Chapter 56: Going Home

Huli firmly told everyone that she had buried her mother and father deep beneath the soil of this forest. Even though the ground was now pockmarked with craters and gullies of all sizes everywhere, the exact spot where she had buried them must still be there.

Now, she began to dig.

With the strength of a fox spirit, and unaffected by hunger, she dug at a rapid pace even with her bare hands.

Soft soil was constantly tossed out of the pit. Yu Sheng and Eileen stood nearby, watching the scene quietly, while not far away stood the trio led by Li Lin, who did not yet fully understand the situation but had vaguely pieced some things together.

Eileen sat on Yu Sheng's shoulder, watching Huli dig down below, and finally couldn't help speaking up again: "Well... why don't we look for it another time? It's been quite a while now, and who knows when the hunger entity might pop up again? If it does, we'll have to fight it all over again..."

"It won't. I can feel it... when it appears. I've been here for many years," Huli looked up from the large pit. "It's not in this pit. It should be... right next to it."

With that, the fox-spirit girl climbed out of the large pit, judged the direction in the middle of the wasteland, and soon arrived at a nearby patch of ground to continue digging with all her might.

Eileen opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something more, but Yu Sheng gently patted her arm.

"Stop talking, let her dig. If she doesn't find it, even if she leaves this place, she will be trapped here forever."

Eileen bit her lip, but her voice echoed directly in Yu Sheng's mind: "I'm not afraid she'll dig something up; I'm afraid she won't find anything at all in the end."

"I know," Yu Sheng replied in his mind as well.

"Then you..."

"But I believe she will find it."

Eileen fell silent for a moment: "You've seen her previous mental state. When the influence of 'hunger' was at its worst, she could barely think coherently, and considering what we saw deep inside that dream..."

Yu Sheng merely shook his head.

Then he stepped forward, approaching Huli: "Do you need my help?"

Huli dug downwards rapidly while stubbornly shaking her head: "No, I will dig... by myself. It's right here, I saw... the cloth strips we buried before, just a little... further down."

Yu Sheng nodded and stepped back two paces: "Alright, then I'll wait for you over here."

He then retreated to the side with Eileen, to a spot where the bottom of the pit could no longer be seen, and quietly waited for the fox-spirit girl to finish what she had set out to do.

Yu Sheng had no idea how long he had waited—he stood by quietly and patiently, yet gradually felt as though every passing second was as long as a year. He couldn't help wanting to check the situation in the pit, but felt as if his legs had slowly grown into the ground beneath him. He didn't know if Eileen on his shoulder was experiencing the same sensation, but he could sense that the little doll's body had been somewhat tense ever since a moment ago.

"Once we get back, I'll fix your body first," Yu Sheng broke the silence, trying to distract Eileen.

"Good, sounds good," the doll replied absentmindedly.

"But we might not have enough clay at home. I guess we'll have to use some flour or something. Do you mind?"

"I don't mind."

"What about two sections of lotus root?"

"I don't mind."

"Are you sure? I said two sections of lotus root."

"I don't mi... wait, I do mind!"

Eileen snapped back to reality, glaring fiercely (or so she thought) at Yu Sheng.

Right at that moment, she suddenly noticed that the sound of digging at the bottom of the pit had stopped.

It grew very quiet down there. No more soil was being tossed up, and Huli's movements could no longer be heard.

Eileen froze for a moment, then exchanged a look with Yu Sheng: "Oh no! It couldn't be empty down there, could it?!"

Without a word, Yu Sheng broke into a run toward the large pit.

He saw Huli.

The fox-spirit girl was curled up quietly at the bottom of the pit—her body was hunched over, holding two fluffy tails in her arms, while her remaining tails wrapped around her like a quilt.

And beside her lay two neat skeletons.

She had curled up into a ball right between the two sets of remains, her body rising and falling slightly, like a young cub sleeping next to its mother.

Yu Sheng let out a breath and sat down among the gravel debris beside the large pit.

Eileen also let out a breath, resting flat on top of Yu Sheng's head.

After a few minutes, the fox curled at the bottom of the pit slowly climbed up. She looked at the two sets of remains beside her, then looked up at Yu Sheng sitting above, a faint smile slowly appearing on her face.

Yu Sheng looked at Huli: "Ready to go?"

"Mhm, let's go."

The fox spirit nodded, then bent down, carefully snapping off a sharp, non-human canine tooth from each of the two skeletons before standing up and walking over.

Yu Sheng reached his hand down into the deep pit, grasped Huli's arm, and pulled her out.

"Is taking just those enough?" Eileen watched curiously as Huli tightly clutched the two canine teeth in her hand. "What about the rest..."

Huli shook her head: "Just taking the teeth is enough. Mom and Dad said, the fox's rule... when the teeth go home, it means you've gone home."

"That works," Yu Sheng nodded. Then he raised his hand, preparing to open the door to the waking world. But just as he was about to open it, Huli seemed to remember something, reaching out to tug at his sleeve: "Benefactor, wait, there's more..."

Before she could finish, Yu Sheng realized what she meant and slapped his forehead: "Ah, right, there is one thing I almost forgot. You guys wait for me for a second."

With that, he pulled open another door and slipped right through it, leaving the trio not far away staring in utter astonishment.

He wasn't gone long. Just a dozen seconds later, another door materialized out of thin air in the exact same spot. Yu Sheng emerged carrying Eileen, holding a somewhat worn plastic bag in his hand.

Inside were the food items that had been left behind in the ruins of the ruined temple earlier.

"Some of it was ruined by those monsters, but I brought back everything with intact packaging."

A much brighter smile finally bloomed on Huli's face. She immediately reached out to take the plastic bag, then meticulously counted the items inside, only relaxing after verifying them twice.

"Alright, now nothing is left behind. Let's go home," Yu Sheng smiled as well, then reached out toward the empty air beside him and gave a casual pull. A door leading to No. 66 Wutong Road materialized and opened out of nowhere—in the center of the flickering phantom was the familiar living room. "You three, hurry up and come over here too, let's go back together."

"Oh... oh right!" Li Lin hurriedly acknowledged, walking over swiftly alongside Little Red Riding Hood. Xu Jiali, following behind them, couldn't help wearing a rather peculiar expression as she glanced at the door Yu Sheng had opened. For a moment, she seemed lost in thought, hesitation flickering in her eyes, but in the end, she hurried forward to catch up.

Passing through the door, the chilly wind of the Hunger Valley was blocked off on the other side. The familiar scent of home carried a reassuring atmosphere, causing Yu Sheng to take several deep breaths of relief the moment he returned.

Before he knew it, he had truly started to feel that this place was like a home.

Huli widened her eyes, staring in amazement at this place that looked strange in every possible way.

She had lived in that desolate valley for far too many years, to the point where she was no longer accustomed to such "houses." The intact, enclosed roof and the bright lights made her feel somewhat out of place.

After staring in a daze for several seconds, she set down the bag of food she was carrying, then sat down directly on the floor nearby, carefully guarding those instant noodles, biscuits, and congee, while occasionally casting curious glances at her surroundings or checking on Yu Sheng's position.

Li Lin, Xu Jiali, and Little Red Riding Hood were likewise cautiously observing the place. Through the street-facing window of the living room, they had immediately confirmed that this was somewhere deep within Wutong Road in the old district. However, judging by the perspective looking out the window...

Even as a professional Special Operations Bureau agent, Li Lin could not determine which building on Wutong Road this was.

At the same time, their spiritual intuition kept twitching slightly in the depths of their minds, continually reminding them—this was not the truly stable waking world, but still some form of anomalous space with a depth greater than zero.

The three exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of contemplation and solemnity in the others' eyes.

This place wasn't quite right.

Yet they couldn't blatantly take out the depth-measuring instrument to gauge the environment—this person named "Yu Sheng" seemed quite friendly, but the bizarre and wicked methods he used to eliminate the hunger entity earlier, along with his uncanny ability to open doors between different realms and reality at will, all pointed to one conclusion: this person was powerful and dangerous.

Provoking such a mysterious and dangerous figure was not a smart move. Should they truly anger this seemingly friendly "human," none of the three would likely leave this place alive.

"Is this... your home?" After a long hesitation, Li Lin was the first to break the silence.

"Yeah," Yu Sheng nodded. "You guys find a place to sit first, I'll go get you a few bottles of water—things were unexpected today, I didn't prepare anything for guests, don't mind it."

"Ah, no trouble at all," Li Lin hurriedly waved his hand. The friendlier and more ordinary Yu Sheng acted right now, the more uneasy Li Lin felt—after all, the scene of the hunger entities devouring each other across the entire valley was truly unforgettable. "We'll be leaving soon, leaving soon..."

He paused, then casually brought up: "By the way, what is this place? Is this still Boundary City?"

"Of course it is," Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly. "Just look outside and you'll recognize it, Wutong Road—didn't you guys specifically stake me out right here?"

Cold sweat broke out on Li Lin's forehead: "This... please don't mind it, we didn't have the full picture at the time..."

"No big deal," Yu Sheng waved a hand, genuinely unbothered by it. "Actually, I've been wanting to find you guys, just couldn't find where you were."

Li Lin and Xu Jiali froze simultaneously, speaking in unison: "Huh?"

"Were you looking for them?" Little Red Riding Hood reacted immediately, pointing at Xu Jiali and Li Lin. "I'm just a part-timer on holiday..."

"No, I was looking for all of you," Yu Sheng's expression turned serious. "Professionals like you."