheng used his true qi to enhance his vision, so his eyesight was naturally better than Fatty's. Therefore, he quickly saw that in the corner of the cellar, there was indeed a figure. A person was lying on the ground, looking as pathetic as a beggar.
Fatty quickly ran over to take a look. However, the lower he went, the lower the height became. Fatty had to bend his body halfway, otherwise, it would really be difficult to accommodate his huge body.
"Little fox, wake up quickly."
Fatty had already confirmed it was the little fox he was looking for before he could even see her face clearly. This was because Fatty was too familiar with that figure. He had been with the person day and night, so he would definitely know it was that person even without seeing her face.
Under Fatty's calls, the little fox finally woke up groggily. This was a very painful experience for her. She had held her breath for a long time and finally managed to catch her breath. She had even been suffocating for a while. After recovering her breathing, she started to cough violently, looking very pathetic, with tears in her eyes.
"What happened?"
Fatty urgently needed to know what had happened. At this time, Ye Tiancheng was more rational. He quickly told Fatty not to ask for now. The little fox looked very uncomfortable. It was better to get her out first and then talk about other things. Now that the person was dazed, he probably wouldn't be able to get any answers.
"It's nothing, don't think too much about it. Thinking too much is not good. Let's save the person quickly."
Although the cellar was very dimly lit, only illuminated by the phone light, Ye Tiancheng could still see that the little fox's complexion was very poor. At this time, saving the person should be the priority. The truth could be investigated slowly, but human life was at stake.
After all, the little fox had no cultivation. At most, she was a little Taoist priest who could write a few talismans. Such an ordinary person had no self-protection ability. As important people around him left one by one, Ye Tiancheng suddenly realized that human life was the most important thing. He had made many mistakes in the past due to impatience, so he had to correct these mistakes properly now and not let them continue.
Just as Ye Tiancheng and Fatty were helping the little fox out of the cellar, they discovered another unexpected situation, which caught them off guard.
That was when Fatty accidentally stepped on a skull. The skull looked relatively fresh, with some indescribable things on it. So, when Fatty looked down and saw it clearly, he not only saw the shocking scene but also smelled a stench of corpse, which almost made him vomit.
"Heavens, help me! Why is it so scary? It's going to kill me!"
It made one's scalp tingle. Anyone would think it was too disgusting, both visually and olfactorily. Anyway, it was a huge shock that made one want to die.
Ye Tiancheng also saw the skull rolling on the ground through Fatty's cry and quickly shone the phone light closer. This made Ye Tiancheng gasp.
It wasn't just one skull, but several skulls, and their degrees of decomposition varied. This fully explained one thing: this cellar was a place where corpses were hidden. No wonder there was such a strong black aura that rushed out. With such a strong malevolent aura, and the woman in red having appeared here, it was not surprising that such an effect occurred.
"Fatty, let's go out first, and then call the police quickly."
He was too focused on finding the little fox earlier and was a bit anxious. Even though he smelled some strange odors, he didn't amplify that feeling. Now that the person was found, his mind was more focused. He really couldn't tolerate the scene in front of him, as the shock was boundless.
"Okay, let's go out first."
After rescuing the little fox, Fatty immediately called the police. Then, the police came to investigate. The truth of the case came out the next morning. It turned out that the Tomson was a murderer, and also a serial killer. His main targets were scavengers, homeless people, and some crazy women. These people had no family or friends, so no one would care if they disappeared.
This was why no missing person reports were filed. Tomson had been a rampant serial killer for five years.
Therefore, some of the skeletons were completely rotten. Coupled with the special environment of the cellar, there were also some who had been killed by him recently. Although they had not rotted too severely yet, they were still quite terrifying, even worse than those that had completely rotted.
In the end, the police dug out more than 30 bodies from the cellar. In such a small town, it could be said to be a world-shattering case. While watching the news report, Ye Tiancheng made a summary.
"I think the woman in red tends to go towards the dark side of this world. If we want to find her, we have to see where terrible things have happened. People who cultivate black energy like dark things."
Ye Tiancheng was just talking nonsense, but Fatty agreed very much and promised Ye Tiancheng that they would arrive immediately wherever something happened in the future.
Originally, they planned to leave the small town at noon, as they couldn't stay there forever. Ye Tiancheng's plan was to first go and see Liu Lanying.
Ye Tiancheng was not sure how Liu Lanying's body was being preserved. He had to see it with his own eyes to believe it. If he didn't see it, he would always feel a sense of guilt.
However, after Ye Tiancheng and his companions set off, they had just arrived at their destination when they heard that the cave where Liu Lanying's body was stored had a major fire half a day ago, which even affected the forest. It took a long time to extinguish the fire in the forest.
This was still fortunate. If the forest fire had not been extinguished, the losses would have been immeasurable. Everyone was dealing with the aftermath with a sense of fear, and Ye Tiancheng suddenly realized a problem.
It seemed that everything was fate. Now that everything was over, in order to find the Fuxi Qin, Ye Tiancheng was even willing to sacrifice his own life. He wanted to use this divine artifact to save Liu Lanying's life.
But now, everything was in the past, and nothing could be undone. The body was gone. Unless Ye Tiancheng was the Creator, he could not bring back his former friend.
"Fatty, it seems I am truly a person full of misfortune. Those who get close to me have no good end. If Liu Lanying had not been chosen as the village chief, had not mingled with me, and had not listened to my advice to get rich by raising pigs, especially if she had not gotten too close to me, she might have had a happy life. Perhaps she would have gotten married and had children by now, and would not have died tragically. All of this is my fault..."
Ye Tiancheng really wanted to cry. He never imagined that everything would be so tragic. Now that it was irreversible, he felt powerless to do anything.
"Alright, don't cry anymore. What's past is past, Brother Ye. A man should not shed tears easily. Besides, bringing someone back to life is inherently impossible. This kind of thing goes against the heavens. We should have accepted this reality long ago. Liu Lanying is gone. Let her rest in peace. May she be buried in peace."
A fire ended everything. It was said that it rained afterward, otherwise, the fire would have caused great disaster. Ye Tiancheng found traces of black energy at the scene of the fire. As for the heavy rain, it was probably Liu Lanying's spirit in heaven, finally manifesting, not wanting so many people to be harmed.
Liu Lanying had always been kind, so even after her death, she would protect the peace of the area. Ye Tiancheng was thinking, his heart filled with sorrow, when raindrops began to fall.