Chapter 56 – Going Home

Hu Li told everyone with firm conviction that she had buried her mother and father right here beneath this forest, and that she had buried them very, very deep. Even though the ground was now riddled with pits and gullies of all sizes, the place where she had buried them would still be there.

Now, she began to dig.

With the strength of a fox-spirit, unaffected by the Hunger, she dug remarkably fast even with her bare hands.

Loose soil was continuously flung out of the pit. Yu Sheng and Eileen stood nearby, quietly watching the scene, while not far away stood Li Lin’s trio, who didn’t fully understand the situation but were beginning to vaguely grasp what was happening.

Eileen sat on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, watching Hu Li dig below, and couldn’t help speaking up again: “So, um… how about we come back another time to look? It’s been quite a while now, and the Hunger Entity might pop up again any moment. Then we’d have to fight it all over again…”

“It won’t. I can feel… when it will appear. I’ve been here for many, many years,” Hu Li lifted her head from inside the large pit. “It’s not in this pit. It should be… over to the side.”

With that, the foxgirl climbed out of the pit, stood in the center of the wasteland to judge her bearings, and quickly moved to a nearby spot on the ground where she continued digging with all her might.

Eileen opened her mouth as if wanting to say something more, but Yu Sheng gently patted her arm.

“Don’t say anything. Let her dig. If she doesn’t find them, she’ll be trapped in this place forever, even after she leaves.”

Eileen pressed her lips together, but her voice echoed in Yu Sheng’s mind: “I’m not afraid she’ll dig something up—I’m afraid she’ll dig all the way down and find nothing at all.”

“I know,” Yu Sheng answered the same way, in his mind.

“Then you—”

“But I believe she’ll find them.”

Eileen was silent for a moment. “But you saw it yourself—her mental state before. When the Hunger’s influence was at its worst, she could barely string a coherent thought together. And given what we saw in the depths of that dream…”

Yu Sheng just shook his head.

Then he walked forward, approaching Hu Li. “Need any help?”

Hu Li shook her head stubbornly while digging at a furious pace. “No. I’ll dig… myself. It’s right here—I can see… the cloth strips I buried before. Just a little… further down.”

Yu Sheng nodded and stepped back a couple of paces. “Alright, I’ll wait for you right here.”

He then retreated with Eileen to one side, to a spot where they couldn’t see the bottom of the pit, and quietly waited for the foxgirl to finish what she needed to do.

Yu Sheng himself didn’t know how long he waited—he stood by calmly and patiently, yet gradually felt every passing second stretch as long as a year. He couldn’t help wanting to go look at the pit, but his legs felt as if they were slowly growing into the ground beneath his feet. He didn’t know if Eileen on his shoulder felt the same way, but he could feel that the little doll’s body had been slightly tense the entire time.

“When we get back, I’ll fix your body first,” Yu Sheng broke the silence, trying to redirect Eileen’s attention.

“Sure, sounds good.” The doll replied absent-mindedly.

“But we might not have enough clay at home. I’ll probably need to use some flour or something. You don’t mind, right?”

“Don’t mind.”

“What about two sections of lotus root?”

“Don’t mind.”

“You sure? I said two sections of lotus root.”

“Don’t mi—wait, I do mind!”

Eileen snapped back to attention at once, glaring at Yu Sheng fiercely (or so she believed).

And right at that moment, she suddenly noticed the sound of digging from the bottom of the pit had stopped.

It had gone very quiet down there. No more soil was being thrown out, but neither could they hear any movement from Hu Li.

Eileen froze, then suddenly locked eyes with Yu Sheng. “Oh no! It can’t really be empty down there, can it?!”

Yu Sheng said nothing and broke into a run toward the pit.

He saw Hu Li.

The foxgirl was curled up quietly at the bottom of the pit—her body bent, two fluffy tails clutched to her chest, the rest of her tails wrapped around herself like a blanket.

And beside her lay two sets of neatly arranged bones.

She lay curled in a ball between the two skeletons, her body rising and falling gently, like a young beast napping beside its mother.

Yu Sheng let out a breath and sat down among the gravel at the edge of the pit.

Eileen let out a breath too, and flopped forward onto the top of Yu Sheng’s head.

After a few minutes, the fox curled at the bottom of the pit slowly rose. She looked at the two sets of bones beside her, then lifted her head to look at Yu Sheng sitting above, and a faint smile gradually appeared on her face.

Yu Sheng looked at Hu Li. “Ready to go?”

“Mm. Let’s go.”

The fox-spirit nodded, then bent down and carefully broke off one sharp, distinctly non-human canine tooth from each set of remains before standing up to leave.

Yu Sheng reached his hand down into the deep pit, grabbed Hu Li’s arm, and pulled her out.

“That’s all you’re taking?” Eileen asked curiously, eyeing the two canine teeth clutched tightly in Hu Li’s hand. “The rest of them…”

Hu Li shook her head. “Just the teeth… that’s enough. Mom and Dad said it’s the way of foxes… when the teeth come home, you’ve come home.”

“Then that’s that.” Yu Sheng nodded, then raised his hand to open a door back to the mortal world. But just as he was about to open it, Hu Li seemed to remember something and tugged at his sleeve. “Benefactor, wait—there’s also…”

Before she could finish, Yu Sheng realized what she meant and smacked his own forehead. “Oh right, I almost forgot something. Wait here for me.”

The words had barely left his mouth before he pulled open a different door and slipped through, leaving Li Lin’s trio blinking in bewilderment.

But he wasn’t gone long. After only a dozen or so seconds, another door appeared out of thin air in the same spot. Yu Sheng walked out carrying Eileen on his shoulder and a somewhat damaged plastic bag in his hand.

Inside was the food that had been left behind in the ruins of the Ruined Temple.

“Some of it was already ruined by those monsters. I brought back everything with intact packaging.”

Only then did an even happier smile spread across Hu Li’s face. She immediately reached out and took the plastic bag, then carefully counted through its contents, checking twice before she was satisfied.

“Alright, now there’s truly nothing left behind. Let’s go home,” Yu Sheng said with a smile, then extended his hand toward the empty air beside him and pulled casually. A door leading to No. 66 Wutong Road materialized out of nothing and swung open—through the shimmering mirage at its center was the familiar living room. “Li Lin, you three, hurry over too. We’ll all head back together.”

“Oh… oh, okay!” Li Lin hastily agreed and hurried over with Little Red Riding Hood. Behind them, Xu Jiali couldn’t help casting a somewhat strange look at the door Yu Sheng had opened. It was hard to tell what was going through her mind, and hesitation flickered in her eyes, but in the end she quickened her pace and followed.

Stepping through the door, the cold wind of the Hunger valley was sealed away on the other side. The familiar scent of home carried a reassuring atmosphere that made Yu Sheng take several deep breaths the moment he returned.

Without realizing it, he had truly come to feel that this place was home.

Hu Li’s eyes went wide as she looked around this place that seemed strange to her in every way.

She had lived in that desolate valley for far, far too many years—she had even become unaccustomed to this kind of “house.” The intact, enclosed ceiling and bright lights left her at a loss.

After freezing for several seconds, she set down the food she was carrying, then sat directly on the floor nearby, cautiously guarding her instant noodles, crackers, and congee. She only occasionally stole curious glances at her surroundings, or checked on Yu Sheng’s whereabouts.

Li Lin, Xu Jiali, and Little Red Riding Hood were likewise cautiously observing the place. Through the street-facing window in the living room, they had immediately confirmed that this was somewhere deep along Wutong Road in the Old City District. However, judging from the angle of their view outside the window…

Even Li Lin, a professional agent of the Special Operations Bureau, could not determine which building on Wutong Road this was.

And at the same time, their spiritual intuition kept flickering faintly in the backs of their minds, constantly reminding them—this was not the truly stable mortal world, but rather some kind of anomalous space with a depth not equal to zero.

The three exchanged glances, each reading contemplation and gravity in the others’ eyes.

Something about this place wasn’t right.

But they could hardly pull out a depth-detector and start scanning the environment in plain sight—this person called “Yu Sheng” seemed friendly enough, but his uncanny methods of destroying the Hunger Entity and his eerie ability to open doors between the Otherworld and reality at will all pointed to one thing: this man was powerful and dangerous.

Provoking such a mysterious and dangerous individual would not be wise. If they actually managed to anger this seemingly friendly “human,” none of the three would likely make it out of here alive.

“Is this… your home?” After a long hesitation, it was Li Lin who finally broke the silence.

“Yep,” Yu Sheng nodded. “Find somewhere to sit for now. I’ll go grab you some water—today was unexpected, and I don’t really have anything prepared for guests. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, don’t trouble yourself,” Li Lin quickly waved his hands. The friendlier and more ordinary Yu Sheng acted, the more uneasy he felt—after all, the sight of the Hunger Entity devouring itself throughout the entire valley had left quite the lasting impression. “We’ll be leaving soon, leaving soon…”

Then he paused and asked in a seemingly casual tone, “By the way, where is this? Are we still in Boundary City?”

“Of course we are,” Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly. “Just look outside and you’d recognize it—Wutong Road. Weren’t you specifically posted here to tail me?”

Cold sweat ran down Li Lin’s back. “About that… no hard feelings, alright? We didn’t have all the information at the time…”

“It’s no big deal,” Yu Sheng waved it off. He genuinely didn’t mind. “I’ve actually been wanting to find you people—I just couldn’t track you down.”

Li Lin and Xu Jiali both started at the same time. “Huh?”

“The ones you’re looking for are those two, right?” Little Red Riding Hood caught on immediately, pointing at Xu Jiali and Li Lin. “I’m just a part-timer here…”

“No, I’m looking for all of you,” Yu Sheng’s expression turned serious. “‘Professionals’ like you.”