Chapter 082

Chapter 82: Bai Li Qing’s Judgment

Irene felt that Yu Sheng always had countless strange ideas, and he always rushed to carry out even the wildest plans: back when he pulled two lotus roots out of a drawer, she knew it for sure.

Compared with “cutting a bit of meat off the Entity to taste it” and “trying to use lotus root to make a Doll’s body,” planting vegetables in the now quiet Otherworld space did not seem that outrageous.

After walking all around the Valley again and confirming the “edge of the space” from the far side, the three of them decided to return to the real world for now.

They stepped through the Door, and the familiar living room and warm light came into view. Night still lay heavy outside the window. Standing at the glass, Yu Sheng felt a little dazed for a moment: [For a moment, he felt unsteady between two worlds.]

“It’s still bright over there,” Irene climbed onto the windowsill and peered out for a while, then said, “I almost forgot it’s still night here.”

“After those Dark Angels left, it was daytime all the time in the Valley,” said Yu Sheng with a nod, “we stayed there for so long and never saw the light change.”

“There isn’t even a sun over there, so where the light comes from is a mystery,” Irene hopped from the sill onto Yu Sheng, scrambled deftly down his leg to the floor, and chattered as she climbed, “if that’s the case, we should call it the ‘Daylight Valley’…”

Yu Sheng’s eye twitched as he watched her quick, natural climbing: “Hey, aren’t you a little too good at that?”

“Am I? I guess practice makes perfect?”

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched. He looked like he was about to say more, but a sudden ringtone cut him off.

He checked his phone and, not surprisingly, saw the name Bai Li Qing.

“I’m taking this,” he waved to Irene and Foxy and walked to the dining area with the phone.

He had barely connected when Bai Li Qing’s calm voice came through: “Back already?”

The tone was so even that Yu Sheng almost felt she was sitting right there in his living room, watching him with steady eyes: [For a second, it felt like she was right here, looking at me.]

“Uh, yeah,” said Yu Sheng, feeling a little awkward for no reason, “did you have more… activity on your side?”

“We’re used to it,” she said, then went straight to the point: “So, you saw the Night Valley? What’s it like now?”

“I did,” Yu Sheng steadied himself, then paused to ask, “from the way you said that, it sounds like you can’t track it. Doesn’t the Special Affairs Bureau have ways to search for or enter all kinds of Otherworlds?”

She was silent for two seconds.

“Those failed,” she answered honestly, which surprised Yu Sheng. “After the Hunger incident ended, we tried sending investigators, but they couldn’t find the Night Valley.”

“Couldn’t find it?” Yu Sheng caught that wording at once. “You mean not just ‘failed to enter’ but ‘failed to find’?”

“Yes. Literally that. To all our ‘standard probing methods,’ the Night Valley has basically disappeared,” said Bai Li Qing. “So when I learned that you can not only locate it but walk in at will, I was very surprised.”

Yu Sheng thought about it. He had never felt any “surprise” from this poker-faced woman, but he appreciated her frankness: “Then I’ll share what I found. First, I think it needs a new name. After those Dark Angels you mentioned left, the Valley hasn’t had ‘night’ at all. I think that might be its true state.

“Second, from what I’ve seen, Entity-Hunger is gone. It should be permanent.”

He clearly heard a sudden breath and a suppressed gasp on the other end.

There it was, real surprise: [Got it. She didn’t expect that.]

A moment later, Bai Li Qing’s voice came faster than before: “I want to confirm. You said ‘permanently gone’? Do you… understand how Entities and Otherworlds work? Don’t take it the wrong way. I’m just asking.”

“I know. If an Otherworld keeps going, its Entity keeps existing. But Entity-Hunger is gone. Also, the Valley’s nature has changed. I don’t have your equipment, but I think… in a broad sense, the ‘Night Valley’ counts as gone too. What remains is a quiet pocket space. Do you get what I mean? It’s like…”

He got stuck trying to describe it. Then Bai Li Qing’s voice came again:

“An empty shell left after being eaten out, right?”

Yu Sheng blinked. He hadn’t expected a description that precise.

He had hidden a lot: how he started the “feast,” the bond between him and the Valley, what his blood could trigger, and the new “life” slowly appearing there. Most of her intel came from reports sent back by Li Lin and Xu Jiali. Even so, the Director of the Special Affairs Bureau showed sharp instincts and judgment.

“About that ‘shell,’” she said, “the Special Affairs Bureau hopes to send people for an on-site look. Of course, we need your help and your consent.”

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment: [It’s not that I distrust them. But secrets are human nature. And the Valley is tightly tied to me now.]

She noticed the pause.

“Take your time. We won’t push. If you’re willing to open the Door, we can let you choose the investigators, set the headcount and time limits, and you can supervise the whole process,” she said patiently. Her voice was still distant and calm, but she seemed to be working hard to show good faith. “We only want key data. This has never happened before. It would be the first truly ‘eliminated’ Otherworld and Entity. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how meaningful that is to us.”

Since she had said that much, Yu Sheng couldn’t refuse outright: “All right. I’ll think it over for a couple of days.”

…

Watching Bai Li Qing take the call by the window, Song Cheng leaned toward a slightly balding, slightly chubby middle-aged man beside him and whispered, “Hey, Director Wu, was the Director always this easy to talk to?”

“You’re asking me? You deal with her way more than I do,” said the man called Director Wu, dropping his voice even lower. “You know our Information Center is practically invisible. We only have a presence at summary meetings. Your Action Division people even call us ‘server room cave dwellers’…”

Song Cheng chuckled: “That’s actually pretty fitting.”

Director Wu shot him a look, then carefully glanced up at Bai Li Qing still on the phone: “Jokes aside… this is the first time I’ve seen the Director speak so gently and for so long. Is that ‘Yu Sheng’ really that important?”

“Not ‘important.’ Uncanny,” said Song Cheng with a shrug. “Hasn’t your whole center been working nonstop? You must feel it by now.”

“…Don’t remind me.”

Song Cheng smirked and was about to tease him more when a calm, heavy gaze landed on his back. He straightened at once.

“Entity-Hunger has permanently disappeared.”

With that flat sentence from Bai Li Qing, every stray thought in Song Cheng’s head vanished with a boom. Only one giant “Huh?” echoed inside.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out for a long moment.

“When your two field agents return from leave, have them meet with ‘Yu Sheng’ more often,” said Bai Li Qing, not bothered by his daze. “Yu Sheng has Human feelings and behavior. His emotional reactions are real. We need people to build steady trust and a friendly relationship with him. Those two did well. Also, tomorrow send someone to No. 66 Wutong Road with the registration forms. Choose the person carefully. Don’t pick someone who treats Otherworlds and Entities like sworn enemies. Pick someone quick and likable.”

Song Cheng finally came back to himself: “Yes, Director.”

Bai Li Qing nodded, then turned to the slightly balding, slightly chubby middle-aged man beside her, the head of the Special Affairs Bureau’s Information Center.

“How are things on your side?” she asked.

“We’ve checked all possibilities. At least from the System level, there is no Reason for this kind of bug,” Director Wu straightened up at once. “We tried deleting Yu Sheng’s file and re-registering him, but nothing works. The entries ‘float’ in the database. They don’t accept any calls or changes, and there are no error messages. Honestly… if the System won’t raise an alarm, I feel like calling the police myself.”

“Better invite professors from the Academy. Their incense and binary prayers to calm the Machine Spirit are perfect for uncanny problems like this,” said Song Cheng. “Last time, the Fourth Unit’s transport truck got depressed, and they cured it.”

“I’ll contact Terra and have them send people,” said Bai Li Qing with a small nod. “But if the Academy professors have no solution, we stop here. In any case, starting today, do not try to alter any of Yu Sheng’s data in the archive System.”

“Yes, Director.”