Dimensional Hotel

As the two Secret Service agents and the self-proclaimed “Little Red Riding Hood” spiritual detective left, Yu Sheng stood at the doorway, letting out a gentle sigh. He turned back into the living room, trying to gather his thoughts.

Irene, who had been watching television, immediately turned her head toward him. “I thought you’d be chatting with them forever. Didn’t you have loads of questions to ask?”

“I just wanted to make a connection,” Yu Sheng replied casually. “Besides, we already got Foxy out. The rest can wait.”

His eyes drifted to the coffee table.

Sitting on the floor next to it was the young fox girl, Foxy. Guarding a small pile of snacks, she sensed his gaze and looked up, her face lighting up. “Benefactor!”

“You need a bath—and some clean clothes,” Yu Sheng said gently, his eyes filled with concern.

The poor fox had been trapped in that strange place for years. When she was first imprisoned, she had been just a child. Now, she wore clothes taken from who-knows-where—they were old, too small, and practically falling apart. Her body was streaked with dirt, and though there might have been water sources in that strange realm, she’d lived in the wild, away from any sort of civilization. Her bushy tail was matted and tangled.

Foxy lowered her head and looked at herself.

She had gotten used to her appearance, perhaps never considering what would happen when she left that valley. But now, hearing Yu Sheng’s words, old memories, and some long-buried common sense seemed to stir. She stared at herself for a long moment, much like how she had been relearning how to speak. Slowly, she was starting to shed the mindset of a wild animal.

Yes, she needed to clean herself and change clothes—she couldn’t dirty her benefactor’s home, which was so clean.

She nodded vigorously.

Yu Sheng turned his gaze to Irene.

The little doll’s arms were still broken, looking rather pitiful. But she didn’t seem bothered at all, completely absorbed in the television, laughing at some silly variety show.

Yu Sheng couldn’t help but feel a little exasperated. “Shouldn’t I fix your arms first?”

“Why don’t you take that fox to wash up first? She probably doesn’t know how to use the bathroom stuff,” Irene said, waving her broken stumps dismissively. “I’m not in a rush. You can fix me later.”

“Alright, I’ll help you soon,” Yu Sheng nodded. He held out a hand to Foxy. “Come with me.”

Foxy stood up but hesitated, her eyes darting nervously to the food on the floor, reluctant to leave it behind.

Noticing this, Yu Sheng chuckled. “Don’t worry, the food won’t grow legs and run away. You can eat after your bath—besides, Irene will watch it for you.”

Still, Foxy seemed unsure. She cast a wary glance at the doll lounging on the sofa, then suddenly bent down, grabbed two cans of eight-treasure porridge and two packs of biscuits from the plastic bag, and stuffed them into her tail. Only then did she turn to Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng’s smile froze. He stood there, stunned, trying to process what had just happened. After a moment, he blinked and looked at the large tail behind Foxy.

“Wait… where did you just hide those?”

Foxy pulled the biscuits and porridge from her tail, showed them to Yu Sheng, then swiftly tucked them back in. She blinked at him, her eyes wide and innocent.

Yu Sheng was astonished. “You can… do that?”

“Mm-hmm,” Foxy nodded, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Yu Sheng’s mind reeled. “Wait, didn’t you earlier… uh, fire off a tail?”

“It’s already grown back,” Foxy replied calmly.

Yu Sheng stared, speechless at the answer.

His mind was filled with questions—is this what fox spirits are like?

But no one could answer him. Irene didn’t know any other foxes like Foxy.

Shaking his head, Yu Sheng decided to set aside his confusion for now. “Alright then,” he said, leading the way. “Follow me.”

He led the fox girl to the bathroom on the first floor.

“This is the water heater,” he began patiently. “You don’t need to worry about it for now. Hot water comes from here. This knob controls the temperature—turn it left for hot water, right for cold. Lift this lever to start the shower… The bathtub works the same way; the faucet is here. This bottle is body wash; you can use this sponge to make bubbles. Don’t use too much. This one is shampoo—for your hair and tail.”

Yu Sheng explained everything carefully, speaking slowly to make sure Foxy understood. He suspected she might still be overwhelmed when actually bathing.

“As long as you know how to get the water running. You can soak in the tub if you want. Towels and bath towels are hanging here by the mirror. Make sure to dry yourself properly so you don’t catch a cold before coming out.”

Foxy nodded earnestly. “Mm-hmm.”

“Remember to take out the things you hid in your tail before bathing… Actually, never mind. You handle it as you see fit; they’re all packaged anyway.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I don’t have any girls’ clothes here. I’ll bring you a set of mine; you can wear them for now. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the mall to buy some new clothes.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Foxy seemed to have only “mm-hmm” left in her vocabulary; she nodded at everything Yu Sheng said.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. Suddenly, he envied Irene’s carefree attitude.

After giving a few more instructions and watching Foxy try turning on the shower, he finally felt somewhat reassured. He placed a set of his loose pajamas outside the bathroom door. “I’ll leave these here for you,” he called. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Receiving no response other than another earnest nod, he sighed softly and returned to the living room.

Irene was struggling to climb back onto the sofa with her broken arms.

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“I laughed too hard and fell off the sofa,” Irene admitted sheepishly. “Hey, don’t just stand there watching—give me a hand!”

Suppressing a smile, Yu Sheng stepped forward and picked her up, along with her picture frame. “Alright, that’s enough TV for now. Let’s go fix your body.”

Irene looked surprised. “What about the fox?”

“She’s taking a bath on her own,” Yu Sheng replied casually. “I showed her how to use everything.”

“Are you sure she can manage? She’s just come out of that place; her mind might not be fully recovered,” Irene said skeptically, glancing towards the bathroom. “She won’t accidentally flood the place or something?”

Yu Sheng hesitated, casting a worried glance in the direction of the bathroom. The sound of running water was audible. “I… I think she’ll be fine. Unless she decides to fire off her tail in there.”

“Eh, forget it,” Irene waved her arm dismissively, quickly returning to her usual nonchalance. “She’s not stupid. She survived in the wild all that time; she should adapt quickly. Come on, upstairs! Let’s fix my arms. It’s really inconvenient like this—I can’t even change the channel properly.”

“Alright, alright,” Yu Sheng agreed, carrying Irene up the stairs.

They reached the attic, and Yu Sheng switched on the light. Carefully, he removed the picture frame from Irene’s back and gently placed the little doll on the large table.

“There’s no need to be so cautious; I’m not made of porcelain,” Irene teased, amused by his careful movements. “You won’t break me that easily.”

Yu Sheng glanced at the porcelain-like fractures on her arms with a wry smile. “Can’t blame me for being careful—the way your broken parts look is rather alarming. Does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt now. It only stung a little when they first broke,” Irene replied, raising her arm to inspect it. “But I suppose it does look a bit scary… Let’s get on with the repairs.”

She paused, then began to guide him through the process. “The procedure is similar to when you made my body last time, but you don’t need to create the whole torso—just the arms. The process of infusing spiritual energy is the same; I’ll guide it to completion. After fixing the arms, we’ll address the legs. There are some cracks there, but they haven’t fully broken. You’ll need to use the alchemically treated clay to activate and repair them. This part requires precision; you should use a scraper to smooth it out—it’ll save me some effort…”

Yu Sheng listened attentively as she explained. When she finished, he hesitated before speaking. “Um, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

Irene tilted her head. “What is it?”

“I’ve, uh, run out of the clay we bought last time,” Yu Sheng confessed, spreading his hands helplessly. “At this hour, I don’t think I can buy more.”

Irene stared at him. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Then why did you bring me up here?”

Yu Sheng reached into a drawer and pulled out a lotus root.

Irene’s eyes widened, and she nearly jumped up—though with her broken legs, she couldn’t. “Wait a minute! Are you obsessed with lotus roots or something? Didn’t we agree—hold on, why is the lotus root in your alchemy table drawer? Have you been planning this all along?”

“I’m just curious whether this might work,” Yu Sheng admitted, a hint of sheepishness in his voice. He considered it part of his spirit of scientific exploration—like when he’d experimented with cooking the meat from the ‘Hunger’ to see how it tasted. “Let’s give it a try. That lotus root wasn’t cheap, you know.”

“Try it on yourself!” Irene glared at him, her scarlet eyes flashing. “Never mind anything else—for the spiritual infusion, you have to add your blood into the material. You can knead it into clay or dough, but with a lotus root, how are you going to—”

She broke off mid-sentence as she saw Yu Sheng pull out a syringe from the drawer.

Irene’s jaw dropped. “Wait—are you out of your mind?!”

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