Dimensional Hotel

Hu Li firmly told everyone that she had buried her parents deep underground in this forest, and even now with all the pits and ravines on the ground, the place she had buried them was definitely still there.

Now, she began to dig.

With the power of a demon fox and unaffected by Hunger, she dug very quickly even with her bare hands.

Loose soil was continuously flung out of the pit, as Yu Sheng and Erin stood quietly beside, watching this scene, while not too far away were Li Lin and her group, who didn't fully understand the situation but were beginning to vaguely grasp what was happening.

Erin sat on Yu Sheng's shoulder, watching Hu Li dig below, and couldn't help but speak again: "So... how about we come look for them next time, it's been quite a while now, maybe the Hunger Entity will pop up again soon, and we will have to fight it again..."

"It won't. I can feel it... when it appears. I've been here, for many years," Hu Li raised her head in the large pit, "There's none in this pit, it should be... next to it."

Saying so, the demon fox girl climbed out of the large pit and stood in the center of the barren land to judge the direction for a moment before quickly moving to a nearby spot on the ground to continue digging vigorously.

Erin opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something else, but Yu Sheng gently patted her arm.

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

Erin pursed her lips, but her voice echoed in Yu Sheng's heart: "I'm not scared that she's going to dig something up, I'm scared that in the end she'll dig up nothing."

"I know," Yu Sheng replied similarly from the bottom of his heart.

"Then you..."

"But I believe she will find them."

Erin fell silent for a moment: "But you've seen it, too, her mental state before, under the severe influence of 'Hunger', she could hardly think clearly, and given the scene deep within that Dream Realm..."

Yu Sheng just shook his head.

Then he walked forward and approached Hu Li: "Do you need help?"

Hu Li continued to dig fiercely downwards, obstinately shaken her head: "No need. I dig, myself. It's here. I saw it... the cloth strip buried before, it's further down, just a bit."

Yu Sheng nodded and stepped back a couple of steps: "Okay, I'll wait for you over here."

Then he took Erin to one side, to a spot where he couldn't see the bottom of the pit, and quietly waited for the demon fox girl to finish what she was doing.

Yu Sheng himself didn't know how long he had waited—he patiently stood by calmly, but gradually felt that every passing second was as long as a year, and he couldn't help but want to look at the situation in the large pit, but his legs seemed to slowly grow together with the ground beneath his feet. He didn't know if Erin on his shoulder felt the same way, but he could feel that since a while ago, the little puppet's body had been somewhat tense.

"I'll fix your body first when we get back," Yu Sheng broke the silence, trying to shift Erin's attention.

"Okay, sure," the puppet responded absently.

"But we might not have enough clay at home, I guess we'll have to use some flour or something, you don't mind, right?"

"I don't mind."

"What about using lotus root sections?"

"I don't mind."

"Are you sure? I'm talking about lotus root sections."

"I don't... no, wait, I mind!"

Erin suddenly reacted, glaring at Yu Sheng fiercely (as she considered it).

At that moment, she suddenly noticed that the digging sound from the bottom of the pit had stopped.

It became very quiet down there, no more soil was being thrown out, and they couldn't hear any noise from Hu Li either.

Erin froze, then suddenly looked at Yu Sheng: "Oh no! Maybe it's really empty down there!"

Yu Sheng said nothing, and just ran towards the large pit.

He saw Hu Li.

The demon fox girl was quietly curled up at the bottom of the pit—her body bent, hugging two fluffy tails in her arms, the rest of the tails wrapped around herself like a blanket.

Beside her, there were two neatly arranged skeletons.

She was huddled between the two skeletons, her body slightly undulating, like a young cub sleeping snugly next to its mother.

Yu Sheng exhaled and sat down amidst the rubble and gravel next to the large pit.

Erin also let out a sigh and just flopped down on Yu Sheng's head.

After a few minutes, the fox curled up at the bottom of the pit slowly got up. She glanced at the two skeletons beside her, then looked up at Yu Sheng sitting above, and a smile slowly appeared on her face.

Yu Sheng looked at Hu Li: "Shall we go?"

"Mhm, let's go."

The demon fox nodded, then bent down carefully and broke off a sharp, non-human canine tooth from each of the skeletons before getting up and coming over.

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

"Is it enough to just take these?" Erin curiously looked at the two canine teeth Hu Li was holding tightly in her hand, "What about the rest..."

Hu Li shook her head: "Just taking the teeth is enough. Mom and Dad said, fox rules... Bringing home the teeth is like returning home."

"Then that's settled." Yu Sheng nodded, then raised his hand, ready to open the gate to the present world. But just as he was about to open it, Hu Li seemed to remember something and tugged at his sleeve, "Savior, wait a minute, there's also..."

Yu Sheng didn't wait for her to finish before he realized, slapping his forehead: "Ah, right, I almost forgot something, wait for me."

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately opened another door and stepped in, leaving Li Lin and the other two nearby dumbfounded.

But he wasn't gone for long, after only about ten seconds, a door appeared out of thin air at the same spot, and Yu Sheng walked out carrying Erin through the door, with a somewhat damaged plastic bag in his hand.

Inside was the food that had been left behind in the ruins of the ruined temple.

"Some of it has been spoiled by those creatures, but I brought back all the intact ones."

Hu Li's face finally showed a happier smile, she immediately reached out to take the plastic bag and counted the items inside carefully, not relaxing until she had counted them twice.

"Alright, now we're not missing anything. Let's go home," Yu Sheng smiled too, then reached into the air next to him and casually pulled, a gate leading to No. 66 Wutong Road appeared out of nowhere and opened — in the flickering illusion's center was the familiar living room, "Li Lin and you three, come over quickly, let's go back together."

"Oh... okay!" Li Lin hurriedly responded, and along with Little Red Riding Hood, they quickly came over. Xu Jiali, who was following, couldn't help but look at the door Yu Sheng opened with a strange expression, her eyes reflecting hesitation but eventually she quickened her pace and followed.

Through the door, the cold wind of Hunger Valley was blocked on the other side, and the familiar atmosphere of the house came with a comforting aura, causing Yu Sheng to take several deep breaths as soon as he arrived.

Unconsciously, he was starting to feel like this place really was like home.

Hu Li's eyes widened in amazement, looking around at this strange place.

She had lived in that desolate valley for too many years, to the point of not being accustomed to this kind of "house" anymore. The intact and enclosed roof and the bright lights made her somewhat disoriented.

After standing dazed for several seconds, she put down the food she was carrying and sat down on the floor beside her, guarding the instant noodles, biscuits, and eight-treasure porridge very carefully, only occasionally stealthily observing her surroundings, or paying attention to the direction of Yu Sheng.

Li Lin, Xu Jiali, and Little Red Riding Hood were also cautiously observing the place. Through the living room's street-facing window, they had immediately confirmed that this location was somewhere deep on Wutong Road in the old city area. However, judging from the angle of looking out the window...

Even Li Lin, a professional Special Service Bureau Officer, couldn't confirm which building on Wutong Road this was.

Meanwhile, their Spiritual Intuition kept faintly pulsing in the bottom of their hearts, constantly reminding them — this place is not the truly peaceful present world, but still some kind of anomalous space with a depth that didn't register as zero.

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

Something was off about this place.

But it wasn't exactly wise to blatantly bring out the Deep Probe to measure the environment — the person named "Yu Sheng" next to them seemed quite friendly, but the sinister techniques he used to kill the Hunger Entity and the eerie ability to open gates to and from the Exotic Realm to reality all suggested one thing: this man was powerful and dangerous.

Provoking a mysteriously dangerous person like this was not smart. If they actually angered this seemingly friendly "human," it was likely none of them would leave this place alive.

"Is this... your home?" After hesitating for a long time, it was Li Lin who first broke the silence.

"Yeah," Yu Sheng nodded, "Just find yourselves a place to sit for now, I'll go get some water for you—things didn't go as planned today, so I wasn't prepared to entertain guests, don't mind it."

"Oh, no trouble," Li Lin quickly waved his hands, the more Yu Sheng seemed friendly and ordinary, the more uneasy he felt — after all, the sight of the Hunger Entity cannibalizing itself in the whole valley was quite unforgettable, "We'll be leaving soon, just leaving soon..."

Then he paused, and seemingly casually asked, "What place is this? Are we still in Boundary City?"

"Of course, we are," Yu Sheng responded as if it was the most natural thing, "Just look outside and you'll recognize it. Wutong Road—weren't you guys specifically shadowing me here?"

Li Lin broke out in a cold sweat: "This... don't mind it, we didn't have the full picture then..."

"No problem," Yu Sheng waved his hand casually, not really minding it, "I actually wanted to find you guys too, just couldn't locate you."

Li Lin and Xu Jiali both were taken aback, speaking in unison: "Huh?"

"You're looking for them, right?" Little Red Riding Hood quickly caught on, pointing her hand at Xu Jiali and Li Lin, "I'm just doing a temp job on vacation..."

"No, I'm looking for all of you," Yu Sheng's expression became serious, "professionals like you."