Chapter 179: Secret Letter

The young man, wearing an expression of exhaustion, pushed the door open and left; the living room fell silent for a moment.

After a few seconds, Yu Sheng was the first to break the silence: "He's clearly leaving us an opening... where should we start?"

Little Red Riding Hood said nothing, simply rose and walked to the low cabinet, taking down the urn of ashes from atop it: "Let's try."

This time, it was Yu Sheng who hesitated before "giving it a try": "... Do we really have to try?"

"This is also for Old Zheng," Little Red Riding Hood said with a calm expression, "If he truly still had things he didn't get to say, this might be the only chance."

Looking at the serious expression on the girl before him, Yu Sheng finally took a light breath, cast aside his slight hesitation, and reached out his hand toward the urn of ashes...

A moment later, he gently shook his head.

"As expected, it doesn't work..." Little Red Riding Hood blinked, her tone carrying a hint of regret, but soon she sighed in relief, "But then again, how many things in this world are that simple?"

He looked up again and saw a row of neat solid-wood shelves against the wall on the other side of the room; the shelves held many crafts, including ceramic vessels and metal ornaments... and even two anime figurines.

"It's rolled up! Can't you see?" Irene looked at Yu Sheng as if he were an idiot, reached out to take the letter, then grabbed both ends of the paper with her two hands, one above the other, and applied slight force.

"The content doesn't seem off..." Yu Sheng frowned and muttered, but for some reason, he felt this letter before him was somehow noteworthy; he flipped it over and over but still couldn't make out anything.

Irene turned to take a look, her expression somewhat puzzled: "If there's a problem, why don't you just unfold it first?"

"Roast it with fire? Or soak it in water?" Little Red Riding Hood mused aloud, "Although that's a very old-fashioned method of encrypting letters..."

"... I don't quite get it," Little Red Riding Hood muttered, then shifted all her attention to the books and notebooks before her.

No sooner had the words left his lips than he took out his phone to report to the Special Operations Bureau first, then raised his hand and grasped at the empty space beside him—under exceptionally cautious control, a virtual door far smaller than usual opened in his hand; on the other side was unmistakably the living room at 66 Wutong Road, facing the sofa where Irene sat, staring blankly: "... Ah, what are you doing?"

Before the small doll could finish protesting, she was already lifted onto the table; probably because the scene switched too quickly, she was momentarily stunned.

"We have arranged the ritual; you need not worry about safety. Just as you care for those children, we also hope to remove that vicious curse from 'Fairy Tale' in the most secure and effective manner possible.

He was surprised that in this day and age, someone would still use paper letters to communicate, and some of these letters were very new, obviously received recently.

However, before the contents could fully appear, the "unfolding" of the letter paper abruptly stopped.

The top and bottom ends of this letter paper were somewhat crumpled, as if someone had gripped them quite tightly, yet the content on it was merely daily greetings and discussions about certain collectibles; the date was three days ago, and the signature was obviously a pseudonym.

But before she could finish jumping, Yu Sheng pushed her back down: "This matter here is really important; I can't handle it alone and need your help."

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood were both stunned at the same time; both spoke in unison: "Unfold?"

But only a moment later she reacted, her eyes immediately widening: "Yu Sheng, you damn fool! How could you do this! You said you wouldn't bring me along, yet suddenly you pull this stunt! I was just halfway through my TV show when you dragged me here; I was waiting to see which of those two idiots in the drama dies first, right at the key plot point, and you go and ruin it..."

"Is there something on this letter?" Little Red Riding Hood glanced over, asking curiously.

Yu Sheng also calmed down and flipped through them alongside her.

Yu Sheng raised his hand and pointed at the table: "Look at these letters; my intuition tells me there's something wrong with them, but I can't see what."

"This is different," Yu Sheng said with a very serious tone, "Ordinary people only die once—this single life-and-death matter is extremely serious."

"... Before x month x day, you must get her into that white exhibition hall; miracles and blessings await her there. The curse she suffered will be removed, and both body and mind will gain freedom..."

However, his spiritual intuition was really tingling, making it impossible for him to ignore that slight sense of dissonance in his heart.

Yu Sheng looked up in confusion: "Ah? Why stop?" Yu Sheng picked up these letters that made him feel somewhat uneasy, especially the last one by date, and casually glanced at them twice.

Before the small doll could finish protesting, Yu Sheng spoke up quickly: "Those two idiots you mentioned will both die in the next episode, but an even more stupid villain will jump out in the following episode to continue causing trouble; I've seen it, the rest will make you furious. The female lead eventually committed suicide with the male lead's second cousin, and the male lead lived off the female lead's cousin—they both died in the side story too."

She turned and solemnly placed the porcelain urn back on the cabinet, then bowed deeply and respectfully toward it before turning back to look at Yu Sheng: "But I am somewhat surprised; you usually do things without considering consequences, even caring little about your own life, so why are you so cautious and serious at this moment?"

Immediately after, Yu Sheng picked up the letter that felt most strange to him: "Isn't this already an unfolded piece of paper? It only has this much content..."

Yu Sheng's face twitched: "Then I'll go grab another you and bring her over."

Most of the books contained content related to art collections; the two most frequently flipped-through books were filled with various notes. "Old Zheng" had added many of his own insights beneath the entries that interested him, while the note content was quite chaotic, ranging from daily trifles to work reminders, looking mostly unremarkable.

Yu Sheng followed the small doll's instructions, slowly unfolding the letter paper from some strange "folded" state; finally, the hidden paragraphs fully appeared before his and Little Red Riding Hood's eyes—

The sound of paper rubbing against paper entered everyone's ears.

Ethereal flames rose on the surface of the letter paper.

As the saying goes, those involved are often confused; only after being reminded by the other party did Yu Sheng realize: "Hey, that actually makes sense."

Little Red Riding Hood thought for a moment and spoke uncertainly: "So should we bring her over now? Anyway, there's no one else around at this moment, and your door is quite convenient."

"We know your doubts these past days, but the world misunderstands us greatly—indeed, there are believers who have strayed onto the wrong path; under the temptation of power and the push of stupidity, those fools misunderstood the messenger's intentions. Worse still, some followed the wrong, impostor messenger from the very beginning. They committed numerous evils, yet the evil reputation fell upon all of us; this is sad and unjust.

"No, what if this truly is a specially processed secret letter? We might destroy some clues," Yu Sheng frowned, "Come to think of it, we should have brought Irene with us when we came out; she always has some strange abilities in the occult."

The seemingly complete paper was "unfolded"; the plane originally hidden in some invisible state was gradually pulled out. Yu Sheng's eyes widened in surprise as he saw that between the normally written characters on that paper, line after line of content began to abruptly appear...

The seemingly complete paper was "unfolded," and the plane originally hidden in some invisible state was gradually drawn out; Yu Sheng's eyes widened in surprise as he saw line after line of content abruptly appearing between the normally written characters on that sheet of paper...

Yu Sheng went over and flipped through one of the notebooks, seeing the handwriting on it was clear and neat, as if vaguely revealing the writer's personality and living habits.

Yu Sheng's gaze turned to those sticky notes and letters.

"Come help me out," Yu Sheng said, reaching out to pull the small doll out from the door. "Hey, what are you doing? I'm watching TV—"

The two entered the room and quickly found the organized items the young man had mentioned—on the desk by the windowsill, there was a stack of old books, several notebooks, and some miscellaneous labels, letters, or scraps of paper.

Little Red Riding Hood noticed Yu Sheng's gaze, turned her head to look as well, and waved her hand: "Don't bother looking; an 'anomalous collection' like the 'Weeping One' statue definitely can't be placed here. In fact, that statue is now missing; the Curio Association is also searching for it. It's either hidden in one of Old Zheng's secret collection spots, or it may have already entered the black market."

His single sentence immediately suppressed Irene's anger; the small doll's attitude switched so fast that even Yu Sheng didn't react in time. She instantly wore a smug expression: "I knew you couldn't manage without me—so, what's the matter?"

"Ah, no need! I'm in the middle of a team fight over there," Irene hurriedly stopped Yu Sheng from opening the door again. "You come hold this side—no special techniques needed, just pull it open slowly. Anyone can complete this process. Yes, slower, this paper feels quite fragile; if you pull too fast, it might tear."

"I was just remarking that this old guy has quite broad hobbies," Yu Sheng shook his head, "Those two figurines don't look cheap."

Little Red Riding Hood stared at Yu Sheng steadily for a few seconds, as if reacquainting herself with the "person" before her; after a while, she withdrew her gaze, raised her hand, and pointed toward the bedroom: "Let's go see what's in there."

Irene listened, stunned, and by the end, inevitably jumped up in rage: "Who the hell wrote this script..."

"But you have already witnessed; there are also pure and supremely good messengers. We have shown you His power and intentions. You have heard with your own ears and seen with your own eyes; He truly bears no malice and truly protects the children. He spoke to you through an invisible mouth, and you admitted you heard it, so you can dispel all doubts.

"If you have made up your mind, then ignite the blank letter paper we left for you. Remember, use an aromatic candle mixed with rose essence to light it.

"Note: Do not buy from 'Linglong Pavilion'; they are shameless forgers and deceivers. The messenger's wrath will sooner or later descend upon such despicable, shameless, profit-obsessed merchants.

"Note: Do not buy the 'Linglong Pavilion' brand; they are shameless forgers and deceivers, and the Envoy's wrath will sooner or later descend upon the heads of such despicable, shameless, and profit-obsessed merchants."

(End of this chapter)

(End of this chapter)