Chapter 78: Another Exploration

A faint, eerie light flickered within the gateway leading to the valley. Yu Sheng stepped across this "boundary," and in the next moment, bright daylight greeted his eyes.

Yu Sheng squinted, gazing into the distance, then looked up at the sky dotted with scattered clouds.

After the enormous eye that had covered the sky departed, the eternal night of this alien realm—once called "Nightfall Valley"—had ended. But Yu Sheng hadn't expected it to still be daytime here—even though it was already evening in the real world.

Did this place have no day-night cycle at all? After the eternal night brought by the "Gloom Angel" ended, had it instead become eternal daylight?

Various conjectures surfaced in Yu Sheng's mind as he heightened his vigilance, carefully surveying his surroundings.

The "landing point" he had chosen for the door was still near the ruins of that broken temple. What met his eyes was the same devastation left behind when Entity-Hunger had gone out of control. The already dilapidated temple ruins had been reduced to nothing but scattered bricks and tiles, not a single wall standing. The wasteland around the temple looked as if it had been "deeply plowed" over and over again. Huge gullies visible everywhere stretched from the ruins to the horizon, and the former grove was now nothing but withered remnants. Piles of rubble large and small were heaped at the end of the valley floor, and the nearby rock faces had been scraped clean by a whole layer, exposing bare soil.

But aside from that... there were no signs of danger.

Yu Sheng frowned and carefully made his way through the gullies until he reached an open area mixed with broken tiles.

He still remembered this place—this was where he had started the feast. Here, the first Entity-Hunger "influenced" by him had opened its enormous maw and begun devouring other entities.

Now, every trace of the entities had vanished. Even the bloodstains had evaporated completely, leaving not a trace.

The valley was utterly silent. Only an occasional breeze swept through the valley floor, but it was no longer as frigid as before, and the unpleasant stench of decay was gone from the wind... Compared to the eerie, night-shrouded place it had been, it now actually had a hint of... "peaceful sanctuary."

If one ignored the gullies, that is.

Yu Sheng stood amid the ruins, somewhat disoriented, gazing at this tranquil little world.

Was this what that "Director" had wanted him to see? Or... perhaps she herself didn't know what the situation here was now, so she wanted him to come confirm it?

Ailin's voice came from the depths of his heart just then, interrupting his thoughts. "Hey! Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng, do you copy? Are you dead or not?"

"I copy, I copy," Yu Sheng replied immediately, frowning slightly. "Speaking of which, could you say something nice for a change? What's with 'dead or not'..."

"Duh, how many times have you dropped dead out there? You opened the door and went silent. I thought you'd been killed by a respawned Entity-Hunger again..."

The puppet's tone was matter-of-fact and insufferable. Yu Sheng could almost picture the little thing standing on the table, hands on her hips, looking smug—but right now, he had no heart for bantering with Ailin.

"No entities," he said flatly.

The puppet girl on the other end was clearly stunned for two seconds. "...Huh?"

"I haven't seen any entities yet. The valley is very peaceful, and I can't sense the malevolent and hungry presence that was everywhere before," Yu Sheng said as he walked out of the ruined temple and bent down to grab a handful of soil. "The stench of decay in the soil and air... is also gone."

"What about farther out?"

"I'm heading that way now," Yu Sheng said as he walked. "Could it be that not enough time has passed and Entity-Hunger hasn't respawned yet? I mean, I kicked up quite a fuss last time..."

Before he could finish, Ailin cut him off with her loud, fussy voice. "Impossible! How long has it been? The respawn rate for entities after being eliminated is calculated in hours—some are even just tens of minutes! We've been gone for over twenty-four hours. If Entity-Hunger could reproduce, by now it'd have five generations in the same nest!"

Yu Sheng sat down on a large rock at the edge of the ruins, gazing into the distance and said casually, "But there really is nothing here now. And honestly... I even think the air is pretty good here. The scenery is much more pleasing to the eye, too."

"Huh?"

Yu Sheng ignored Ailin's astonishment and just stamped his foot on the soft soil around the rock.

He felt that subtle connection. After returning to this place, the faint connection had strengthened again... Though it wasn't as intense as when the connection had peaked before, producing a "perspective" that used the valley as a "vessel," he could still clearly sense many things around him.

The hard stones, the gentle wind, the soil beneath his feet, the pool hidden at the foot of the mountain in the valley, and...

Yu Sheng suddenly froze and turned his head to look beside him.

A tender green sprout was poking a sharp tip out of the soil, like a newborn creature seeing daylight for the first time, trembling slightly in the breeze.

Tenacious life.

Yu Sheng stared at the sprout in some surprise. For some reason, seeing it emerge from the soil made his own heartbeat quicken a little. A... very strange stir leaped in his heart. This stir might be due to his connection with the valley, or perhaps something more emotional—he unconsciously reached his hand toward that patch of soil.

And then the soil began to writhe.

Deep gullies started to close up. Tiny sprouts pushed through the earth.

Life was growing, like a rebirth after death.

Yu Sheng stared blankly at the scene and finally couldn't help but let out a cry, "Holy shit?!"

Ailin instantly started squawking. "Huh? What? What what? Why are you suddenly shouting—are you injured!?"

Yu Sheng shot to his feet and yanked open the illusory door. "It's hard to explain. You and Hu Li should come see this yourselves!"

The next second, his figure returned to the living room, where he found himself staring wide-eyed at Ailin, who was standing on a chair.

"Hu Li is still washing dishes," Ailin said, momentarily stunned, then pointed toward the kitchen. "Want me to go call her now?"

Yu Sheng nodded, but just as he was about to speak, he felt a series of vibrations in his pocket.

He pulled out his phone and saw several missed calls popping up on the screen—two from Li Lin, two from Xu Jiali, and several from the same unfamiliar number.

Yu Sheng's expression immediately turned a bit awkward. As he was wondering who to call back, that unfamiliar number called again.

He answered before the ringtone could sound and put the phone to his ear. A somewhat familiar female voice came through. "It's me, Bai Liqing."

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. He figured as much, and his voice carried an awkward embarrassment. "Cough, I just... stepped out. Should I have informed you folks?"

"That's fine. As long as we can confirm the 'tremor' was caused by you opening the door," Bai Liqing's slightly cold voice came from the receiver, betraying no emotion. "We'll try to record more sample parameters so we can distinguish your 'signature' in time when future alarms sound."

Her laid-back, non-prosecutorial attitude actually made Yu Sheng feel even more off-kilter. He didn't know if this was just the Director's style, so he could only force an awkward laugh. "Cough, sorry for the trouble..."

Bai Liqing didn't seem to care what he was saying. "Are you going to 'step out' again soon?"

"...Probably," Yu Sheng said, then remembered something and quickly added, "I'm checking on Nightfall Valley."

He was sure he heard a faint intake of breath.

Bai Liqing's tone indeed changed. "You got in successfully? It still exists?"

Yu Sheng keenly noticed the word she had used: exists.

So Bai Liqing had thought Nightfall Valley didn't "exist" anymore? Why would she think that?

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Yu Sheng spoke, "Of course it exists. I just went over for a quick look, but I'm not sure what's going on inside yet. I'm planning to gather a team and head back."

As he spoke, he looked up at the little puppet on the chair—that was his "team," plus one washing dishes in the kitchen.

Bai Liqing didn't press further. After a moment of silence, she said, "Alright. If you need the Special Operations Bureau's support, you can contact me directly. This number is always open."

The call ended, and a short series of beeps came from the receiver.

"It was that 'Director' from the Special Operations Bureau," Yu Sheng said to Ailin. "Nothing major."

With that, he turned and headed into the kitchen to fetch Hu Li.

Then, as he pushed the door open, he saw the fox girl drying dishes with her tail—and sneaking a bite of the sesame paste that had been stored in the cupboard.

For a moment, he didn't know which to complain about first.

"Ah, benefactor..." The fox girl's ears suddenly twitched twice as she heard the sound of Yu Sheng opening the door. She turned around in a fluster. "I... I couldn't resist the smell. I'm sorry."

Yu Sheng looked at Hu Li—and the smear of sesame paste all over her mouth—and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Clean yourself up first, then come with me. We're going out."