Chapter 317: A New Refugee

It must be said, Little Red Riding Hood still commanded a certain parental authority among the children; after her single shout, the chaotic squealing on the platform quickly subsided, and then a group of older children led by Princess Rapunzel brought the younger ones over obediently, lining up to receive a scolding before Little Red Riding Hood.

Yu Sheng, however, took it quite lightly and even helped persuade from the side: "Hey, it's fine. I already felt them coming to play while I was in the spaceship. This thing is sturdy and won't break, and if there's real danger, I can catch them."

Little Red Riding Hood couldn't help but sigh upon hearing this: "But you can't spoil them too much—after all, they've been getting more and more lax living here, and a few of them have personalities that just climb up the pole when given the chance, especially Rapunzel..."

Princess Rapunzel, who had been singled out for criticism, still felt quite unconvinced: "I brought the younger brothers and sisters here for outdoor activities! And what do you mean 'getting more and more lax'? We're just a bunch of kids who've been tense for so many years..."

Then came a string of muttering that annoyed Little Red Riding Hood to no end; finally, unable to bear it any longer, she raised a hand to interrupt Rapunzel's nagging: "What time is it at night for outdoor activities! Shouldn't you be taking them to wash up and go to bed at this hour?"

Princess Rapunzel stood her ground: "It's not dark yet! We thought big brother meant we could play a few more hours today..."

Then several gazes fell upon Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng had originally been watching the spectacle with a mindset of eating melon, never expecting that in the blink of an eye he would become the focus of the scene; he quickly checked the time, slapped his forehead with a palm: "Ai, go! Too many things happened today, I forgot to turn off the sky!"

The next second, thick clouds rose like curtains from all four directions of the valley, the thick cloud layers gradually covering the entire sky like drawing a curtain, finally leaving only a crack running vertically through the valley, pouring down a beam of light from the Black Forest straight to Tong Town, illuminating the small path leading back to the town.

The doll-headed children around immediately began to wail one after another.

Little Red Riding Hood clapped her hands: "Alright, alright, now it's dark, everyone go back to sleep!"

Saying this, she nodded to Yu Sheng: "I'm going back too."

Yu Sheng smiled and waved goodbye to her.

Little Red Riding Hood flipped over and mounted the Shadow Wolf; the Thunder Titans bent down, picking up the children who couldn't walk fast and placing them on their arms; Rapunzel and Bai Xue were still arguing and asking about the origin of the Gao Ta that suddenly appeared beside the Black Forest; the group of children left in such a lively manner, following the path illuminated by the "artificial twilight," embarking on their return journey to the town.

The Squirrel and the Hunter, after bidding farewell to Yu Sheng, returned into the Black Forest.

Yu Sheng stood at the edge of the spaceship docking platform, watching the retreating figures of the seven Thunder Titans, the wolf pack, and the Kingdom Knights in the distance, a smile always on his face; after quite a while, he finally noticed a gaze falling upon him from the side.

Looking in the direction of the feeling, he met Xuan Che's slightly curious gaze.

"What's wrong?" Yu Sheng asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I just never expected you to have such a foundation," Xuan Che said while speaking, looking around the valley, "a complex and wondrous scene, forming its own universe; truly a spiritual realm and immortal land. Moreover, seeing the appearance of those children just now reminded me of the scene many years ago when I traveled the mountains with my senior and junior brothers and sisters under our master's guidance—it's clear they hold you in high admiration."

"Then there's a very long story behind this," Yu Sheng laughed, "if you're interested, I can tell you about it when I have time later."

"That would be excellent," Xuan Che also laughed, then clasped his hands in a bow, "I didn't expect to delay for so long again; I have many matters to report to my master, so I take my leave now."

"Alright, then I won't keep you," Yu Sheng nodded, "Anyway, you're in the Borderlands these days, right? If anything comes up, just come find me directly."

The two parted ways here; Xuan Che straightened his clothes, turned around, and transformed into a beam of rosy light, flying towards the horizon in an instant.

Then that beam of rosy light was seen bouncing back and forth in the sky like a ping-pong ball several times in the blink of an eye; in a moment, it flew back again.

Xuan Che emerged from the rosy light, his two eyes taking a few seconds to focus: "Uh... Great One, how does one get out of here?"

Yu Sheng stood there in a daze watching; only after the other returned did he finally have a chance to speak: "If you don't know how to get out, why didn't you just fly out directly? I was just about to open the door when you vanished; I didn't even have time to open my mouth to stop you!"

Xuan Che looked quite embarrassed, swaying back and forth while clasping his fists in a bow: "I also didn't expect the spatial structure of this place to be so strange; I thought it was like the sect's blessed land over at the Grand Void Spirit Pivot, where climbing over the mountain leads to the mortal world. Ahem, the Great One's method of opening this cave heaven and blessed land is indeed profound..."

Yu Sheng wore a strange expression: "My 'cave heaven and blessed land' is actually an alien realm... ah, explaining it is quite complicated; I'll just open a door for you leading to the Border City directly. You'll come out at the No. 26 bus stop in the Old District. I strongly suggest you move around in this place like an ordinary human. Turning into a streak of rosy light at the drop of a hat not only violates traffic regulations but also makes it easy to fall into various strange alien realms; the Borderlands have plenty of those."

Xuan Che never in his life expected that after cultivating for a hundred years, one day he would be taught by an "anthropomorph" capable of wrestling with a Dark Angel how to act like a human. Although he himself actually had experience living in the Borderlands, considering the awkward situation just now, he could only nod while wiping cold sweat: "Uh, good, the Great One's teaching is extremely correct..."

After this little interlude ended, by the time Yu Sheng and others returned to their home at No. 66 Wutong Road, and then drove Wutong Road No. 66 back into the alley of the Old District, the outside real world was already deep into the night.

Yu Sheng didn't want to do anything now; after moving the house back to the real world, he went straight to the bedroom, and as soon as he entered, he flopped onto the bed, his whole body spread out like a dried salted fish.

He was truly exhausted.

Not physically exhausted—this body was newly born, and its condition was actually very good.

But mental fatigue was not so easily "refreshed and restored."

The small doll climbed from the bedside table next to him onto the bed, then climbed onto Yu Sheng's chest—it was the lightest of the lightweight clay bodies; she sat cross-legged, then looked down at Yu Sheng's face, a triumphant smile in those scarlet eyes: "How about it? I told you you'd have a disaster of blood and light~~"

This boastful remark of hers had obviously been held back for who knows how long.

"Don't mention your disaster of blood and light," Yu Sheng, at this moment, didn't even bother to peel the small doll off himself; after all, this clay body was very light, so he let the other sit cross-legged on his chest, his eyes half-open and half-closed as he mumbled, "I'm sleepy. Turn off the lights, pull the curtains, cover me with the blanket, and close the door while you're at it."

Irene widened her eyes: "Hey, you person..."

But Yu Sheng had already started snoring.

The small doll bared her teeth in anger, but there was nothing she could do; she had to jump down from Yu Sheng. Then several bodies started running around the room busily; first, they went to pull the curtains closed, then three bodies stacked together to turn off the lights, and another one ran out into the corridor, dragged a tail back from Hu Li, jumped to the bedside, and casually threw it onto Yu Sheng's stomach: "You covered yourself with the blanket yourself; make do with this!"

Yu Sheng rolled over, casually hugged the fox tail to his chest, and felt his consciousness completely sink into the calm and warm depths of darkness.

He drifted in the darkness like this, moving silently through various bizarre and colorful dreams; many things experienced during the day turned into abstract phantoms, rising and falling in the darkness.

He felt he had returned to that magnificent and solemn spaceship like a cathedral, strolling slowly among those intricate reliefs and murals, with the terrified cries of the Hidden Order cultists echoing beside him.

The next second, he felt himself bathed in starlight filling the sky; the engine power surged, and the distant nebula was like a curtain from the depths of the universe, whispering many ancient stories to him—

In the story, there was a young girl harboring a dream who left her hometown together with friends.

Golden wheat fields rippled in the misty nebula; distant starlight splashed across the wilderness; a giant tower-like spaceship hung upside down at the edge of the dream; Yu Sheng fell from the tower's peak, passing through all those bizarre and colorful illusions—

He opened his eyes and saw a gray sky; an endless wilderness stretched to the horizon; the wild grass on the wilderness was rippling; that familiar small hill still stood very, very far away; against the gray sky background, the edges of the hill and the grassland seemed to be plated with a layer of radiance.

Oh, back to this place again.

Yu Sheng was quite familiar with the route; after seeing this familiar wilderness, his whole body relaxed; at this moment, a gentle breeze blew across the grassland; although the sky light was gray, the feeling here was comfortable and relaxing to him.

He strolled across the grassland and soon saw the place where Little Red Riding Hood and others had lit a bonfire when they took refuge here before—the remaining pile of firewood was still left in place.

Yu Sheng came to the bonfire, pondering whether to clear away this pile of firewood; after all, the children were now safe and no longer needed to seek shelter in their dreams, so this "safe haven" that had been lively for a few days had now become cold and quiet; leaving a pile of firewood here gave people a feeling of loneliness instead.

He stepped forward—but just then, a figure suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision.

Yu Sheng looked up in some surprise and saw her standing on the other side of the firewood pile; moreover, she seemed to have been there from the very beginning, just blocked by the firewood pile, and motionless, with such a faint aura and presence that she was undetectable until now.

Yu Sheng remembered her; in those long and fragmented memories, he had witnessed with his own eyes the young girl embarking on her journey away from home.

Now, she stood straight in the wilderness like this; her armor seemed plated with a faint glow under the gray sky; she still tightly gripped in her hand the steel sword her father had given her; the gentle breeze blew across the wilderness, lifting the female knight's long hair—a touch of gold, just like the wheat fields under the sunlight in his memories.

The Sheltering Wasteland welcomed a new refugee.

(End of Chapter)