The spearhead pointed directly at Ye Fan, while Wu Liuding and others stared intently at Ye Fan's face, their gazes filled with suspicion.
Hearing Liu Yuan's words, Ye Fan frowned, "How do you know if I lost anything? Could it be that the thief last night was you?"
Staring coldly at Liu Yuan and the others, Ye Fan's imposing aura was not at all inferior.
Ye Fan's words left Liu Yuan and his group speechless, and even their expressions turned somber in that instant.
"Ye Fan, what do you mean by that? Everyone lost something last night, and this morning they were discussing finding the culprit. Why did you go out so early? If you had also lost something, how could you be in the mood to wander out?"
Wu Liuding asked angrily, his face grim.
Ye Fan sneered, ignoring Wu Liuding's questioning, his face etched with coldness.
"I don't think I need to report my actions to you," he said, walking to the side to sit down leisurely.
"Alright, no more arguing. We are companions, not enemies. We must find the culprit for the things lost last night."
Seeing the tension between Ye Fan and Liu Yuan's group, Zheng Zhiyuan stood up and said angrily.
Then, his gaze fell on Ye Fan again, "Did you lose anything last night?"
Raising his eyelids, he swept a cold glance at Zheng Zhiyuan, "My cash is gone, does that count as losing something?"
Shen Bao, standing beside him, also snorted coldly, "Do you think we went out this morning for a stroll? Wasn't it to find the thief?"
He looked at Zheng Zhiyuan impatiently, Shen Bao's voice tinged with anger.
Hearing Ye Fan and Shen Bao's words, Zheng Zhiyuan's lips twitched.
"Did you find anything?"
Although they had only lost money and other worldly possessions, given their status, being stolen from was something they could not easily accept.
He pointed at Lu Sheng and Zhang Hao, "These two are the innkeeper and a waiter. They are more familiar with the area around Taiping Town, so President Zheng should ask them."
Seeing Shen Bao point at him, Lu Sheng trembled inwardly. However, years of experience in theft had made Lu Sheng's psychological fortitude strong, and he was not easily frightened by a slight disturbance.
Zheng Zhiyuan looked at Lu Sheng with doubt and asked, frowning, "Do you have any clues about the thief?"
Lu Sheng smiled, "To be honest, this Taiping Town is called Taiping Town, but it is not peaceful. As you all should know, this town is made up of newcomers, with all sorts of people from all walks of life. Moreover, many of them were pickpockets in the past, which leads to it being very easy to lose things in Taiping Town. It's not just outsiders like you; even locals are constantly wary of their belongings."
"But our money was lost in your inn, shouldn't you be held responsible?"
Liu Yuan questioned impatiently.
Lu Sheng, however, began to sneer, looking at Liu Yuan as if he were an idiot.
"My good sir, may I ask if you are a child? Or perhaps you have a problem with your intelligence? Do you need others to help you watch your belongings when you go out?"
He taunted him unceremoniously, with disdain on his face.
"We are all adults and should have self-protection awareness. Therefore, if your property is lost, it is your own business and has nothing to do with my inn. If you want to investigate, I can help you, but if you want to cause trouble for me, I'm afraid you can't do it."
Lu Sheng's expression turned grim, his gaze fixed on Zheng Zhiyuan, Liu Yuan, and the others.
Seeing Lu Sheng's anger, Zheng Zhiyuan knew that a strong dragon could not suppress a local snake. Lu Sheng was a local after all, and if a dispute truly arose, they would be at a disadvantage and gain no benefit.
The next moment, Zheng Zhiyuan forced a smile onto his face.
"Mr. Lu, please don't be angry. We are also anxious because we lost our belongings. After all, we didn't bring much money with us on this trip, and if it's lost, we won't be able to explain ourselves to our superiors."
With a fawning smile, Zheng Zhiyuan invited Lu Sheng to sit down.
"Mr. Lu, please help us find the thief and recover our property. We will reward you handsomely."
Hearing Zheng Zhiyuan's words, Lu Sheng nodded with satisfaction.
"What the elder says makes sense. He is indeed an elder, far better than those brats who haven't grown their beards yet."
Then he took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to smoke, clouds of vapor filling the air.
"We do have a few regular thieves who frequent our inn. I know these fellows, and I can help you ask around. You can also discreetly observe the people around you. If you find anything, you can investigate yourselves. But I must warn you, this is Taiping Town, not Jiangcheng. If you provoke the wrong people, you will be in a lot of trouble."
Lu Sheng stared at Zheng Zhiyuan, this was his counsel to them.
Hearing Lu Sheng's words, Zheng Zhiyuan nodded heavily, "Thank you, Mr. Lu."
...
After a morning of life-and-death escape, Ye Fan felt somewhat tired and returned to his room to rest on the bed.
Meanwhile, Shen Bao went out to meet with his subordinates.
About an hour later, Ye Fan's phone rang.
"Liu Yuan and the others have sneakily left the inn. They seem to be heading towards Dong Wang Mountain. Should we follow them and see?"
Having just experienced the events at Dong Wang Mountain this morning, Shen Bao was quite wary of that place.
Hearing Shen Bao's words, Ye Fan's brows immediately furrowed. Liu Yuan and the others were also going to Dong Wang Mountain? Did they also know about that treasure?
He got up instantly, arranged a meeting place with Shen Bao, and then hurried out.
At the small entrance to the path leading to Dong Wang Mountain, Shen Bao was waiting anxiously. Seeing Ye Fan arrive, he quickly went to meet him.
"There are over a dozen of them, and they've been gone for over ten minutes. They should be halfway up the mountain by now."
Shen Bao said urgently.
Ye Fan's face was grim as he squinted his eyes and looked at the mountaintop.
"Let's follow them," he said.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Fan said solemnly, and then quickly followed them up the mountain with Shen Bao.
They reached halfway up the mountain and saw the traces of Liu Yuan and his group.
At the entrance of the mountain cave, two men in black were guarding the entrance, their faces filled with coldness.
Clearly, Liu Yuan and his group had entered the mountain cave.
"Could it be that those guys with the big beards are related to Liu Yuan?"
Shen Bao asked, frowning.
Ye Fan nodded, "It should be. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come here so familiarly. But what is the identity of that man with the big beard, and what is his relationship with Liu Yuan and the others?"
Ye Fan's brows were furrowed, unable to figure it out.
Originally, Lin Yue asking him to come here was a conspiracy.
But in the end, the doubts only grew. Zheng Zhiyuan's intentions, the strangeness of the Dark Alliance, all of this gave Ye Fan a headache.
"Should we sneak in and take a look?"
Shen Bao suddenly suggested.
Guessing aimlessly outside would yield no results, it was better to risk going in and perhaps obtain useful clues.
Ye Fan's eyes lit up, and a smile curved his lips.
"Okay, you distract those two at the entrance, and I'll go in and take a look. If there's any situation, I'll loudly alert you, and you can go back immediately to get reinforcements."
After thinking, Ye Fan solemnly instructed.