Chapter 47: Roads Divide

"Our feet are on the ground!"

Aileen stood on a large, dark rock, struggling to hold the cleaver with both hands, striking what she thought was an imposing pose against the night breeze, and yelled into the empty valley floor.

Yu Sheng poked a finger against the doll’s head, nearly knocking her off the rock. "Stop making a racket. We haven’t found Hu Li yet. Don’t attract the attention of 'Hunger' ahead of time."

"That thing doesn’t rely on hearing," Aileen muttered, jumping down from the rock. She tightened the rope buckle on the painting frame strapped to her back, then looked up to survey the surroundings. "...It really is desolate. And just like you said, it’s eerily sinister—like there’s something covering the sky."

"Be careful," Yu Sheng said, glancing at Aileen, whose small frame showed almost no combat ability. Though he knew this doll had many strange abilities, he couldn’t help reminding her, "If anything happens, prioritize protecting yourself. I’m not afraid of death, but you’re different. Neither of us can be sure whether your soul will survive if this temporary body is destroyed."

"Relax, I’ll protect myself. And honestly, 'Hunger' isn’t much of a threat to me," Aileen said, looking up. "Dolls generally aren’t affected by mental influences. More importantly—I don’t get hungry."

"Yeah, you don’t get hungry, but you sure know how to crave things. Even when I take a sip of water, I have to put it in front of you for you to stare at." Yu Sheng grumbled, looking down at his feet.

The several large plastic bags he’d brought were all there, which instantly relaxed him. His caution and care when opening the door had been worthwhile—he’d sent all his 'load' through the gate. At least the start had gone smoothly.

Yu Sheng bent down, easily lifting the food bags that would have been quite heavy for an ordinary person, and looked ahead into the distance.

The collapsed, ruined temple stood silently in the night, unchanged since he’d left it.

"Let’s head over there first. Hu Li should be nearby—I can sense her," Yu Sheng said softly, stepping into the night.

He’d only taken two steps when he heard Aileen shouting behind him, "Hey, wait up! Slow down! I can’t keep up!"

Yu Sheng turned his head and saw the 66.6-centimeter-tall doll, one hand dragging the cleaver, the other balancing her body as if crossing a mountain range—climbing over several large rocks in her path, then stumbling through the gravel-strewn valley floor.

Obstacles that an ordinary person could step over in one stride required her to climb or go around for ages...

Yu Sheng stared speechlessly at the scene, then sighed. He walked over and crouched in front of Aileen. "You’d better ride on my shoulder—but don’t say 'giddyap'!"

Aileen brightened instantly, running toward Yu Sheng with the cleaver raised. "Hey! You’re the best!"

Yu Sheng let out a yell. "Put that thing away first! Or at least turn the blade the other way!"

Good grief—a living doll with blood-red eyes charging at his neck with a cleaver in the night was way too terrifying.

Yu Sheng wasn’t afraid of death, but he was afraid of <i>that</i>.

...

"Where the hell did this bring us?" Li Lin shivered as the cold wind blew through the forest, an increasingly strong unease settling over him. "Is this still the Borderlands?"

"A foreign domain, the Night Valley, current depth L-3, gradually sinking toward L-4. Danger rating... based on records, above Level Three," Xu Jiali’s voice came from beside him. The burly man, nearly two meters tall, had already connected a portable depth detector to his eye. He was scanning the surroundings while rapidly speaking from the data in his memory. "This foreign domain is classified as 'Wilderness'—trouble."

Li Lin’s eyes slowly widened. With Xu Jiali’s reminder, he belatedly recalled the material he’d encountered during training.

Foreign domains of the 'Wilderness' type were large, had no clear boundaries, no obvious exits, and required meeting specific conditions or being at a specific time and location to leave. Depth L-3 meant it was almost completely isolated from reality, operated under irrational rules, and long-term exposure carried a high risk of mental and cognitive erosion. Danger Level Three meant there was clear malice here—something dwelling here would actively attack and try to kill intruders. Its threat was lethal and could not be avoided or countered by things like 'following the rules'.

Moving in a foreign domain of this level usually required at least a full team of Special Affairs Bureau operatives—over a dozen people, fully armed, carrying heavy equipment.

And even then, they were only to carry out reconnaissance—in other words, the goal was simply to gather intelligence and extract alive, not to try to confront the entities here. That would require more manpower or more senior special operatives.

Li Lin looked around. Including Xu Jiali, there were two Special Affairs Bureau operatives on site. Although one of them was a Deep Diver—a special operative specializing in confronting entities—this sudden situation had caught that tough guy off guard, and he hadn’t brought much equipment.

Beside them was a minor 'Spirit World Detective' on a contract job, supposedly a reconnaissance type.

Fate was completely screwed.

"Give the food you’re holding to that girl over there," Xu Jiali broke the silence, his expression grave as the most experienced one on the scene. "Li Lin, you and I will use these."

Li Lin snapped out of his 'fate is screwed' lament, immediately followed the veteran operative’s instructions without hesitation, handed the two bowls of instant noodles to Little Red Riding Hood, who was still a bit dazed, and took what Xu Jiali offered.

It was a needleless injector, the pale green liquid inside glowing faintly in the night.

Rationality Blocker.

Li Lin looked up in shock at his colleague, who had already pressed the injector against his own arm.

"The entity born here is 'Hunger,' which has a tendency for mental attacks," the burly man said calmly. "You can guess what that means from the name. Give yourself a shot first. The side effects are worse than the aerosol inhaler, but at least for forty-eight hours, it’ll keep you from losing your judgment."

Li Lin nodded. With a hiss, the Rationality Blocker from the injector entered his body.

Meanwhile, Little Red Riding Hood, upon hearing the name 'Hunger,' reacted instantly. She stepped forward. "Wait, you two better eat what you have. Your bodies are still ordinary—I can withstand much more than you. And I have snacks with me..."

"Listen to me," Xu Jiali interrupted her directly, the nearly two-meter-tall giant standing in the night, towering almost two heads above Little Red Riding Hood. He looked down at the girl, his expression extremely serious. "I know your situation."

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth but finally said nothing.

Xu Jiali patted her shoulder, his low voice carrying a strangely reassuring strength. "It’s for our sake too. Your wolves are our best bet against the entity. You need to stay combat-ready."

Li Lin watched Little Red Riding Hood crouch by a rock and silently begin eating the now-cold instant noodles. He turned to look at his colleague, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Xu Jiali shook his head slightly and lowered his voice: "If she falls into hunger, her wolves will eat her."

In the night, the wolves in the forest let out restless, quiet whines.

In the cold wind, a malevolent 'gaze' spread through the valley.

In the ruins of the broken temple, Yu Sheng and Aileen searched carefully.

The pervasive stench of decay grew even stronger, as if it had a will of its own, crawling into their nostrils, extremely unpleasant.

Aileen simply stopped breathing.

Yu Sheng envied that.

"Are you sure the fox is here?" Aileen held the cleaver in one hand, the other grabbing Yu Sheng’s hair as she rode on his shoulders, craning her neck to look around. "I can’t see anything..."

"I’m sure," Yu Sheng said casually. "There's a faint connection between us, forged by blood. The same goes for you, though you might not notice it yourself."

"Oh, really?" Aileen glanced at Yu Sheng suspiciously, then looked down at her own hand, as if wondering what this 'faint connection' he mentioned was.

Just then, a faint rustling sound came from the silent ruins, interrupting Aileen’s thoughts and Yu Sheng’s movements.

They both looked up almost at the same time, toward where the sound came.

A white figure cautiously emerged from behind a collapsed wall.

A silvery-white fox tail swayed gently in the night, furry ears twitching in the wind. The fox-eared girl who came out of the ruins stared wide-eyed at the figure not far away. When she finally recognized him, she immediately broke into a happy smile.

"Benefactor!"

Hu Li dashed out from behind the broken wall, swept like a gust of wind over the rubble, circled quickly around Yu Sheng a couple of times, then stopped in front of him, her face filled with pure joy and a hint of disbelief. "You, you really came! Benefactor? Really?"

"Yes, it’s me, it’s real," Yu Sheng smiled just as happily. Immediately, he set down the things in his hands. "I brought you a lot of good food. Starting today, you won’t have to go hungry anymore."