Chapter 217: Emergency Transfer

Bai Xue was the first to spot Yu Sheng's figure; she immediately waved and greeted him with a delighted expression, prompting many children to turn and look over—only then did they display the surprise and curiosity typical of normal children, beginning to chatter, ask their older brothers and sisters a host of questions, while some who had met him before cried out happily, appearing joyful and excited.

Yu Sheng walked over quickly, disregarding the matter of Bai Xue calling him "Door-Opening Older Brother," and bypassing the heads of that group of little ones, went straight to Little Red Riding Hood, looking her up and down with a serious expression.

Little Red Riding Hood was stunned by the gaze, and instinctively asked, "What's wrong?"

"Where is Xiao Xiao?" Yu Sheng asked rapidly.

"She's in that line over there," Little Red Riding Hood raised her hand and pointed to the line of children, "The one on the very edge."

Yu Sheng immediately turned his head to look, seeing that thin, small girl standing in a line of five or six-year-olds, a small schoolbag on her back, a pink water bottle hanging around her neck, waving hard in their direction.

"I just entered an illusion of the Black Forest," Yu Sheng waved to Xiao Xiao with a smile, but his expression turned grave when he looked back at Little Red Riding Hood, "I thought you or Xiao Xiao had accidentally entered the 'Subset'..."

Little Red Riding Hood's mouth opened in surprise, and she was momentarily speechless.

"It seems the leakage conditions are changing; even though the 'Protagonist' hasn't entered the dream, their corresponding Subsets have begun leaking into reality," Yu Sheng said urgently, glancing up at the hall, "Is everyone here?"

"Everyone who could be woken has been, but those currently in the 'Nightmare' cannot be forcibly awakened—these children, counting the 'Parents', total twenty-two," Little Red Riding Hood replied, "The King's Royal Guard Knights are guarding those rooms; if it really comes to it... just carry them out directly."

"Will there be danger?" Yu Sheng noticed the gravity in Little Red Riding Hood's expression and asked immediately.

"Forcibly moving or receiving excessive stimulation while in the Nightmare state will cause instability; erosion from the 'Fairy Tale' will accelerate, and the probability of encountering powerful enemies within the 'Subset' will increase significantly—this process is somewhat like stimulation in the real world converting into fear emotions within the nightmare," Little Red Riding Hood explained, "But the situation is urgent now; I'm afraid we can't afford to worry about these things."

She pressed her lips together, seemingly weighing things quickly, then took a breath: "Anyway, with your 'Protection' now, encountering powerful enemies in the nightmare allows retreat to the Wasteland; just give them each an injection of a Rationality Blocker to temporarily suppress the erosion and forcibly take them away... Compared to that, the side effects of the Blocker are minor issues."

Yu Sheng frowned, but nodded quickly nonetheless: "Alright, you arrange it."

On this matter, he decided to trust the judgment of Little Red Riding Hood, this "professional."

Afterwards, he went straight to the main door of the first-floor hall.

The children watched him curiously, dozens of gazes mixed with tension, confusion, expectation, excitement, and unease.

Yu Sheng took a light breath and placed his hand on the door handle.

"Irene," he called out to the doll in his mind.

"Hey, hey, I'm here; how's it going over there?"

"Are you at the valley construction site right now?"

"Didn't you tell me to go to the Wasteland..." Irene paused, but quickly reacted, "Ah, right, I'm at the construction site! I have a body at the construction site! The person in charge here heard the children are transferring early and is in a panic, currently setting up temporary kitchens and tents—the water purifiers and generators are already connected, so there's instant noodles if they get hungry..."

"It's fine, the children are carrying snacks," Yu Sheng interrupted the doll, "I'm about to open the door here; you prepare to receive them over there, take the children to the platform first—just watch carefully to ensure no one gets hurt. It's midnight in the real world now, but daytime over in the valley; the children might get excited once they arrive, so don't let them run around."

"Oh, oh, okay! I'm ready over here!"

Yu Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, then settled his mind.

He felt that the door in his hand had already established a temporary connection with that valley.

The next second, he gently pushed open that eastern building door which usually led to the orphanage's outdoor activity area—

Clear, bright daylight, an endless expanse of grass, distant mountains, a small river flowing at the foot of the hills, and the Young Lady doll standing at the door, smiling happily and waving, appeared before everyone's eyes.

The children gasped, followed immediately by a chorus of chatter.

It was noisy, but this was the most normal sound for a group of children ranging from five or six to their teens gathered together—the overly quiet assembly and queuing just now was not the atmosphere children of their age should have.

But this noise lasted only a moment; they quickly quieted down, with several older children as the core, and several lines quickly reorganized their order, then a pair of eyes looked toward their nearest "Parents."

It was now a "State of Emergency"; they knew they had to wait for the next instruction at this time.

"Just like a field trip," Yu Sheng broke the silence, a smile appearing on his face as he looked at the children, "Go ahead, it's a good place." "Come on, everyone follow me—those at the back, follow the older brothers and sisters in front!" Rapunzel spoke up, leading the first line, walking toward the door to the valley first, "Everyone listen to the command; once over there, don't run around; first follow behind the older brothers and sisters and go together to the assembly point!"

The children began to walk through that door in lines; as each line passed, a "Parent" would stand in the middle as a node, while those fourteen-year-old older children walked on both sides of the formation, responsible for confirming the headcount during the passage through the door and checking the condition of every younger brother and sister.

A few minutes later, the Royal Guard Knights summoned by the King also arrived at the hall—these tall, burly knights carried the children who were still asleep, walking silently and quickly toward the valley opposite the door.

And in Yu Sheng's ears, he could occasionally still hear various strange sounds coming from the underground corridors, from outside the eastern building walls, and from certain areas upstairs.

Off-key music, knights shouting, singing, and the sound of guns and cannons firing.

Lights lit up outside the window not far away; within the lights, it seemed a grand feast was being held, where a prince was about to marry a mysterious princess said to have slept for a hundred years in ruins; they were to hold a banquet in the square before the castle, where bonfires would burn, burning until the entire city turned to ash;

Bells rang; a large ship was docking in the night sky, sailors whispering secrets of the sea; it was said a half-human, half-fish creature had mixed into the crowd, and the smell of the sea was spreading beneath the deck; soldiers on the shore lit fire basins fueled by whale oil; the hunt would begin when the ship docked;

A squad of soldiers marched across the hall's ceiling, wearing strange smocks like playing cards, then disappeared into the corner of the roof;

Children carrying small schoolbags, wearing small water bottles, holding hands, lined up in the hall; the older children started, and the little ones began to sing nursery rhymes; their varied and off-key singing mixed with those court dances, horns, whistles, and the sound of guns and cannons; they passed through one illusory ball after another that floated into view, passed through those sailors, soldiers, talking lions, and the flames and seawater that had begun spreading across the floor at some point, heading toward that sunlit valley—

Walking and walking, small hands holding big hands.

"Don't look to the sides! Don't let go of other children's hands! Follow the older brothers and sisters—let go only after passing through the door!"

Walking and walking, big hands holding small hands.

"The last line—'Jack', you and Rapunzel go over there together to help maintain order; listen to Irene's arrangements once you arrive."

No errors, one sentence, one chapter, one content, all in one place, read it all!

The illusions faded again, and all sounds that should not appear in the real world also began to fade.

"King, you take the knights to check all floors again; go quickly and return quickly."

Accompanied by Little Red Riding Hood's final instruction, the surroundings gradually quieted; the smallest children had all passed through the door, leaving only a few "Parents" still in the hall, and with the departure of the majority, Yu Sheng noticed that a certain "atmosphere" in the orphanage, which had always been turbulent and unstable, finally truly settled down.

He didn't know how to describe this feeling; he only knew his spiritual intuition was calming down.

It seemed the "leakage" of this night had finally stopped.

"It's quiet..." Bai Xue looked up and scanned the surroundings, listening carefully to the sounds within the orphanage, "It seems to have stopped?"

Yu Sheng also relaxed slightly, then immediately asked in his mind: "Irene, how is it over there? Have any abnormal phenomena appeared in the valley? What about the Wasteland?"

"Everything is normal here; the children are in good spirits after arriving, and no 'leakage' has been found in the valley; those sleeping children and 'Parents' have already been transferred to several temporary tents," Irene replied, and after a slight pause continued, "There are no problems over in the Wasteland either; judging by their reactions, it seems all the 'Subsets' are calming down rapidly."

Yu Sheng's expression, which had remained grave, finally eased a little; he turned to look at Little Red Riding Hood, who was still tense all over, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "Good news; the quarantine of the 'Valley' is effective."

Little Red Riding Hood and Bai Xue breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously.

"Shall we prepare to withdraw too?" Bai Xue asked, "If we delay, something else might change."

"Upstairs and downstairs have all been checked," the King's voice also came from the staircase entrance, "Everything is normal everywhere, and no one has been left behind."

Little Red Riding Hood nodded then: "Alright, we withdraw."

The two humans and the cat quickly passed through that door leading to the valley.

Yu Sheng, of course, remained until the very end—after all, he was the one responsible for opening the door.

Only after Little Red Riding Hood had also departed did he exhale slightly, casting one last glance at the now silent hall before passing through the great gate.

In that instant, he suddenly froze.

A hollow figure draped in hunting gear stood there quietly.

Yu Sheng blinked his eyes.

The Hunter vanished in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)