The tattered cloth strip seemed to be drifting between two worlds—Yu Sheng didn't know why he would think so, but upon seeing it half-real and half-illusion fluttering in the corner, this association naturally sprouted in his mind.

The other end of the cloth strip didn't seem to be very securely fixed. When Yu Sheng pulled it over, he didn't feel much resistance. As he pulled it to "this side," he clearly saw the surface of the cloth strip solidify instantly. The edges, which were originally a bit blurred, became clear in an instant, and simultaneously, the wind swirling around the room intensified a bit for a moment, then returned to normal.

Was it because his act of pulling the object to "this side" temporarily strengthened the connection between the two sides? Or was it just a coincidence that the wind "over there" really intensified for a moment?

With these fleeting thoughts in his mind, Yu Sheng's gaze fell on the tattered cloth.

It looked like it had been torn from a larger piece of fabric. The edges were ragged and uneven. The material itself was light and soft but very strong. Tearing it off should require great force, showcasing some kind of advanced textile craftsmanship.

Yu Sheng turned the cloth piece over and saw the other side dyed with beautiful pale golden patterns. These golden patterns were arranged on the edges of the deep blue fabric like a series of artistic characters, emanating a mysterious aura.

After studying it for a short while, he took out his phone, found the photos he had taken of that "iron lump" before, enlarged them, and observed the runes on the surface of the iron lump, comparing them with the patterns on the fabric.

Yu Sheng felt the styles of the two seemed somewhat similar but dared not jump to conclusions, as he was not a professional in this field.

At that moment, a series of hurried footsteps finally came from the direction of the corridor, mixed with the exaggerated noises of a puppet: "Hey, you said he just opened the door and left, but we had to run so far to the platform to open the teleportation gate... Your tail is blocking my face... Hey, why is it so cold in here, did the heating stop or the windows... What the...?!"

Yu Sheng turned his head, and just saw Hu Li appearing at the doorway. Erin, standing 66.6 cm tall, shot out from between Hu Li's tail and skirt like a little rocket. She didn't see the room's situation at all, and as a result, slipped on the ice and snow on the ground. In the next second, she bumped into the opposite wall with a clear and crisp sound...

A moment later, Erin picked herself up from the ground, took a deep breath—immediately, the room at No. 66 Wutong Road was filled with the melodious sound of birds. The little puppet's mouth babbled on...

But Yu Sheng casually picked her up, and she quieted down.

"What the heck is going on here, what happened, what's the matter…" Erin, being held in midair by Yu Sheng by the collar, stared wide-eyed at the room, "this is even more outrageous than last time, I'm telling you, it's like a snowstorm just passed... Ouch!"

The little puppet shivered, hugging her arms, and glanced at the reflected image in the mirror: "Cold, cold, Yu Sheng, you need to buy me a couple of down jackets…"

"Where am I supposed to find down jackets for a 66 cm tall puppet!" Yu Sheng glared at the little puppet, "Besides, you're just a puppet, are you even afraid of the cold?"

"Just because I'm not afraid of dying from the cold doesn't mean I can't feel cold!" Erin twisted her body, "I just don't easily freeze to death, it doesn't mean I don't freeze at all... Ah, thank you, silly fox~"

A strand of eerie blue fox fire floated over, circling around Erin, quickly dispelling the surrounding cold. More blue fires circled Hu Li as she entered the room, looked around, and responded, "I'm not silly; you're much more foolish than I am."

"I picked this up from the corner just now," Yu Sheng hurriedly displayed the cloth strip he was holding before Erin and Hu Li started bickering, "I think it was in a state like floating 'between two worlds.' I just compared it with the photo of the 'iron lump,' and the patterns on both seem somewhat similar."

Erin's attention was indeed immediately diverted. She grabbed the cloth strip from Yu Sheng's hand and began to study it—naturally, without any breakthroughs.

"There's still no reply from the Special Service Bureau regarding the 'iron lump' we handed over last time, and now there's another tattered cloth. What should we do? Hand it over to them again? They don't seem very reliable…"

"We can't find anyone more reliable, after all. We can't just go out and randomly find two 'masters' who peddle fake antiques," Yu Sheng shook his head, "Plus, these 'mysterious objects' aren't something you can figure out in a short time, no reply is normal... We'll have to show it to them anyway. Maybe they can figure something out when they put it together with that iron lump."

Erin elongated her tone with an "oh," while Hu Li walked over, curiously looking at the mirror reflecting the cave scenery, her expression gradually becoming serious.

"Silly fox, what are you looking at?" Erin asked curiously, lifting her head, "Is there something strange in the mirror?"

Hu Li frowned, looking for a long time, as if she really had discovered something: "Savior, do you think these are footprints?"

"Footprints?" Yu Sheng was startled and hurriedly walked over, "Where?"

"Here," Hu Li pointed seriously at the cave in the mirror, "There's a big rock, and beside the rock in the snow it seems there are footprints, and there are signs of clearing around here, looks like someone had been here."

Under the fox girl's guidance, Yu Sheng finally noticed those details he had previously overlooked.

Light footprints and traces of melted snow scattered near the cave entrance. Although hard to distinguish with time passing, no doubt they were human traces—and not too old.

"... Someone has been active over there, and recently too," Erin blinked, looking at the mirror, then at the cloth strip, "and this cloth strip, and the 'iron lump' we saw last time... What exactly is this cave? Do people regularly come and throw things inside?"

Yu Sheng certainly had no answers.

At that moment, he noticed the room's swirling wind and snow were rapidly diminishing.

The chill began to fade, and the snowflakes that appeared out of thin air through the walls felt like mere illusions with only a hint of cold. The scenery in the mirror seemed to be covered with a thin mist, which then dissipated, and the cave's view in the mirror disappeared—the cold wind in the room stopped completely.

"...Savior, the snowstorm on the other side has stopped," Hu Li murmured softly.

Yu Sheng raised his head and looked at the corner of the room, seeing the piled-up snowflakes vanish into thin air, while the "fabric strip" in his hand remained intact, just like the last mysterious metal parts.

"The connection is cut off," Yu Sheng said thoughtfully, recalling the scene he saw in the room last time, a slight frown appearing on his face, "Could it be... that the connection is established when 'the other side' has a snowstorm?"

No one could answer his question.

Yu Sheng, together with Hu Li and the puppet, left the room and once again carefully locked the door.

"We should buy a camera and install it in the room, pointing directly at the mirror," he said at the door, "one with cloud storage and playback functionality."

"Better get a few more, covering every corner," Erin flipped nimbly onto Yu Sheng's shoulder and said casually, "I suspect that when the 'connection' is established, more than just the mirror changes. Did you notice, the snowflakes seemed to blow directly from the opposite wall and the corners of the ceiling... Of course, I suspect even with cameras, we might not capture anything useful."

"Anyway, let's install them first."

Yu Sheng muttered, then turned back to the room, carefully laid the fabric strip he pulled from the "other side" on the bed, patterned side up, and took several photos with his phone.

"Do you think Baili Qing at this moment..."

Yu Sheng was halfway through his sentence when Erin poked his head, "She's definitely sleeping, you're not human, it's 4 a.m.! Find someone else to bother..."

"Alright, true, she does seem to hold a lot of grudge." Yu Sheng thought for a moment, agreeing with Erin, and switched to the "Border Communication" app on his phone, found the Mysterious Objects forum, and posted a new thread just like last time—

"I've found another strange item, again from the same snowy room. It's a torn piece of fabric, size... patterned surface…other details refer to my previous post."

Yu Sheng's idea was simple, since no one recognized this thing anyway, sending it to the Special Service Bureau would also take forever to get results, better to cast a wide net and ask around everywhere. Posting doesn't cost money, maybe he could snag an expert?

As it turned out, experts also sleep at 4 a.m.

The post had been up for nearly half an hour without even a click.

Yu Sheng waited until he grew drowsy, lay down on the bed, ready to sleep, when his phone buzzed.

Hu Li, who had just turned around heading to the door, spun back and stared wide-eyed at the phone screen, identifying the characters, and nodded to Yu Sheng, "Savior, someone replied to your message, username 'Wayward Disciple Three Thousand.'"

"Perfect timing…" Yu Sheng picked up his phone from the bedside table, just about to click open, when he suddenly looked up at the fox girl in astonishment, "Wait, you recognize these characters?!"

"Yes," Hu Li nodded, "pretty much the common ones."

Yu Sheng: "...When did you learn?!"

Hu Li pulled out the old phone Yu Sheng had given her before, "Just messing with this, and also learned a lot watching Erin argue with people online."

Yu Sheng was shocked, "You... I thought I'd wait until the 'Fairy Tales' business was settled, then find time to teach you. Your learning ability is a bit too strong!"

Hu Li said nothing, just scratching her head and giving Yu Sheng a silly smile.

Yu Sheng then looked at Erin who was daydreaming beside them.

The clueless intellectual void of No. 66 Wutong Road turned her head and looked at Yu Sheng with clear yet puzzled eyes, "What's up?"

With a caring look, Yu Sheng reached out and patted the little puppet's head, "Nothing, play by yourself."

"Oh."

Yu Sheng then opened the message from "Wayward Disciple Three Thousand"—since the last reply from the opponent in the previous post, this was the first time he had contacted this person again.

The message contained only one image.

It was another fabric fragment—the patterns on its edges exactly matched those on the fabric strip in his hand.

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