The vanishing hole disappeared, as if it had never existed, and the collapse and shaking of the old bookstore abruptly stopped. Only the "rotting knowledge" continuously flowing from the shelves kept accumulating, turning into a mud-like substance upon contact with the floor, emitting a disturbing foul smell.

Yu Sheng then turned and left the now increasingly eerie and worthless-to-explore old bookstore, and almost at the moment he ran out the door, a "bang" sound came from behind him—the store's door had closed, and the previously bright doorway had turned dark like the surrounding shops.

Little Red Riding Hood and the King stood at the entrance, one human and one cat watchfully looking toward the depths of the alley. The "Priest's" short staff emitted a soft and warm light, illuminating a small area around them.

"That hole disappeared," Yu Sheng quickly said, "before it disappeared I saw the outside was full of mist, and something like spider silk extending from afar."

"Can't you stop being so reckless all the time," Little Red Riding Hood turned back and looked at Yu Sheng with exasperation, "Even if you're not afraid of dying, at least keep up with our pace as ordinary people... Wait, spider silk? What kind of spider silk?"

"What else but the kind similar to what Erin usually uses," Yu Sheng sighed, "We are here to find clues about this, and now we indeed have a clue, something is definitely 'penetrating' into the 'outside' of Dark Alley, but unfortunately, that hole lasted only a moment and brought the whole old bookstore down..."

"This is Exotic Realm, everything will recover when we next enter, but next time I don't advise digging holes anywhere," Little Red Riding Hood said, pointing across the street, "The 'destructive' behavior just caused changes in Dark Alley, the situation... isn't right."

Following the girl's reminder, Yu Sheng immediately noticed many changes in the alley.

The daylight seemed darker than when they first entered the alley, the already damp stone brick ground now had a layer of dark moss of unknown origin, all the buildings on both sides of the alley had become more rundown, and the strings of lights crisscrossing between the rooftops flickered as if they had a poor connection, the colors of the light changing illusively, making one dizzy.

The shops across the street had their windows and doors tightly closed, and the signboards illuminated by dim light were covered with thick grime. The script under the grime not only appeared unclear but was found to be indecipherable upon closer inspection—though it looked like writing, it was actually a chaotic jumble of lines, completely meaningless.

Yu Sheng: "This is..."

"We directly entered the next layer of 'Dark Alley'," Little Red Riding Hood's expression was serious, "not by crossing the crossroad, but by leaving the old bookstore right into this eerier version of the alley."

Yu Sheng blinked, then suddenly realized: "Wait, what about the 'cat'? Isn't there supposed to be a physical cat generated in the deeper layer of Dark Alley?"

"That's why I said the situation isn't right—there's no physical generation here, and... all the shops in the alley are closed," Little Red Riding Hood looked around, "Normally, at least one shop in Dark Alley would be open."

Yu Sheng pursed his lips, cautiously surveying the surroundings.

The entire alley was now eerily quiet, yet within this extreme silence, it was as if numerous eyes were watching them from the darkness, watching the uninvited guests who invaded and caused destruction in the alley.

Yu Sheng thought he heard faint cat sounds, but when he looked up, all he saw were moss-covered corners and the ground.

"First, head to the crossroad at the end of the alley and see if we can enter a more normal layer," the King suddenly spoke, sitting on the Wandering Mage's shoulder, looking serious, "I think we might not have fully entered the 'next layer,' but are stuck between the first layer of Dark Alley and the second layer, so it feels so strange yet hasn't generated any physical entities."

Yu Sheng looked in surprise at the tabby cat sitting on the Wandering Mage's shoulder, feeling that the cat exhibited the steadiness and reliability of an experienced Spirit Realm detective at this moment—a stark contrast to its usual lazy demeanor basking in the sun on a large cat condo all day.

He voiced his surprise, only to get a lazy response from the King: "What's so surprising, I've seen plenty of Exotic Realms, every time some unlucky kid at the orphanage gets trapped in an Exotic Realm, I go in to rescue them, plus I often take jobs to earn money—do you know the burdens of life I bear as a little cat..."

Yu Sheng turned to Little Red Riding Hood, who nodded, "What it said is true, as the most capable and versatile member in 'Fairy Tales', the King has extensive experience as a Spirit Realm detective... it ranks among the experts in the entire Boundary Land."

"Uh, so I wanted to ask," Yu Sheng finally couldn't help but speak, "It's a cat, how does it usually take on tasks..."

"Simple, if it's dealing with other Spirit Realm detectives or investigators, it goes itself, since those in our line are long used to odd situations," Little Red Riding Hood said casually, "If dealing with ordinary people, it summons a smart subordinate to communicate with the clients, while pretending to be a pet cat."

Yu Sheng found it very reasonable upon hearing this, thinking that 'Fairy Tales' really is a seasoned Spirit Realm detective organization with a wealth of bizarre investigation experiences—compared to them, his 'travel agency' hasn't yet taken on any proper commissions...

But then he thought again, the 'travel agency' doesn't lack tasks, just that they're always major cases...

The group walked in the eerily quiet 'Dark Alley', the alley wasn't long, and they soon reached the end of the road.

A crossroad, also shrouded in a deathly silence, appeared in front of Yu Sheng.

He looked curiously toward the crossroad, seeing every pathway leading to almost identical scenes, all pointing to a dimly lit alley, with all buildings along the alley having closed doors and windows, the distance filled with mist, impossible to see clearly even a hundred meters ahead.

He hesitated for a moment, turned to Little Red Riding Hood: "Which way should we go?"

The girl furrowed her brows tightly, momentarily silent.

The giant Shadow Wolf prowled nearby, sniffing around the crossroad.

After a while, Little Red Riding Hood finally broke the silence: "...There are no passages to the next layer, all three are safe exits."

Yu Sheng was stunned.

Three safety exits?!

If this situation occurred during a normal exploration operation, it would be a cause for celebration. After all, for the majority of Spirit Realm detectives and investigators, safely evacuating from the Exotic Realm with intelligence or supplies is the primary goal. The appearance of three safety exits at the end of a Dark Alley would be like an ancestor's grave emitting a 200-meter-long thrusting flame—a scenario only possible if the forebears set the Underworld aflame.

But Yu Sheng wasn't here for a safe retreat today.

"Wait, wasn't it said in the data that there was only one correct 'safety exit' at the crossroads at the end of the Dark Alley, and the other two led to deeper layers?" he instinctively asked, "How can we trigger a guaranteed escape? But we actually intend to go deeper, right?"

"I don't know either, that's why today feels off," Little Red Riding Hood seemed just as confused, "Why not have the King ask the Mage to use the Great Prophecy Technique again?"

The King, however, did not respond to Little Red Riding Hood's words. It suddenly jumped down from the "Wandering Mage," its vertical pupils fixedly staring into the depths of the street from which they came, as if it had discovered something.

Before Yu Sheng could ask, a threatening growl emerged from the King's throat, followed by a low shout: "Come out!"

The area seemed empty, with only mottled moss and shadows at the corner of the wall.

But in the next second, Yu Sheng suddenly felt a flicker before his eyes—the mottled moss and shadows began to tremble, and something slowly "squeezed" out from the shadow, as if some fluid crawling from a two-dimensional shadow plane into three-dimensional space.

It was a small black cat, its fur having the texture of rubber or plastic.

It slowly walked toward the King, but during its movements, it was like a cut video frame, flickering and instant teleporting every few steps.

Entity, "Cat."

The moment the first black cat appeared, Yu Sheng noticed that many dark corners in the alley suddenly became restless.

Shadows squirmed by the walls, eaves, window sills, and roadside—a sight filled with countless cat-shaped outlines of varying sizes came into view, a multitude of entities entering from two-dimensional planes into three-dimensional space. Black cats emerged from every corner of the alley, their eyes glowing with a pale light, fixed intently on the uninvited guests at the entrance.

The invisible glances they felt all along didn't seem to be an illusion.

Little Red Riding Hood instinctively stepped back half a pace, astonished by the scene: "Cats... but how come there are so many all of a sudden?!"

"They don't seem very pleased," Yu Sheng was also startled, but then noticed something, "But looking at this situation... it's as if they are urging us to leave through the safety exit?"

Just then, the King suddenly took two steps forward, moving to the center of the road.

The tabby cat glared at the gathering of black cats in the alley, especially focusing on the first one not far away, slowly arching its back.

Its voice was low and threatening—

"Technically, cats of your level shouldn't hiss at me."

The small black cat opposite: "Hss—"

The King clearly paused, then immediately arched its back even more: "Hss!"

In response, several black cats on the opposite side arched their backs together: "Hss!!"

And thus, a standoff of hissing commenced between the two sides.

Yu Sheng: "...?"

It seemed the situation was not quite as initially described.

However, just when the tension of hissing was on the brink of breaking into conflict, the King suddenly stopped and, amidst a hiss from the black cats across, nonchalantly waved a paw.

The four-member adventurer team instantly vanished into thin air.

Filling the entirety of the intersection were suddenly a group of Great Mages clad in Starry Robes and wielding Purple Crystal Staffs, their bodies emanating energy fluctuations strong enough to distort space.

The King licked its paw: "Prepare a Solar Flare."

The small black cat opposite: "Meow~"

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