Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 595: Hu Li’s Philosophy

Yu Sheng was somewhat surprised by Baili Qing's straightforward reaction, as he had the impression that this director sister was always a calm, composed, and rational lady, not the type to consider "thinking" a really reliable reason. But he soon figured it out—people have many facets. When they first met, Little Red Riding Hood was a cool girl, but once she drank too much, didn't she start barking back and forth with Hu Li like a wealthy dog...

Afterwards, he exchanged a lot of information with Baili Qing about changes in the Dark Alley, as well as various details in the "Brass Knights'" operations, and by the way showed her the phone issued to him by the Special Service Bureau—because the phone came with some environmental recording features.

After all, Yu Sheng had a pretty clear sense of his own "professional abilities." He knew that although he had many incredible skills and his fighting abilities were decent, when it comes to "intelligence gathering" and other professional skills, he might not be as good as the young nephew (after all, the nephew had undergone specialized training). Since he couldn't judge which intel was useful, it was better to dump everything he knew—then Baili Qing can deal with the headaches.

Anyway, she can pull in experts from the Special Service Bureau to share the headaches.

"What's the plan for handling the Dark Alley after this?" After the exchange, Yu Sheng curiously asked another question.

"First, issue a lockdown order; the Dark Alley is no longer suitable for regular Spirit Realm detectives and investigators," Baili Qing said with a business-like presence, "Then we'll dispatch the Deep Dive Team to investigate—however, due to the Dark Alley's unique stratification and continuous changes, the investigation team will likely come back empty-handed, so I'm considering setting up a verification-based 'Spiritual Fox' node in the Dark Alley for long-term monitoring. Of course, regardless of the situation, the unlimited investigation rights by the 'travel agency' are still valid, and your survey team can enter Dark Alley anytime."

Yu Sheng stroked his chin: "Alright... I'll tell the 'cats' in the Dark Alley to not scratch when they see people in iron shells going in... better tell them not to scratch anyone at all. Just not sure to what extent they can execute, since those creatures don't look very smart."

Baili Qing seemed a bit distracted (possibly really sleep-deprived), and took a moment longer to realize what Yu Sheng said. After a delay of a second or two, she suddenly realized, raising her head with an astonished look: "...'Cats' in the Dark Alley? Why can you command the 'cats' in the Dark Alley?!"

Yu Sheng: "I groomed them."

Baili Qing: "...?!"

The next second, this director sister's eyes suddenly turned unusual, with a hint of flicker, a dash of thought, and a trace of excitement akin to discovering a new continent and geared up for a big plan—in short, it was the first time Yu Sheng felt Baili Qing's gaze had a hint of "thinking."

Then she spoke: "That process of your 'grooming'..."

Probably due to some telepathy from Blood Transfer (or perhaps recently feeling a bit anemic making him intuitive), Yu Sheng realized Baili Qing's thoughts as soon as she spoke those few words, and promptly interrupted her, looking earnest: "Within the Light Boundary Land, there are over a thousand Exotic Realms, two-fifths of which have a Danger Level above 2; and some Exotic Realms internally generate entities continuously—"

Baili Qing: "Uh..."

Yu Sheng sighed: "I've recently started to feel anemic—and somehow always need some 'ammunition' ready for angels that might pop out unexpectedly."

Baili Qing remained silent.

The director lady's first "thinking" attempt didn't go smoothly.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng quickly changed the topic, beginning to inquire about Luo whom he had sent for stomach cleansing earlier.

"She's resting in the medical room," Baili Qing's expression instantly returned to normal, "Actually, shortly after you brought her in, her symptoms abated—afterwards, we checked her and found no signs of poisoning. Her hallucinations and delusions seemed more like temporary spiritual energy interference, or some kind of illusion technique."

Yu Sheng: "...?"

Listening, he slowly widened his eyes, suddenly recalling the long-haired princess's repeated jabbering before she was sent back to do homework:

"What poisonous mushroom, just regular magic mushroom from the Black Forest... not the same as a poisonous mushroom..."

So, that golden-haired girl wasn't lying, huh?!

Goddamn Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf's Black Forest grows Spirit Mushrooms! Is this considered a Holy Relic of Anka Aela as well?

Baili Qing watched as Yu Sheng's face shifted variously, finally unable to resist asking, "Anything wrong?"

"Uh, no," Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand and curiously asked, "Then what about Luo over there..."

Baili Qing: "I still insisted on giving her a stomach wash."

Yu Sheng: "?"

After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously asked, "Personal vendetta?"

"No, it's out of caution," Baili Qing said calmly, "After all, she'll be needed later, and she can't afford issues."

The advantage of Baili Qing's face showed here— Yu Sheng couldn't tell if she was serious or suppressing a grin while saying this.

But then she added: "But the medical personnel knew she was the culprit behind the World Bridge Crisis, so they gave her two washes."

This time, she didn't suppress it.

Yu Sheng: "..."

...

Erin rolled over on the living room couch, nestling into a heap of warm fuzz, and quickly started snoring evenly.

Moments later, a fox tail stretched onto the coffee table and turned off the TV that was playing a variety show. Another tail floated to the wall, the tip flicked, and "pop," the sound of the lights in the living room and stairway turned off crisply.

Quiet darkness enveloped the living room, with only some warm light spilling from the stairwell on the second floor, preventing the surroundings from plunging into complete darkness.

Hu Li turned her head and glanced at the little puppet sleeping soundly amid her big tail, gently patting its back lightly, every now and then.

She remembered when she couldn't sleep as a child, her mother used to pat her just like this.

In the darkness, the eyes of the Great Demon Fox glowed with a golden-red shimmer, carrying a smile.

"Erin, no, little child."

A voice suddenly came from the dimness, Luna stood beside the sofa and said.

"Actually, yes, her mind is just like a child's," Hu Li squinted her eyes, speaking seriously.

Luna tilted her head: "Why?"

"She herself thinks she's the 'Erin' from millennia ago, and some people think she's an even older omen, but actually her mind should be calculated from the fusion of the two, minus the days when she was sealed in the oil painting, her mind stagnating, what's left is just a child," Hu Li said leisurely, "Savior actually understands this too, which is why he normally interacts with Erin as if he's caring for a child."

Luna looked at Hu Li, seemingly a bit surprised: "I thought, you usually, don't consider, this much."

"I don't, but this doesn't require much thinking," Hu Li spoke casually, then she went silent for a while, raised her head to look at Luna standing beside her.

This "Artificial Saintess" stood quietly, still wearing the "Star Maidens" style nun outfit that Yu Sheng bought for her at the Feiyu border. Although many clothes were bought at that time, she seems especially fond of this one, even mended it to keep wearing despite it being damaged during fights.

Outside the black robe adorned with silver threads, her metallic limbs gleamed with a cold brilliance, under the church-style veil, her pale alloy face carried a programmatically preset sacred and gentle smile.

But Hu Li could keenly sense that Luna was overwhelmed with thoughts today.

Because when she called "Erin" earlier, she didn't even use an accent.

"Savior will surely have a way."

Hu Li suddenly said.

Luna paused for a moment, tilting her head slightly: "How do, you know, I'm thinking about..."

"Foxes are very clever," Hu Li said calmly, "I'm not just about eating."

"...I, already, can't remember, what home, looks like," Luna remained silent for a while, finally speaking softly; her speech was still slow and stammering as always but became much more fluent compared to the beginning, "father and mother, also, can't remember."

Hu Li didn't speak for a moment, silently pondering something, her golden-red eyes deep in the night sky, before she suddenly broke the silence: "You actually can't be certain how long you've been transformed into an Artificial Saintess, right?"

A sudden, short burst of noise emanated from within Luna—yet she still said nothing.

A warm, fuzzy big tail slowly curled over and wrapped around her arm.

"It might be years, or decades… those bad guys definitely wouldn't allow their 'tools' to clearly sense how long they've been working. The words 'back then' span a large time scale. I guess that's what you're worried about."

Luna allowed the big tail to wrap around her arm—she seemingly suddenly understood why Erin could fall asleep quickly amidst these big tails, and why Yu Sheng liked to nap with Hu Li's tail as a pillow.

"My dad said, don't worry about things that haven't happened, because you might be worrying for nothing. Don't worry about things happening because worrying doesn't solve problems. Don't worry about things that have happened—because time always moves forward, and foxes must also move forward," Hu Li leaned against the sofa, lifting her head, "I think what he said makes a lot of sense."

Luna broke the silence: "Makes sense, but, hard to do."

"It's okay, my dad actually never did it either," Hu Li stated seriously, "but it still makes sense."

Luna paused for a moment, looking steadily at the nine-tailed fox in front of her—in some sense, her current "family" and friend—the pale alloy face seemed suddenly more real and spiritual.

She grabbed the tip of Hu Li's tail with a reverse hand.

"Then could you, in the future, not eat, the succulents, I grow?"

"That's not possible, I just want to taste them, they just look so plump and succulent..."

Luna gave a hard squeeze.

"Ouch, ouch—" Hu Li exclaimed.