"The security created in the museum won't move across regions. We can rest here in this corridor for a while," Little Red Hat said, looking down the quiet corridor in front of them.
"We have to be extra careful when moving to other areas later. It's still uncertain how many 'security guards' there are in the museum. If they just happen to be surrounding the white exhibition hall..."
"That would be unfortunate," Erin said, jumping off Yu Sheng's back with a serious look on her face, deep in thought.
"The key question is how these 'security guards' were 'activated.' We surely haven't made any mistakes, but as soon as they appeared, they came at us without hesitation..."
Little Red Hat opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but hesitated.
Erin directly asked, "What do you want to say?"
Little Red Hat finally spoke, "Actually, the most likely explanation is that besides us, there are others who entered the museum. They might have triggered the museum’s 'clearing' mechanism. But... theoretically, that shouldn't be the case. I checked before coming; there weren't supposed to be any investigators visiting tonight besides us..."
Erin thought for a moment.
"Perhaps they sneaked in? With some hidden motives..."
"That’s unlikely," Little Red Hat shook her head.
"The Special Operations Bureau has strict rules. If an alternate realm is to be activated in the border area, it must be reported in advance. Each 'node' has monitoring functions that form a huge sensing network. If an alternate path or a time-space rift opens unexpectedly, it would definitely trigger a warning."
"Ah, that makes sense," Erin nodded, not ashamed, maybe not fully comprehending it yet.
Then her eyes turned, landing on Yu Sheng.
At that moment, Yu Sheng was squatting on the floor, picking up a distorted plastic arm that had been left behind by the security guard that had lunged at him just before crossing the door.
The “door” had cut off the arm, and probably due to the distance from the main body, the arm was now completely inactive, just like a piece that had fallen off a plastic model.
It was motionless.
Yu Sheng curiously observed this detached "limb" and tapped it against the floor, producing a hollow sound.
It looked like plastic, felt like plastic, but he wondered if biting into it would also feel like plastic...
Just as this strange thought crossed his mind, Little Puppet screamed in horror from the side, "Hey! Yu Sheng, what are you doing? That thing is made of plastic! You can't eat it!"
"Of course, I know I can't eat it! I’m not that ridiculous!" Yu Sheng shot her a glance, feeling helpless.
"Even if it wasn't plastic, I wouldn't eat it. After all, those 'security guards' are humanoid. I definitely couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm just a bit curious about how these 'entities' come to life."
Erin immediately patted her chest.
"Thank goodness, you scared me to death... Let me tell you, I'd not be surprised if you suddenly took out a pot and tried to stew that thing. You're unbelievable..."
Yu Sheng replied helplessly, "Is that how I seem in your eyes?"
Little Red Hat looked on, wide-eyed in shock.
She wasn't startled by Erin’s shout of "You can't eat that," but because it reminded her of a plate of stir-fried meat she had seen the last time they were at 66 Wutong Road.
She even suspected that Yu Sheng was actually considering whether that severed arm could be eaten—at least he might have thought about its taste.
Then she saw Yu Sheng suddenly pull out a small knife from his pocket and make a small cut on his arm, letting the blood flow, before smearing it on the plastic arm.
A sense of horror different from the thought of "he's going to eat it" surged up from the depths of her heart, and Little Red Hat exclaimed, "What are you doing?"
"Just trying to see if I can gather some information, establish some advantages," Yu Sheng said casually as he carefully smeared his blood, "My blood can establish connections with many things, including entities. But I can't be sure if it will work on this severed 'limb.'"
Erin, standing beside him, remained calm.
She had already developed a resistance to Yu Sheng's strange operations, and she was explaining to Little Red Hat, "Yu Sheng's blood is quite unusual. Hu Li and I have both come into contact with it..."
"So seriously, are you really not considering taking a taste?" Yu Sheng turned to Little Red Hat, extending his arm.
"Before the wound heals—my wounds heal really fast, so if you don't come soon, there won't be any left."
Little Red Hat quickly jumped off the wolf and backed away several steps, exclaiming, "No way!"
Then she turned to Hu Li, who had been silent all along—she had a feeling that this big fox might be the most normal one among the three of them in the group.
"Don’t you think there’s something off about this?"
Hu Li, however, was looking at Yu Sheng with admiration.
"Your divine skill is extraordinary; the art of blood magic is indeed like this!"
Little Red Hat was confused; she had no idea what the 'art of blood magic' was.
After all, she was just a high school student and hadn’t interacted much with cultivators.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Yu Sheng noticed that the blood he had smeared on the plastic arm was visibly being absorbed.
"It seems to be working," he murmured softly.
"Really? Is it?" Erin immediately leaned over, her face full of excitement.
"What do you see? Do you understand why those 'security guards' suddenly went mad?"
"The connection established is still vague; I can't gather such complicated information yet."
Yu Sheng waved his hand, gesturing for Little Puppet to be quiet.
Then he focused his spirit more intently to sense the weak connection formed by the blood between himself and the ‘museum.’
He slowly narrowed his eyes, imagining his perception extending into the void, visualizing his gaze passing through the long corridor, through doors and exhibition halls.
Among the numerous exhibits, he sought the source of the arm, searching for... other similar presences.
Suddenly, he sensed their existence.
He even felt as if he were right among them.
He wore a security guard's uniform, his body twisting uncomfortably, surrounded by plastic dummies, all dressed in the same uniforms.
But this was just a fleeting illusion, much like when he first sensed the 'hunger' action.
Yu Sheng realized that he had mistaken the "information" conveyed through the blood for an extension of his own limbs.
His connection to this ‘museum’ wasn’t at that level yet, but if this connection continued to strengthen, whether this sensation would still be an illusion was uncertain; perhaps it would be just like that "feast" back in the valley... he could truly "become" one of those security guards standing in the exhibition hall and corridor.
"Most of the 'security guards' are concentrated in this direction, two intersections away from us," Yu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, pointing towards a certain direction in the corridor.
"They are all currently motionless, as if they haven’t received any further orders. There are a few scattered in the distant exhibition halls, but it looks like they have no intention of taking action."
Little Red Hat's eyes widened in disbelief.
This was the first time she had such an intuitive understanding of Yu Sheng's abilities—last time in the Night Vale, their "joint battle" had felt more like a chaotic collaboration; she had sensed very limited information then.
She immediately realized how useful this ability was.
Just one contact, a chance to "implant" his blood into a target, could establish a stable "sensing," allowing for advanced intelligence on entities in the alternate realm, knowing their positions and state...
The significance of this for spirit world detectives and investigators was immense!
Then Little Red Hat thought of a second question: Does this ability work on humans as well?
Somehow, she suddenly recalled Yu Sheng's invitation to "take a taste."
A shiver ran down her spine, and she quickly shook her head to control her wild thoughts.
"If so, we can avoid direct contact with those 'entities'... Can you only sense the locations of the 'guards'? Can you also sense the situation in each exhibition hall? For example, let’s find the white exhibition hall..."
"No," Yu Sheng shook his head.
"The connection is still very shallow, and it’s mainly established with the 'guards.' I can hardly sense the structure of the museum itself at the moment."
While speaking, he made another small cut on his arm (the previous one had already healed) and, with a spirit of experimentation, smeared his blood evenly on the nearby wall and floor.
The blood quickly seeped into the tiles and wall, but Yu Sheng hardly felt any changes.
"I guess it’s not enough volume," he said seriously.
"I estimate I’d need to cover this place with my blood three or four times to make it work..."
Little Red Hat's expression instantly changed from shock to something more than that.
Fortunately, Yu Sheng noticed the change in her expression in time and sensibly deduced why she looked so terrified.
He quickly waved his hand, "Just joking, just joking. I'm just someone with an adventurous spirit."
Little Red Hat thought to herself, "Is this really how an adventurous spirit works?!"
(End of this chapter)