Chapter 74: Departure

Hearing Yu Sheng's muttering, Bai Liqing's expression shifted slightly, but she said nothing, merely continuing to observe the man across from her with a hint of curiosity.

Whether answering questions or helping with minor issues, those were all secondary. The most important thing today was the "contact" itself.

She had encountered many entities, all kinds. She had killed them, banished them, spoken with those that possessed reason, even cooperated with them. She had deceived them and been deceived by them. But no entity—no matter how human-like—had ever spoken to her about such matters in this way, under these circumstances.

This "person" sitting before her even seemed quite interested in becoming a spiritual detective or investigator.

Pushing aside the thoughts in her mind for the moment, Bai Liqing broke the silence. "So, you want to..."

"Can I register a group?" Yu Sheng looked at Bai Liqing with a hint of anticipation. "I'm not alone—there are two more people."

"You mean the doll named Irene, and that 'demon fox' you brought out from the other domain?" Bai Liqing frowned slightly. "But they don't have legal identities in the Borderlands yet."

"Then give them ID cards first?" Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then added, "Ah, to get ID cards, don't they need jobs first? And to register for a job, they need ID cards first—so it's a deadlock?"

Bai Liqing was clearly startled this time. "Of course not. Why would you worry about that?"

"Oh, alright then." Yu Sheng gave an awkward smile. "I was overthinking."

"I'll take care of it." Bai Liqing didn't dwell on it, only silently adding a note to her observation report on "Yu Sheng": "Possesses a certain degree of humor." Then she raised her wrist and glanced at her watch. "It's about time."

"Ah, you're leaving?" Yu Sheng instinctively stood up. "What about my..."

"Someone will come to you soon to handle the necessary registration procedures for you and your two friends." Bai Liqing stood up. "Just need to fill out a few forms. Keep your phone available these next couple of days."

Yu Sheng: "Oh... okay."

Bai Liqing nodded, but just before leaving, she seemed to remember something. "Oh, one more thing."

"What?"

"About Nightfall Valley—that other domain you encountered before. Have you gone back to check on it since then?"

Yu Sheng was a bit puzzled. "That valley? I haven't been back since... Did something happen?"

"That's exactly it—the situation is unclear." Bai Liqing shook her head. "So if your 'door' can still lead there, you might as well go take a look."

From Bai Liqing's expression, Yu Sheng couldn't glean anything useful, but he vaguely felt... that this matter didn't seem as casually mentioned as the Director made it out to be.

She had specifically brought it up just as she was leaving, which seemed more like an emphasis on something.

After a brief moment of confusion and thought, Yu Sheng nodded lightly.

He really didn't want to go back to that eerie valley, nor did he have any interest in dealing with "Hunger" again. But from Bai Liqing's attitude, he realized that the valley might have encountered trouble beyond "Entity-Hunger."

In the blink of an eye, the café that stretched infinitely in both directions quietly collapsed before his eyes.

Bai Liqing's figure disappeared into the cascading backdrop of the collapse. In an instant, the café returned to its normal appearance, and all the sounds of the real world flooded back into his ears. Everything felt like a bizarre dream—except for the faint scent of perfume lingering in the air, proof that someone had truly been there.

Yu Sheng blinked, looking around. It seemed no one had noticed anything unusual. Little Red Riding Hood's thick stack of exam papers still lay quietly on the table, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, that was really come and go just like that..."

Yu Sheng shook his head, muttering under his breath, then sat back down to continue doing homework for the high school girl.

But this time, he just couldn't calm down.

Much of what he had discussed with that "Director of the Special Operations Bureau" swirled uncontrollably in his mind like a whirlpool. A flood of new knowledge about this world churned restlessly, mixed with expectations and imaginations about the future and the distant horizon. He felt he hadn't experienced this feeling in years—a heart full of anticipation yet slightly nervous about tomorrow.

Also, there was that matter Bai Liqing had specifically brought up before leaving—Nightfall Valley. What had happened to that valley?

Just then, a voice came from not far away, interrupting his thoughts.

"We're back!" Little Red Riding Hood's voice sounded cheerful. "Yu Sheng, how much have you written?"

Yu Sheng immediately looked up at the sound, and the first thing he saw was the black-haired girl standing beside Little Red Riding Hood.

It was Hu Li, wearing new clothes.

The weather had turned cold, so Little Red Riding Hood had bought her a set of warm white jacket and cotton skirt. The clothes themselves were very simple, but surprisingly suited Hu Li very well. The fluffy material at the collar, both decorative and windproof, even reminded one of Hu Li's own furry ears and tail—both of the same silver-white color, elegant yet with a touch of soft charm.

The fox girl stood there a bit awkwardly, her expression a little dazed. She seemed not yet accustomed to wearing properly fitted clothes, or perhaps she was still recovering from wandering around in a place full of strangers. Only when Yu Sheng beckoned to her did she suddenly snap out of it, blink, and hurry over carrying several large shopping bags.

"Um... Yu Sheng." Hu Li stood nervously across the table, at least remembering to address him by name in front of strangers. "New clothes. They fit well."

"Yeah, they look great." Yu Sheng smiled. He could tell the girl was happy, but his gaze fell on her skirt. "It's been cold these past couple of days. Aren't you cold in that?"

"She's wearing thermal leggings underneath," Little Red Riding Hood said as she sat down directly next to Yu Sheng and leaned over to look at the table. "Let me see how much you've written... Eh, doesn't seem like much?"

"Something unexpected happened and it held me up for a while." Yu Sheng rubbed his nose awkwardly, then looked curiously at Hu Li and Little Red Riding Hood. "Wait, where's Irene?"

"Oh, here!" Hu Li immediately reacted and lifted a large shopping bag from the ground to show Yu Sheng. "We bought too many things midway, couldn't hold her anymore, so we put her in the bag."

Yu Sheng leaned in and saw the little doll lying in the shopping bag—Irene lay on top of a pile of clothes with lifeless eyes, the entire bag filled with the doll's resentment.

The resentment was so strong the bag was almost turning into a cursed object.

"You okay?" Yu Sheng leaned in and asked in his mind.

The little doll: "No! Get me out! I stared at the ceiling the whole time in the mall, and still the ceiling when we came out! In between, Little Red Riding Hood put her unfinished drink in the bag! Put snacks in the bag! I even fell to the bottom of the bag, and they didn't notice! I've been protesting the whole time, but this silly fox was so dizzy from shopping she didn't even respond to me!"

Yu Sheng quickly reached in and lifted the furious doll out of the shopping bag, placing her on the chair beside him, offering her many reassurances in his mind.

Little Red Riding Hood casually flipped through her homework, then turned her head to look at Yu Sheng with curiosity. "What unexpected thing happened?"

Yu Sheng didn't hide anything, just lowered his voice. "A woman suddenly came looking for me. She said her name was Bai Liqing, the director of the Special Operations Bureau."

Little Red Riding Hood, who had been flipping through a math exam paper, froze instantly. After two or three seconds, she turned her head stiffly. "...Huh?"

Yu Sheng looked around and whispered to Little Red Riding Hood. "Is that so surprising?"

"The Director! Bai Liqing! That big shot!" Little Red Riding Hood's voice even changed, but she dared not speak loudly to attract attention. "No way, why did she suddenly come out, and personally come to find you?! She..."

Little Red Riding Hood paused, her expression suddenly turning nervous. "She doesn't think you're a dangerous element and came to deal with you personally, does she?"

Probably because she had spent the entire afternoon shopping with Hu Li in the mall, she spoke to Yu Sheng with noticeably more familiarity now, unlike when they first met with obvious tension and caution.

Yu Sheng didn't pay attention to this change in Little Red Riding Hood's attitude. He just recalled his conversation with Bai Liqing and shook his head. "No, she just came to get a sense of the situation. She asked me a few questions, and I asked her a ton of questions. I felt she was pretty easy to talk to."

Little Red Riding Hood looked dazed, doubting her own hearing.

Bai Liqing? Easy to talk to?

That's a novel combination.

...

In an office at the Special Operations Bureau headquarters, amid the collapse and distortion of light and shadow, a pale human silhouette abruptly appeared behind the desk. Then the pale outline quickly took shape, was given faint color, and transformed into Bai Liqing's figure.

She sat quietly behind the desk, motionless for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.

After who knows how long, she suddenly looked up and pressed a button on the desk. "Notify Song Cheng of the Second Unit, and Luo Zheng from the Confidential Management Office, to come to my office immediately."

(End of this chapter)