Chapter 82: Bai Liqing's Judgment

Erin felt that Yu Sheng always had countless strange ideas, and he always had the energy to pursue those outrageous notions—she had been certain of this ever since he took those two lotus roots out of the drawer.

Compared to "cutting a bit of flesh off a physical entity to taste its saltiness" and "trying to use lotus roots to make a body for a doll," attempting to grow vegetables in the now-calm alien space actually seemed less outrageous.

After walking around the valley again and confirming the existence of the "spatial boundary" from the other side, the trio of Yu Sheng decided to temporarily return to the mortal world.

Passing through the gate, the familiar living room and its warm, bright lights came into view; the night outside the window remained deep. Standing before the living room window, Yu Sheng felt momentarily dazed.

"It's still bright over there," Erin climbed onto the windowsill, peering out for a while, "I forgot it's still night here."

"After that 'Dark Angel' left, it seems the whole valley has been in daylight," Yu Sheng nodded, "We stayed there for such a long time, yet never saw any change in the sky's light."

"There isn't even a sun over there; where the light comes from is a mystery," Erin jumped from the windowsill onto Yu Sheng, then skillfully climbed down his legs to the ground, chatting casually as she climbed, "If that's the case, it should be called the 'Daylight Valley'..."

Yu Sheng's eye twitched twice as he watched Erin's practiced and natural climbing: "I say, isn't your climbing a bit too practiced?"

"Yes, yes, is it?" Erin tilted her head back, feeling no shame at all, "Maybe practice makes perfect?"

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched; he seemed about to say something else, but just then, a suddenly ringing phone call interrupted his thoughts.

He took out his phone and, unsurprisingly, saw the name Bai Liqing.

"I'll take this call." Yu Sheng waved to Erin and Hu Li standing nearby, then took the phone and walked to the dining room.

As soon as he answered, before he could even say hello, he heard Bai Liqing's calm voice coming through the receiver: "You're back?"

Her voice was so flat it even gave Yu Sheng a momentary illusion, as if she were sitting in the living room right now, watching him with her eyes.

"Uh, yes, I'm back," Yu Sheng felt a sudden awkwardness for no reason, "Is there... 'movement' over there again?"

"Mm, we're used to it," Bai Liqing said lightly, getting straight to the point, "So, did you see the 'Nightfall Valley'? What is its current situation?"

"I saw it," Yu Sheng immediately steadied himself, and before continuing his answer, suddenly asked a counter-question, "It sounds like you guys can't grasp its situation—the Special Affairs Bureau doesn't have technical means to search for or enter various alien spaces?"

Silence fell on the other end of the line for two seconds.

"They failed," to Yu Sheng's surprise, Bai Liqing answered his question directly and frankly after the silence, "After the 'Hunger' incident ended, we actually tried sending investigators, but they didn't find the Nightfall Valley."

"Didn't find it?" Yu Sheng instinctively noted this phrasing, "What does 'didn't find' mean? Not that they couldn't enter, but that they couldn't locate it?"

"Yes, literally. According to all our 'routine investigation methods,' the Nightfall Valley actually disappeared," Bai Liqing said, "So when I heard you could not only find it but also enter that alien space at will, I felt quite surprised."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment; he really couldn't sense any emotion of "surprise" from that woman who looked like a stone face, but he greatly appreciated Bai Liqing's frank attitude: "Then let me tell you what I found over there—first, I think that place needs a name change. After that thing you call the 'Dark Angel' left, the entire valley hasn't had any 'nightfall' until now; I think that might be its original state.

"Second, based on my observation, the physical entity-Hunger has vanished, and it should be permanent."

Yu Sheng could be sure he heard a distinct breath and a suppressed gasp from the other end of the line.

He sensed her "surprise."

The next second, Bai Liqing's slightly hurried voice entered his ears: "I want to confirm, did you just say 'permanently vanished'? Do you... understand the operational laws of physical entities and alien spaces? Don't misunderstand, I'm just asking out of pure curiosity."

"I know, as long as the alien space persists, the physical entity exists forever, but the physical entity-Hunger is indeed gone. Moreover, based on my observation, the nature of that valley has also undergone some changes. I don't have the professional equipment you guys have, but I think... in a broad sense, the 'Nightfall Valley' alien space should also be considered as vanished. What remains there now is just a calm alien space. Do you understand what I mean? It's like..."

Yu Sheng suddenly stumbled here, not knowing how to describe the situation to the other party, but soon, he heard Bai Liqing's voice coming through the receiver—

"Like an empty shell left after being eaten out, right?"

Yu Sheng blinked; even he hadn't expected such a precise description.

He had actually concealed many things, including the details of how he originally triggered the 'Feast,' his connection with the valley, the various changes his blood could trigger, and the "vitality" currently gradually appearing in that valley. The information Bai Liqing could obtain basically came from the reports sent back by Li Lin and Xu Jiali, but obviously...

this director of the Special Affairs Bureau possessed exceptional sharpness and judgment.

"Regarding this 'empty shell,'" just then, Bai Liqing's voice came again, "the Special Affairs Bureau hopes to send someone for an on-site investigation. Of course, this requires your help and consent."

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment.

He didn't actually have any resistance or wariness toward the Special Affairs Bureau; after all, until now, he had no unpleasant experiences contacting anyone there. It's just that people always have an instinct to keep secrets, and that valley's connection with him has now become very tight.

Bai Liqing, of course, noticed Yu Sheng's brief hesitation.

"You can take your time to consider; we don't force you. If you are willing to open the door, we can also accept you designating the investigators, the number of people, time limits, and accepting supervision throughout the process," Bai Liqing said very patiently. Although her tone was still distant and flat, it sounded as if she was already trying hard to show her sincerity and friendliness, "We only hope to collect some key data. After all—this is a situation that has never happened before, the first case in history of an alien space and physical entity truly 'eliminated.' I suppose I don't need to emphasize it; you can understand its significance to people like us."

Since the other party had said so much, Yu Sheng really couldn't refuse directly: "Alright, I'll think about it these two days."

Watching Bai Liqing standing by the window on the phone, Song Cheng couldn't help but whisper to the slightly balding and overweight middle-aged man beside him: "Hey, Director Wu, do you think the Director used to be this easy to talk to?"

"You're asking me? You deal with the Director far more often than I do," the middle-aged man called Director Wu lowered his voice even more, "You know our Information Center is like a transparent department; we only have some presence during summary meetings. Even your Operations Department calls us 'Server Room Cave Dwellers'..."

Song Cheng immediately laughed: "Don't say it, that's quite vivid."

Director Wu glanced at him, then carefully looked up at Bai Liqing, who was still on the phone: "Having said that... this is actually the first time I've seen the Director speak to someone with such a good temper and patience for so long—is that 'Yu Sheng' really that important?"

"Not important, but weird," Song Cheng shrugged, "Hasn't your whole department working non-stop until now given you a deep experience of that?"

"... Don't mention it."

Song Cheng tugged at the corner of his mouth, preparing to tease a bit more, but suddenly felt a chill run down his back; instantly, his whole body straightened.

A calm yet oppressive gaze had already fallen upon him.

"The physical entity-Hunger has permanently vanished."

Bai Liqing's flat sentence cleared all of Song Cheng's wandering thoughts with a buzz, leaving only a single "Huh?" echoing in his heart like a great bell.

He opened his mouth but couldn't think of what to say for a long time.

"When your two agents return from leave, arrange for them to have more contact with 'Yu Sheng,'" Bai Liqing ignored Song Cheng's daze and continued, "'Yu Sheng' possesses human emotions and behavioral logic; his emotional reactions are very real. We need someone to establish a relatively stable relationship of trust and friendliness with him. Your two agents performed well. Also, tomorrow, send someone to 66 Wutong Road to deliver the registration form—also pay attention to the selection; don't pick someone who looks at alien spaces and physical entities with deep resentment and hostility as if facing a great enemy. Find someone clever and likable."

Song Cheng finally reacted: "Ah, yes, Director."

Bai Liqing nodded, and her gaze fell on the slightly balding and overweight middle-aged man beside her.

That was the head of the Special Affairs Bureau's Information Center.

"How is the situation over there?" she asked.

"We have checked all possibilities; at least from the system level, there is no reason for such a vulnerability to appear," Director Wu quickly adjusted his stance, "We also tried deleting 'Yu Sheng's' file and re-registering it, but all operations were ineffective. Those entries seem to 'float' in the database, accepting no calls or modifications and generating no errors. Honestly... if the system doesn't alarm soon, I want to call the police myself."

"Calling the police is less effective than getting the Academy's professors to take a look; the incense they use to soothe the machine spirits and their binary prayers are very suitable for handling such weird problems," Song Cheng said from the side, "Last time, they cured a transport truck from the Fourth Squad that had fallen into depression."

"I will contact Terra and ask them to send someone to take a look," Bai Liqing nodded lightly, "but if the 'Academy's' professors also have no solution, this matter ends here—in any case, from today on, do not continue trying to alter any data regarding 'Yu Sheng' in the file system."

"Yes, Director."

(End of Chapter)