Chapter 219

Chapter 219: A Little Mischief

After a tense, chaotic scramble, Yu Sheng finally got the dollheads down from the “cruise missiles.”

The good news: nobody got hurt.

The bad news: Foxy looked mildly unsatisfied, and several children who hadn’t gotten a turn looked openly devastated.

“It’s actually very safe,” Foxy muttered, fidgeting at the side. “I didn’t let the tails fly too high. And even if someone fell, I could catch them right away. Back home, our children play like this all the time…”

“Your hometown’s ‘martial virtue’ is not the same as here,” Yu Sheng said, glaring. “Kids over there in kindergarten probably already know swordflight!”

The moment the words left his mouth, he turned toward the groups of resting children.

Foxy froze for half a second, then hurried after him, still trying to explain. “No, benefactor, it’s not like that. We start swordflight in elementary school…”

Yu Sheng nearly tripped.

The fairy tale members on the platform had already noticed the commotion. As Yu Sheng approached, several guardians came over. Princess Snow White was still smiling.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to be so nervous,” she said. “We confirmed it with Miss Foxy, and she… uh, her tail control is honestly unbelievable.”

Yu Sheng looked at the familiar faces, then glanced at Foxy, who was smiling sweetly as if she hadn’t just tried to turn the valley into an amusement park. He scratched his head.

“How is it that in such a short time, you’ve all gotten close already?” he said. “Both the older kids and the little ones are adapting like they’re back home.”

“This place is better than we imagined,” the Little Match Girl said softly, her Rapunzel-like hair draped over her shoulders. “Unbelievably so.”

She smiled, then added gently, “And we should also thank Miss Irene. She helped everyone get familiar with the surroundings and helped the little children relax. At first, everyone was nervous. A moment earlier, everything around us was uncontrolled leaking illusions. Some people are still asleep in the tents and can’t be woken. It was Miss Irene who confirmed their condition on the Sanctuary Wasteland side.”

“Oh?” Yu Sheng said, genuine appreciation brightening his voice. “Then she’s pretty reliable.”

He looked around. “Where’s Irene?”

The moment he finished, Irene’s scream came from behind him.

“Yu Sheng, you jerk! You still have the nerve to ask?! Come help!”

Yu Sheng turned and saw Irene being chased again—but it was clearly a new pack of kids. The earlier group had switched targets and was now chasing the King across the hills.

As Irene sprinted past, Yu Sheng reached out and scooped her up. Half laughing, half helpless, he raised his voice toward the children.

“Alright, alright. Break it up. Sister Irene is tired. Let her rest.”

The children dispersed, remarkably obedient once the order was given.

Yu Sheng looked at the doll now sprawled over his shoulder like a sack of flour, refusing to move.

“Is it really that bad?” he asked. “You can’t handle a bunch of six- and seven-year-olds? What about your super magic, super strength, and super skills?”

“How could I?” Irene shot back, still trying to sound tough through exhaustion. “They’re all tiny arms and legs. If I get serious, it takes less than a second, and then you’ll be calling the Special Operations Bureau to explain why you suddenly need forty pediatric beds! I was going easy on them… man, I’m exhausted. Why are human pups so full of energy…”

Yu Sheng laughed. Carrying her, he sat down at the platform’s edge and looked out over the valley.

This place had never been this lively.

Children ate and rested on the grass. The older kids helped at the temporary camp. Newly awakened children and guardians stepped out of the tent area, looking around with wonder and a little restraint. A pack of energetic little ones ran wild near the grass’s edge, chasing the tabby cat called the King.

There was no oppressive mood, no panicked refugee atmosphere—at least not among the youngest. They had already relaxed, as if this sunlight belonged to them.

“That’s good,” Yu Sheng murmured. “Little kids should be like this. Back at the orphanage, when they gathered… they were too well-behaved. Way too well-behaved.”

“When it’s time to be tense, be tense. When it’s time to relax, relax,” Little Red Riding Hood said, sitting down beside him.

She dangled her legs over the platform edge, swinging them lightly. “I told them the danger phase is over. This is a safe place, so they can play for a while. Just don’t leave the grass.”

“…Do you know what time it is?” Yu Sheng asked.

Little Red Riding Hood tilted her head.

“Four thirty in the morning,” Yu Sheng said, pulling a face. “They’re this energetic. Their schedule is wrecked on day one.”

“What can we do?” she said, sounding like she was complaining, but smiling anyway. “We gathered in an emergency at two thirty. By the time we got here, it was broad daylight, and everyone got wired. And there still aren’t enough places to sleep. Later, when they get sleepy, they’ll have to squeeze into tents or crawl into sleeping bags on the grass.”

She paused, thoughtful. “Still… it’s kind of interesting.”

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Interesting?”

“Running out of the orphanage in the middle of the night, carrying rushed-packed luggage, fleeing to the middle of nowhere,” Little Red Riding Hood said slowly. “Then building a temporary camp with lords. People helping, people messing things up, people running around. And you can even hug fox tails for low-altitude flybys.”

She glanced sideways at Yu Sheng. “Like jumping from one dream into another. Messy, a little reckless, and maybe even… a bit of mischief.”

Her gaze held his. “Do you think it has that kind of mischief feeling?”

Yu Sheng blinked, then laughed. “Yeah. It really does.”

The children living in that orphanage probably didn’t get many chances to mess around like this.

They were always proper. In their short lives, they always had to be proper.

Generation after generation of Little Red Riding Hood and Princess Snow White… maybe only today, in this rushed and slightly chaotic emergency shelter, did they finally get a chance to be mischievous once—unexpected things happening, doing things they’d never done before, people sprinting ahead while nightmares chased behind.

And they ran faster.

Now they could rest in safety, and even at four thirty in the morning, they didn’t have to sleep.

If only it could last forever.

Little Red Riding Hood broke the silence. “How’s it at the orphanage? After we came over, you stayed behind a long time. Did something happen?”

“I saw a phantom of the Hunter,” Yu Sheng admitted. “I’m not sure if it was an aftershock from the subset overflow. I didn’t have time to speak to it before it vanished. After that, I checked all of the east building and didn’t find anything unusual. I didn’t have time to check the west building, but I didn’t hear any movement.”

He let out a slow breath. “After that, the Special Operations Bureau takeover team arrived. Li Lin led them—you know him too. They sealed off the area around the orphanage. They’ll be stationed there for a while. They brought a lot of professional equipment, probably for long-term monitoring. They seemed capable.”

“That’s good,” Little Red Riding Hood said quietly, then hesitated. “We left in a hurry. There were a lot of things we couldn’t bring. Later, if you have time…”

“It’s fine. I’ll help you get them,” Yu Sheng said with a nod. “I can Door Opening anytime, so sending things here will be easy. And the councilor’s employees should arrive soon too. Teacher Su and the others know the orphanage better. If something can’t be found, ask them to help look.”

He smiled at her. “Don’t worry. Things will get back on track.”

“Right now, don’t think about anything else,” he added. “We got through tonight safely. What matters most now is rest.”

Little Red Riding Hood nodded. “Mm.”

Yu Sheng stretched and lay back on the platform.

The moment his nerves unclenched, exhaustion hit like a weight.

Irene, who had been perched on his shoulder, instantly flipped forward in one smooth motion—switching from “leaning on him” to sitting on his chest and then flopping down again to rest.

Little Red Riding Hood stared for a moment, then met Irene’s eyes. “…Nice moves.”

“This guy’s careless,” Irene said, poking Yu Sheng’s chin. “If it were you, you’d get practiced too.”

Yu Sheng half-closed his eyes and blocked her hand by feel. “Normally, you should walk on your own instead of acting like it’s natural to ride on my shoulder.”

“Make me a one-meter-sixty-seven body first,” Irene snapped, “then talk!”

Footsteps approached. Yu Sheng opened his eyes and saw a thin, dark-skinned young man in a Special Operations Bureau uniform nearby, clearly from the camp.

He smiled and waved quickly. “It’s fine, it’s fine—keep resting. I’m just here to say the temporary kitchen can run now. We’re serving at five thirty. We made hot soup, baozi, and porridge for the children, but the cafeteria isn’t built yet. Where should we eat?”

“Oh, that?” Yu Sheng’s face brightened. He slapped the ground. “Easy.”

With a low rumble and the scrape of stone, a dining table more than fifty meters long rose from the center of the platform—one long “stick” of table.

On both sides, more than a hundred “chairs” appeared… which were, in fact, just stone stools.

“Fancy stuff is hard for me to shape, but a dining table is easy,” Yu Sheng said, grinning at the young man’s stunned face. “Have your people come eat too. You’ve been busy all night. Have a hot breakfast with the kids.”

“…You got it!”