Chapter 3553: Gate of Life and Gate of Death

After a ten-hour flight, Ye Chen hurried back to Jinling.

At this time, the Jinling He family and the ninjas sent by the Ito family joined forces to begin investigating all the clues about Xiao Churan's departure.

Even for experienced masters, it is still difficult to increase the speed when dealing with such problems.

Moreover, according to Su Ruoli, every clue is like a maze with no end. If you follow it, you will find that the further you go, the more chaotic and confusing it becomes.

Ye Chen knew very well that this matter would not be resolved overnight, but he was also uneasy about the feedback he received.

So, after he got off the plane, he called Lin Wan'er immediately to ask where she was.

It was seven o'clock on Friday evening. Lin Wan'er told him, "I am at Zijin Villa. Sir, do you want to see me for something?"

Ye Chen said: "I would like to ask Miss Lin for her opinion on some things. Is it convenient for Miss Lin?"

"That's convenient." Lin Wan'er said in a clear voice, "Sir, please come directly over. I've prepared tea and am waiting for you."

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief and let Hong Wu and Chen Zekai leave together. He drove another car sent by Chen Zekai's men and headed straight for Zijin Villa.

When they arrived at Zijin Villa, it was already eight o'clock in the evening. Zijin Villa was very quiet. After receiving the notification from Lao Zhang, Qiu Yingshan and his wife waited quietly at the gate of Zijin Villa with Lao Zhang.

Even though they were already in their eighties, they still obeyed and respected Lin Wan'er like a child to their mother. In addition, Ye Chen was very kind to them, so they dared not neglect him in any way.

Seeing Ye Chen, Qiu Yingshan stepped forward and said respectfully, "Mr. Ye, you are here."

Ye Chen smiled and nodded, then asked them, "Where is Miss Lin?"

Qiu Yingshan then said, "The young lady is waiting for Mr. Ye at the villa on the top of the mountain."

Old Zhang beside him also bowed and said, "Mr. Ye, the young lady has ordered us to stay downstairs and not disturb you. This old servant will not take you upstairs."

Ye Chen knew their deep-rooted respect for Lin Wan'er, so he nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, I'll go up first."

Afterwards, Ye Chen climbed the stone steps and arrived at the gate of the villa. The gate was ajar, leaving a gap of nearly 20 centimeters. Through the gap, he could see Lin Wan'er sitting under the Mother of Pu'er Tea, boiling water and making tea. He was about to knock on the door as a courtesy when Lin Wan'er said, "Young Master, please come in."

Ye Chen did not delay any longer and pushed open the heavy wooden door and walked in.

Lin Wan'er was wearing a long white dress and a white fur cape. When she saw Ye Chen come in, she immediately stood up and saluted: "I was busy making tea and couldn't leave. I hope you will forgive me for not being able to come and greet you."

Ye Chen smiled and said, "Miss Lin, we are friends in need and life-long friends. Why are you still so polite to me?"

Lin Wan'er smiled sweetly and said, "No matter what, etiquette is always necessary. My grandmother taught me since I was young that even after marrying, I must still be polite to my husband. Moreover, you are my savior."

Ye Chen shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly, sighing: "Aren't you my savior?"

After saying that, he didn't bother being polite with Lin Wan'er anymore and sat down directly opposite her.

After sitting down, Ye Chen finally remembered to look up at the lush tea tree above his head and exclaimed, "I didn't expect that this mother of Pu'er tea has such strong vitality. Even in such cold weather, it still has lush branches and leaves."

Lin Wan'er nodded and smiled, "Although Pu Cha's mother failed to overcome the tribulation in the past, she is now a celestial being reborn from the ashes. Normal weather won't affect her growth. She just needs to work hard and wait for the next tribulation."

After that, she filled the teacup to 80% of its capacity with tea, handed it to Ye Chen and said, "Try it, sir, and see if it's different from before."

Ye Chen picked up the teacup and took a sip. He felt the tea, wrapped in a trace of spiritual energy, entering his stomach. He couldn't help but sigh, "It seems that the spiritual energy is richer than before. However, it is still a long way to go before it can be of great help to cultivation."

Lin Wan'er smiled and said, "Don't worry, young master. In three to five years, the Mother of Pu'er Tea will be lush and leafy enough to shade this courtyard. By then, the spiritual energy contained in her leaves will be even richer, and then she will be able to truly help you."

After that, she comforted Ye Chen again: "For you, three to five years is just a blink of an eye, it will pass quickly."

Lin Wan'er's original intention was to say that Ye Chen's life span would definitely be several hundred years. If the secret in the ring was unlocked, it might even last for thousands of years. In the long river of life of thousands of years, three to five years is really nothing.

However, when Ye Chen heard these words, he felt differently.

How can three to five years be just a blink of an eye?

If I can't find Xiao Churan, I'm afraid every day will be like a year. I don't covet the spiritual energy of the Mother of Pu Cha, but if Xiao Churan also has to wait for three to five years to be found, I really don't know how I will get through it.

Seeing Ye Chen's worried look, Lin Wan'er, who was very perceptive and intelligent, immediately noticed something was wrong, so she asked with concern, "Sir, have you encountered any troubles?"

Ye Chen nodded, sighed softly, and told Lin Wan'er the whole story of Xiao Churan's family of three leaving Jinling.

After hearing this, Lin Wan'er was slightly surprised, but then something clicked in her mind and she spoke, "Butler Tang has been secretly protecting the young master for so many years. He's arguably one of the people who knows him best. If he starts to be wary of the young master, he'll definitely do it better than anyone else. So, I don't think this matter is optimistic."

Ye Chen sighed, "I know it's not optimistic, but I still want to find Chu Ran as soon as possible. I wonder if Miss Lin can help analyze and give me some advice? If not, you can tell my fortune."

Seeing Ye Chen's decadent look, Lin Wan'er felt somewhat distressed. She took out nine copper coins from her bosom, cleared half of the tea table, and then carefully scattered the nine copper coins on the tea table.

Then she frowned and stared at the nine copper coins, her face full of confusion.

Ye Chen couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Lin, what does the hexagram show?"

Lin Wan'er frowned and said, "It's very strange that the hexagrams of the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death are showing two completely different images at the same time. Since you are looking for someone, the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death represent finding someone easily and looking for a needle in a haystack, respectively."

"This..." Ye Chen was confused and asked subconsciously: "Ms. Lin, how can there be such a hexagram? Isn't this a complete contradiction?"

Lin Wan'er counted silently on her fingers, becoming increasingly surprised the more she calculated. She said doubtfully, "The hexagram indicates this is indeed the case. Regarding the possibility of finding Madam Ye, the hexagram indicates one life and one death. In other words, there are two equally likely outcomes: extremely difficult to find or extremely easy to find. And the factors that influence these two possibilities lie solely in one person."

Ye Chen asked: "What does this mean?"

Lin Wan'er said, "The Gate of Life and the Gate of Death are both controlled by one person. If this person opens the Gate of Life, it will be easy for you to find your wife. If this person opens the Gate of Death, it will be extremely difficult for you to find your wife."

Ye Chen couldn't help but say: "Then this is talking about Tang Sihai and the mastermind behind this matter? The whole thing is controlled by them."

"No," Lin Wan'er explained. "Whether it's Steward Tang or his mastermind, both of them are considered dead in this hexagram. Even if they had the ability to help the young master find Madam Ye, they would never do so. They went to so much trouble to take Madam Ye away from the young master, they can't let their efforts go to waste."

"It's like someone being kidnapped. The kidnapper is their death. Although the kidnapper has the ability to spare their life, it is almost impossible to do so. Their chance of survival lies either with the police or some other third party, but not with the kidnapper."

Ye Chen nodded, and suddenly realized: "This means that the only person who can truly influence the Gate of Life and Death is a third party besides me and Tang Sihai and the others."

Lin Wan'er nodded and said, "That's right."

Ye Chen quickly asked, "Is that Inspector Li? I asked him to help me investigate this matter. Does the success or failure of the whole thing depend on him? If he investigates in the right direction, or if he finds that key opportunity, can he solve the problem?"

Lin Wan'er hesitated and said, "Well... I'm not sure yet..."

There was one thing she didn't tell Ye Chen: opening the gate of life or the gate of death depended on that person's thoughts. In other words, both the gate of life and the gate of death were under the full control of that person.

If Li Yalin was just asked to investigate the case, if he found the answer right, he would open the gate of life, and if he found the answer wrong, he would enter the gate of death, which seems to be different from what the hexagram shows.

If we have to blame Li Yalin, the reasonable explanation is that after Li Yalin found out the way to escape, he hesitated whether to tell Ye Chen.

In that case, with the door of life in his left hand and the door of death in his right hand, life and death will all depend on his thoughts.

But is it really like that?

Lin Wan'er didn't dare to confirm it in her heart.