Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Angel’s Umbilical Cord

As soon as the words “Umbilical Cord” left Yu Sheng’s mouth, Little Red Riding Hood’s face shifted into a strange look. She frowned a little and said, “I feel like… this isn’t the first time I’ve heard that term.”

Yu Sheng nodded lightly, his expression very serious: “The first time was when I went to the Special Affairs Bureau to read the files about the ‘coming of age’ operation from seventy years ago. After I came back I told you this: one of the Deep Divers who returned to the real world kept repeating two things before he died, ‘a baby’s crying’ and ‘Umbilical Cord’.”

Little Red Riding Hood drew in a quiet breath.

Yu Sheng’s gaze fell again on the “Umbilical Cord” inside the box. [Why would Old Zheng have this? What exactly is this ‘Umbilical Cord’? Whose Umbilical Cord is it? How does it connect to the Fairy Tale?] The outline of an answer seemed to surface. He knitted his brow, trying to fit those faint, scattered clues into a full circle, then spoke, hesitant: “If this ‘Umbilical Cord’ really has something to do with the Dark Angels trapped in the Fairy Tale…”

Little Red Riding Hood couldn’t help taking another breath: “You’re starting to scare me with that.”

She paused, then went on, unsure: “But the key is… Old Zheng is just an ‘ordinary person’ who studies and collects strange objects. At most he knows a few small tricks to protect himself from the supernatural. Something like an ‘Angel’s Umbilical Cord’ would be shocking even inside the Special Affairs Bureau. How did it end up in his hands?”

Yu Sheng didn’t answer right away. In his mind he saw the “Spirit Ring” he had found in Old Zheng’s bedroom, and the black tentacle that slid down from a “Rift” in the ceiling when he touched that ring.

Back then the tentacle waved through the air, like it was searching for something.

Still thinking, he said, carefully: “What if Old Zheng didn’t ‘find’ this Umbilical Cord anywhere, and the Dark Angels gave it to him on purpose?”

Little Red Riding Hood’s eyebrows drew tight. She got what he meant. Her expression grew stranger, then slowly turned into a helpless, complicated smile. She gave a bitter little laugh and muttered, “Old Zheng… Old Zheng…”

She looked up at Yu Sheng, the bitter smile still there: “Do you remember the ‘communing’ runes Old Zheng left behind? Rough and crude. Even in a rookie’s hands they’d count as poor work. But he used those runes to easily contact the ‘Dark Angels’ that those cultists can’t meet even after breaking their necks trying. And now there’s this Umbilical Cord. Do you see how ironic this is? Those Angel Cultists treated Old Zheng like a disposable tool. They even killed him because they thought he would ‘taint’ their lord. But if you follow their own theory, maybe Old Zheng was actually the true chosen of ‘Anka Aila’-at least in terms of how close he was to that Dark Angel, he stood closer than any cultist.”

“For regular people, being born closely linked to a Dark Angel is not a blessing,” Yu Sheng sighed as he closed the lid of the box. “What those Angel Cultists chase with all they have is exactly what normal folks avoid at all costs.”

“We’re taking this with us,” Little Red Riding Hood told Old Zheng’s nephew with a nod. “If you find anything else suspicious among your uncle’s things, contact us right away.”

She paused, then took a notepad and pen from her pocket, scribbled an address, and handed it over: “Also, you may have nightmares for the next couple of days. That’s normal after touching a ‘contaminant.’ The effect is shallow, so there shouldn’t be any lasting problems. If the nightmares won’t stop, go to this address and look for a doctor named Lin. Tell her Little Red Riding Hood sent you. She can help.”

The young man grabbed the slip in a hurry: “Oh, thank you, I’ll remember.”

After leaving Old Zheng’s home, Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood didn’t go straight back to the Orphanage. They strolled together down a quiet side lane near the apartment building.

“When we get back, I’ll make another trip into the Black Forest,” Yu Sheng said, weighing the Wooden Box in his hand. “I’ll bring this ‘Umbilical Cord’ and the bullet the Hunter fired at me last time, and see what happens.”

“I keep feeling like every one of your ideas steps right on the taboos of the Spirit Realm Detective trade,” Little Red Riding Hood said with an eye roll. “Do you know how many safety rules you just broke in that one sentence? If you were an ordinary Spirit Realm Detective, this way of doing things would’ve gotten you killed many times over.”

Yu Sheng chuckled: “Even as a not-so-ordinary Spirit Realm Detective I’ve already died several times.”

Little Red Riding Hood slapped her forehead: “Right. I forgot about that.”

Smiling, Yu Sheng breathed out and looked at the sky: “Okay, this side is wrapped up. Time to head home. Want me to walk you back first?”

“No need. I’ll take the shadow shortcut with my Wolf Pack and run a bit to clear my head.”

“Alright, I’ll head home on my own. Be safe on the way.”

“Got it, got it. Bye.”

The Phantom Door opened in the living room at No. 66 Wutong Road. Yu Sheng stepped through the Door and, in a blink, returned from another part of the city to his home.

As soon as he entered, he saw three Irenes huddled around a computer. One clacked the keyboard, one whipped the mouse so fast it left afterimages, and the last stared at the minimap. Not far away, Foxy was hanging her freshly washed tails one by one on the balcony drying rack. Neat rows of silver white fox tails sparkled in the sunlight.

Seeing this familiar, everyday scene, Yu Sheng relaxed. He hung his jacket on the coat rack by the entry and called to the busy Doll and Fox: “I’m back.”

“Our benefactor is back!” Foxy ran over first, circling Yu Sheng so fast he got dizzy. She asked, bright-eyed: “Did everything go smoothly?”

“Smooth, smooth,” Yu Sheng said, holding Foxy still to stop the spinning. He glanced at the tails drying on the balcony. “By the way, you’ve been washing your tails a lot lately, and it’s always a big production.”

Foxy answered with a straight face: “It’s winter, cold and dry. You have to take care of your tails. After you wash and dry them they get fluffy, and they’re really comfy to hug when you sleep.”

Yu Sheng honestly didn’t get it. When Foxy fights, she fires those well-kept tails like a volley of missiles. And she can grow new ones anytime. Is there really a need for tail care?

But seeing the happy, serious look on the Fox Maiden’s face, he decided not to ask. [Cyber Fox Immortals are probably just like this.]

Just then, one of the Irenes came over. Looking up at Yu Sheng, she asked curiously, “What are you holding?”

Yu Sheng weighed the Wooden Box, his face turning solemn: “If I’m not wrong, it’s the Dark Angels’ ‘Umbilical Cord.’”

All three Irenes froze at once.

From the laptop on the coffee table came the sound of their character dying.

“Ah, come on…” The two Irenes at the computer yelped and hammered the keys, using the respawn timer to flame the game devs with a wall of text.

The Irene in front of Yu Sheng jumped half a step back in an exaggerated way: “What did you just bring into the house?!”

Yu Sheng bent down and opened the Wooden Box to show her.

“This was in Old Zheng’s belongings. Before coming back I stopped by his nephew’s place again,” he explained. “I suspect Old Zheng had a strong bond with the Dark Angel trapped in the Fairy Tale. He probably didn’t fully trust the Angel Cultists either. So after he got this Umbilical Cord during a ritual, he hid it. Now this thing might be the key to the ‘Anka Aila’ mystery.”

At the sight of the shriveled Umbilical Cord on the red velvet lining, Irene reflexively backed up. She couldn’t be affected by mental contamination, but her instincts found it gross. Hearing Yu Sheng’s explanation, she eyed him with doubt and asked in a strange tone: “You’re not planning to steep it in liquor, right?”

Yu Sheng: “…?”

When he didn’t answer, Irene’s face twisted even more: “You’re not going to steep it in liquor… right?”

“Is that really the image you have of me? That I’ll eat anything?” Yu Sheng laughed, then shook his head. “I’m taking it into the Black Forest to see how the Fairy Tale ‘subset’ reacts to this Angel’s Umbilical Cord. Best case, I can figure out the current state of ‘Anka Aila,’ and maybe even find its weakness.”

Irene listened to the “plan,” frowned, and said, “Then maybe you should just steep it in liquor instead?”

“Is my plan really that unreliable?” Yu Sheng asked.

“It’s not about reliable or not,” Irene said, suddenly serious. “Have you considered another possibility? What if bringing this ‘Angel’s Umbilical Cord’ into the Black Forest speeds up the awakening or escape of that Dark Angel? This is the kind of thing we’re dealing with.”

Yu Sheng frowned.

“You’re right. There’s that risk. So I need to be ready to ‘cut off’ this Umbilical Cord at any time,” he said, voice firming. “No matter what, we have to try. We know way too little about the ‘Anka Aila’ of the Dark Angels.”

Seeing the seriousness on his face calmed Irene a lot, but she still asked on reflex: “Nice plan, but are you sure you can cut the Umbilical Cord’s ‘connection’ to the outside world at will? You’re clueless about sealing techniques, aren’t you?”

Yu Sheng thought for a second and answered with a straight face: “If nothing else works, I’ll eat it on the spot.”

The little Doll went blank.

A few seconds later, she jumped straight up: “So in the end you’re still going to eat it?!”