The enormous eye vanished as silently as it had appeared, leaving no trace or hint of its secrets behind.
Everyone inside the cavern exchanged bewildered glances. For a moment, they seemed unsure of what to do next. The presence of that eerie eye had been so overwhelming that even after its departure, a lingering sense of dread and disbelief remained in their hearts.
“Did it really just… leave?” Irene muttered, clearly unsettled. “What if it’s just hiding behind the clouds?”
Yu Sheng shook his head. “It’s truly gone. At least, it’s no longer in this realm.”
He was sure of it because he could feel that the constant “gaze” that had enveloped the valley had finally disappeared.
“But why?” Irene continued to mumble. “What was that thing here for? It hid for so long, then suddenly woke up to scare us, affected the creatures here, and now it’s gone… What was the point?”
Yu Sheng pondered for a moment. “Maybe it was just resting here, and now that it’s had enough, it left.”
Irene stared at him, looking skeptical. “R-really?”
Now it was Yu Sheng’s turn to be astonished—she actually believed that?!
“Oh,” Yu Sheng responded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Li Lin watching the outside from the cave entrance.
That inexplicable sense of familiarity resurfaced, and Yu Sheng couldn’t help but frown. Memories stirred within him until, suddenly, a scene flashed in his mind—
“Wait a minute! Haven’t we met before?” Yu Sheng exclaimed, eyes wide as he looked at Li Lin. “Recently, for sure! Where was it… The little supermarket, that’s it!”
He stepped forward, scrutinizing Li Lin’s utterly unremarkable face—the kind you’d forget unless you made an effort to remember. This time, he finally matched it with his memory. “You bought a box of instant noodles, right?”
Li Lin’s mouth twitched slightly. In that instant, he knew Yu Sheng had recognized him. Yet, he remained calm and unsurprised—because back in the ruined temple, he had also recognized Yu Sheng.
Though they had only brushed past each other in the supermarket, as a specially trained operative of the Borderland Council’s Special Task Force, his memory and observational skills far surpassed those of ordinary people.
Recognizing each other was only a matter of time.
Seeing Li Lin’s reaction, Yu Sheng quickly connected the dots. His gaze shifted to Xu Jiali beside him and then to the girl in the red hood resting not far away.
“Who exactly are you people?” Yu Sheng asked, his brow furrowing slightly.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself,” Li Lin sighed, standing up straight. He pointed to himself. “Li Lin, operative of the Second Action Squad, Special Task Force under the Borderland Council.” ꭆÃ𐌽O͍BЕⱾ
Xu Jiali stepped forward as well, adjusting her posture before speaking in a low voice. “Xu Jiali, veteran deep diver, affiliated with the Special Operations Group of the Second Action Squad. And yes, that’s my real name.”
Yu Sheng stood there with his mouth open, stunned. After a moment, he turned to look at the girl who seemed like a high schooler—the one in the red hood. “So, are you also part of this Special Task…?”
“I’m not,” Red Hood replied, crossing her arms and pointing her chin at Xu Jiali. “I’m the child laborer they hired.”
Yu Sheng blinked, then looked at Xu Jiali in astonishment. “Your organization hires child labor?”
“Child labor?!” Xu Jiali immediately shot a glare at Red Hood. “It’s called a part-time job during school break! At least say you’re doing work-study!”
Yu Sheng felt utterly confused. His first thought was that high school students on the Borderland side were hardcore enough that their part-time jobs during breaks involved venturing into Otherworlds to battle monsters. His second thought was that he’d finally met the “professionals” Irene had mentioned, though they didn’t quite match his expectations. As for his third thought…
“So you were after me?” He looked at the three “professionals” before him, feeling he finally understood many things. “You followed me all the way into this realm?”
He hadn’t expected that as soon as he spoke, both Xu Jiali and Li Lin would sigh in unison, even Red Hood lowered her head with a sigh, switching from crossing her arms to covering her face.
Xu Jiali pulled out a cigarette from her pocket, her face full of distress. She lit it, taking a deep drag that consumed a third of it.
“If we had a choice, we wouldn’t have—this wasn’t our original plan…”
Yu Sheng was puzzled. “Huh?”
He sensed that the whole thing was more complicated than he’d imagined but didn’t dare to ask more.
But at least, things here were finally resolved—there were many questions still, but they could wait until everyone returned safely to the real world.
Irene hopped from Foxy’s arms back onto Yu Sheng. He carefully cradled the battered little doll as he was the first to step out of the hiding cave.
“It’s completely quiet now,” Irene said, sitting on his shoulder. With her broken arms, she hugged his head, a mix of surprise and disbelief on her face as she looked toward the depths of the valley. “…What a mess.”
“Yeah, a total mess, but at least the Hungers are gone,” Yu Sheng nodded, gazing at the valley floor that had been “devoured” down a whole layer. “…By the way, will those things reappear?”
“They will. As long as the realm exists, the entities will reappear. And realms never disappear. Even if you bombed it ten thousand times, it would restore itself,” Irene said softly, hugging his head. “It’s just that… it might take a long time this time.”
“Time to leave this place,” Yu Sheng exhaled deeply. Now that the Hunger Entities had temporarily vanished, the air in the valley seemed much fresher. A cold wind blew from afar, and bright light dispelled the eternal night here. Despite the shattered landscape before him, he felt a sense of relief. “Foxy, how are you feeling now?”
Foxy had been following closely behind him. She immediately looked up. “I’m fine. Not cold or hungry anymore. I ate a lot just now!”
As she spoke, she smiled happily—a carefree, radiant smile for the first time.
Yu Sheng returned her smile, extending his hand toward her. “Then let’s go home.”
Just as he was about to open a door to take them home, Foxy unexpectedly stepped forward and gently tugged at his sleeve.
He stopped, puzzled, looking at Foxy before him.
“Are you worried about the food we left at the ruined temple? It’s probably been ruined by the Hungers. Do you want to go back and get it?”
Foxy shook her head slightly after a brief nod.
“Benefactor, I want to go somewhere. I…”
She hesitated, seeming afraid that she was asking too much or that her request was too selfish. She looked conflicted.
Seeing her uncertainty, Yu Sheng didn’t understand at first what she wanted. But suddenly, he recalled a scene he’d seen deep within Foxy’s dream.
After a moment of silence and consideration, he nodded. “I understand. It’s in that forest, isn’t it?”
Foxy looked up in surprise, meeting his eyes.
Then she nodded gently.
Li Lin and the others were puzzled, casting questioning glances at Yu Sheng. But he didn’t elaborate, merely waving them off. “Don’t worry. I have a way to get everyone back, but let’s wait a bit. I need to accompany Foxy somewhere—if you’re concerned, you can come along.”
“Then let’s go together,” Xu Jiali agreed immediately. “This girl seems to have been here for a long time. She probably has some things to settle before leaving. I understand.”
The group left the back mountain, bypassing the dilapidated temple that was now almost entirely reduced to rubble. They crossed the valley floor, which was now filled with fissures and chasms, and finally arrived at what used to be a small forest.
The forest was long gone. The dark, mutated plants had been devoured during the earlier “feast.” Now, only a patch of pitch-black wasteland remained, dotted with various-sized pits and suspicious black debris.
“Is this the place?” Yu Sheng glanced at Foxy beside him and asked softly.
“Yes,” she nodded slowly. “Father and Mother are here.”
Irene finally realized why Yu Sheng had followed Foxy here.
The little doll’s eyes widened as she recalled the scene deep within Foxy’s dream—the allure, the memories blurred between truth and illusion, and those cold, hungry phantoms. For some reason, she felt a sense of unease. The numerous pits around them only amplified this feeling.
“Maybe… maybe we won’t find anything!” she couldn’t help but say loudly on purpose. “The ground here has been chewed up! Maybe those tentacles that emerged from the ground have already—”
But Foxy simply shook her head, interrupting Irene.
“No, I buried them deep,” she said firmly. “Father and Mother told me to bury them deep. I buried them very deep.”
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation