Chapter 316

Chapter 317: A New Refugee

To be fair, Little Red Riding Hood had real parent-level authority with these kids. After that one shout, the racket on the platform died down fast. Led by Rapunzel, the older kids brought the little cursed children over and lined up to get scolded.

Yu Sheng took it easy and tried to help smooth things over as he said: “It’s fine. I already felt them come play while we were inside. This thing is tough. They won’t break it. If there’s real danger, I can catch them.”

Little Red Riding Hood sighed and said: “You can’t spoil them too much. Living here has already made them lazier. Some of them love to push boundaries, especially Rapunzel.”

Called out by name, Rapunzel was not convinced as she said: “I brought my brothers and sisters out for some outdoor activity! And what do you mean ‘getting lazier’? We’re kids. Everyone has been wound tight for so many years…”

She went on and on, chattering until Little Red Riding Hood couldn’t take it. Little Red Riding Hood lifted a hand and cut in as she said: “It’s late. Outdoor activity at this hour? You should be washing up and going to bed.”

“The sky isn’t dark!” Rapunzel said with full confidence. “We thought big bro meant we could play a few extra hours today…”

A few sets of eyes turned to Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng had just been watching the show with a melon-eating grin, but in a blink he became the focus. He checked the time, slapped his forehead and the door as he said: “Oh no! Too much happened today. I forgot to turn off the sky!”

In the next second, dense clouds rose from every side of the valley like curtains being pulled. The thick cloud layer slowly covered the whole sky, leaving only a single long rift of light stretching from the Black Forest to the children’s town, casting a bright path back home.

The Dollheads let out a wave of theatrical “wails.”

Little Red Riding Hood clapped her hands and said: “All right, now it’s dark. Bedtime. Move out!”

She nodded to Yu Sheng and said: “I’m heading back.”

Yu Sheng smiled and waved.

Little Red Riding Hood swung onto the Shadow Wolf. The Thunder Titans bent down and lifted the little kids onto their arms. Rapunzel and Snow White kept noisily asking what the suddenly appeared tower by the Black Forest was. With laughter and chatter, the children set off, following the road lit by the “man-made dusk,” and headed back to town.

Squirrel and the Hunter said goodbye and slipped back into the Black Forest.

Yu Sheng stood at the edge of the ship’s docking platform, watching the seven Thunder Titans, the wolf pack, and the Kingdom Knights recede into the distance. He kept smiling. After a long moment, he noticed a gaze resting on him.

He looked over and met Xuan Che’s curious eyes.

“What is it?” Yu Sheng asked, a little puzzled.

“I didn’t know you had a place like this,” Xuan Che said, slowly sweeping his gaze over the valley. “So many marvels, a world unto itself. Truly a small immortal land. Seeing those kids just now reminded me of the days long ago when I traveled the mountains with my master and fellow juniors. It’s clear they look up to you.”

“There’s a long story behind it,” Yu Sheng said with a smile. “If you’re interested, I can tell you when there’s time.”

“That would be excellent,” Xuan Che said, smiling back. Then he cupped his hands and said: “I have been delayed here longer than I planned. I must go report to my master. I will take my leave.”

“Go ahead,” Yu Sheng said with a nod. “You’re staying in the Borderland these days, right? If anything comes up, come find me.”

They parted there. Xuan Che straightened his clothes, turned, and became a streak of rainbow light shooting toward the sky.

That streak bounced back and forth across the heavens like a ping pong ball several times, then zipped right back.

Xuan Che stepped out of the light, eyes unfocused for a few seconds before he asked: “Uh, Senior, how do I get out of here?”

Yu Sheng stared, stunned long enough to miss his chance to speak the first time around. When Xuan Che reappeared, he finally said: “You didn’t know the way out and still took off flying? I was about to use Door Opening. You vanished before I could say a word!”

Looking embarrassed, Xuan Che wobbled a little and cupped his hands as he said: “I didn’t expect the space here to be so strange. I thought it was like the blessed lands under the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. Climb over a mountain and you’re back in the mundane world. Ahem. Senior, your method of shaping a cave-heaven is truly advanced…”

“This ‘cave-heaven’ is actually an Otherworld,” Yu Sheng said, looking odd. “It’s a long story. I’ll open a door straight to Boundary City. You’ll step out at the Route 26 bus stop in the old city. I strongly suggest you move around like an ordinary human here. Turning into a beam of light not only breaks traffic rules, it also makes it easy to fall into random Otherworlds. The Borderland is full of them.”

Cultivated for a hundred years, Xuan Che had never imagined he would be taught how to “act human” by a personified being who could arm-wrestle Dark Angels. He did have some experience living in the Borderland, but after what just happened, he could only wipe cold sweat and nod as he said: “Understood. Your teaching is correct.”

After that small interlude, Yu Sheng and the others went back to their home at No. 66 Wutong Road, moved the house back into the alley in the old city, and found that the outside world was already deep into the night.

Yu Sheng didn’t want to do anything. As soon as the house settled into reality, he went straight to the bedroom, flopped onto the bed, and lay there like a spread-out salted fish.

He was truly exhausted.

His body wasn’t tired. This body was newly born and in great shape.

But mental fatigue doesn’t refresh so easily.

The little Doll climbed from the bedside table onto the bed and then onto Yu Sheng’s chest. It was her light clay body, the lightest one. She sat cross-legged and peered down at his face, her scarlet eyes full of smug delight as she said: “Well? I told you you’d have a blood disaster~~”

She had clearly been holding this line in for a long time.

“Don’t even bring up your ‘blood disaster,’” Yu Sheng mumbled, too lazy to push the little Doll off since this body was so light. He let her sit on his chest, eyes half open as he said, slurred with sleep: “I’m sleepy. Help me turn off the light, close the curtains, and shut the door.”

Irene stared wide-eyed and said: “Hey, you…”

But Yu Sheng was already snoring.

The little Doll bared her teeth in annoyance, but she had no choice. She hopped off Yu Sheng, and her different bodies started scurrying around the room. First they pulled the curtains. Then three bodies stacked up to switch off the light. Another ran into the hallway, tugged a tail off Foxy, came back, and tossed it onto Yu Sheng’s belly as she said: “You pinned the blanket. Make do with this!”

Yu Sheng rolled over, hugged the fox tail into his arms, and felt his mind sink into a calm, warm darkness.

He drifted there, slipping through strange and colorful dreams. Many things from the day turned into abstract shadows, rising and falling in the dark.

He felt he was back inside that grand, solemn ship like a cathedral, walking among intricate carvings and murals while the terrified shouts of Hermitage Order cultists echoed around him.

In the next instant, he was bathing in starlight. The engines thundered. A distant nebula hung like a curtain in the deep of space, whispering ancient stories.

In the story, a girl with dreams left her hometown with her friends.

Golden wheat rippled beneath the drifting nebula. Starlight spilled across the open land. The ship like a Giant Tower hung upside down at the edge of the dream. Yu Sheng fell from the spire and passed through all those glittering Illusion Arts.

He opened his eyes and saw a gray sky over a boundless plain that ran to the horizon. Wild grass moved in waves. The familiar low hill still stood far, far away. Against the dim sky, the edges of the hill and the grassland seemed lined with light.

[Oh, back here again.]

Yu Sheng relaxed the moment he saw this familiar plain. A soft wind blew across the grass. The sky was gray, but the place felt gentle and calm.

He wandered the prairie and soon reached the spot where Little Red Riding Hood and the others had once lit a bonfire when they took refuge here. The leftover pile of firewood still lay in place.

Standing by the bonfire, he wondered whether to clear the wood away. The cursed children were safe now and no longer needed to seek shelter in their sleep. Leaving this place as it was made the air feel lonely. [Should I put it away?]

He took a step forward, and a figure flickered at the edge of his vision.

He looked up in surprise. She was standing on the other side of the woodpile. It seemed she’d been there the whole time, hidden by the wood and perfectly still, her presence so faint he hadn’t felt her until now.

He remembered her. In that long, broken chain of memories, he had watched a young girl set off on a journey away from home.

Now she stood straight in the open plain. Her armor held a thin glow under the gray sky. In her hand she gripped the steel sword her father had given her. The wind swept the prairie and lifted the female knight’s long hair, a streak of gold like wheat in the sun.

The Sanctuary Wasteland had gained a new refugee.