Chapter 213

Chapter 213

After Yi Tiantian followed Xiao Yang into the back room, Fei Cheng and Guangyi remained, and the atmosphere between them grew extremely tense. Even Guangyi’s bodyguards kept a wary eye on Fei Cheng.

Guangyi’s sharp eyes scanned Fei Cheng, who was bundled up tightly. With a sweeping gesture, the men in black behind him retreated.

Now, only Guangyi and Fei Cheng stood face to face.

Fei Cheng’s expression hardened, and he stood still, towering like a mountain.

Through his gold-rimmed glasses, Guangyi’s hostile gaze bore into Fei Cheng.

Just then, a man in black hurried forward and whispered a few words into Guangyi’s ear.

Fei Cheng frowned, unsure of the content of their conversation, but he noticed that Guangyi’s expression had grown even more serious, his eyes clouded over.

Fei Cheng immediately realized that something unfavorable to the Dusk Society must have happened.

Sure enough, Guangyi cast one last glance at him before turning to leave with the man in black who had approached him. Before departing, he instructed another group of black-clad bodyguards to stay behind and keep an eye on Fei Cheng.

Guangyi left in large strides, leaving Fei Cheng sitting in the lounge area of the hall, with the sleazy stage and the rapt audience not far away.

As Fei Cheng sat there, he noticed something off about the place.

The distant stage would disappear in an instant, only to reappear in his vision. At times, the performers on stage would turn into white skeletons, and the viewers below would vanish at certain moments.

At first, Fei Cheng thought he was seeing things wrong and closed his eyes gently, trying to relax.

But when he opened his eyes again, the hallucinations worsened.

It wasn’t just the stage and its surroundings that were changing in an instant; the entire underground brothel would transform into a decrepit basement of a villa in the wilderness.

The place was filled with dust, dirt, and insect eggs, with insects crawling on the ground. In the distance, there were piles of skeletons, and a few bodies that had not completely decayed were now wrapped in white wriggling insects. The air was thick with the suffocating stench of decay.

Fei Cheng’s heart raced, veins bulging on his arms, his temples throbbing. He struggled to keep his eyes open, trying to dispel the visions, but the flashes became more frequent, switching between the underground brothel and the rotting basement every second.

Realizing that this was probably not just his imagination, Fei Cheng swallowed and decided to explore the rotting basement.

But just as he was about to take action, he saw Yi Tiantian walking out of the back room, followed by a man as large as a double-door refrigerator.

Fei Cheng took a deep breath, and the scene of the rotting basement never appeared again.

"Where is Mr. Guang?" Yi Tiantian looked around but couldn’t find Guangyi.

"Fei... Xiao He, why do you look so pale? Low blood sugar?" Yi Tiantian almost slipped up but quickly corrected himself.

Before Fei Cheng could respond, the group of men in black left behind by Guangyi approached and surrounded them.

The men moved swiftly and had encircled Yi Tiantian in an instant.

A cold shiver ran down Yi Tiantian’s spine, and he instinctively moved closer to Actor Fei.

Fei Cheng also took a defensive stance, shielding Yi Tiantian behind him.

"What do you think you’re doing?! Where is Mr. Guang?!"

Yi Tiantian asked seriously, looking at the group of men in black, their faces unreadable.

Just then, the leader of the men in black stepped forward. His pale face showed no emotion as he mechanically said, "Dear guests, according to Mr. Guang's instructions, we are about to escort you away from the underground brothel. Please follow us."

The man in black did not answer Yi Tiantian's question and continued speaking to the two of them.

"We will do our best to ensure your safety. Please follow us."

Fei Cheng and Yi Tiantian exchanged glances, and Fei Cheng nodded slightly.

The two were quickly surrounded by the men in black and led forward, leaving the underground brothel and returning to the surface, specifically to a rundown suburban villa.

As they walked out of the basement entrance, the men in black quickly closed the door behind them, producing a loud sound, and a cloud of dust rushed toward them.

In the silence of the villa, the loud noise gave Yi Tiantian goosebumps.

He took one last look at the iron door, which was already covered in rust, and strangely noticed that there were three noticeable scratches on it. The door handle was shaped like a green snake, twisting and turning, quite unique in design. It did not seem to be the original part of the door.

"Could this green snake symbol be related to the Dusk Society?"

"I seem to recall that the men in black also had this pattern embroidered on their clothes."

Yi Tiantian thought to himself, puzzled.

Fei Cheng was also seriously furrowing his brow. He led Yi Tiantian as they quickly left the villa, and in front of the villa, they saw a taxi with its driver waving to greet them.

"Over here! Why did you two choose such a remote place? It took me quite a while to find you," the driver said, glancing at them through the rearview mirror.

Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng did not refute the driver's words. They simply smiled and, in the rapid drive of the taxi, left the suburban villa behind.

Returning to the city, the streets became busier with more vehicles, and the buildings around them grew taller. Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng randomly found a spot and asked the taxi driver to drop them off.

As they got out of the car, Yi Tiantian immediately breathed a sigh of relief, gasping for air as if he hadn't breathed fresh air in a long time.

Fei Cheng also took a deep breath, processing the overload of information, before they quickly hailed another taxi and returned to Yi Tiantian's small villa.

Back at the villa, both exhausted, they collapsed onto the sofa. A few seconds later, Yi Tiantian suddenly got up and quickly found paper and a pen. Sitting on the cushion under the coffee table, he looked up at Fei Cheng, holding the pen.

"Fei Cheng, what happened today was very strange..."

Fei Cheng also sat up straight, knowing they had likely stumbled upon something unusual, something they had never imagined before.

The two of them recounted their experiences to each other, with Yi Tiantian recording the summary.

When Fei Cheng described the hallucinations he had experienced, Yi Tiantian's mouth fell open in shock.

"So, you kept seeing that same decaying basement scene?"

Yi Tiantian's knuckles turned white from gripping the pen too tightly.

"Yes, and every time the scene was exactly the same, with clear details. So, I don’t believe it was a hallucination."

Fei Cheng believed that he had always been mentally healthy with no history of medication, so it was unlikely he had experienced a hallucination. The rotting basement very likely existed in this world.

Yi Tiantian's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, feeling that these events were too bizarre.

If he hadn't experienced it himself, he would have probably thought that anyone telling these stories was just spinning a wild imagination.

He immediately opened the rumor system, preparing to enter it and check if there was any relevant major gossip.

If the rumor system mentioned this corrupted basement, it would indirectly prove that what Actor Fei saw wasn't just a hallucination.

"Why does this rumor system always fail me at critical moments?"

"No big scoop here!"

"I really can't help but suspect that this system might be related to the Dusk Society!"

Yi Tiantian was truly anxious this time.

However, even so, he couldn't find any relevant content in the system, only unimportant gossip.

Yi Tiantian gave up completely and decided to focus on the information they had gathered so far.

"Actually, I encountered something strange too. Xiao Yang, the man I chose, although he claims not to know me and has never seen me before..."

Yi Tiantian told Actor Fei everything that happened at the teahouse and his private conversation with Xiao Yang, and shared his concerns.

"I find this matter too suspicious. What if we've time-traveled..."

Yi Tiantian pondered but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

"Time-travel..."

Fei Cheng looked down at the notebook where Yi Tiantian was recording information and also began to think.

"We don’t have enough info yet. To get to the bottom of this, we need to go deep inside the Dusk Society."

Yi Tiantian put down the pen he had been firmly holding and nodded slightly, agreeing with Actor Fei's words.

"It seems we need to gather more information."

"It's just that I don't know if the Dusk Society has any new information recently, and Fu Chongye hasn't contacted me again..."

"Maybe we should still inform Officer Qin about the underground brothel. That way, we can shut it down quickly..."

Hearing Yi Tiantian's words, Actor Fei immediately spoke up.

"But for now, we should keep the underground brothel matter confidential."

Actor Fei's gaze was serious as he looked at Yi Tiantian, slightly frowning.

"If we leak this now, they will definitely suspect that you were involved, which would be very risky for our future actions."

"Hmm..."

Yi Tiantian wasn't convinced. He tapped his pen on the notebook, voicing his concerns.

"But if we allow the underground brothel to continue operating, there will surely be more and more victims, and they might even relocate. Once they move, it’ll be harder to track them down."

Fei Cheng pondered for a moment. Both sides made sense. Fei Cheng wanted to play it slow and steady but risked coming up empty, while Yi Tiantian wanted to cut off the problem at the root but risked being eliminated in the process.

Both of them were pondering a solution that would work for everyone, and finally, Yi Tiantian spoke up.

"How about this? To prevent the key suspect from slipping away, we can continue to frequent the underground brothel during this period. To avoid raising suspicion, we can introduce some trustworthy customers to the establishment. This way, the suspicion won't fall directly on us."

Fei Cheng seemed to understand Yi Tiantian's intent. After a moment of thought, he added, "So what you're saying is, we can maintain contact with the underground brothel and plant more trustworthy customers inside. When the time is right and their suspicion of you has lessened, we can report the place."

Yi Tiantian nodded and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

"The question is, who can we trust?"

"By the way, Actor Fei hasn't revealed his identity yet, so he can be considered one. Then there's Gang Fengxing and Xie Yi, who went through the Underground City incident with us."

"With the four of us working together, we should be able to report this place successfully."

Yi Tiantian had already identified a few people he could trust, though he wasn't sure if they had the time.

"If possible, I'll bring these trusted individuals to the underground brothel and wait for the right moment to act."

Yi Tiantian spoke seriously to Fei Cheng.

"Yes, this method is indeed feasible," Fei Cheng nodded slightly.

After planning for the day's events and their next steps, Yi Tiantian finally sighed and rested his head on the tea table.

"Everything that happened today was so surreal. My mind is spinning."

Fei Cheng's mind kept replaying the scene of the decaying underground chamber, and he rubbed his temples in frustration.

"In two days, we'll go to the underground brothel again. This time, I'll visit in my real identity."

Yi Tiantian lifted his head from his arms and looked at Fei Cheng. "Actor Fei, what if our plan fails?"

Fei Cheng looked at Yi Tiantian's wet brown eyes and long lashes, feeling a softness in his heart. He couldn't help but reach out and touch his hair.

"Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this."

Yi Tiantian nodded, and just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

It seemed someone had arrived at the villa.

Fei Cheng and Yi Tiantian exchanged glances. Yi Tiantian got up to check who was outside through the electronic door lock, and to his surprise, he saw two unexpected visitors.

It was Yueyue and Yang Yang!

Yi Tiantian had clearly told them not to come over today. Could it be an emergency?

No, if it were a real emergency, why hadn't they called him in advance?

Frowning, puzzled, Yi Tiantian looked at the security footage again and noticed something was off.

Yueyue and Yang Yang were standing at the door, but both their posture and demeanor seemed very different from usual.

Especially Yang Yang, whose wrist bore a dark, indistinct mark that resembled a tattoo.

Yang Yang had never had a tattoo before, suggesting that the person at the door might not be Yang Yang at all. But who exactly was standing there?

Yi Tiantian's Adam's apple bobbed, and sweat was pouring down his forehead.

Having been standing in front of the smart door lock for too long, Fei Cheng, who had been sitting on the sofa, realized something was off. He stood up and walked over to look at the security camera feed on the smart door lock.

"Isn't there anyone there? Tiantian, what were you looking at?"

Fei Cheng's words snapped him out of it. Yi Tiantian rubbed his eyes and looked back at the security screen, only to find there was no one in sight.

"How can this be? I definitely saw someone just now..."

Yi Tiantian stared at the screen with wide eyes, but there was still no sign of anyone.

"I thought I heard the doorbell too."

Fei Cheng's eyebrows furrowed. Strange things were happening, and they were now living in a thick fog of nightmarish absurdity, where truth and falsehood were intertwined. They could no longer trust their senses.

As the two were thinking, Yi Tiantian's phone suddenly chimed.

In the quiet, the phone notification rang out loud and clear. Yi Tiantian reached for his phone and looked down at the message.

Fei Cheng watched Yi Tiantian, and the next moment, his face went pale.

Yi Tiantian's hand trembled slightly as he saw that the message was from Yueyue and Yang Yang in their group chat.

In the chat, Yueyue and Yang Yang were talking back and forth.

Yi Tiantian scrolled up to see their full conversation.

Yang Yang: I went out to the city center this afternoon and took a walk by the sea. Isn't the scenery beautiful?

Several photos taken at the seaside followed, some of the sky, some of the waves, a seaside café, and a cup of coffee with latte art.

Yueyue: Wow, the sky is so blue! Is this café run by that famous elderly couple that's popular online?

Yang Yang: Yeah, I saw a report about them a few days ago. I happened to have some free time today, so I went to check it out.

Yueyue: Yes, yes, yes! I also came across it a few days ago. I didn't expect your execution to be so strong, Yang Yang!

As he read through the chat, Yi Tiantian couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

He couldn't put his finger on it, so he showed the photos Yang Yang had posted to Fei Cheng.

Fei Cheng took the phone and looked closely at the pictures in the group chat.

"Have you been to this café, Actor Fei?"

Yi Tiantian asked, confused.

Fei Cheng shook his head. "I don't usually pay attention to these places, so I haven't been. Why, do you think there's something suspicious about it?"

Actor Fei could tell there was something else on Yi Tiantian's mind.

"Actually, it's not that there's something suspicious, but how can I be sure my assistant really went to this place?"

Yi Tiantian handed his phone to Fei Cheng, slightly furrowing his brows.

"I always feel like these pictures seem a bit fake..."

Try as he might, Yi Tiantian couldn't pinpoint why the pictures felt off.

"If these pics were taken with the original camera, we could save them and analyze the metadata. I think there’s a way to check the hidden info in the files."

Fei Cheng took Yi Tiantian's phone and began to operate it.

"Are you sure it’s the photos that seem off, or maybe it’s your assistant who’s acting weird?"

"I’m so confused right now, but something about Yang Yang just feels off."

"He’s never shared pics of where he’s been in the group chat before. Why would he suddenly post about going to a café today?"

"This is way too weird. Something’s definitely up with Yang Yang!"

Yi Tiantian closed his eyes, tightly pressing his eyelids, and finally came to a conclusion in his heart.

"I need to check the rumor system and see if there’s any dirt on Yang Yang."

Fei Cheng had finished analyzing the pics by this point, and the data showed they were taken this afternoon, but we still don’t know if Yang Yang took them himself.

Meanwhile, Yi Tiantian had already opened the rumor system and was searching carefully.

"Yang Yang, Yang Yang, what kind of gossip could you possibly have..."

Yi Tiantian gasped in surprise, then went quiet, lost in thought.

Fei Cheng's sword-like eyebrows wrinkled slightly, and he quickly looked up at him.

Yi Tiantian's mouth was slightly open. He hadn’t noticed the look from Actor Fei and seemed to still be processing the information from the rumor system.

"Yang Yang is preparing a birthday surprise for me?!"

"Because he knew my birthday was coming up, he set up a surprise party at that seaside café and even arranged to have the place all to ourselves for the day."

Yi Tiantian was completely blown away by what he read.

He had no idea when his birthday in this world was and had never paid attention to it, but he didn’t expect that Yang Yang had already arranged a birthday surprise for him!

Most importantly, all his previous suspicions about Yang Yang now seemed unfounded!

Because Yang Yang had a solid alibi, even though he felt something was off, he couldn't find any evidence.

Fei Cheng had also heard this and shared his findings about the photos with Yi Tiantian.

"These photos were indeed taken there, but it’s unclear if Yang Yang took them."

Still reeling from the shock, Yi Tiantian leaned over to check the results and saw that the phone model used to take the pics matched the one Yang Yang uses.

"Looks like I was just overthinking everything..."

Yi Tiantian finally let go of his doubts about Yang Yang, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

If Yang Yang had turned out to be shady, Yi Tiantian wouldn’t have known how to handle it. They’re pretty close, and it would’ve been devastating if someone he trusted so much betrayed him.

Yi Tiantian didn’t even want to imagine it.

"Maybe we should stop for today. A lot has happened."

Yi Tiantian lowered his head, frowning, and rubbed his temples, letting out a low sigh.

Fei Cheng nodded in agreement, giving Yi Tiantian's shoulder a gentle pat. "Get some rest today and stop overthinking things. We'll find a chance to visit the underground brothel again and see what's really going on there."

Yi Tiantian nodded, biting his lip, as if hesitating to say something.

Seeing Yi Tiantian's hesitant expression, Fei Cheng hesitantly asked, "Tiantian, do you have something to say?"

Yi Tiantian pursed his lips and looked up, meeting Fei Cheng's concerned gaze.

"Actor Fei, can you stay tonight?"

"Hmm."

Fei Cheng had already guessed Yi Tiantian's thoughts, so he naturally agreed quickly, nodding with a smile.

"Sure, I'll grab my stuff and stay with you until you're feeling better."

Yi Tiantian's brown eyes lit up instantly.

"I didn't think you'd agree so fast!"

"I was worried I might see something weird if I was alone."

"It really helps having you here with me."

"Thanks, Actor Fei."

Yi Tiantian smiled, the corners of his mouth curving into a soft, crescent shape.

This sweet smile warmed Actor Fei's heart, and he couldn't resist ruffling Yi Tiantian's soft black hair, his voice softening with affection.

"You're welcome, honestly, I'm a little scared too."

"Wait, are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"But seriously, who would believe you're scared?"

Yi Tiantian's face turned red. He knew that Fei Cheng must be comforting him.

Fei Cheng stood up with a smile, preparing to go home to get his toiletries.

...

Fei Cheng did stay overnight in Yi Tiantian's villa that night, but the two slept in separate rooms. Although there was a corridor between them, Yi Tiantian felt much more at ease that night.

The next morning, as soon as Yi Tiantian woke up, he immediately messaged his two assistants in the group chat, telling them that they didn't need to come over that day.

Yi Tiantian didn't check the assistants' replies because his mind was filled with something else that morning.

Early the next morning, Yi Tiantian knocked on Fei Cheng's guest room door.

Fei Cheng had been awake for some time, but he didn't expect Yi Tiantian to come knocking so early. He quickly walked to the door and opened it.

To his surprise, the moment Yi Tiantian saw him, he said firmly, "Let's go to the underground brothel again today!"

Fei Cheng lowered his head, a smile he couldn’t suppress forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Who in their right mind invites someone to a brothel first thing in the morning..."

Yi Tiantian didn’t realize how strange his request sounded as he declared firmly, "I've been thinking about what happened all last night. If we don’t go now, I won’t get any sleep tonight!"

Fei Cheng glanced at Yi Tiantian and noticed the dark circles under his big eyes.

Clearly, he hadn’t slept a wink.

To get to the bottom of this mystery, Fei Cheng decided to visit the underground brothel again with Yi Tiantian to see if they could find any new clues.

He nodded. "After breakfast, we’ll go."

Yi Tiantian suddenly realized and smacked his head. "I totally forgot about breakfast. This place is driving me nuts!"

But Fei Cheng smiled. "Don’t worry, I already ordered breakfast. We can eat after we freshen up."

Yi Tiantian pouted and gave Fei Cheng a pleading look, hands clasped together in gratitude.

"Thank you, Actor Fei!"

...

Because Yi Tiantian really wanted to figure out what had happened as soon as possible, the two of them ate their meal in a hurry. They didn’t drive themselves this time but instead called a taxi.

After telling the driver the location, the mustached driver in the front seat looked back at them through the rearview mirror, puzzled.

"What are you two doing out there? That place is a ghost town. The developer skipped town, so you must’ve been scammed, right?"

Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng looked at each other and both nodded.

"Poor you guys."

The driver shook his head, then sped off, taking them to the "haunted" location.

"Next time, do your homework on the developer before buying. This deal’s a total rip-off."

After the driver left, Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng followed the route from yesterday’s memory and walked forward. At first, everything seemed normal, just as desolate as they had seen the day before. They passed by a few ruined villas along the small path, with familiar scenery flashing by.

But after walking for more than ten minutes, Yi Tiantian looked around and realized that although the forest looked the same everywhere, they couldn’t find the villa from yesterday.

"Where exactly is it? Why haven’t we seen it after walking for so long..."

Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng stopped next to a large tree. They stood where the villa had been the day before, but now only ruins remained.

Fei Cheng walked up and observed the area around the ruins of the villa. Crouching down, he noticed something familiar.

"Tiantian, come look at what this is?"

Yi Tiantian hurriedly walked up, anxious, and joined Fei Cheng by his side, crouching down to look at the collapsed iron door.

"This looks like the iron door that led to the basement, right?"

Fei Cheng stood up and kicked away most of the debris covering the iron door, soon revealing its full appearance.

A rusty door appeared before them, with three clear scratches on it—the same marks that Actor Fei had seen on the iron door in the underground brothel before.

But Yi Tiantian quickly cleared away the debris around the door handle, only to find that the handle, which he had previously noticed was shaped like a green snake, was missing.

"What's going on?"

Yi Tiantian was completely baffled. The three deep scratches on the iron door seemed to confirm that this was indeed the entrance to the underground brothel, just as they had feared. But if that was the case, why wasn’t the door handle the same as the one he had seen before?

Fei Cheng also understood Yi Tiantian's confusion. He stood up and took a deep breath, looking down at the iron door.

"We didn't get the wrong place. This is definitely the underground brothel we visited yesterday. As for the door handle... it’s likely that someone removed it a while ago."

Yi Tiantian stood up, frowning in confusion. He walked back and forth next to the ruins of the iron door but couldn’t make sense of it.

"But why did the brothel turn into a ruin overnight? And why would someone specifically take the door handle? Could the green snake shape really be the symbol of the Dusk Society?"

A barrage of questions flooded their minds, each sharper than the last. They couldn’t answer any of them.

Yi Tiantian opened the rumor system in his mind again, hoping for some useful information. To his surprise, the system, which usually went silent when it came to the Dusk Society, had updated with new gossip—and it was exactly about the villa ruins they were currently at!

Yi Tiantian immediately clicked to view it and read the new information in his mind.

"It turns out that, as the driver said, the original developer ran away with the money, leaving this place an unfinished project that no one has lived in since."

"Not long ago, someone purchased some unfinished villas, seemingly wanting to turn this into a special area, but they abandoned the plan after just one week."

"And the person who bought these unfinished villas was a high-ranking member of the Dusk Society!"

After reading this, Yi Tiantian felt his head was about to explode.

"Is this system lying?!"

"Clearly, Yi Tiantian and Actor Fei saw the underground brothel with their own eyes yesterday, so why does the system say the Dusk Society’s high-ranking members abandoned the plan?!"

"This doesn't make sense! There's something wrong with the system!"

Yi Tiantian only trusted what he saw with his own eyes, but since the rumor system had never lied before, he had always trusted it completely. However, he had seen the underground brothel with his own eyes, and the information in the system contradicted the facts. Now, Yi Tiantian wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

Fei Cheng also furrowed his brow. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the forest, causing the dense leaves to rustle and sway. He turned to look around.

"Let's leave this place first."

Fei Cheng came over to Yi Tiantian and grabbed his arm.

Yi Tiantian took one last look at the ruins before following Actor Fei away, unable to find any clues.

After walking through the ruins for a while, they hailed a taxi. To their surprise, it was the same driver who had dropped them off earlier.

The mustached driver saw Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng from afar and, after they got in the car, greeted them with a smile.

"What a coincidence! I figured this would be your ride. I happened to be nearby and took the request."

Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng sat in the backseat of the taxi. After getting in, Yi Tiantian closed his eyes, replaying the image of the iron door and the missing green snake door handle in his mind, trying to make sense of what had happened.

Fei Cheng, on the other hand, leaned slightly forward and asked the driver, "Driver, do you know if anything strange has happened around here?"

If they couldn’t get answers through official channels, maybe the truth was hidden in local folklore.

From the taxi driver's conversation, it seemed he knew this area well, so Fei Cheng decided to ask him for some information.

The driver glanced at Fei Cheng, who looked curious, in the rearview mirror, then narrowed his eyes, as if deep in thought.

Fei Cheng felt a knot in his throat; the driver’s gaze was unsettling.

But then the driver had a sudden realization, pointing at the rearview mirror and exclaiming, “That’s why you two looked familiar! You’re celebrities, right? I think I’ve seen you on TV!”

Fei Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, realizing the driver had been thinking about this.

“Yes, I am Fei Cheng, and this is...”

Fei Cheng turned to look at Yi Tiantian.

Yi Tiantian also smiled at the driver through the rearview mirror and replied, “Hello, I am Yi Tiantian.”

“I didn’t expect that even celebrities like you could have investment failures... But these small amounts of money shouldn’t be a big deal for you.”

The bearded driver chuckled to himself, then started answering the question Actor Fei had asked earlier.

“You know, I live in the village next to these villas, and ever since I was a child, I’ve heard that this place has bad feng shui. People always see strange things. There was a guy from my village, two years younger than me, who went inside and came back insane. He said he saw strange, otherworldly figures holding torches and wandering around as if they were performing some kind of ritual...”

Since it was still a long drive back to the city, the driver chatted away, telling them everything he had heard about the place.

“But that person didn’t suffer any serious consequences, just some delirious talk for two days before returning to normal.”

The driver tapped the steering wheel with one hand and said to them, “Did you two see anything strange when you went in just now? I’m telling you, this place really isn’t suitable for living. It just feels too ominous. It’s like you’re being watched by countless eyes lurking in the dark!”

The driver shook his head and sighed as he spoke.

Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng agreed. They had only been inside for less than an hour and already felt extremely uncomfortable. If someone were to live in such a place long-term, their health would definitely suffer.

However, the driver only shared his subjective experiences and didn’t mention any supernatural legends, so there weren’t many useful clues for Yi Tiantian and the others.

In this manner, Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng were escorted back to the villa by the taxi driver.

This time, when they returned home, Yi Tiantian didn’t collapse on the sofa like last time. Instead, he opened his laptop and prepared to create a web of clues, recording all the information they had discovered so far.

Fei Cheng, sitting next to Yi Tiantian, chimed in with occasional insights.

The two of them worked tirelessly, discussing for a whole afternoon, and finally created a complete clue map.

All the clues started from the underground brothel. When Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng first went there, they saw an iron door with three scratches, a green snake-shaped door handle, and dilapidated villas.

However, while in the villa, Fei Cheng had a vision of a decaying basement. When Yi Tiantian and Yang Yang entered a room alone, Yang Yang, whom Yi Tiantian had met once at a teahouse, claimed not to know him. Nevertheless, they exchanged contact information later.

After returning home, Yi Tiantian saw the phantom of Yueyue and Yang Yang on the security footage by the smart door lock. Yang Yang had a tattoo on his wrist, but its shape was indistinct. However, Yang Yang had a solid alibi—he was at a seaside café when the phantom appeared.

Today, when they went to the underground brothel again, it was completely in ruins. Although there was still an iron door with three scratches, the green snake-shaped door handle had vanished.

The most important point was that all traces of the underground brothel had disappeared. According to both the driver's words and the rumor system, it was indeed a desolate wasteland, uninhabited.

These were all the clues discovered so far. After summarizing everything, Yi Tiantian turned to Fei Cheng.

“I’ve got Yang Yang’s number. Even though he said he didn’t know me, I can try calling him.”

Yi Tiantian, who had been sitting cross-legged on the carpet, stood up from the floor, using the coffee table for support, and pulled out his phone.

"Luckily, I still had his phone number; otherwise, I would have thought I was imagining things."

Fei Cheng didn’t know they had exchanged numbers, so when he heard that Yi Tiantian could contact Xiao Yang, who had also been at the underground brothel, his eyes brightened.

"Alright, let’s call Xiao Yang first and see what he says."

Yi Tiantian nodded, then quickly found the phone number labeled "Xiao Yang" in his contacts and dialed it right away.

But after a few seconds, an automated message came through Yi Tiantian’s phone.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service, please..."

Frowning, Yi Tiantian lowered the phone from his ear and carefully counted the digits of Xiao Yang’s number. The number of digits was correct, so it was possible that one of the numbers was wrong.

But Yi Tiantian had handed his phone to Xiao Yang to enter the number himself. Would he really mess up his own number?

"Xiao Yang, a newcomer who’s desperately seeking opportunities in the entertainment industry, wouldn’t give up such a good chance, would he?"

"He definitely wouldn’t intentionally enter his phone number wrong. Was it an accident??"

The more he thought about it, the weirder it seemed. The situation was too suspicious and too coincidental.

There’s a saying that coincidences like this don’t happen by chance.

Fei Cheng, seeing that the call wasn’t going through, thought of something else.

"Didn’t you two meet at the teahouse before? Does Xiao Yang have any contacts who might have his number?"

Yi Tiantian immediately flipped through his contacts again, thinking of Director Xiao He.

Director Xiao He was still wrapping up filming, but she should have time to take the call now.

So Yi Tiantian called her directly.

"Hey, Yi! It’s been a while! We’ve all missed you since you left..."

The familiar voice on the other end was Director Xiao He.

Yi Tiantian exchanged pleasantries for a moment, then brought up the main reason for his call—asking for Xiao Yang’s phone number.

"My assistant should still have his contact info from when we worked together, but that was a year ago, so I’m not sure if he’s changed his number."

Director Xiao He immediately called over her assistant and asked her to search for Xiao Yang’s contact information.

"Also, I heard he’s already left the entertainment industry and has completely lost hope. So he’s gone off the grid."

"Gone off the grid?"

Yi Tiantian was surprised.

"Yeah, ever since discovering her husband was a murderer for money, Liu Juanhua took a few young men who were planning to enter the entertainment industry and disappeared into the mountains. We haven’t heard anything from them since."

Director Xiao He raked her hand through her hair, while her assistant had already sent over the previously saved phone number and WeChat ID of Xiao Yang.

"My assistant has found it. I’ll send you Xiao Yang’s WeChat ID and phone number right away."

"Alright, thanks a lot, Director Xiao He."

"No problem at all, happy to help!"

Director Xiao He laughed heartily.

After hanging up the phone, Yi Tiantian called the number Director Xiao He had given him. After a few rings, the other party answered.

"Hello? I'm done with that life. Don't call this number anymore."

A deep, almost monastic voice answered, as if detached from the world.

"Wait!"

Yi Tiantian quickly interrupted.

"I'm Yi Tiantian, Yang Yang. I have a few things I want to ask you."

"Mr. Yi? How is it you? How did you get my number?"

At that moment, Yang Yang was standing in a small rural courtyard, dressed in a T-shirt. His feet were in red rubber boots, and his free hand held a long hoe, as if he was about to work in the field.

"Do you remember what happened at the underground brothel? Why did you say you didn't know me?"

Yi Tiantian fired off his questions one after another.

But Yang Yang on the other side was completely confused. He reached up to scratch the back of his head, looking puzzled. "Huh? Underground brothel? I've moved on from that life, Mr. Yi, and... I've never seen you there..."

No matter how hard Yang Yang tried to remember, he couldn't recall ever seeing Yi Tiantian in the underground brothel, let alone speaking to him there.

"But we were talking just yesterday at the underground brothel, and you said you didn't know me, and the phone number you gave me didn't work."

Yi Tiantian frowned, asking in surprise.

"Mr. Yi, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else? After what happened, I and many of the brothers followed Mama to the countryside. We gave up on our entertainment industry dreams a long time ago, so we've quit that life and no longer make money that way."

There was a hint of bitterness in Yang Yang's voice, indicating he too had been forced to bow to reality.

"Now we live in the countryside, farming and enjoying the simple life. It's actually quite nice."

Both Yi Tiantian and Fei Cheng were astonished, and even they began to doubt whether the person they had met the day before was really Yang Yang.

"Wait, let me ask you something first."

Yi Tiantian decided to set aside the matter of the real Yang Yang for the moment.

"Where was the place you used to work? Is it still in operation?"

Hearing Yi Tiantian's urgent tone, Yang Yang didn't dare to delay and quickly explained everything.

"The place where we worked with Mama was in a large shopping mall. It was actually quite hidden and required a membership card to enter. I don't know if it's still in operation now, but when we left, it was already going downhill, with very few customers. There was a plan to move the brothel to a villa in the suburbs, but for some reason, that plan was abandoned, so I think there's a good chance the brothel has closed down."

Fei Cheng and Yi Tiantian listened carefully to Yang Yang's account and realized it connected with what the driver had said.

Both of them had mentioned that the abandoned villa in the suburbs seemed to have been intended for something but was later stopped for some reason.

Since Yang Yang said the same thing, it meant this was probably true.

Now that they had enough information, just as Fei Cheng was about to signal Yi Tiantian to end the call, Yi Tiantian asked another question.

"Yang Yang, have you ever seen a symbol of a green snake?"

"A green snake? No."

Yang Yang answered with absolute certainty.

"I don’t think people usually get snake tattoos."

"Thanks for your help."

Yi Tiantian seemed to have thought of something, exchanged a few more pleasantries with Yang Yang, and quickly hung up the phone, then turned to Actor Fei, who was frowning.

His eyes sparkled, like he'd just uncovered a crucial piece of the puzzle.

"Actor Fei, what if all of this is actually real?"

"Everything is real? But we’ve been hearing conflicting accounts."

Fei Cheng explained slowly.

"First, we have the underground brothel that exists, and then the one that disappeared, an assistant showing up at the door, and another at the beach, seeing Yang Yang at the underground brothel, and Yang Yang having returned to the countryside to farm. These are all pairs of contradictory events."

"They’re definitely contradictory, but what if they’re all true?"

Yi Tiantian stood up from the sofa and started pacing the living room, clearly deep in thought.

"What if everything we’ve seen and heard is real? What if it’s all true?"

Fei Cheng sat on the sofa, resting his chin on one hand, pondering for a moment, then his eyes also lit up instantly.

"You’re talking about parallel universes?!"