Chapter 47: The Path Splits in Two
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Irene planted her little feet firmly atop a large, shadowy rock. She clutched a cleaver in her tiny hands, and tried her very best to strike what she believed was a heroic pose against the chilly night wind. Tilting her head back, she cried out over the empty valley below, “We’ve got our feet on solid ground!”
Before she could savor the moment, Yu Sheng reached out and poked her doll-like head with one finger, nearly tipping her right off the rock. “Stop making such a racket!” he snapped. “We haven’t even found Foxy yet, and you’re already trying to draw the attention of ‘Hunger.’”
Irene grumbled, leaping lightly down from her perch. She adjusted the straps holding the painting frame on her back and peered about, looking rather displeased. “That thing doesn’t hunt by sound,” she muttered. Her red eyes roamed over the strange landscape. “This place really is desolate… It’s just like you said, creepy and so quiet. It feels like the sky’s wrapped up in something thick.”
Yu Sheng cast her a cautious look. Despite knowing the strange abilities Irene possessed as a doll, he still felt the need to warn her, “Stay on your guard. If anything happens, protect yourself first. I don’t fear death, but it might not be the same for you. Neither of us can tell if your soul would survive if that temporary body is destroyed.”
“Don’t worry,” said Irene cheerfully, tipping her head back and smiling at the starless sky. “To be honest, ‘Hunger’ isn’t all that scary for me. Dolls don’t have minds that can be twisted, and most importantly—I never get hungry.”
“Never hungry, huh?” Yu Sheng mumbled, looking down at his feet. “Yet whenever I take a sip of water, you hover over me, practically drooling.” He shook his head, feeling oddly annoyed by the memory.
He glanced at the bulky plastic bags stuffed full of supplies. Thankfully, he’d managed to bring all of them through, and there they were, safe at his feet. The careful preparations he’d made with that door had paid off. At least their journey was starting off decently.
Bending down, Yu Sheng hoisted the food-laden bags as though they weighed no more than a handful of feathers. He turned toward a collapsed, weather-beaten temple not far off. Its broken walls and sagging beams lurked under the night sky, unchanged since he’d last passed through.
“Let’s head over there first,” he said softly. “Foxy should be nearby. I can feel it.”
He’d barely taken two steps when Irene called out from behind, “Hey, wait! Slow down! Your legs are so long—I can’t keep up!”
Yu Sheng glanced over his shoulder. There was Irene, struggling along, her cleaver dragging behind her. Each time she tried to take a step, the rough ground forced her to climb, jump, or scramble, as if every rock or root was a challenge. He watched her efforts in silence for a moment, then sighed. With a weary shrug, he squatted down in front of her. “Climb on my shoulders—and don’t say ‘giddy-up!’”
Irene’s eyes sparkled. She bounded forward, delighted. “Oh! You’re the best!” she cried.
Yu Sheng flinched, panicked. “Wait, wait! Put that cleaver away first! At least point the blade in another direction!” The last thing he wanted was a sharp blade waving over his head. Having a tiny, red-eyed doll sprint at him under the moonlight, brandishing a cleaver, was more than enough to raise his heart rate.
Although Yu Sheng claimed not to fear death, he had to admit he feared this.
Not far away, Li Lin shivered as a cruel gust of wind hissed through the forest’s twisted trees. His voice trembled slightly as he asked, “Where have we ended up? Is this still Borderland…?”
Beside him stood Xu Jiali, a towering man nearly two meters tall. A portable depth gauge glowed softly in his hand, and he pressed it to his eye as he surveyed their eerie surroundings. Without looking at Li Lin, he replied, “Otherworld, Night Valley. Current depth: L-9, heading toward L-10.”
The dry leaves crackled under his boots as he continued, “The classification is ‘Wilderness.’ This isn’t good news.”
Li Lin’s eyes grew wide. He recalled his training sessions with sudden clarity. A “Wilderness” type Otherworld was vast and unbounded, with no definite exit. Leaving it required certain conditions or opportunities, and it lacked any rational structure. At this L-9 depth, they were nearly cut off from reality. The rules of logic no longer held firm, and staying too long risked losing one’s mind. On top of that, a danger rating of three meant something malicious lurked here, something that actively hunted intruders. It wouldn’t be enough just to keep quiet or follow rules—whatever was here wanted them dead.
Normally, an environment like this demanded a full team of Special Affairs Bureau agents—about a dozen, heavily armed, all equipped for exploration and reconnaissance. Even then, their main goal would only be to gather information and retreat, not to fight.
Li Lin glanced around at their meager group. Just him, Xu Jiali, and that young “Spirit Realm Detective,” who was barely out of childhood. Xu Jiali, at least, was a Deep Diver trained to face these things, but he hadn’t brought much gear. Everything about this made Li Lin’s stomach twist with dread.
Xu Jiali’s deep voice cut through the silence. “Hand that food over to the girl,” he said. “Li Lin, you and I will use this.”
Snapping from his worried thoughts, Li Lin followed the senior agent’s orders at once. He passed two bowls of instant noodles to Little Red Riding Hood, who looked rather puzzled. Then he turned to see what Xu Jiali was offering him.
In Xu Jiali’s enormous hand was a needleless injector filled with a faintly glowing green liquid—rationality blocker. Li Lin’s eyes widened slightly as he realized what it was.
“It’s called ‘Hunger,’ the entity we’re facing,” Xu Jiali explained calmly. Pressing the injector against his own arm, he hissed, “This will help shield our minds. The side effects are worse than the inhaler’s, but at least we’ll stay sane for the next forty-eight hours.”
Li Lin swallowed and nodded. He lifted the injector to his arm and pressed down. With a soft hiss, the glowing liquid entered his bloodstream.
Little Red Riding Hood, who’d caught wind of their conversation, looked up from the instant noodles. “Hunger?” she echoed. Her voice trembled just a bit. “You two should be eating these noodles. Your bodies are still human. I—I’m different. I can last longer without proper food. I even have some snacks…”
Xu Jiali shot her a firm look, cutting her off. “Just do as I say,” he commanded, towering over her. “I know your situation.”
The girl’s mouth opened as if to protest, but then closed silently. Instead, she nodded and accepted the noodles, lowering her head.
Xu Jiali placed a gentle but heavy hand on her shoulder. “This is for all of us,” he said in a calmer tone. “Your wolves are our best chance against that entity. You need to stay strong, or we’ll all suffer.”
Li Lin watched as Little Red crouched behind a large rock, slurping the cold noodles in silence. Her wolves paced nervously, their glowing eyes darting about the darkness. He looked questioningly at Xu Jiali.
The big man shook his head, whispering so only Li Lin could hear, “If she gets too hungry, her own wolves will tear into her. We must prevent that.”
A low, uneasy howl drifted through the trees, and the wolves seemed restless. Something vile and hungry pressed in on them, spreading through the valley. Even the wind felt tainted.
In the dim ruins of the old temple, Yu Sheng and Irene stepped carefully through broken stone and tumbled beams. The smell here was awful, like something rotting in the damp corners of a forgotten cellar. It crept into their noses as if alive. Irene stopped breathing altogether, which made Yu Sheng incredibly envious—he wished he could do the same.
“Are you sure your fox friend is really here?” Irene asked, perched on Yu Sheng’s shoulders. She kept a tight grip on his hair with one hand and the cleaver in the other. She stretched her small neck forward, trying to see around the half-collapsed walls. “I can’t see a thing…”
“I’m certain,” said Yu Sheng, sounding almost cheerful. “I share a faint bond with Foxy, made through blood. The same kind of bond I have with you, though you might not have noticed it.”
Irene squinted at him suspiciously, then looked down at her hand as if trying to sense something hidden in the air. Before she could speak, a soft rustle echoed through the ruin.
Both of them froze. Slowly, they turned toward the sound. From behind a fallen wall, a white figure peered cautiously out into the night.
A gleaming silver tail flicked in the faint moonlight. Two fluffy fox ears twitched with curiosity. Then, when the fox-girl recognized who stood before her, her eyes lit up like stars.
“Benefactor!” she cried happily.
In a flash, Foxy bounded over the rubble and rushed toward them. She circled Yu Sheng twice, her silver tail swishing with delight, before stopping right in front of him. She looked astonished and overjoyed. “You… you really came back! I can’t believe it. It’s really you!”
Yu Sheng broke into a grin of relief, setting down all the supplies he carried. “Yes, it’s me,” he said kindly. “I brought plenty of food this time. You won’t have to suffer from hunger anymore.”