Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Emergency Transfer

Snow White was the first to spot Yu Sheng. She waved at once, happy. Many little ones looked over. Only then did they act like normal kids, showing surprise and curiosity. They started chirping questions to the siblings beside them. A few who had met him before shouted with joy, bright and excited.

Yu Sheng walked over fast. He ignored being called “Door Opening bro,” slipped past the little Dollheads, and stopped in front of Little Red Riding Hood. His face was serious as he looked her up and down. She blinked, thrown off, and asked: “What is it?”

“Where is Xiao Xiao?” Yu Sheng asked quickly.

“In that line,” Little Red Riding Hood said, pointing toward the rows of kids. “The one on the far side.”

Yu Sheng looked at once and saw a thin, small girl standing in a group of five and six year olds, a tiny backpack on her back, a pink bottle hanging from her neck. She was waving hard at him.

He smiled and waved back at Xiao Xiao, then turned to Little Red Riding Hood with his expression already heavy: “I just entered the Black Forest Illusion Arts. I thought you or Xiao Xiao had slipped into a subset by accident…”

Little Red Riding Hood’s mouth fell open. Words caught in her throat.

“It looks like the leak rules are changing. Even if the ‘protagonist’ has not entered the dream, the subset tied to them is starting to leak into reality,” Yu Sheng said fast, lifting his eyes to the hall. “Is everyone here?”

“Everyone we could wake is up. Those in ‘nightmares’ cannot be forced awake. Counting the parents, there are twenty two,” Little Red Riding Hood answered. “The King’s close guards, the Knight Order, are holding those rooms. If nothing else works… we will just carry them out.”

“Will that be dangerous?” Yu Sheng asked at once, catching the weight in her tone.

“Moving someone while they are in a nightmare or shocking them too much makes their state unstable. Erosion from the Fairy Tale will speed up. The chance of meeting strong enemies in the subset rises a lot. It is like the real world’s stimulus turns into fear in the nightmare,” Little Red Riding Hood said. “But it is urgent. We probably cannot worry about that now.” She pressed her lips, weighed fast, then drew a breath: “We have your shelter now. If they meet strong enemies, they can fall back to the Wasteland. Give each person a shot of Sanity Blocking Agent to suppress the erosion for now, and take them out by force… The Blocker’s side effects are the smaller problem.”

Yu Sheng frowned, then nodded: “Alright. You handle it.” [Trust the pro.]

Then he walked to the Door at the front of the hall.

The Cursed Children watched him. Dozens of eyes held a mix of tension, confusion, hope, excitement, and worry.

Yu Sheng drew a slow breath and set his hand on the Door’s handle.

“Irene,” he called to the Doll in his mind.

“I am here. How are things over there?”

“Are you at the Valley work site now?”

“You told me to go to the Wasteland…” Irene paused, then caught up. “Right, I have a body at the site. The person in charge here panicked when they heard the Cursed Children would move early. They are putting up a temporary kitchen and tents. The water filter and the generator are already running. If someone is hungry, there are instant noodles…”

“It is fine. The Cursed Children brought snacks,” Yu Sheng cut in. “I am about to do Door Opening. Be ready to receive them. Take the Cursed Children to the platform first. Watch them so no one gets hurt. It is midnight in the real world, but daytime in the Valley. They may get excited. Do not let them run around.”

“Oh, got it! I am ready!”

Yu Sheng finally let out a breath and steadied his focus.

He felt the Door in his hand link to the Valley.

He gently pushed open the Door that normally led to the Orphanage’s outdoor yard in the east wing.

Bright, clear daylight, endless grass, distant mountains, a stream at the foot of the hills, and Miss Doll standing at The Door and waving with a happy smile, appeared for every eye.

The Cursed Children gasped, and then chatter burst out.

It was noisy, but that was how a crowd of kids from five to the early teens should sound. The earlier too quiet lining up and checking did not fit their age.

The chatter lasted only a moment. They calmed quickly. With a few early teens as the core, the teams got back into order, and one by one, the children looked to their nearest parents.

They knew it was an emergency, and it was time to wait for the next instruction.

“Just like a field trip,” Yu Sheng said with a smile to the Cursed Children. “Go on. It is a good place.”

“Come on, everyone follow me-those in back, keep up with the siblings ahead,” Rapunzel called as she led the first team toward the Valley: “Follow orders. Do not run. Stay behind your older siblings and go together to the meeting point.”

The Cursed Children began to cross The Door in lines. Each team had a parent in the middle as a Node. Those around fourteen walked the sides, counting heads as they passed and checking each younger sibling’s state.

A few minutes later, the Knights the King had Summoned reached the hall-tall and broad, carrying still sleeping Cursed Children, moving fast and silent toward the Valley on the far side of the Door.

Now and then, odd sounds still drifted to Yu Sheng from the underground corridors, from outside the east wall, or from some rooms above.

Off key music, Knights shouting, singing, and gunfire.

Outside a nearby window, lights came on. It looked like a feast had begun. A prince would marry a princess who, people said, had slept for one hundred years in the ruins. They would hold a ball in the plaza before the castle. A bonfire would burn and burn until the whole city turned to ash.

Bells rang. A great ship came in to dock in the night sky. Sailors whispered about the secrets of the sea. Rumor said a half human, half fish creature had slipped into the crowd. The smell of the sea spread under the deck. Soldiers on shore lit braziers fueled by whale oil. The hunt would begin when the ship docked.

A row of soldiers marched across the hall’s ceiling, wearing strange smocks like playing cards, and vanished into a corner of the roof.

With little backpacks and hanging bottles, hand in hand, the Cursed Children lined up in the hall. The early teens started a song, and the little ones joined in. Their colorful, off key voices tangled with the court dance music, bugles, whistles, and gunfire. Team after team walked through the ball’s Illusion Arts, through sailors, soldiers, a talking lion, and fire and seawater that had somehow begun to spread across the floor, heading for the bright Valley.

Walk and walk, small hands holding big hands.

“Do not look to either side. Do not let go of the other kids’ hands. Follow your older siblings-let go only after you pass The Door!”

Walk and walk, big hands holding small hands.

“Last team-Jack, go with Rapunzel to help keep order. Listen to Irene after you get there.”

Illusion Arts ebbed again, and all the sounds that did not belong to the real world faded.

“King, take the Knights and check every floor once more. Quick there and back,” Little Red Riding Hood ordered.

As her last words left the air, the hall grew quiet. The smallest Cursed Children had all crossed The Door. Only a few parents still stood in the hall. With most people gone, the Orphanage’s uneasy “mood” finally settled.

Yu Sheng did not know how to name this feeling. He only knew his Spiritual Intuition was calming down.

It seemed tonight’s leak had finally stopped.

“It’s quiet…” Snow White looked around and listened to the Orphanage. “It sounds like it stopped?”

Yu Sheng relaxed a little and asked in his mind: “Irene, how is it over there? Any unusual signs in the Valley? What about the Wasteland?”

“Everything is normal here. The Cursed Children look good after they crossed. No leak in the Valley. The sleeping kids and parents have been moved into a few tents,” Irene answered. After a heartbeat she added: “The Wasteland is fine too. From what everyone is saying, each subset seems to be calming fast.”

The tight line of Yu Sheng’s mouth finally eased. He looked at the still tense Little Red Riding Hood and smiled: “Good news. The Valley’s isolation works.”

Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White both let out a breath.

“Shall we head out too?” Snow White asked. “If we are late, do not let Regeneration change.”

“We checked upstairs and downstairs,” the King’s voice came from the stairs. “All clear. No one left behind.”

Little Red Riding Hood nodded: “Good. We withdraw.”

Two people and a cat quickly crossed The Door into the Valley.

Yu Sheng, of course, stayed last-he was the one doing the Door Opening.

After Little Red Riding Hood stepped through, he let out a small breath and took one final look at the now quiet hall before he crossed.

He froze.

A hollow figure wearing a Hunter’s Garb stood there in silence.

Yu Sheng blinked.

The Hunter vanished in that blink.