Chapter 142: When Tomorrow Suddenly Becomes Worth Looking Forward To
Yu Sheng didn’t waste words. Once he received Little Red Riding Hood’s confirmation, he simply pulled open a Phantom Door in the hallway—right in front of the Long Haired Princess and Xiao Xiao. Naturally, he also hit the emergency report button with a flick of the wrist.
The Phantom Door, faintly glowing and insubstantial, appeared out of thin air. Beyond its frame was a world none of them recognized.
“Waaah…” the Long Haired Princess’s eyes went wide with astonishment as she stared at the spectacle before her. “What… is that?”
While keeping the Phantom Door stable, Yu Sheng replied casually, “It’s my ability. Didn’t Little Red Riding Hood tell you?”
“She mentioned it briefly, but I didn’t think it would look like this,” the Long Haired Princess murmured, her face still painted with shock. Her eyes were filled with growing curiosity as she peered beyond the Door. “What’s on the other side?”
“Curious? You can come along.” Yu Sheng smiled, offering the invitation freely, then turned to Xiao Xiao. “Wanna check it out? You won’t find a place that open in Boundary City.”
Xiao Xiao looked up at her Guardian with cautious, questioning eyes.
Little Red Riding Hood’s heart was brimming with uncertainty. For some reason, the view beyond the Door seemed vaguely familiar, but the angle made her hesitate. Still, seeing the amused glint in Yu Sheng’s eyes reassured her—this place was safe. After a brief pause, she nodded to the Long Haired Princess. “Let’s go together. Since Yu Sheng says it’s fine, it won’t be dangerous.”
“Uh… okay! I’ll go tell the others real quick—I’ll be right back!”
The Long Haired Princess turned and sprinted off down the corridor. A few minutes later, she came barreling back—now with a small backpack in hand. “I’m back! We can go now!”
Yu Sheng glanced at the bag, puzzled. “Uh… what’s that?”
“Water bottle, tissues, snacks, band-aids—every kid needs these when stepping out,” the Long Haired Princess explained as she strapped the little pack onto Xiao Xiao’s back. “Oh, right! I forgot the yellow sunhat—wait for me, I’ll grab it—”
“We’re not going on a picnic,” Yu Sheng said, laughing in exasperation. “There aren’t any cars or traffic crossings where we’re going. And if anything comes up, I can open a Door back anytime.”
“Huh? Oh, oh, right,” she said sheepishly, finally realizing she’d gone overboard. Her nature seemed just a bit scatterbrained. “So… what’s on the other side?”
“Nothing much. Just some vegetable fields,” Irene replied offhandedly.
The Long Haired Princess was clearly confused, her face a swirl of question marks. But before she could voice another one, Little Red Riding Hood stepped through the Phantom Door. Foxy and Irene followed close behind. Yu Sheng kept one hand on the Door and gestured to her and Xiao Xiao with the other. “Go on ahead—you’re going to be amazed.”
In an instant came the brief sensation of weightlessness and vertigo, followed by a sensory jolt from the environment change—less than a second later, those who crossed the Door were no longer in the Orphanage.
They now stood in an open expanse beneath blue skies, flanked by towering mountains and sprawling valleylands.
The Long Haired Princess gawked at the surreal terrain of sky, peaks, and soft green-tinged wastelands. Then she noticed Xiao Xiao beside her—eyes wide, face aglow. This girl, always so shy and reserved in new places, now sparkled with a strange and wondrous light. The scenery had struck her deeply.
“Waaah—”
Xiao Xiao finally let out a delighted cry. A wide smile bloomed across her face as she pointed toward the distant mountains and the faintly green plains. Then she burst into laughter—sweet and inexplicably contagious.
No one knew what exactly she found so funny. But it was clear—this child was truly happy.
Meanwhile, Little Red Riding Hood, who had crossed over first, stood frozen.
She didn’t seem to hear the laughter behind her. She simply stared, wide-eyed, at the mountains flanking the Valley. Her expression shifted from bewilderment to alarm, then tightened with a trace of unease.
She had recognized this place.
Even though it had been utterly transformed, she could still discern the Valley’s outline.
And then, she saw the things that left her utterly stunned.
She saw the vast platform at the Valley’s center—she stood right beside it. She noticed the surrounding plots of farmland, clearly leveled by human hands. She saw an unfinished irrigation canal. And… perched on the edge of the platform… a hideously crude, makeshift toilet.
Her mind jammed.
The jarring combination of elements left her unable to form any conclusions. She just looked up at Yu Sheng.
He, of course, was looking right back at her—with that familiar, enigmatic smile.
“Do you remember what I told you? That I was going to deal with the Black Forest—and even solve the problem of the ‘Fairy Tale’,” said Yu Sheng as he approached Little Red Riding Hood, speaking slowly. “You told me ‘Fairy Tale’ couldn’t be eradicated, because that’s just how the Otherworld is. But I don’t believe that. Look around—this is my ‘proof.'”
“This is… Night Valley?” Little Red Riding Hood finally broke the silence, but struggled to continue. She had already sensed unimaginable changes had occurred here—but her rational mind resisted grasping what it might all mean.
“It used to be called that, but now I’m thinking of renaming it,” Yu Sheng lifted his gaze to the distant scenery. “Ever since that Big Eye left, there’s been no more nightfall. Honestly, I’m now more troubled by how to create a proper day-night cycle. If it’s always daytime, lots of vegetables don’t grow well. But I don’t know how to set up a greenhouse.”
Little Red Riding Hood blinked. Her ears followed, but her mind lagged behind.
She realized the biggest problem with dealing with Yu Sheng and his people (although she doubted how many of them were actually human) was that her thoughts never seemed to keep pace.
Still, after two or three seconds, she finally caught on. “Wait! What about the Hunger Entity that used to prowl this place?”
“Gone,” Yu Sheng spread his hands. “That dish I served last time when you stayed for dinner—that was the last serving.”
From the side, Irene tilted her head back and added, “By the way, he’s actually pretty sentimental about it.”
Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”
Her thoughts lagged again.
“The Hunger Entity… is gone?” Another couple of seconds passed before her mind caught up, unleashing a storm of rational deductions. She finally realized the gravity of Yu Sheng’s casual words. “Wait! Are you saying this place will never generate another ‘Hunger’ Entity again?”
Yu Sheng nodded. “Exactly. Not only will there be no more Hunger, I’m also planning to turn this place into the Hotel’s meat and vegetable production base. Still in the early stages, though.”
But Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t paying attention to the latter half of his sentence. She surged forward two steps, her eyes suddenly as sharp as a Wolf’s. “So the rules of this part of the Otherworld have been permanently changed? No… The rules are the essence of the Otherworld. If they’ve changed, that means… this place’s original identity as an ‘Otherworld’ has ceased to exist? No, that’s not quite right either. The Valley is still physically here…”
“Bai Li Qing put it best,” Yu Sheng saw she was growing flustered and waved a hand in front of her with a grin, gesturing for her to calm down. “This Valley is like an empty shell—once filled with its own rules and the Entities born from them, now all eroded away in that feast. What remains is just a harmless husk.”
He paused, then added, “Also, this ‘husk’ now appears to be ‘connected’ to Wutong Road No. 66. I haven’t worked out the temporal and spatial mechanics between them yet, but you could say you’re standing in the ‘courtyard’ of Wutong Road No. 66.”
Little Red Riding Hood said nothing.
She didn’t seem to be listening to the latter half of Yu Sheng’s explanation.
She just stood there, motionless for a long time, her eyes fixed as if frozen in their sockets, staring into the distance—at the clear sky and the land that had healed, at the soft green hues creeping over the hills, at a place once full of Hunger and despair… that now was no longer an Otherworld.
Light footsteps approached. It was Xiao Xiao—the quiet child from the Orphanage—now with a radiant smile. She jogged over, lifting her hand high to present a bundle of wild grass. “Big Sister Red Hood! Look! Flowers!”
The next moment, the little girl froze, still holding her hand up, her gaze worried. “Why are you crying? Does it hurt? Is your body cracking open too?”
By the end, fear had crept into her voice.
But Little Red Riding Hood suddenly bent down, wiped her face quickly, and looked back up with a beaming smile. She took the bundle from Xiao Xiao and ruffled the girl’s hair. “No, it’s just the cold wind in my eyes… This is just a bunch of wild grass. There aren’t any flowers.”
“They fell on the road,” Xiao Xiao smiled again. “Then the wind blew them away. You have to pretend they’re still there.”
“…Alright, they’re still here,” said Little Red Riding Hood, ruffling her hair again. “Thank you for the flowers.”
Then she straightened up and looked around for the Long Haired Princess.
She spotted her already on the strange platform, poking curiously around that bizarre, ugly ‘building.’ After a moment, the princess raised her arms and waved excitedly.
“Hey! Little Red Riding Hood! There are chickens living next to this toilet! A whole bunch!”
Bathed in the bright sunlight, Little Red Riding Hood squinted slightly.
[How wonderful,] she thought. [It’s been so long since I had something to look forward to. This is truly wonderful.]
Only Yu Sheng suddenly looked displeased.
“That’s not a toilet!” he shouted up at the girl on the platform, hopping in place. “That’s the first phase of our Club Headquarters!”