Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 561: Broken Yet Whole
A phantom door suddenly appeared on the high platform, and then Yu Sheng came out with Erin through the door.
A white shadow rushed towards them—a familiar headbutt, a familiar iron hug, and a familiar five-speed fan.
Hu Li was so delighted that she jumped around, vigorously shaking Yu Sheng’s arm with a tendon-rupturing momentum: "Savior, Savior, Savior, it’s over! That pile finally quieted down!"
Fortunately, Yu Sheng’s physique had improved dramatically. Though he still often died from unknown AOE attacks for various reasons, Hu Li’s headbutt didn’t kill him this time. He skillfully patted the Great Demon Fox’s head and extracted his arm from her grasp, then lifted his gaze to look around.
A row of mass-produced puppets with dead fish eyes stood idly on the smokey high platform. Many were somewhat damaged, and their numbers had reduced by about one-third. Immediately, Erin ran over, inspecting the remaining mass-produced shells as if checking their damage.
Luna was slowly wiping her Fingertip Blade nearby, using a strip torn from a nun’s dress, resembling a psychopath with childhood trauma or someone who created it.
The pure white dragon—Baili Qing still maintained her dragon form, lying by the platform’s edge with eyes closed, resting. Her body bore several obvious, startling scars, yet all wounds were healing at a visible rate.
Yu Sheng turned back and found that all shadows and black tides inside and outside the divine temple had vanished. The ruins were riddled with scars, only the scorched earth left by the Fox Fire still emitted thick smoke. The greatly eroded building remnants looked even more broken and desolate. The pillars and walls around the main structure had completely collapsed, revealing the expansive plaza.
Where once lay the Divine Corpse, now only a heap of continuously dissipating black ashes remained, centered by the inactive "Magic Cube Mechanism."
After checking her mass-produced puppets, Erin walked over with brisk steps and opened her arms towards Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng casually picked up the small puppet and placed it on his shoulder, heading towards the resting Baili Qing.
The dragon opened her eyes, her pale gray vertical pupils showing some fatigue.
"Are you okay?" Yu Sheng glanced at her injuries; the largest wound beneath the dragon’s wings was nearly as long as a person. Blood oozing from the wound glinted gold-red with a metallic texture, radiating intense heat even at a distance. Although the wound was indeed healing, the scene was still a bit frightening. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
"I’m fine, just got grazed by those ’Rifts’ during the return flight, and the Ankaela Crystal’s effect duration was somewhat short," Baili Qing said lightly, somehow producing such a clear human voice from her dragon throat. Upon seeing Yu Sheng’s gaze, she added, "It looks scary, but it’s superficial for me; a dragon’s vitality is strong."
She lifted her massive head, glanced towards the divine temple, and confirmed with Yu Sheng: "Is it all over?"
"If you mean the Boundary Land crisis, yes, it’s over," Yu Sheng sighed, "The Omen Goddess’s last fragment has ’died,’ and the World Bridge has been decomposed—according to your Special Service Bureau, the Angel has Fallen."
"That’s great news, but judging by your expression, things aren’t all done?"
"After the Angel Fall, there’s always a lot of wrapping up, especially in such a unique situation," Yu Sheng nodded, "Regarding the World Bridge and its construction by the Dark Angels... The truth behind it all has just been slightly revealed, and it seems many things are just beginning."
"...Looks like the break is over."
The pure white dragon softly spoke, then slowly rose her immense body. A crystal-like distorted light screen swiftly enveloped her, soon causing the enormous form to shrink rapidly, morphing into human shape in seconds.
For the first time in his life, Yu Sheng witnessed a dragon transforming into a human. He was momentarily stunned, then saw Baili Qing emerging from the light screen, still retaining her expressionless yet cold demeanor.
But in the next second, Yu Sheng noticed something odd—the other still had a pair of crystalline dragon horns atop her head...
Sharp and beautiful horns protruded from the disheveled gray-white long hair, the horn tips lined with faintly glowing, rune-like patterns. Fine scales covered the vicinity of Baili Qing’s neck, extending to behind her cheeks.
Having remained silent for quite some time, Erin couldn’t hold back any longer, tugging at Yu Sheng’s hair with an exclamation: "Hey hey! Yu Sheng look! The Ironclad Expression got stuck halfway through transforming!"
Yu Sheng felt much relieved hearing the familiar yet uncouth puppet’s exclamation. This little thing had been unusually quiet before, making him worry—a concern now replaced by her manners...
Luckily, Baili Qing was magnanimous, unbothered by the puppet’s exclamation. She simply touched the horn atop her head, patiently explaining to Yu Sheng and Erin: "This is the aftereffect of using power; dragon transformation traits take a while to fade. Also, I’m not an Ironclad Expression..."
Erin didn’t listen to Baili Qing at all, just whispered in Yu Sheng’s ear: "Hey Yu Sheng, I think I know why she’s expressionless. Could it be that dragon faces are just hard, so she never learned to make expressions since hatching..."
The concerned party was right there listening, clearly hearing the puppet’s mutterings. Yu Sheng kept a straight face, unsure how to respond—but he felt Erin might be right...
After confirming Baili Qing’s situation was indeed fine, Yu Sheng returned the damaged mass-produced puppets to the valley, delivering the "Angel Fall" news meanwhile.
With everything organized, the party left the platform, heading towards the nearly completely collapsed divine temple ruins.
Many matters remained to be confirmed.
The smoke around the ruins gradually dispersed, the residual warmth on the scorched earth yet to dissipate. Rocks once melted by the Fox Fire and now cooled, lay among the remnants of the walls, emitting a dim red glow.
Hu Li released White Cut and Salt Roasted to stand guard, the two seasoned watchers keeping a vigilant eye on the sky, while Luna turned the radar to its maximum power, scanning every corner of the ruins.
Baili Qing, meanwhile, pressed a hand against her side as she slowly followed Yu Sheng, remaining alert to her surroundings. Occasionally, a faded gray-white texture would spread wherever her gaze fell, as if nothing could hide in her sight.
The previously overwhelming shadow tide left a deep impression; now, even though the tide had dissipated, the fear lingered that other dangers might still lurk within these ruins, and they dared not relax.
Only Erin, perched on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, appeared notably at ease ever since they entered the divine temple ruins. The little puppet looked around with wide eyes, sometimes showing a look of recollection, while occasionally furrowing her brow in contemplation.
Vague and fragmented memories occasionally surfaced within her less-than-clear mind, intermixed with distant... reflections and nostalgia.
For someone accustomed to a carefree life, this seemed a strange yet novel sensation.
The little puppet raised her hand, pointing to a collapsed pillar not far away.
"That used to be a place for dancing," she said, tugging at Yu Sheng’s hair, "There would be many girls dancing in circles there, and the priests would place the freshly slaughtered ’Puru’ on a four-carrier rack. After dancing, they would smear their faces with blood and carry the Puru meat into the main hall to feed me."
Yu Sheng paused his steps: "And then?"
"I didn’t like eating it, so I had them sacrifice egg yolk cake and sweet water instead."
Erin said, then pointed to a corner at the edge of the plaza.
"There was once a priestess who cried here because she lost her fragrant wood rosary, which I accidentally ate."
Yu Sheng: "...And, then?"
Erin thought for a moment: "Then I don’t remember, there are no memories after that."
Hu Li came closer; she seemed entirely unconcerned by the "past" Erin suddenly mentioned, but was curious about the fragrant wood rosary: "Was it tasty? That rosary."
"Crunchy, but not tasty," Erin shook her head, then lifted her head, "Silly fox, I used to be able to eat! More than you can!"
Hu Li: "Anyway, you can’t eat now."
Erin then jumped down from Yu Sheng’s shoulder, grabbing Hu Li’s tail to bite - biting into a mouthful of fur was powerless against the defense.
For the first time, Yu Sheng did not interfere in the antics between the puppet and the fox, merely watching with a helpless smile at the slightly more sentimental yet still muddle-headed little puppet, before his gaze fell upon the vast open ground before them.
Black ashes rose into smoke, slowly dispersing into the chaotic sky. The now inactive World Bridge control mechanism stood solitary at the heart of the wreckage, the edges of the motionless magic cube glowing in a faint golden afterglow, unable to have any subsystem respond to its commands.
But Yu Sheng was not looking for that.
Noticing Yu Sheng’s actions, Hu Li also looked up, scanning the plaza — it seemed she knew what Yu Sheng was searching for.
As for Erin, having fought with Hu Li’s tail for a while, she was easily restrained by a mass of fluffy fur and now was forcibly held in Hu Li’s arms, her face still puffed up with anger, while she incessantly spat out fox fur.
Just then, Hu Li, with sharp eyes, seemed to have discovered something — at the edge of the region covered by black ash, a small pile of inconspicuous tiny remnants entered her vision.
"Savior! Over here!"
Yu Sheng looked up at the sound, his heart stirred, and he immediately ran towards the pile of remnants.
Not far from the Omen Divine Corpse, a shattered golden-haired puppet lay in a corner of the plaza, its broken limbs scattered around, its slightly open eyes reflecting the chaotic sky.
Held in Hu Li’s arms, Erin’s eyes widened slightly.
"Wow—there I was."
