"Thank you, Ye Li little brother... I've said thank you so many times these past two days." Ou Xiaoxue looked at the little fox gratefully.
"No need to thank me, it's just a small effort." The little fox turned his head away indifferently. Ye Tiancheng found it amusing but didn't expose him.
The little fox wasn't a bad-hearted creature. Although he was somewhat resistant to Ou Xiaoxue, after hearing her experiences, he wouldn't resort to harsh words. The little fox was fundamentally kind, and in this situation, he wouldn't insist on giving Ou Xiaoxue the cold shoulder.
Ou Xiaoxue followed Ye Tiancheng, just like yesterday, tightly gripping his arm as they returned to the villa. As for the little fox, his main job was to observe the situation.
Ye Tiancheng wasn't very sensitive to these matters and couldn't discern much useful information. It still required the little fox's observation to be more reliable.
Even before entering the villa, the little fox could sense an overwhelming amount of Yin energy within the residence. The outside was slightly better; those not particularly sensitive might not notice it at first unless they got very close.
Excessively dense Yin energy could affect one's physical sensations. This is why when visiting places with supernatural disturbances, even in broad daylight and under the sun, people might feel a chill and a sense of unease; it's the Yin energy at play.
Entering the villa was even more so. The concentration of Yin energy inside was so high that the little fox wouldn't believe it if someone told him there was only one malevolent entity.
It was like diving headfirst into a nest of malevolent entities. Given the situation, the little fox found it truly remarkable that Ou Xiaoxue had managed to stay alive for two days inside.
If he hadn't had close contact with Ou Xiaoxue, specifically when he grabbed her wrist while investigating her condition, and if he hadn't confirmed that Ou Xiaoxue was indeed alive, the little fox might have suspected she was already dead.
It seemed Ou Xiaoxue must have some other anomaly about her. This anomaly had saved her life, and the little fox was no longer sure if Ou Xiaoxue had any other markings of malevolent entities.
Having encountered such a severe spiritual disturbance, the little fox didn't believe there could be only one malevolent entity attached to Ou Xiaoxue. Malevolent entities were not reasonable beings; when they reached such a level of power and latched onto someone, they were bound to cause harm.
The little fox called out to Ou Xiaoxue, and both Ye Tiancheng and Ou Xiaoxue immediately looked towards him, assuming he had discovered something after observing for so long.
Since the little fox called out to Ou Xiaoxue, she was the one who responded, "Ye Li little brother, were you calling me? Is something wrong?"
The little fox said without reservation, "It's like this, I have a rather intrusive question to ask you. Do you have any very close friends, someone who wouldn't mind seeing your body? When you go back, have a video call with them and ask them to check your body for you."
Ou Xiaoxue shivered and asked, "Yes, I do. Chu Yue can... but why?"
The little fox replied to Ou Xiaoxue, "Because it's impossible for people to see every part of their own body clearly. There are many places you can't check yourself. I'm worried that the malevolent entities targeting you are more than one."
Ou Xiaoxue was simply carefree and not mentally impaired. She immediately understood the little fox's underlying meaning. His words clearly implied that her villa housed more than just one malevolent entity, but others as well.
As she imagined it, tears uncontrollably streamed down her face. "Okay, okay, I'll remember. I'll have Chu Yue check me when I get back... How many?"
The little fox could tell that Ou Xiaoxue's subsequent question wasn't about asking Song Chu Yue to count the malevolent markings on her body, but rather asking him how many malevolent entities were in her villa.
However, this question was difficult to answer. Given the extreme Yin energy, the little fox felt that one hand wouldn't be enough to count them. But if he told Ou Xiaoxue directly, she might faint on the spot or her legs might give out, certainly hindering him and Ye Tiancheng. Therefore, the little fox didn't state it directly.
"I'm not sure, but definitely more than one." The little fox left the number of malevolent entities vague.
After all, this wasn't exactly a lie. Without luring out and capturing all the malevolent entities in the villa, even the little fox couldn't be sure how many there were.
Ye Tiancheng had clearly also noticed something was amiss. He was just not adept in these matters, but not entirely clueless. Moreover, since he and the little fox lived together, he would learn about such things with the little fox when they had nothing else to do, so he immediately detected the abnormality.
Ye Tiancheng said, "Xiaoxue, don't you know how many there are? I remember you mentioning before that you suspected there was more than one. But what exactly have you experienced these past two days? What did those malevolent entities... do?"
It was obvious that Ye Tiancheng was also very curious how Ou Xiaoxue could have survived in the villa for two days and then escaped alive only after he appeared.
He hadn't considered the possibility that Ou Xiaoxue might not be a living person, because if the little fox could tell, and hadn't mentioned it, it meant Ou Xiaoxue was a normal living person.
Ou Xiaoxue didn't understand the point of Ye Tiancheng's question and simply answered truthfully, "They always played tricks on me, for example, the chandelier on the ceiling would fall."
Coincidentally, as they passed the dining room, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox both saw the chandelier that had fallen onto the dining table. The dining table in Ou Xiaoxue's villa's dining room was made of wood, and it had been smashed through by the chandelier. If that had fallen on a person, they would surely be dead.
This kind of behavior seemed even stranger. Despite the intense disturbances, when Ou Xiaoxue escaped, aside from the marks caused by Yin energy erosion, she only had some bruises. She had no bleeding wounds, otherwise, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would have discovered them long ago.
Ye Tiancheng wasn't as sensitive as the little fox. Previously, only he had entered the villa with Ou Xiaoxue. He had thought that if Ou Xiaoxue could survive for two days, the malevolent entities in her villa wouldn't be too troublesome.
Ou Xiaoxue continued, "Sometimes I was locked in the bathroom, and the water would rise, flooding the entire bathroom. I was grabbed by the feet and couldn't swim, and just as I was about to drown, the water would recede."
"And also things like the bookshelf suddenly falling over, and knives flying at me..."
"They were particularly malicious. When I left the dining table, the chandelier fell. When I walked past the bookshelf, it toppled over. When I passed the kitchen, knives flew out..."
With this description, Ou Xiaoxue's use of the word "tricks" was very accurate, and it also allowed Ye Tiancheng and the little fox to clearly feel the motives behind the malevolent entities' actions.
They weren't trying to kill Ou Xiaoxue directly and efficiently, but rather to play tricks and torment her, making her lose her mind in fear.
Ye Tiancheng pondered internally, feeling that something was not right. Such torment seemed somewhat unreasonable for malevolent entities, unless they were directly harming her. If they couldn't directly harm Ou Xiaoxue, there was no need for them to prolong the process. Their current methods were more akin to revenge, filled with intense malice and hatred.
If they simply wanted to seize Ou Xiaoxue's family fortune, there would be no need for such trouble; they could have just killed her directly. There was no need to delay for two days, trapping Ou Xiaoxue in the villa to torment her mentally.
The little fox wasn't particularly surprised. Even if things were indeed like this, it was merely one of the possibilities he had speculated. It wasn't something beyond his expectations.
Ye Tiancheng glanced at the little fox and mouthed words to communicate with him. At this moment, it wasn't appropriate to say anything in front of Ou Xiaoxue, lest he drive her mad.
The little fox saw Ye Tiancheng's question: "Is this revenge? It doesn't seem right."
The little fox leaned closer to Ye Tiancheng and whispered in a voice only Ye Tiancheng could hear, "Whether there's a grudge or not is uncertain, but the person doing all this must have deep malice and hatred towards Ou Xiaoxue."
Ye Tiancheng felt the same way. He wanted to ask Ou Xiaoxue who she had conflicts with, but he was afraid that Ou Xiaoxue was too carefree and wouldn't even realize when others disliked her.
For instance, Ou Xiaoxue didn't even know that the little fox actually disliked her very much and was extremely repulsed by her. Ou Xiaoxue probably just thought the little fox had a somewhat unpleasant personality.
Ye Tiancheng pondered for a while and decided that it would be better to ask Song Chu Yue about this matter.
That young girl, Song Chu Yue, was more astute and quick-witted than Ou Xiaoxue. Moreover, asking Ou Xiaoxue directly about such matters could easily affect her state.
Given what had happened, if someone was indeed trying to harm Ou Xiaoxue, then Ou Xiaoxue had the right to know. However, it would be better to inform Ou Xiaoxue after everything was settled and her safety could be assured.
Otherwise, at this critical juncture, revealing the truth to Ou Xiaoxue, a minor who always seemed to think the best of others, would surely be too much for her to bear.
No one could predict how a person would change or react in such a situation. Ye Tiancheng was mainly worried that the young girl wouldn't be able to handle the mental blow. If she had an overly negative reaction and became self-destructive, it would be terrible.
This was not an impossible scenario. Some people are consistently kind, treating others with goodwill and never suspecting their intentions. Then, upon suddenly discovering the ugliness of human nature, they might fall into despair, questioning themselves and the world. These are all possible paths, but such a dark mindset cannot be combined with the current dire situation, as it would only make everything worse.
The little fox didn't explicitly point these things out to Ou Xiaoxue, but he needed to respond to her. After all, he had asked so many questions earlier, and it wouldn't be normal to say nothing now.
So, he told Ou Xiaoxue, "It's rather strange, and needs further observation. These malevolent entities are so fierce, yet they haven't taken your life, only played tricks on you for two days, and you have no wounds, only some bruises from bumps. It's not logical."
Ou Xiaoxue didn't quite understand the difference. "Why is that? These past few days, they really haven't caused any harm to me. Now that you mention it, it does seem very strange. If they were particularly fierce, they would surely want to take a life."
"We'll try again when there's an opportunity. The important thing now is to observe the situation and pack your daily necessities. It's not suitable to stir up trouble. My elder brother and I will come again next time."
The little fox changed the subject. The situation here seemed more dangerous than he had anticipated. Bringing Ou Xiaoxue along was too risky. It would be better to leave her behind and then investigate.