Chapter 193: An Unexpected Discovery Among the Remains

Yu Sheng admitted that he indeed hadn't been able to hold it together.

He had even considered Bai Xue leading forty thieves appearing before him, but never imagined the niche textual combination of "Bai Xue and her seven Lei Ting Titans." Seeing those silent giants, each two stories tall, appear before him, he felt as if he'd been struck by lightning for two hours, stunned into silence, before finally gasping out a few words: "I... this... she... what the hell is all this?!"

"Every subset is a distorted story; sometimes situations like this severe distortion occur," Little Red Riding Hood said then, her expression surprisingly calm, a faint, ambiguous smile on her face. "Just as the original story of Little Red Riding Hood didn't have giant wolves four or five meters tall or shadow wolf packs howling in the forest—in the 'Bloodstained Court' that Bai Xue faces, her hunt and chase with the 'Wang Hou' are just as cruel as you imagine."

Yu Sheng listened, utterly bewildered. His brain finally caught up with Little Red Riding Hood's explanation, yet his expression only grew more confused. He couldn't help but point at Bai Xue, who was dazed by the sudden arrival in a strange environment: "She needs this configuration just to fight the 'Wang Hou'?! Then what must the Wang Hou on the other side be—a TM Gene Prime?!"

"... I don't quite get that reference, but the Wang Hou of the Bloodstained Court can manipulate magnetic fields."

Yu Sheng: "...?"

He suddenly fell silent, merely raising his head to watch the Lei Ting Titan clad in steel armor slowly bend down, carefully placing the frail girl on his shoulder onto the ground. Then, the giants' figures vanished one by one into the air. Only after they disappeared did the listlessness on Bai Xue's face finally ease slightly.

"I suddenly feel your 'Black Forest' is quite environmentally mild, comfortable, and livable," Yu Sheng said after a long silence, finally addressing Little Red Riding Hood. "Finding a breakthrough for the 'Fairy Tale' in the Black Forest is definitely more feasible than Bai Xue's subset."

"I agree—her side is really a bit crazy."

As she spoke, Bai Xue had already arrived before Yu Sheng and the others. This short, thin Miss with short hair, looking harmless, gazed at this place in wonder, seeming still unable to believe she had truly "jumped" from that terrifying Bloodstained Court into a safe zone: "Is this the 'Wasteland' you mentioned?"

"Yes, a boring but very safe place," Yu Sheng quickly composed his expression and said with a smile. "It seems our attempt succeeded."

Bai Xue tilted her head, looking at the gray, overcast sky in the distance, then suddenly lay down right where she stood. She lay on the gloomy grass, her whole body tensing briefly before slowly relaxing.

The young lady slightly narrowed her eyes, and only after a long while did she speak softly: "I don't want to move at all."

"I can understand your feelings; I feel the same," Little Red Riding Hood simply lay down too, lying side by side with her. "Truly exhausted—finally able to catch a breath."

Yu Sheng had just been about to mention tomorrow's arrangements and ask if they could proceed directly with the formal "Blood Bestowal" ceremony for the others, but seeing the two Misses act this way, he swallowed the words already on his lips.

Let's talk later; a few minutes won't matter—they haven't been able to relax like this in a nightmare for a long time.

Early the next morning, Yu Sheng arrived at the orphanage. This time, he met all the "parents."

The Blood Bestowal process needs no elaboration; everything proceeded according to plan. However, considering the number of people, having everyone come up one by one to suck a mouthful was clearly inappropriate (mainly because the scene was indeed too bizarre). Yu Sheng had prepared his blood in advance, mixed it with an appropriate amount of water, and distributed it to each person.

Sitting in the center of the room, watching a dozen or so boys and girls (and a cat) each holding a bowl as if swearing an oath by blood, he felt that the next second this group would smash the bowls on the ground and then swarm around him to ascend Liangshan...

Fortunately, this wild speculation did not affect his expression; he kept his face sternly composed until the ceremony ended.

"With this, those among us with the highest risk of losing control have all established a 'Barrier'," Little Red Riding Hood sighed lightly, a heavy stone falling from her heart. "For the smaller children remaining, arrange for them to receive 'vaccination' in batches over these few days."

"... I have a feeling the 'Wasteland' will become quite lively next," Yu Sheng thought for a moment and said thoughtfully. "I just don't know if that place can get some construction, some entertainment facilities or something, so none of you will find that place boring when you go there."

"We aren't that pretentious," Little Red Riding Hood immediately pouted. "Being able to sleep soundly is enough; what more could we ask for?"

Yu Sheng smiled, but just as he was about to say something, a sharp ringtone from a mobile phone interrupted his train of thought.

He took out his phone and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

After answering, a slightly familiar young man's voice came through the receiver: "Uh, hello, is this Mr. Yu?"

Yu Sheng paused for a moment before suddenly recalling where the familiarity of the voice came from—it was Old Zheng's nephew.

When they left after the investigation last time, he had given his phone number to the other party.

"Yes, I am," he replied immediately. "Is there something you need?"

"While organizing my uncle's belongings, I found something a bit strange... I think you might be interested."

Yu Sheng's expression instantly became serious. He glanced up at Little Red Riding Hood and quickly replied over the phone: "Good, we will rush over immediately; we'll be there very soon."

"What's wrong?" After Yu Sheng hung up, Little Red Riding Hood couldn't help asking curiously.

"It's Old Zheng's nephew. It seems he found something while organizing Old Zheng's belongings," Yu Sheng said while standing up. "Things here are just finished; let's go check the situation right now."

Little Red Riding Hood paused, then immediately stood up as well: "How do we go?" "Just open the door."

When Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood arrived, Old Zheng's nephew was clearly somewhat surprised.

He probably didn't expect Yu Sheng's "very soon" over the phone to be this fast.

Compared to two days ago, the fatigue on this young man's face had noticeably faded, and his mental state had clearly improved. He quickly reacted, not probing deeply into why these two "detectives" could appear outside the door so shortly after hanging up the phone, but instead stepping aside to let the guests in.

Yu Sheng noticed that many things in the room had been packed up; some large pieces of furniture and appliances were already gone, perhaps sold second-hand or sent back to their hometown during these two days. In the empty living room, only that slightly old-fashioned coffee table and a few stools remained. On the coffee table sat a takeout rice noodle dish that had been finished but not yet cleared away.

"Sorry, it's a bit messy here right now. There's more stuff than I imagined, and I've been cleaning for two days and still haven't finished," the young man said somewhat awkwardly, throwing the takeout packaging from the coffee table into the trash can and casually wiping the table with a tissue. "The Special Affairs Bureau came these past two days. I told them about my uncle's situation. They said this matter has now attracted the attention of the higher-ups, and those criminals will be arrested soon... Would you like something to drink?"

"Thanks, no need," Little Red Riding Hood waved her hand, speaking at high speed. "Let us see the 'strange thing' you found first."

"Mm, it's this," the young man said while opening the drawer under the coffee table and taking out a small wooden box that looked quite ancient yet exquisite. "The thing is inside here, hidden by my uncle in a secret compartment of the cabinet. I think this thing might have been very important to him."

Yu Sheng took the wooden box and opened it curiously.

Little Red Riding Hood immediately leaned her head over.

After looking at each item one by one...

But inside the box was only a wrinkled, blackish, strip-like object that looked like dried kelp...

This unremarkable dried object lay quietly on the red velvet cloth. Yu Sheng couldn't see anything special about it; instead, he felt this thing looked very much like something middle-aged and elderly people like to soak in wine—which did quite fit Old Zheng's age.

However, just as he was puzzled, Little Red Riding Hood beside him suddenly let out a low gasp.

Yu Sheng quickly turned his head: "What's wrong?"

"I feel a bit dizzy..." Little Red Riding Hood frowned, cautiously shifting her gaze away from the wooden box. "And I heard a strange noise. This thing... has a problem."

"Right? I felt dizzy too. I just opened it for a look and immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, so I quickly covered it again," the young man said immediately, looking terrified. "So I suspected this thing was also some kind of 'Strange Object' collected by my uncle. Anyway, it definitely isn't something an ordinary person like me can handle—"

Before the young man finished speaking, Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood both stared at him.

"... I didn't know what this was before I opened it," the young man immediately became somewhat awkward. "My uncle hid it so carefully; I had to see if it was something useful."

Little Red Riding Hood tugged at the corner of her mouth: "... You're lucky you didn't get into the Special Affairs Bureau; otherwise, by now you should already be hanging on the annual typical accident wall."

Meanwhile, after a moment's hesitation, Yu Sheng cautiously extended his finger toward the dried object inside the box.

Seeing this, the young man opposite was suddenly alarmed. While controlling himself from looking into the box, he quickly spoke: "Hey, didn't I say don't..."

Yu Sheng didn't even look up: "That's different; we are professionals."

Before his words had fully faded, his finger had already touched the object within the box.

The cry of an infant suddenly pierced Yu Sheng's mind.

That sound seemed to come directly from the depths of his own soul, or perhaps from some extremely distant place, and then entered his consciousness directly through this strip-like object before him. The clear and unsettling cry echoed in his mind, even causing Yu Sheng to freeze for an instant.

The next second, he abruptly withdrew his finger.

In that brief contact, "knowledge" had already been transmitted; he now knew what this thing was.

Little Red Riding Hood's slightly worried voice came from beside him: "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," Yu Sheng shook his head somewhat dully, then gradually came to his senses, looking at the box in his hand with a strange expression, "I know what this thing is now."

"Ah?"

"... This is an umbilical cord."

(End of this chapter)