Hearing Yu Sheng’s muttering, Bai Li Qing’s expression flickered briefly, but she didn’t say anything. She rely watched the man across from her with a curious gaze. Answering questions or helping with minor problems was secondary; today, the most important thing was the “contact” itself.
She had encountered many, many entities—all sorts of them. She had killed so, exiled others, and even talked or collaborated with those that were rational. She had deceived them and been deceived by them. But no entity—not even those most resembling humans—had ever sat across from her and talked like this, in such a way and about these sorts of things.
The “person” sitting in front of her even seed interested in becoming a Spirit Realm detective or investigator. Pushing her thoughts aside, Bai Li Qing broke the silence: “So, you want to…”
“Can I register a group?” Yu Sheng asked with a hopeful look, “I’m not working solo here; there are two others with .”
“You an that doll nad Irene and the ‘fox demon’ you brought from the Otherworld?” Bai Li Qing raised an eyebrow. “But neither of them has legal status in the Borderland.”
“Then how about we get them IDs first?” Yu Sheng suggested, scratching his head. “Ah, it won’t be a whole ss where you need a job to get an ID and an ID to get a job, will it?”
Bai Li Qing blinked, genuinely taken aback. “Of course not. Why would you even worry about that?”
“Oh, good,” Yu Sheng smiled awkwardly, “Guess I was overthinking it.”
“I’ll make the arrangents,” Bai Li Qing added without much thought, ntally noting down that “Yu Sheng has a certain sense of humor.” She then raised her wrist to glance at her watch. “Ti’s up.”
“Oh, you’re leaving?” Yu Sheng stood up instinctively. “So, what about…”
“Soone will co find you soon,” Bai Li Qing replied as she also stood up, “to handle the necessary paperwork for you and your two friends. You just need to fill out a few forms. Keep your phone on these next couple of days.”
Yu Sheng: “Oh… oh, okay.”
Bai Li Qing nodded and, as if suddenly rembering sothing, paused before leaving. “Oh, there’s one more thing.”
“What is it?” Yu Sheng asked.
“About Night Valley—the Otherworld you encountered before—have you gone back there recently to check on it?”
Yu Sheng frowned. “The valley? No, I haven’t been back… Did sothing happen there?”
“The issue is that we aren’t sure,” Bai Li Qing shook her head. “If your ‘gate’ still connects there, you might want to go take a look.”
From her expression, Yu Sheng couldn’t discern anything useful, but he got the vague sense that… this wasn’t as casual as she made it seem. The fact that she had brought it up just before leaving seed like she was emphasizing sothing important.
After a mont of hesitation and consideration, Yu Sheng nodded slightly.
Honestly, he didn’t want to return to that eerie valley at all. Nor did he have any desire to deal with “Hunger” again. But Bai Li Qing’s attitude made him realize that sothing else—sothing more—might be going on in that valley besides “Entity-Hunger.”
In the blink of an eye, the endless front-and-back cafe he was in began to crumble quietly around him.
Bai Li Qing’s figure vanished amidst the collapsing scenery, and in an instant, the cafe returned to its normal state. The sounds of the real world gradually seeped back in, and everything seed like a strange, surreal dream—the only proof she had really been there was the faint lingering scent of her perfu.
Yu Sheng blinked, looking around. It seed like no one had noticed anything unusual. Little Red Riding Hood’s massive stack of schoolwork was still spread across the table, waiting for him to continue helping.
“She really cos and goes like the wind…” Yu Sheng muttered as he shook his head, then sat back down, preparing to help write more high school assignnts. But this ti, he found it difficult to calm his mind.
His conversation with the “Special Affairs Bureau Chief” was like an uncontrollable whirlpool in his thoughts. New information about the world buzzed in his mind, tangled with expectations and uncertainties about the future. He couldn’t rember the last ti he felt this kind of anxious anticipation—a mix of excitent and nerves about tomorrow.
And then there was the thing Bai Li Qing ntioned before she left—Night Valley. What was going on there?
Just then, a voice ca from nearby, interrupting his thoughts.
“We’re back!” Little Red Riding Hood called out cheerfully. “Yu Sheng, how much have you done?”
Yu Sheng imdiately looked up and, at first glance, saw the dark-haired girl standing beside Little Red Riding Hood. It was Foxy, now dressed in new clothes. Ｒ
The weather had gotten chilly, so Little Red Riding Hood had bought her a warm white coat and a cotton dress. Though simple, the outfit suited Foxy perfectly. The fluffy trim around the collar even reminded Yu Sheng of her own furry ears and tail—both of the sa silvery-white shade, an elegant look with a hint of charm.
Foxy stood there sowhat awkwardly, her expression a little dazed. She seed unused to wearing well-fitting clothes, or perhaps she was still overwheld after spending so long wandering in unfamiliar surroundings. It wasn’t until Yu Sheng waved at her that she seed to snap out of her daze, quickly carrying several big shopping bags over to him.
“Si’en… Yu Sheng,” Foxy called a bit nervously, standing across from the table. She rembered to use his na in public places. “These new clothes fit well.”
“They look great,” Yu Sheng smiled. He could tell she was happy, but he glanced at her skirt. “Isn’t this a bit cold with the weather cooling down?”
“She’s wearing thermal pants underneath,” Little Red Riding Hood explained as she took a seat next to Yu Sheng, leaning in to peek at the papers. “Let
see how much you’ve done… Hm, not much, huh?”
“There was an unexpected situation that delayed ,” Yu Sheng rubbed his nose sheepishly, then looked at Foxy and Little Red Riding Hood curiously. “Wait, where’s Irene?”
“Oh, here she is!” Foxy perked up, lifting one of the big shopping bags she had placed on the floor to show Yu Sheng. “We bought too many things, so I put her in the bag.”
Yu Sheng peeked in and saw the little doll—Irene—lying amongst the clothes, her eyes dull and expressionless, her aura practically screaming resentnt.
There was so much pent-up grievance it felt like the shopping bag itself might turn into a cursed object.
“Are you okay?” Yu Sheng asked silently in his mind.
The little doll replied, “Okay?! Get
out of here! I’ve been staring at ceilings in the mall all day! They put unfinished drinks in here! Snacks too! At one point, I fell to the bottom, and no one noticed! I’ve been complaining the whole way, and this silly fox didn’t even respond!”
Yu Sheng hurriedly pulled the aggrieved doll out of the bag and placed her on a nearby chair, comforting her ntally. Little Red Riding Hood, anwhile, casually flipped through her schoolwork and turned to Yu Sheng with a curious expression. “What kind of unexpected situation was it?”
Yu Sheng didn’t hide anything, lowering his voice slightly. “A woman suddenly approached . She said her na was Bai Li Qing and that she’s the Chief of the Special Affairs Bureau.”
Little Red Riding Hood froze for a few seconds, her math workbook left forgotten in her hands as she turned to him stiffly. “…What?”
Yu Sheng glanced around before whispering, “Is that strange?”
“The Chief? Bai Li Qing? That big shot?!” Little Red Riding Hood’s voice cracked slightly, though she kept it down to avoid drawing attention. “Why on earth would she personally co to see you? She wouldn’t think you’re so kind of dangerous elent that needs personal attention, would she?!”
Maybe it was because she had spent half the day shopping with Foxy, but she seed far more at ease talking to Yu Sheng now, no longer carrying the tension and caution she had shown when they first t.
Yu Sheng didn’t pay much attention to her shift in attitude. Instead, he thought back to his conversation with Bai Li Qing and shook his head. “No, nothing like that. She just wanted to know what was going on. She asked
a few questions, and I asked her a lot—she seed pretty easy to talk to.”
Little Red Riding Hood looked dazed, almost questioning her hearing.
Bai Li Qing? Easy to talk to?
That was a brand new combination of words.
At the Special Affairs Bureau Headquarters, inside a certain office, a pale humanoid figure suddenly appeared behind the desk, accompanied by the collapse and distortion of light and shadows. That pale figure quickly ford into Bai Li Qing, her image gradually gaining color.
She sat quietly behind the desk, unmoving for a long ti, as if lost in thought.
After what felt like ages, she suddenly looked up, reached out, and pressed a button on the desk. “Notify Song Cheng from the Second Squad and Luo Zheng from the Secret Managent Office to co to my office imdiately.”
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