Yu Sheng hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and turned to Erin: "I feel that Baili Qing is quite composed."

"Of course, being the director," the little puppet seemed carefree, and seeing Yu Sheng had finished the call, it immediately jumped off the coffee table and started walking towards the door, saying, "Shall we head out now?"

Yu Sheng didn't waste words, reached beside him to open a door, grabbed his Tetanus Wand, and swung it over his shoulder: "Let's go!"

The three stepped out of No. 66 Wutong Road, observing the thick fog slowly swirling just a few meters outside the house before stepping into it.

As they crossed that invisible boundary, a cold and oppressive atmosphere enveloped them, and the indifferent, Heterogenized "Exotic Realm" aura in the fog made Yu Sheng shiver slightly. After walking a bit further, he looked back to see No. 66 Wutong Road already transformed into a blurry shadow in the fog, the mansion's silhouette silently standing at the edge of his vision, like a silent lurking giant beast.

He furrowed his brow and spoke in a somber tone: "Did we lock the door when we left?"

"Locked it," Hu Li nodded, "I saw you lock the door, Savior."

Erin, sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder, poked his head upon hearing their conversation: "You kept serious just to ask that? Are you worried that 'someone' could sneak into our place through the fog and steal things?!"

"I just asked casually," Yu Sheng brushed away the puppet's paw, then focused on the surroundings, "Be vigilant, something might emerge from the fog."

The night in the Boundary City of the real world was deep, while on "this foggy side," the entire Exotic Realm was also shrouded in night. The tall streetlamp poles were blurry in the fog, and the bright light balls at the top floated unsupported in mid-air, like rows of eerie glowing eyes in the night. In the slightly more bustling buildings in the distance, neon lights could be seen faintly floating amidst the night.

It was quiet around, and occasionally Yu Sheng felt he heard very faint car horns or music, as if a sliver of an illusion leaked from the real world, but when he listened closely, the sound disappeared, like it was just empty wind.

A streak of ghostly blue glow appeared beside him, with Hu Li's tail slowly unfurling, a series of Fox Fires rising and falling around her.

"Are you feeling a bit tense?" Yu Sheng asked with a smile and a soft voice.

The demon fox girl shook her head with a tense face, then accidentally released another dozen or so Fox Fires.

Erin continued to carefully observe the surrounding buildings.

"Is this place really in the same 'Exotic Realm' as the block that trapped the big nephew before?" the little puppet suddenly muttered in a low voice.

"It should be," Yu Sheng nodded, "The blood connection is intact... Why bring this up suddenly?"

"Just struck by the thought; if it truly is the same space, then this 'thick fog alien land' is really vast. From Wutong Road to that 'Wanxiang' mall isn't close," Erin said casually, "It also proves Little Red Riding Hood's judgment was right before; departing from the thick fog around Wanxiang leads to a wider space, passing through the fog-sealed area can even bring you to the old city... It's just uncertain how big this area actually is."

Yu Sheng furrowed his brow, compelled by the puppet's words to ponder—right, how big is this place really?

This thick fog has already spanned the old city and the bustling commercial district near the city center, and its range clearly doesn't stop there... What lies further out? What about places where the fog is even denser?

"Could it be as large as the entire Boundary City, or even the whole Boundary Land?" Erin mumbled softly.

"Wouldn't that be akin to 'another Boundary Land'?" Hu Li's ears perked up, "An Exotic Realm version of the Boundary Land?"

Yu Sheng's heart stirred upon hearing this, instinctively furrowing his brow: "I remember Baili Qing mentioned that there is no second Boundary Land in the world—no matter how infinite the universe, another place identical or similar to the Boundary Land will not occur, like a 'limited rule' of the universe's order. Similar to this is a planet called 'Terra'..."

Erin: "Did she mention anything about the situation of 'Exotic Realm' when she told you this? Exotic Realms are unreasonable."

"No, she didn't," Yu Sheng furrowed his brow in thought, "Back then, there wasn't even talk of this 'Mist City' yet."

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone for a glance.

No signal.

Erin saw and pouted: "Seems like there's only signal within the range of No. 66 Wutong Road... that's really a 'feature' of your house."

Just then, Hu Li, walking beside Yu Sheng, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

The demon fox girl seemed to have discovered something, furrowing her brow, she sniffed forcefully in the air several times.

Erin immediately lowered her voice, "Silly fox, what did you notice?"

"The scent of humans," Hu Li's ears twitched sharply in the wind, carefully adjusting the direction, "The scent of strangers, passed by here not long ago."

There's someone in the fog?!

Yu Sheng's expression suddenly turned serious.

On his shoulder, Erin looked a bit excited for some reason, "Another one trapped inside?! Is this an order from 'DiDi Rescue' slapping right on us?"

"It's hard to say," Hu Li rarely showed a serious expression, "Doesn't seem trapped... There are still some strange auras lingering around here, unfamiliar to me, definitely not ordinary people, a peculiar scent."

"Peculiar scent?" Yu Sheng couldn't comprehend what the Fox Deity's sensory world was like, coupled with the cognitive gap brought by two different worlds, he could only interpret it as some "anthropomorphic" entity had passed by, hence he immediately became cautious, "Let's be more careful first—Hu Li, put the fire away, it's too conspicuous."

"Okay." The demon fox girl nodded gently, and patches of Fox Fire gradually dissipated into the air, after which she pointed in a certain direction, silently leading Yu Sheng deeper into the thick fog.

She was still tracking the traces left by that "peculiar scent," occasionally stopping on the way, lowering her body to sniff around the corners of the pavement, then recalibrating direction to continue forward, looking serious and professional.

Erin secretly poked Yu Sheng's head, muttering very quietly, "Hey, hey, our travel agency has its own police dog..."

Yu Sheng: "If she punches you later, I won't stop her."

"Tch."

Erin scoffed disdainfully, but barely quieted down for a couple of seconds before muttering again with a tense look, "The fog around here is thicker than before... Silly fox really didn't lead us the wrong way, did she? What kind of good person would specifically choose the thickest fog area to drill into..."

"Then it means whoever drilled here isn't a good person," Yu Sheng muttered casually, but he also noticed the change in surroundings, quietly taking the Tetanus Wand off his shoulder, holding it in his hand, as he approached the path-seeking Hu Li, "Getting close?"

"The scent is starting to mess up," Hu Li stopped, raising her head with a somewhat distressed expression, "Seems like whoever it was circled around here a lot, not sure whether to erase their tracks or do something here, hard to judge where ta went last."

Yu Sheng responded with a simple acknowledgment, scanning the surroundings with his gaze slowly.

The fog had thickened to an unsettling degree, mere meters away was a blurry expanse, and amid the barely discernible outlines of buildings and dim streetlights, he observed everything appearing just... a bit more peculiar than other areas.

Many houses looked tall and leaning, the lights seemed to pulse and tremble like living entities with the flowing fog, the ground appeared to undulate and curl far off, and those neon lights floating in stairwells had, unbeknownst, turned into vast patches of malicious dark red.

As the fog intensified, the environment of this Exotic Realm seemed to change along with it, this area... became "deeper."

As if to confirm this sensation, suddenly, a suspicious shadow flickered at the corner of Yu Sheng's vision!

It was a tall, thin, bizarre figure.

And Yu Sheng didn't have time to see clearly what it was, the next moment, he sensed rising malice behind him!

Strong foreboding drove him forward without hesitation, two steps out, wielding the Tetanus Wand in hand to spin and sweep around, then without caring whether he hit anything, dodged sideways instantly.

A sharp metallic clash resounded through the night fog, sparks flying, Yu Sheng saw he had struck a peculiar slender blade, as that blade was deflected away, several more glints of cold light slashed at where he initially stood.

A burst of Fox Fire exploded between Yu Sheng and the blade, dispersing the surrounding fog, allowing Yu Sheng to finally steady himself and see the attacker clearly.

A figure nearly a head taller than Yu Sheng emerged from the fog, moving with a graceful yet eerie gait—

That figure had a slender female silhouette, yet it was merely an outline; "she" was completely covered in a layer of metallic black shell, serving as both skin and armor; "her" joints displayed clear puppet joint structures, with seams and outer shell flickering with dark red light; "her" face seemed like a noblewoman, but was an iron mask cast from white metal, frozen with a perfect yet chilling smile, completely devoid of warmth.

And more bizarrely, this "Iron Puppet" bore a black veil as if imbued with a divine aura—looking devoid of protective function, yet adding an eerie, terrifying vibe to this person-like entity.

"She" came from the fog, iron heels clicking the ground, slowly raising one hand toward Yu Sheng—

Each finger was over a half-meter long, a sharp blade gleaming coldly in the night.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.