In the depths of the long-sealed and abandoned underground tunnel, silhouettes of the Black Forest, which should have only appeared in nightmares, were reflected on the walls—Yu Sheng knew right away that his wavering spiritual intuition was not an illusion.

A moment later, he arrived with Erin and Hu Li at the underground tunnel described by Little Red Riding Hood.

This place is located slightly west of the center of the orphanage, right below the outdoor activity area. The entire tunnel area has been abandoned for many years, and there's a distinct moldy smell in the air.

The lighting on the tunnel ceiling is somewhat dim, and it's obscured by various pipes arranged along the ceiling, casting uneven shadows. The walls on both sides of the tunnel are mottled and dirty, with much of the wall paint peeling off. In some places, you can still see messy graffiti, clearly left by kids who occasionally sneaked down here to "explore."

When Yu Sheng and his group arrived, the suspicious tree shadows on the walls were already gone.

"The photo was taken here," Little Red Riding Hood pointed at a wall on her left hand side. "At that time, the light in the tunnel suddenly dimmed a bit, resembling the 'dusk' of the Black Forest. I felt something was off, so I instinctively opened my phone camera, and managed to capture the suspicious tree shadows on the wall—this lasted only a few seconds, and then the shadows disappeared."

Yu Sheng frowned, carefully inspecting the wall, then looked up at the light tubes between the drainage pipes and the empty cobwebs in the corners of the roof.

"What's above this place?" he asked casually.

"A corner of the outdoor activity area—according to the old layout plan, this spot should have been part of the courtyard before the renovation," Little Red Riding Hood nodded. "Although we haven't found clear 'evidence' yet, since we've observed the abnormal phenomenon here, this is likely the spot where the glowing object fell, as observed by 'Squirrel' back then."

Yu Sheng hummed in response, looking down at his feet.

"...You don't plan to dig down, do you?" Erin saw his actions and immediately knew what he was thinking, hastily reminded him, "I'm telling you, this is no joke. The foundation of the building is down there. Those TV shows where they dig evil spirits out of the basement are just for fun. You dig down here, you'll just collapse the building—the Council's Construction Safety Department reacts faster than evil spirits..."

"I know, I know," Yu Sheng interrupted Erin's chatter with a wave of his hand, "I do understand such basic knowledge."

He paused, then added pensively, "Besides, considering the foundation, digging down probably won't be meaningful. According to Squirrel, the thing that fell down 'merged' with the earth instantly, so Anka Aela likely has no physical form at all, or has fallen into another dimension. Digging won't bring anything up."

"What do you think about the image I captured?" Little Red Riding Hood frowned, "Although it lasted only a few seconds, I feel very... uneasy about it."

Yu Sheng didn't reply immediately. He pondered for a long time before breaking the silence like talking to himself, "Some kind of 'leakage'?"

"Sounds like nothing good," Erin murmured.

With a serious expression, Little Red Riding Hood suddenly looked down at the tabby cat licking its fur diligently, "King, watch the underground tunnel closely for a while. If possible, arrange for an 'adventurer team' to station here—not the Warlock, Mage, Priest team, but the one with three assassins."

The tabby cat sighed and spoke in a low, magnetic voice, "Ugh, life is too cruel for a little kitty like me..."

"I'll buy you cat snacks."

"Deal."

Yu Sheng watched in amazement, gaining new insights into the interactions within the "Fairy Tales" organization members. Just as he was about to ask the "King Cat" about his mission handling, and how it communicates and settles deals with outsiders, his thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing.

He took out his phone and saw the caller ID: Song Cheng.

"I'll take this call," Yu Sheng waved to the others, stepping aside with his phone, "Hello, yes, this is Yu Sheng… What?!"

Several ears instantly perked up—Hu Li's ears stood the highest.

Moments later, Yu Sheng hung up and glanced at the few people craning their necks to eavesdrop, with a strange expression, "I need to go to the Special Service Bureau—Erin, Hu Li, you two come with me."

Little Red Riding Hood instinctively stepped forward, "What happened?"

"They found the accomplices of those two Angel Sect members from before—but they were all dead when discovered."

Soon after, Yu Sheng led the fox and the puppet to Song Cheng's office.

Song Cheng, used to Yu Sheng's "finishing calls and appearing at the door" behavior, simply looked up at the Travel Inn Trio being guided by staff. He calmly put away the documents on his desk, stood up, and said, "Come with me. I'll directly take you to see the bodies of those Angel Sect members. I'll brief you on the details along the way."

Yu Sheng led his two subordinates behind Song Cheng, once again weaving through the labyrinthian headquarters of the Special Service Bureau, recording coordinates while listening to the current situation—

"After your last 'interrogation' of that Angel Sect believer, we arranged for professionals to do a second intensive interrogation. This time, using stronger mental intervention and hypnosis techniques, we finally managed to pry open his 'mouth'...

"In his subconscious, we dug up some clues and finally discovered the hideout of other Angel Sect members hidden in the city—limited to the 'Anka Aela' branch, of course—near an old factory area, right under the Council's nose.

"The capture operation started this morning. The intel was accurate, the location precise, and aside from the fact that all those cultists were already dead, everything went according to plan..."

Song Cheng stopped in front of a white door and gestured for Yu Sheng to follow him inside.

The room inside was a morgue, with many surveillance devices on the ceiling and some strange symbols embedded in the walls. Otherwise, it looked just like a normal morgue.

Of course, the room and its surroundings were guarded by several heavily armed Special Service Bureau officers, which was unusual for a regular morgue.

Yu Sheng walked in curiously, glanced back at the door, and saw a note posted nearby detailing some morgue rules, like avoiding body contact with the deceased and prohibiting the dead from leaving the room at will.

These were all normal rules in the Special Service Bureau, so Yu Sheng wasn't surprised anymore—after all, in this place, if you spent more than thirty minutes in the bathroom, a fully armed security team would come to fish you out...

The Angel Sect believers captured by the team were lying quietly on several tables in the center of the room, six bodies in total, neatly arranged.

"There are no wounds on them, and a preliminary examination revealed no internal injuries or signs of poison," Song Cheng continued, "They collapsed in the living room, roughly forming a circle. On the floor, a spirit communication magic technique for communicating with 'Anka Aela' was drawn. It was clearly a sacrificial ritual, but the sacrifices were themselves—without any external or internal injuries, they directly 'offered' their lives to their Lord."

Yu Sheng murmured while looking at the pale corpses, "...self-sacrifice, truly fitting the cultist style."

Song Cheng shook his head: "No, in fact, quite the opposite. Among the Angel Sect believers we've encountered, 'self-sacrifice' is actually quite rare—they tend to sacrifice others instead of themselves."

Yu Sheng was startled: "Really?"

"Because they truly have a 'Lord,' and this 'Lord' directly affects their rational thinking," Song Cheng explained, "Most Angel Sect believers have clear 'goals,' even if driven by madness. They typically won't easily give up their lives unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless they believe their Lord now desperately needs them to die."

Listening to Song Cheng's deep voice, Yu Sheng frowned gradually, then he glanced around at the six corpses and took a deep breath.

"I need to 'talk' to them."

He said softly.

Song Cheng, knowing Yu Sheng's ability of 'Dead Communication,' immediately signaled the armed guards at the morgue door to clear the room, then seriously looked at Yu Sheng: "What ritual materials do you need? The Special Service Bureau can prepare the best conditions for you to make these cultists 'speak after death,' just let me know."

Instinctively, Yu Sheng wanted to say his 'Dead Communication' was all based on instinct and didn't need any materials, but before he could speak, he noticed Erin at his side and had a sudden idea: "Alright, note this down—"

Song Cheng instantly took out his phone and opened the notes app.

"Ritual rose oil, a large bottle, tea powder for spirit communication and alchemy, a four-pound container, purified fragrance and crystal dust, prepare plenty of those... oh, and ritual candles, six bundles for the six corpses..." Yu Sheng thought while speaking, then glanced at Hu Li with the corner of his eye and continued, "also two roasted chickens, eight grilled sausages, twenty lamb skewers, twenty chicken skewers, thirty chicken skin skewers, and two bags of steamed buns..."

Hu Li raised her hand: "And, and grilled mushrooms!"

Yu Sheng nodded: "Yes, twenty skewers of grilled mushrooms."

Song Cheng silently raised his head: "...Aren't you going to drink?"

"Alcohol isn't suitable during the ritual," Yu Sheng waved his hand, adopting an expert demeanor, "but you can bring a few cans of cola."

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