Chapter 354

Chapter 355: Rapunzel’s Great Shock

Zheng Zhi’s day at Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain was so colorful that even Yu Sheng was stunned. Irene and Foxy both paused mid-listen with wide eyes. Only Luna stayed calm, but she is usually calm like that.

On the other hand, Yu Sheng decided he never had to worry about his big nephew again. The kid might be high sensitivity and low stability, which is a headache, but maybe because of that, his survival and adaptation skills are maxed out. In just one day he had met who knows how many disciples around the mountain, explored the entire area near the Cloud Viewing Terrace, and lived very comfortably. Given two more days, he could be Yu Sheng’s guide.

Thinking of Zheng Zhi’s “life” here, Yu Sheng glanced at the nearby parcel stand and asked, rubbing his chin: “Do you have water and power in your little house?”

Zheng Zhi scratched his hair and said: “Yeah, and that’s what I find strange. My place got moved here from the Borderland. The water and power should have been cut off, but inside everything works. Even the internet stays connected to the Borderland’s signal as long as I’m indoors.”

Yu Sheng listened seriously, not surprised at all, only thinking that this was exactly what he expected.

Irene muttered under her breath: “So the ‘trait’ of No. 66 Wutong Road spread to this ‘outpost’ too. What’s the principle behind that?”

Yu Sheng looked Zheng Zhi in the eyes and asked: “Did you check where the water and power come from?”

Zheng Zhi nodded and said: “I checked the electricity. It cuts off at the exterior breaker box, but the cut is weird. The wire end doesn’t look severed. It’s like the tip just disappears somewhere. The water pipe is buried. The ground is hardened. I tried digging twice but couldn’t break it. I didn’t want to go hard since it’s Bureau property and they’ll dock my pay if I break it. As for the phone signal, I have no idea. Inside, the house connects to Boundary City’s network. Step outside and it shows star roaming, so I have to use Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain’s wifi.”

Yu Sheng nodded lightly and didn’t add more.

[As expected, you did some checks.] He knew Zheng Zhi was still a muddled rookie, but even in a strange place he had explored and tested things. He had tried to figure out the outpost’s weird changes. But clearly, the weirdness of No. 66 Wutong Road was not going to be solved that easily.

Zheng Zhi, curious at Yu Sheng’s silence, asked: “Brother Yu, do you know what’s going on?”

Yu Sheng said after a moment’s thought: “Treat it as the trait of No. 66 Wutong Road. Your outpost has been pulled into its judgment range. Calling it my house’s ‘guard booth’ is actually right. I can’t explain the exact principle though.”

He paused, then looked Zheng Zhi up and down.

Zheng Zhi shifted and asked, uneasy: “Brother Yu, what is it?”

Yu Sheng asked: “You can’t see No. 66 Wutong Road, right? And you can’t open The Door?”

Zheng Zhi thought, then admitted: “If I have to say it, I kind of feel where the house is. I even think I can see a faint shadow of it, but maybe that’s just my imagination. As for The Door, I really can’t. I can’t even touch it.”

Yu Sheng stared and said in surprise: “You can see a faint shadow?”

Zheng Zhi scratched his hair, embarrassed, and said: “A little, just a little. I didn’t dare tell Brother Li. I was afraid he’d take me to Dr. Lin to, uh, operate on my brain.”

Yu Sheng waved a hand and said: “You should report it. That’s by the book. But forget that for now,” then he added, almost offhand, “Hold out your hand.”

Zheng Zhi blinked, confused, and held out his hand.

Yu Sheng looked at Luna and said briskly: “Give me a poke. Just a small cut.”

Luna drew and nicked him in one smooth motion, much more practiced than last time.

Zheng Zhi jumped at the sight, but before he could react, Yu Sheng took his bleeding right hand and clasped Zheng Zhi’s hand.

Warm blood turned into an invisible power that sank in at once.

A few seconds later, Zheng Zhi’s eyes flew open. He instinctively looked toward where No. 66 Wutong Road stood, swayed, and stumbled two steps back.

Yu Sheng grinned and said: “Relax and breathe. Feeling shocked is normal. With your constitution, you should be used to suddenly seeing what was unseen. Now you can touch and enter No. 66 Wutong Road.”

Zheng Zhi came back to himself and asked, still unsure: “Brother Yu… is that okay? The Bureau told me to stay at my station and not go near No. 66 Wutong Road.”

Yu Sheng waved and said with a laugh: “It’s just a visibility permission. If I lock The Door, you still can’t get in. Everyone in Fairy Tale has it from top to bottom. You’re the Hotel’s security guard. You can’t do your job if you can’t even see where The Door is. I plan to give Li Lin and Xu Jiali the permission too. They’re friends.”

Zheng Zhi froze, thinking who knows what, and got so moved he looked ready to cry.

Yu Sheng ignored that and said after a short pause: “There’s another use. While you’re traveling with No. 66 Wutong Road, you can even go back to Boundary City if you need to. You can clock out to shop or even go home.”

Zheng Zhi stared and said: “Huh?”

Yu Sheng laid out the route in one breath and said: “Go in through No. 66 Wutong Road’s Door, down to the basement, find The Door to the Valley Transit Hub, then from the hub to Fairy Tale Town. In the middle of town there’s a Door that leads to the old site of the Fairy Tale Orphanage in the south district of Boundary City. Push that Door and you’re in Boundary City. The way back is the same.”

Zheng Zhi needed a long moment to map the whole chain and to accept that from Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain he could ride a few portals and be home in Boundary City. Then he yelped: “That works?”

Even Irene, perched on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, widened her eyes and said: “It works like that?”

Yu Sheng rubbed his chin and said: “I just thought of it. Looks like I’ve used less than ten percent of my ability.”

After setting Zheng Zhi’s permission, they went back into No. 66 Wutong Road.

The living room was familiar. The TV, the old floorboards, the slightly faded wallpaper, and the familiar Irene on the sofa watching TV were all there.

The moment they stepped inside, the ease of being home rose up. A late wave of tiredness came, followed by comfortable slackness, and that feeling even struck Yu Sheng as new.

He flopped onto the sofa and said with a sigh of contentment as he lifted the Irene sitting in the middle to the armrest: “Home really is the best.”

Foxy sprinted for the bathroom. A moment later came the rush of water and the rumble of the washing machine.

Yu Sheng craned his neck and shouted toward the bathroom: “Don’t stuff all eight tails in there. The washing machine can’t handle it. Five at most.”

The fox girl called back through the door in a sing-song voice: “Got it.”

Yu Sheng sprawled and muttered: “I still think we need a washing machine just for Foxy’s tails. Every time she washes, my laundry after is all fur.”

Irene, perched on the armrest, turned and asked: “Is there such a thing as a washing machine made for tails?”

Yu Sheng said: “Not for tails specifically. I did search online and found a ‘cat-washing machine’ the other day, but it wasn’t what I pictured.”

Irene grumbled and said: “Anyway, aside from the one tail she refined into storage, the others can be replaced anytime. Why wash them?”

Yu Sheng rolled his eyes and said: “Don’t ask me.”

Right then, quick footsteps thumped up from the basement stairs.

He looked up and saw Rapunzel racing out from below like a gust of wind. The girl whirled through the living room so fast she almost flew past Yu Sheng, and she shouted over her shoulder as she ran: “Bro, I’m borrowing the way, and don’t you dare tell Little Red Riding Hood I went out through here!”

Yu Sheng barely had time to say, “Wait,” before she yanked The Door open and sprinted out.

Yu Sheng and the several Irenes in the living room looked at one another.

After a long beat, Irene (the one on the armrest) asked: “When do you think she’ll dart back in?”

Yu Sheng shook his head and said: “Hard to say.”

Irene squinted toward the terrace and said: “She won’t sprint too fast and fall off the Cloud Viewing Terrace, right?”

Yu Sheng said: “She tears demons in close combat. Rolling down a mountain would be a scratch.”

Irene frowned and said: “I’m worried she’ll crash into someone, get taken for a golden-furred monster invading the mountain, and then you’ll have to bail her out.”

They were still calmly trading lines when a loud thump sounded at the entry. Rapunzel burst back in like a fluffed chow-chow.

The schoolgirl who could tear demons apart was clearly in a state of great shock, and she stammered: “B-brother… out there, out there, wh-what-”

Yu Sheng grinned and asked: “Surprised? Unexpected?”

Rapunzel threw up her hands and yelled: “What is going on!”