Hu Li quickly fell into a deep sleep — despite having just been chatting eagerly with Yu Sheng, seemingly too excited by the new environment to fall asleep. But in almost the blink of an eye, Yu Sheng and Erin only heard even and gentle snoring sounds coming from the bed.

Erin sat at the edge of Hu Li's bed, looking at the demon fox girl who had fallen into dreamland.

"She really knocked out in seconds... and is already dreaming. Hmm, not bad, it's a peaceful dream realm."

"She probably hasn't had a good sleep in a long time," Yu Sheng unconsciously lowered his voice, "At first, I was worried she couldn't sleep here since the environment changed so suddenly. The place where she stayed before didn't even have a bed."

Erin got up from the bed edge, walked over to tuck Hu Li in, and while doing so, she professionally remarked: "She must feel very safe here — she once told me that a fox's intuition is very accurate..."

The little doll was only halfway through her sentence when Hu Li turned over in her sleep, and then, right before Yu Sheng's eyes, it happened — the demon fox girl's tail that she had retracted before sleeping suddenly popped out with a bang. Erin, who was bending over to tuck in the blanket, was sent flying by the incoming tail, crashing against the wall with a thud...

Yu Sheng instantly exclaimed, "Damn it," and rushed over to pick up Erin, who was sliding down the wall, only to hear her starting to talk sweet nothings...

Meanwhile, Hu Li on the bed didn't even wake up; the demon fox just mumbled indistinctly a couple of times, then turned over to find a more comfortable position. She picked two tails from the pile of her own tails to hug, replacing the blanket that had just been flung away with the rest of her tails, wrapping herself up tightly.

In two seconds, she turned into a fluffy fox ball.

"Damned tail freak! I @#$%^&* did her a favor..." Erin, hanging on Yu Sheng's arm, swore, then suddenly turned to Yu Sheng, "You know, you don't have to buy her a blanket tomorrow. I don't think she needs it at all!"

Yu Sheng quickly whisked the grumbling doll out of the room. Only when they reached the hallway did he breathe a sigh of relief, somewhat helplessly looking back: "Well, it looks like it's still going to take time to get used to... Erin, are you okay?"

"Does a bruised ego count as being okay?" The doll rolled her eyes, crawling up Yu Sheng's arm onto his shoulder, "Hey, if I still had my original body, I would've been able to take this humiliation. You have no idea how awesome I was back then, I was... anyhow, super awesome!"

"Alright, alright, you're awesome, I believe it..." Yu Sheng humored her while carrying Erin back to his own room.

However, the doll on his shoulder, who would normally argue over such a casual response, remained oddly quiet. Yu Sheng found this strange and looked up only to see Erin with her head slightly lowered, seemingly deep in thought about something.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking... about you wanting Hu Li to help you fight," Erin unusually serious, "It seems that you've decided to keep dealing with the Exotic Realm, haven't you? And I'm not talking about being dragged into affairs; I mean... you actually want to go looking for trouble?"

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment, and his silence served as an affirmation.

"Why?" Erin asked with curiosity, "You've already rescued Hu Li, there shouldn't be any reason for you to actively look for other trouble — although it's true that those who have had contact with the Exotic Realm are indeed more likely to encounter 'the other side' throughout their lives, you could also choose to cooperate with the Special Service Bureau to learn some 'systematic techniques' to avoid the Exotic Realm. Many people make that choice and can live very peacefully for many years... at least more peacefully than Spirit Realm detectives and investigators."

Yu Sheng gave it some thought and half-jokingly looked at Erin: "What if I said it's because of curiosity? The peculiar phenomena of the Exotic Realm have piqued my interest, and I just want some excitement..."

The little doll immediately messed up Yu Sheng's hair: "Are you serious? Are you for real?"

Yu Sheng raised his hand to hold Erin's claws while speaking quickly: "Stop, stop, stop — don't pull — I'm partly serious."

Erin stopped her hair-ruffling, staring at Yu Sheng with wide eyes.

"Curiosity, that is indeed part of the reason, I'm not joking," Yu Sheng caught his breath, his expression becoming serious, "Do you remember the night I led you through one door after another? Those... views beyond the doors, do you remember them?"

"…I remember."

"I remember them vividly," Yu Sheng sat on the chair and slowly said, "So many 'distant places', we even seriously discussed that glowing mountain peak... Erin, don't you want to go see it? There's also that city floating in the sky, the birds flying over the canyon..."

"And the Master Brother who was hung from the ceiling beam."

"…Right, and the Master Brother who was hung from the ceiling beam," Yu Sheng laughed and shook his head, "Erin, whether they belong to some 'distant place' or some 'Exotic Realm', I'm truly drawn to those vistas. You tell me, having opened so many doors, and knowing I can open them again any time, and knowing that there's such a vast world beyond Boundary City, can I really just stay here in Boundary Land and live a 'peaceful life' as you said?"

After saying that, Yu Sheng took a deep breath, "As long as I continue 'opening doors', I'll keep dealing with those 'landscapes' — and this door is already open."

"That seems to make sense," Erin hugged Yu Sheng's head, thought about it seriously, and began to straighten the hair she had just tousled, "If I were you, I'd be full of the same reckless thoughts right now — actually, I'd be even more reckless than you."

The little puppet paused, and then asked, "What about the other reason?"

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment, just slightly squinted his eyes.

Images from his memory surfaced in his mind.

The sunlight streaming through the old alley, the reddish sky, the clouds like water—the "Seaside Small Town" that wasn't very large but was familiar and dear.

"There is a place I want to find," Yu Sheng said softly.

He felt the little hands scrabbling around on his head suddenly stop.

"I have a feeling..." Erin suddenly bent down, staring intently at Yu Sheng's face, "You seem to be going somewhere and don't plan to come back?"

Yu Sheng opened his eyes and saw those crimson pupils staring straight at him, making him feel a little uneasy under the puppet's gaze.

"…Eh, I just want to find that place and have a look. I'll come back."

"Really?" Erin frowned suspiciously.

"Really," Yu Sheng nodded, then paused as if he was seriously contemplating something, and repeated, "It's true."

"It seems... you're not lying to me," Erin cocked her head, tentatively believing Yu Sheng's words, but she quickly shook her head, "Whatever, even if you wanted to deceive me, I couldn't do anything about it. You have the ability to open doors... Anyway, let's not talk about that. Since you've decided to deal with all that messy stuff in the future, have you figured out how you're going to start? You want to be a Spirit Realm detective? Take on cases that might be related to the Exotic Realm? Or be a lone investigator? Proactively looking for clues about the Exotic Realm and far-off places? Or... open a door at random every day and just jump through to meet your doom..."

"Let's not consider the last one for now," Yu Sheng immediately waved his hand, "I'm not afraid to die, but I'm not that suicidal. If I really provoked something I couldn't fight or escape from, then I'd really be done for..."

"Oh, that's not too bad, you haven't lost your mind," Erin nodded happily, "So that means you want to be either a Spirit Realm detective or an investigator? The former mainly earns a living through taking jobs, with stable 'work' but limitations; the latter relies on toughness and rash action, moving freely but often encountering big 'surprises'..."

After thinking for a while, Yu Sheng asked, "Which type is 'Little Red Riding Hood'?"

"She's definitely a Spirit Realm detective. She takes subcontracted work from the Special Service Bureau, and she's also a student working a part-time job," Erin explained, waving her hand, "But according to her, she has an organization behind her, called 'Fairy Tales' or something..."

This set Yu Sheng's mind whirring: "Organization... Do such organizations need to be registered?"

"…Probably?" Erin scratched her head, "I don't know, I've forgotten all about it~ But most likely they need to be registered, right? After all, with an official management department like the Special Service Bureau around, if you gather a bunch of professionals with expertise in the Exotic Realm and don't register, wouldn't that become an 'energetic yet illegal social group'?"

At this point, the puppet miss suddenly froze for a moment, looking at Yu Sheng with some confusion, "What, you're thinking of starting an organization? Right now there's only three of us including that fox, and that fox doesn't even have an identity document—neither do I. Hey, does that mean you're the only 'person' in this house?"

"That seems to be the case," Yu Sheng touched his nose awkwardly, belatedly realizing, "Oh my, where am I supposed to get Hu Li an identity document..."

"Maybe ask the next time someone from the 'Special Service Bureau' contacts you?" Erin started giving advice, "They should not mind helping with such a small favor, right?"

"…Is this their kind of thing?"

"Asking doesn't cost money."

"Alright, fair enough."

Yu Sheng scratched his hair, but at that moment, he suddenly realized another issue.

"Wait, Erin, are you going to squat in my room today?!"

"Hell yeah! My room is super creepy!"

"You're creepy enough, go back to your own room!"

"I won't!"

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