Chapter 64: A Future Worth Looking Forward To

Hu Li quickly fell into a heavy sleep—though just moments before she had been chatting with Yu Sheng with curiosity and anticipation, seemingly too excited in the new environment to sleep, yet in the blink of an eye, Yu Sheng and Erin heard only the steady, gentle snoring coming from the bed.

Erin sat by Hu Li's bedside, watching the fox spirit who had already fallen into dreams.

"She really fell asleep in seconds... she's already dreaming. Hmm, it's okay, a peaceful dream."

"She probably hasn't had a good sleep in a long time," Yu Sheng unconsciously lowered his voice. "I was worried at first that she wouldn't be able to sleep here after the sudden change in environment; the place she stayed before didn't even have a bed."

Erin rose from the edge of the bed, walked over to tuck Hu Li in, and spoke professionally as she did so: "She must feel safe here—I told her, foxes' instincts are very accurate..."

The moment the little doll's words were half-spoken, Hu Li turned over in her sleep; immediately, Yu Sheng's vision blurred—the fox spirit girl's tail, which she had tucked away before sleeping, suddenly popped out with a bang. As Erin bent over to cover her with the quilt, she let out a "Oh my god" before being knocked flying by the tail that whipped toward her face, sending both her and her painting slamming against the wall...

Yu Sheng instantly let out a "Holy crap," rushed over, and lifted Erin who was sliding down the wall, only to hear the Young Lady start cursing the moment she opened her mouth...

But Hu Li on the bed didn't wake; the fox spirit just mumbled two incoherent sounds, turned over into a more comfortable position, picked two tails from her pile of tails to hug against her chest, and used the rest to wrap tightly around herself, replacing the quilt that had just been knocked away.

Within two seconds, she was wrapped into a fluffy fox ball.

"Damn tail monster! I &*&￥#% out of kindness to help her..." Erin hung on Yu Sheng's arm, spewing flowers and fragrance, then suddenly turned her head to look at Yu Sheng. "I'm telling you, you don't need to buy her a quilt tomorrow; I think she doesn't need one at all!"

Yu Sheng quickly dragged the grumbling doll out of the room, only to breathe a sigh of relief once outside in the corridor. He turned back with some helplessness: "Alright, looks like it'll still take time to get used to... Erin, are you okay?"

"Does having my self-esteem a bit hurt count as being okay?" The doll vigorously rolled her eyes, climbed along Yu Sheng's arm to his shoulder, and said, "Hey, if I still had my original body, I wouldn't put up with this humiliation. You don't know how powerful I used to be; I... anyway, I was just incredibly powerful!"

"Fine, fine, you're powerful, I believe you..." Yu Sheng said dismissively while carrying Erin back to his own room.

However, the doll on his shoulder unusually did not argue with him over this perfunctory response. Yu Sheng felt strange, so he looked up, only to see Erin slightly lowering her head, seemingly thinking very seriously about something.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking... about what you said regarding Hu Li helping you fight," Erin said unusually seriously. "It seems you've already decided to deal with the Otherworlds from now on, right? I'm not talking about being dragged into incidents, but... are you going to actively seek trouble?"

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment; silence equated to confirmation.

"Why?" Erin asked curiously. "You've already rescued Hu Li; there shouldn't be any reason for you to actively seek out other troubles in the future. Although people who have contacted the Otherworlds do tend to encounter things from the 'Other Side' for the rest of their lives, you could also choose to cooperate with the Special Operations Bureau, learn some 'systematic techniques' to avoid the Otherworlds. Many people choose this path and can live peacefully for many years... at least, more peacefully than those Spirit Realm Detectives and Investigators."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, looking at Erin half-jokingly: "What if I say it's because of curiosity? The strange phenomenon of the Otherworlds sparked my curiosity; I just want to stir things up..."

The little doll immediately grabbed Yu Sheng's hair into a mess: "Are you serious? Are you serious?"

Yu Sheng held down Erin's claw with one hand while speaking rapidly: "Stop, stop, stop, don't pull—that's a little less than half serious."

Erin stopped the hair-grabbing action and stared at Yu Sheng with wide eyes.

"Curiosity, that is indeed part of the reason; I'm not joking," Yu Sheng took a breath, his expression becoming solemn. "Do you remember that night when I brought you and opened door after door? Those... landscapes behind the doors, do you remember them?"

"... I remember."

"I remember too, vividly," Yu Sheng said slowly as he sat in the chair. "So many 'distant places'... we even seriously discussed that glowing Shanfeng... Erin, don't you want to go see them? And that city floating in the sky, those birds flying over the rift valley..."

"And the Eldest Senior Brother hanging on the beam."

"... Right, and the Eldest Senior Brother hanging on the beam," Yu Sheng laughed and shook his head. "Erin, whether they are some 'distant place' or some 'Otherworld,' I was truly attracted by those scenes. You say, I opened so many doors, and I can open them again at any time; I already know there is such a vast world beyond the Border City. Can I just stay here in this borderland as you said, living a 'peaceful life'?"

Yu Sheng said this, then gently exhaled: "As long as I continue to 'open doors,' I will inevitably continue to deal with those 'scenes'—and this door is already open."

"That seems to make sense," Erin hugged Yu Sheng's head, thought seriously for a moment, and began to comb the hair she had previously messed up back into place. "If I were you, I'd be full of thoughts about courting death right now—I'd be courting death even more than you."

Then the little doll paused and asked again: "So what about the other part of your reason?"

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment, only slightly narrowing his eyes.

The scene from memory floated to the surface of his mind.

The sunlight flowing through the old alley, the reddish sky, the cloud-like mist—that not very large, but familiar and intimate "Coastal Small Town."

"There is a place I want to find," Yu Sheng said softly.

He felt the small hands on his head, which had been fidgeting, suddenly stop.

"I have a feeling..." Erin suddenly bent down, staring very keenly at Yu Sheng's face. "It seems you are going somewhere, and you don't plan to come back?"

Yu Sheng opened his eyes and saw those scarlet pupils staring straight at him; the doll's gaze made one feel a bit uneasy.

"... Uh, I just want to find that place, go take a look, and come back."

"Really?" Erin frowned suspiciously.

"Really," Yu Sheng nodded, then paused, as if truly thinking about something seriously, and repeated it again, "It is true."

"Seems... you're not lying to me," Erin tilted her head, tentatively seeming to believe Yu Sheng's words, but soon she shook her head. "Forget it; anyway, if you want to lie to me, I can't do anything about it since the ability to open doors is in your hands... Let's not talk about that. Since you've decided to deal with those messy things from now on, have you thought about how to start? Do you want to be a Spirit Realm Detective? Take on commissions that might be related to the Otherworlds? Or be a lone investigator? Actively search for clues of the Otherworlds and distant places in every nook and cranny? Or... randomly open a door every day and jump through to court death..."

"Let's not consider the last one for now," Yu Sheng immediately waved his hand. "I'm not afraid of death, but I'm not that reckless; if I really provoke something I can't beat and can't run from, then I'm truly done for..."

"Oh, that's okay, you're not completely out of your mind," Erin happily shook her head. "So that means you want to be a Spirit Realm Detective or an Investigator? The former mainly relies on taking commissions, characterized by 'stable' work but with restrictions; the latter mainly relies on being tough and reckless, characterized by freedom of action but frequently encountering big 'surprises'..."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and asked: "Which kind is that 'Little Red Riding Hood'?"

"Definitely a Spirit Realm Detective; she takes outsourced jobs from the Special Operations Bureau, and she's a student working part-time during holidays," Erin waved her hand. "But according to her, she has an organization behind her, called 'Fairy Tale' or something..."

Yu Sheng's mind immediately started working: "Organization... do such organizations need to register?"

"... Probably?" Erin scratched her head. "You ask me and I don't know either; I've forgotten everything~ But it's mostly likely that registration is required? After all, with the Special Operations Bureau as an official management department, if you gather a group of Otherworld experts with professional skills and don't register them, wouldn't that turn into an 'energetic and illegal social group'?"

Speaking of this, the Young Lady suddenly froze, looking at Yu Sheng with some confusion: "What, are you planning to establish an organization? We currently have only three people including that fox, and that fox doesn't even have an ID card—of course, neither do I. Hey, come to think of it, are you the only one in the house who counts as a 'person'?"

"That seems right too," Yu Sheng immediately awkwardly touched his nose, only then realizing belatedly. "Oh my, where would I go to get an ID card for Hu Li..."

"Ask the next time someone from that 'Special Operations Bureau' contacts you?" Erin started offering suggestions. "They probably wouldn't mind helping with such a small favor, right?"

"... Is that the same unit?"

"Asking doesn't cost money."

"Alright, that's true too."

Yu Sheng scratched his hair, and just at that moment, he suddenly discovered another problem.

"Wait, Erin, are you still planning to stay in my room today?!"

"Of course! That room of mine is so eerie!"

"You're eerie enough yourself; go back to your own room!"

"I won't!"

(End of Chapter)