Yu Sheng's backyard is indeed quite large, leaving a deep impression on the Boundary Affairs members, including the chairman, especially with all those Erins sprouting everywhere, the Omen Divine Temple floating on the horizon, and the cloud-grown super bean stalks surrounding the temple entrance...Red once tried flying over to hang herself onto the bean stalks, but halfway through, she was knocked down by a swarm of mass-produced Erins practicing Sword Flight, resulting in a failed attempt.
The chairman and Kant showed interest in the King residing on the cat tree—or perhaps it was the adventurer team by the King's side that caught their attention.
A group of people and a cat gathered to chat about various things, though it's unclear what they were discussing. Anyway, when they returned, the chairman had an expression of nostalgic memories while Kant looked somewhat mentally traumatized, muttering things like "How come bonds can boost power?", "What's with the village's best sword?", "My millennia of power in the Death Finger defended by your mom's talisman"—words incomprehensible to outsiders.
Sadly, the Council members came and went in a hurry.
Yu Sheng wanted to invite the Council members to stay longer in his valley, as the Fairy Tale Orphanage children have always been cared for by the Council. But the chairman and others are busy, with urgent matters in the Fault. So, they only stayed in town for half a day before hastily bidding farewell.
Another reason for their hasty departure was to quickly replace a malfunctioning light bulb—they seem determined to swap it for an LED this time...
After bidding farewell to the Council members, including Baili Qing, Yu Sheng let out a long breath, then while tidying his somewhat chaotic thoughts, he accompanied Lucrecia slowly through the town's pathways.
"I should prepare more Blood Grenades later on, they're quite useful for dispersing the thick fog in the forest... Do you want a few for later exploration in the forest?"
"Sure," Lucrecia didn't hesitate, she nodded with a smile then showed a contemplative expression, "...Honestly, the current state of the Old World is a bit beyond my expectations. I gathered a lot of data while operating there, and some of it looks... slightly off, I need to take it back for my father to see."
"Alright, anyway the passage to the Lost Home is already cleared," Yu Sheng nodded, "Besides, Hu Li's Immortal Boat has been cleaned up, and later on..."
Yu Sheng was interrupted mid-sentence by a sudden noise coming from not far away.
His expression changed slightly upon hearing the commotion and he quickly ran towards it.
Halfway through, he clearly heard the sounds of children playing calling each other amidst the noise, soon spotting a group of kids' silhouettes darting past the road, and a little further, he saw where the noise originated—
The candy house belonging to Lucrecia stood on an open space by the lakeside next to the town, and now this colorful house filled with fairy tale hues was under siege by at least a dozen rowdy kids. Some were hugging the wall and directly gnawing on it, some were climbing the roof, while others were scraping sugar powder from the door with buckets and spoons. Yu Sheng watched three kids dismantling a piece of chocolate brick as big as half an Erin from the windowsill, then joyously shared and devoured it— the entire open space was filled with the sweet scent of candy and cake.
Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned, then one of the kids suddenly shouted: "Ah! Brother Yu is here!"
The group of kids then ran over excitedly, with one little one gleefully holding up a colorful candy cane: "Brother! We found a house made of candy! It really is candy! It's so delicious! Did you get it for us?"
Yu Sheng snapped out from his dazed state, his first reaction was to glance at the Star Sea Witch beside him, only to see Lucrecia smiling warmly.
The kids who gathered seemed to sense something, one quick-thinking kid said, "Oh... Is the house someone else's?"
Yu Sheng nodded and helplessly pointed at the nearby witch.
The leader kid (about seven or eight years old) immediately widened his eyes, then turned to shout loudly: "Stop eating! Don't eat any more! The house belongs to the guest!"
The kids who had been happily munching on the walls immediately stopped and hurriedly ran over, looking quite flustered.
Lucrecia just smiled, pulling out her short magic wand, which looked like a conductor's baton, and waved it in the air: "Alright, the wicked witch is about to turn a few naughty kids into gingerbread men—"
But it seemed the kids weren't scared at all, with some staring wide-eyed at Lucrecia, seemingly expecting something.
The witch's overly obvious "acting" clearly didn't scare these kids.
Lucrecia wasn't bothered. She waved her magic wand gently.
In the next second, the candy house by the lakeside quickly repaired itself; the munched frosting cake walls, the removed chocolate windowsill, and the torn-off candy tiles restored instantly.
The kids felt something strange, many subconsciously rubbed their bellies and licked their lips.
Yu Sheng was too familiar with this scene, clearly their bellies trying to reconcile with their mouths, and failed in the attempt...
Lucrecia wore a happy smile, bending down before the kids, flipped her witch hat.
Colorful candies appeared inside the hat, almost spilling out.
"Each one of you gets a handful, don't eat too much at once, remember to brush your teeth before bed—If you don't brush, candy will turn into little bugs in your tummies."
The kids accepted the candy, then led by the older ones, they apologized for damaging the house and merrily ran off.
Yu Sheng watched the whole scene with a hint of surprise, and only after the children left did he step forward and curiously ask, "…Do you like kids a lot?"
"Not really."
"…Huh?"
"But that was a long time ago," Lucrecia smiled, "Back then I didn't like kids, and it wasn't just kids—I didn't like dealing with anyone. I thought strangers were noisy and annoying, always interrupting my experiments, especially those who would shout and scream. So I even set curses and traps around my secluded place—like those evil witches living deep in the forest in many stories, turning intruders into frogs or other things."
Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow: "And how about now…?"
Lucrecia didn't say anything, she just lowered her head to glance at the Little Puppet standing beside Yu Sheng's feet.
Erin noticed the gaze from above and looked up: "Why are you staring at me, Sister Lucy?"
"After taking care of them for a while, I've found that kids can be quite interesting. These little ones who grow during their learning process are more amusing than the puppets and dolls I make," Lucrecia bent down, tucked Erin's armpit, and lifted the little thing up, "And somehow… people do change."
Erin thought for a moment, and although she didn't understand what was happening, she still lifted her face with pride.
In the end, only one person looked worried—the fox girl following beside Yu Sheng.
Earlier, when she saw a bunch of kids had their heads on the candy house munching away, she almost dashed out. It was only through immense willpower (and Luna grabbing her tail) that she held back, and then she saw Lucrecia wave her wand to restore the candy house—
When the kids found out their mouths didn't match their stomachs, the demon fox girl felt as if the sky had fallen.
She craved it, but feared hunger more. When it comes to eating, "filling the stomach" was infinitely more prioritized in Hu Li's mind than the fleeting pleasure of "tasting good."
So upon realizing the candy cottage was essentially a magic illusion that couldn't sate hunger, the fox girl's ears drooped down.
At this moment, Erin had just jumped off Lucrecia, noticing Hu Li's reaction, her eyes gleamed mischievously as she ran over to tug at Hu Li's tail: "Hey, silly fox, go eat now, no one's stopping you."
Hu Li glared, unwillingly staring at the candy cottage nearby for a long time, finally turning her face away in anger: "I won't eat it, it looks sour."
A cheerful atmosphere filled the scene.
Yu Sheng moved forward with a smile, patting Hu Li's hair: "Don't be sour, we're having hotpot today. Hey, Lucrecia, want to join us?"
"Though I'd love to, I need to return to the Lost Home," the Star Sea Witch shook her head, "Father is quite concerned about the situation on the other side of that gate."
"Alright, then we're heading home—waiting for your updates."
A phantom gate materialized out of thin air, and Yu Sheng led Hu Li, Luna, and Erin through the gate, vanishing from Lucrecia's sight.
Lucrecia waved one last time as the gate dissipated, then turned to look at the silhouette of the towering pyramid at the other end of the town.
Her figure suddenly transformed into a swirl of colorful paper fragments, twirling and lifted by an invisible breeze, heading towards the pyramid.
However, in the next second, the phantom gate that had just closed suddenly reappeared, and Yu Sheng poked half of his body out: "Ah, right, there's one more thing… what's this?"
Yu Sheng curiously looked at the swirling paper scraps before him, casually grabbing one and examining it.
In that instant, the paper fragments in mid-air plunged into chaos, a silhouette formed from the scraps, landing with a thud on the ground not far away.
Yu Sheng stared blankly, his eyes locking with those of the Star Sea Witch who was just getting up from the ground.
Yu Sheng: "…"
Lucrecia: "…"
The witch took a gentle breath: "Uncle Yu, do you have more to say?"
Yu Sheng awkwardly released the scrap of paper in his hand, watching it twirl and land on the Star Sea Witch, merging with her. Then he turned and brought out two boxes of snacks from the door: "I wanted to say, take these back for your father to try. These aren't bought from the market, one box is made by me, the other was made by the children from the orphanage…"
"…Alright."