Chapter 18: Investigation Team

He returned, back to this strange, peculiar "City of Borders."

Just moments ago, this place had still seemed to him a vast, bizarre, and unsettlingly alien city—but now, seeing those familiar streetlights and buildings, the dawn-lit streets and sky, a sense of "nostalgia" rose in Yu Sheng's heart, one he himself could hardly believe.

His experience trapped in the Nightfall Valley had made returning to the "City of Borders" feel like coming home.

But the next second, the daze brought by life's draining away shattered his reflections; he slowly lowered his head and saw crimson blood slowly spreading beneath his body.

His body had been pierced—a horrific wound capable of killing him in moments; even though this body's recovery ability and vitality were now formidable, he knew he was about to die again—he had grown too accustomed to using "again" in this context.

The culprit behind this terrible wound stood beside him: the scaled "tail" severed from the monster had fallen out with him through the gate, and it still seemed to retain residual life—even "thought"—now slowly writhing in the pool of blood, attempting to crawl away from this place.

Yu Sheng even felt this thing was trying to distance itself from him… this piece of flesh was afraid of him.

Yu Sheng frowned, struggled to rise from the ground, glanced at his home's door just a short distance away, then casually picked up the slowly writhing scaled tail segment and staggered forward.

As he walked, he muttered: "Aren't protagonists supposed to escape dire situations and live happily ever after... why does the map still retain injuries after settlement? What a shitty mechanic... damn it, it hurts so much..."

Continuous blood loss gradually blurred his awareness; his fading strength made every step unsteady and agonizing, as if he might collapse at any moment—in the final few steps, Yu Sheng moved almost purely by instinct, unsure why he insisted on reaching home—perhaps to greet Ai Lin? Perhaps to avoid being found by morning passersby as his "corpse"?

Everything before his eyes sank into dimness; the dawn light took on a dark red hue. In his mind surfaced Hu Li's golden-red eyes—at the end, those eyes brimmed with hungry bloodlust, yet clung to a final sliver of humanity, barely maintained deep within the crimson.

That fox… he wondered how she was doing. She said she wouldn't die—was that true?

As these thoughts surfaced in Yu Sheng's mind, he finally staggered to his front door; it wasn't locked. He tugged the handle, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

He saw the dining room opposite the entrance, the oil painting still leaning against the wall—Ai Lin lifted her head from within the painting, stared in shock at the doorway, then slowly widened her eyes.

Yu Sheng forced a last-gasp smile toward her: "Ai Lin, I'm back."

He knew his wounds were severe; if not for this body's astonishing recovery and resilience, he would already be dead outside the house.

The moment this thought surfaced, his vision tilted, and he slid down the doorframe, familiar darkness pressing in from all sides—along with Ai Lin's terrified scream.

Now he was dead inside the house.

…

With a soft braking sound, two electric scooters pulled up deep in Wutong Road; two figures stepped off, staring at the old, quiet street ahead.

One was a middle-aged man who looked steady and reliable, wearing a long khaki coat, tall and muscular, with slightly dark skin, short black hair, and an irregular scar near his neck that lent him an intimidating aura—but his weary expression and dark circles clashed violently with his strong physique and grotesque scar—his face looked like someone who'd worked three straight months without a day off.

The other was a young man barely in his twenties, also with short black hair, but significantly slimmer than the middle-aged man, ordinary in appearance—the kind you'd lose instantly in any crowd. He wore a black-and-blue jacket and pants, his face tense, radiating the nervous awkwardness of someone who'd just started work and was dragged out on an emergency assignment.

The two rode their scooters into this quiet old district, observing the unremarkable buildings around them; occasionally, residents passed by at a distance, but few even glanced their way.

"This place doesn't look strange at all…" the black-haired young man muttered, "Captain Song, are you sure this is the spot?"

"There was a boundary alarm just now—the coordinates are definitely here," Captain Song nodded. "Though the signal vanished instantly, it was unmistakably an extradimensional reaction."

"We rushed here but still missed it," the young man glanced at the scooter beside him, hesitating, "Should've driven a car…"

Captain Song looked at him: "All the bureau's vehicles are out on assignments. Only Xu Jiali's junker's left—want to drive it? That thing won't even match your scooter's speed even with the throttle wide open."

The young man laughed awkwardly, awkwardly shifting topic: "So, uh, that person before—Code Name 'Little Red Riding Hood,' right? From the Fairy Tale Organization—she didn't find anything here either?"

"Mm. Found nothing—which confirms this place is suspicious," Captain Song slowly nodded. "'Little Red Riding Hood' has done plenty of work for Special Ops. I know her abilities—her wolf can sniff out the faintest, tiniest 'anomalies' in the environment. But she searched this entire area all night—and found nothing." The young man blinked, seemingly slow to grasp it.

"Found nothing? Don't get it?" Captain Song repeated. "Too 'clean.' Too 'normal.' No area in the Borderlands is this clean! Her wolves detect anomalies everywhere else in this city—even the faintest traces—but here… from a mystical standpoint, this entire street is as 'clean' as a vacuum!"

Hearing this, the young man finally understood—the training from school finally clicked with reality.

"Either this place is genuinely this clean—genuinely a 'pure zone' in the Borderlands, deeply parallel to the 'outside world'—not impossible, since this is the Borderlands, where every place might connect here," Captain Song waved a hand wearily. "Or this place hides a… 'big thing'—something constantly altering the entire zone, making 'Little Red Riding Hood's' wolves encounter a boundary vacuum."

The young man's already tense expression visibly tightened further.

"I won't approve your transfer to logistics," Captain Song lifted his eyelids to look at him. "Not to any other team either."

"I didn't say I wanted to run!" the young man quickly waved his hands. "When I joined, I prepared myself—I'll be loyal, dedicated, and fulfill my duties seriously…"

A sudden phone ring interrupted their conversation—a melodious tune—the classic theme from a wildly popular new anime.

The young man froze instantly, giving his superior a strange look: "…You watch that too?"

Captain Song's face visibly twitched; he reluctantly pulled his phone from his pocket, muttering: "Must've been my daughter sneaking in a change—she's been watching this lately…"

!.

The young man's expression shifted subtly; he held back for a long time, unable to say: "Isn't it weird for a middle schooler to watch a bunch of girls forming a band?"…

Captain Song answered the call, listened for a few moments, then spoke: "Yes, Li Lin and I are already on-site. Same as 'Little Red Riding Hood's' findings—this place is unnervingly clean. Arrange it: we need a fixed monitoring post here. Personnel assignment will be decided after I return. Also, contact 'Fairy Tale'—see if they can send someone else. This might be a long-term mission…"

After hanging up, Captain Song exhaled deeply and turned to see Li Lin still staring at him.

He paused, unable to help himself: "It really was my daughter who changed it—I don't normally watch anime."

Li Lin quickly cleared his throat: "Uh, cough, I believe you, I believe you."

The two stood awkwardly for a moment, then silently skipped the topic entirely.

Just then, Li Lin suddenly noticed something.

He frowned slightly and strode quickly toward a corner nearby.

"Captain Song, come look at this!" he checked it, then immediately called out.

Captain Song walked over, following Li Lin's finger.

A dark red stain appeared on the wall corner—like dried blood, small in area, easily overlooked from afar, and now visibly shrinking at a visible rate.

Not seeping into the cement—it was vanishing into thin air.

"Blood?" Captain Song immediately frowned, then reacted swiftly, pulling a plastic tube and portable scraper from his coat pocket. "No—not blood. Sample it!"

"Got it." Li Lin accepted the sampling tools and prepared to scrape the residual dark red "blood" from the wall—but before his scraper touched the surface, the last small patch of red suddenly hissed, then vanished completely.

(End of Chapter)