Chapter 063

Chapter 63: Investigation and Settling In

A leader’s praise or promises do not always heal the body and mind after working overtime until you feel like you are in the Otherworld, but paid vacation always helps.

The two unlucky agents walked out grinning, and Song Cheng let out a long breath behind his desk and kept frowning at the computer screen.

Just then, an icon in the corner of the screen began to flash. A second later, a video window popped up.

A young woman in a white suit with a gray-white single ponytail appeared. Her pale gray eyes, almost without color, looked through the screen at Song Cheng as she asked: “Finished with work?”

[The bigger boss is here.]

Song Cheng sat up straight at once, his face tense as he said: “Director, you have not left yet?”

“I am working late,” Bai Li Qing said in a calm, even voice that matched her faded eyes. “I saw the file the Archives Division just sent and want to hear what you think.”

With a slight frown and a brief pause, Song Cheng said: “About ‘Yu Sheng’? I do not think we can judge anything yet. We need to make formal contact with him to assess what kind of… individual he is. The hard part is whether we approach him as a ‘person’ or as an ‘Entity’…”

“As a person,” Bai Li Qing said without hesitation.

Song Cheng looked surprised.

She explained with patience: “Because his self-identity is ‘human.’ So whether or not he truly is human, we must make sure he keeps thinking that.”

Song Cheng thought it over and said: “Keep the target’s self-identity, is that it? You think if his self-identity shifts, there could be serious results?”

She said: “We still do not know what he can do or how he might affect the Borderland in the future. One more who stands with ‘people’ is one less who stands with the ‘nonhuman.’ Otherworld Entities that are naturally friendly to humans are not common, especially one that has ‘lived’ in the Borderland for a long time. We should see this as good luck.”

Song Cheng nodded at once and said: “Understood, Director. I will arrange a contact plan with ‘Yu Sheng’ now. I will go myself.”

Bai Li Qing gave a small nod, then added: “About the newly appeared ‘Dark Angels,’ the Council already knows. We can now be fairly sure it is new.”

Song Cheng’s pupils shrank at once as he asked: “Nothing in the old records? What about the records of other groups?”

She said: “We already asked the Alglade Astrologers’ Consortium and the Academy. Neither has any official record of the giant, sky-covering eye-shaped Dark Angels in the report. The Bamosa Hermit Society has not replied yet, but if the Academy has nothing, the Bamosians likely do not either. It is possible some small group met it before, but the chance is low.”

Song Cheng’s brows knitted so tightly they almost tied. He looked very worried.

“This is bad. A new ‘Angel’ with no record anywhere, and it ran before we could gather any intel, and on a huge scale,” he muttered. “Covering the whole sky above Night Valley. From its official info, this thing probably parasitized that Otherworld long ago.”

She said: “Yes. High-level disguise and deep parasitism, so early investigators who entered that valley even thought the sky there was supposed to be like that. That is where the name Night Valley came from. By physical size alone, this new Dark Angels is likely top three among all known Angels.”

After a brief pause for thought, Song Cheng said: “From what my two agents learned, the demon fox with Yu Sheng, the one who calls herself ‘Foxy,’ seems to have been trapped in Night Valley for a long time. She may know things about that Dark Angels.”

“That is a good entry point. Be careful during the investigation.”

He bowed his head slightly and said: “Understood.”

Bai Li Qing made a quiet sound and seemed ready to end the call.

Then Song Cheng spoke up: “One more thing, Director.”

“Say it.”

He said with a serious face: “I plan to ride the Train once, to see if I can find anything about ‘Yu Sheng’ on it.”

She answered: “Approved. But be cautious. Even Entities that are relatively calm and friendly still require care.”

“Understood.”

Yu Sheng was helping Foxy make her bed when he suddenly sneezed several times in a row, which almost made Irene, who was walking the edge of the bed’s footboard like a balance beam, fall.

The little doll stared and said: “You scared me!”

Yu Sheng rubbed his nose and, grabbing Irene and setting her on the mattress, said: “It tickled. Stop just watching and help. Sit in the middle so I can pull the sheet tight.”

Irene made a happy sound, sat cross-legged in the middle, and watched him bustle around.

Standing farther away, Foxy looked a little at a loss as she watched her benefactor make the bed for her.

She rubbed her hands and said, her tail swaying nervously behind her: “Benefactor, I can help too. Cleaning a room is easy. I learned it just by watching.”

Without looking up, Yu Sheng said: “Then from now on you can clean your room yourself. Today, do not worry about it. I am almost done.”

Foxy answered softly and pushed down the uneasy feeling that came from being cared for. Curious and careful, she looked around her new room.

It was the upstairs room that had held a lot of boxes. Now the boxes had been moved to the basement. After a simple cleaning, it was fit for someone to live in. Even so, the room was still very simple. Besides the bed and a table that had always been there under the clutter, the only real ‘furniture’ was a chair in the corner.

To help, Yu Sheng had dug up a folding wardrobe from the basement. He and Irene studied the iron tubes and canvas for a long time before putting it together and setting it in the corner as the fourth piece of furniture.

But Foxy did not have many clothes to hang. She had almost no belongings. The only thing she had brought out of the valley was that torn ‘dress,’ which was nearly a rag. She could not bear to throw it away, so she washed it clean, folded it as best she could, and put it at the very bottom of the ugly folding wardrobe. It became her first possession in this ‘home.’

Even this little house, plain to the point of shabby, made her very happy.

Now she could sleep on a bed. She had tried it and felt it was softer and flatter than the best hay pile. There was a full roof over her head and walls to block the wind. The room was warm, not cold like the valley, and she did not need to hug her tail to sleep warm. The bright electric light was even brighter than fox fire.

Most important of all, nothing she did here would draw that monster. If she got hungry, she could find food at any time.

Right now, her tail held lots of food.

Foxy sat down on the floor with a big smile.

Yu Sheng finished pulling the sheet tight. Turning his head, he saw the demon fox grinning on the floor and said: “Why are you on the floor again? There is a chair. What are you smiling about?”

Foxy stood, sat on the chair, and said: “Happy.”

Yu Sheng nodded and then straightened up, looking around with a small sense of pride.

The room was simple, but it had taken a lot of work to set up. It was the result of more than two hours of labor.

[It is still a bit too bare.]

He began to plan out loud: “Tomorrow we will go to the mall and buy a spare set of bedding for you, and two outfits. We can change the curtains later. These have holes. Keep using this wardrobe for now. A new one costs a lot, and money is tight. We can add a nightstand and a desk lamp later.”

Foxy waved her hands quickly and said, uneasy: “No need. We do not need that many things. It is already very good.”

Yu Sheng waved it off and said: “Do not worry about it. These are daily items. You should have them. You are going to be my number one fighter. Your conditions cannot be poor.”

From the middle of the bed, Irene glanced up at Yu Sheng and said: “Before you think about buying furniture, think about how to get it delivered. Your ‘No. 66, Wutong Road’ will not work. The new TV will not come either. They cannot deliver. Or do you plan to open a big Door and carry all the furniture home yourself?”

Hearing the little doll, Yu Sheng’s excitement cooled at once.

His face grew a bit serious.

He remembered what the two Special Affairs Bureau agents had said before they left and thought: [Delivery is still a problem.]

After all, there was no No. 66 on Wutong Road.