Chapter Summaries

While searching the ruined orphanage, Yu Sheng received a call from Old Zheng’s nephew, who was trapped amid strange distortions and mirrors in Myriad Phenomena Market. Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood set out to find him as he sank into an Otherworld, while the Special Operations Bureau organized a response.

• Snow White, Dorothy, Long Hair, and the others searched the orphanage ruins for keepsakes, and Little Red Riding Hood asked Li Lin to collect anything intact during cleanup.
• Yu Sheng answered a call from Old Zheng’s nephew, who reported strange changes and mirrors at Myriad Phenomena Market before static cut off the connection.
• Li Lin reported the suspected supernatural incident to the Special Operations Bureau, and Little Red Riding Hood decided to investigate with Yu Sheng.
• Yu Sheng called Huli and Eileen, and Little Red Riding Hood’s shadow wolf pack carried them toward Myriad Phenomena Market.
• Little Red Riding Hood explained that the caller was likely sinking rapidly into an Otherworld, while Yu Sheng and the others hoped he could survive until they reached him.
• Eileen asked for the nephew’s name, but Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood admitted that they did not know it.

Yu Sheng, Little Red Riding Hood, and Huli joined the Special Operations Bureau at the Myriad Phenomena Market after Eileen’s granduncle was apparently pulled into an Otherworld. The entrance had vanished, but its brief, unusual appearance and the glass pane where it opened left Yu Sheng suspicious as he looked inside.

• Little Red Riding Hood led Yu Sheng and Huli to the mall after sending shadow wolves to search the area for signs of Eileen’s granduncle.
• The group met Liu Bing, who explained that the Otherworld entrance had lasted only one second and that hundreds of weaker oscillations had surrounded the mall.
• Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood questioned the abnormal readings and learned that the oscillations had stopped before the Special Operations Bureau arrived.
• Liu Bing showed Yu Sheng the glass display window where the missing person had apparently walked into the mall.
• Yu Sheng looked through the glass and saw only the ordinary street reflected in it.

Yu Sheng discovered that the missing young man was trapped in a fog-shrouded mirror world and opened a door through the display window to reach him. He crossed into the mirrored streets with Little Red Riding Hood, Huli, and Eileen, carrying a locator from Liu Bing.

• Yu Sheng saw the missing young man running through the street reflected in the display window and recognized him as trapped inside the mirror.
• The young man reached the window and knocked from the other side, giving Yu Sheng a trace he could use to locate the mirror world's entrance.
• When something chased the young man away, Yu Sheng opened a door in the display window by imagining the vibration of the young man's knocks as a handle.
• Liu Bing gave Yu Sheng a locator that transmitted a Deep Sea Echo so the Special Operations Bureau's support unit could find them.
• Yu Sheng, Little Red Riding Hood, Huli, and Eileen crossed through the mirror door into the fog-filled streets of Boundary City.

Yu Sheng and his companions searched a mirror-like Otherworld for the missing “Big Nephew,” discovering that the mirrors were alive and that Yu Sheng could not see his reflection. As the fog thickened around them, a monster attacked one of Little Red Riding Hood’s wolves, and Eileen spotted something crawling down the mall wall.

• Yu Sheng led Eileen, Huli, and Little Red Riding Hood into the mall, where its glass and many objects had turned into mirrors.
• A mirror shattered when Yu Sheng looked at it, and he heard its final words after rubbing its black ash; afterward, the mirrors showed everyone but him.
• The group searched the mall but found no sign of “Big Nephew,” then returned to the plaza as the fog grew denser.
• A creature in the fog badly wounded one of Little Red Riding Hood’s wolves, which reported being overwhelmed by a huge monster with many limbs and sharp teeth.
• Eileen pointed out a creature crawling down the mall’s glass curtain wall.

Yu Sheng and his companions fought Ink Mark in the fog, and Huli’s missile barrage brought down the mall as they escaped. They then encountered a Carnival Crowd that should only appear in the Otherworld’s Nameless Carnival, and the crowd turned toward them.

• Little Red Riding Hood identified the monster crawling down the mall as Ink Mark, an Entity that should only appear in Lakeside Town.
• Little Red Riding Hood’s shadow wolves and Eileen’s web fought Ink Mark’s split bodies while Huli bombarded its main body with Fox Carrot Missiles.
• Huli transformed into a giant Nine-tailed Demon Fox and carried Yu Sheng and Eileen away as the damaged mall collapsed.
• Little Red Riding Hood identified the approaching line figures as the Carnival Crowd and warned the others not to touch them.
• The Carnival Crowd stopped crossing the street, turned toward Yu Sheng and his companions, and began approaching as if inviting them to join the carnival dance.

Yu Sheng and his companions were overwhelmed by a massive Carnival Crowd cluster until Xu Jiali and a large Special Operations Bureau force arrived to support them. After the battle turned in their favor, Yu Sheng recognized Xu Jiali’s power armor from a memory of a fight on an alien planet, and Xu Jiali admitted he had been the one wearing it.

• Yu Sheng, Huli, and Little Red Riding Hood fought back tens of thousands of Carnival Crowd entities as Eileen urged them to retreat.
• Unknown troops dropped into the street and blasted open breaches in the crowd, then formed firing positions to protect Yu Sheng’s group.
• Xu Jiali emerged from his power armor and told Little Red Riding Hood that everyone on standby at headquarters had joined the operation.
• Yu Sheng recognized Xu Jiali’s armor from a fight he had witnessed through a door, and Xu Jiali admitted he had been one of the fighters.
• Xu Jiali explained that the armor was not his full expeditionary setup and that he had been caught unprepared during the earlier fight.

After the Heavy Deep Divers drove the Carnival Cluster back into the fog, Xu Jiali explained their dangerous deployment technology and the team considered the new Otherworld’s threat. They found Yu Sheng’s nephew sealed but alive in resin, and Little Red Riding Hood identified the rescuer as the harmless Grandma Tree.

• The Heavy Deep Divers eliminated enough carnivalers to stop them regenerating and make the Carnival Cluster recede.
• Xu Jiali explained how deep divers used umbilical cords to enter the Otherworld and transmit information to the real world.
• Xu Jiali, Little Red Riding Hood, and Yu Sheng discussed the dense fog’s unknown properties and the danger to the missing civilian.
• A patrolling deep diver reported finding a living civilian sealed inside amber-like resin, and the team brought him to Xu Jiali.
• Yu Sheng recognized the trapped civilian as his nephew, and Little Red Riding Hood explained that Grandma Tree had wrapped him in protective resin and expelled him from her territory.

Yu Sheng and his companions waited for Grandma Tree’s resin to melt and free the young man trapped inside, then prepared to leave the foggy Otherworld. The newly rescued man was overwhelmed by his first encounter with the world beyond everyday life as Yu Sheng opened a gate back to Boundary City.

• Xu Jiali reported that Grandma Tree had vanished and explained that its resin would eventually melt, so Yu Sheng’s group waited beside the trapped survivor.
• Little Red Riding Hood reported that the fog covered at least six blocks and that her wolves sensed something frightening deeper within it.
• The resin melted, freeing the young man, and the deep divers treated his mild mental contamination with medication.
• The young man panicked at the sight of Huli, Eileen, the wolves, and the Power Armor soldiers before Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood reassured him.
• Yu Sheng opened a gate to Boundary City, while Xu Jiali and his deep divers chose to return by their own method.

Yu Sheng and his companions returned from the Otherworld with Zheng Zhi, who had been rescued and examined by the Special Operations Bureau. Zheng Zhi left for home warned of his increased risk of encountering anomalies, while Liu Bing reported that the rescue and discovery of a new Otherworld could earn Yu Sheng’s group a substantial reward.

• Yu Sheng left drops of blood in the recovering Otherworld, checked the coordinates for reopening a gate, and returned to reality.
• The Special Operations Bureau examined Zheng Zhi and treated him for lingering resin and the effects of his first contact with the Otherworld.
• Zheng Zhi recalled entering the fog through a side door at Myriad Phenomena Market and being chased before a legged tree knocked him down.
• Little Red Riding Hood explained that Zheng Zhi’s connection to the Otherworld was irreversible and that his high-sensitivity constitution made future encounters more likely.
• Zheng Zhi went home with plans for medication and training, and Liu Bing told Yu Sheng that the rescue and discovery could bring three or four hundred thousand in rewards.

Song Cheng reported on the newly discovered Otherworld, while Baili Qing suspected someone had deliberately opened it and found it might be a real-time copy of Boundary City. Later, tests showed Ankaela crystals only countered Eileen, and Yu Sheng answered Baili Qing’s call about the crystals.

• Song Cheng told Baili Qing that the fog-covered Otherworld generated entities from other realms and might be far more dangerous than its provisional Level 3 rating suggested.
• Baili Qing suspected human interference had opened the Otherworld and that the trapped civilians had been used as test subjects.
• Baili Qing and Baili Xue noticed that shop signs appeared correctly in the recordings and concluded the Otherworld might be an independent copy of Boundary City.
• The Technology Department reported that Ankaela crystals had no protective properties against psychic attacks or other stimuli, leading Baili Qing and Baili Xue to suspect they only countered Eileen.
• Yu Sheng struggled to cut his unusually sturdy hand, joked about curing appendicitis by jumping into a volcano, and answered Baili Qing’s call asking what she meant by an “anti-Eileen crystal.”

Yu Sheng and his companions investigated the commotion near No. 66 Wutong Road and found that the Special Operations Bureau had opened a parcel collection point there. Ren Wenwen explained its purpose and introduced the Bureau-backed shopping platform, then left Yu Sheng baffled by her reaction to his novel.

• Huli tried to comfort Eileen, who was despairing over a crystal that seemed to affect only her.
• Yu Sheng, Huli, and Eileen went to investigate a newly occupied shop near No. 66 Wutong Road.
• Yu Sheng recognized the Special Operations Bureau logo on a delivery truck and met Ren Wenwen at the shop.
• Ren Wenwen revealed that the Bureau had established a Starry Express collection point near Yu Sheng's home and gave him access to its restricted shopping platform.
• Ren Wenwen praised Yu Sheng's recently published novel and said she was working hard, leaving him confused about what she meant.

Yu Sheng learned that the Special Operations Bureau had established an observation station on Wutong Road, though it could not observe his home. At headquarters, Director Zhang reported that a hammer made from the iron paid by the fox from the Inn had developed a machine spirit, and Baili Qing went to inspect it.

• Ren Wenwen excitedly asked Yu Sheng about his next story, while Eileen revealed that its protagonist would ride a three-wheeled motorcycle and Ren Wenwen began shipping them.
• Yu Sheng confirmed that Ren Wenwen's pickup station was also observing Wutong Road, accepted the arrangement, and returned home through a door that appeared in midair.
• Ren Wenwen watched Yu Sheng disappear, then oversaw the unloading of extensive border-outpost equipment, including two Shield Generators.
• Song Cheng told Baili Qing that Yu Sheng had accepted the station, and Baili Qing ordered him to train staff to treat Yu Sheng as a human being.
• Director Zhang reported that the filtering system for Yu Sheng's teleportation alarms was complete, then explained that a hammer made from the fox's iron sample had developed a machine spirit.
• Baili Qing told Director Zhang to take her to see the hammer.

Yu Sheng took Huli for a happy evening walk through Boundary City, where her energetic scavenging repeatedly caused trouble. He also tested the Bureau’s new portal-identification system for Baili Qing, who then asked whether he had any more of the iron ingots Huli had used to pay for food.

• Yu Sheng strolled along the river with Huli, who collected wildflowers, rocks, a stick, a balloon, a rat, and a screw, and he stopped her from frightening people or eating the rat.
• Yu Sheng watched Boundary City's harmless nighttime phantoms and felt increasingly at ease with the city.
• Baili Qing called Yu Sheng and asked him to open several portals to test the Bureau's new automatic identification and filtering system.
• Yu Sheng opened portals to several destinations, and Baili Qing confirmed that the system worked and that he no longer needed to report his portals.
• Baili Qing asked Yu Sheng whether he still had any of the iron ingots Huli had used to pay at the Bureau cafeteria.

Yu Sheng learned that Huli’s reactor byproduct, Spirit Fox Profound Iron, was valuable enough for the Special Operations Bureau to offer a dedicated cafeteria and a long-term purchase contract. After Eileen spotted dense fog outside the window, Yu Sheng opened the door to find Wutong Road clear and quiet.

• Baili Qing told Yu Sheng the Bureau wanted to study and buy more of Huli’s iron ingots, and Huli said she had several in storage and could produce about one every seven or eight days.
• Huli explained that Spirit Fox Profound Iron was a common material for forging weapon spirits in her hometown, while Baili Qing proposed a dedicated cafeteria and a long-term purchase contract.
• Yu Sheng told Eileen about the Bureau’s offer, and she complained that her own cooperation had only earned her an Anti-Eileen Specialized Crystal before deciding not to be angry.
• Huli gave Yu Sheng a wooden stick as one of their Twin Swords of Male and Female, then invited him to look inside her storage tail.
• Eileen noticed heavy fog beyond the living-room window, and Huli said it resembled the fog that had trapped Zheng Zhi.
• Yu Sheng opened the front door to check the street and found Wutong Road clear, with no fog outside.

Yu Sheng realized the fog could only be seen through windows and suspected No. 66 Wutong Road was caught between the normal world and the Otherworld. He used his blood’s connection to the fog to open the front door directly into it, while Special Operations Bureau agents discovered that the house had vanished from its street.

• Yu Sheng and Eileen found that the street looked normal when viewed through an open window, though dense fog remained visible through the glass.
• Yu Sheng, Eileen, and Huli checked the other windows and concluded that the fog surrounded No. 66 Wutong Road from another realm.
• Eileen identified the house’s situation as a possible fall into the Otherworld, and Yu Sheng decided to enter the fog and investigate.
• Yu Sheng used the faint connection to his blood in the fog to position the front door toward the fog-filled world and opened it.
• At the Starry Express Collection Point, a Special Operations Bureau agent looked outside and realized No. 66 Wutong Road had disappeared.

Yu Sheng used his ability to bring the entirety of No. 66 Wutong Road through the fog boundary, though he landed the house crooked. After confirming the valley and the house’s connections still worked, he told Baili Qing he planned to explore the fog and return before morning.

• Two Special Operations Bureau agents saw the lot and wall at No. 66 Wutong Road vanish, leaving nearby buildings displaced and distorted.
• Yu Sheng explained to Eileen and Huli that he had treated the whole house as a doorframe and guided it onto the foggy side.
• Yu Sheng, Eileen, and Huli checked the valley’s teleportation gates and environment, then confirmed the house still had phone service.
• Baili Qing called after Wutong Road Station reported the plot of land had disappeared, and Yu Sheng admitted he had brought the house along while checking the fog.
• Yu Sheng told Baili Qing he would explore the fog with Eileen and Huli and expected to return before morning; Baili Qing asked him to record the environment and message her afterward.

Yu Sheng, Eileen, and Huli entered the foggy Otherworld to investigate, where Huli tracked the strange scent of an unknown visitor into a deeper, more distorted area. A tall Iron Doll ambushed Yu Sheng, leaving the group facing a hostile attacker.

• Yu Sheng, Eileen, and Huli left No. 66 Wutong Road and discussed how vast the foggy Otherworld might be.
• Huli detected a stranger’s scent and led the group through the fog to follow its trail.
• Huli lost the trail in a particularly thick, warped section of the Otherworld as Yu Sheng prepared for danger.
• A tall Iron Doll attacked Yu Sheng with blade-like fingers, and he deflected its strike with the Tetanus Staff.

Yu Sheng, Huli, and Eileen fought a swift, deadly Iron Doll in the fog, and Yu Sheng let its blades pierce him so his blood could take control of it. After Huli and Eileen retreated to No. 66 Wutong Road, the Iron Doll tore off its compromised arm to escape the control.

• The Iron Doll attacked Yu Sheng, evading Huli's foxfire and Eileen's spider silk while targeting him relentlessly.
• Yu Sheng struck the Iron Doll's shoulder, and Eileen bound its joints with spider silk as it appeared to begin a self-destruct countdown.
• The countdown stopped, and the Iron Doll broke free and stabbed Yu Sheng through the arm and into the chest.
• Yu Sheng's blood began controlling the Iron Doll, and he gave its veil to Huli and sent her and Eileen back through a door to No. 66 Wutong Road.
• The Iron Doll tore off its increasingly uncontrollable arm to break free of Yu Sheng's control.

Yu Sheng revived after battling the Iron Doll and discovered that her severed arm let him sense a faint blood trace leading into the fog-shrouded city. He brought the arm home and planned to investigate the Doll with Eileen and Huli, including testing whether Huli could cut off one of its blades.

• Yu Sheng reviewed the Iron Doll’s strength and weaknesses as he waited for death to fade, then revived on the fog-shrouded street.
• He found the Iron Doll’s severed arm and sensed a faint blood trace leading to the rapidly moving Doll somewhere in the city.
• Yu Sheng returned to No. 66 Wutong Road, where Eileen and Huli welcomed him and examined the arm he had retrieved.
• Yu Sheng told Eileen and Huli about the battle and said he could roughly sense the Iron Doll’s location, though he could not track her precisely.
• Yu Sheng suggested showing the arm to the Special Operations Bureau and asked Huli to try cutting a short piece from one of its blades for a bloodletting knife.

After Yu Sheng and Huli defeated a black metal attacker in the fog, they examined the arm and veil she had left behind. Baili Qing identified the attacker as an Artificial Saintess of the Holy Ascetic Society and urgently summoned Yu Sheng to the Special Operations Bureau with the sample.

• Huli began cutting the Iron Doll's fingernails into knife materials, then carried the arm to the basement after Eileen warned her about the sparks.
• Yu Sheng messaged Baili Qing about the attack and photographed the veil's strange golden symbol.
• Eileen found a brand label and hand-washing instructions inside the veil, leading Yu Sheng to suspect that humans had modified it and were behind the attacker.
• Baili Qing called Yu Sheng, identified the attacker as an Artificial Saintess of the Holy Ascetic Society, and explained that it was a powerful killing machine.
• Yu Sheng told Baili Qing about the dense fog, the distorted surroundings, and the apparent connection between the old district and the Myriad Phenomena Market.
• Baili Qing asked Yu Sheng to bring the recovered sample to the Special Operations Bureau immediately, and he agreed to go.