Chapter 199

Chapter 199: Your Good Friend Yu Sheng Brings You a New Job

With the unreal swing of The Door opening, Yu Sheng stepped back into the living room at 66 Wutong Road.

The thin wail of a baby faded from his ears. Warm lights and familiar home sights drove away the cold pressure of the Forest at once. He took a long breath to ease the tightness in his chest.

Foxy looked back toward where The Door had vanished and asked with worry: “Is it really okay to leave Squirrel there like that?”

Yu Sheng shook his head and said: “We can’t bring it out. Squirrel entered the Black Forest many, many years ago and is now fully part of that Forest. If we dragged it out, who knows what would happen. But don’t worry. It has lived there for so long. It will be fine.”

Irene climbed down from his shoulder and said while crawling along the couch: “Right. And I feel like Squirrel is more relaxed now. It used to seem crazy. It still isn’t fully normal, but it is much better than before.”

Yu Sheng answered with a quiet hum, then lowered his eyes to the Angel’s Umbilical Cord (counterfeit) and the Hunter’s bullet he had brought back.

After he left the Black Forest, the Umbilical Cord that had shown signs of partial activation went back to its first shriveled state. Now it lay quietly in its box.

As for the Hunter’s bullet, he had not met the Hunter in the end.

He rubbed his chin and thought: [Next time I should bring Little Red Riding Hood into the Black Forest. At least I can use the Forest’s rules to force Wolf Granny to show up. Only then will I have a chance to meet the Hunter.]

Another thought struck him and made him pause: [If I carry the Angel’s Umbilical Cord while entering the Black Forest with Little Red Riding Hood, what will happen? Will she be pulled to see those early memories too? Will she also see the first Little Red Riding Hood’s phantom and the early shape of the Black Forest? Or were those returns to the past a one time thing? Or will we see memories from another time period?]

He drifted off again and stood there for a long time without moving. Irene bumped his leg with her head and asked: “Hey, why are you zoning out again?”

Yu Sheng snapped back and said: “Oh, nothing. I was thinking about taking Little Red Riding Hood into the Black Forest next time. I’d like to test if the Angel’s Umbilical Cord can do anything else.”

Irene waved that off and asked: “Save that for next time. What about now?”

Yu Sheng thought a moment, pulled out his phone, and said: “First I should report our new intel to the Special Affairs Bureau. And I need to tell them about the Angel’s Umbilical Cord.”

He scrolled through his contacts. He saw Li Lin and Xu Jiali first, but since this was big, his eyes slid to Song Cheng. After one or two seconds of hesitation, he frowned and tapped a different name and said: “No. For this, I have to call Bai Li Qing.”

Irene muttered from the side and said: “She’s a director. She can’t just keep taking your calls all day. You call so often you sound like someone selling insurance. It is lucky she’s polite and hasn’t yelled at you to your face.”

Yu Sheng glared at the little doll and said: “This is Dark Angels level intel. She probably wishes I called more.”

He had not noticed the call had already connected. As soon as he finished, he heard Bai Li Qing’s unusually urgent voice in his ear as she asked: “What intel?”

He coughed, gathered his thoughts, and said: “Dark Angels. About Anka Aila. Long story. I’ve got new progress on the investigation, and I need you to help me find some files. That’s why I’m calling.”

Bai Li Qing kept her voice firm and said: “Give me the short version first so I can plan.”

Yu Sheng nodded to himself and said: “It starts with me getting an Angel’s Umbilical Cord.”

He heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end.

Then she made a quick decision and said: “We will talk in person.”

In the very next second, she lifted her eyes and watched Yu Sheng push open The Door into her office and sit down in front of her. He tipped his head at her and said: “Sure. In person.”

Even the famously stone faced Madam Director went blank for a beat.

After several seconds, she managed one line and asked: “Did you file a report?”

Yu Sheng waggled his phone and said: “I did. Your phone system works great.”

She nodded, expression a little strange, then glanced behind him and asked: “Those two, Irene and Foxy, didn’t come with you this time?”

He waved it off and said: “We’re just opening The Door for a talk. No need to bring everyone. Your office is close enough now anyway.”

Bai Li Qing calmed herself, took a slow breath, and said: “Fair enough. Now tell me. What is this about the Angel’s Umbilical Cord? Did you bring it?”

Yu Sheng did not stall. He walked over and set a Wooden Box on her desk and said: “It’s right here. I know you’ll be interested. You can study it and even take small samples, but you cannot damage it as a whole, and I will take it with me when I leave. I still need it.”

One of Bai Li Qing’s eyebrows twitched when he thunked a box holding an Angel’s Umbilical Cord onto her desk. She carefully lifted the lid and examined the contents with her faded eyes.

In the air behind her, it felt as if a second pair of eyes faintly formed, peeking with her at what lay in the box.

When Yu Sheng said he still had use for it, she looked up at him with an odd expression and, before she could stop herself, blurted out and asked: “Soak it in liquor?”

Yu Sheng stared and said: “…What? Why do you both think that?”

She blinked and asked: “Both?”

Yu Sheng frowned harder and said: “Irene said the same thing.”

Bai Li Qing fell silent for a moment, then quickly reset her posture and face.

She spoke crisply and said: “I’ll have Dispatch send a retrieval team now. The lab will run a quick analysis. Don’t worry, we’ll follow your limits. You can take it back anytime.”

Yu Sheng nodded.

The retrieval team arrived fast. It seemed there were many such teams on standby on different floors of the building, ready to secure whatever dangerous thing popped up. After only a few minutes, heavy footsteps thudded down the hall, and several tall figures in full heavy protective suits, their faces hidden behind thick visors, stepped into the office.

They used a special container to take the Angel’s Umbilical Cord. Once they were gone, Bai Li Qing fixed her eyes on Yu Sheng again.

Yu Sheng spoke first and said: “Let me list the files I need. The terms are vague, so searching will take time. First, for the orphanage where Little Red Riding Hood lives, I need reports from before the first Fairy Tale Otherworld outbreak, maybe even earlier. Look for ‘falling objects,’ ‘impacts,’ or ‘visions and voices.’ The rough picture is a glowing ellipsoid dropping from the sky without sound and then vanishing. See if there were any similar sightings.”

He added another point and said: “Also in that same time period, check that orphanage and the nearby area for abnormal signals. I don’t know what to call them. Signs of an Angel’s Descent. My guess is that Anka Aila tried to descend then, but the process was interrupted. If so, the Special Affairs Bureau might have recorded some trace at the time without realizing what it was.”

Bai Li Qing listened with a very serious face. Every item made the matter feel heavier. She held back several times, but finally she could not help it and asked: “Hold on. You’re saying Anka Aila had already begun to descend back then, but it was interrupted? Interrupted by what?”

Yu Sheng answered plainly and said: “By a child, with a Fairy Tale book. I know that sounds unbelievable, so I think the main reason was that Anka Aila’s state was already unusual. The child just pushed at the critical moment.”

He lifted a second finger and said: “That leads to the second set of files: missing children tied to that orphanage. The time is still before the first Fairy Tale Otherworld outbreak. There should be one missing child from that orphanage, and a Fairy Tale book vanished with the child.”

Bai Li Qing opened her laptop, typed commands to her staff, and at the same time looked up to remind him and said: “I should warn you. These will be hard to find. ‘Operation Adulthood’ happened seventy years ago. The first Fairy Tale outbreak was roughly eighty years ago. What you’re asking about is even earlier.”

She tapped a key, let out a small breath, and said: “The technology and systems back then were not as good as today, and that orphanage’s management was messy.”

Yu Sheng had expected it to be difficult, but he still frowned and asked: “Messy enough that even a missing child might have no record?”

Bai Li Qing paused, exhaled lightly, and said: “In theory, not that bad. Anyway, let’s hope this goes smoothly.”