Chapter 77: The Dinner Reception at Wutong Road No. 66
Little Red Riding Hood had always known that those who dwelled within an Otherworld must be peculiar, but she realized now that she had vastly underestimated just how bizarre this “family of three” under Yu Sheng’s roof truly was.
Especially when it came to their dining habits.
A Doll, who had no need for food, sat primly right on top of the dining table, complete with her own set of utensils arranged before her like a ceremonial offering.
A Demon Fox Maiden with a multitude of tails who, during meals, would constantly extract all manner of snacks from those tails—pairing spicy peppers with bananas, rolling flatbread around steamed buns, and generally stuffing her face with anything and everything in sight.
But the most bewildering of all was Yu Sheng himself—he actually ate human food.
[Unbelievable.jpg]
Yu Sheng noticed Little Red Riding Hood’s dazed expression and, thinking she was simply shy about being a guest for the first time, cheerfully beckoned, “Come on, eat! I have to say, I’m pretty confident in my cooking skills…”
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly remembered something and gestured toward a dish on the table. “Oh right, you probably shouldn’t eat that one.”
Little Red Riding Hood blinked, glancing at the seemingly normal stir-fried chili pork dish with confusion. “Why not?”
“It was made using some ‘local specialties’ from the Otherworld. I’m not sure regular people can handle it,” Yu Sheng explained casually. “Irene and Miss Foxy are pretty averse to it.”
“Local specialties… from the Otherworld?” she echoed, eyes blank.
“Yep. It’s meat sliced straight from an Entity known as Hunger. I love the stuff—but most people wouldn’t eat it,” Yu Sheng declared with complete composure, even adding proudly, “I’m fairly well-versed in what counts as common sense in this area.”
He then witnessed the Young Lady across from him go utterly rigid, as if petrified on the spot.
Several seconds passed before Little Red Riding Hood finally blinked and glanced stiffly toward Irene, who was perched on the table sniffing the dish. “Such… an obscure dialect.”
“Your first time, huh?” Irene patted her arm with the seasoned air of someone who’d been through it all. “I had the exact same reaction the first time I heard. But don’t doubt it—it is exactly what he said. You were with us when that Entity in the Valley got taken down, right? No need to be so shocked. At least it was cooked.”
“It really is better cooked,” Yu Sheng added, nodding as he popped a slice of meat into his mouth. “I tried it as sashimi once—didn’t work. Too stringy.”
Horror painted across her face, Little Red Riding Hood glanced at the other dishes on the table with newfound dread. She suddenly regretted ever accepting Yu Sheng’s dinner invitation.
Initially, she’d just been hoping for a chance to get closer to this strange “man” and the even stranger household on Wutong Road No. 66. Maybe glean some fresh intelligence about the Otherworld to trade back at the Special Affairs Bureau. But now she understood something vital:
If a Dangerous Entity appears harmless, it’s probably dangerous in ways you can’t imagine. And if an Otherworld seems especially safe, it must harbor an insidious kind of cognitive contamination…
She swallowed nervously, eyeing Yu Sheng as he ate with gusto, and found herself desperately wanting to ask—After eating this… you’re not going to eat me next, right?
But after a long inner debate, she ultimately couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.
“Not to your taste?” Yu Sheng asked, noticing how she hadn’t picked up her chopsticks. “Ah, maybe it’s a bit salty. You can try this plate of greens. That one’s perfectly normal.”
Under his gaze, Little Red Riding Hood found herself unable to dodge or refuse. She hesitantly picked up her chopsticks, whispered a mantra of [this is edible], and swallowed the bite like bitter medicine.
Then her eyes widened in surprise—
It was delicious. Just ordinary, well-cooked stir-fried vegetables.
“Our Benefactor’s got a real talent for cooking,” Miss Foxy said with a cheerful grin.
Little Red Riding Hood gave a subtle nod, though her eyes were still fixed on Miss Foxy, who hadn’t stopped eating since stepping through the Door. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her.
“Aren’t you worried about overeating?”
“Not at all,” Miss Foxy replied, her tails swishing behind her. “The more I eat, the more tails I store up. I can use them to help our Benefactor fight.”
“…What?”
Little Red Riding Hood felt her mental framework start to fracture. Was something wrong with her ability to comprehend reality?
It was as if this entire residence operated on a worldview wholly alien to the normal world. Everything looked normal, sounded normal… yet radiated unsettling strangeness.
At that moment, Yu Sheng’s voice broke through her thoughts.
“By the way, I invited you over today for another reason. I actually wanted to consult you about something.”
“Huh?” Little Red Riding Hood blinked, disoriented, and looked toward him with a bewildered gaze.
Yu Sheng didn’t think much of her reaction and went straight to the point. “As a Spirit Realm Detective, what does your usual work look like? Or rather, is there anything important one needs to know about being a Spirit Realm Detective?”
“Usual work? Most of the time, I take on freelance contracts from the Special Affairs Bureau. Sometimes, I help other organizations or individuals, but those are less consistent,” she said absently. “Most Spirit Realm Detectives get their main jobs through the Special Affairs Bureau or its subsidiaries. They’re the official group, after all. Always in the loop. Most commissions get routed through them. Here, take a look at this…”
She spoke as she moved, pulling out her phone and tapping a few times before turning the screen toward Yu Sheng.
Curious, Yu Sheng leaned in and was immediately struck by the sight of a dense list of chat interfaces.
Most of the chat avatars bore the same insignia, each marked with the note: Special Affairs Bureau.
“This is a specialized platform built by the Special Affairs Bureau,” Little Red Riding Hood explained. “Spirit Realm Detectives and independent Investigators all use it. It’s for swapping intel, chatting, venting—basically a mix of everything. Public commissions also get posted here. Officially, it’s called Border Communication Platform, but most people just call it ‘Gig Worker Ping’…”
Yu Sheng listened, intrigued, and tried to sneak another peek at the screen—but Little Red Riding Hood had already tucked the phone away.
“Strictly speaking, this kind of thing isn’t supposed to be shown to outsiders. We have to keep it secret from ordinary people. But you’re not quite a Spirit Realm Detective or an Investigator… yet you’re definitely not ordinary. So I figured a peek wouldn’t hurt. As for the rules of our work…”
She paused with a smirk, her voice tinged with mockery. “Everyone’s got their own work habits. If there’s any sort of shared ‘framework,’ I’d say just two rules: First, don’t disrupt the order of the Borderland. Second, stay alive—as best you can. And if you really can’t manage that, then at least die in a ‘shallow’ zone. Don’t make things too hard for the corpse collectors.”
She suddenly squinted at Yu Sheng, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. “Why are you asking all this, anyway?”
Yu Sheng answered with perfect calm: “Oh, I think we might be colleagues soon.”
Little Red Riding Hood: “…?”
…
After dinner, Little Red Riding Hood took her leave.
“I feel like she left with a weird expression,” Irene muttered, perched on the dining table as she watched Yu Sheng gather the dishes. “She looked more dazed leaving than when she arrived…”
“High School Students are under a lot of pressure,” Yu Sheng said casually while wiping the table. “Plus she’s doing part-time jobs on the side—did you see her phone? Cracked screen. Life’s probably not been too kind. That’s why I invited her over. Thought she could unwind a little.”
“Really?” Irene sounded skeptical. “Because I swear she seemed more nervous when she left…”
“You’re imagining things,” Yu Sheng waved her off. “Trust me—Humans know Humans. I was a High School Student myself once. We’ll just invite her over again sometime. I’m sure she’ll relax eventually.”
“If you say so…”
As they spoke, Yu Sheng finished clearing the table. He handed the dishes off to Foxy, who had volunteered to wash them, then let out a long breath.
“Alright. Time to do something real.”
“I’m opening a Door,” he said.
Irene, who was halfway off the table on her way to the living room TV, turned her head. “Huh? You going somewhere?”
“Back to that Valley. Just one more look.”
Irene slipped and fell with a thud—both her and the painting smacking flat on the floor.
“You ran out of meat in the fridge or what?!” the little doll scrambled upright, staring at Yu Sheng in horror. “You going to restock?!”
“No,” Yu Sheng quickly waved his hands. “It’s something the Director who came today said. It stuck with me.”
He shared with her what Bai Li Qing had specifically mentioned before leaving.
The Doll Lady frowned. “You sure it’s not a trap? Like one of those ‘bait you into a landmine’ kind of things? These bigshots who pop out of nowhere and talk your ear off always pull that kind of crap. I’ve seen it on TV.”
“Then maybe cut back on the TV,” Yu Sheng rolled his eyes. “Anyway, even if she is plotting something, I was planning to head back to that Valley anyway.”
Irene kept frowning. “But why?”
“There’s something I want to investigate. I left too quickly last time,” Yu Sheng said seriously. “Don’t worry. I can come back. The passage is stable now. If things go wrong, I can pull out immediately.”
“Well… alright,” Irene relented after a moment. “Shouldn’t we at least tell Foxy? She might get worried.”
“This’ll be quick. If she asks, just tell her I’ll be right back,” Yu Sheng said, already reaching into the air. A Phantom Door shimmered into being before him. “I’ll probably be back before she finishes washing the dishes. Just taking a look.”
Then he suddenly paused, glancing at the Phantom Door he had just opened.
“…Should I have notified the Special Affairs Bureau first?”
“You’re asking that now? After you already opened the damn Door? Get in there before their complaints start flooding in! Go, go, I’ll be here when you’re back.”