Yu Sheng suddenly gained a whole new understanding of the "peace" in the worldview of Boundary Land's Spirit Realm detectives and investigators.

Can such a sinister and uncanny place really be described with "peace"?

But with a bit more thought about the valley he had encountered earlier, he suddenly felt that Little Red Riding Hood might not have been wrong—the "Museum," although weird, is just that, weird. It operates by a set of rules that can keep people safe as long as they are followed. In contrast, within that valley lived an entity that was determined to chase people to death regardless of any rules followed, and the entire Exotic Realm was littered with lethal dangers; from a fatality standpoint, the latter was obviously more perilous.

The most important criterion between Danger Level 2 and Danger Level 3 is "whether fatal factors in the environment can be avoided by following rules," with Level 3 and above, the lethality of the Exotic Realm and its entities is unconditionally active.

"The thing we're looking for is a statue called the 'Wailer.' It's a small statue, with its size changing between fifteen and twenty-five centimeters," Little Red Riding Hood whispered while cautiously observing the corridor, explaining to Yu Sheng and Hu Li, "It depicts a woman covering her face and crying, a half-body image with abstract lines and a perforated back. Under normal circumstances, this little statue would be placed in a separate white hall, the only exhibit there, unguarded, so as long as we find the white hall, taking the statue should be relatively easy."

Yu Sheng walked alongside Little Red Riding Hood, curiously observing this "Museum," and casually asked, "I have a question, what does the Curious Object Association want with this thing?"

"Who knows? Maybe some collector offered a hefty price and commissioned the Curious Object Association, which then outsourced it to us, or maybe the Association itself wants it for research," Little Red Riding Hood said offhandedly, "The 'Museum' is one of the few Exotic Realms that continuously 'produces' collectibles, many of which have high artistic value... I don't understand art, but many wealthy people are obsessed with the items collected here—the harmless ones. And it's not just art pieces; sometimes there are antiques and mechanical exhibits of mysterious origins that seem to present a fictional civilization, which hold significant research value, so scholars collect them, too."

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, then turned to look back in the direction they came from.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Little Red Riding Hood.

"I'm thinking about the 'Stage' we saw earlier, and those invisible applauding spectators, as well as the earlier ticket booth," Yu Sheng voiced his doubts, "Those are clearly parts of the 'Abnormal Phenomenon,' so shouldn't the entire 'Theatre' be part of the Exotic Realm, with 'Museum Night' just being a component of the 'Theatre'?"

"You've hit the nail on the head," Little Red Riding Hood's mouth quirked up, "Indeed, the theatre itself is the starting point of all abnormalities here—but the 'Theatre' isn't a complete Exotic Realm. It's just an entrance. An Exotic Realm requires its own complete spatiotemporal structure and closed-loop rules. The rules that apply within the 'Museum' do not work in the theatre, so the two should not be conflated. Furthermore..."

Little Red Riding Hood paused and turned her head, "I'll give you another piece of intel: The Theatre's 'entrance' actually connects to more than just the Museum."

Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows: "More than just the Museum?"

"The theatre leads to 'Museum Night' during the sunset, which is part of the evening show. In the daytime, another ticket booth will open, and the stage of the daytime show leads to 'Mansion Mystery,' a more dangerous place with an 'Number 0 Suspect' inside that actively hunts 'performers,' and it is very powerful."

"How does it compare to 'Hunger'?"

"....Certainly, it can't match 'Hunger' that has been influenced by the Dark Angel, but that thing has very strange abilities, and how dangerous it is... I haven't encountered it myself."

"Oh."

In this way, Yu Sheng followed Little Red Riding Hood through the Museum, curiously absorbing various pieces of knowledge related to the Exotic Realm, while Erin sat quietly on his shoulder, uncharacteristically silent, listening very attentively.

Hu Li was carefully observing their surroundings, her fluffy large ears occasionally turning sharply in one direction, listening intently to every rustle in the Museum.

"Savior, that painting up ahead... it has sounds."

She suddenly lowered her voice and tugged at Yu Sheng's sleeve.

Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood immediately stopped.

A faint breathing sound emanated from a painting in front of them.

The painting depicted a lion pierced through the forehead with a sword; at the edge of the canvas was a hand wearing a gauntlet, as if it had just forcefully thrown the sword a second ago.

The breathing sound came from the perspective of the one who threw the sword, and as Yu Sheng and the others focused on the painting, the breathing also instantly became louder and clearer, as though there really was someone standing in the "position outside the frame" after a fierce battle with the lion, breathing heavily.

"Let's bypass this place, walking along the wall," Little Red Riding Hood immediately lowered her voice and lead Yu Sheng and the others around the exhibit that made the breathing sounds.

The breathing slowly faded.

They crossed the hall, and in a corridor with many doors, Yu Sheng cautiously opened one of them.

"The Red Room," he backed away and said to Little Red Riding Hood.

"Then let's skip this one and head to the next door."

Yu Sheng nodded, walked a few meters forward, and opened another door.

Across the door was an empty hall with brightly lit lights in the sky-blue interior, with only a plaque standing near the entrance detailing the "collection":

"My Friends and My Endless Fortune," by Fang Wen.

Below the plaque, there was a comment: This is a piece that evokes sadness, filled with the creator's lifelong thoughts and perceptions.

Yu Sheng stared at the plaque for a moment, stunned for a few seconds, then turned to Little Red Riding Hood: "…This museum even has a sense of humor?"

"The humor comes from those who were 'eaten' by the museum; their 'final works' sometimes have an inexplicable sense of absurdity and self-mockery. But no one knows their state of mind when they left these works, nor if they were truly in a sane state when they completed these 'creations'," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, "After all, the museum itself doesn't think; it just poorly and twistedly mimics human-operated facilities and operates based on its own set of rules."

Saying that, she raised her head and looked towards the exit on the opposite side of this hall that exhibited air.

"Let's go through here. Many exhibit halls and corridors in the museum are repetitive, and they randomly regenerate after each entry. There's no need to remember any routes, but its actual scope is limited. As long as you keep moving to the next area according to the rules, under not too unlucky circumstances, you will eventually enter the hall where the 'Wailers' are stored."

Yu Sheng nodded and stepped forward with Hu Li.

However, just as he was about to cross the center of the hall, a sudden barrage of abrupt, monotonous footsteps came from the opposite corridor, causing him to stop.

The next moment, he saw several shaky silhouettes.

These were several plastic mannequins, dressed in security guard uniforms, with smooth faces featuring stiff and eerie features, walking into the hall from the opposite corridor with a stiff and comical gait.

Hu Li's tail and the fur on his ears bristled instantly.

"It's the 'Security Guards'!" Little Red Riding Hood also exclaimed in a low voice, surprised, "How could the security guards be suddenly generated…"

But the next second she calmed down, cautiously moving closer to Yu Sheng while lowering her voice, "Don't retreat, don't make any suspicious moves. Although the security guards are aggressive entities, they move in accordance with rules. Since we haven't violated the museum's 'management order' after entering, these things shouldn't actively hurt…"

Before she could finish, Yu Sheng's peripheral vision caught one of the plastic figures in the corridor suddenly raising its hand—it made a whistle-blowing gesture. The next second, a sharp and piercing whistle resounded throughout the exhibit hall!

All the "Security Guards" sprang into action instantaneously, rushing toward the people in the hall with a ferocity and speed unimaginable to humans.

"Shit—"

Yu Sheng could only cry out before swiftly dodging to the side, and as soon as he landed, kicked one of the plastic figures, causing a loud clang as if metal were striking stone.

The plastic figure was cut in half at the waist by his kick, but Yu Sheng's own leg was also numbed by the tremendous rebound.

"These things are insanely hard! They're practically like they're made of freaking stone!"

Yu Sheng couldn't help but shout out loud. At nearly the same time, a dense mass of black lines spread out from a doll on his shoulder, ensnaring another "Security Guard" that had sprung from the corridor, trapping it midair.

Hu Li ferociously pounced, tearing the temporarily restrained "Security Guard" into several pieces with his bare hands, then turned and with a swish of his tail, sent the plastic figure's head flying.

But the very next second, the dismembered plastic figure began to tremble violently on the ground, its limb chunks moving quickly like building blocks, reassembling into a complete "Security Guard" and charging again.

More footsteps were coming from the direction of the corridor, with more wobbly figures appearing in the corner of Yu Sheng's eye.

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