Chapter 57: Making Contact
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation
“I don’t really understand all that supernatural stuff,” Yu Sheng admitted frankly, facing the puzzled expressions of Li Lin and his companions. “Especially things like Otherworlds and entities. Honestly, I’m not very familiar with anything outside of Boundary City either—that’s why I’ve been looking for ‘professionals’ like you. I’m hoping you can answer some of my questions.”
Li Lin and Xu Jiali exchanged bewildered glances. They were utterly stunned by Yu Sheng’s words. The girl in the red hood couldn’t help but look him up and down several times. “Wait—you mean you’ve never dealt with Otherworlds or entities before? You’ve only just started getting involved with this kind of thing?”
“I’ve lived a peaceful and ordinary life for the past twenty-something years,” Yu Sheng said honestly, spreading his hands. “It’s only recently that I’ve started encountering all these strange things. I’m completely new to this.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Jiali’s expression began to falter. Just started dealing with Otherworlds? And yet, he can pin down level-three or higher dangerous Hunger Entities, casually open doors to wasteland planets millions of light-years away, and go in and out of Otherworlds like it’s his own home… What kind of ‘novice’ is this?
Is he even human?!
Xu Jiali exchanged a look with Li Lin beside him; their minds were racing, considering countless possibilities in an instant.
First off, they could almost confirm that the space-time dislocation phenomena causing chaos throughout the Special Affairs Bureau were definitely related to this man named Yu Sheng. The evidence was the door he had casually opened.
Yes, casually.
Secondly, they must not be fooled by Yu Sheng’s claim of being a ‘novice.’ Whether he really just started dealing with Otherworlds and entities or not, the power he possesses doesn’t seem like that of an ordinary human who’s only just begun to be influenced by Otherworlds.
Either the ‘novice’ claim is false, or the identity of ‘ordinary human’ is false—or perhaps both are false.
Moreover, no ordinary human could possibly live in such an obviously abnormal house.
“I’d like to confirm something,” Li Lin hesitated before asking. “Have you always lived here?”
“Yes,” Yu Sheng nodded. He didn’t plan on telling outsiders that he’d come here from another Boundary City, so he simply admitted that he’d always lived in this house. After all, he even had an ID card. “I’ve always lived here.”
Li Lin continued cautiously, “Then, do you know that this house is…”
“I know, it’s an Otherworld,” Yu Sheng interrupted before Li Lin could finish, his face sincere and innocent. “I only found out recently, but I’ve never had any problems living here before.”
Li Lin was at a loss for words again.
What do you mean you just found out recently? What do you mean you’ve never had any problems before? Can an ordinary person say that?
Then again, after all these years, how has the Special Affairs Bureau never discovered such an abnormal place in this old district?
“Um, could I see your identification?” Li Lin finally asked cautiously after a long pause. He quickly fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a small black notebook, unfolding it in front of Yu Sheng. “This is my duty ID.”
Yu Sheng glanced at the notebook, seeing Li Lin’s photo, name, and job information printed on it, along with some codes and identification numbers he couldn’t understand. He hadn’t seen other Special Affairs Bureau IDs before, but at least this seemed professional.
So he readily pulled out his own ID card and handed it over.
Li Lin took the ID, and he and Xu Jiali quickly scanned the information.
Their gazes simultaneously landed on the ‘Address’ field, staring blankly at the black letters on the white background: ‘No. 0 Wutong Road.’
“Is there a problem?” Yu Sheng asked curiously when he saw them both in a daze.
Li Lin snapped out of it, slowly handing the ID back to Yu Sheng. He seemed to be hesitating about something. After a few moments, he finally spoke, “You know, there’s no No. 0 on Wutong Road.”
Yu Sheng was taken aback. “What?”
He now understood why none of the locksmiths he’d contacted earlier could successfully find his place.
“We need to head back to the bureau first,” Xu Jiali broke the silence. “Your situation… is a bit special. We need to report to the higher-ups and coordinate with the Archives Department to figure out what’s going on.”
Yu Sheng was a bit disappointed. “You’re leaving already? I still have a bunch of questions…”
“We’ll leave our contact information, and we’ll be back soon to have a formal ‘meeting’ with you,” Xu Jiali assured him. “For humans who have recently come into contact with Otherworlds and have undergone ‘changes,’ the Special Affairs Bureau has a set of formal contact and registration procedures. Don’t worry, all your questions will be answered during the formal meeting.”
As he spoke, he took out a small card and handed it to Yu Sheng. “My phone number is on this.”
“Alright then.” Yu Sheng thought about it. His main goal was to get in touch with the ‘professionals’ who specialize in dealing with Otherworld issues. As for his pile of questions, they weren’t something that could be immediately clarified by chatting with these two people. All of this would have to be understood through gradual contact later, so he nodded and accepted the card.
He then gave them his own phone number.
This number had been with him since he arrived here, but he hardly ever received any calls, and he didn’t have anyone to call.
Yu Sheng then turned his gaze to the girl in the red hood, who had been standing silently to the side.
She looked like a high school student and didn’t seem well. Her exposed right arm appeared to be healing, but there were still many small black lines visible on her skin, looking rather eerie.
“Are you okay?” Yu Sheng asked with concern.
“Just some side effects from dealing with wolves. It’s not the first time. I’ll recover after some adjustments,” she shook her head. “I need to see a doctor later. By the way, I’ll leave my phone number too… Wait a minute, I didn’t bring my phone. Let me find a pen.”
As she spoke, she reached for the small pouch at her waist, but suddenly, her movements froze.
The expression on her face visibly stiffened, as if she’d just realized something terrible.
Yu Sheng was startled by her reaction. “What’s wrong?”
Xu Jiali sighed beside him. “Her homework was torn up by the entity.”
The girl stiffly turned her head, seeing both Xu Jiali and Li Lin wearing sympathetic expressions.
“We noticed it at the beginning, but you didn’t realize,” Li Lin said softly. “We didn’t want to bring it up, thinking you’d be happy for a bit longer…”
“When did you see me being happy?! Huh?! When I was being chased like a dog in the woods?!” she exclaimed, completely exasperated. The calm and maturity she’d maintained vanished instantly, leaving only frustration. “I spent three days making up those math worksheets! Three days!”
Yu Sheng watched, utterly perplexed. He was increasingly feeling that the mental state and daily lives of these ‘professionals’ were not quite what he’d imagined, but given the atmosphere, he didn’t feel it was appropriate to say anything—mainly because she did seem genuinely upset.
But regardless, in the end, she still gave him her phone number. She wrote the numbers on a slip of paper with such force that every stroke seemed as if she were using the pen as a knife, carving the numbers onto the long-gone Hunger Entities themselves. Yu Sheng watched with a mix of awe and concern.
After that, Li Lin and the others prepared to leave.
Yu Sheng saw them to the door, and as he opened it, he stood by the frame. “I won’t see you off too far—I still have a lot to sort out here.”
Li Lin turned back to glance into the living room, seeing the fox girl with multiple tails still sitting on the floor guarding a pile of food, and the little doll with broken arms sitting on the sofa, casually watching TV.
A strange house at No. 0 Wutong Road, inhabited by a strange Yu Sheng and his two equally strange ‘friends right under the nose of the Special Affairs Bureau.
Li Lin knew he had stumbled upon something huge, and all of this would have to be detailed in his and Xu Jiali’s report…
Which would mean a lot of overtime.
The young agent sighed deeply, stepping out the door wearily.
A cool night breeze greeted them, the silent streets of the old district unfolding before their eyes, and warm streetlights illuminating the road ahead.
He and Xu Jiali turned back simultaneously, only to see a bare wall behind them. The graffiti on the wall was chaotic and abstract.
Xu Jiali stepped forward, touching and patting the wall. “Looks like it’s not here,” he said softly. “This is just an entrance, and it only opens when invited.”
“Should we head back to the bureau first?” Li Lin asked. “Or leave someone here to keep an eye on things?”
Xu Jiali looked over at the girl in the red hood.
She immediately turned her head away, indicating that she was in a foul mood because her homework had been torn, and she definitely didn’t want to work overtime right now.
“I need to see Dr. Lin to deal with the ‘after-effects,'” she offered a legitimate reason. “You two can decide what to do. Personally, I think leaving someone here or not makes no difference—that person’s abilities are too strange; with our current resources, we can’t monitor him.”
“Let’s head back to the bureau then,” Xu Jiali sighed, starting to walk forward. “There are others keeping watch around the perimeter anyway. We should report today’s events first. Since this involves a Dark Angel, I’m afraid even Captain Song can’t make a decision on this.”