Chapter 56: Homecoming

Hu Li firmly told everyone that she had buried her parents deep beneath this forest, so deep that even though the ground was now riddled with pits and gullies everywhere, the spot where she buried them was still there.

Now, she began to dig.

With the strength of a fox spirit, and unaffected by hunger, even with bare hands she dug quickly.

Loose soil was continuously flung out of the pit; Yu Sheng and Ai Lin stood quietly beside watching, while not far away, Li Lin and his two companions—though unaware of the full situation—were beginning to sense something.

Ai Lin sat on Yu Sheng's shoulder, watching Hu Li dig below, and couldn't help speaking again: "Uh… maybe we should come back another time? It's been a while already, and the Hunger Entity might show up again soon—we'd have to fight all over again…"

"No, I can feel it… when it appears, I've been here for many years," Hu Li looked up from the deep pit, "there's nothing in this pit—it should be… beside it."

Saying this, the fox spirit girl climbed out of the deep pit, stood in the center of the wasteland to judge the direction, then quickly moved to a nearby patch of ground and began digging fiercely again.

Ai Lin opened her mouth as if to say more, but Yu Sheng gently patted her arm.

"Don't say anything. Let her dig. If she doesn't find it, even if she leaves, she'll be trapped here forever."

Ai Lin bit her lip, but her voice echoed in Yu Sheng's mind: "I'm not afraid she'll dig up something awful—I'm afraid she'll dig and find nothing at all."

"I know," Yu Sheng replied silently in his mind.

"Then you—"

"But I believe she'll find it."

Ai Lin fell silent for a moment: "But you've seen her mental state before—when the Hunger's influence was strongest, she could barely think clearly, and given what we saw deep in that dream…"

Yu Sheng simply shook his head.

Then he walked forward, approaching Hu Li: "Do you need help?"

Hu Li kept digging rapidly downward, stubbornly shaking her head: "No, I'll dig myself. It's right here—I saw the cloth strip I buried before, just a little deeper."

Yu Sheng nodded, stepping back two paces: "Alright, I'll wait here for you."

He then took Ai Lin aside, to a spot where the bottom of the pit couldn't be seen, and waited quietly as the fox spirit girl completed what she needed to do.

Yu Sheng didn't know how long he'd waited—he waited calmly and patiently, yet each passing second began to feel like a year; he wanted to look into the pit, but his legs felt as if they had grown into the ground beneath him. He didn't know if Ai Lin felt the same, but he sensed her tiny doll-body had been tense since earlier.

"When we get back, I'll fix your body first," Yu Sheng broke the silence, trying to distract Ai Lin.

"Okay, sure," the doll replied absentmindedly.

"But we might not have enough clay at home—probably need to use some flour or something. You don't mind, right?"

"I don't mind."

"What about two lotus roots?"

"I don't mind."

"You're sure? I mean two lotus roots."

"I don't… wait, I do mind!"

Ai Lin suddenly snapped back, glaring fiercely—at least, she thought it was fierce—at Yu Sheng.

And just then, she noticed the sound of digging below had stopped.

The pit below fell utterly silent—no more soil was thrown out, and no sound came from Hu Li.

Ai Lin froze, then met Yu Sheng's gaze: "Oh no! Is it really empty down there?!"

Yu Sheng said nothing—he turned and ran toward the pit.

He saw Hu Li.

The fox spirit girl lay curled quietly at the bottom of the pit—her body bent, arms wrapped around two fluffy tails, the rest of her tails wrapped around herself like a blanket.

Beside her lay two neatly arranged skeletons.

She curled between them, her body rising and falling slightly, like a young beast sleeping beside its mother.

Yu Sheng exhaled, and sat down among the rubble beside the pit.

Ai Lin exhaled too, and plopped straight onto Yu Sheng's head.

After several minutes, the fox curled at the bottom slowly rose. She looked at the two skeletons beside her, then up at Yu Sheng sitting above, and a faint smile slowly spread across her face. Yu Sheng looked at Hu Li: "Ready to go?"

"Mm, let's go."

The fox spirit nodded, then bent down and carefully pried off one sharp, non-human canine tooth from each skeleton, before rising and walking over.

Yu Sheng reached into the deep pit, grabbed Hu Li's arm, and pulled her out.

"Just taking these teeth?" Ai Lin stared curiously at the two canines Hu Li clutched tightly in her hand. "What about the rest…?"

Hu Li shook her head: "Only the teeth. My parents said—the fox rule… take the teeth home, and you've come home."

"Then that's enough," Yu Sheng nodded, then raised his hand to open the door back to the mortal world—but just as he was about to, Hu Li seemed to remember something and tugged his sleeve: "Master, wait—there's one more thing…"

Yu Sheng didn't wait for her to finish—he snapped his fingers: "Ah right! I almost forgot. Wait here a second."

Before he finished speaking, he opened another door and stepped through, leaving Li Lin and the others staring in stunned silence.

But he didn't stay long—only seconds later, another door appeared out of thin air in the same spot, and Yu Sheng stepped out, carrying Ai Lin on his shoulder, holding a slightly torn plastic bag.

Inside were the food items left behind in the ruined temple.

!.

"Some were ruined by those monsters—I brought back only the ones still sealed."

Hu Li's face lit up with a brighter smile. She immediately took the plastic bag, carefully counting its contents twice before finally relaxing.

"Alright, now nothing's been left behind. Let's go home," Yu Sheng smiled, then reached toward the empty air beside him, pulled—and a door appeared, opening to Tongtong Road No. 66. Behind its shimmering veil lay the familiar living room. "Li Lin, you three—hurry over. Come home with us."

"Oh… oh, okay!" Li Lin hurriedly replied, rushing over with Little Red Riding Hood; behind them, Xu Jiali hesitated, glancing at the door Yu Sheng had opened with a strange expression, her eyes filled with uncertainty—but finally she quickened her steps and followed.

As they passed through the door, the cold wind of the Hunger Valley was shut out behind them; the familiar scent of home brought a comforting warmth, and Yu Sheng couldn't help taking several deep breaths the moment he stepped inside.

Unconsciously, he had come to feel this place was truly home.

Hu Li stared wide-eyed at this strange, odd place.

She had lived too many years in that desolate valley—she was no longer accustomed to such "buildings." The intact, enclosed roof and bright lights left her disoriented.

After standing frozen for several seconds, she set down the bag of food, then sat directly on the floor beside it, carefully guarding the instant noodles, biscuits, and eight-treasure porridge, occasionally glancing curiously around—or toward Yu Sheng.

Li Lin, Xu Jiali, and Little Red Riding Hood were likewise cautiously observing this place; through the street-facing window of the living room, they had immediately confirmed this was somewhere deep within Wutong Road in the old district, yet judging by the angle of their view outside...

Even Li Lin, a professional Special Operations Bureau agent, could not confirm which house on Wutong Road this was.

Meanwhile, a spiritual intuition kept pulsing faintly in the depths of their hearts, constantly reminding them—this was not the truly stable real world, but still some kind of anomalous space with a depth greater than zero.

The three exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of contemplation and gravity in the others' eyes.

This place felt somewhat off.

But they couldn't blatantly take out a depth probe to measure the environment—the person beside them named "Yu Sheng," though appearing quite friendly, had demonstrated bizarre methods when eliminating the Hunger Entity earlier and possessed the eerie ability to open gates between the otherworld and reality at any moment, all indicating one thing: this person was powerful and dangerous.

Provoking such a mysterious and dangerous individual would be unwise; if they truly angered this seemingly friendly "human," none of the three would likely leave this place alive.

"Is this... your home?" After hesitating for a long while, Li Lin was the first to break the silence.

"Yes," Yu Sheng nodded. "Just find somewhere to sit for now; I'll get you some bottles of water. Today's situation was unexpected, so I haven't prepared anything for guests; don't mind it."

"Ah, no need to trouble yourself," Li Lin quickly waved his hands. The friendlier and more ordinary Yu Sheng appeared right now, the more uneasy he felt inside—after all, the scene of the Hunger Entities in the entire valley devouring themselves had left a truly deep impression. "We'll leave shortly, we'll leave shortly..."

Then he paused slightly before adding casually, "By the way, what place is this? Are we still in Boundary City?"

"Of course we are," Yu Sheng replied with an air of obviousness. "One look outside and you'd recognize it—Wutong Road. Weren't you specifically tailing me here?"

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Li Lin: "This... uh, don't take it to heart; we didn't have the full situation back then..."

"No big deal," Yu Sheng waved his hand; he genuinely didn't mind this. "Actually, I've been trying to find you guys, but I just couldn't locate you."

Li Lin and Xu Jiali both froze simultaneously, exclaiming in unison, "Huh?"

"You're looking for them, right?" Little Red Riding Hood immediately caught on, pointing at Xu Jiali and Li Lin. "I'm just working a temporary holiday job..."

"No, I'm looking for all of you," Yu Sheng's expression turned serious. "Professionals like yourselves."

(End of Chapter)