Chapter 155

Chapter 155: Nowhere Land?

Now Bai Li Qing understood how persuasive Yu Sheng’s “let’s try” could be.

The Madam Director, known for reason and calm, thought for a few seconds, then had to accept this “plan” that wasn’t even a plan. There was no other path anyway.

“I hope things really go the way you plan,” said Bai Li Qing, shifting in her chair to a slightly looser posture as she looked at the man before her, “Even if we can’t truly end that Otherworld, at least make it stable and controllable, like most Otherworlds in Boundary City. Fairy Tale has already caused too much harm in the Borderland.”

Then her eyes moved to Foxy.

“We’ll settle Fairy Tale for now. Next… I want to talk about her.”

Yu Sheng at once thought of the hair samples he had given Song Cheng. His face turned serious: “What did you find? Did you locate Foxy’s hometown?”

The Fox Demon girl, who had stayed quiet, pricked up her ears and leaned forward without thinking.

“No. We didn’t,” said Bai Li Qing, shaking her head and pouring a bit of cold water first, “We checked almost all known groups and forces that have official ties to the Borderland, but never found a place that fits her description of ‘home.’ The bio sample search also found nothing. I’m sorry. That’s the bad news I brought.”

The room went quiet. Yu Sheng frowned and turned to look beside him.

Foxy’s ears drooped before his eyes.

Even though the Fox Maiden often said she barely remembered her home and wasn’t set on going back, hearing the bad news still made her downcast.

Yu Sheng reached over and set his hand on Foxy’s. She turned her palm up and clasped his fingers with both hands.

“I’m guessing you’re not here only to tell us that,” Yu Sheng said, letting the Fox Maiden hold his fingers, and looked into Bai Li Qing’s eyes, “What else is there, besides this bad news?”

“…A few questions,” said Bai Li Qing calmly, “Foxy, can you tell me more about your home? Especially what you called the ground under your feet, and what names and legends you had for the big bodies in the sky.”

“She may not remember much,” Yu Sheng reminded her, “She was still in grade school when it happened, and for a long time after that she was in a fog.”

“I know,” Bai Li Qing said with a nod, “Say whatever you remember.”

Foxy glanced at Yu Sheng. When he nodded, she gathered her thoughts and began to describe the home she remembered to Bai Li Qing.

Much of what she said was what Yu Sheng had heard before, and that Li Lin and Xu Jiali had already passed to the Special Affairs Bureau. Bai Li Qing knew most of it.

Even so, Bai Li Qing listened very closely, trying to pull more detail and “reference points” out of Foxy’s words.

“We called our planet Hengyu,” Foxy said, speaking carefully, “Before the space age, it was also called Yuheng, or the Thirteen Continents, because there were thirteen continents in all. Two of them were torn loose during an ancient ‘great upheaval of heaven and earth’ and floated above the equator. Monsters called Nightmares lived up there. The textbook said they were ancient species thrown into the high sky during that upheaval, and over generations they turned into monsters that attacked the human world.

“The Immortals said Nightmares came down many times in history to harm people. Some Cultivators who fought them were written about in history books.

“When the space age began, the two floating lands were rebuilt as launch bases for the Celestial Shuttle. Most of the Nightmares were wiped out. The rest became endangered. The Immortals locked them in the Demon Sealing Palace and the Evil Quelling Palace in Yuheng’s synchronous orbit. You had to buy a ticket at the gate to go see them.

“After the Skyfolk arrived, they built something near Hengyu called a Navigation Beacon. Our Organization went to see it on a field trip. It was a huge ball of light. Around it were many ‘palaces’ even bigger than the Evil Quelling Palace. The Immortals said Waymarks help Hengyu keep up with the Youth Form River. Without Waymarks, Hengyu would fly off course and fall out of the Youth Form River’s lane and drop into the true Open Ground of the universe.

“The Navigation Beacon is the brightest thing near us, well, besides the sun. The sun was something the Skyfolk also towed in for us.”

As Foxy spoke, new bits slipped into her tale. They were likely things she had only recently remembered. But they were just as jumbled as the rest. Even with Yu Sheng’s imagination, he had to work hard to keep up.

Irene gave up halfway. Seeing Yu Sheng and Bai Li Qing still listening so seriously, she poked Yu Sheng’s arm and whispered: “Hey, can you even understand this? Is Silly Fox speaking human words?”

“I’m pretending I do,” said Yu Sheng, brushing the little doll’s hand away, “You butting in is knocking me off the thread.”

Foxy finally reached the end. Bai Li Qing blinked. The Madam Director looked a bit shaken. She stared for six or seven seconds, then frowned slightly and asked: “You just said your Homeworld, Hengyu, has to keep up with the Skyfolk’s Youth Form River? And if it can’t keep up, it will drop into the true Open Ground of space. I’m not sure I understood this right. Are you saying your Homeworld is in some kind of ‘voyage’ state?”

Foxy nodded as if it were obvious and said: “Yes.”

“And even your sun is ‘sailing’? Not moving on its own in space, but under some planned, controllable voyage?”

“Yes.”

Bai Li Qing fell silent again and lowered her head a little, like she was spacing out.

Anyone who knew her would see that it was very rare for the Madam Director to let her mind go blank.

She stayed that way for quite a while, then suddenly raised her head: “Do you remember what happened when you fell into Night Valley? What happened then? What did you see or hear?”

She added: “I know this is a hard memory, but it really matters.”

“It’s… okay. It was a long time ago,” Foxy said, tilting her head as she tried to recall, “I was little, and the lords were protecting me, so I didn’t really get what was happening. I remember an Immortal shouting that ‘we may have hit a crack,’ and then the Celestial Shuttle started spinning, the alarms went off, and…”

She stopped, tried to dig deeper, and went on: “Right, later I heard the lords talking. They said we’d somehow entered a danger zone. They said there had been travel warnings lately, and the navigation should have been serviced. It seemed the Celestial Shuttle’s navigation failed, sent us in a dangerous direction, and on that path we hit a crack.”

She scratched her hair: “That’s all I can remember. The rest… I don’t know.”

Bai Li Qing fell into thought again.

Yu Sheng and Irene kept quiet, curious about the Director’s attitude. From her last few questions, Yu Sheng sensed she likely had a guess in mind. Those questions… were clearly very targeted.

After a while, Bai Li Qing broke the silence: “That crashed Celestial Shuttle you mentioned. Is it still in the Valley?”

“It is,” Foxy said with a nod, “Halfway up the mountain. It crashed into a cleft. Half of it is buried in dirt and stone. Later, when the benefactor made a move, the whole mountain got plowed over. The wreck is probably buried even deeper now. But that thing is very sturdy. It won’t be crushed.”

“Yes, the main structure is intact,” Yu Sheng added, “I checked once from far away, but the terrain there is complicated. When Hunger devoured itself, the whole area collapsed badly. I haven’t had time to clear it, so I still haven’t made a close study.”

Then he realized and looked at Bai Li Qing: “You want to…”

“Do you remember what I told you before? If we ever get the chance, the Special Affairs Bureau hopes to investigate Night Valley,” said Bai Li Qing, very serious, “I’m asking you again now. If possible, we also want to see that vehicle you call a Celestial Shuttle.”

Yu Sheng didn’t answer right away. After a short pause, Bai Li Qing went on: “I know that Valley is under your control. In a sense, it’s your territory. We’ll put up a fair price. Tell us what you want. If it’s reasonable, we’ll try to meet it.”

Yu Sheng thought it over.

He looked at Foxy, who sat quietly at his side.

He looked at Bai Li Qing, whose eyes held a faint hint of hope.

He looked at Irene, who was off in a daydream. [Okay, maybe I don’t need to look at that last one.]

He let out a slow breath.

“I do have a couple of requests. I really need some help,” he said, “But let me confirm one thing first. Does your Special Affairs Bureau… have people who know how to clear land, farm, and raise cattle and sheep?”

“…Huh?” said Bai Li Qing.