Chapter 95 – Relocation

Chapter 95 – Relocation

“Didn’t you say these things wouldn’t actively attack us?” During a harrowing exchange, Yu Sheng barely dodged a “plastic” extendable baton that slashed past his face, twisting his head to shout at Little Red Riding Hood, who was directing her wolf pack in a counterattack nearby.

The plastic security guard’s baton struck the wall beside them, accompanied by a cascade of dazzling sparks and the sound of iron striking stone.

Yu Sheng spun around and seized the plastic security guard’s arm, slamming it hard against the ground, then wrenched the thing’s arm off with brute force. But he didn’t snap it in half at the waist or twist off its head like he had before.

Because during their brief skirmish, he’d noticed a pattern — once these plastic mannequins were truly smashed into a pile of parts, or sustained damage past a certain threshold, their “repair” function would trigger immediately. Within seconds they’d be restored to pristine condition. Conversely, simply breaking their limbs to cripple them greatly reduced their threat without triggering the repair mechanism.

“I have no idea what’s going on either!” Little Red Riding Hood fought a retreating battle alongside her wolves, finally holding her ground in one corner of the exhibition hall. While fending off the “Entity-security guards” that kept pouring in, she shouted rapidly, “I’m positive we didn’t violate any of the museum’s rules along the way. Under normal circumstances, these security guards shouldn’t even be appearing!”

Yu Sheng opened his mouth, about to say something more, when he suddenly heard another rush of hurried footsteps coming from the passage at the far end of the exhibition hall.

Wobbling, comical figures came running out of the passage one after another.

Eileen’s black “spider silk” had just ensnared two plastic mannequins that lunged at her, and before she could even catch her breath, she heard the commotion from the passage. She turned to look and immediately cried out in alarm: “What the hell… more of them!? Are these entities spawning infinitely!?”

“Infinitely spawning — until the night performance ends, or all the actors die,” Little Red Riding Hood said rapidly. “Or if you manage to break line of sight with all the security guards, that can temporarily stop the museum from dispatching more. They only actively move to search for intruders right when they first spawn. Once the intruder disappears from their field of vision, they freeze in place. But conversely, as long as they can still see you, more and more entities will keep appearing around you!”

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng immediately looked up, scanning toward the only exit from the exhibition hall besides that passage — a large door leading outside.

But that door had already been occupied by plastic mannequins. The entire exhibition hall had neither blind spots nor gaps to break through.

They couldn’t keep getting bogged down here.

“Fall back! Retreat to somewhere without any ‘security guards’!” Yu Sheng thought quickly, then shouted to the others. He sprinted toward Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf pack. “Everyone rally on me — Hu Li, clear us some space! Block that passage temporarily!”

Hu Li acknowledged immediately, and then with a resonant hum, her fox tails burst open.

Vast swathes of eerie, dangerous Fox Fire blazed furiously around her tails, the flames expanding outward in rings, rapidly warping and deforming several nearby plastic mannequins from the heat. Then the Fox-Spirit Girl whipped around — two silvery-white tails suddenly erupted with intense propulsive flashes, detaching from the fox spirit’s body and rocketing toward the nearby passage with a roaring shriek.

“Foxtail Missiles!” Hu Li bellowed with tremendous gusto.

Before her words had even faded, a violent explosion erupted in the passage. Even with the Otherworld’s structural durability, the entire building shook violently under the impact of the great demon’s two tail-projectiles. One corner of the Great Hall was blasted apart, and the walls near the passage collapsed, completely burying the gap that had been endlessly disgorging “security guards.”

But barely a second later, the collapsed areas began trembling violently. Steel and concrete began writhing as if alive, attempting to restore themselves to their original state, while one arm and leg after another — clad in security uniforms — thrust out from between the fallen rubble. The battered plastic mannequins struggled free with horrifying contortions, shaking off their burial to continue pushing into the hall.

But for Yu Sheng, those few seconds were enough.

He had Eileen hoisted on his shoulder and reached out to wrench open a shimmering, translucent door: “This way!”

For him, things like encirclement and having no gaps in a perimeter simply didn’t exist. He might not be able to win a fight, but he could absolutely escape one.

Trusting Yu Sheng completely, Little Red Riding Hood didn’t hesitate for a second before leading her wolf pack straight through the door. Hu Li fell back next, and before ducking through, she grabbed one of her own tails with both arms, aimed the tip at the remaining “Entity-security guards” still frantically surging toward them in the hall, and fired rapid bursts of small Fox Fire projectiles from the tail tip like machine gun bullets: “Da-da-da-da-da—”

“Foxtail Machine Gun!” The Fox-Spirit Girl cradled her tail while firing, stealing a glance back at Yu Sheng. She said it very quickly.

Yu Sheng: “What kind of stupid names are these — get in there already!”

Hu Li immediately said “oh,” swept one last burst across the hall while cradling her tail, and after completing her suppressive fire, spun around and leaped through the door.

Yu Sheng prepared to pass through the door with Eileen as well.

But right at that moment, a plastic mannequin that had been hiding in Hu Li’s firing blind spot suddenly crawled up from the side. Its body was warped and twisted from the Fox Fire’s scorching heat, its eerily rigid face shriveled and contorted from the high temperature into what almost looked like an expression of fury. Dragging its deformed limbs, it lunged forward and grabbed Yu Sheng’s ankle.

The grip was as powerful as a hydraulic clamp.

Yu Sheng didn’t care. He powered through, dragging the twisted plastic mannequin as he stepped through the door, and severed the passage before it could follow him through. The plastic mannequin’s arm was instantly sheared off by the closing door.

Silence settled around them. The frantically spawning security guards, the Fox Carrot Missile explosions, the collapsing and burning hall — all of it felt like some distant hallucination.

But Yu Sheng was gradually growing accustomed to this: every time he crossed through a “door,” there was that sense of unreality from the drastic environmental shift. It wasn’t the first or second time anymore.

He looked up to see a spacious corridor stretching out on both sides, glass cases housing ordinary exhibits lining the walls. Little Red Riding Hood was alertly surveying their surroundings, seven or eight shadowy wolves drifting and materializing in the air around her. Hu Li had a tail cradled under each arm, watching the far ends of the corridor with vigilance — looking exactly like someone dual-wielding Barrett sniper rifles.

The “security guards” hadn’t followed them. No new entities were spawning in the air around them either — just as Little Red Riding Hood had said, as long as they could simultaneously break line of sight with all the security guards, the museum’s “manhunt” would temporarily cease.

“This is a corridor we passed through earlier,” Little Red Riding Hood broke the silence. “I thought you’d just open a door and leave the museum entirely.”

“Then tonight would’ve been a complete waste — and those blocker agents and inducer serums you injected before coming here would be wasted too. From what you said, those things are pretty expensive,” Yu Sheng let out a breath. “Besides, don’t you think it’s strange? Why would the security guards suddenly start attacking people? This doesn’t match the intelligence you had before. Something must have gone wrong inside this museum, and I won’t feel right if we don’t investigate…”

“Under normal circumstances, the most cautious option would be to evacuate as soon as you discover unexplained changes in the Otherworld,” Little Red Riding Hood glanced at Yu Sheng, but then shifted her tone. “But you have a point — otherwise this whole trip would’ve been for nothing. When the risk is manageable, continuing to investigate changes in the Otherworld can sometimes yield significant rewards.”

“Right. If things really go south, we’ll just leave from here.” Yu Sheng nodded, then turned his gaze to Hu Li beside him.

The Fox-Spirit Girl flashed him a proud grin, clearly quite pleased with her own performance in that sky-blue exhibition hall.

“…Quite the showing. Well done,” Yu Sheng had to concede the compliment, but couldn’t help adding, “It’s just those techniques of yours… since when do they have names? Who came up with them?”

“Eileen,” Hu Li said happily, selling out her friend without a moment’s hesitation. “I described all the different ways I can use my tails, and she came up with a whole bunch of names! I’ve also got one still in development called Fox Carrot Cha—”

Before she could finish, Yu Sheng turned to look at Eileen on his shoulder: “I knew it had to be you — what kind of garbage names are these!”

“I spent a long time carefully thinking those up! How are they garbage!” One second ago Eileen had been drained from consecutively activating her abilities, but now she perked right up, hands on her hips and full of righteous indignation. “Look at her tails — aren’t the names perfect? I even used extremely clever homophones…”

Then she started muttering under her breath: “Actually, at first, for the rapid Fox Fire shooting move, the silly fox and I discussed whether to call it Fox Carrot Pew… but then we decided it wasn’t formal enough…”

A vein on Yu Sheng’s forehead pulsed visibly.

But he quickly consoled himself: at least they didn’t call it Fox Tail Pew…

Little Red Riding Hood stood quietly to the side, watching this bizarre scene unfold, listening to the exchange between Yu Sheng, the doll, and the fox spirit.

…Surreal. Absurd. Ridiculous. And yet somehow possessing its own internal logic.

None of it matched their surroundings in the slightest.

They didn’t look at all like Spirit Detectives conducting an Otherworld operation. But they weren’t the recklessly ignorant type of green rookies treating this like a sightseeing trip, either. Quite the opposite… she could tell they were taking this seriously.

Yu Sheng was serious. The doll currently arguing about whether “Fox Carrot” was actually a brilliant homophone was serious too. Even that scatterbrained fox spirit was serious. They treated this place, the work they were doing here, and the situations they had to face with genuine earnestness — just… with a mindset and attitude that no normal person would have.

From the perspective of a “normal human,” Little Red Riding Hood found it difficult to understand the dynamic and behavior of this “Inn Trio.” Naturally, she couldn’t say whether their mental state was “correct” or not.

She just let out a soft breath and sat down on a wolf’s back, slowly recovering her strength.

Truly the strangest experience of her entire life… But getting to meet such an interesting group of “people” before reaching adulthood — that wasn’t so bad.

(End of Chapter)