Chapter 57: Making Contact
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation
“I’m afraid I don’t really understand all these supernatural things,” admitted Yu Sheng, his voice straightforward and honest. He looked at Li Lin and the other two, who wore puzzled expressions on their faces. “All this talk about the Otherworld, Entities, and whatnot—it’s all quite new to me. Actually, I barely know anything about life beyond Boundary City. That’s why I was looking for ‘professionals’ like you. I was hoping you could help answer some of my questions.”
Li Lin and Xu Jiali exchanged surprised glances, while the girl nicknamed Little Red Riding Hood gave Yu Sheng a wide-eyed stare. “Hold on… are you saying you’ve never dealt with the Otherworld or Entities before? You’ve really only just started getting involved in all of this?” she asked, her voice brimming with disbelief.
Yu Sheng nodded and spread his hands helplessly. “I’ve lived a very quiet, ordinary life for over twenty years,” he explained. “Only recently did I start coming across these strange things. I’m completely new to it.”
Xu Jiali had to fight to keep a straight face. Someone who had only recently begun dabbling in the Otherworld, yet could casually take down a Level Three Entity like “Hunger” and open gateways to distant wasteland planets millions of light-years away—doing it as effortlessly as if he were heading to the kitchen for a snack? Calling him a ‘newbie’ didn’t just seem odd; it felt downright impossible. Was this man even human?
Li Lin and Xu Jiali traded another glance, their minds filled with countless thoughts. They had considered dozens of explanations in just a few heartbeats.
For one thing, they were almost certain now that the bizarre spacetime displacement at the Special Affairs Bureau—which had stirred so much chaos—was directly linked to this Yu Sheng. The evidence was right before them: those strange, casually opened doors.
Casually. That was the key word.
For another, there was no way they could trust Yu Sheng’s claim of being a mere beginner. Whether his “newbie” story was a lie, or whether the “ordinary human” bit was a lie—or perhaps both were lies—one thing was clear: no normal person could possess these sorts of abilities, let alone live in such a strange place.
“I want to confirm something,” Li Lin said after a long moment, choosing his words carefully. “Have you always lived here?”
“Yes,” Yu Sheng replied with a polite nod. He had no intention of telling these newcomers that he’d actually arrived from another Boundary City, so he played along. He even had an ID card stating this as his home, after all. “I’ve always lived here.”
“Do you know that this house…” Li Lin began, but before he could finish, Yu Sheng cut in.
“Yes, I know it’s tied to the Otherworld,” Yu Sheng said plainly, his face open and honest. “I only found that out recently. Before then, nothing unusual ever happened.”
Li Lin found himself momentarily speechless. Recently found out? Nothing strange before? Could such a thing even be possible for a supposedly ‘ordinary’ person living in what was clearly part of the Otherworld?
And another puzzle: why had the Special Affairs Bureau never noticed anything odd about this old residential block all these years?
“Erm, might I see your ID card?” Li Lin asked, doing his best to remain calm and official. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small black booklet, and flipped it open for Yu Sheng to see. “This is my badge,” he said.
Yu Sheng leaned over and studied the badge. He saw Li Lin’s photo, name, and title, along with a collection of numbers and codes he didn’t recognize. He had no idea what a real Special Affairs Bureau credential was supposed to look like, but at least it seemed genuine. It all felt so much more “professional” than anything he’d encountered lately.
Without hesitation, Yu Sheng took out his own ID and offered it in exchange.
Li Lin and Xu Jiali examined Yu Sheng’s ID carefully, their gazes soon settling on the address line. They stared at the text for a long time: “Wutong Road, Number ___.”
“Is something the matter?” Yu Sheng asked, noticing their stunned faces.
Li Lin blinked, returning the ID to Yu Sheng. He looked hesitant, as if struggling to find the right words. Finally, he said, “You know, there is no Number ___ on Wutong Road.”
Yu Sheng’s eyes widened. “…What?” he asked, feeling a jolt of confusion. Suddenly, he understood why no locksmith had ever managed to find his home whenever he’d tried to hire one.
Xu Jiali cleared her throat, cutting through the tense silence. “We need to head back to the Bureau for now,” she said. “Your situation is… unusual. We need to report this and consult with the Archive Department to figure out what exactly is happening.”
“Huh? You’re leaving so soon?” Yu Sheng asked, disappointed. “I still have a ton of questions…”
“We’ll leave you our contact information,” Xu Jiali promised with a reassuring smile. “We’ll be back soon to make a more official ‘contact.’ The Special Affairs Bureau follows proper procedures when people experience ‘changes’ after encountering the Otherworld. Don’t worry; all your questions will be answered during that process.”
She reached into her pocket, pulled out a small card, and handed it to Yu Sheng. “This has my number,” she said.
“Alright, then,” Yu Sheng replied after a brief pause. He supposed his many questions probably wouldn’t be answered fully in one quick visit. It was better to establish a proper connection first. He accepted the card and, in return, he gave them his own phone number—the one he’d been given upon his arrival here, which he hardly ever used, since so few people knew about him.
Next, Yu Sheng turned to the girl called Little Red Riding Hood, who had remained quiet for a while. She was dressed like a high schooler, and though her right arm seemed to be healing, there were still thin, dark lines crisscrossing her skin. It looked quite unsettling.
“Are you alright?” Yu Sheng asked softly, concerned by her strange wounds.
“These are just side effects from dealing with the wolves,” she explained, shaking her head. “It’s not my first time. I’ll be fine once I see a doctor. By the way, let me give you my number too…” She trailed off, patting her waist pouch for a moment. Then she froze, and a stiff look settled on her face, as if a dreadful realization had just struck her.
Yu Sheng found himself alarmed by her change in expression. “W-What’s wrong?” he asked nervously.
Xu Jiali sighed, glancing at the girl. “Her homework got torn up by an Entity,” she explained quietly.
Little Red Riding Hood turned her head slowly, staring at Li Lin and Xu Jiali, who gazed back at her with pity in their eyes.
“We saw what happened at the start,” Li Lin admitted softly. “You were too busy, and we didn’t want to upset you even more. We thought maybe letting you remain in the dark a bit longer might help…”
“Help me feel happier? Happier?!” she exclaimed, voice jumping in pitch. “Exactly when did I look happy? When I was running for my life with that monster chasing me like some rabid dog? I spent three whole days on those math worksheets!”
Yu Sheng simply watched, stunned. The “professionals” who dealt with the Otherworld were not quite as calm or composed as he had imagined. He felt sorry for the girl’s frustration but had no idea what to say to comfort her.
In the end, Little Red Riding Hood still gave him her number. She wrote it down on a scrap of paper, pressing the pen so hard Yu Sheng feared it might tear straight through. Her anger was almost visible in the force of her handwriting, as if she wanted to stab her fury straight into the memory of the Entity called Hunger.
With that, Li Lin, Xu Jiali, and Little Red Riding Hood said their goodbyes. Yu Sheng accompanied them to the doorway and watched as they prepared to depart. “I’ll stay here,” he told them. “I still have a lot of things to handle.”
Li Lin cast one last glance at the living room. There, the fox-girl with multiple tails was still standing guard over a pile of snacks and supplies. On the couch, the Doll with the broken arms sat quietly, watching TV as though nothing unusual had ever happened.
This was a strange house on Wutong Road—a place that shouldn’t exist—inhabited by the mysterious Yu Sheng and his peculiar companions. How all this had gone unnoticed by the Special Affairs Bureau was beyond Li Lin’s understanding.
He knew that their report back at the Bureau would be lengthy and complicated. It was almost certain that he and Xu Jiali would end up working late, putting together the pieces of this bizarre puzzle.
With a weary sigh, Li Lin stepped through the doorway.
The cool night air greeted them as they emerged. The old city street was quiet, lit by gentle lamplight. When Li Lin and Xu Jiali turned back to look, they found nothing but a plain old wall behind them, decorated with odd, messy graffiti.
Xu Jiali approached the wall and tapped it lightly twice with her fingertips.
“Just as I thought,” she said quietly. “It’s not really there. The house only appears when someone inside invites you in.”
“So… should we return to the Bureau, or leave someone to watch the place?” Li Lin asked, uncertain.
Xu Jiali glanced at Little Red Riding Hood, who immediately looked away, making it clear she wanted nothing to do with extra shifts—especially after losing her precious homework to that dreadful Entity.
“I need to see Dr. Lin about these aftereffects,” the girl said, pointing to her arm. It was a perfectly good reason to avoid overtime. “And even if we posted guards, it would be useless. His abilities are so odd that we don’t have any good way to track him now.”
“Let’s head back to the Bureau,” Xu Jiali decided, setting off down the street. “We’ve got other people watching the broader area anyway. We must report everything that happened tonight. This involves the Dark Angel. It’s more than what even Captain Song can decide alone.”