Chapter 182: Old Zheng

After sending Erin back early, Yu Sheng returned to the living room and saw Little Red Riding Hood sitting on the sofa with that young man in his twenties, chatting about something.

The latter still wore an exhausted expression; clearly, handling his relative's funeral arrangements had left him without proper rest for many days.

Seeing Yu Sheng emerge from the bedroom, the young man rose slightly to greet him, then pointed to the hot milk tea on the coffee table: "You've worked hard; I just bought it back."

"Uh... thanks." Yu Sheng didn't stand on ceremony with the other man, sat down beside Little Red Riding Hood, and the two of them sipped the milk tea together.

The young man sitting opposite broke the silence: "Have you found anything?"

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood exchanged a glance; after a moment of thought, the latter nodded slightly: "We did find some clues... but I want to confirm first: do you know your uncle's 'nature of work'? To what extent? I mean... regarding the 'special nature' of those things he collected and the matters he usually dealt with."

"I know a bit; he mentioned the 'Artifact Association' to me and even let me see some... relatively 'safe' things," the young man nodded, saying, "I know he was dealing with those unusual things, sometimes quite dangerously. Actually, I was interested too; I even almost joined the Special Bureau's peripheral recruitment back then—but my uncle wouldn't let me. He said my curiosity was too strong, and that I had a so-called... oh, spiritual aptitude, of the 'Gao Min, Low Stability' type, and that doing this would be very dangerous."

"Your uncle was right; Gao Min, Low Stability, and excessive curiosity—indeed, you can't do this; you might not even survive the probation period," Little Red Riding Hood sighed. "Since you know so much, I'll give you a general overview—Old Zheng might have been tainted by extremely dangerous contamination and came into contact with an illegal secret cult. But at present, he seems to be merely a victim. I can only say this much; later, the Special Bureau might be willing to reveal more details to you as a 'family member'."

The young man just sat there quietly, saying nothing, or perhaps not knowing what to say.

Yu Sheng broke the silence: "What suspicious people did your uncle come into contact with in his final days? Did he do anything suspicious? For instance, a strange 'friend' who suddenly appeared, or some new habit or taboo he suddenly developed that he never had before?"

"I'm not sure," the young man shook his head, speaking slowly. "My uncle rarely kept in touch with the family over twenty years ago. Back then, he volunteered at an orphanage. Later, it seems something happened; some say it was emotional, while rumors claim he was frightened by something. Then he moved here to live alone. At that time, I was barely old enough to remember; I heard these things from the elders in the family."

Speaking of this, he paused, thought carefully again, then hesitantly spoke up once more: "However, I occasionally received messages from him. If I had to say, he seemed quite happy recently, probably starting from two months ago. He said the burden in his heart finally had a chance to be put down. Recently, he also said he planned to go home in a couple of days; there's a notebook in the old family house, and he asked me to help find it and see if it was still there... But after that, he met with trouble."

"A notebook?" Hearing this, Yu Sheng's heart stirred instantly, and he hurriedly pressed on, "Did you find it? Did you bring it?"

"I brought it," the young man said, rising and walking over to the TV cabinet. He rummaged through a black suitcase, and after a moment, he pulled out a thick book with a dark blue cover from the very back of the case, holding it before Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood. "This is it—I haven't looked at the contents inside; I brought it completely unopened."

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood exchanged a glance, immediately took the notebook, which was already over twenty years old, and began flipping through it rapidly.

Most of what was recorded inside seemed to be nothing more than mundane trifles: daily reminders, and some observations and work records from his time as an orphanage volunteer. Among them were not a few entries that could help Yu Sheng understand the situation of that orphanage over twenty years ago, but this part of the content clearly had no connection to the matter he was currently investigating or to Old Zheng's death.

Could this notebook spanning time be merely a "proof" that Old Zheng, nearing fifty, suddenly wanted to recall his youth?

Just as Yu Sheng was thinking this, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a page he had just flipped past; he quickly reached out and turned that page back.

It turned out to be a drawing—sketched in pencil by the notebook's owner himself. The technique wasn't particularly good, but it was obviously drawn very carefully.

On the slightly yellowed paper, a woman who looked to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven stood before the swing set of the orphanage, wearing a simple long dress, smiling calmly and gently.

Yu Sheng frowned, subconsciously wondering who this young woman appearing in the notebook was, what story she had with the deceased "Old Zheng," and why she would appear in the orphanage where Little Red Riding Hood lived—she was clearly an adult, yet she wasn't wearing the clothes of a Council employee.

Then he heard Little Red Riding Hood beside him suddenly make an "Eh?" sound.

Before Yu Sheng could ask, Little Red Riding Hood quickly pulled out her phone and dialed a number: "Long Hair, help me take a photo of the picture right in the center of the wall in the East Building Exhibition Room... Yes, the one of that 'Cinderella'. Take it quickly and send it to me."

After that, she hung up. A while later, her phone buzzed with a vibration. Yu Sheng leaned over to look and saw a photo appearing on the screen.

It was a young woman in her twenties, almost identical to the portrait in Old Zheng's notebook.

"This is...?" Yu Sheng asked curiously.

"A Cinderella from many years ago... she lived to be twenty-six," Little Red Riding Hood said softly, looking at the smiling figure in the notebook. "The longest-lived one in the history of the orphanage. After her death, the 'role' of 'Cinderella' remained vacant for a decade until a new Cinderella appeared over ten years ago. We all say she used her life to temporarily suppress the operation of the 'Eternal Ball' subset, although that claim has no basis."

Little Red Riding Hood pressed her lips together and continued: "It is said that at that time, she was even considering whether to try living a normal life." Yu Sheng listened silently, raised his head, and looked at the table not far away.

Old Zheng's memorial portrait stood quietly there—the man, nearing fifty, had loose skin on his face; wrinkles had quietly climbed to the corners of his eyes, and the exhaustion in his eyes seemed to record a journey lasting over twenty years.

He searched for "Artifacts" for twenty years, wanting to fight a constantly cycling curse, but in the end, he lost to a scam.

He was not the first to attempt fighting the "Fairy Tale," nor the last.

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood stood up; the latter solemnly handed the notebook back to the young man opposite.

"Thank you for the lead," Yu Sheng said in a deep voice. "We will help Old Zheng get justice."

"Thank you," the young man took the notebook. He seemed to want to ask something, but finally, perhaps recalling the warning his uncle had given him back then, he held it back, merely waving his hand at the two "detectives" before him. "I won't see you off; there are still many things here that need to be sorted."

"Mm," Little Red Riding Hood nodded, then remembered something else and added as a reminder, "There are some 'things' under the carpet in the bedroom. Although theoretically they have already lost their power, you'd better not touch them; just wait for the professionals to handle it."

"Okay, I understand."

After coming out of the apartment building, the sky outside was completely dark.

【Line incomplete in source】

Neon lights illuminated this city so vast it seemed boundless. The wolf pack brought Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood to the highest rooftop nearby. Yu Sheng stood there, overlooking Boundary City, watching the lights flow between the forest-like buildings, the massive city continuing its clamor in the night.

How many people live in this strange city? Millions? Or even tens of millions? How many of them are ordinary people, how many are detectives and investigators who have come into contact with the "Other Side," how many are the city's protectors and order-keepers, and how many hide in the shadows between those lights, like the tentacles of some chaotic, formless things, spying on those careless sacrifices...

For the first time, Yu Sheng felt that this strange, bizarre, even eerie city was also living with flesh and blood.

Little Red Riding Hood broke the silence: "After I return, I will continue the investigation. I need to go to the Artifact Association headquarters, and I also plan to meet the other Spirit Realm detectives and investigators Old Zheng came into contact with during his lifetime."

Yu Sheng: "Do you need me to follow?"

"No," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. "I want to ask you to go to the Special Bureau."

Yu Sheng frowned: "Go to the Special Bureau?"

"Go tell them about Old Zheng's matter. Although intelligence regarding Angel Cultists will certainly draw the Special Bureau's attention, if you personally approach them, they will surely pay even more attention."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, somewhat uncertain: "... Will they?"

The girl looked helpless: "... Do you really have no self-awareness at all in your daily life?"

Yu Sheng smiled awkwardly, then nodded very seriously: "Alright, I'll go tomorrow."

Then the two fell silent together. After a few more seconds, Yu Sheng spoke thoughtfully: "Do you think there is any connection between the 'Gloomy Angel' and the 'Fairy Tale' Otherworld?"

Little Red Riding Hood thought very seriously. After a long while, she shook her head: "I have no leads. Although many things coincidentally happened at the same time, they lack the most crucial 'connection'. Those Angel Cultists approached Old Zheng, who wanted to fight the Fairy Tale curse, and used him to lure me into that white exhibition hall. But the most critical point is: what exactly were they targeting? Were they targeting my identity as a 'Fairy Tale' member, or were they just looking for a 'sacrifice' with sufficient intensity?"

"In the end... there is more than one Gloomy Angel in the world. We still don't even know which 'Angel' those Angel Cultists follow, so naturally, we cannot determine what their purpose is."

(End of Chapter)