Chapter 155: A Land of Nowhere?
Now, Bai Li Qing had come to understand the alluring pull behind Yu Sheng’s so-called “let’s give it a try.”
The Female Bureau Chief, known for her composure and rationality, after just a few seconds of deliberation, had no choice but to accept Yu Sheng’s not-even-a-plan of a “plan” — for there were no other options to follow.
“Let us hope things go as you ‘planned,'” Bai Li Qing shifted slightly in her seat, relaxing just a touch as she looked at the “person” before her. “Even if it doesn’t truly eliminate that Otherworld, perhaps it could at least stabilize it, like most of the Otherworlds within Boundary City… ‘Fairy Tale’ has already wrought enough destruction across the Borderland.”
Her gaze then turned to Foxy.
“That settles the matter of ‘Fairy Tale’ for now. Next… I want to talk about her.”
Yu Sheng immediately thought of the hair samples he had passed on to Song Cheng. His expression sharpened. “Did you find something? Did you locate Miss Foxy’s homeland?”
The Demon Fox Maiden, who had until now kept quiet, perked her ears and leaned forward instinctively.
“No, we did not,” Bai Li Qing poured cold water on their hopes with a straightforward shake of her head. “We conducted thorough investigations across nearly all known races and factions with ties to the Borderland. But none matched her descriptions. Biological sample comparisons yielded nothing either. I’m sorry, but that’s the bad news I bring.”
The room fell into a momentary silence. Yu Sheng’s brow furrowed, and he turned toward his companion.
Miss Foxy’s ears visibly drooped.
Clearly, despite her usual nonchalance about her forgotten homeland, the bad news still struck her hard. She had always claimed to not care, to not even remember it well, but now… she was dejected.
Yu Sheng reached over and placed his hand atop hers. She turned her palm over and clutched his fingers tightly with both hands.
“I’m guessing that’s not all you came to tell us?” Yu Sheng let the Demon Fox Maiden cling to his fingers and looked Bai Li Qing in the eyes.
“…There are some other issues,” Bai Li Qing replied calmly. “Miss Foxy, can you describe your homeland again? Especially… what you called the land beneath your feet, and the celestial bodies in the sky — their names, stories, legends.”
“She might not remember much,” Yu Sheng warned. “She hadn’t even finished primary school when the incident occurred, and there was a long period of mental haze afterward.”
“I understand,” Bai Li Qing nodded. “Just tell us whatever you can recall.”
Miss Foxy looked at Yu Sheng, who gave a slight nod. She took a moment to organize her thoughts and began to recount the homeland she remembered.
Much of what she said was familiar to Yu Sheng, things he had already relayed through Li Lin and Xu Jiali to the Special Affairs Bureau. Bai Li Qing, too, was likely aware of them.
Yet the Female Bureau Chief listened intently, clearly trying to extract more concrete references and details.
“…We called our world ‘Hengyu.’ Before the age of stars, it was known as ‘Yuheng Thirteen Continents,’ or just ‘Thirteen Continents,’ because there were thirteen landmasses. Two of those had broken off during the ancient ‘Heaven and Earth Upheaval’ and floated above the equator. Monsters known as ‘Nightmares’ once lived there. Our textbooks said they were ancient creatures hurled skyward during the upheaval, mutating over generations until they began attacking the mortal world…
“The Immortals said that the Nightmares descended many times in history to harm people. Some Monks who fought them were recorded in historical texts.
“After the age of stars began, those floating lands were converted into Celestial Shuttle launch bases. Most of the Nightmares were driven to extinction. The few survivors became endangered species, sealed in the ‘Demon Locking Palace’ and ‘Evil Suppression Palace’ on Hengyu’s synchronous orbit. There’s even an entry fee to visit them now.
“When the Sky People came, they built something near Hengyu called the ‘Starpath Beacon.’ We visited it on a school trip. It’s a massive cluster of light, surrounded by palaces larger than the Evil Suppression Palace. The Immortals said the beacon keeps Hengyu aligned with the Sky People’s ‘Stellar River.’ Without it, Hengyu would drift off-course and fall into the cosmic void…
“The Starpath Beacon was the brightest thing in our skies — aside from the sun, of course. The sun was also moved into place by the Sky People…”
As Miss Foxy recalled more and shared her tale, new details emerged. Perhaps she had only recently remembered them, but they were as disordered as ever. Even Yu Sheng, with his vivid imagination, had to strain to follow along.
Irene, on the other hand, gave up halfway.
Seeing that Yu Sheng and Bai Li Qing were still listening so seriously, she poked Yu Sheng’s arm and whispered, “Hey, can you actually make sense of that? Is that silly fox even speaking human language?”
“I’m just pretending I understand,” Yu Sheng replied, brushing away the little doll’s hand. “And now you’ve thrown off my groove.”
As Miss Foxy’s account finally came to an end, Bai Li Qing blinked, the shock she’d just absorbed flickering subtly across her face. The Madam Director stood frozen for a good six or seven seconds before her brow furrowed, and she asked slowly, “Did you just say… your Homeworld, ‘Hengyu’, must keep pace with the ‘Galaxy’ of the Celestials? And if it falls behind, it’ll end up stranded in the vacuum of the cosmos… Forgive me if I’m misunderstanding this, but are you implying that your Homeworld is currently in some kind of navigational motion?”
Miss Foxy nodded matter-of-factly. “Exactly.”
“Even your sun is ‘navigating’? Not simply following the natural cosmic drift but traveling in a controlled, deliberate trajectory?”
“Right.”
Bai Li Qing fell silent, her head tilting slightly downward, lost in contemplation.
To anyone familiar with her, this rare moment of blank daze from the Madam Director would have been immediately noticeable—she was momentarily empty-headed.
After a long pause, she suddenly lifted her head again. “Do you remember the specific events when you crashed into the Night Valley? What exactly happened, and what did you see or hear at the time?”
She hesitated a moment, then added gently, “I know these memories may be painful, but this information is truly vital.”
“Actually… it’s okay. It’s been a long time, after all,” Miss Foxy said, tilting her head in thought. She then continued uncertainly, “I was quite young at the time, and the adults shielded me from most of it… I just remember one of the Immortals shouting something like ‘We’ve hit a rift!’ Then the Celestial Shuttle began to spin, alarms were blaring, and…”
She paused, digging deeper into her memory, and then continued, “Right, I remember overhearing the grown-ups say something about crashing into a ‘danger zone’ unknowingly. They mentioned hearing recent travel warnings, and that our navigation should’ve been serviced ages ago. Apparently, the Celestial Shuttle’s navigation malfunctioned and we drifted off into a hazardous direction—then collided with a rift.”
Scratching her head, she added, “That’s all I can recall… The rest is a blank.”
Bai Li Qing fell silent once more, her thoughts churning.
Neither Yu Sheng nor Irene spoke. Instead, they exchanged curious glances at the Madam Director’s demeanor. From her line of questioning, Yu Sheng had a keen intuition that she was circling around a very specific theory. Her focus was too pointed to be random.
Eventually, Bai Li Qing broke the silence again. “That crashed Celestial Shuttle you mentioned—is it still lying in that Valley?”
“Yep,” Miss Foxy nodded. “Halfway up the mountain, wedged in a mountain hollow. Half-buried in dirt and stone. Then when Benefactor stepped in, he plowed the whole mountain over again, so the wreckage probably sank even deeper—but that thing’s sturdy, it won’t be crushed.”
“Mm, the main frame’s intact,” Yu Sheng interjected. “I checked it out from a distance once. The terrain there is rough though. When the ‘Hunger’ began devouring itself, the whole area collapsed badly. I never had a chance to clear it up properly, so I haven’t fully investigated.”
As he said this, a realization struck him. He turned to meet Bai Li Qing’s gaze. “You’re thinking…”
“Remember what I told you before? If the opportunity arose, the Special Affairs Bureau hoped to investigate Night Valley,” she said seriously. “Now I’m formally requesting that chance. And, if possible, we’d like to examine the so-called ‘Celestial Shuttle’.”
Yu Sheng didn’t reply immediately. Bai Li Qing, after a short pause, pressed on. “Of course, I understand that Valley is under your control now. In a way, it’s your territory. We’re prepared to offer a proper ‘price’—whatever reasonable terms you name.”
Yu Sheng deliberated carefully.
He glanced at the quietly seated Miss Foxy beside him.
He glanced at Bai Li Qing’s eyes, which shimmered faintly with anticipation.
He glanced at Irene… who was currently off in a mental fog—okay, she didn’t count.
He exhaled slowly.
“Well, I do have a few small favors I need help with,” he admitted. “But first, I need to confirm something—does your Special Affairs Bureau… have anyone who knows how to farm and raise livestock?”
Bai Li Qing: “…Huh?”