Chapter 142

Chapter 142: When Tomorrow Suddenly Felt Worth Looking Forward To

Yu Sheng didn’t waste words. The moment Little Red Riding Hood agreed, he reached out and pulled open a door in the corridor—right in front of Princess Rapunzel and Xiao Xiao.

A faint, glowing doorway appeared out of thin air. Beyond it was an unfamiliar world.

“Wha—” Princess Rapunzel’s eyes went wide. She stared as if her brain had stopped processing. “This is… what?”

Yu Sheng held the door steady. “My ability. Little Red Riding Hood didn’t tell you?”

“She mentioned it, but…” Princess Rapunzel still looked stunned. Then her curiosity surged. She leaned closer, peering into the light. “What’s on the other side?”

“Interested?” Yu Sheng smiled. “You can come too.”

His gaze dropped to Xiao Xiao. “Want to go play? It’s hard to find a place that wide in Boundary City.”

Xiao Xiao lifted her head, cautious and questioning, and looked to her guardian.

Little Red Riding Hood’s frown deepened. For some reason, the scene beyond the door looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t trust the angle. Still, Yu Sheng’s half-smile made one thing clear: it was safe.

After a brief hesitation, she nodded at Princess Rapunzel. “Come. If Yu Sheng says it’s fine, it’s fine.”

“Uh… okay. Then I’ll tell the others. I’ll be right back!” Princess Rapunzel spun and dashed down the corridor.

Minutes later, she came rushing back with a small backpack. “I’m back! We can go now!”

Yu Sheng stared at the bag. “What’s that?”

“Water bottle, tissues, snacks, bandages,” Princess Rapunzel said as she fastened it onto Xiao Xiao. “Kids need these when they go out. Oh—and a hat. I forgot her little yellow hat. Wait for me—”

“We’re not going on a field trip,” Yu Sheng said, torn between laughter and helplessness. “There aren’t cars or intersections where we’re going. And if we really need something, I can always open a door back.”

“Huh?” Princess Rapunzel blinked, a beat late. “Oh. Oh, okay.” She stared at the doorway again. “So what is it?”

“Nothing special,” Irene said from Yu Sheng’s shoulder, casual as ever. “Just a vegetable patch.”

Princess Rapunzel looked even more confused, but before she could ask again, Little Red Riding Hood stepped through.

Foxy followed. Then Irene.

Yu Sheng held the doorway with one hand and gestured for Princess Rapunzel and Xiao Xiao with the other. “Go on. You’ll be shocked.”

There was a flicker of weightlessness, a blink of dizziness, the strange disorientation of the world switching under your feet.

Then they were no longer in the orphanage.

They stood beneath an open sky in a vast valley, mountains rising on either side. The wind smelled like soil and grass.

Princess Rapunzel stared, slack-jawed. Xiao Xiao’s eyes went wide, a bright, unfamiliar light spilling into her expression. The sight hit her like a wave.

“Wow—!”

A huge smile split her face. She pointed at the distant ridgelines and the pale green wash over the land, then burst into giggles.

No one knew what she was laughing at. They only knew she was happy—truly happy.

But Little Red Riding Hood, who had crossed first, stood rooted in place. She didn’t seem to hear the laughter behind her at all. She stared at the mountains, her expression sliding from confusion to shock—and then to something tighter, almost fearful.

Then her gaze dropped, and she saw the platform in the center of the valley, the clearly leveled stretches of vegetable plots beyond it, an unfinished irrigation channel cut along one side, and—

That ugly, makeshift toilet at the edge of the platform.

Her thoughts slammed into a wall. She tried again and again to form an explanation, and nothing held.

All she could do was look up at Yu Sheng.

He was watching her with that same half-smile.

“Do you remember what I told you?” Yu Sheng said quietly as he walked up. “That I was going to solve the black forest, and even solve fairy tale.”

Little Red Riding Hood didn’t answer.

“You said fairy tale can’t be eradicated,” Yu Sheng continued. “That otherworlds are just that kind of thing. But I don’t agree.”

He opened his arms slightly, as if presenting the valley itself. “Look at this place. This is my proof.”

“This is… Nightfall Valley?” Little Red Riding Hood finally managed, but her voice cracked on the words.

“That used to be its name.” Yu Sheng looked out toward the distant slopes. “I’m planning to rename it. Ever since Big Eyes left, there hasn’t been any night here. Now I’m more worried about how to restore a normal day-night cycle. If it’s always daytime, some vegetables won’t grow well. But I have no idea how to build a greenhouse.”

Little Red Riding Hood blinked. Her ears worked, but her mind lagged behind.

Then she snapped back, driven by instinct. “Wait. What about the hunger entity that used to haunt this place?”

“Gone.” Yu Sheng spread his hands. “That dish you saw the last time I kept you for dinner was the final plate.”

Irene lifted her chin, adding cheerfully, “And he was pretty sad about it, too.”

Little Red Riding Hood stared at her. Then at Yu Sheng. “…Gone?”

A storm of deductions exploded across her face.

“You mean… this place will never regenerate a hunger entity again?”

Yu Sheng nodded. “That’s right. From now on, this place won’t generate hunger. I’m turning it into a production base for Hotel—meat, vegetables, grain. It’s still early, but we’re getting there.”

Little Red Riding Hood barely heard the last part. She stepped forward, eyes sharp as a wolf’s.

“So the rules of this otherworld were permanently changed?” Her breath hitched. “No… an otherworld’s rules are its essence. If the rules changed, then the original otherworld…”

Her thoughts tangled. “That means it died? But this valley is still here…”

“Bai Li Qing has a very fitting way of putting it,” Yu Sheng said, waving a hand lightly in front of her face like he was calming someone down from a fever dream. “This valley is like an empty shell left behind after being eaten out. The rules that filled the shell—and the entity born from those rules—were worn away in that grand feast. What’s left is just a harmless husk.”

He paused, then added, “And that husk seems to have connected with Wu Tong Road 66. I still haven’t untangled the space-time structure between the two, but if you want an easy way to think about it… you’re standing in the courtyard of Wu Tong Road 66 right now.”

Little Red Riding Hood didn’t respond.

She didn’t seem to register the second half at all.

She just stood there, unmoving, staring at the clear sky and the land that had healed—at an otherworld that no longer reeked of hunger and despair.

Soft footsteps pattered up.

Xiao Xiao ran over, beaming. In her small hands was a bundled fistful of wild grass. She thrust it toward Little Red Riding Hood, proud as anything.

“Red Hood Sister! Flowers!”

Then the little girl froze.

Her hand stayed raised. She looked up, suddenly uneasy. “Why are you crying? Does it hurt? Is your body going to crack open too?”

By the end, she was on the verge of panic.

Little Red Riding Hood lowered her head quickly, wiping her face with the back of her hand. When she looked up again, her eyes were smiling.

She took the bundle and rubbed Xiao Xiao’s head. “No. The wind got into my eyes.” She tilted the grass. “And this is just grass. There aren’t any flowers.”

“It fell on the road,” Xiao Xiao said happily. “Then the wind blew it away. You have to pretend it’s still in your hand…”

“…Okay.” Little Red Riding Hood rubbed her hair a little harder. “It’s still there. Thank you for the flowers.”

Then she looked around for Princess Rapunzel.

Rapunzel had somehow climbed onto the platform. She was studying something beside that weird, ugly “little house.” After a moment, she looked up and waved with bright excitement.

“Hey! Little Red Riding Hood! There are chickens next to this toilet! A whole bunch!”

Little Red Riding Hood narrowed her eyes under the bright sun.

How wonderful, she thought. Suddenly there were things worth looking forward to again. How wonderful.

Only Yu Sheng looked utterly miserable.

“That’s not a toilet!” he shouted, hopping in place and waving his arms at the girl on the platform. “That’s Phase One of our club headquarters!”