Before leaving the Special Service Bureau, Yu Sheng took the opportunity to share some details he had gathered from Old Zheng with Baili Qing.

After hearing about Old Zheng's ordeal, Song Cheng, standing nearby, couldn't help but scowl in anger despite the presence of their leader. He cursed, "Damn it, these Angel Sect members never do anything humane..."

Baili Qing listened silently, then pondered for a moment, frowning slightly. "Those cultists taught Old Zheng that 'Spirit Communication Ceremony' and the blood-drawn symbol—did you record it?"

Yu Sheng hesitated, looking embarrassed. "Uh, I really don't remember. The symbol had been cleansed once, so it was very faint, almost invisible..."

Before he could finish, Hu Li blinked and raised her hand happily, "I recorded it."

The demon fox girl glanced at Yu Sheng and explained, "Savior, when you were 'distracted,' that symbol on the ground glowed for a moment. Although very briefly, I remembered it."

Baili Qing immediately grabbed some paper and a pen from the desk and handed them to the fox girl. "Can you draw it out?"

Hu Li instinctively looked at Yu Sheng, and after getting his nod of approval, she took the paper and pen. "I think I can, let me try..."

Speaking as she did so, she bowed her head and started seriously sketching a complex circular symbol comprised of numerous eerie symbols and patterns on the paper. Initially, she seemed unfamiliar with the pen in her hand, but her movements quickly became fluid. The intricate circle began to take shape, inducing an almost dizzying effect at a glance.

Erin watched in astonishment, exclaiming after a while, "Hey, silly fox, is your memory really this good?! I thought all you ever did was eat, eat, and eat!"

Yu Sheng couldn't help but glance at the puppet, mentally noting that despite always calling her "silly fox," the fox girl, even if she only completed elementary school, still had the basic education level of an interstellar civilization's primary school. She might appear simple and honest due to spending too much time in isolation and wilderness survival in the valley, but when it came to learning capabilities, just within this short time, Hu Li had almost self-taught herself to read the world's language using only an old phone and TV subtitles...

Erin, despite boasting like she was the top of the pyramid at No. 66 Wutong Road, was barely at a kindergarten correspondence level—still a triangle, albeit upside down.

While Yu Sheng was musing, Hu Li was almost done drawing the complex array. Just as she was about to finish the last segment, Baili Qing suddenly broke the silence. "Leave the last part unfinished and draw it on another piece of paper."

Hu Li obediently took another sheet and carefully drew on it. Yu Sheng, surprised, looked at Baili Qing, thinking it indeed took professionals to consider such safety details.

"I'm done," the fox girl said, raising her head to pass the completed drawings to Baili Qing. "There should be no mistakes."

Baili Qing solemnly took the papers, looking gravely at the symbols on both.

"They definitely have the basic elements of Spirit Communication Technique... but the key nodes have been altered, likely to 'point' towards that sleeping Dark Angel—very important information, thank you."

Yu Sheng rubbed the fur behind Hu Li's ears, causing her furry ears to twitch joyfully as she squinted happily.

...

Little Red Riding Hood strolled across the open space between the East Building and West Building, stopping by the outdoor activity area, staring absentmindedly in a certain direction.

Near the sandbox where children played, a brightly colored swing set caught her eye.

Gazing at the swing set, she couldn't help but recall the picture in Old Zheng's notebook—and the girl smiling in front of the swing set.

This should be the place from Old Zheng's memories, although the current swing set was not the same one from twenty years ago. The old one had been replaced a few years back due to excessive wear and safety hazards.

Little Red Riding Hood hesitated, then walked over to sit on the swing, gently swinging back and forth.

It was winter, cold, and nearing dusk with a bit of wind. Swinging outside in this season was not very pleasant, so she soon stopped. At that moment, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye.

In the twilight glow, it looked like a shadow hovered at the corner of the East Building's outer wall—a thorny shadow against the wall that extended up to over a meter in height.

Little Red Riding Hood frowned, quickly took out her phone to snap a photo, then jumped down from the swing and ran towards it, her figure darting through the fading light. Almost instantly, she reached the corner, but the thorn-like shadow had already vanished.

She took out her phone and looked through the photos she had just taken, finding everything normal with no thorny shadow at the corner.

A trick of the eye? Did the poor twilight light cause an illusion?

Little Red Riding Hood immediately dismissed this thought. After working as a Spirit Realm detective for so many years, one of the most important lessons she learned was never to easily dismiss those fleeting moments of incongruity as "illusions." In the realm of the mystical, even if you truly do "see things" that don't exist, the moment you observe a scene, it carries its own "real-world interference significance."

Footsteps came from the side. Little Red Riding Hood looked up in the direction of the sound and saw a petite girl with ear-length short hair, who seemed to be two or three years younger than her, walking by with a stack of books. The girl noticed her, curiously stopped, and greeted, "Red Hat Sister, what are you doing?"

In the orphanage, it's a custom for members who have become "parents" to address each other by code names. Only those children who haven't gone through their awakening period are called by their original names. This rule has been passed down for a long time, supposedly to stabilize their "character identity" after the awakening period, but no one knows if it really works.

In the "Fairy Tales" organization, there are many such unclear rules that everyone believes help to stabilize the situation and extend survival.

"I just saw some strange shadows, but they disappeared when I turned my head. It's best to arrange for someone to patrol outside this building a few more times tonight," Little Red Riding Hood said casually. Then she noticed the stack of books the petite girl was carrying. "Snow White? Where did these books come from?"

The petite girl called "Snow White" lifted her arms slightly. "They were donated. They came through the Sunshine Foundation's channel, intended for the reading room."

Little Red Riding Hood furrowed her brow and asked seriously, "Were the contents checked?"

"They were checked. No male-male, no female-female. Books for readers aged fourteen and older have normal heterosexual content. Those for readers under fourteen don't involve relationships..."

"That's not what I meant for you to check!" Little Red Riding Hood glared at Snow White. "What do you usually focus on..."

"Just joking. You've been so tense lately," Snow White laughed. "I really did check. The book contents are fine, no modifications or replacements, and no factors that could disturb the children mentally."

Little Red Riding Hood helplessly waved her hand, and at that moment, her phone suddenly rang—those monkeys were tumbling again.

As soon as Snow White heard the ringtone, she couldn't help but complain, "Red Hat Sister, seriously, aren't you going to consider changing that ringtone? And where did you even find that tune? It's been years, and you never change it..."

"I met an Algredian during a mission back then. They shared it with me, saying it's a tune from the 'Remote Realm' Star Domain," Little Red Riding Hood said casually. "I quite like it, and I don't feel like changing it."

She answered the phone as she spoke and immediately heard Yu Sheng's voice through the receiver. "Hello, is this Student Wang Jiajia?"

Little Red Riding Hood's eye twitched involuntarily while Snow White smirked beside her. "Ah, your real name has been exposed, huh?"

"Shoo, shoo," Little Red Riding Hood waved her hand to shoo her away, coughed twice, and said, "Ahem, I'm not talking to you—what's up?"

Yu Sheng's voice came through the receiver, "I've just returned from the Special Service Bureau. I also told them about Old Zheng's situation. By the way, we captured the Angel Sect believers who were performing the sacrifice in the white exhibit hall back then. I dug some information out of one of their heads."

Little Red Riding Hood visibly changed her expression; her tone became serious. "What did you find out?"

"Are you at the orphanage now? I'll come over to discuss the situation with you, and by the way, we can talk about something else."

"Yeah, I'm here..."

Just as she finished speaking, she saw a door not far away suddenly open, and Yu Sheng walked out with Hu Li, holding up his phone and waving it. "Perfect timing. Shall we go to the same room as last time?"

Erin popped her head out from behind Yu Sheng. "Hi, hi, we're here again!"

Little Red Riding Hood: "..."

The girl held back for a long time before finally blurting out, "Can't you knock before you open the door?"

Yu Sheng looked slightly embarrassed and quickly explained. "I called you just now and also reported to the Special Service Bureau..."

"I mean, give me a heads-up!" Little Red Riding Hood glared at him. "What if I was taking a bath?"

Yu Sheng looked even more embarrassed and hastily explained. "That wouldn't happen, unless it's random teleportation. Otherwise, I can only open doors to places I've been before, and you never took me to your bathroom—besides, I'm not a pervert."

Erin headbutted his knee. "Stop explaining. The more you explain, the more you sound like a pervert."

Yu Sheng: "..."

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