"When we asked the little fox, the little fox told us it was you who had him do it," Nie Chongyang said, then asked Ye Tiancheng, "What are these things you had the little fox do for?"
Ye Tiancheng asked, "Didn't the little fox tell you?"
At this moment, the little fox spoke up.
"You came back before I had a chance to answer, Big Brother."
Ye Tiancheng understood, closed the door with his back, and locked it. The group walked towards the beds, as it would be more comfortable to sit and talk.
After sitting down, he put away the receipt and, while distributing keys to everyone, explained, "Considering various factors, and also related to last night's experience, I wanted the little fox to test and see what kind of thing that hotel owner really was. The best way to test, of course, was to have the little fox use those targeted talismans."
The other three also took their keys and put them away.
After explaining, Ye Tiancheng asked the little fox, "How were your test results? Did you find out anything?"
Speaking of this, the little fox's expression showed a hint of complexity.
Seeing the little fox like this, Ye Tiancheng guessed that things were probably not simple, and said, "What's wrong? Did you discover something, or couldn't you find out?"
The little fox scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled.
He replied to Ye Tiancheng, "I did my best to handle this matter. I didn't think it would be difficult at first, and besides, Big Brother, you kept the hotel owner occupied in this room for so long, which was enough time for me to test them one by one. At the very least, I should have been able to determine what he was. Originally, there shouldn't have been a problem."
"Originally..." Ye Tiancheng paused, "So there was a problem?"
The little fox told Ye Tiancheng, "I tested all the talismans I could, all sorts of them, but none of them had any reaction. Only one was left. If my guess is correct, then this matter is indeed a bit strange."
Ye Tiancheng asked, "What haven't you tested yet?"
The little fox was silent for a moment before saying, "People. I haven't tested any of the talismans that are only effective against people. I've tested everything else."
As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent, clearly astonished.
If the little fox's test results were accurate, wouldn't that mean the hotel owner was actually a human?
Even the situation of being neither human nor ghost should not apply, otherwise, even if there were still human aspects, talismans targeting other beings would not have been completely ineffective against the hotel owner.
Ye Tiancheng pondered and confirmed with the little fox, "Are you sure there were no mistakes?"
The little fox said, "Originally, I thought there couldn't be any mistakes. But this result is truly too unbelievable. So, even though rationally I think there shouldn't be any mistakes, I really can't be sure that this result is completely error-free."
Ye Tiancheng fell silent again.
After a long period of silence in the room, Liang Ping suddenly spoke, breaking the overly quiet atmosphere.
Liang Ping said, "Although this result is indeed inevitably surprising, I don't think the possibility of the hotel owner being entirely human is completely nonexistent."
"Firstly, the ability to construct such a space could actually be done by some capable cultivators. Cultivators are not all good, and it doesn't mean they wouldn't do bad things."
The little fox said, "While that may be so, the hotel owner was so timid when facing Big Brother. Even if he had some unorthodox skills, he couldn't be that powerful."
"In that case, he shouldn't be the mastermind or anything. He wouldn't have that kind of ability."
Liang Ping nodded and said, "Yes, this possibility is indeed not very high, the probability is extremely low. But since this possibility exists, I'll just bring it up and rule them out one by one."
Then, Liang Ping continued, "Secondly, remember that we came to this place because we triggered something in the Zeng family ancestral hall, which led us here."
"But before we went to the Zeng family ancestral hall, we went down to the bottom of the artificial lake at that university."
The little fox shivered.
"We went to the bottom of the artificial lake because of that female college student! That turtle spirit!"
Liang Ping nodded in agreement, "Indeed."
"Regarding the girl who claimed to be a turtle spirit, we cannot guarantee how much of her provided clues and statements about whether she was good or evil were true or false. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that she intentionally lured us here."
"Whether she was acting as a henchman, or was the mastermind herself, or was closely related to the mastermind, in short, assuming she did it intentionally, how can we be sure that we four are the only ones lured here by her, or them?"
The other three understood. This possibility was indeed extremely high.
Liang Ping's deductions also had a certain degree of reason and basis.
Ye Tiancheng concluded, "This kind of space, no matter how you look at it, doesn't seem to be specially prepared for us. Therefore, in this situation, we cannot rule out the possibility that others have been lured here."
The little fox also said, "So, the hotel owner might also be a victim lured here?"
"Then if he really is a victim, he's still running a black market here?"
Ye Tiancheng also had some thoughts. Hearing the little fox say this, Ye Tiancheng said, "Whether he runs a black market or where he runs it, it has little to do with whether he is a victim. Besides, victims are not necessarily good people."
The little fox nodded.
Indeed, there was no rule that bad people couldn't be victims.
Ye Tiancheng continued, "However, who knows how long the hotel owner has been here, or how he got in. But with his current behavior, I think, if our deductions are correct, then his choice to do so might, to some extent, be his way of survival."
Suddenly, the gazes of the other three in the room focused on Ye Tiancheng.
Ye Tiancheng said, "If he was tricked into coming here for some reason, then for him, the crisis that exists for us should also exist for him."
"Moreover, in our previous conversations, I made some attempts to probe, and I sensed that the hotel owner should be afraid of what happened at night. He even knows that it's safer for us to stay here, so he thinks that by charging us more as a condition to drive us away, we will have to compromise with him for survival."
"He must have arrived here at least not too long ago, and should have some understanding of this spatial world, and even know how to survive in this world."
The little fox listened and stroked his chin, saying thoughtfully, "If that's the case, perhaps we can control the owner and learn about things in this space through him. Maybe we can know more?"
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping had nothing to say about the bandit-like behavior proposed by the little fox.
If the hotel owner was indeed a not-so-good entity, then they would have nothing to say about doing such things. In fact, if truly necessary, even if they needed to cooperate, it wouldn't be impossible.
However, if the hotel owner's identity was questionable, and he might be a victim, a normal human being, then even if the hotel owner did some not-so-good things, in principle, Nie Chongyang and the others could no longer do such things.
At most, they could only watch Ye Tiancheng and the little fox do it.
Ye Tiancheng looked at the little fox and shook his head helplessly.
He said to the little fox, "In practice, this is not very feasible."
"We can't really do anything excessive, and we also have to consider whether they might retaliate or have rebellious emotions. If they are pushed too hard, they might deliberately say false things to deceive us, which could easily lead us into a trap, and make us confused, making it even harder to leave this damned place."
"Moreover, I've also noticed that even though I've threatened him multiple times, the hotel owner, despite being timid, hasn't really been timid to the end. He even dared to insist on making more money."
"And he repeatedly tried to feign compliance while acting in opposition."
Ye Tiancheng said while thinking, "So, we have to be wary. The fact that he dares to run a black market here might not be without reason. Besides, how did he survive here? And how did he know how to survive here?"
"He must have some trump cards, or we shouldn't push him too hard at this time."
"Otherwise, if the hotel owner is forced into a corner, it might not be a good thing for us. We can still live in this black hotel for now. If we can't live here, finding other places to stay might not be easy."
Nie Chongyang listened to Ye Tiancheng's deductions, thought for a moment, and then said, "I think that in this situation, the hotel owner still dares to insist on getting more money from us. I suspect that finding a safe place to stay in this place might indeed be difficult."
"He might be relying on this fact, knowing that we have no other options, and that might be one of his sources of confidence."
Ye Tiancheng agreed, "Indeed, there is such a probability."
Speaking of this, Nie Chongyang then asked Ye Tiancheng with some curiosity, "Speaking of which, I'm quite interested. Why did you suddenly insist that the hotel owner give us a receipt?"
"Is there any special purpose in doing so?"
"If the hotel owner is determined to rip us off, he has plenty of excuses. Would this receipt really make any difference?"
Hearing Nie Chongyang's question, Ye Tiancheng explained to him, "Actually, regarding the receipt, in the beginning, it really wouldn't have made much difference whether we had it or not. I just followed normal logic and with a testing mentality, I proposed opening a receipt. Originally, I didn't necessarily have to get the receipt."
Nie Chongyang asked with confusion, "Hmm?"
Ye Tiancheng said, "For a normal person, even if they accept being extorted, they might not be willing to be extorted again. They would definitely want to prevent future problems. The method that most people would think of, as a conditioned reflex, is to have a written agreement. Then they would have proof and evidence."
The other three nodded in understanding, agreeing.
This point was indeed reasonable. Most normal people would think this way, and it was indeed logical, with no problems.