Chapter 78: Exploring Again

Chapter 78: Exploring Again

A faint, ghostly glow flickered within the door leading to the Valley. Yu Sheng stepped across that “boundary,” and the next second, bright daylight filled his vision.

Yu Sheng narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distance, then looked up at the sky where scattered fragments of cloud drifted lazily.

After the gigantic eyeball that had covered the heavens departed, this Other Domain, once known as Nightfall Valley, had finally emerged from its eternal night. But Yu Sheng had not expected it to still be daytime here. In the real world, it was already night.

Could it be that this place had no day and night cycle at all? Now that the eternal darkness caused by the Dim Angel had ended, had it become a land of eternal daylight instead?

Various speculations surfaced in Yu Sheng’s mind, but at the same time he maintained absolute vigilance, cautiously observing his surroundings.

The location where he had chosen to open the door was still near the ruined temple.

Everywhere he looked, the devastation caused when the entity Hunger had gone out of control remained. The temple, already little more than ruins before, had now been reduced to a field of shattered bricks and broken tiles. Not a single standing wall remained. The wasteland surrounding it looked as though it had been repeatedly plowed over. Massive trenches stretched from the ruins all the way to the edge of sight. The woodland that once stood here had become nothing but withered remnants. Piles of rubble lay heaped at the far end of the valley. The nearby mountainsides had been stripped clean, exposing bare earth beneath.

But aside from that...

There was no sign of danger whatsoever.

Frowning, Yu Sheng carefully crossed trench after trench until he arrived at an open area littered with broken bricks and tiles.

He remembered this place.

This was where he had begun the feast.

The first entity Hunger affected by him had opened its enormous maw here and begun devouring the other entities.

Now every trace of those entities had vanished. Even the bloodstains seemed to have evaporated completely.

The valley was utterly silent. Only an occasional breeze drifted up from the valley floor. Yet it was no longer as cold as before, nor did it carry that nauseating stench of decay.

Compared to the sinister land shrouded in darkness that it had once been, the valley now strangely possessed a sense of... peaceful purity.

If one ignored all the trenches.

Standing amid the ruins, Yu Sheng stared blankly at this quiet little world.

Was this what the Director wanted him to see?

Or perhaps... she did not know the valley’s current condition either, and had wanted him to come verify it?

At that moment, Irene’s voice suddenly echoed from the depths of his mind, interrupting his thoughts.

“Hey! Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng, come in! Are you dead? Are you dead yet?”

“I hear you, I hear you,” Yu Sheng replied immediately, frowning. “Could you at least say something nicer? What do you mean, dead yet...”

“Please. Haven’t you dropped dead outside often enough? You stepped through the door and then went completely silent. I thought the newly regenerated Hunger had killed you again...”

The doll spoke with complete confidence and an infuriatingly punchable tone. Yu Sheng could practically picture the tiny thing standing on the table with her hands on her hips and a smug expression.

But he had no interest in arguing with Irene right now.

“There are no entities,” he said calmly.

The doll on the other end seemed stunned for two full seconds.

“...Huh?”

“I haven’t seen a single entity so far. The valley is extremely peaceful, and I can’t sense the pervasive malice and hunger that used to be everywhere,” Yu Sheng said while walking out of the temple ruins. He bent down and grabbed a handful of soil. “The rotten smell in the earth and the air... has disappeared too.”

“Try going farther out.”

“I am going farther out,” Yu Sheng replied as he walked. “Could it be that not enough time has passed and Hunger hasn’t regenerated yet? I did make quite a mess last time...”

Before he could finish, Irene interrupted with a loud outburst.

“Impossible! Do you know how much time has passed? Entity regeneration is measured in hours. Some can regenerate in just a few dozen minutes! We’ve been gone for more than twenty-four hours. If Hunger could reproduce, there’d be five generations living under one roof by now!”

Yu Sheng sat down on a large rock at the edge of the ruins and casually looked into the distance.

“But there really is nothing here right now. And honestly... I even think the air smells pretty good, and the scenery is a lot easier on the eyes.”

“Huh?”

Ignoring Irene’s surprise, Yu Sheng lightly pressed his foot into the soft earth beside the rock.

He felt that subtle connection.

After returning here, the connection had strengthened once more.

It was not as intense as before, when the connection had reached its peak and directly produced a perspective that used the valley itself as a vessel. Yet he could still clearly sense many things around him.

The hard stone.

The gentle wind.

The soil beneath his feet.

The hidden pool at the foot of the mountain deep within the valley.

And...

Yu Sheng suddenly froze and turned his head.

A tender green shoot had just emerged from the soil beside him. Like a tiny newborn creature seeing daylight for the first time, it trembled uneasily in the breeze.

Tenacious life.

Yu Sheng stared at the sprout in astonishment.

For some reason, seeing it break through the earth made his own heartbeat quicken slightly. A strange emotion leaped within him. Perhaps it was because of his connection to the valley. Or perhaps it came from something more deeply emotional.

Without thinking, he reached a hand toward the patch of earth.

The soil immediately began to writhe.

Deep trenches started closing.

Tiny green shoots burst through the ground.

Life was growing.

Like rebirth after death.

Yu Sheng stared blankly at the scene before him and finally blurted out:

“Holy shit?!”

Irene immediately erupted.

“Ah? What? What what? Why are you yelling all of a sudden? Are you hurt?!”

Yu Sheng sprang to his feet and pulled open the illusory door.

“It’s hard to explain. You and Hu Li had better come take a look!”

The next second, he stepped back into the living room and found himself staring eye to eye with Irene, who was standing on a chair.

“Hu Li’s still washing dishes,” Irene said after a moment of confusion, pointing toward the kitchen. “Should I call her now?”

Yu Sheng nodded.

But just as he was about to speak, he felt a rapid series of vibrations from his pocket.

Pulling out his phone, he saw several missed calls appearing on the screen.

Two were from Li Lin.

Two were from Xu Jiali.

Several more were from the same unfamiliar number.

Yu Sheng’s expression immediately became a little complicated. As he wondered which call to return first, the unfamiliar number called again.

He answered before the ringtone could even start.

A somewhat familiar female voice came through the receiver.

“It’s me, Baili Qing.”

The corner of Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched.

As expected.

Out loud, however, he could not hide his embarrassment.

“Ahem. I... went out for a bit just now. Was I supposed to let you know first?”

“It’s fine. As long as we’ve confirmed that the disturbance was caused by you opening a door,” Baili Qing replied in her characteristically cool voice. No emotion could be discerned from her tone. “We’ll try to record more sample parameters so we can identify your unique signature when future alarms occur.”

Her calm, nonchalant attitude somehow made Yu Sheng feel even more awkward.

He had no idea whether this was simply the Director’s usual style.

“Ahem. Sorry for causing trouble...”

Baili Qing seemed not to care what he was saying.

“Are you going out again?”

“...Probably,” Yu Sheng replied. Then he remembered something and quickly added, “I’m investigating the situation in Nightfall Valley.”

He was certain he heard a faint intake of breath.

As expected, Baili Qing’s tone immediately changed.

“You got inside successfully? It still exists?”

Yu Sheng instantly noticed a particular word she had used.

Exists.

Apparently Baili Qing had believed that Nightfall Valley no longer existed.

Why would she think that?

Thoughts flashed through his mind as he answered.

“Of course it exists. But I only went in for a quick look. I still don’t know exactly what’s going on inside. I’m preparing to bring some extra personnel and make another trip.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the little doll sitting on the chair.

That was his “extra personnel.”

The other one was washing dishes in the kitchen.

Baili Qing did not pursue the matter further.

After a brief silence, she simply said, “Very well. If you need support from the Special Operations Bureau, contact me directly. This number is always available.”

The call ended.

A brief series of beeps came from the receiver.

“That was the Director from the Special Operations Bureau,” Yu Sheng said to Irene. “Nothing major.”

Then he headed into the kitchen to fetch Hu Li.

The moment he pushed open the door, he saw the demon fox girl drying dishes with her tail.

And secretly eating the sesame paste that had been stored in the cupboard.

For a moment, he genuinely did not know which thing to complain about first.

“Ah, Benefactor...”

The fox girl’s ears twitched atop her head.

Hearing the door open, she immediately turned around in a panic.

“I... it smelled so good that I couldn’t resist. I’m sorry.”

Yu Sheng looked at Hu Li, and at the sesame paste covering her mouth, with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

“Get yourself cleaned up first. You’re coming out with me.”