Chapter 64: A Future Worth Looking Forward To

Chapter 64: A Future Worth Looking Forward To

Hu Li quickly drifted off to sleep.

Just moments earlier she had still been chatting with Yu Sheng, full of curiosity and anticipation. She had seemed so excited by the new environment that it looked as though she would have trouble falling asleep.

Yet in the blink of an eye, all Yu Sheng and Irene could hear was the steady, gentle sound of snoring coming from the bed.

Irene sat beside Hu Li’s bed, looking at the demon fox who had already entered dreamland.

“She really can fall asleep instantly... She’s already dreaming. Hmm, not bad. It’s a peaceful dream.”

“She probably hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in a very long time,” Yu Sheng said, unconsciously lowering his voice. “At first I was worried she wouldn’t be able to sleep here. The environment changed so suddenly, and the place she used to stay didn’t even have a bed.”

Irene stood up from the bedside and walked over to tuck the blanket around Hu Li more securely, speaking in a very professional tone as she did so.

“She probably feels that this place is very safe. She told me before that a fox’s instincts are incredibly accurate...”

Before the little doll could finish speaking, Hu Li rolled over in her sleep.

The next instant, Yu Sheng’s vision blurred.

The tails that the demon fox girl had retracted before going to bed suddenly burst out with a thump.

Bent over helping with the blanket, Irene cried out, “Mother of...” before being launched away by the barrage of incoming tails, doll and painting alike slapped directly against the wall.

“Holy shit!”

Yu Sheng immediately sprinted over and grabbed Irene as she slid down the wall.

The moment he picked her up, Miss Doll opened her mouth and unleashed a torrent of colorful language...

Yet Hu Li did not wake up.

The demon fox merely mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, rolled over into a more comfortable position, selected two tails from the pile to hug in her arms, and used the rest to replace the blanket she had just kicked away, wrapping herself up tightly.

Within two seconds, she had transformed into a fluffy fox ball.

“You damned tail monster! I was just trying to help and I #%&*@...” Irene hung from Yu Sheng’s arm while continuing her furious tirade. Then she suddenly turned to look at him. “I’m telling you right now, you don’t need to buy her a blanket tomorrow. She clearly doesn’t need one!”

Yu Sheng hurriedly carried the foul-mouthed doll out of the room.

Only after reaching the corridor outside did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and glance back helplessly.

“Alright, looks like we’ll need some time to adjust after all... Irene, are you okay?”

“Does having my self-esteem injured count as not okay?” The doll rolled her eyes dramatically and climbed up his arm onto his shoulder. “Hey, if I still had my original body, would I have suffered this kind of humiliation? You have no idea how powerful I used to be. I... Anyway, I was incredibly powerful!”

“Sure, sure. You were powerful. I believe you...”

Yu Sheng humored her while carrying Irene back to his room.

Yet the doll on his shoulder was unusually quiet and did not argue back over his perfunctory response.

Finding it strange, Yu Sheng looked up.

He saw Irene lowering her head slightly, apparently thinking about something very seriously.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about what you said regarding having Hu Li help you fight.” Irene sounded unusually serious. “It looks like you’ve already decided that from now on you’ll keep dealing with Other Domains, right? I’m not talking about getting dragged into incidents. I mean... you’re planning to go looking for trouble yourself?”

Yu Sheng did not answer immediately.

His silence was as good as an admission.

“Why?” Irene asked curiously. “You’ve already rescued Hu Li. You shouldn’t have any reason to actively seek out other trouble anymore. Sure, people who’ve had contact with Other Domains do tend to encounter things from the Other Side for the rest of their lives, but you could also choose to cooperate with the Special Operations Bureau and learn some systematic techniques for avoiding Other Domains. Plenty of people choose that path and live peaceful lives for many years... At least more peacefully than spirit detectives and investigators.”

After thinking for a moment, Yu Sheng looked at Irene with a half-joking expression.

“What if I said it’s because of curiosity? Other Domains are such strange phenomena that they’ve piqued my curiosity. I just want some excitement...”

The little doll immediately turned his hair into a complete mess.

“Are you serious? Are you serious?!”

“Stop, stop, stop! Quit pulling!” Yu Sheng quickly grabbed Irene’s hands while speaking at high speed. “A small part of that is serious.”

Irene stopped pulling his hair and stared at him.

“Curiosity really is part of the reason. I’m not joking.” Yu Sheng caught his breath, and his expression became solemn. “Do you remember that night when I brought you through one door after another? Do you remember the scenery behind those doors?”

“...I remember.”

“I remember too. Very clearly.” Sitting in his chair, Yu Sheng spoke slowly. “So many distant places. We even seriously discussed that glowing mountain peak... Irene, don’t you want to go see them? And that city floating in the sky, and those birds flying above the canyon...”

“And the Senior Brother hanging from the roof beam.”

“...Right, and the Senior Brother hanging from the roof beam.” Yu Sheng laughed and shook his head. “Irene, whether they’re some faraway place or some Other Domain, I was genuinely captivated by those sights. Tell me, after opening so many doors, and knowing that I can open them again at any time, after learning that such a vast world exists beyond Boundary City, do you really think I can just stay here in the Boundary Zone and live a ‘peaceful life’ like you suggested?”

At this point, Yu Sheng let out a soft breath.

“As long as I keep opening doors, I’ll inevitably keep dealing with those landscapes. And that door has already been opened.”

“That actually makes sense.” Irene hugged Yu Sheng’s head and thought about it seriously while smoothing down the hair she had just messed up. “If I were you, I’d be full of reckless ideas too. I’d probably be even more reckless than you.”

Then the little doll paused and asked:

“Then what’s the other reason?”

Yu Sheng did not answer immediately.

He merely narrowed his eyes slightly.

Scenes from memory surfaced in his mind.

Sunlight flowing through old alleyways.

A reddened sky.

Clouds glowing like water.

That small coastal town, not very large, yet familiar and dear to him.

“There’s a place I want to find,” Yu Sheng said softly.

He felt the small hands that had been fussing with his hair suddenly stop moving.

“Why do I feel...” Irene suddenly bent down and stared intently at Yu Sheng’s face with startling sharpness. “Like you’re planning to go somewhere and never come back?”

Yu Sheng opened his eyes and found those crimson pupils staring directly at him.

The doll’s gaze made him feel strangely guilty.

“...Uh, I just want to find that place and go take a look. I’ll come back.”

“Really?” Irene frowned suspiciously.

“Really.” Yu Sheng nodded.

Then he paused, seeming to genuinely think something through before repeating himself.

“Really.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re lying to me.” Irene tilted her head, apparently deciding to believe him for the time being. Soon afterward, however, she shook her head. “Forget it. Even if you wanted to lie to me, there isn’t much I could do about it. You’re the one who controls the doors... Anyway, enough of that. Since you’ve already decided to keep dealing with all those strange things in the future, have you figured out how to begin? Are you going to become a spirit detective? Take commissions that might involve Other Domains? Or become a lone investigator? Search remote corners for clues about Other Domains and distant worlds? Or perhaps... open a random door every day and jump through it to seek death?”

“We’re definitely not considering the last option.” Yu Sheng immediately waved his hand. “I’m not afraid of death, but I’m not reckless to that extent. If I provoke something I can’t beat and can’t escape from, then I’m truly finished...”

“Oh, good. At least you’re not completely insane.” Irene happily bobbed her head. “Then that means you’re becoming either a spirit detective or an investigator. The former mainly survives on commissions. The advantage is stable work, but it’s more restrictive. The latter mainly relies on toughness and recklessness. The advantage is freedom of action, but they frequently run into huge surprises...”

After some thought, Yu Sheng asked:

“What category does that Little Red Riding Hood belong to?”

“Definitely a spirit detective. She takes outsourced jobs from the Special Operations Bureau, and she’s only a student working part-time anyway.” Irene waved a hand. “But according to her, she belongs to an organization too. Something called Fairy Tale.”

Yu Sheng immediately became interested.

“An organization... Does something like that require registration?”

“...Probably?” Irene scratched her head. “Why are you asking me? I’ve forgotten everything. But it most likely does require registration. After all, with an official management department like the Special Operations Bureau around, if you gather a group of Other Domain specialists with professional skills and don’t register them, wouldn’t that become a highly motivated but illegal social organization?”

At that point, Miss Doll suddenly froze.

She looked at Yu Sheng with confusion.

“Wait, don’t tell me you’re planning to start an organization? Right now we’ve only got three people total, including the fox. And that fox doesn’t even have an ID card. Of course, neither do I. Come to think of it, you’re the only one in this house who technically counts as a person.”

“Seems that way.” Yu Sheng awkwardly rubbed his nose.

Only then did he belatedly realize something.

“Oh, right. Where am I supposed to get Hu Li an ID card?”

“Why not ask the next time someone from the Special Operations Bureau contacts you?” Irene began offering suggestions. “They probably wouldn’t mind helping with something this minor.”

“...Is that really the sort of thing their department handles?”

“Asking doesn’t cost money.”

“Fair enough.”

Yu Sheng scratched his head.

Then he suddenly noticed another problem.

“Wait a second, Irene. Are you planning to mooch off my room again tonight?!”

“Obviously! My room is creepy as hell!”

“You’re creepy as hell yourself. Go back to your own room!”

“No!”