I adopted a child demon from the Gap, and I'm a special agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Ab

"So, uncle, you really are a tsukkomi (straight man) da★ze?"

“I’m just using this to distract myself from the series of unfortunate events that have happened to me today,” Li Cheng sighed. “First, I got caught in a spatial turbulence as soon as I woke up and fell into a forest. Then, my clothes were ripped off by a cannon shot, and I fell into a puddle. Now, I’ve been arrested on the spot as a criminal suspect. What kind of god did I offend? Why am I having to go through all this trouble…”

Finally, Li Cheng, trapped in the formation, turned ashen-faced.

“Eek, Uncle is radiating a颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of listlessness, apathy, and a lack of motivation) aura,” Marisa took two steps back, thought for a moment, and then turned to Reimu Hakurei and said, “But Uncle did fall from the Enchanted Forest, and he has been coming to you to find a way to leave. He shouldn’t be the mastermind, right?”

"Hmm, really not...?"

Reimu narrowed her eyes and looked at Li Cheng. Li Cheng noticed that she probably already knew that he was not the mastermind behind the murder, but perhaps because she was unwilling to find the real culprit, she seemed to want to deceive herself and pretend to close the case.

"If we don't find the real culprit, something even worse might happen next time, and you might be even busier then."

Li Cheng stared at Lingmeng and said in a serious tone.

"Tsk."

Realizing she couldn't brush this off, the priestess could only sigh impatiently and casually wave her hand to release the restrictions on Li Cheng.

"Hmph, even if you're not the real culprit, you're definitely related to this matter. Who knows if you're plotting something behind the scenes? Anyway, something's definitely not right."

"I haven't done anything to offend you, so why are you picking on me?"

Li Cheng stretched his stiff body and complained.

"Because the way you look at me is so annoying, it reminds me of that lazy, sleepy old woman who's always slacking off and sleeping!"

Reimu Hakurei spoke with a long face, clearly unhappy. Then, she suddenly adopted a wary expression, carefully observing her surroundings. After maintaining this posture for about two or three minutes, she finally relaxed, but then her expression suddenly became even more sullen, and she even looked like a salted fish.

What's wrong with her?

Li Cheng asked Marisa, who was standing to the side.

“Well, given what she just said, normally a powerful youkai should have come to teach her a lesson, but nothing has happened, which means the other party can't show up. Hmm, this proves that this matter might be even more serious,” Marisa analyzed.

The girl remained serious, but the excitement in her eyes was hard to hide; clearly, this potentially massive upheaval had begun to excite her.

"In that case, does that mean I can't go back for the time being?"

The question that Li Cheng was concerned about was whether he could open the barrier and return to the outside world. Or rather, for him, there was nothing more important than getting back to Zi's side as soon as possible.

"The barrier can't be opened at all right now, so of course you can't go back."

Reimu rubbed her head, seemingly lacking enthusiasm for the upcoming journey to resolve the incident. However, she quickly rallied her spirits, took to the air, and flew towards the distant horizon.

"This great barrier is unlikely to be restored until the incident is resolved. Go wherever you want, and come back to the shrine after the incident is over."

As she spoke, the girl's figure gradually disappeared into the distance, clearly heading off to find the root cause of this incident.

"Okay, in that case, I'll have to go see what happened. Uncle, we'll say goodbye for now. Alice, let's have tea at your house again next time. Bye-bye, da★ze."

Immediately after, Marisa took to the air on her broomstick and followed in the direction Reimu Hakurei had gone.

Li Cheng turned to look at the last girl present, Alice, who had been silent from the beginning. He found that she left without looking back, seemingly not wanting to even glance at him, and quickly disappeared into the road outside the shrine.

As a result, only a few minutes passed from the moment they were suddenly attacked until everyone had left.

It's really baffling.

Li Cheng stretched his body and walked to the open space in the center of the shrine, in front of a tall, lush tree.

The tree itself seemed to possess a very strange aura, faintly exuding a profound atmosphere. Li Cheng touched the trunk, releasing the power of his realm through contact, sensing the information contained within the tree—the reference point of this enormous barrier world. It was through this reference point that this closed world had the possibility of communicating with the outside world.

But now, that path is blocked.

What should have been a path through the barrier was now completely blocked, and Li Cheng couldn't find even the slightest gap to pass through. After several attempts, he finally had to accept the fact: he was trapped here.

So what should I do now?

Stepping out of the deserted shrine and gazing at the tranquil and ancient rural landscape bathed in sunlight, Li Cheng couldn't hide the restlessness in his heart.

"Goo-"

And it was precisely at this moment that, because of not having eaten breakfast properly and having gone through a lot of running around and fighting, the body began to make sounds that needed to be fed.

So next, let's go check out that place called "Renmin no Sato" (Village of Humanity), have something to eat to fill our stomachs, and maybe change our mindset. Staying this irritable isn't a solution; we need to think of ways to solve the problem.

Wait, if my memory serves me right, that place should require money to shop, right? I don't think I have any of that place's currency.

Li Cheng walked until he reached the end of the path leading to the shrine before suddenly remembering that he was penniless.

"So, does that mean I have to go through a wilderness survival challenge now?"

Thinking this through, Li Cheng quickly turned his gaze to the other side, to a lake shrouded in thick fog.

In Yukari's memory, there were quite a few fairies living there. Cirno, whom Yukari found, who was a bit dim-witted, usually frequented that place. However, the fairies' power was of little use to Li Cheng. Although he had recently been tricked by a fairy, their abilities were still insufficient to threaten him.

According to this memory, there seemed to be a considerable number of fresh fish in that lake, which could be turned into a delicious dish with just a little processing.

With that thought in mind, Li Cheng turned around and walked towards the lake.

……

In the desolate, dilapidated shrine, Zi wiped the sweat from her forehead and temporarily stopped trying to break the barrier.

"Give up?"

Huo, who was lying diagonally on the stone slab to the side, asked in a somewhat surprised voice.

"We've only roughly figured out what happened."

Zi stood up from the ground, her expression becoming more serious.

"There is a small space connected to the world inside. The barriers of the two spaces have merged and influenced each other, causing the current chaotic state. The situation here is quite complicated, and there is not much point in continuing to decipher it; it will only be a waste of our energy."

"So what are you planning to do? I'm a little curious."

"Of course, we need to find the entrance to that space. The shrine's barrier is in a state of emergency due to the chaos and we can't enter, but the other small space might be different. Instead of wasting time here, we might as well try our luck somewhere else. Besides, we've already found the general area of ​​that space."

Based on the sensing and calculation of the barrier fluctuations, the location of the other small space is in the abandoned city area.

As the former capital of Japan, the ruins have always been an unsettling place, a breeding ground for all sorts of darkness. However, the presence of a small alternate dimension sensed there now is no longer an event of the same magnitude as before.

What exactly happened this time? Was Cheng merely caught up in it, or was he also a target of the enemy this time?

To understand these things, you definitely can't do so without going there yourself.

"Then, I wish you good luck in advance."

He spoke with little interest.

"Oh, won't you come and take a look?"

Zi looked at Huo with a playful smile.

"I don't find anything interesting about it."

"Even if this is your chance to leave this shrine without breaking the contract?"

"..."

Huo's gaze toward Zi turned somewhat colder.

"I originally thought you were just one of her clansmen, but now it seems you know quite a lot."

“The great barrier is in danger, and you happen to have found clues outside the shrine. Going to check on it for this reason will not violate your contract to protect the barrier.”

Zi ignored Huo's reaction and continued speaking calmly.

"This is one of the few opportunities to leave here temporarily. Even if the place you're going to is probably not a good one, you have no reason to give up this opportunity, right?"

"Hmph, isn't it just that you feel your own strength isn't enough to guarantee success, so you want to bring someone along?"

Finally, the calamity grew impatient and got up. A black and red mist shrouded her body. When she reappeared, she had changed into a red and white shrine maiden outfit. However, the originally bright red was now stained with a lot of black patterns, as if it had been polluted and exuded an ominous aura.

"Let's go. It's been over ten years since I've gone out to see the world. Let's take this opportunity to relax."

"Hehehe, then we'll thank you in advance."

The black rift opened and closed silently, and the two girls had already disappeared from the dilapidated shrine.

What is Cheng doing now?

As Zi headed towards the ruined city, she thought to herself silently.

Perhaps he is, like me, trying hard to find a way back to me?

In that case, I need to work even harder!

At the same time, Li Cheng exclaimed, "Wow, this fish smells delicious!"

…………

Thank you to reader Shiori Shiori for the monthly pass.

Thank you to readers Sinful Demon King EX, Excellent Unreasonable, Terrifying Rabbit, Big Rabbit, and Shio Palace Shiori for their recommendation votes.

Chapter 6, Section 296: On the Lake of Mist

Li Cheng was quite confident in his ability to catch fish.

Having found a slightly longer branch, Li Cheng used the power of his cultivation realm to slowly strengthen it and sharpen its tip. After expending considerable effort, he transformed the branch into a harpoon.

If Zi knew that the result of her painstakingly teaching her the power of realm was that she used it to make a harpoon, I wonder if she would be angry?

Li Cheng hesitated for a while over this question, but then completely put those thoughts out of his mind after spearing the first fish.

Although there were many open spaces around the misty lake where a fire could be started, the damp environment made it difficult to find fuel. Of course, this was no problem at all with the power of the omnipotent realm. With simple manipulation of high and low temperatures, Li Cheng quickly started a fire. He then skewered the cleaned, scaled, and gutted fresh fish onto a specially treated harpoon and slowly roasted it over the fire.

"This kind of grilled fish with its original flavor is indeed quite delicious."

Taking a bite of the crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside fish, Li Cheng let out a satisfied sigh. In just a few bites, he swallowed the fish whole. Thanks to his strong physique, he didn't need to worry about fish bones; he could simply chew them up and swallow them. Even if a small bone got stuck in his throat, a slight movement of his throat would easily bring it down into his stomach. In a sense, this was one of the benefits of a martial artist's physique.

The fish that had been speared had been eaten, but one fish was clearly not enough to fill his stomach. When Li Cheng went to the lake again, he found that there were no fish swimming around. These fish seemed to be a little smart; after one was speared, all the other fish scattered.

This is troublesome; it's impossible to fill one's stomach with just one fish.

Thinking this, Li Cheng slowly walked along the lakeside, trying to find the fish. But soon, he discovered something else, or rather, something else discovered him.

"Hahaha, what a lucky day! I bumped into a human as soon as I arrived. I'll have you for my breakfast today, hahaha!"

A tall, ugly creature, whose face seemed to scream "extra," lunged at Li Cheng, who was searching for fresh fish, while emitting a strange laugh. Of course, it completely missed Li Cheng, who appeared not to notice it, and instead fell straight into the lake.

"Waaaaah, you're dead today, human!"