Chapter 218

Chapter 218: After the Overflow Faded

Yu Sheng stood still at the entrance to The Door, one hand holding the passage to the Valley while his eyes locked on the deep end of the hall, fixed on the stairs that led underground.

He was sure he had just seen the Hunter’s figure: the worn Hunter’s Garb, a heavy hood, and emptiness under that hood. The person stood there in his view, quiet and motionless. It lasted only a blink, but that Hunter was absolutely staring this way.

Why would the Hunter appear? Was it because Little Red Riding Hood left last, so the Black Forest subset had not fully faded yet? Was it something left behind in this building? Or was Anka Aila’s activity getting worse? Also, Yu Sheng was certain the figure had been looking at him. That mysterious Hunter might have wanted to say something to him. [What was he trying to tell me?]

He frowned hard, and then he noticed movement beside the Door he had opened. Irene leaned in, peering through The Door with bright curiosity as she asked: “Hey? Yu Sheng, why aren’t you coming over?”

He answered fast: “Take Little Red Riding Hood and the others to settle the Cursed Children first. I’ll check here again and come back in a bit.”

“Okay,” the little Doll nodded without asking more, then she grumbled as she backed away: “But come soon. There are a lot of kids here, and once they settle in, they’ll probably try to catch me. I won’t be able to hold them off…”

Yu Sheng agreed without thinking and let go of The Door’s handle.

The passage to the Valley closed in a heartbeat. The scene within the frame of The Door vanished as if it had never been there, leaving only the empty courtyard outside the east wing, steeped in night.

With a tight and wary feeling in his chest, Yu Sheng checked the first floor, then went up to the second, walking slowly along the corridor.

The lights were on. Doors stood open. Inside, he could see the traces left by the Cursed Children when they moved out in a hurry: beds not made, belongings left on tables or at the foot of beds, a chair knocked over and left on the floor.

Only Yu Sheng’s footsteps echoed in the quiet, empty hall.

There were no strange sounds, no sudden lights outside the windows, and no weird shadows that seemed to rise out of thin air or crawl out of the walls. He checked the second and third floors and found nothing unnatural.

It looked like the overflow from Fairy Tale had really stopped once the Cursed Children were moved. The Hunter he had seen earlier was probably just some kind of aftershock.

[Is it really just that?] He still felt unsure, and then his phone rang.

It was Song Cheng. The workers in the Valley had been told about the early transfer, so of course the Special Affairs Bureau would hear too.

He picked up and spoke before the other person could: “The Cursed Children have been moved out. The overflow at the Orphanage has stopped. All the Illusion Arts that bled into the real world have faded. I’m patrolling the hallways. I’m the only one left here now.”

“Good,” came a relieved voice. “If the overflow is over, that’s what matters. A squad is already on the way to you. About ten minutes out. They’ll take over monitoring the site.”

“Got it. I’ll wait,” Yu Sheng said, glancing through a corridor window toward the sky in the direction that had been lit up by the ‘Prince’ earlier with anti-air fire. “There were Illusion Arts spilling out everywhere just now. Some even stretched beyond the walls of the Orphanage or into the sky. Did they cause any serious effect around us?”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you,” Song Cheng answered, his tone turning heavy. “So far there are no witness reports. The sensors we set around the Orphanage haven’t detected anything odd either. We’re checking the other sensors and the latest data from nearby Nodes, but as of now, it looks like none of our equipment picked up the ‘overflow Illusion Arts’ you described.”

Yu Sheng stopped walking, stunned.

Those Illusion Arts pouring out of the nightmare had made such a huge scene. There had been the thunder of guns and bright fire streaking into the sky. And outside the Orphanage there was nothing at all? No witness reports might be normal, since it was late at night and the Orphanage had Node devices that screened out ordinary people. But for the Special Affairs Bureau’s monitors to catch nothing felt wrong.

[Could those overflow Illusion Arts be visible only inside the Orphanage?] He told Song Cheng his guess.

After two or three seconds of silence, Song Cheng replied: “Very possible. Those overflowing Illusion Arts are still the Fairy Tale members’ nightmares at heart. They are not real objects invading reality yet. You also said they left no marks after fading. That means their ‘visibility’ is still very limited.”

“Then we should be grateful we stopped it while they were still only Illusion Arts,” Yu Sheng sighed.

Just then, he saw a few lights outside the Orphanage wall, the glow of headlights near the corner.

“Our people are there,” Song Cheng said in his ear. “They’re at the door.”

“I see them. I’ll go meet them,” Yu Sheng answered.

He reached the Orphanage’s front door. As soon as he stepped out, he saw several black vans with the Special Affairs Bureau logo stopped by the wall. Doors slid open. More than a dozen fully geared agents jumped down, black figures armed to the teeth like future operatives. The team looked extremely professional. One face in the group was very familiar.

Li Lin.

Yu Sheng froze for a second, not quite daring to believe it. Li Lin was in full tactical armor with a gun in his hands. The look would fit an NPC in a shooter, the kind you need a whole magazine to put down. But Yu Sheng’s strongest memory of this young guy was buying discount instant noodles at the neighborhood store and squatting by the road like a street tough.

The mental image of that street tough and the elite agent in front of him clashed so hard they would not fit together until Li Lin walked up to him. Only then did Yu Sheng raise a hand and greet him: “Uh, it’s you?”

“Yeah,” Li Lin nodded, then snapped to attention and recited in a crisp, trained tone, “Special Affairs Bureau, Second Action Squad, Fairy Tale emergency response unit. Li Lin. Acting on-site lead. Taking over monitoring and garrison of this area.”

Yu Sheng blinked and blurted: “You’re the on-site lead?”

“I got reassigned here at the last minute,” Li Lin said, and his face twisted into a bitter look as he leaned closer to whisper, “Brother Yu, I’m freaking out right now…”

Yu Sheng had been struggling to adjust to Li Lin’s current look, but the moment Li Lin spoke like his old self, Yu Sheng could not help laughing. He asked out of curiosity: “Where’s Xu Jiali?”

“He’s a Deep Diver, on standby at headquarters. If the Otherworld really goes out of control, he’ll be deployed in,” Li Lin murmured. “Our group is here to keep watch. How are things inside now?”

“Ahem, no problem now, but it was lively just before,” Yu Sheng coughed twice, then gave a quick rundown of what had happened in the Orphanage. “That’s the gist. The overflow has stopped since the Cursed Children left, but we don’t know if the Orphanage itself has any ‘mutation’ factors, so someone still needs to watch it. I’m heading to the shelter to look after things there. I’ll leave this place to you.”

“Copy that. Leave it to us,” Li Lin nodded right away, sounding truly reliable for once. “Go with peace of mind.”

[Something about that sounded ominous.] Maybe he was just touchy from dying too many times lately.

He did not dwell on it. After giving the young agent all the details about the overflow Illusion Arts, plus warnings and notes, Yu Sheng waved, sent in a quick report on his phone, opened a Door Opening, and stepped into the Valley.

The second he crossed the Portal, Irene’s shrill voice hit his ears: “Aaaah, Yu Sheng! Help! Can someone please handle these little terrors!”

Yu Sheng jumped. He saw several Dollheads racing in circles over the grass, and Irene sprinting ahead like a rabbit, her short legs pumping so fast they might spark.

Farther away, he could see a few “parents” from the Fairy Tale Organization leading groups of kids to rest on the grass and platform. Little Red Riding Hood was near the work site, talking with the person in charge. The Fox was running this way.

Good. The Cursed Children were safe here and settling in. Relief washed through him.

Smiling, Yu Sheng walked to meet the excited Fox who was shouting as she ran: “Benefactor, benefactor, human cubs are so fun!”

Yu Sheng was still smiling when he suddenly stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, he finally noticed what was happening on the far side of the platform. Several Fox tails, burning with blue fire, were zipping through the air above the grass, and each tail had a delighted Dollhead hanging from it.

Cold sweat burst out on his back as he shouted: “No! You cannot play like that!”

Irene was still running in circles on the grass not far away, shouting louder than he was: “You cannot play like that either! Will someone please take care of this!”