Chapter 273: Days with the Demon Fox

For many in the Technical Department of the Special Operations Bureau, today was another great day for overtime—this time they could not only enjoy the thrilling activity of continuing to work after getting off work, but also pull overtime alongside their beloved Director...

But the "architect" of this overtime was completely unaware of it.

After eating and drinking his fill, Hu Lizheng happily walked beside Yu Sheng, the two of them strolling along a small river on the edge of the Old City.

For Yu Sheng, it had been a very long time since he enjoyed such a relaxed and pleasant moment; since arriving in this "Boundary City," his nerves had been tense most of the time. Just as he had finally adapted to life here, big and small troubles kept arising. Walking around outside without thinking about anything or worrying about anything, like now, felt like something from a past life.

Although his past life wasn't that long ago.

And for Hu Lizheng, wandering around outside with Yu Sheng was an extremely, extremely happy thing—although frolicking in the valley was also joyful, these were two different kinds of happiness.

She loved the process of Yu Sheng taking her to slowly get familiar with the city—even if it was just remembering one more street, knowing one more shop, seeing one more animal of this world, spotting one more blade of grass, one more flower, one more tree...

This process made her feel gradually at ease, though she herself couldn't quite explain what this sense of ease was.

The evening wind blew, a bit cold, and in the wind one could faintly hear music from the distant commercial street.

Yu Sheng walked slowly along the riverbank, watching Hu Lizheng run happily around near him—calling it a stroll, but in fact this Miss basically couldn't walk slowly and properly beside him for even a few minutes; most of the time she was running back and forth, sometimes on the grass by the riverbank, sometimes on the concrete platform along the river, and sometimes even diving into nearby bushes, never still for a moment.

Sometimes, if he turned his head, Yu Sheng couldn't see where this Miss had run off to, but as long as he looked around a few times, the demon fox girl would suddenly dart out from some unknown corner, and most of the time she would excitedly show off the "good things" she had found nearby.

"Benefactor! I found a flower! It's blooming in winter!"

Hu Lizheng ran back from the nearby grass again, her eyes shining as she waved a handful of small flowers in front of Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng smiled helplessly and introduced it to her: "I don't know it, just call it a wildflower."

"Okay!" Hu Lizheng nodded happily, casually stuffed a few small flowers into her mouth, turned her head, and ran off again.

A few minutes later, she ran back excitedly: "Benefactor! Stones on the river embankment!"

"Hmm, stones."

"Benefactor! A stick! A very straight stick!"

"Hmm, a stick... hey, give me this one, I'll take it home, it's useful."

"Benefactor! A drink bottle!"

"... Throw it in the trash can."

"Benefactor! A balloon!"

"Hmm, a bal... where did you get that balloon!?"

The next second, the crying of a child came from the roadside nearby; a little tot, looking half a head shorter than Xiao Xiao, was crying his heart out a few meters away: "Sister stole my balloon—"

Yu Sheng broke out in a cold sweat all over his forehead and immediately pushed Hu Lizheng: "Give the balloon back to him..."

While going over to return the balloon, Hu Lizheng mumbled: "The balloon floated away from his hand, I thought he didn't want it anymore..."

Half a minute later, Hu Lizheng returned to Yu Sheng's side, clapping her hands, still with that same happy expression.

Yu Sheng could see that this demon fox girl was very happy, but he always felt that taking her out for a stroll felt strange, yet he couldn't say exactly what was wrong...

And just while he was momentarily dazed, Hu Lizheng seemed to discover something interesting again; with a "whoosh," she darted out of Yu Sheng's field of vision, and a few seconds later, with another "whoosh," she darted back, happily holding up what she had in her hand: "Benefactor! A rat!"

Yu Sheng was shocked: "... Oh my god, you don't need to show me that thing—and you're not allowed to eat it either!"

"Okay," Hu Lizheng regretfully pouted her lips; that rat instantly refined into a pool of scorching afterglow in her palm, "Actually, there's a dish made from it in my hometown..."

Cold sweat broke out on Yu Sheng; first, he subconsciously checked to make sure no one was around, then he looked at this demon fox in front of him with some helplessness: "Just stop running around everywhere and scaring people—why don't you just walk slowly with me for a while?"

"Okay!" Hu Lizheng immediately nodded happily—although this process had been repeated several times, she at least quieted down once more and began to walk slowly and steadily with Yu Sheng.

"Why are you so happy?" To keep this overly excited big fox quiet beside him for a few more minutes, Yu Sheng decided to find a topic to distract her attention.

"Going out for a stroll makes me happy, but strolling with the Benefactor makes me even happier!" Hu Lizheng said with a smile; dressed in plain white, her bright smile bloomed in this winter day, so beautiful it was almost beyond description, "It's a pity Erin didn't come out with us; taking her out would be fun too..." "If she heard you say that, there'd be another round of arguing," Yu Sheng shook his head helplessly, "She's only interested in going to the mall to shop; she finds walking outside boring, unlike you—you're fine just going out the door."

"We demon foxes are like this; in ancient times we cultivated in the mountains and wilds..." Hu Lizheng said with a serious expression, then, without waiting for Yu Sheng to answer, she suddenly ran off again, and immediately darted back in a flash, "Benefactor! A screw!"

Yu Sheng: "..."

He finally understood what that sense of dissonance was about taking Hu Lizheng out for a walk—what the nine-tailed cyber-cultivation touring fox dog was this!

This wasn't a walk at all! He was just one step away from tying a leash on this Miss...

Yu Sheng thought about Hu Lizheng's strength, thought about her speed when darting back and forth and her seemingly inexhaustible energy, and felt that if he really tied a leash, the one being walked would very likely be himself, so he didn't dare to think any further...

Then, the streetlights turned on.

Yu Sheng no longer paid attention to the demon fox girl frolicking everywhere; instead, he gently inhaled in the night wind and slowly exhaled, with a state of relaxation unprecedented, quietly admiring the night sky of this Boundary City.

Once upon a time, this night sky would only make him feel eerie and tense.

But unknowingly, even those strange "illusions" that appeared in the city after nightfall had become things he was especially familiar with here, even feeling somewhat "familiar."

The nearby streetlights flickered slightly, and in the flickering light, a thin and tall phantom gradually emerged; that hollow, towering ghost stood quietly in the light, looking at Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng also looked at it; noticing no outsiders around, he cheerfully greeted it.

!

Between the distant buildings, that steam locomotive traveling in the night sky emerged again; billowing thick white mist, it silently drilled into one building, then emerged from the glass curtain wall of another building, disappearing into the depths of the distant sky.

Yet Yu Sheng seemed to be able to hear the sound of that locomotive blowing its whistle, illusory and blurred, as if piercing through many layers of time and space.

He now knew that compared to those dangerous entities generated in the various "Otherworlds," these things that only appeared in Boundary City after nightfall, which ordinary people couldn't even see, were actually just gentle and harmless illusions; there was absolutely no need to be tense.

Just then, Yu Sheng heard the pleasant ringtone coming from the mobile phone in his pocket.

He took out his phone and saw the caller was Bai Liqing.

... Calling at this hour? Isn't she off work?

Yu Sheng was slightly surprised, then casually answered the call: "Hello? Good evening..."

"Good evening," Bai Liqing's voice sounded, "There are two things; is it convenient to talk now?"

"Convenient, I'm just idle right now," Yu Sheng said while keeping an eye on Hu Lizheng's movements, "Taking a walk nearby."

"Good. First, can you open a few portals right now? Any destination is fine."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng was stunned: "Open portals? For what?"

"We've just launched a new automatic identification and filtering system," Bai Liqing's voice was still quite calm, but Yu Sheng could hardy hear a hint of unusual cheerfulness in it, "It can automatically identify the space-time rifts you open and block warnings, switching to automatic recording. The system is now online; we hope you can cooperate with the test—if it runs normally, you won't need to report opening doors in the future."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng immediately laughed; he finally understood why even Bai Liqing, this steel-faced stoic, could express cheerful emotion in her tone: "That's easy to say. Wait a moment, I'll find an empty corner and try opening a few small doors..."

As he spoke, he moved behind a large billboard nearby and, without prior notice, casually opened a door leading to the basement at 66 Wutong Road.

"How is it? I've already opened the door."

From Bai Liqing's end came some muffled reporting sounds, as if technicians nearby were briefing her on the situation.

"The system is active; please try a few more times."

"Alright," Yu Sheng happily cooperated, opening several more portals to various locations in succession—some leading within the Borderlands, some to the "Valley," some to the "Museum," and even one to some unknown desolate outer planet. He tried almost every type of portal he was familiar with, all while opening doors and syncing the situation with the other side. "... I've opened them all. What's your reaction over there?"

"Aside from a slight, acceptable delay when opening portals to other realms, the entire identification and filtering system is functioning normally," Bai Liqing's tone was noticeably more cheerful than before, as if she were speaking with a smile. "From now on, you won't need to go through the reporting procedure when opening doors."

"Hey, that's great. Congratulations to you too; you'll save a lot of trouble from now on," Yu Sheng's tone also brightened, and he immediately asked, "So, what about the second item?"

Bai Liqing fell silent for a second or two on her end.

"The second item," her voice suddenly sounded somewhat hesitant for some reason, "I wanted to ask: after you brought Hu Li to the Special Operations Bureau cafeteria last time, the 'iron ingots' she used to pay the bill... do you still have them?"

Yu Sheng: "... Huh?"

(End of this chapter)