Chapter 46: The Door Opened Too Wide

Chapter 46: The Door Opened Too Wide

Irene’s immediate decision to turn and run actually caught Yu Sheng by surprise. And when the little doll got those short little legs moving, she really was quite fast.

Unfortunately, she was only 66.6 centimeters tall in total.

A doll barely over sixty centimeters tall could only run so fast no matter how quickly her tiny legs blurred. Before she even reached the door, the picture frame on her back became hooked on a nearby chair leg.

She had originally intended to crawl underneath the chair, but forgot that she was carrying something on her back.

Yu Sheng strolled over leisurely and grabbed Irene, who was still kicking furiously in midair.

“You really hold a grudge!” Irene flailed her arms wildly, punching and kicking at empty air. “Besides, I was trying to wake you up! Fine, I admit the method was a little too creative, but didn’t you wake up in the end? Hey, put me do...”

“I never said I was going to do anything,” Yu Sheng interrupted with a smile. He casually set the little doll back on the floor. “I just wanted to tell you not to bite so hard next time. Even with my recovery ability, it still hurts after all this time. That definitely feels a little like revenge. Though it’d be even better if you didn’t bite at all.”

Irene froze for a moment, clearly surprised.

“Ah? You’re not angry?”

“Obviously not. I’m not that ungrateful.” Yu Sheng curled his lip and turned toward the door. “Go make your preparations. It’s time for us to head to that Valley.”

Standing on the floor, Irene remained dazed for a moment. Only after Yu Sheng had already walked away did she hurriedly scramble after him.

“You remembered all the characteristics over there?”

“Perfectly.”

“I’m starting to think this place is actually pretty peaceful,” Xu Jiali remarked while sitting behind a window, eating the jianbing guozi Li Lin had bought that morning and watching the street outside. “It’s nice. Much more comfortable than the Lawless Star Zone. There aren’t any Angel Cultists on the streets either.”

“Compared to the combat intensity you deal with during field operations, of course this place feels peaceful,” Li Lin replied from beside her, sipping hot soybean milk from a cup. “Just treat it as half a vacation. Our task is only surveillance. If something truly serious appears, headquarters will naturally send reinforcements.”

“But Little Red Riding Hood always seems nervous,” Xu Jiali said, glancing outside. “She’s still just a kid, yet she’s wound up tighter than a stretched spring. I was the same way when I first came out of the Platform.”

Not far outside, on the rooftop of a nearby building, the girl in the dark red coat was concealed in a corner while watching the street below. A sausage hung from her mouth, and the phantom forms of a wolf pack appeared and vanished beside her in the air.

Perhaps sensing the gaze directed at her, Little Red Riding Hood vigilantly looked toward the window where Li Lin and Xu Jiali sat. After confirming that nothing was wrong, she nodded slightly, glanced at the street again, then pulled several notebooks and writing materials from the backpack beside her and lowered her head to work on her homework.

The wolf pack continued monitoring the street in her place.

Looking at the dark red figure on the rooftop, Li Lin could not help muttering, “I’ve heard the name Fairy Tale plenty of times, but she’s the only member I’ve ever seen in person. She doesn’t even look like an adult yet. They’re really sending someone that young to do dangerous work like this?”

“More than half the members of Fairy Tale are around her age, and most of them come from the same place,” Xu Jiali sighed. “They’re all unfortunate children.”

Li Lin immediately looked shocked.

“All of them? Why...”

“Because children are more likely to become trapped in Fairy Tale, while adult members usually have a hard time surviving inside it.” Xu Jiali waved her hand dismissively. “If you’re really interested, go look through the archives yourself later. Just don’t ask her about it directly.”

Li Lin sensed something from his colleague’s attitude.

He let out a thoughtful “oh” and turned his attention back to the peaceful old streets outside.

“Looks like nothing will happen today either.”

He let out a small breath and continued drinking his soybean milk.

“I didn’t eat enough,” Xu Jiali said. “Where’s your instant noodles? I’m taking a packet.”

“Under the bed in the inner room. Boil your own water. The kettle’s in the kitchen. The water dispenser in the living room is broken and doesn’t produce hot water. Oh, and make one for me too.”

Yu Sheng looked skeptically at Irene standing by the entrance.

“This is your preparation?”

Irene stood on the shoe-changing stool beside the foyer, trying hard to puff out her chest and appear more formidable. In her hands was a kitchen cleaver taken from the kitchen.

The cleaver was large, and its handle was not suited to the little doll’s hands. She had to grip it with both hands just to hold it steady.

“I’m just being prepared for every possibility. Having a self-defense weapon makes me feel more secure. If a fight starts, just watch my super-powerful magical abilities.”

Hearing the doll boast so confidently, Yu Sheng’s expression twitched.

“You’d be better off taking a fruit knife. At least it’d be easier for you to hold.”

“A fruit knife doesn’t have enough presence.”

“With your height, even carrying a dragon-slaying sword wouldn’t give you any presence!” Yu Sheng said helplessly. “Listen, don’t break that thing after we get over there. I actually like that knife. It’s great for cutting meat.”

“Enough already, stop nagging,” Irene said, rolling her eyes impatiently while holding the cleaver in both hands. “Just open the door already. We should at least see what’s on the other side first.”

Seeing this, Yu Sheng said no more.

He turned and grasped the front door’s handle.

At the same time, he checked the pile of items stacked beside his feet.

It was the food intended for Hu Li.

When he had entered an Other Domain previously, the items he carried and even the garbage bag in his hand had passed through the door with him. This time, however, he intended to bring much more.

Besides a large quantity of food, there was also Irene.

With so much additional “cargo,” he honestly was not certain whether it would work.

Of course he had performed tests.

But those had only involved opening doors over short distances inside his apartment.

Traveling into an Other Domain was completely different from moving a short distance within the real world.

So he could only prepare as thoroughly as possible.

If it failed, he would simply treat this attempt as another test.

Yu Sheng wore an especially oversized coat. The pockets inside and outside were stuffed full of compressed biscuits, bread, and several cans of eight-treasure porridge.

When he opened the door shortly, he would try to hold it open as much as possible, send the supplies through first, and then pass through the passage together with Irene.

To accomplish that, he needed to open the door as wide as possible.

He still did not understand the principles behind the process and could only rely on instinct.

Yu Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly and recalled the characteristics of the Valley that he had recorded through Hu Li’s perceptions.

He recalled the cold night wind, the stench of decay, and the marrow-gnawing hunger permeating the entire Other Domain.

Most importantly, he recalled the “aura” required by spiritual guidance.

All of it became the “frequency” of opening the door, becoming the landscape he imagined on the other side.

Next, he focused all of his attention on opening this door.

He wanted a door large enough.

Stable enough.

Large enough to bring Irene through.

Large enough to bring all the supplies through.

Accurate enough to arrive beside Hu Li.

The handle turned slightly.

A chill flowed through the slowly opening crack in the door and into the foyer.

A passage far larger than any he had previously created came into existence.

As for exactly how large it was?

Large enough that Director Baili Qing of the Special Operations Bureau and every operations squad leader would have let out piercing screams in their offices.

Hummmm...

A strange, low vibration suddenly echoed throughout the entire Wutong Road district.

Yet the sound existed far beyond the limits of ordinary human hearing.

Only those who had undergone training and possessed extraordinary sensitivity to the powers of “the other world” could perceive the continuous tremors it produced deep within their spiritual nature.

Xu Jiali was carrying two bowls of instant noodles out of the kitchen when she immediately sensed something.

Startled, she looked out the window.

The daylight outside was rapidly dimming.

It was as though a heavy curtain were gradually descending over the entire Boundary City.

Beneath that curtain, every building outside the window was slowly becoming transparent and fading away.

At the same time, a vague and hazy landscape resembling a valley was “growing” out of the original streets.

Little Red Riding Hood, who had been busy finishing her homework on the rooftop, suddenly looked up as well.

The wolf pack emitted uneasy whimpers from the shadows.

A cold wind arose from nowhere, flipping through her mathematics workbook.

Li Lin, who had been praising the peace and quiet of the streets only moments earlier, shot to his feet.

“Holy shit! Something’s happening outside!!”

Carrying the bowls of noodles, Xu Jiali rushed over behind him in just a few strides.

Then she immediately realized something.

“No! The problem isn’t outside!”

Li Lin spun around.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re observing the change. We’re being pulled into an Other Domain!” As an experienced Deep Diver, Xu Jiali instantly judged the situation. She immediately shoved the bowls of noodles into Li Lin’s hands and sprinted toward her equipment case, pulling out a beam dagger and protective gear. “Contact headquarters, while the signal still hasn’t...”

Yet the descent into the Other Domain happened even faster than Xu Jiali had imagined.

Some kind of pulling force far beyond her experience instantly dragged both her and Li Lin’s perceptions beyond the boundaries of common sense and reason.

Her vision blurred.

She barely managed to grab her equipment before hearing hollow winds howling around her.

Everything before her changed.

The rented apartment vanished like a dream.

In its place appeared a valley shrouded in night.

Li Lin only had time to see the phone screen on the table suddenly light up.

The Director’s number flashed across it for an instant.

Then all that remained before him were black rocks and black forests.

The two Special Operations Bureau agents raised their heads in confusion.

After exchanging glances, they heard a wolf’s low growl nearby.

Turning around, they saw the girl in the dark red coat standing beside them with a serious expression.

“We’ve fallen into an Other Domain,” Xu Jiali said after a brief silence.

Little Red Riding Hood nodded gently.

“I know. Judging from its scale and characteristics, it should be a Wilderness-type.”

Li Lin looked at Xu Jiali, then at the girl in red.

He felt he ought to contribute something to the conversation.

Looking down, he raised a hand.

“Want some instant noodles?”