Chapter 46: The Door Opened Too Wide

Erin's decisive turn-and-run was somewhat unexpected by Yu Sheng, and the little doll's two short legs were indeed quite fast as they scrambled—but unfortunately, she was only 66.6 cm tall in total.

A doll over sixty centimeters tall, its two short legs scrambling up a blur of afterimages, was nothing special; moreover, before it even reached the door, the picture frame on its back got stuck on the leg of a nearby chair—it had intended to crawl under the chair, but had forgotten it was carrying something on its back.

Yu Sheng walked two leisurely steps and grabbed Erin, who was still struggling hard in mid-air.

"You don't hold a grudge like that!" Erin waved her arms furiously, punching and kicking at the air. "And I did it just to wake you up! Although I admit the method was a bit too creative, you woke up in the end anyway! Hey, put me d—!"

"I never said what I was going to do," Yu Sheng interrupted Erin with a smile, casually setting the little doll down on the ground. "I just wanted to tell you, next time don't bite so hard. Even with my recovery ability, it still hurts after all this time. You're a bit retaliatory there—of course, it would be even better if you didn't bite at all."

Erin froze, quite surprised: "Ah, you're not angry?"

"Nonsense, I'm not ungrateful," Yu Sheng pouted, turned around, and walked toward the door. "Go make preparations now; we're setting off for that valley."

Erin stood on the ground, slightly dazed, and only hurriedly scrambled after Yu Sheng once he had walked away: "Did you memorize the 'characteristics' over there clearly?"

"Crystal clear."

"I'm starting to think this place is actually quite peaceful," Xu Jiali said, sitting behind the window, munching on a fried pancake with filling that Li Lin had bought in the morning, her eyes watching the street outside, deeply moved. "It's so nice, much more comfortable than the lawless star sectors, and there are no Angel cultists on the streets..."

"That's definitely more comfortable compared to the combat intensity you faced during field missions," Li Lin said, sitting next to Xu Jiali, slurping a cup of hot soy milk. "Just treat it as half a vacation anyway; the mission is just surveillance. If something truly extraordinary appears, the Bureau will naturally send reinforcements."

"But I see 'Little Red Riding Hood' has been acting all nervous," Xu Jiali glanced out the window. "What a young child, tensed up like a pulled spring—I was just like her when I first came out of the 'Platform'."

Not far outside the window, on the roof of a nearby building, a girl in a dark red coat was hiding in a corner, monitoring the activity on the street. A sausage was in her mouth, and the phantom image of a wolf pack flickered in and out of existence in the air beside her.

Seeming to sense the gaze falling upon her, "Little Red Riding Hood" alertly looked up toward the window where Li Lin and Xu Jiali were located. After confirming there was no situation, she nodded lightly, glanced at the street once more, then pulled a few notebooks and paper and pen from a schoolbag placed nearby, and began burying her head in her homework.

The wolf pack continued to monitor the situation on the street in her place.

Li Lin looked at the dark red figure on the roof not far away and couldn't help muttering: "I've often heard of the name 'Fairy Tale', but this is the only member of the organization I've seen with my own eyes... She looks underage, right? Running out to do such dangerous work?"

"More than half the members of 'Fairy Tale' are about her age, and they mostly come from the same place," Xu Jiali sighed. "They are all unfortunate children."

Li Lin was instantly surprised upon hearing this: "All of them? Why..."

"Because children are the ones who easily fall into 'Fairy Tale', and adult members of the organization often find it hard to survive within 'Fairy Tale'," Xu Jiali waved her hand. "If you're truly interested, check the archives yourself later. Don't ask her about this in front of her."

Li Lin sensed something from his colleague's attitude; he gave a thoughtful "Oh" and temporarily shifted his attention back to the quiet and peaceful old alley outside.

"Looks like there won't be any situation today either." He exhaled slightly and continued slurping his soy milk.

Xu Jiali: "I'm not full. Where's your instant noodles? I'll take a pack."

"Under the bed in the inner room—boil the water yourself. The kettle is in the kitchen; the water dispenser in the living room isn't working, it won't give hot water. By the way, make a pack for me too."

Yu Sheng looked at Erin standing at the door, his face full of doubt: "This is your preparation?"

Erin stood on the shoe-changing bench inside the entryway, trying hard to straighten her chest to appear more formidable. In her hand, she held a kitchen knife taken from the kitchen—the knife was large, and the handle wasn't suitable for a little doll's palm, so she had to hold the handle with both hands to keep it steady.

"I'm just being prepared to avoid trouble; having an extra defensive weapon makes me feel more secure. If we really fight, just watch my super-strong magical power."

Hearing the doll's confident bragging, Yu Sheng's face twitched: "Then you might as well take a fruit knife; it would be easier for you to grip."

"A fruit knife lacks momentum."

"With your height, even if you held a Dragon-Slaying Blade, it wouldn't have any momentum!" Yu Sheng looked helpless. "Let me tell you, don't break it when you get over there. I quite like this knife; it works especially well for cutting meat."

"Alright, alright, stop nagging, why so much worry?" Erin held the kitchen knife with both hands, rolling her eyes impatiently at Yu Sheng. "Hurry up and open the door; let's at least confirm the situation on the other side first."

Seeing this, Yu Sheng said no more, turned around, and grasped the door handle, while simultaneously checking the items piled at his feet once more.

Those were the food items sent to Hu Li.

When entering the Otherworld previously, the items he carried on his person and the trash bag he held in his hand were also taken through the door together, but this time the things he attempted to carry were far more numerous—besides a huge pile of food, there was also Erin. With so much extra "load," he actually felt quite unsure in his heart whether it would succeed. Tests had of course been conducted, but only short-distance door openings at home; going to the "Otherworld"... that was not the same as small-scale movement in the real world.

So he could only make extra preparations; if it didn't succeed, this time would simply count as a test.

Yu Sheng wore an especially oversized coat; the pockets inside and outside the clothes were already stuffed with compressed biscuits, bread, and several cans of eight-treasure porridge. When opening the door shortly, he would try his best to "hold" the door open, first sending the supplies at his feet through, then passing through the channel together with Erin.

For this, he needed to "open" the door as "wide" as possible.

He still didn't know the principle behind this process, so he could only rely on his feeling.

Yu Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the characteristics of that valley recorded previously through Hu Li's perception.

Recalling the cold night wind, the stench of rot, and the bone-chewing hunger filling the entire Otherworld.

And most importantly, the "aura" required for spiritual guidance.

All of this became the "frequency" when opening the door, becoming the scenery on the other side of the door in his imagination.

Next, he tried to focus all his attention on this single door opening. He wanted to open a door large enough, stable enough, sufficient to take Erin across, sufficient to take everything across, and accurate enough to arrive beside Hu Li...

The door handle turned slightly, and the cold air passed in and out of the entryway through the slowly opening crack...

!.

A channel was established, far larger in scale than the previous few times.

As for exactly how large the scale of this channel was?

Anyway, it was enough to make Bureau Director Bai Liqing and all the squad leaders of the Action Teams emit a sharp scream in their offices.

Buzz—

A strange and low humming sound suddenly echoed throughout the entire Wutong Road district; however, this humming sound far exceeded the limit of ordinary human hearing. Only those who had undergone training and possessed extraordinary perception of the power of the "other world" could hear the continuous vibration it produced deep within their spirituality.

Xu Jiali, who was just carrying two bowls of instant noodles out of the kitchen, instantly felt something. He looked up at the window in astonishment, only to see the daylight outside rapidly darkening, as if a heavy curtain was gradually covering the entire Border City. Beneath the curtain, all the buildings outside the window were gradually becoming transparent and disappearing, while a strange scenery resembling a valley, hazy and indistinct, began to "grow" out from the original district.

Little Red Riding Hood, who was busy catching up on homework on the roof outside the window, also suddenly looked up. The wolf pack emitted uneasy whimpers in the shadows, and a cold wind blew up out of nowhere, swirling her math workbook.

Li Lin, who had just been marveling at the peace and tranquility of the street, "boing" jumped up, a perfectly enunciated "Wocao": "Wocao! Something's happening outside!!"

Xu Jiali ran behind Li Lin in a few steps with the instant noodles, then immediately realized: "No! The situation isn't outside!"

Li Lin turned around sharply: "What do you mean?"

"We are 'observing' the change—we are falling into the Otherworld!" As a veteran Deep Diver, Xu Jiali instantly judged the situation. Immediately, he casually shoved the instant noodles into Li Lin's hand and rushed toward his equipment case, taking out a light beam dagger and protective gear. "Contact the Bureau quickly, before the signal hasn't..."

However, the speed of sinking into the Otherworld was even faster than Xu Jiali had imagined.

A "pulling" force far beyond his experience dragged his and Li Lin's perception completely past the boundaries of common sense and reason in almost an instant. He only felt a flash before his eyes; just as he was about to pick up his gear, he heard the hollow sound of the wind howling toward him.

All the scenery before his eyes changed; the rental room vanished like a dream, and a valley shrouded in night appeared before him.

Li Lin only had time to see the phone screen on the table before him suddenly light up, the Director's number flashing for an instant—before all that remained before his eyes were the dark, heavy stones and the dark, heavy forest.

The two Special Agents raised their heads in bewilderment, exchanged a glance, and then heard the low growl of a wolf coming from beside them.

They turned their heads to see the girl in the dark red coat standing nearby with a solemn expression.

"We have fallen into an Otherworld," Xu Jiali said after a moment of silence, her voice low and heavy.

Little Red Riding Hood nodded gently: "I know. Judging by the scale and characteristics, it should be a 'Wilderness' type."

Li Lin looked at Xu Jiali, then at the girl in red, feeling that he ought to say something as well.

He looked down, then raised his hand: "Want to eat instant noodles?"

(End of Chapter)