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This city had felt like an enormous, eerie labyrinth not long ago, unsettling him deeply. But now, as he looked at the familiar streetlights, buildings, and the streets bathed in early morning light, a wave of unexpected nostalgia washed over him. It was a feeling he barely understood. After being trapped in that nocturnal valley, the sense of returning to Boundary City was almost like coming home.

But the next moment, his dizziness returned, triggered by the relentless blood loss. He glanced down sluggishly, noticing bright red blood pooling beneath him. His body had been pierced—a gruesome wound, one that could kill him within minutes. Even though his body had remarkable healing abilities, he knew the truth: he was dying—again.

He was getting quite used to that word “again.”

Nearby, the cause of his injury lay still—an odd, scaly “tail” severed from the body of a monstrous creature. It had tumbled out of the doorway alongside him. To his surprise, the thing still seemed to possess some life or maybe even a flicker of thought. It writhed sluggishly in the growing pool of blood, almost as if it was trying to slither away from him.

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, half amused and half baffled. Was the severed piece… afraid of him?

With a grimace, he forced himself to stand, his body swaying under the strain. His home wasn’t far off, and as he glanced toward it, he reached down, grabbed the twitching, scaly tail, and started staggering forward.

“Aren’t heroes supposed to be fine after escaping death?” Yu Sheng mumbled to himself through gritted teeth. “Why’s the wound still here after the map’s loaded? What kind of lousy game design is this… Damn, this hurts…”

The blood loss was making everything worse, blurring his thoughts and draining his strength with every step. He barely knew how he kept moving forward, wobbling and stumbling as if guided by sheer instinct. In those final steps, he wasn’t even sure why he was so determined to get home. Maybe to see Irene? Or maybe he didn’t want his body found by an early morning passerby?

His vision darkened. The warm morning light turned crimson in his eyes, and somewhere in the depths of his mind, the golden-red eyes of Foxy appeared. Those eyes, ravenous with hunger yet still holding a trace of humanity, flickered in and out of focus.

That fox… She’d said she wouldn’t die. Was that true?

A hundred thoughts swirled through Yu Sheng’s head as he finally stumbled up to his front door. It was unlocked. He fumbled with the handle, his hand slick with blood, and managed to push it open. He stepped inside, his legs barely supporting him.

Across the room, the dining area came into view. The oil painting still leaned against the wall, and from within, Irene lifted her head, her eyes widening as she saw him.

Yu Sheng mustered a weak smile, finding one last flicker of energy. “Irene, I’m back.”

He knew how badly he was hurt. If not for his body’s incredible ability to heal, he would’ve died outside, in the street.

That thought had barely crossed his mind when his vision tilted, and he collapsed, sliding down against the doorframe. Darkness engulfed him, but not before hearing Irene’s panicked scream echo in his ears.

Well, at least he died in his home this time.

…

With a soft screech of brakes, two electric scooters came to a stop along Wutong Road. Two figures dismounted, surveying the quiet, old streets around them.

The first was a tall, middle-aged man dressed in a long brown coat. He had a robust build, tanned skin, and short black hair. A jagged scar near his neck gave him a somewhat intimidating presence. But despite his strong figure, his face looked haggard—dark circles under his eyes and a tired expression suggested he hadn’t had a proper break in months.

Next to him stood a much younger man, probably just over twenty. He was slimmer, with short black hair and an unremarkable face, the kind that could easily blend into a crowd. Dressed in a simple black and blue jacket and trousers, he looked nervous, like a rookie out on his first assignment with a veteran superior.

They both glanced around at the quiet neighborhood. The old, worn-down buildings seemed normal, if a bit dreary. Occasionally, a resident would pass by, but no one paid the two men much attention.

“This place looks completely ordinary,” the young man muttered under his breath. “Are you sure this is it, Captain Song?”

Captain Song, the older man, nodded. “There was a boundary alert just a moment ago. The coordinates led us right here.” His gaze swept over the nearby buildings. “Though the signal vanished almost instantly, we’re sure it was an Otherworld reaction.”

“We got here as fast as we could…” The younger man glanced at their scooters, hesitating. “Maybe we should’ve taken a car instead…”

Captain Song gave him a look. “All the vehicles at the bureau are out on assignments. The only one left is Xu Jiali’s ancient rust bucket of a car. Do you really want to take that? Even with the pedal to the floor, it might still be slower than your scooter.”

The young man chuckled awkwardly, trying to steer the conversation away from the embarrassing topic. “By the way, wasn’t it that person… code name ‘Little Red Riding Hood’? She’s with the Fairy Tale Organization, right? Didn’t she come here already? And she found nothing?”

“Yes, she didn’t find anything,” Captain Song confirmed with a slow nod, his brow furrowed in thought. “Which only makes it more obvious that something’s wrong here. ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ has worked with the Special Affairs Bureau for years. I trust her abilities. Her wolves can sniff out even the faintest trace of an anomaly. But she searched this place all night and came up empty.”

The young man blinked, his brow furrowing as he tried to process the information.

“She found nothing,” Captain Song repeated, emphasizing the word. “Think about that. This place is too ‘clean.’ Too normal. There’s no part of the Borderlands that’s this spotless. Her wolves should’ve picked up something. Even the faintest scent of magic or disturbance. But here… from a supernatural perspective, it’s as ‘clean’ as a vacuum.”

Understanding began to dawn on the young man’s face as his training finally clicked into place.

“Either this place is genuinely that clean—which would mean a ‘pure zone’ somehow perfectly aligned with the outside world has popped up here in the Borderlands, which is possible, given how these places are connected,” Captain Song continued, waving his hand in a tired gesture, “or… there’s something big hiding here. Something powerful enough to alter the environment, continuously masking the entire area.”

The young man’s already tense expression tightened even further.

“I’m still not going to approve your transfer to logistics,” Captain Song said dryly, casting a glance at him. “And transferring to another team isn’t an option either.”

“I never said I wanted out!” the young man protested hastily. “I knew what I was signing up for when I joined the team. I’m loyal, dedicated, and ready to serve—”

His impassioned speech was cut short by the sudden chime of a ringtone—a cheerful, upbeat tune from a popular anime series. The young man paused, giving his captain a strange look. “…You watch that too?”

Captain Song’s face twitched in irritation. With a reluctant sigh, he pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and muttered, “My daughter must’ve changed the ringtone. She’s been watching this show non-stop lately.”

Li Lin, the young man, suppressed a smile, his lips twitching as he held back a comment about whether middle schoolers should be watching shows about girls forming bands.

Captain Song answered the call with a sigh. “Yes, Li Lin and I are already at the scene. Same as what Little Red Riding Hood reported—this place is too clean. Make arrangements to set up a monitoring point here. I’ll assign the personnel when we get back. Oh, and contact the Fairy Tale Organization. We might need their help again if this turns into a long-term operation.”

After hanging up, Captain Song let out another sigh, turning to find Li Lin still watching him with a curious expression.

“I swear, it really was my daughter who changed it,” Captain Song grumbled, clearly defensive. “I don’t watch cartoons.”

Li Lin cleared his throat awkwardly, nodding. “Uh, yeah, I believe you.”

They stood in silence for a few uncomfortable seconds before tacitly agreeing to drop the subject.

Just then, Li Lin’s attention was caught by something nearby. He frowned, striding toward a corner of the street.

“Captain Song, come take a look at this!” he called out, bending down to examine the spot more closely.

Captain Song walked over, following Li Lin’s gaze. At the base of the wall, there was a small patch of dark red staining the concrete. It looked like dried blood—small enough to go unnoticed but still unsettling. Even more troubling was the fact that the stain was shrinking.

It wasn’t being absorbed into the concrete. It was evaporating into thin air.

“Blood?” Captain Song frowned deeply, the situation quickly setting off alarms in his mind. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small plastic vial and a portable scraper. “No, it’s not blood. We need a sample.”

“On it,” Li Lin replied, taking the tools from him. He crouched down, preparing to scrape off the remaining red stain. But just as his scraper neared the wall, the last bit of crimson sizzled softly and vanished before his eyes.