Chapter 190: The Big Illness Stabilizes and Performs

In the reception room of Donglou, Little Red Riding Hood fell into long contemplation after listening to Yu Sheng's intelligence report.

Several minutes later, she let out a long sigh: "A dark angel might be hidden deep within the 'Fairy Tale'—this is the worst news I've heard in days—meaning the 'trap' targeting me in the White Hall back then was actually those cultists trying to free their 'Master'?"

"A trial, but we can't say what form the next one will take," Yu Sheng slowly nodded. "Thinking back, their methods in the 'Museum' were crude. The ritual's attempt to trigger your loss of control had too many uncertainties—what if you never made it to the White Hall and retreated? What if you changed your mind that night? And those activated 'security guards' wandering around—they blocked your path. I'm sure that wasn't what the cultists wanted."

"So they might've just been gathering 'data,' testing whether inducing a subset to lose control could crack the 'Fairy Tale's' structure," Little Red Riding Hood frowned. "Success would be ideal; failure would still break the trail at Old Zheng's end—unless your 'Conversation with the Dead' ability was so bizarre, the Special Task Force would've struggled just to trace the matter back to the Angel Cultists."

Yu Sheng nodded: "In fact, the Special Task Force is already facing new trouble. They only caught the two exposed Angel Cultists. Reports say surveillance teams in Nancheng watched for a long time but found no trace of other members—it seems that the day after you escaped the Museum alive, the cultists realized their plan had gone awry and all went dark, hiding individually. Those two exposed probably never expected their information to leak so cleanly, so they didn't escape."

"... You didn't find any leads to their accomplices when you crawled into that cultist's head?"

"No. He protected his mind extremely well. Even when Ailin pierced his subconscious defenses, he still managed to blur his accomplices' identities in his dreams," Yu Sheng said, grimacing. "Honestly, if that ritual in his dream hadn't failed, maybe I'd have found something if he'd just stayed unconscious longer. But he woke up... Clearly, the fact that the ritual failed due to shoddy materials left a deep impression in his mind."

The moment he finished speaking, Ailin, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa, immediately stood up: "I remember that incident just as well! You bought materials from a five-yuan shop to rub on my body—I even suspect you bought them from the same brand they used..."

Yu Sheng instantly fell silent, holding back a thought he was too embarrassed to say—he'd actually bought Ailin's "alchemical materials" that were worse than the cultists' shoddy products; the same items cost the cultists several yuan more.

He feared that if he said it, Ailin might leap up and bite him—today's body was threaded steel; one bite would deliver 1.5 times the force of a clamp...

At this moment, Little Red Riding Hood spoke again: "The Angel Cultists will definitely strike again, but now the Special Task Force is alerted, so the cultists will be even more hidden. They won't likely use obvious methods like fake assignments to attack our members again—but I worry their minds are already unstable, and they might resort to even more insane tactics..."

"So you must raise your vigilance during this period," Yu Sheng said gravely. "All members on missions or staying at the orphanage must be careful. Watch for any suspicious people or objects nearby. Check the identity of everyone entering or leaving the orphanage—even familiar faces. If possible, have members exchange details about recent assignments and look for anything odd. If all else fails, call me—I've got no active cases anyway..."

As Yu Sheng spoke, he fell silent, noticing the girl across from him watching him with a half-smile. He awkwardly scratched his nose. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Lecturing my lord," Little Red Riding Hood laughed. "You used to say I was always nagging."

Before Yu Sheng could reply, she waved her hand. "Don't worry. Though the 'Fairy Tale' are all 'children,' they're also a long-established organization active in the Borderlands for years—we know how to deal with hostile types."

"Also, you mentioned 'suspicious'... I actually encountered something suspicious today."

Yu Sheng perked up instantly: "What did you find?"

"A strange shadow, like a thicket of thorns, flashed on the outer wall of the outdoor activity building and vanished—but I swear I saw it."

Little Red Riding Hood spoke seriously, not dismissing the matter despite its small scale or lack of current intelligence—during alliance cooperation, sharing every odd clue without omission was an unwritten "rule" among Spirit Realm detectives and investigators.

Too many people had died because they missed even a tiny piece of information when dealing with other realms or entities.

Yu Sheng felt puzzled by the shadow Little Red Riding Hood described.

As a "newcomer," he naturally couldn't imagine what it might be.

Ailin broke the silence: "Have you ever seen anything similar within the orphanage grounds before?"

"If you mean phenomena like 'hallucinations,' they're not rare. Countless nightmares and entities trying to interfere with reality are active here—suddenly hearing voices in a classroom at night, lights turning on in locked rooms, people dancing—these have all happened. But a shadow exactly matching that thorn-like one? This is the first time," Little Red Riding Hood mused. "And it appeared at such a sensitive moment."

Yu Sheng remained silent, lowering his head in thought. After a long while, he broke the quiet: "Then let's talk about another matter I wanted to bring up."

Little Red Riding Hood looked at him curiously.

"I have a plan that might temporarily 'protect' all the children in the orphanage," Yu Sheng said, raising his head with solemn expression. "But it requires your cooperation—and the process might be a bit... odd."

Little Red Riding Hood's eyes widened: "Huh? You're serious?! There's a way?!" "Remember the 'Wasteland' you and Xiao Xiao both entered?" Yu Sheng didn't tease—he cut straight to the point. "You both hid from an attack in the Black Forest there."

Little Red Riding Hood blinked. "... You mean this process can be replicated for others?"

"Probably. Just repeat your and Xiao Xiao's experience for everyone else," Yu Sheng said, raising one finger. "Simply put... take a bite."

Little Red Riding Hood's excited, expectant expression instantly turned to blank shock: "..."

She realized what he meant.

"Let me confirm," the girl said, looking at Yu Sheng with deep discomfort. "Seventy-plus people in the orphanage—you're planning to give each one a 'bite'?"

"Yes."

"... Do you have enough blood?"

"The amount shouldn't be much," Yu Sheng said seriously. "When Hu Li used his fangs to scratch a tiny wound on my hand, it worked fine—and if absolutely necessary, I can do it in two rounds."

Little Red Riding Hood still found the topic bizarre: "But how exactly do you plan to operate? Holding some kind of 'blood transfusion' ritual isn't a good idea—we're a legitimate organization first."

"Currently, I have several options: Mao Xue Wang, Cold-Sliced Blood Sausage, Blood Tofu, My Blood Vermicelli Soup, and mixing blood into water so they can spray each other with water guns—but I vetoed the last one right before leaving, mainly because it's winter."

As she listened to this string of plans, Little Red Riding Hood's expression went slack, as if her reason had evaporated. Two minutes passed before she fully processed what she'd heard—her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. "You owe me payment for listening to these 'options'—I'll need at least two doses of Reason-Blocking Injection tonight just to sleep!"

Hearing she still had the energy to joke, Yu Sheng knew his plans, though shocking, had been heard—he couldn't help smiling.

But his smile froze halfway as the fox beside him, who had barely spoken, finally spoke: "Master, I've always wanted to ask—does cooked blood still work?"

Yu Sheng's smile and Little Red Riding Hood's stunned expression froze together.

After a moment, Yu Sheng began discussing with Hu Li: "But raw blood is too fishy—little kids can't handle it. Applying it to the skin works too slowly and is unstable."

Then Yu Sheng thought for a moment and discussed it with Hu Li: "But the raw smell is too strong; very young children won't be able to accept it... Smearing it on the body takes effect too slowly, and the results are unstable."

"Not good—most kids don't like cilantro."

Little Red Riding Hood stared back and forth between Yu Sheng and Hu Li over a dozen times before finally blurting out: "Wait—you two are seriously discussing this like it's normal?!"

"You'll get used to it," Ailin sighed, feigning wisdom. "They've always been like this—Yu Sheng thinks of anything, Hu Li accepts anything."

Fortunately, this bizarre discussion didn't last long.

"I think we should test the effect in batches first," Yu Sheng said gravely, turning to Little Red Riding Hood without caring whether her reason was ready. "Start with 'parents' like you—you're already highly unstable, high-risk. Building your 'protection mechanism' first yields the highest return. The children... most are still in early nightmare stages; we can wait."

Little Red Riding Hood sat there dazed, her mind wandering for a long while before her eyes suddenly focused. She hesitated: "... How do I explain this to them? What excuse do I use to gather everyone?"

Little Red Riding Hood sat there in a daze, her mind wandering far away for quite a while, before her eyes suddenly rolled and she hesitantly spoke: "... Then how am I supposed to tell them? What excuse should I use to gather everyone here?"

Little Red Riding Hood: "...?"

(End of Chapter)

(End of Chapter)