"The 'Security Guards' generated inside the Museum won't move across areas, so we can rest for a bit in this corridor," looking at the quiet hallway in front of them, Red Hat told Yu Sheng, "But we need to be extra careful when we switch to other areas later. Right now, it's unclear how many 'Security Guards' have been generated in the Museum. If they happen to be all around the white exhibition hall... that'd be our bad luck."

"The key question is how these 'Security Guards' were 'activated'," Erin jumped down from Yu Sheng's body, her face serious as she pondered, "We definitely didn't make any mistakes, but those guards attacked us without any distinction right when they appeared..."

Red Hat opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but seemed very hesitant.

Erin directly asked her, "What do you want to say?"

Only then did Red Hat speak up, "Actually, the most likely explanation is that someone else entered the Museum besides us. They triggered the Museum's 'purge' mechanism, but... theoretically, that shouldn't be the case. I checked before we came here; there weren't supposed to be any other investigators coming tonight..."

Erin thought for a moment, "Perhaps someone came secretly? With ulterior motives or something..."

"It's highly unlikely," Red Hat shook her head, "The Special Service Bureau has regulations. Opening a portal to the Exotic Realm within the Boundary Land must be reported in advance, and every 'node' has surveillance capabilities, forming a vast sensing network. Any accidental opening of a portal or a Rift in time and space would definitely trigger an alert."

"Ah, that makes sense. We're familiar with that," Erin unashamedly nodded, not sure if she really took it in. Then her attention quickly turned to Yu Sheng.

At that moment, Yu Sheng was squatting on the floor, picking up a twisted and deformed plastic arm.

This was the limb left by the 'Security Guard' who had lunged at him during the last moment before passing through the 'door'. The 'door' severed this arm due to the distance from the main body. The arm had now completely lost its activity, lying inert like a part fallen off a real plastic mannequin.

Yu Sheng curiously observed this "amputated limb," tapping it on the ground and producing a hollow sound.

Plastic, looks like plastic, feels like plastic, just not sure if the taste would be plastic too if bitten into...

Just as Yu Sheng was entertaining this peculiar thought, an eerie scream came from the little puppet beside him: "Hey! Yu Sheng, what are you doing? That thing is plastic, you can't eat it!"

"Nonsense, I obviously know it can't be eaten, I'm not that outrageous!" Yu Sheng helplessly rolled his eyes at the puppet, "Even if this wasn't plastic, I wouldn't eat it—after all, those 'Security Guards' are humanoid, I definitely couldn't bring myself to do it. I was just curious about how these 'entities' can move."

Erin immediately patted her chest, relieved, "Phew, you scared me... I was telling you, even if you cooked it up on the spot I wouldn't be surprised, you... you're just that kind of person."

Yu Sheng looked helpless, "Is that really the image you have of me in your mind?"

Red Hat, on the other hand, watched with a horrified expression.

She wasn't horrified by Erin's shouting "You can't eat that," but rather by the recollection of the stir-fry dish she saw at No. 66 Wutong Road the last time they visited; she even suspected that Yu Sheng truly considered whether that arm could be eaten—or at least contemplated its texture.

Then she saw Yu Sheng suddenly pull a small knife out of his pocket, made a small cut on his own arm, let the blood flow out, and smeared it on that plastic arm.

A wholly different kind of creepy and eerie feeling emerged from the bottom of her heart, and Red Hat exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if we can gather some information, establish some advantages," Yu Sheng said casually while carefully smearing the blood, "My blood can establish connections with many things, including physical bodies—but I just don't know if it would still work on this 'amputated limb' that has been cut off."

Erin, standing nearby this time, was much more composed. She was immune to Yu Sheng's unusual antics, even explaining to Red Hat, "Yu Sheng's blood is very strange; both Hu Li and I have come into contact with his blood..."

"So seriously, don't you want to take a bite?" Yu Sheng turned to look at Red Hat, extending his arm, "While the wound hasn't healed yet—I'll tell you, my wounds heal very fast, if you don't do it now, you'll miss your chance."

Red Hat immediately jumped down from the wolf's back and scurried several steps back: "No way!"

Immediately afterward, she turned to look at Hu Li who had been silent all along—she instinctively felt that this big demon fox might be the one with the most normal values among the "Travel Inn Trio."

"You don't think there's something wrong with this?" she asked.

However, Hu Li just looked at Yu Sheng with admiration, "Savior's Immortal Law is profound; the Witch Blood Technique is just like this!"

Little Red Riding Hood was bewildered; she had no idea what the "Witch Blood Technique" that was mentioned meant, since she was just a high school student and had not interacted much with those who cultivate immortality.

Meanwhile, Yu Sheng noticed that the blood he had smeared on the plastic arm was being absorbed at a visible rate.

"Seems to be working," he muttered softly.

"Really?" Erin immediately leaned in, her face full of anticipation as she looked at Yu Sheng, "Do you see anything? Did you figure out why those 'Security Guards' suddenly went crazy?"

"The fuzzy connection has just been established; I can't access such complex information yet," Yu Sheng said, waving his hand to signal the small doll to quiet down. He then focused even more, sensing the faint link between himself and this "Museum" established by his blood.

He squinted his eyes slowly, imagining his consciousness extending into the void, imagining his gaze piercing through the long corridor, through each door, and every exhibition hall, among the countless artifacts, he searched for the source of the arm, searching for... the other auras similar to the source of the arm.

Suddenly, he sensed their existence.

He even felt as if he was right there among them.

He was dressed in a security uniform, his body twisted and distorted, surrounded by plastic mannequins also donning security uniforms.

But this was only a fleeting illusion, similar to when he first sensed the action of "Hunger," Yu Sheng knew that he had mistaken the "information" transmitted through the blood for the extension of his own limbs.

The connection between him and this "Museum" had not yet reached that stage, but if the link continues to strengthen, the feelings might no longer be just illusions. Perhaps like the "Feast" in that valley before... he could genuinely "become" one of the guards standing in the exhibition halls and corridors for a short while.

"Most of the 'Security Guards' are concentrated in this direction, two intersections away from us," Yu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, pointing in a certain direction along the corridor, "Now they are all stationary as if they have not received further instructions. Several others are scattered in distant exhibition halls, seemingly without the tendency to act on their own."

Little Red Riding Hood's eyes widened slightly, her face full of incredulity.

This was her first time understanding Yu Sheng's abilities so directly—the fight side by side in Nightfall Valley last time felt more like a chaos-stricken collaboration, and the information she discerned at that time was incredibly limited.

Of course, she immediately realized how useful this ability was.

Just one contact, just one opportunity to "plant" her blood in the target's body, and she could establish a stable "sensing" link, able to grasp the intelligence of physical entities in the Exotic Realm in advance, grasp their current location and status... The significance of this for Spirit Realm detectives and investigators was self-evident!

And then, Little Red Riding Hood quickly thought of a second question: Does this ability work on humans as well?

Somehow, she suddenly thought of Yu Sheng's invitation to "take a bite."

The girl felt goosebumps on her skin and quickly controlled the wild thoughts in her mind, shaking her head while quickly speaking, "Then we might avoid direct contact with those 'entities'... Can you only sense the location of those 'Security Guards'? Can you also sense the situation in each exhibition hall as well? Try looking for the white exhibition hall..."

"No," Yu Sheng shook his head, "The connection is still shallow, and it's mainly with the 'Security Guards.' I almost can't sense the structure of the Museum itself at all."

While speaking, he cut another small slit on his arm (the previous one had healed), and with an experimental mindset, he smeared his blood evenly on the nearby walls and floor.

The blood quickly seeped into the floor tiles and wall coatings, but Yu Sheng hardly felt any change.

"I guess it's not enough," he said seriously, "I reckon I'd have to smear my whole self on this place three or four times to make it work..."

Little Red Riding Hood's expression instantly became more than just horrified.

Fortunately, Yu Sheng promptly noticed the change in the girl's expression and with great common sense figured out why she had such a ghost-seeing look. He quickly waved his hands, "Just a joke, just a joke. I'm quite the explorer."

Little Red Riding Hood: "..."

Is this how one uses their spirit of exploration?!

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