Eileen's decision to turn and run took Yu Sheng somewhat by surprise, and the little doll's two short legs were moving remarkably fast—but unfortunately, she was only 66.6 centimeters tall.
A doll barely over sixty centimeters tall could only move so fast, even with her little legs kicking up afterimages. Before she could reach the door, the picture frame on her back caught on the leg of a nearby chair—she had meant to crawl underneath it, but had forgotten she was carrying something on her back.
Yu Sheng leisurely took two steps and grabbed Eileen, who was still pumping her legs furiously in midair.
"Don't hold a grudge like that!" Eileen thrashed her arms and kicked at the air. "Besides, I only did that to wake you up! I admit the method was a little too creative, but you woke up in the end, didn't you? Hey, let me go..."
"I never said I was going to do anything." Yu Sheng cut Eileen off with a smile and casually set the little doll on the floor. "I just wanted to tell you not to bite so hard next time. Even with my recovery ability, it still hurt after taking that long to heal. You were definitely getting some revenge in there—and of course, it would be even better if you didn't bite me at all."
Eileen froze, clearly surprised. "Huh? You're not angry?"
"Of course not. I'm not unreasonable." Yu Sheng curled his lip and turned toward the door. "Get ready. We're heading to that valley now."
Eileen stood on the floor, looking a little dazed. Only after Yu Sheng had gone some distance did she hurry after him with her little legs churning. "You remember all the 'characteristics' over there?"
"Perfectly."
"I'm starting to think this place is actually pretty peaceful." Xu Jiali sat behind the window, gnawing on the jianbing guozi Li Lin had bought that morning while gazing at the street outside. He was filled with emotion. "It's great. Much more comfortable than the illegal star zones, and there aren't even any Angel Cultists on the streets..."
"Compared with the intensity of the battles you face on field assignments, this place is obviously more comfortable." Li Lin sat beside Xu Jiali, cradling a cup of hot soy milk and slurping it. "Just treat it as half a vacation. The mission is only surveillance anyway. If anything truly troublesome shows up, the bureau will naturally send reinforcements."
"But Little Red Riding Hood looks tense all the time." Xu Jiali looked out the window. "She's still just a child, yet she's wound up like a drawn spring. I was the same when I first came out of the 'Platform.'"
On the rooftop of a nearby building outside, a girl in a dark red coat hid in a corner and watched the activity on the street. She had a sausage between her teeth, while the phantom images of a wolf pack flickered in and out of existence in the air around her.
Perhaps sensing the gazes that had fallen on her, Little Red Riding Hood warily raised her head and glanced toward the window where Li Lin and Xu Jiali were. After confirming that nothing was wrong, she gave a slight nod. She looked at the street once more, then pulled several notebooks and some paper and pens from the schoolbag beside her and bent over to do her homework.
The wolf pack took over monitoring the street.
Li Lin watched the dark-red figure on the nearby rooftop and couldn't help muttering, "I've often heard of the name 'Fairy Tale,' but she's the only member I've ever seen in person... She looks underage, doesn't she? She came out to do this kind of dangerous work?"
More than half of the members of 'Fairy Tale' were around her age, and most of them came from the same place." Xu Jiali sighed. "They were all unfortunate children."
Li Lin was startled. "All of them? Why..."
"Because children are more likely to fall into 'Fairy Tale,' while adult members often have a hard time surviving in it." Xu Jiali waved a hand. "If you're really interested, look up the information in the archives later. Don't ask her about it in front of her."
Li Lin sensed something from his colleague's attitude. He gave a thoughtful "Oh," then temporarily turned his attention back to the peaceful old streets outside.
"Looks like nothing's going to happen today either." He let out a faint breath and continued slurping his soy milk.
Xu Jiali said, "I'm still hungry. Do you have any instant noodles? I'll take a packet."
"Under the bed in the back room. Boil the water yourself—the kettle's in the kitchen. The water dispenser in the living room is broken and doesn't dispense hot water. Oh, and make one for me while you're at it."
Yu Sheng looked at Eileen standing by the door with deep suspicion. "This is your preparation?"
Eileen stood on the shoe bench inside the entryway, straining to puff out her chest so she would look a little more formidable. In her hands was a kitchen cleaver she had taken from the kitchen. The cleaver was huge, and its handle did not suit the little doll's palms, so she had to hug it with both hands to keep it steady.
"I'm just making sure I'm prepared for anything. Having another weapon for self-defense makes me feel safer. If we really get into a fight, just watch my incredible magical power."
Listening to the doll's confident boasting, Yu Sheng's face twitched. "You'd be better off taking a fruit knife. It would be easier for you to hold."
"Fruit knives have no presence."
"With your height, you wouldn't have any presence even carrying a dragon-slaying saber!" Yu Sheng looked helpless. "And don't damage it after you get there. I quite like this knife. It's especially useful for cutting meat."
"Enough, enough. You're so long-winded. Why are you worrying so much?" Eileen rolled her eyes impatiently while holding the cleaver with both hands. "Open the door already. At the very least, we need to confirm what the situation is like on the other side."
Seeing this, Yu Sheng said nothing more. He turned around and gripped the doorknob, checking once more the things piled at his feet.
They were food to be delivered to Huli.
When he had entered the Otherworld previously, the things he had been carrying, along with the garbage bag in his hand, had also been brought through the door. This time, however, he was attempting to carry much more—besides a large pile of food, there was also Eileen. He honestly wasn't sure whether he could succeed with so much additional "load."
He had of course tested it, but only by opening the door over short distances inside his home. Going to the "Otherworld" was completely different from making small movements in the real world.
So he could only prepare as thoroughly as possible. If it failed, he would treat this attempt as another test.
Yu Sheng wore an especially oversized coat, whose inner and outer pockets were stuffed with compressed biscuits, bread, and several cans of eight-treasure porridge. When he opened the door, he would try his best to "hold it open," send the supplies at his feet through first, and then cross the passage with Eileen.
For that, he needed to "open" the door as wide as possible.
He still did not know the principle behind the process, so he could only rely on his instincts.
Yu Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly and recalled the characteristics of the valley he had recorded earlier through Huli's perception.
He recalled the cold night wind, the stench of decay, and the marrow-gnawing hunger that filled the entire Otherworld.
And, most importantly, the "aura" required for spiritual guidance.
All of this transformed into the "frequency" of opening the door, into the scenery he imagined on the other side.
Next, he tried to focus all his attention on opening the door. He needed to open one large enough and stable enough to take Eileen through, large enough to carry everything through, and accurate enough to bring them directly beside Huli...
The doorknob turned slightly. A chilly presence passed through the slowly widening crack and entered the foyer...
A passage far larger than any of the previous ones took shape.
As for exactly how large this passage was?
At any rate, it was large enough to make Special Operations Bureau Director Baili Qing and all the action team captains let out sharp, ear-piercing shrieks in their office.
Bzzz—
A strange, low hum suddenly reverberated throughout the Wutong Road neighborhood. Yet the hum far exceeded the limits of what ordinary people could hear. Only those who had undergone training and possessed extraordinary sensitivity to the power of the "other world" could hear the continual tremor it produced deep within their spirituality.
Xu Jiali, who was walking out of the kitchen with two bowls of instant noodles, instantly sensed something. He looked out the window in astonishment, only to see the daylight outside rapidly darkening, as though a heavy curtain were gradually descending over the entire Boundary City. Beneath that curtain, all the buildings outside were slowly becoming transparent and vanishing, while a hazy, strange landscape resembling a valley began to "grow" out of the original neighborhood.
Little Red Riding Hood, busy making up her homework on the rooftop outside, suddenly raised her head as well. The wolf pack let out uneasy whines from the shadows. A cold wind began blowing out of nowhere, scattering the pages of her math workbook.
A moment earlier, Li Lin had still been marveling at the peace and quiet of the streets. Now he sprang to his feet with a perfectly articulated "Damn!" "Damn! Something's happened outside!!"
Xu Jiali rushed behind Li Lin with the instant noodles in just a few steps, then immediately realized something was wrong. "No! It's not something outside that's happening!"
Li Lin whipped around. "What do you mean?"
"We're the ones 'observing' a change—we're falling into the Otherworld!" As an experienced deep diver, Xu Jiali instantly judged the situation. He shoved the instant noodles into Li Lin's hands, then rushed straight to his equipment case and pulled out a light-beam dagger and protective equipment. "Contact the bureau, before the signal—"
However, the speed at which they sank into the Otherworld was faster than Xu Jiali had imagined.
A certain force of "traction," far beyond anything he had experienced, dragged his and Li Lin's perceptions past the boundaries of common sense and reason almost in an instant. He only felt his vision blur. He had just managed to pick up his equipment when the hollow howl of wind came rushing toward him.
All the scenery before him changed. The rented apartment dissolved like a dream, and a valley shrouded in night appeared before him.
Li Lin only had time to see the phone on the table suddenly light up, the director's number flashing across its screen for an instant—then all that remained before him were dark stones and a dark forest.
The two Special Operations Bureau agents raised their heads blankly. After exchanging a glance, they heard a wolf growling beside them.
They turned around and saw a girl in a dark red coat standing nearby with a solemn expression.
"We've fallen into the Otherworld." Xu Jiali was silent for a moment before speaking in a deep voice.
Little Red Riding Hood nodded lightly. "I know. Judging from the scale and characteristics, it should be a 'Wilderness' type."
Li Lin looked at Xu Jiali, then at the girl in red, feeling that he ought to say something too.
He looked down, raised a hand, and asked, "Want some instant noodles?"
Before you continue