In the forest on the other side, by the blue lake, the little fox woke up on Ye Tiancheng's back. His expression was a little dazed, and it took him a while to come to his senses and realize he was being carried by Ye Tiancheng.
Feeling the movement on his back, Ye Tiancheng turned his head to glance at the little fox. Seeing that the little fox seemed fine and had woken up safely, he asked with concern, "Little Fox, you're awake? How are you feeling? Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Does your head hurt?"
As it turned out, they had both been walking by the lake earlier, with the little fox leading the way for Ye Tiancheng. Then, for some reason, Ye Tiancheng saw the little fox suddenly stop in front of him.
At first, Ye Tiancheng thought the little fox had seen something, which was why he had stopped so abruptly. Before he could even ask, the little fox suddenly collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious, and unresponsive to any calls.
Ye Tiancheng had no choice but to carry the little fox on his back, planning to find a place for the little fox to rest properly, and also to investigate why the little fox had suddenly fainted.
However, they hadn't walked for long. At least, Ye Tiancheng hadn't found a suitable place to rest before the little fox woke up again on his back. He seemed to be alright, and judging by his appearance, nothing could be discerned. Ye Tiancheng could only ask the little fox how he felt to determine what had happened to him.
The little fox, feeling groggy, tried hard to recall what had happened before he fainted. However, he couldn't remember anything specific. He only remembered that he was leading Ye Tiancheng, and then he suddenly felt dizzy, after which he lost consciousness completely. He had no idea what had happened.
"I'm fine now. It was just a sudden bout of dizziness, and I don't know what happened, then I fainted. When I woke up, I was on Brother Ye's back..."
The little fox answered Ye Tiancheng's questions hesitantly and then tried to get down from Ye Tiancheng's back. He didn't know how long Ye Tiancheng had been carrying him, but the little fox didn't want to be a burden to Ye Tiancheng any longer.
Seeing that the little fox wanted to get down, Ye Tiancheng believed that the little fox wouldn't push himself if he wasn't capable of walking. So, he didn't insist on carrying him. Instead, he casually put the little fox down from his back, supported him, and only let go after confirming that the little fox was standing steadily.
The little fox got down from Ye Tiancheng's back but was still trying to recall what happened. Suddenly, he came to his senses with a dazed look, realizing that a vague memory had appeared in his mind.
"Right, Brother Ye, I think I dreamed of Brother Fatty again! It was right after I fainted. The memory of that dream is a bit hazy, but this dream seems to be a bit longer than the last one!"
As soon as Ye Tiancheng heard the little fox mention something related to Fatty's whereabouts, he immediately asked with great concern, "What? You dreamed about Fatty's situation again? How much do you remember? Tell me about it, how is the situation over there? Do you feel there's any danger?"
The little fox propped his chin with one hand and thought for a while with a troubled expression. He wasn't really sure because the dream was hazy, and the impression it left wasn't as deep as the first dream.
"It's really hard to recall any specific details, but I'm sure I saw Brother Fatty... Oh, right, one thing I remember very clearly is that in that dream, I felt a strong sense of restraint, as if my body was out of my control, as if I was being confined by something."
Ye Tiancheng pondered for a moment and said, "Is it possible that the body can only be controlled by the fake you, and not by the real you? It's just that your first dream was too short, and you didn't have time to react, so you didn't realize it. But this time the dream is longer, so you've realized it."
"As for not remembering the dream's content, if you really can't recall it, then so be it. I can't even remember my own dreams. Perhaps the reason you can't remember the content is the same as mine."
"I just don't know why you suddenly fainted and then dreamed of the situation over there. Did you trigger something at that moment, which caused you to have that dream, or... did something really happen to Fatty?"
Despite his reluctance, Ye Tiancheng had to consider the worst-case scenario. This was a time to search for truth and clues, and he couldn't let emotions dictate his thoughts. He could only rationally deduce all possibilities, even though these were possibilities that both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox least wished to happen.
"Trigger something? I didn't pay special attention. Because at that time, I was still diligently leading the way, and in my heart... at the moment I fainted, I wasn't thinking about Brother Fatty."
The little fox pondered for a moment before making a guess, "Brother Ye, if the trigger point were on our side, do you think we should go back to the place where I fainted and see if there's any trigger object there?"
Ye Tiancheng felt that there was no better plan, so he and the little fox returned to the spot where the little fox had suddenly fainted. However, unfortunately, despite their careful search and observation, they found no clues.
Therefore, they had to consider another possibility: that the factor triggering these dreams was not on their side, but on the other side, in the space where Fatty was. That's why they couldn't find any clues here.
They could only hope that this dream wasn't too terrible. If it was triggered because Fatty had encountered something, then Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would truly prefer not to dream of Fatty at all.
"Brother Ye, we don't need to overthink it. Thinking about it won't help, and things might not be that bad. When we were dreaming, Fatty must not have had any accidents that made us dream of him."
"Don't forget, the first time I dreamed of Brother Fatty, he was still urging me to eat. This means that at that time, he must have been in an absolutely peaceful state to have the mood to eat there. I remember that dream clearly, perhaps because there was no important information there, so it wasn't blurred."
"Thinking about it this way, it's very likely that both of our dreams this time contained some crucial information, which is why they were blurred," the little fox thought, and then became more invigorated. He shared his thoughts with Ye Tiancheng.
Ye Tiancheng listened to the little fox's thoughts and analysis, and he felt they were reasonable. However, if they were to analyze only the parts of the dream they could remember, it would only be the part where Fatty and the little fox were eating.
The fake little fox there refused to eat properly, and Fatty said the food wasn't good. Was this crucial information? Or had they missed something more important?
"How about this, Little Fox, try to think hard about the dream you can still remember. Try to retrace all the details you can recall and tell me, okay?"
Ye Tiancheng suddenly made this request to the little fox. The little fox had no objections, of course. He was very willing to provide useful clues to Ye Tiancheng, and he was also eager to confirm Fatty's safety.
"Of course, Brother Ye. Brother Fatty only said those two sentences to me at the time, urging me to eat properly and saying that the dishes on the table were not good, meaning there was nothing to choose from."
"Brother Fatty said at the time that if he encountered danger, he might not be able to escape if he didn't eat enough. But judging from his tone and attitude, Fatty's side should not have encountered any danger yet, at least no major danger."
"Then, the scene in the dream was that the three of us were in a very dilapidated earthen house. The table where we ate, the pots and bowls, were also very worn out, so it should be a very poor place."
"However, judging from the presence of pots, bowls, houses, and tables, the situation on Fatty's side should be different from the situation on our side where there are other people." The little fox painstakingly analyzed and narrated his dream to Ye Tiancheng.
Before, with the fake Fatty around, neither the little fox nor Ye Tiancheng had the chance to properly and carefully discuss the dream, analyze it, and share their thoughts. Now, they had this opportunity to speak freely.
Ye Tiancheng listened intently to the little fox's analysis and narration. Finally, when he heard the little fox say that, he realized, "Yes, Fatty's side has houses and furniture. So, the place where Fatty is, not only has other people, but those people are also natives!"
"Because people have lived there for a long time and settled there, they built houses. And since the people living there are still present, Fatty's side has usable furniture, tables, pots, bowls, and food."
"On Fatty's side, the food Fatty ate, and the fake us who were with him, should have been supported by the natives there, eating the food they prepared and living in the houses they arranged!"
However, to analyze further, the limited information was still too weak. Living in such dilapidated houses and using poor furniture, it seemed normal that the people in that place were so poor that they could only eat some vegetables. At least, from Ye Tiancheng's perspective, there were no suspicious points.
But just like their own situation, the calmer and more normal the appearance, the more abnormal it actually was. Ye Tiancheng unconsciously pressed his chest.
He always felt that something bad was going to happen to Fatty, and that uneasy premonition grew stronger with time, making it almost impossible for him to think calmly.
"Little Fox, let's move a little faster. Let's first continue with what we planned to do. This is our only direction now. We need to be quick, we can't delay any longer."