Chapter 10: Blooming Twice
Irene found it absurd that Yu Sheng could live in a place like ‘Otherworld’ for so long without realizing it — but to Yu Sheng, the entire world was absurd.
“According to what you’re saying, ‘Otherworlds’ are everywhere in this world, right?” Huddled in the corner of a dilapidated temple, Yu Sheng was making small talk with Irene’s voice in his mind. “It’s just that most people can’t access them? Because they can’t observe them?”
“Something like that,” Irene replied. “But as for whether the whole ‘world’ works that way… I’m not entirely sure. The world’s vast, after all. At the very least, within the scope of ‘Boundary City’… the chances of encountering an ‘Otherworld’ are quite high. That’s why people sometimes call it ‘Borderland’… or something like that. I’ve been stuck in that painting for so long, my memories are a bit hazy.”
“Borderland?” Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. The name felt oddly familiar, but his thoughts soon shifted to another revelation from Irene’s words — she had specifically emphasized ‘within Boundary City.’ So, this seemingly boundless metropolis actually had an ‘outside’!
He hesitated for a few seconds but couldn’t help but ask, “What’s… outside Boundary City?”
“Outside? Maybe more cities? Or… the sea or something?” Irene’s answer was vague and uncertain. “I really don’t remember. I’ve been trapped in that painting for too long. The only things I recall are bits and pieces about the city itself…”
She suddenly paused, then asked with a hint of confusion, “You don’t know? You’ve never left Boundary City either?”
Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched, and he fell silent. How would he know? He had only been here for two months — forget about what’s outside the city; he hadn’t even figured out the bus routes beyond four blocks from his apartment!
But after a long silence, he decided not to mention this detail — for now, he didn’t want a ‘cursed oil painting’ he had just met to know too much about him.
“I haven’t been out. I’m pretty much a shut-in… Anyway, let’s not talk about that,” he brushed it off and changed the subject. “Let’s focus on solving my problem first. How do I get out of this so-called ‘Otherworld’? I mean… there is a way out, right?”
Irene took a while to respond, as if piecing together fragmented and chaotic memories from her prolonged imprisonment. Finally, she replied, “There are many kinds of Otherworlds. Sometimes it might be a house that doesn’t exist on any map. Sometimes it’s an extra platform at a bus stop. Sometimes it’s a forest or even a wardrobe that opens into an entire kingdom. Generally, smaller Otherworlds have relatively fixed and obvious exits, or follow specific rules that allow you to return to reality. But the larger the Otherworld, the more complex the situation becomes.”
She paused again before continuing, “Honestly, I can’t recall the specifics. There should be a complete classification system for Otherworlds, including something about ‘depth’ levels and ‘danger levels.’ But I’ve been stuck in that painting for so long…”
Her voice gradually grew softer, tinged with a sense of loss. Yu Sheng had wanted to complain — this Doll sure rambled on without providing any useful information. But hearing that subdued mumble at the end, he kept his mouth shut, holding back his usual banter.
She was trying her best to help — it was just that her memories were too fragmented.
“We’ll find the exit somehow,” Yu Sheng shook his head and glanced at the Valley outside the ruined temple. “This place looks pretty vast. At least from what I can see, there are mountains on both sides and a forest far away. Leaving… might not be that easy.”
“Yeah,” Irene agreed. “You should start by looking around the spot where you first entered the Otherworld. See if there’s anything that feels out of place, something that obviously doesn’t belong there. Usually, the exit is nearby. If you can’t find anything around, climb to a higher spot and look for reflective surfaces like mirrors or listen for a constant wind sound…
“But even if you find something similar, don’t rush to approach it. It could be a trap leading to a ‘deeper layer.’ It’s hard to say. You’ll have to rely on your instincts.”
“Instincts?” Yu Sheng couldn’t help but speak up.
“…Yes, strictly speaking, it’s called ‘Spiritual Intuition’ — a kind of intuitive sense. Experienced Investigators usually train to develop this perception. I know you haven’t trained for it, but right now, you don’t have much choice. You’ll just have to push through.”
Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, his thoughts tangled with anxiety. He knew Irene was right—spirituality resided within all sentient beings, even untrained ordinary people possessed it, though it remained dormant and unawakened. He just needed to be more attentive, to perceive those warnings and premonitions stemming from his essence.
“If you truly encounter something you can’t make sense of, just tell me,” Irene spoke with an unusually sincere tone. “I’ll… do my best to help.”
Nodding slightly, Yu Sheng stepped out cautiously from his hiding spot, moving toward the grand doorway of the dilapidated temple. The suffocating sense of being watched and the oppressive Hunger clung to him like a dense fog, almost as if the entire Valley had absorbed the unsettling presence. Despite his reluctance, he pushed himself to move forward.
From the intelligence provided by Irene, he knew he had to find an ‘exit’ as soon as possible to leave this place—waiting passively in a dark corner would not make a Door suddenly appear before him.
To ease his tension, he kept up a light, somewhat aimless conversation with Irene.
“You said my place is an ‘Otherworld.’ How can you be so sure? I never noticed anything off about it,” Yu Sheng inquired.
“It’s that kind of intuition I mentioned,” Irene replied. “It’s a feeling. I can distinctly sense that something about the manor is fundamentally wrong—though outwardly, it appears perfectly normal. I don’t know why that is.”
Yu Sheng gave a helpless shrug. “So, according to you, every time I go home through the Door, I’m stepping into an Otherworld. And leaving through the Door means I’m stepping out of the Otherworld? If that’s the case, my home is really one heck of a convenient, harmless ‘good Otherworld.’”
There was a brief silence before Irene spoke again, her voice carrying a peculiar weight. “Going out through the Door doesn’t always take you where you want to go… does it?”
Yu Sheng froze, his face tensing up as the realization hit him like a landslide. He finally understood what was wrong with his ‘home.’
Surviving peacefully in that grand manor for two whole months now seemed like nothing short of a miracle.
Lost in his thoughts, Yu Sheng found himself at the open ground before the old temple—the spot where he first arrived in this distorted Otherworld. He meticulously examined the surroundings but failed to find any peculiar item that matched Irene’s description.
“No suspicious objects here,” Yu Sheng sighed, dusting his hands off. “Looks like it won’t be that easy.”
“Not surprising,” Irene replied with a faint sigh. “Try walking farther, but remember—never touch anything glowing or moving suddenly. And if possible, avoid eating or drinking anything from the Otherworld.”
“Got it,” Yu Sheng replied, glancing at the perpetually murky sky. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait for daylight to continue searching? Wandering around at night feels eerie.”
“Otherworlds defy common sense,” Irene warned. “Daylight doesn’t always mean safety—sometimes, it doesn’t even exist. You should hurry and find the exit before this place warps further.”
With no other choice, Yu Sheng trudged onward. Just as he stepped out of the temple’s perimeter, he heard it—a faint, distorted breathing sound, like the raspy exhale of a massive, unseen beast.
Instinctively, he looked in the direction of the sound. A white mist gradually dispersed in the air as if an invisible behemoth had just exhaled a cloud of foul breath. And as Yu Sheng acknowledged the sound, the creature’s existence was affirmed.
A towering shadow began to form, roughly three times his size. The air thickened with a tangible dread, pressing down on him more intensely than even the Rain Frog had. His heart clenched, and the formless beast took a horrifying shape—an amalgamation of bear, lion, eagle, tiger, and serpent limbs fused grotesquely into one monstrous, pulsating mass of flesh. Its mismatched, bulbous eyes stared down at Yu Sheng, filled with voracious Hunger.
The monster lunged.
With no time to think, Yu Sheng dropped low, barely dodging the gaping maw snapping shut beside him—only to fall directly into another colossal mouth.
Pain erupted as jagged teeth clamped down, shredding half of his body. Yet the agony felt distant, numbed by an eerie detachment. Through his dimming vision, he saw serpent-like appendages stretching from the monster’s bulk, another mouth ripping his torso from his lower half.
His heart, exposed and pulsing, vanished into the beast’s gullet.
“Damn you!” Yu Sheng cursed through gritted teeth, refusing to go out without a fight. Summoning his last remnants of strength, he bit down on the monster’s flesh—he didn’t care what part it was. If he was going to die, he’d at least take a chunk of it with him.
Blood, claws, fangs, and fury—all blended into a chaotic struggle. As darkness enveloped his mind, Yu Sheng forced out one final whisper to Irene, wherever she was.
“Irene…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing… I’m hanging up now.”
Stunned by the abruptness, Irene failed to respond.
And Yu Sheng was gone.