Lin Yun heard Ye Tiancheng's question and glanced at the transparent small bottle in his hand before replying, "It's a skincare lotion I concocted myself, using plants I cultivated. It's very effective."
"This... could there be any problem with it? I'm only using very ordinary flowers and plants."
As Lin Yun spoke, she began to hesitate. The incident with the spectral bus on route 414 had made her a little insecure. She knew the ingredients and had made it herself, but seeing Ye Tiancheng's reaction, Lin Yun started to doubt if there was indeed something wrong with the product.
Ye Tiancheng's expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to discern his thoughts. Lin Yun only heard him say, "There is a slight issue, but the root cause isn't with this product you made. It's only related."
"If you had bought this from an outside source, it might be more troublesome to investigate. But since you made it yourself, and you should have all the raw materials, it won't be as complicated."
"If there's an opportunity, I'd like to see the raw materials to confirm the source."
Seeing Lin Yun readily nod in agreement, showing no further suspicion or evasion, Ye Tiancheng felt that Lin Yun likely didn't know what extraordinary materials she had used in making the skincare lotion. Ye Tiancheng had no intention of reminding her, as he was definitely going to take the Fuxi Qin fragment, and it was best if Lin Yun remained unaware.
Ye Tiancheng said to Lin Yun, "I'll take this bottle of your skincare lotion first."
Upon hearing that even her homemade skincare lotion could bring her such misfortune, Lin Yun had no objections to Ye Tiancheng taking it and readily agreed.
Ye Tiancheng then put the bottle away and said to the little fox, "The reason is likely more than just this. There might be something else. Ye Li, search a bit more."
Lin Yun didn't understand these matters, but the little fox could sense something. He knew Ye Tiancheng had likely found what he was looking for, and what he was now asking him to search for should be the item truly related to Lin Yun's accident. The little fox nodded and continued to search diligently.
Since they had chosen to help her, and were going to take the Fuxi Qin fragment afterward, it would be too much to simply abandon her after getting what they wanted.
Therefore, even though they had a direction for investigating the fragment, Ye Tiancheng was determined to resolve Lin Yun's issues before leaving.
While the little fox was searching through the items, Ye Tiancheng communicated with the Nuwa Stone in his mind.
"The skincare lotion Lin Yun made herself must have come into contact with something intimate with the Fuxi Qin fragment. The aura is all over it. No wonder I felt the Fuxi Qin fragment had moved, and I thought the aura at the flower shop was from the fragment's residual presence after moving."
"Now it seems the fragment is still in place, but something that carried most of its aura has moved, which made me think the fragment itself had moved."
Ye Tiancheng agreed with the Nuwa Stone, "I think that's likely the case. It's so obvious, it should be easy to find the fragment this time."
The Nuwa Stone also sighed, "Doing good deeds daily brings good fortune. Look, we usually don't have opportunities to search, but after helping someone, we have a legitimate reason to take a new fragment."
Next, Ye Tiancheng and the Nuwa Stone discussed where the new Fuxi Qin fragment might be hidden. They had already decided it was likely related to the raw materials for making the skincare lotion, with a high probability of being related to plants.
The Nuwa Stone suggested that the fragment might be buried in the soil, and later mentioned that it could even be embedded within the plants.
Given Lin Yun's meticulous nature, her making her own skincare lotion must be because she found it very effective. The Nuwa Stone deduced that the skincare lotion's effectiveness could only be related to the Fuxi Qin fragment.
If that were the case, the most likely scenarios were that it was embedded in the plants or in the soil.
The Nuwa Stone said this not to fixate Ye Tiancheng's thinking, but to provide him with a primary direction for investigation. The specific situation could only be determined after actual examination.
The little fox spent some time carefully examining all the items Lin Yun had with her, then picked out a small wooden牌 and asked Lin Yun, "Where did you get this item?"
Lin Yun looked at the small wooden牌 in the little fox's hand, her expression changing slightly. "Could this item also be related? It shouldn't have any connection to my skincare lotion, right?"
Seeing Lin Yun's expression, Ye Tiancheng truly didn't believe her and stepped forward to explain, "It's not that this is the cause, nor is it your skincare lotion. It's the combined effect of these two items."
"One of them caused you to encounter the spectral bus, but it didn't put you in danger; it protected you. However, when the two are combined, it created a new accident, leading to the predicament you're in today."
"If I were to guess, it's probably because you don't usually wear this wooden牌, right? This wooden牌 looks like a protective charm?"
This wasn't entirely a lie, as the combined effect of the skincare lotion and the protective charm causing Lin Yun's accident was indeed true.
Because Lin Yun had a good impression of Ye Tiancheng, she was naturally more receptive to his words.
Furthermore, Ye Tiancheng had said that neither item alone would cause a problem, which was a comforting statement that Lin Yun could accept.
Lin Yun then replied to Ye Tiancheng, "That's right, it is a protective charm. My grandmother gave it to me."
"I remember my grandmother saying that she got this protective charm from a fortune teller when she was young, and she wore it for most of her life."
"Later, when I started working and settled in Huaishi, opening a flower shop, my grandmother gave me this protective charm, saying it would keep me safe."
"Although my grandmother and I had a good relationship since childhood and I was grateful for her care in giving me her personal protective charm, I understood it was her intention and didn't refuse. However, this protective charm didn't quite match my style of dress, so I couldn't wear it out."
"Besides, I've been living alone here for years, and my grandmother couldn't see me, so I didn't wear this protective charm every day. Most of the time, it was put away in a chest."
"The reason I suddenly took it out today was because my grandmother suddenly came to Huaishi today, and she asked me where the protective charm she gave me was and why I wasn't wearing it."
Lin Yun paused at this point, picked up the water cup from the bedside table, and took a sip. After talking for so long, and sweating profusely due to her foot pain, she was a bit dehydrated and very thirsty.
Ye Tiancheng didn't rush her, patiently waiting for Lin Yun to finish drinking before continuing, "I told my grandmother at the time that I had gotten my clothes dirty while working at the shop, and I took it off when I changed, forgetting to put it back on, and left it at the shop. I'd bring it next time. She even scolded me for taking it off."
"Because of this, coincidentally, after being lectured by my grandmother, I saw this wooden牌 and put it in my bag so I could account for it when I went to find my grandmother."
Lin Yun then gave a wry smile, "Now it's all good. My foot is injured, and my grandmother hasn't left yet. She's still at my place, but she sleeps early, so she might not have noticed this."
"When she finds out later that my foot is injured, she might blame me again, saying that I encountered this because I didn't wear the protective charm."
After explaining everything related to the protective charm, Lin Yun then said to Ye Tiancheng, "I've told you everything about this protective charm. What's wrong with it? Why did it cause me to encounter this situation?"
Seeing Lin Yun looking at him, Ye Tiancheng quickly gestured for her to turn to the little fox. "I'm better at combat. I'll leave the explanation to my younger brother. He can explain it to you in a way you can understand better."
The little fox didn't say anything when Ye Tiancheng passed the responsibility to him. He obediently accepted it, pondered Ye Tiancheng's intentions and the desired outcome, and then met Lin Yun's curious gaze, starting to explain to her.
"To be specific, your skincare lotion has a bigger problem. It's likely that one of the raw materials you used to make the lotion is very attractive to that type of entity, which would cause you to encounter the spectral bus."
"However, while those entities like such things, they might not dare to take them. It's not easy for them to obtain them, and I haven't seen any particularly powerful entities in Huaishi yet. They likely wouldn't dare to snatch it, so when you used to parade around with your skincare lotion daily, you only encountered the spectral bus but no accidents."
"But this time, when it collided with your wooden牌 protective charm, some strange changes occurred. It's not that the protective charm your grandmother gave you is completely useless, but precisely because it is useful, this situation arose."
"The entities that coveted your skincare lotion were originally deterred by the powerful aura emanating from the treasure. They estimated their own strength was insufficient, and you didn't encounter anything too formidable, so they didn't dare to snatch it."
"But this time, when you placed it with the protective charm, your protective charm had a slight concealing effect. As a result, the powerful deterrent aura of the treasure emanating from your skincare lotion was covered up, leaving only the aura that tempted those entities. You then attracted the spectral bus again and got on it. In this situation, how could nothing go wrong?" the little fox guessed, using a rather misleading explanation.
Because the little fox suspected that the skincare lotion was related to the Fuxi Qin fragment, and it was not the culprit behind Lin Yun's strange encounters, but Ye Tiancheng definitely intended to take the Fuxi Qin fragment, they had to find a way to allow Ye Tiancheng to reasonably take the Fuxi Qin fragment. Thus, the little fox consciously cooperated in fabricating a story.
"Actually, I don't know what you made your skincare lotion with, or which raw material has such great power. However, I think even if this thing is very effective, you'd best not keep it in your possession."
"Even if Huaishi doesn't have any particularly powerful entities now, you should still be careful, because it doesn't mean there won't be any in the future. The principle of 'possessing a treasure invites trouble' is something I believe few people in this world don't understand, right?" The little fox diligently deceived Lin Yun, making it sound very convincing.