Chapter 55: The "Professional" Is Right Before Your Eyes

The massive eye departed, leaving without a sound, revealing no secrets.

The people in the cave looked at one another, seemingly at a loss for what to do. The sense of oppression brought by that eerie eyeball had been so staggering that even though it had vanished, a trace of palpitations and disbelief lingered in everyone's hearts.

"It really just left like that?" Irene murmured to herself, looking deeply unsettled. "Could it just be hiding behind the clouds?"

Yu Sheng shook his head. "It truly 'left.' At the very least, it is no longer in this exotic realm."

He was certain of this because he could clearly feel that the "gaze" that had perpetually shrouded the valley had indeed vanished.

"But why?" Irene continued to mutter. "What was that thing even doing here? Hiding here for so long, then suddenly waking up to scare people, affecting the physical reality here, and now suddenly leaving... what was the point?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment. "Maybe it was just resting here, and now that it's had enough rest, it's moving on."

Irene stared at him blankly, looking at him with suspicion. "Is... is that so?"

This time, it was Yu Sheng's turn to be shocked—she actually believed that?!

"No one knows the purpose of the Gloom Angels," Xu Jiali's voice came from beside them, interrupting the meaningless discussion between Yu Sheng and Irene. "In fact, we can't even be sure if they possess a concept like 'purpose' at all. Their appearances have always been random. Sometimes they require an immense price to be driven away; sometimes... they leave on their own quite quickly. Analyzing the actions of a Gloom Angel is meaningless. We should feel lucky that the eye wasn't an individual with high mobility."

Yu Sheng gave an "oh" and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Li Lin observing the situation outside the cave entrance.

That inexplicable sense of familiarity welled up from his heart again. Yu Sheng couldn't help but frown as memories surged within him. Suddenly, a scene flashed through his mind—

"Wait! Have we met before?" Yu Sheng reacted instantly, staring wide-eyed at Li Lin. "Recently, definitely! Where was it... a small supermarket, right, the small supermarket!"

He took two steps forward, scrutinizing Li Lin's face—a face so unremarkable in a crowd that one wouldn't remember it without a strenuous effort to recall. This time, it finally matched the memory in his mind perfectly. "You bought a case of instant noodles back then, didn't you?"

The corner of Li Lin's mouth twitched. He had known the moment Yu Sheng recognized him, but he showed no panic or surprise—because back when they first met in the ruins of that broken temple, he had recognized Yu Sheng's face as well.

Though they had only brushed past each other once in the supermarket, as a trained agent of the Special Affairs Bureau, his memory and observational skills far surpassed those of an ordinary person.

Recognizing each other was only a matter of time.

Seeing the other's reaction, Yu Sheng's mind instantly connected many dots. He gradually understood, his gaze sweeping over Xu Jiali beside him and then to the Little Red Riding Hood resting not far away.

"Where on earth are you people from?" Yu Sheng asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Let me reintroduce myself," Li Lin sighed, then stood up straight and pointed to himself. "Li Lin, agent of the Second Action Detachment, Special Affairs Bureau, under the Borderland Geographical Council."

Xu Jiali also walked over, adjusted her posture, and spoke in a low voice, "Attached Special Operations Group of the Second Action Detachment, veteran diver, Xu Jiali—and that really is my real name."

Yu Sheng stood agape. After a long pause, he turned to look at the "Little Red Riding Hood," who looked like a high school student. "So you're also some kind of Special Aff..."

"I'm not," Little Red Riding Hood said, crossing her arms and pointing to Xu Jiali with her chin. "I'm their child laborer."

Yu Sheng froze, looking at Xu Jiali in astonishment. "Your organization hires child laborers too?"

"What child labor!" Xu Jiali immediately glared at Little Red Riding Hood. "It's a seasonal job! Can't you at least call it work-study?!"

Yu Sheng felt like his brain was turning to mush. His first thought was whether high school students in the Borderlands were this hardcore—that their "work-study" involved running into an exotic realm to fight monsters. His second thought was that he had finally met the "professionals" Irene had mentioned, but their vibe was nothing like what he had imagined. As for his third thought...

"So, you're here for me?" Yu Sheng looked at the three "professionals" before him, feeling like he finally understood much of the situation. "You followed me all the way into this exotic realm just to find me?"

He didn't expect that as soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Jiali and Li Lin would let out a simultaneous, long sigh, and even Little Red Riding Hood would sigh and lower her head, switching from crossing her arms to covering her face.

Xu Jiali pulled a cigarette from her pocket, lit it with a face full of woe, and took a massive drag that consumed a third of it.

"If we could help it, we wouldn't want to—our original plan wasn't this..."

Yu Sheng: "?"

He felt that this burly woman didn't look very happy, so he didn't dare ask further.

Fortunately, the matter here was finally resolved. There were still many questions remaining, but they could wait until everyone returned safely to the real world.

Irene climbed from Hu Li's arms back onto Yu Sheng's shoulder. Yu Sheng carefully held the pitiful little doll and was the first to step out of the hiding cave.

"It's completely silent now," Irene said, sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder and hugging his head with her broken arms. She looked toward the depths of the valley with an expression of wonder and disbelief. "...A total mess."

"Yeah, a total mess, but at least the Hunger Entity is gone," Yu Sheng nodded, looking at the valley where a layer of the earth had been "gnawed" away. "...By the way, will that thing show up again?"

"It will. As long as the exotic realm exists, the Entity will reappear. And the exotic realm will never disappear; even if you bombed it ten thousand times, it would return to its original state," Irene said softly, hugging Yu Sheng's head. "It's just... it will probably take a long time this time."

"It's time to leave this place," Yu Sheng took a long breath. Now that the Hunger Entity had temporarily vanished, the air in the valley seemed much fresher. A cold wind blew from afar, and bright light dispersed the eternal night of this place. Despite the fragmented landscape before him, he felt a sense of relief. "Hu Li, how are you feeling now?"

The fox girl had been following closely behind Yu Sheng. She immediately looked up. "I... I'm fine. Not cold, not hungry. I ate very well just now!"

As Hu Li spoke, she laughed happily, laughing with such freedom and brightness for the first time.

Yu Sheng returned the smile and reached out his hand. "Then let's go home."

However, just as he was about to open the door to home, Hu Li took a step forward without warning and gently tugged at his sleeve.

Confused, Yu Sheng stopped and looked at the fox girl.

"Are you worried about the food left in the broken temple ruins? Most of it was probably ravaged by the Hunger Entity, and you want to go get it back?"

Hu Li nodded slightly, but then immediately shook her head.

"Benefactor, I want to go somewhere. I..."

She spoke hesitantly, appearing conflicted, as if worried her request was too much or her desire too willful.

Looking at the hesitant fox girl, Yu Sheng didn't understand what she wanted at first, but suddenly, he recalled a scene he had seen deep within Hu Li's dream.

After a moment of silence and deliberation, Yu Sheng nodded. "I understand. Is it in that forest?"

Hu Li looked up in surprise, searching Yu Sheng's eyes.

Then, she gave a small nod.

Li Lin and the others, confused, cast questioning glances at Yu Sheng, but he didn't explain in detail. He simply waved them off. "Don't worry, I'll have a way to send everyone back in a moment. But wait a bit—I need to accompany Hu Li to a place. If you're worried, you can follow us."

"Then let's go together," Xu Jiali was the first to nod. "This girl seems to have been here for a long time. She likely has something to settle before leaving. I understand."

The group left the back mountains, bypassed the broken temple—which was even more dilapidated than before, leaving only a few fragments of walls—and crossed the rocky valley floor riddled with gullies and cracks, finally arriving at the site of the former small forest.

The forest had long since vanished. The dark, mutated plants had been swallowed clean during the previous feast. All that remained was a blackened wasteland, covered in pits of various sizes and suspicious black debris.

"Is it here?" Yu Sheng asked softly, glancing at Hu Li walking beside him.

"Yes," Hu Li nodded slowly. "Mom and Dad are right here."

It was only then that Irene finally understood why Yu Sheng had followed Hu Li here.

The little doll's eyes widened. She recalled the imagery from the depths of Hu Li's dream—the enchantments, the indistinguishable memories, and the phantoms within the cold hunger. For some reason, she felt a sense of unease, and the numerous pits scattered around only intensified that feeling.

"It... it might be impossible to find!" she couldn't help but say, intentionally raising her voice. "A whole chunk of the ground was gnawed away! Maybe they were already taken by those tentacles that pop out of the ground..."

However, Hu Li simply shook her head, interrupting Irene.

"No, I buried them very deep," she said firmly. "Mom and Dad told me to bury them deep. I buried them very deep."