The night was deep, and the streetlamps cast a dim, yellow glow. The streets of the old city looked far quieter than those in the downtown area. Night wind swept through the buildings with a mournful whine, sounding as though some invisible giant beast were crouching in the night sky, breathing heavily.
The accumulated snow that had yet to melt glimmered coldly beneath the lights. Yu Sheng led several people from his household along the street where his eldest nephew had lost his roasted sweet potato that afternoon. Zheng Zhi followed right beside him, bundled up in his down jacket like a dumpling, sniffing in the wind.
Yu Sheng wore an oversized coat, with Eileen—the blonde one—tucked inside his arms, leaving only her tiny head exposed. Hearing the sniffling beside her, the little doll craned her head over and muttered, "Your constitution is a little weak, eldest nephew. Young people really can't handle the cold at all..."
"How can I compare with you people?" Zheng Zhi nearly laughed in exasperation. He rolled his eyes at the monsters beside him—an ancient doll three thousand years old, a nine-tailed demon fox, and an Artificial Saintess with a steel body. Even Yu Sheng was only roughly humanoid. These people could probably be thrown into outer space and still swim back using butterfly stroke. "I'm an ordinary person. How am I supposed to compare with your physical fitness?"
Before Zheng Zhi had even finished speaking, a cold wind swept down the street, making him sneeze several times in a row.
"Achoo..." His eldest nephew rubbed his nose and looked up at Yu Sheng. "Brother Yu, you still haven't told me. Where are we supposed to look? Do we have a plan? Did you get some inside information from the bureau chief...?"
Yu Sheng and