Chapter 63 – Investigation and Settling In

A leader’s encouragement and empty promises might not soothe the physical and mental exhaustion of working overtime all the way to the Otherworld, but paid leave certainly could.

The two unlucky operatives walked out of the office with smiles plastered across their faces, leaving Song Cheng sitting behind his desk to let out a long sigh before turning back to the computer screen with a troubled expression.

Just then, he noticed an icon in the corner of the screen suddenly begin to flash. The next second, a video window popped up abruptly on the screen.

A young woman wearing a white skirt suit with her grayish-white hair pulled back in a single ponytail appeared in the frame. Her pale gray pupils—as though drained of all color—gazed at Song Cheng’s eyes through the screen. “Done with your business?”

An even bigger boss had arrived.

“Director,” Song Cheng instantly sat up straight, his expression somewhat tense, “you haven’t left for the day?”

“I’m working overtime today,” Baili Qing said evenly, her voice as devoid of fluctuation as those faded eyes of hers. “I saw the materials the Archives Department just sent over. I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

“About that ‘Yu Sheng’?” Song Cheng furrowed his brow slightly, pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think we can make any judgments right now. We need to make formal contact with him before we can assess what kind of… individual he actually is. But the difficulty lies in whether to approach him by the standards for ‘humans’ or for ‘entities’…”

“By human standards,” Baili Qing said without hesitation.

A look of surprise crossed Song Cheng’s face.

“Because his self-perception is that of a ‘human,'” Baili Qing explained, calm and patient. “So regardless of whether he actually is one, we need to ensure he continues to think that way going forward.”

“…Maintain the target’s self-perception, is that it?” Song Cheng said thoughtfully, seeming to grasp the director’s reasoning. “You believe that… if this individual’s self-perception were to shift, there could be very serious consequences?”

“We can’t yet determine the full extent of the target’s abilities, or what influence he may have on the Borderland’s future. But one more standing on the side of ‘humans’ means one fewer standing on the side of ‘non-humans.’ Otherworld entities that are inherently friendly toward humanity are rare—especially one who has been ‘living’ in the Borderland since long ago. We should consider this a stroke of luck.”

Song Cheng nodded immediately. “Understood, director. I’ll arrange a contact plan for ‘Yu Sheng’ right away… I’ll go personally.”

On the screen, Baili Qing gave a slight nod, then continued, “Regarding the newly appeared ‘Twilight Angel,’ the Council has been informed. It’s now essentially confirmed—it’s a new one.”

Song Cheng’s pupils contracted sharply.

“It’s not in the old records?” He instinctively leaned forward, his expression grave. “What about other factions’ records?”

“We’ve already inquired with the Argleid Astrology Society and the Academy. Neither of their official records contain any mention of the massive eyeball-shaped Twilight Angel described in the report—the one capable of covering the entire sky. The Barmosa Hermit Society hasn’t responded yet, but if even the Academy’s records have nothing, then the Barmosans likely don’t either,” Baili Qing shook her head. “While we can’t rule out the possibility that some smaller faction may have encountered this Twilight Angel before… the likelihood is low.”

Song Cheng’s brow furrowed so tightly it nearly knotted together. He looked deeply anxious.

“This is bad… A new ‘Angel’ with zero records, and it fled before we could gather any intelligence at all. And one of that scale, no less,” he muttered. “Capable of covering the entire sky above Night-shrouded Valley… Based on the valley’s official data, this thing has probably been parasitizing that Otherworld domain since long ago…”

“Yes. High-level camouflage, deep parasitism—to the extent that investigators who entered the valley in its early days believed the sky there had always looked like that. That’s how Night-shrouded Valley got its name,” Baili Qing said slowly. “Purely in terms of physical scale, this newly appeared ‘Twilight Angel’ could probably rank in the top three among all known Angels.”

Song Cheng fell into thought. After a brief pause, he spoke. “…According to the intelligence my two team members gathered, the fox spirit calling herself ‘Hu Li’ near Yu Sheng seems to have been trapped in Night-shrouded Valley for a very long time. She might know something related to that ‘Twilight Angel’?”

“That’s an avenue worth pursuing, but proceed with caution during the investigation.”

Song Cheng lowered his head slightly. “Understood.”

Baili Qing gave a soft hum of acknowledgment and seemed about to end the video call.

But Song Cheng suddenly spoke up. “Oh, director—one more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“…I’m planning to take a ride on the ‘Train,'” Song Cheng said with a serious expression. “To see if I can learn anything about ‘Yu Sheng’ on it.”

“…Approved—but be careful. Even with entities that are relatively rational and friendly, you must exercise caution in any contact.”

“Understood.”

…

Yu Sheng, who was in the middle of making up Hu Li’s bed, suddenly let out several massive sneezes in a row, nearly scaring Eileen—who was walking along the bed’s footboard railing with her arms outstretched like a balance beam—right off the edge.

“You scared me!” The little doll glared with wide eyes.

“My nose was itchy,” Yu Sheng rubbed his nose, then casually plucked Eileen off the railing and tossed her onto the bed. “Quit just watching—come help. Sit in the middle of the bed so I can smooth out the sheets.”

Eileen let out an “oh” and happily ran to the center of the bed, sitting down cross-legged. She looked up and watched Yu Sheng bustling about beside her.

Hu Li stood a bit further away, looking rather at a loss as she watched her “benefactor” make her bed.

“Benefactor… I can help too,” the foxgirl said, wringing her hands as her tail swished restlessly behind her. “Tidying a room is simple—I’ve got the hang of it from watching!”

“Then you can tidy your own room from now on. But not today,” Yu Sheng said without looking up. “I’m almost done here.”

Hu Li let out a small “oh” and suppressed the uneasy feeling that arose from being taken care of. She gazed around her new room with cautious curiosity.

This was the room on the Second Floor that had previously been piled with miscellaneous junk. The cardboard boxes full of odds and ends had all been cleared out to the basement, and after a quick cleaning, the room had been restored to a livable state. That said, “livable” was generous—the furnishings were still quite bare. Apart from the bed and a desk that had originally been in the room but buried under clutter, the only proper “furniture” left was a chair in the corner.

To remedy this, Yu Sheng had earlier dug a folding wardrobe out of the basement. He and Eileen had puzzled over it for quite a while before finally assembling the metal poles and canvas into something functional, which now sat in the corner serving as the room’s fourth piece of furniture.

But Hu Li didn’t have much clothing to put in it. She had virtually no personal belongings—only the tattered “dress” she’d brought out of the valley. It was practically a pile of rags at this point, but she couldn’t bear to throw it away. She’d washed it, folded it as best she could, and placed it at the very bottom of that ugly folding wardrobe. It was her first possession in this new “home.”

Yet even this modest little room, bordering on shabby, made her incredibly happy.

She could sleep in a bed now. She’d tried lying down on it earlier and found it more comfortable than even the softest, flattest pile of hay. There was a proper roof overhead and walls to block the wind. The room was warm—not like the valley, where everything was always cold. She didn’t even need to curl up hugging her tail to stay warm when sleeping. And there were bright electric lights, brighter than Fox Fire.

And most importantly—no matter what she did here, it wouldn’t attract that monster. If she was hungry, she could find food anytime.

Right now, there was plenty of food stored in her tail.

Hu Li sat down on the floor, a happy smile on her face.

Yu Sheng finished smoothing the sheets and turned around to see the fox spirit sitting on the floor with that silly grin. “Why are you sitting on the floor again? There’s a chair right there—and what are you grinning about?”

Hu Li let out another small “oh,” got up from the floor, and moved to the chair nearby. “Happy.”

“Well, you should be.” Yu Sheng nodded, then straightened up and surveyed the room with a faint sense of accomplishment.

The furnishings were sparse, but getting the room to this state had taken considerable effort—a good two-plus hours of labor.

—Still, it was a bit too sparse.

“Tomorrow I’ll go to the mall and get you a spare set of bedding, plus a couple outfits. The curtains could use replacing too—these ones have holes in them… The wardrobe will have to do for now; buying a new one would be pretty expensive, and money’s a little tight at the moment,” Yu Sheng planned aloud. “Hmm, eventually we could also get a nightstand and put a lamp on it.”

“No, no, you don’t need all that,” Hu Li waved her hands hurriedly, looking flustered. “Everything’s already great the way it is.”

“Don’t worry about it—these are all everyday necessities. You’ve got to have the basics,” Yu Sheng waved dismissively. “You’re going to be my number one fighter, after all. Can’t have you living in poor conditions.”

Eileen, still sitting in the middle of the bed, looked up at this and glanced at Yu Sheng. “Before you start thinking about buying furniture, maybe think about how you’d actually get it delivered here. This is ‘No. 66 Wutong Road’ we’re talking about—looks like you can forget about that new TV too, since there’s no way it could be delivered. Or… are you planning to open a ‘big’ door and haul everything home yourself?”

Listening to the little doll’s commentary, Yu Sheng’s enthusiastic “planning” suddenly cooled a few degrees.

His expression grew slightly more serious along with it.

Yu Sheng recalled what those two Special Operations Bureau operatives had said to him before they left.

…Right, delivery was still a problem, because—

No. 66 Wutong Road didn’t actually exist.

(End of Chapter)