Chapter 102 – Curtain Call

Chapter 102 – Curtain Call

Thunderous applause erupted, as if the void were filled with invisible spectators celebrating and praising the magnificent scene on stage. Little Red Riding Hood froze instantly and blurted out—

“That actually worked?!”

But Yu Sheng was even more dumbfounded than she was: “How would I know? I just proposed a plan and hadn’t even gotten around to doing anything yet…”

But regardless, the applause had indeed begun. While both Little Red Riding Hood and Yu Sheng stood there utterly bewildered, the entire museum seemed to tremble from the ovation, and then changes began to occur—rooms disintegrated amid rumbling, intact ceilings and walls transforming in the blink of an eye into stage sets and crude props before rapidly sinking into the depths of darkness and void. The color drained from the floor, revealing the dust-covered stage once more. Darkness converged from all directions, and then, accompanied by the clacking of relays, beams of light descended from above, illuminating the entire stage and the surrounding audience areas.

The theater brightened. Applause continued to echo through the empty audience seats, and only after another ten-odd seconds did it gradually fade away.

Yu Sheng quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming everyone was present, and then met Little Red Riding Hood’s peculiar gaze.

“So, uh… I just had this bold idea earlier, figured if I made a big enough commotion it would satisfy the ‘curtain fall’ condition, but I never actually went through with it…”

“No, I think you may have actually found a valid exit method that fits the rules of Museum Night, even if the method was a bit… extreme,” Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, her expression thoughtful. “The entry and exit rules of Museum Night mesh with those of the Theater as an Entrance. The essence of a curtain-call exit is really about creating a ‘deviation value’—the more what happens deviates from the ‘stage,’ the easier it is to trigger the curtain fall. I think… ‘detonating a massive number of fox tails inside a museum’ would definitely qualify as a severe off-script event—the kind where even having an ‘actor’ on stage mention it in passing would already be going too far.”

Yu Sheng listened in stunned amazement: “Is that really how it works?”

“Who knows for certain? The Otherworld always has things that are hard to comprehend,” Little Red Riding Hood pursed her lips. “Anyway, if that really is the reason, then all I can say is nobody else could replicate this approach. After all, not everyone has someone like you trailing along with such an… abstract nine-tailed fox.”

Yu Sheng reached out and stroked the fur behind Hu Li’s ears. The fox girl happily narrowed her eyes, then murmured “I’m hungry” before pulling a large flatbread out of her tails and started munching on it.

“You did use up quite a lot of energy today,” Yu Sheng said, then suddenly remembered something. “Oh wait—we just got out so suddenly. The tails you left in the White Exhibition Hall to control those ‘security guards’—you didn’t leave them behind, did you?!”

“I brought them back,” Hu Li nodded eagerly. “The moment that illusion vanished, the tails converted back into spirit energy and returned to me.”

“That’s actually pretty handy,” Yu Sheng remarked with genuine admiration.

“Let’s leave this place first,” Little Red Riding Hood let out a soft breath, gazing at the theater area still illuminated by lights of unknown origin. “We’ll retrace our steps. The effects of Museum Night won’t fully dissipate until we’re back at the ticket booth.”

“Alright.” Yu Sheng nodded and glanced at the Weeping One sculpture still in his hands—

According to the museum’s rules, any collection piece held in hand at the time of “curtain fall” or “end of the evening performance” could be safely carried out of the Otherworld. This thing had now become his first exploration trophy as a “rookie Spirit Detective.”

It was light—much lighter than he’d expected, at least. The material didn’t feel like stone or any other natural substance. If he had to describe it… it actually had a suspicious skin-like texture, as though a pale hide had been stretched taut over a hard object, even carrying the faintest hint of warmth.

Under the overhead stage lights, this sculpture of a weeping woman with her face covered in her hands emanated an eerie atmosphere. Yu Sheng had no idea how much of it was “artistic” and no idea what the client wanted this thing for. All he knew was that if it were up to him, he absolutely would never display something like this in his home.

The group left the stage, passed through the empty rows of audience seats, and walked back along the corridor they’d entered through—lights of unknown origin illuminated the way the entire time. When they finally returned to the old theater’s entrance hall, Little Red Riding Hood went to the dark ticket window and rapped on the glass, and all the lights in the theater instantly went out.

Yu Sheng noticed that the wolves Little Red Riding Hood had brought along had been prowling and sniffing around the entire way back. Even now, several wolves were circling near the ticket window and at the entrance to another passage leading deeper into the theater. He couldn’t help but ask curiously: “What are they doing?”

“Checking for traces left by other people,” Little Red Riding Hood said quietly. “The node here didn’t trigger any alarms, but someone definitely entered the museum. They couldn’t have gotten in out of thin air… unless someone else can enter and exit the Otherworld anytime and anywhere the way you can with Door Opening.”

Yu Sheng immediately waved his hand: “That shouldn’t be it. My Door Opening triggers alarms too—and supposedly makes quite a big commotion. But didn’t you say we should try to avoid getting tangled up with the Angel Cult?”

“…Mm, that’s true.” Little Red Riding Hood hesitated briefly, then gave a small nod. The wolves that had been prowling the area silently converged back toward her and slipped into the shadows at her side.

The group left the old theater through the front entrance and returned to the city’s nightscape.

It was already midnight. Apart from the occasional sound of cars passing on the distant main road, the surroundings were exceptionally quiet.

Little Red Riding Hood took the Weeping One sculpture from Yu Sheng’s hands, then found the large backpack she’d hidden in advance among the ornamental bushes near the museum’s front entrance and placed the sculpture inside.

“I’ll take this to the Curiosities Association client to complete the job. I’ll also look into whether there’s anything suspicious behind this commission through my own contacts. The payment can be transferred to you as early as tomorrow—Frontier Communications has a transfer function. Just link your bank card and you can withdraw the balance,” she said to Yu Sheng, educating him on yet another piece of new knowledge. “Spirit Detectives and investigators generally only trust the Frontier Communications transaction channel, because offline transactions aren’t protected by the Borderland Council, so the risk is all on you.”

“Mm,” Yu Sheng seemed somewhat distracted, clearly thinking about something else. “Hey, about the situation in the White Exhibition Hall…”

“I’ll report it. The Special Operations Bureau will probably send someone to ask you for details pretty soon,” Little Red Riding Hood said casually. “You’re definitely already on file with them. This matter will get a high level of attention. They might invite you to conduct further investigation, or… tell you some things about the Twilight Angel. But remember what I told you—try to avoid too much contact with that thing. Plenty of seasoned investigators and Spirit Detectives have come to grief over exactly this sort of thing…”

She suddenly paused, then shook her head with an odd expression: “Though maybe I’m being a bit nosy telling you all this. You’re not exactly an ‘ordinary person.'”

“I appreciate the concern,” Yu Sheng said sincerely, not minding at all. Then he added with feeling, “I know I already said this once before, but I can’t help saying it again… you really are used to looking after people.”

Little Red Riding Hood blinked, her expression turning slightly awkward: “Uh, I honestly hadn’t noticed, but there really are a lot of members in Fairy Tale who are younger than me. I guess it really did become a habit?”

Yu Sheng smiled knowingly. From an angle Little Red Riding Hood couldn’t see, a touch of warmth and admiration had crept into his gaze.

Then they parted ways at an intersection near the museum—Little Red Riding Hood and her wolves quickly melted into the shadows beneath the night sky, phantom silhouettes drifting past like a gentle breeze through the darkness, vanishing from everyone’s sight in the blink of an eye.

“…She’s got it pretty convenient too, especially when traveling at night,” Yu Sheng watched the direction she’d disappeared in and couldn’t help but remark. “Saves on cab fare, even.”

He’d just been making an offhand comment, but the fox girl beside him suddenly lowered her head, her voice heavy with shame: “I’m sorry, benefactor. I make too much commotion when I travel, so I can’t carry you all home…”

Yu Sheng quickly waved his hands: “No no no, I don’t mind at all.”

“How do we get back?” Eileen asked curiously. “Calling a car again? Will it be that Xu Jiali guy who picks us up—I don’t want to ride in his car again…”

“Door Opening, obviously,” Yu Sheng said casually.

Eileen was surprised: “Huh? Didn’t you say back in the museum that you didn’t want to use Door Opening this late at night and alarm the Special Operations Bureau?”

Yu Sheng pulled out his phone: “Are you dumb? We’re out now, and we’ve got signal—I’ll just call ahead to give them a heads up and nobody gets spooked.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed at his own shoulder—he’d been bitten earlier by one of the giant wolves that had lunged from Little Red Riding Hood’s shadow. The wound had healed by now, but his clothes were still splattered with blood, looking especially gruesome under the streetlights.

“Besides, looking like this, if we actually called a car and it turned out to be some regular rideshare driver, we might scare the poor guy half to death.”

As he spoke, he dialed the phone number Baili Qing had given him.

A moment later, a voice that sounded like it had just been roused from sleep came through the receiver: “Who is this?”

“It’s me, Yu Sheng,” he said quickly. “Uh, did I wake you up?”

“…Yeah, I’d just fallen asleep. But it’s fine,” Baili Qing’s voice was as devoid of warmth as ever, impossible to read any attitude from it. “What happened?”

Yu Sheng immediately felt a bit awkward: “I’m about to use Door Opening and figured I’d give the Special Operations Bureau a heads up first. Couldn’t think of who else to call on short notice, so I called you…”

Two seconds of silence from the other end.

Yu Sheng had no idea what the Bureau Chief was thinking during those two seconds, but when her voice came through again, it was just as calm: “Alright, understood. I’ll notify the monitoring team to skip the next alarm signal. Go ahead and open the door in about two minutes.”

Yu Sheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Though the other end had been perfectly calm, he couldn’t shake the feeling of some inexplicable pressure: “Oh, okay, thanks… I’ll let you go then. Get back to sleep when you’re done. Good night.”

“…Alright, good night.”

Yu Sheng hung up the phone and let out a long breath in the night air.

Eileen, sitting on his shoulder, immediately poked him on the head.

“She was definitely cursing you out during those two seconds.”

“You heard that?”

“Spiritual intuition.”

“…Your spiritual intuition can do that too?”

“Yep!”

(End of Chapter)