Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Exit
The applause roared, as if invisible crowds filled the void, cheering and praising a perfect moment on stage.
Little Red Riding Hood froze for half a second, then blurted, “This works too?!”
Yu Sheng looked even more stunned than she did. “I don’t know! I just proposed a plan—I hadn’t even done anything yet…”
But the applause had begun, and it didn’t care about their confusion. The entire museum seemed to shudder with it, and then it started to change.
With a roar, the room broke apart. Intact ceilings and walls turned into stage scenery and crude props in the blink of an eye, then sank into darkness and nothingness. Color drained from the floor, revealing a dust-covered stage again. Darkness gathered from all directions, and then—clack—beams of light dropped from above like relays snapping on, illuminating the stage and the surrounding audience area.
The theater brightened.
The applause in the empty seats didn’t stop. Only after more than ten seconds did it gradually fade away.
Yu Sheng looked around fast, making sure everyone was still there. Then he met Little Red Riding Hood’s strange stare.
“Uh… I had a bold idea,” he said, helpless. “I figured if we made a big enough commotion, it would meet the curtain call condition. I never actually did it.”
“No.” Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, thoughtful. “I just think you might’ve found a way out that matches the rules of Museum Night… even if it’s a little extreme.
“The entry and exit rules are linked to the theater entrance. Leaving through a curtain call is basically creating a deviation value. The more what happens deviates from the stage, the easier it is to trigger a curtain call.
“I think… ‘detonating a large number of fox tails inside the museum’ definitely counts as a serious off-script event. It’s the kind of thing where even mentioning it on stage is already too much.”
Yu Sheng listened, half-dazed. “Is that really how it works?”
“Who knows? The otherworld is full of things that don’t make sense,” Little Red Riding Hood said, pouting slightly. “Either way, nobody can copy this idea. Not everyone has someone like you around with such an abstract nine-tailed fox.”
Yu Sheng reached up and rubbed the fur behind Foxy’s ear. Foxy squinted happily, muttered, “I’m hungry,” and pulled a flatbread out of her tail to start eating.
“You used up a lot today,” Yu Sheng said, then suddenly remembered something and went pale. “Wait—when we came out so suddenly… did you leave the tails you used to control those security guards back in the white hall?!”
“I brought them,” Foxy said, nodding hard. “The moment the illusion vanished, the tails turned back into demon power and returned.”
“That is incredibly convenient,” Yu Sheng said, with real feeling.
“Let’s get out of here first,” Little Red Riding Hood said softly, looking at the theater still lit by unknown lights. “We go back the way we came. Only when we return to the ticket window will the effects of Museum Night truly fade.”
“Okay.” Yu Sheng nodded, and glanced at the Weeper statue still in his hands.
According to the museum’s rules, any exhibit you’re holding when the curtain call happens—or when the night show ends—can be safely taken out of the otherworld.
Now this thing was his first trophy: the first item a rookie spirit realm detective had carried out with his own hands.
It was light—much lighter than he expected. The material didn’t feel like stone or any other natural substance. If he had to describe it… it felt disturbingly like skin, pale skin stretched tight over something hard, still holding a faint trace of warmth.
Under the overhead lights, the weeping female statue with her face covered gave off a strange aura. Yu Sheng had no idea how much “artistic value” it had, and he didn’t know what the client wanted it for, but if it were him, he’d never put something like this in his home.
They left the stage, passed through the empty audience seats, and walked the corridor they’d used to enter. Unknown lights guided them until they returned to the entrance hall of the old theater.
Little Red Riding Hood went to the dark ticket window and tapped the glass. Only then did the lights abruptly go out.
Along the way, Yu Sheng noticed the wolves Little Red Riding Hood had brought prowling and sniffing through the shadows. Even now, a few of them circled near the ticket window and the mouth of another passage leading deeper into the theater.
He asked quietly, “What are they doing?”
“Checking for anyone else’s scent,” Little Red Riding Hood said in a low voice. “The node didn’t warn us, but someone definitely came into the museum. They couldn’t have gotten in out of thin air… unless someone else can come and go from the otherworld anytime, anywhere with door opening, just like you.”
Yu Sheng waved that off immediately. “Probably not. My door opening triggers an alarm too—and I’ve heard it makes a huge commotion. Besides, didn’t you just say we should avoid getting involved with Angel Cultists as much as possible?”
“…Yeah.” Little Red Riding Hood hesitated, then nodded. The wolves prowling around silently gathered back and melted into the shadows at her side.
They pushed through the theater’s front door and returned to the city’s night.
It was already midnight. Aside from the occasional car on the distant main road, everything was quiet.
Little Red Riding Hood took the Weeper statue from Yu Sheng, retrieved the large backpack she’d hidden in the landscaping bushes near the museum entrance, and packed the statue away.
“I’ll take the item to the client from the Curiosities Association and settle the commission. I’ll also ask some contacts to look into whether there’s anything behind this commission,” she said, teaching him as she spoke. “The payment can be transferred to you as soon as tomorrow. Border Comms has transfer functions—bind your bank card later and withdraw the balance.
“Spirit realm detectives and investigators usually only recognize transactions through Border Comms, because offline deals aren’t protected by the Borderland Councilor. If you take cash under the table, you take the risk yourself.”
“Mm.” Yu Sheng answered absentmindedly, still turning things over in his head. “About what happened in the white exhibition hall…”
“I’ll report it. The Special Operations Bureau will probably contact you soon for details,” Little Red Riding Hood said casually. “You’re definitely on their radar. They’ll take it seriously. They might even invite you to investigate further, or… tell you some things about dark angels. But remember what I said. Try not to have too much contact with that kind of thing. Plenty of seasoned investigators and spirit realm detectives have ruined themselves on matters like that.”
She stopped, then shook her head with a strange expression. “But maybe I’m saying too much. You’re not exactly a normal person.”
“Thanks for caring,” Yu Sheng said. He didn’t mind her bluntness at all. Then he sighed. “Even though I’ve already said it once, I still can’t help it… you’re really used to taking care of people.”
Little Red Riding Hood froze, suddenly awkward. “Uh… I never noticed. But there are a lot of members in Fairy Tale who are even younger than me, so maybe I picked up the habit?”
Yu Sheng smiled like he understood.
From an angle Little Red Riding Hood couldn’t see, his gaze held a little more warmth and respect.
They said goodbye at an intersection near the museum. Little Red Riding Hood and her wolf pack melted into the shadows under the night sky, phantom shapes sweeping through the darkness like wind. In a blink, they vanished.
“…That really is convenient, especially for traveling at night,” Yu Sheng murmured, staring the way she’d gone. “Saves taxi money too.”
He meant it as a joke, but Foxy lowered her head, voice full of shame. “I’m sorry, Benefactor. I make too much noise when I travel. I can’t take you all home…”
Yu Sheng hurried to wave his hands. “No, no. I don’t care.”
“So how do we get back?” Irene asked, curious. “Taxi again? What if it’s that Xu Jiali coming to pick us up? I don’t want to ride in his car…”
“Door opening back,” Yu Sheng said casually.
Irene blinked. “Huh? Didn’t you say in the museum you wouldn’t use door opening late at night and scare the Special Operations Bureau?”
Yu Sheng pulled out his phone. “Are you kidding? We’re out now. The phone has signal. I can call them and warn them first. Then nobody gets scared, right?”
He pointed at his shoulder. Earlier he’d been bitten by the giant wolf that emerged from Little Red Riding Hood’s shadowspawn. The wound had healed, but his clothes were still soaked in blood, and under the streetlights it looked like something out of a crime scene.
“And look at me. If we call a car and it’s a normal rideshare driver, we might scare them half to death.”
As he spoke, he dialed the number Bai Li Qing had left him.
A moment later, a voice that sounded half-asleep came through. “Who?”
“Me. Yu Sheng,” he said quickly. “Uh… did I wake you up?”
“…Yeah. I just fell asleep, but it’s fine.” Bai Li Qing’s voice was as cold as ever, with no clear emotion. “What happened?”
Yu Sheng immediately felt awkward. “I’m going to open a door. I wanted to report it to the Special Operations Bureau first. I didn’t know who to call, so I called you…”
The line went silent for two seconds.
Yu Sheng had no idea what Bai Li Qing was thinking in that pause, but when she spoke again, her voice was still calm. “Okay. Understood. I’ll notify the monitoring unit to temporarily skip the next alarm signals. Open door opening in about two minutes.”
Yu Sheng wiped a sheen of cold sweat off his forehead. Even with her calm tone, he still felt pressure. “Oh. Okay, thanks… I won’t bother you anymore. Get some sleep after you’re done. Good night.”
“…Okay. Good night.”
Yu Sheng hung up and let out a long breath into the night.
Irene, perched on his shoulder, immediately poked his head. “She definitely spent those two seconds cursing.”
“You heard that?” Yu Sheng stared at her.
“Spiritual intuition.”
“…Your spiritual intuition can do that?”
“Of course!”