Chapter 211 – Breaking Ground at the Shelter

Yu Sheng rattled off that entire long string of words in one breath. Little Red Riding Hood had already taken on a contemplative expression halfway through, clearly giving serious thought to the feasibility of this plan. Snow White, on the other hand, stared at them in complete bewilderment, her gaze ping-ponging back and forth between the two for several rounds before she finally couldn’t help but speak up: “What are you two talking about? Red, what do you mean by ‘Star-something Valley’?”

“Oh, that’s a nickname I came up with. It’s actually the Otherworld ‘Night-shrouded Valley’ from before,” Little Red Riding Hood snapped back to the present and explained to Snow White. “I’m pretty sure I told you about the recent situation with that valley.”

Snow White let out a drawn-out “Ohhh” of understanding. Little Red Riding Hood then turned her head and looked at Yu Sheng with a serious expression: “I think this plan is workable—and personally, I feel more at ease with your valley. It’s just… isn’t this a bit too much trouble for you?”

As she said this, her face showed a hint of unease, but Yu Sheng waved his hand cheerfully, not seeming to mind at all: “It’s no trouble. My valley’s sitting empty anyway, and I actually have some renovation plans in the works. I was just thinking about what excuse I could use to wrangle a batch of manpower from the Special Operations Bureau to help out, and here you all come—all these expenses can be billed to the Bureau later.”

Listening to this, Little Red Riding Hood gradually broke into a smile.

She didn’t say anything more, because everything she wanted to say was already contained in that smile.

After that, they discussed many operational details regarding the transfer and quarantine, including how to arrange housing for the children at the temporary camp in the valley, whether the caretakers sent by the Council should temporarily move into the valley as well, the supply entry-exit and distribution procedures during the quarantine shelter period—and how the children who were currently attending school would keep up with their studies after entering the valley.

These were all quite practical issues—and so practical, in fact, that Yu Sheng hadn’t even thought of them at first.

He certainly hadn’t remembered that they’d need to arrange remedial lessons for the kids while sheltering in the valley…

“It’s absolutely necessary. After all, we don’t know how long we’ll need to stay in that valley,” Little Red Riding Hood said solemnly. “Although we often struggle to complete all our studies, as long as we live another day, we have to try to live it as normally as possible. That’s the orphanage’s rule—no one is allowed to have a slacking-off mentality.”

Snow White added thoughtfully: “Speaking of not knowing how long we’ll be in that valley… when it comes down to it, quarantine sheltering is only a temporary measure. We still need to solve the problem at its root.”

Hearing this, Yu Sheng quickly set aside his musings about “remedial lessons” and nodded seriously: “That’s right. We still need to resolve the Twilight Angel and the ‘Fairy Tale Curse’ problem as quickly as possible. The good news is that based on existing intelligence, the ‘curse’ brought by the Fairy Tale Otherworld and the activities of the Twilight Angel An-Ka-Ai-La are very likely from the same source. As long as we can deal with that Twilight Angel, the Fairy Tale’s encroachment should stop as well.”

He paused here, his expression turning somewhat wry: “Looking at it optimistically, you’ve spent all these years trying to find the source of the curse, and now you’ve finally found it.”

“Right, and the source is a Twilight Angel—so we really can only try to be optimistic,” Little Red Riding Hood sighed, then quickly shifted the topic. “Let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s discuss what happens after the transfer—once we leave, what happens to this orphanage?”

As the conversation turned in this direction, Yu Sheng’s expression grew solemn as well.

He knew that signs of contamination bleeding into reality had already begun appearing inside the orphanage, such as the thorn shadows on the walls and the Black Forest silhouettes reflected in the underground passages. But what couldn’t be determined now was whether this “encroachment” was tied to this “place” itself, or to a particular child who might have already been chosen as a “vessel.”

“If the ‘encroachment’ phenomena we observed before are related to the ‘vessel’s’ activity, then theoretically, once all the children in the orphanage have been transferred to the valley, those strange phenomena should stop appearing. But if those eerie shadows are being generated by the orphanage itself, then that means this ‘place’ still possesses a certain degree of contamination,” Yu Sheng said while thinking it through. “After all, this place has existed as the headquarters of the ‘Fairy Tale’ organization for decades. Every single building here has essentially been ‘submerged’ in the Fairy Tale’s influence for an extended period. It’s entirely possible that… something could be festering in some forgotten corner.”

“We’ll need to leave some people behind to monitor the situation here,” Little Red Riding Hood nodded. “The Special Operations Bureau can station people to keep watch. You should keep an eye on things too. As for us…”

At this point, the girl’s expression inevitably dimmed somewhat.

After all, this was the place where she had grown up. Although she rationally understood that all the children, herself included, might have already become “vessels” and that completing the quarantine as soon as possible was for the best, emotionally, she was still reluctant to leave this place.

Seeing the expression on Little Red Riding Hood’s face, Yu Sheng wanted to say that the Twilight Angel’s descent would also take time, and that if they really felt “homesick” later, he could still arrange for the children to come back for a visit. But the words died on his lips before he could speak them.

When it came to the Twilight Angel, risks that could be avoided were best left unavoided. After all… not everyone’s life was as cheap as his.

Now, it was time to begin preparations for packing up and transferring the entire “Fairy Tale” organization to the shelter valley as quickly as possible.

After leaving the orphanage and returning home, the first thing Yu Sheng did was call Baili Qing.

“They’ve accepted the second plan—transferring to The Lodge’s ‘valley,'” Yu Sheng said, sitting on the living room sofa, pulling out a notebook and scribbling on it while talking to the Bureau Chief on the other end of the phone. “I’m filling in some of the essential supply lists and transfer details we just discussed. I’ll bring it to your office shortly.”

“Good,” came Baili Qing’s brief, calm response from the other end. After a few seconds of silence, her voice came again: “They agreed quite readily, didn’t they?”

“…I take it that was within your expectations?”

“The Special Operations Bureau has been working with the ‘Fairy Tale’ for a long time. I have… some understanding of those children,” Baili Qing said evenly. “Though they themselves might not have realized it, the Bureau has always regarded ‘Fairy Tale’ as our best collaborative partner—most of the time, those ‘children’ are even more reliable and efficient than some so-called mature, professional Spirit Detective organizations.”

“Seems I was worrying over nothing.”

Baili Qing was silent for a few seconds on her end, then spoke calmly: “‘Worrying over nothing’ is a trait of adults. Perhaps that’s precisely why they feel close to you—regardless, the children trust you a great deal. Once they move into your valley, you’ll essentially be the biggest ‘Guardian’ in all of ‘Fairy Tale.'”

“I know,” Yu Sheng answered seriously.

“Don’t betray the children’s trust.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Good. Don’t forget to send over the materials you’ve just compiled later—also, the first batch of basic supplies is already prepared, and personnel can be deployed at any time. When do you need them?”

Yu Sheng looked up and glanced at the clock on the living room wall.

“I’ll let you know. I need to go to the valley first to ‘prepare’ things—at least clear out enough open ground for a temporary settlement. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for your word.”

…

A dozen or so minutes later, Yu Sheng, Ailin, and Hu Li pushed open the fixed portal in the basement and arrived at the “hub platform” at the center of the valley.

The fixed portal in the basement was essentially a permanently activated “passage.” Since it didn’t produce the shockwaves that came with opening and closing, there was no need to report to the Special Operations Bureau each time, so whenever they were at home, this was the door they used to enter and exit the valley.

—For Yu Sheng, it was actually still more convenient to just casually open a portal anywhere, but for Hu Li, pushing open the basement door to go feed the chickens in the valley was obviously quite convenient too.

After a brief deliberation, Yu Sheng decided to designate the open ground near the old tree line beside the hub platform as the site for the temporary camp.

On one hand, the area around the platform had undergone extensive “repair” over this long period and had now basically recovered from that “feast” of the past. The ground surface that had once been gnawed on by the Hunger Entity was now level and solid, and in the distance there were even lush green meadows and a rapidly growing grove of trees—the living environment was certainly better than the area closer to the mountainside. On the other hand, the water channel diverted from deep within the valley also passed along the edge of this clearing. Its water quality was good, making it perfectly suitable as the camp’s water source.

Under Yu Sheng’s control, the vast expanse of open wasteland began to slowly writhe as if it had a life of its own. Flat surfaces for temporary prefab housing, sturdy platforms for generator installation, sunken pits for water pumps, irrigation channels, and other structures rapidly “grew” directly from the earth.

Yu Sheng stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes slightly narrowed, immersing his consciousness into the land. As if commanding his own limbs, he gradually “sketched” the basic layout plan he had memorized—the one he had previously discussed with the Special Operations Bureau—into the valley’s terrain.

Hu Li and Ailin stayed right beside him, the two of them watching this spectacle of the earth “growing” with great enthusiasm. Little Doll couldn’t help but mutter: “No wonder I see people online saying they just love watching construction sites. They can squat there watching an excavator dig trenches all afternoon… This really is mesmerizing! I could watch for half a day even without an excavator…”

Hu Li, as always, was there cheering Yu Sheng on: “Benefactor really is well-suited to being a Civil Engineering Immortal…”

“Do you realize your ‘Benefactor’ actually doesn’t want to hear you complimenting him on that?”

Hu Li: “Why not?”

Ailin waved her hand dismissively: “Even if I explained it to you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Yu Sheng listened to the lively chatter beside him and didn’t find it annoying at all. Instead, he suddenly mused aloud: “Actually, I think I could just ‘grow’ the entire camp directly. We wouldn’t even need the prefab buildings from the Bureau…”

But he was only halfway through before Ailin cut him off: “Rein in that bold idea of yours!”

Yu Sheng was rather put out: “Why?”

Ailin stood with her hands on her hips: “A bunch of kids being moved out of their orphanage is already pitiful enough. You really want to make them live in a toilet and feel good about it?”

Yu Sheng: “…”

(End of Chapter)