Erin always thought that Yu Sheng had an endless number of strange ideas, and he was always full of energy to implement those outrageous thoughts—she was convinced of this since he took out those two lotus roots from the drawer.

Comparatively, "cutting a piece of flesh from a real body to taste its saltiness" and "trying to use lotus roots to make bodies for dolls", planting vegetables in the calm Exotic Realm space seemed not so outrageous after all.

After walking around the valley again and confirming the existence of a "space boundary" from the other side of the valley, Yu Sheng and the other two decided to temporarily return to the present world.

Passing through the gate, the familiar living room and the warm, bright lights came into view, and the night outside the window was still deep. Standing in front of the living room window, Yu Sheng felt a bit dazed for a moment.

"It's still daylight over there," Erin climbed onto the windowsill, pulling her head out to look for a while, "I forgot it's still night here."

"After that 'Dark Angel' left, it seemed like the valley was always in daylight," Yu Sheng nodded, "We stayed there for so long, and we didn't see any change in the daylight."

"There's not even a sun over there; where the daylight comes from is a mystery," Erin jumped from the windowsill onto Yu Sheng, then deftly climbed to the ground along Yu Sheng's legs, casually saying as she climbed, "If that's the case, it should be called 'Daylight Valley,' right..."

Yu Sheng's eyes twitched twice, watching Erin's skilled and natural climbing: "Say, aren't you a bit too good at climbing?"

"Yes, is that so?" Erin looked up, not ashamed at all, "Probably practice makes perfect?"

Yu Sheng twitched the corner of his mouth, as if he wanted to say something else, but at this moment, a sudden ringtone of a phone interrupted his thoughts.

He took out his phone and unsurprisingly saw Baili Qing's name.

"I need to take a call." Yu Sheng gestured to Erin and Hu Li at the side, then took his phone into the dining room.

As soon as the call connected, before he could even greet her, he heard Baili Qing's calm voice from the handset: "You're back?"

Her voice was so calm that it gave Yu Sheng an instant illusion, as if the other person was sitting in the living room, looking at him.

"Uh, back," Yu Sheng felt inexplicably embarrassed, "Is there... 'activity' on your side?"

"Yeah, we're used to it," Baili Qing replied indifferently, going straight to the point, "So, did you see 'Nightfall Valley'? What's its current situation?"

"I saw it," Yu Sheng immediately focused and asked before continuing to answer, "It seems like you guys don't have a way to monitor its situation—are the Special Service Bureau's techniques for searching or entering various Exotic Realms not working?"

There was silence on the other end for two seconds.

"It failed," to Yu Sheng's surprise, after the silence, Baili Qing straightforwardly answered his question, "After the 'Hunger' incident ended, we actually tried to dispatch investigators, but they couldn't find Nightfall Valley."

"Not found?" Yu Sheng instinctively noticed this wording, "Not found as in they couldn't enter, or they couldn't find it?"

"Exactly, just as the words imply, according to all of Special Service Bureau's 'conventional exploration methods', Nightfall Valley has seemingly disappeared," said Baili Qing, "So hearing that you not only could find it but also freely enter that Exotic Realm, I am quite surprised."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, feeling that he had never sensed any "surprise" emotions from that flat-faced woman, but he very much acknowledged Baili Qing's candid attitude: "Then I will also talk about my observations—firstly, I think that place needs a new name, after that thing you call 'Dark Angel' left, the entire valley has not experienced 'nightfall', I think this might originally be its true form.

"Secondly, from my observations, Entity-Hunger has disappeared, presumably permanently."

Yu Sheng could be sure, he heard a clearly audible breath from the other side of the phone, as well as stifled exclamation.

He felt the "surprise" from the other party.

The next second, Baili Qing's slightly hasty voice came into his ears: "I want to confirm, did you just say 'permanently disappeared'? Do you… understand the operational rules of Exotic Realms and entities? Don't misunderstand, I'm just purely curious."

"I know, as long as the Exotic Realm persists, the entity will exist, but Entity-Hunger is really gone, and according to my observations, the nature of that valley also seems to have changed. I don't have the same professional equipment as you, but I think… broadly defined, 'Nightfall Valley' itself should also be considered as disappeared, what's left is just a calm Alternate Dimension, can you understand what I mean? It's like…"

Yu Sheng suddenly got a bit stuck, unsure how to describe the situation to the other party, but soon, he heard Baili Qing's voice coming from the handset—

"A shell left behind after being emptied, right?"

Yu Sheng blinked, not even he himself could have anticipated such a precise description.

Actually, he had hidden many things, including the details of how he initially triggered the "Feast," his connections with the valley, the various changes that his blood could evoke, and the "vitality" that was gradually emerging in the valley. The information Baili Qing could obtain was mostly from the reports sent back by Li Lin and Xu Jiali, however, it was clear...

This Special Service Director possessed exceptional acuity and judgment.

"About this 'empty shell',", just then, Baili Qing's voice came again, "the Special Service Bureau wishes to send someone to conduct an on-site investigation, of course, this would require your help and approval."

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment.

In fact, it wasn't that he had any aversion or guard towards the Special Service Bureau; after all, up to now, he had no unpleasant experiences when interacting with anyone from the Bureau. However, humans inherently have the instinct to keep secrets, and now, his connection with the valley had become extremely close.

Baili Qing obviously noticed Yu Sheng's brief hesitation.

"You can take your time to consider. We won't insist. If you are willing to open the gate, we can also accept that you designate the investigators, the number of people involved, the time limit, and have the entire process monitored," Baili Qing patiently explained with her distant and flat tone. However, it seemed as though she was trying hard to show her sincerity and friendliness, "We just hope to gather some critical data. After all—this is an unprecedented situation, the first case of an Exotic Realm and entity being 'eliminated', and I need not emphasize its significance to people like us."

Now that she had said so much, Yu Sheng found it hard to outright refuse: "Alright, I'll think it over in the next couple of days."

...

Watching Baili Qing, who was standing in front of the window making a phone call, Song Cheng couldn't help but whisper to the slightly balding and slightly overweight middle-aged man beside him, "Hey, Director Wu, do you think she used to be this easy to talk to?"

"You're asking me? You deal with the Director far more than I do," the middle-aged man known as Director Wu whispered even lower, "You know the information center we're in; it's like an invisible department, only becoming slightly visible during summary meetings. Your operations department even calls us 'cave dwellers of the server room'..."

Song Cheng immediately laughed: "You're right, quite the image."

Director Wu glanced at him, then cautiously looked back at Baili Qing, who was still on the phone, "Speaking of which... this is indeed the first time I've seen the Director talking so amiably, with such patience—Is this 'Yu Sheng' really that important?"

"It's not just about importance, but peculiarity," Song Cheng shrugged his shoulders, "Haven't all your departments been running non-stop until now? Haven't you deeply realized it?"

"… Don't remind me."

Song Cheng pulled a face, about to tease a bit more, but suddenly felt a shiver down his spine and immediately tensed up.

A calm yet compelling gaze had landed on him.

"The entity 'Hunger' has been permanently eliminated."

A plain statement from Baili Qing cleared all the whimsical thoughts in Song Cheng's mind, leaving only a resonating "ah?" lingering in his heart like a loud gong.

He opened his mouth, struggling to find what to say.

"When the two agents under you return from their leave, arrange for them to interact more with 'Yu Sheng'," Baili Qing, not minding Song Cheng's dazed state, continued to speak, "'Yu Sheng' possesses human emotions and logical behavior; his emotional responses are very real. We need to establish a relatively stable relationship of trust and friendship with him. Your two agents have performed well. Also, send someone to No. 66 Wutong Road tomorrow to deliver a registration form—be careful in selecting the person, not someone who becomes overly grim at the mention of Exotic Realm and entities, but someone clever and likable."

Song Cheng finally responded: "Ah, yes, Director."

Baili Qing nodded her head, her gaze then landed on the slightly balding and overweight middle-aged man beside her.

He was the head of the Special Service Bureau's Information Center.

"How is the situation on your end?" she asked.

"We've examined every possibility. At least from a systems level, there is no reason such a loophole should exist," Director Wu quickly adjusted his posture, "We also tried to delete 'Yu Sheng's archive and re-register, but all actions were ineffective. The entries seem to 'float' in the database, not accepting any calls or modifications, nor generating any errors. Honestly...if the system doesn't trigger an alarm, I am inclined to sound one myself."

"It's better to get the professors from Terra here to take a look as they use incense and binary prayers suitable for quelling Mechanical Souls to handle such peculiar issues," Song Cheng mentioned on the side, "The last time one of the transport vehicles of the Fourth Squadron got depressed, it was healed by them."

"I'll contact Terra to send someone to take a look," Baili Qing lightly nodded her head, "but if the 'Academy's' professors can't solve it either, then let it be—from today onwards, don't try to alter 'Yu Sheng's data in the archive system anymore."

"Yes, Director."

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