Chapter 498: Eileen Has a Safe Haven

"So she fell asleep just like that."

Holding the little doll that was hugging the Ominous Wandering Star and sleeping quietly on the sofa cushion, Hu Li couldn't help muttering to herself.

Luna passed by the sofa, glanced over, and said slowly, "Because it's time."

"Her routine is pretty regular," Hu Li said, looking up at the clock on the wall. She casually tucked the yarn back into her tail, stood up, and stretched. "I'll take her back to her room."

"Don't wake her up," Luna reminded. "She'll be very, noisy."

"She won't wake up. I'm steady as a rock~"

Hu Li said smugly, then wrapped the little doll on the sofa with her tail and carried the little thing up to the second floor.

Luna glanced at the TV and saw a commercial for a robot vacuum airing in the middle of a program. She tilted her head and watched for a moment, then casually turned off the TV, muttering, "That's quite a, stretch..."

Hu Li went to the master bedroom on the second floor, found the row of neatly stacked boxes by the wall, placed the little doll she had wrapped in her tail into one of the boxes, then carefully took out the stone ball the doll was holding and set it on the nightstand, tiptoeing without making a sound.

After finishing, she straightened up, looked around, sniffed sharply, and found another sleeping Eileen under the bed—it looked like she had fallen asleep while studying the flashlight function of her phone watch.

Then the fox girl searched around the house again, found one in the umbrella bucket, another on the shelf in the attic, and collected all the Eileens like gathering fragments, finally putting the snoring little dolls into the boxes.

She carefully finished all this, covered all the boxes, and let out a long sigh. She stood up, looked at her work, and showed a happy and proud expression: "I'm really steady after all."

As soon as Hu Li finished speaking, the two large ears on top of her head twitched reflexively, as if hearing some subtle sound. Then her eyes lit up, and she turned and dashed out of the room like the wind, arriving at the living room just as Yu Sheng entered the house and turned to close the door.

Yu Sheng only felt a blur before his eyes, heard a whoosh of wind in his ears, and the next second a silver-white furry mass started circling around him, spinning so fast it left afterimages, while a three-dimensional surround sound came from all angles:

"Benefactor, you're back~~~"

"Benefactor, are you hungry? I stewed some food~!"

"Eileen fell asleep! She fell asleep instantly just now!"

"Benefactor, why were you out so long? Eileen kept talking about you..."

"Benefactor, you smell like cat... sniff sniff... it's King!"

Yu Sheng was dizzy from the tail twirling around him, and after grabbing a few times, he finally managed to press down on the fox girl's head. He looked helplessly at the overly excited great fox spirit: "There was some unexpected trouble in that alley, which delayed me... Can you stop spinning? I'm getting dizzy. Did Eileen cause any trouble?"

"No, she was actually pretty quiet, compared to when she's at her most rambunctious," Hu Li said happily, then tugged at Yu Sheng's arm and headed toward the dining room. "Let's eat first, eat first~ I made a big pot today, and it tastes great!"

On hearing this, Yu Sheng's stomach did start to growl—after Little Red Riding Hood and King came out of the "Dark Alley," they had gone straight to the night market and were probably devouring skewers right now. He was the one who was really worried about the lively bunch at home and came back alone, and he hadn't had dinner yet.

On the dining table was a steaming "fox stew"—a ball of foxfire was slowly circling beside the pot, keeping the stew warm. There was a faint bubbling sound from inside the pot. Next to the large pot was the inner pot of a rice cooker, with about a quarter of the rice left. On the table was also a pot of cool tea, made with some technique and ingredients that gave the tea a faint multicolored glow and a refreshing aroma.

Yu Sheng walked over as if it were normal, lifted the lid of the stew pot to glance inside, greeted the stew, and then sat down to eat.

Hu Li also served herself a bowl of stew and ate happily beside him.

Yu Sheng, Hu Li, and the stew—the three of them had a great meal together.

"It's rare to have such peace and quiet during a meal," Yu Sheng couldn't help but remark as he ate. "I almost feel like something's missing without the noisy commotion."

"Eileen usually doesn't need to eat, but she always runs to the table to cause trouble when others are eating," Hu Li said, slurping her soup, muttering. "Last time she even fell into the stew pot and got beaten by the food—I told her that day's stew was a bit irritable..."

Yu Sheng coughed dryly and buried his head in his bowl, shoveling rice.

Hu Li suddenly raised her head and looked at him curiously: "Benefactor, did you find anything in the 'Dark Alley'?"

"I did find some clues," Yu Sheng paused his eating and nodded gently. "That place... is indeed connected to the 'Goddess of Ill Omen.'"

Then he told Hu Li everything he had experienced in the "Dark Alley," without hiding the spiderweb traces beyond the hole in the wall of the old bookstore, beyond the alien realm of the Dark Alley.

Hu Li listened quietly, then suddenly looked up toward the stairway to the second floor.

"Next time, take Eileen with you," she said, holding her bowl. "Otherwise, she keeps nagging at home and scratching things everywhere."

"Alright, I'll bring her next time," Yu Sheng finished the last bit of food in his bowl, put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and belched contentedly. "Tastes great—I'm full."

Hu Li brightened up and began clearing the table swiftly: "I'll clean up, Benefactor. You should sleep early today—exploring an anomalous realm is exhausting."

...

Yu Sheng tiptoed up to the second floor, entered his room, and under the faint glow of the nightlight, saw four boxes neatly arranged by the wall.

A small piece of skirt hem was caught in the gap of one box's lid.

He shook his head with a smile, walked over, and gently tapped the wooden lid.

The lid was pushed open slightly from inside, and a pair of crimson eyes looked out from under the lid, glittering.

"That silly fox put me all in the boxes—she doesn't know I need one body to sleep in the bed," Eileen muttered from inside, her voice muffled, trying to sound complaining. "That way I won't be able to sleep."

Yu Sheng opened the box, and the next second Eileen sprang out, jumped onto the bed, and started rolling around on the bed as usual, wriggling under the covers, shoving horizontally with her head on the pillow, climbing up the headboard to bounce to the middle of the bed...

The whole process was very meaningless, and Yu Sheng could only interpret it as the little doll's startup animation when she came out of the box...

He watched silently from the side, waiting until Eileen's startup animation finished, making sure the little doll wouldn't suddenly deliver a flying kick to his back before he dared to sit on the edge of the bed. Then he exhaled, turned his head, and looked at Eileen, who had wrapped herself into a ball with the quilt: "I'll probably have to go to that 'Dark Alley' again in a few days. You'll come with me then."

The little doll's head was the only thing sticking out from the quilt: "Okay."

"That 'anomalous realm' was obviously invaded by an external force, and it's related to the 'Goddess of Ill Omen.'"

"Mm."

"From the current clues, the connection between you and the 'Goddess of Ill Omen' might be deeper than we thought—the 'mutual destruction' three thousand seven hundred years ago turned you into that form in the oil painting. Perhaps you are no longer just 'Eileen' of the Alice's Cottage, but some kind of... more 'complex' state," since he had already started, Yu Sheng said it all in one breath. "If that's really the case, what are your plans from now on?"

Eileen blinked from inside the quilt ball, staring straight at Yu Sheng.

After a long while, she suddenly said, "You get me out."

Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand, nodding gently: "Of course, no matter how the lingering influence of that 'Goddess of Ill Omen' develops, I will definitely find a way to deal with it. I'm an expert in the field of angelic countermeasures, I can definitely save you..."

"I mean, I'm wrapped up in the quilt. Get me out—I've wound myself in too many layers."

Yu Sheng's flow of thought snapped off abruptly. He stared blankly at the little doll who had wrapped herself in the quilt and couldn't get out.

The latter also stared blankly at him, her small eyes full of big innocence.

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. He reached out, grabbed the quilt, and gave it a hard shake. The little doll rolled out of it with a thud, then crawled back onto the bed on all fours.

"I haven't thought about future plans at all!" Eileen stood in the middle of the bed, hands on her hips, righteous, and she still hadn't forgotten the question just now. "You think about this complicated problem for me."

Even for Yu Sheng, whose nerves had grown exceptionally thick recently, this left him somewhat unable to respond. He could only helplessly look at the little brat beside him: "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Eileen continued righteously. "How would I know what to do in the future? And besides, we haven't even figured out what the 'Goddess of Ill Omen' is, what her intentions are, or what abilities she has. I don't remember anything either, and there's no clue—how am I supposed to plan? Better to sleep early."

Yu Sheng was stumped by the little doll's barrage of words, but then suddenly felt that every word the little thing said made sense. After a moment of stunned silence, he chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"Seems... you're right. I was overthinking it," he let out a long sigh, suddenly a bit relieved. "We'll take it one step at a time. Deep planning isn't really the hotel's style either... Scoot over a bit, there's no room for me."

"I want to sleep in the middle—you sleep on the edge. That's the authentic way~~"

Yu Sheng completely ignored the little doll's arrogant demeanor. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and placed her at the edge of the bed (at least he didn't throw her), then occupied the largest area in the middle of the bed.

A moment later, he fell into a deep sleep amid the little doll's screeching, scratching, nagging protests.