Chapter 13: The Meeting
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Yu Sheng drifted through that familiar darkness again, feeling as though he were lost in a deep, swirling void. The blackness pressed against him from all sides, and in that crushing silence, he couldn’t help feeling both helpless and terribly tired. He had expected troubles before escaping from this strange “Otherworld,” and he had even imagined that he might have to “die” more than once along the way. Yes, he had guessed both the beginning and the end, but this—this strange floating in nothingness—had never crossed his mind.
As he hovered in the quiet gloom, his mind wandered to the last thing he remembered before falling unconscious. He recalled the flash of those fiery gold-and-red eyes, the graceful fox tails flaring out like blossoms of living flame against the darkness, and the memory of that swift, stunning headbutt that had struck him harder than he ever thought possible. He couldn’t help but wonder who that girl was—the one who had crashed into him at such incredible speed. Where had she appeared from, and why was she here, trapped in this bizarre Otherworld?
He also thought about his own body during that monstrous battle. He remembered the sudden surge of strength, the strange speed and agility, and most disturbing of all, that fierce, gnawing hunger. What on earth was happening to him?
Within this emptiness, his thoughts spun wildly. They seemed to form whirlpools of memory inside his mind, swirling images he couldn’t quite catch. His bodily senses were gone, yet his thoughts swelled and took shape as vivid, shifting visions. He saw the hideous creature made of tangled limbs, the mysterious fox-eared girl, and then—strangest of all—an oil painting. In that painting, Irene appeared broken into pieces, like a doll whose limbs were connected only by delicate strands of spider silk. A shadowy figure loomed in the distance, dark and undefined.
All at once, the image of Irene vanished and was replaced by another memory: a sky streaked with crimson clouds, with watery sunlight flowing over old, familiar alleys. That was his hometown—Boundary City, the small seaside place where he had grown up. It had only been two months since he had left it behind, and yet, at this moment, the memory felt ancient, as if it belonged to a different person entirely. It seemed cold and distant, like a scene projected onto a screen rather than something he had truly lived through.
Then all the images faded, leaving him in gentle darkness once more. Yu Sheng felt his mind clear a little. After a pause, he tried calling out silently, “Irene?”
There was no answer. Just deep, empty quiet.
It seemed that in this “dead” state, the connection between him and Irene was cut off. He tried to shift his viewpoint, as if looking around, searching for anything at all in the darkness. He tried to sense whether he still had a body. Nothing appeared—no shape, no form, no sign of any physical self. It was as though he were a single, drifting thought, alone in the void.
This was the third time he had “died,” but this time he was no longer just confused. Now, he tried to understand it. He tested and observed, carefully feeling for something he might have missed. Ever since he learned of the existence of Otherworlds from Irene, he had set a goal: to return to the normal world. The thought made his surroundings seem less hopeless. He had stumbled so far into strange domains and eerie rules—now he needed to find a way out.
Irene had told him that sometimes ordinary people could slip into the Otherworld simply by stepping off a bus at the wrong stop, taking one extra step on the stairs, turning one more page in a book than they should, or reading a single word incorrectly. Even opening the wrong door might be enough. But, crucially, she had said this: entering an Otherworld wasn’t always permanent. There were people out there—researchers, experts—who studied these uncanny places and sometimes helped people return.
This valley of endless night was an Otherworld. The old Wutong Road house where he lived was another. Yu Sheng suspected that his first contact with an Otherworld had taken place even earlier—perhaps when he stepped through the door of his own home two months ago, entering a Boundless Otherworld that centered on Boundary City itself.
He needed to learn more about these strange places. He needed to understand their patterns and secrets, and then find a way back. With that resolve, Yu Sheng awakened.
He found himself sitting quietly in a dark corner of an old, ruined temple. He did not move straight away. Outside, the sky looked murky through a large hole in the wall where the wind rushed in, and part of the roof had caved in. He remained still, piecing together the fluttering memories that lingered in his mind. He focused on that hazy boundary between the darkness and this “real” place, trying to remember the feeling of crossing back over.
Just before opening his eyes, he had glimpsed some fleeting images—rising from the void, passing through a blurry threshold, and then descending into reality. He saw little flashes: the lane near his home, the gate of the Wutong Road house, and this very spot in the ruined temple. He didn’t fully understand, but he made a mental note to think about it later.
For now, he tested his body with small movements—stretching his fingers, flexing his limbs. To his surprise, he felt not only fine but better than ever. Strength hummed in his muscles. He could see clearly in the dimness. He could hear the tiniest sounds in the distance. Only a short while ago, a supersonic headbutt had nearly broken him apart, yet here he stood, perfectly healthy again.
As he prepared to call for Irene once more, he paused. He heard a gentle rustling sound coming from outside the broken wall.
His first, uneasy thought: had that horrible, delicious-smelling monster tracked him down again? But no, this sound was too quiet, too careful. That monster had always moved clumsily, rattling the ground with its steps. Yu Sheng inhaled softly and crept closer to the gap in the wall, careful not to make a sound.
Peering out into the night, he saw a figure moving with cautious steps through the ruined temple’s courtyard. Even beneath the faint, uncertain light, he could see her clearly. She wore what looked like a torn and dirty gown, once perhaps elegant, but now reduced to shreds. Long, white hair fell in tangled heaps, half-concealing her face. On top of her head, two foxlike ears pricked up, alert and curious. Yu Sheng’s gaze traveled down her back—there were fox tails as well. Not just one, but several, though it was hard to count in that ragged state. They might have been knotted together or simply covered in grime, but the shape was unmistakable.
It was her. The girl with the supersonic headbutt.
Yet this time, she hadn’t seen him. She tiptoed through the ruins, sniffing the air, searching for something. After a moment, her eyes brightened, and she darted forward eagerly.
Yu Sheng’s heart sank as he realized what she had found. There, amidst the rubble, lay the plastic bag he had tossed aside—a bag full of kitchen scraps, wilted vegetable leaves, eggshells, old leftovers from the fridge. He had thrown it there back when he was first flung into this valley, never imagining it would become anyone’s supper.
He watched, stunned, as the fox-tailed girl tore into the plastic bag, rummaging through the moldy, rotten bits of food. Then, without hesitation, she grabbed a handful of those disgusting scraps and shoved them into her mouth. She ate them hungrily, as if they were the most precious meal she had ever tasted.
Something tightened in Yu Sheng’s chest. A sadness and discomfort crept over him, though he barely understood why. No one, not even a creature from this Otherworld, should be forced to eat garbage like that. Despite her fangs and ears and tails, despite the headbutt that had nearly ended him, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. After all, she had saved him, hadn’t she?
Just then, the girl froze mid-bite. Her ears swiveled, and her posture stiffened. She turned slowly, wilted vegetable leaves still caught between her lips. She looked straight at Yu Sheng, who stood in the shadow behind the ruined wall. Their eyes met across the scattered rubble.
In that silent moment, they both realized they were not alone.