Chapter 23: Suspicion
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation.
Yu Sheng gave the television a quick look and found that it had just crashed.
It was typical for these old smart devices that had been used for too long. He imagined it whining, “Oh no, I’ve been working for two whole hours! My CPU is overheating! Memory error! Power supply too hot! Or maybe I just felt like crashing…”
Yu Sheng couldn’t help but think of the old TVs from his childhood. Back then, appliances were sturdy—not as finicky as today’s smart gadgets. They might not have had as many features, but Yu Sheng wasn’t convinced that all these new fancy functions were actually useful. The so-called “artificial intelligence” often seemed more like “artificial stupidity.”
“Just unplug it, wait two minutes, and restart it,” Yu Sheng mused as he switched the TV off. He turned to Irene and said, “This thing isn’t very reliable. If it’s on too long, it crashes.”
“Then why don’t you get a new one?” Irene’s eyes lit up immediately. “Get one with voice control! Then I could change the channels myself. Even when you’re not home, I could watch TV…”
“You’ve got some nerve making demands!” Yu Sheng eyed her, amused but slightly annoyed. “You’re squatting in my house, and I haven’t even said anything. Now you want a new TV? Are you going to pay for it or help out somehow?”
“I…” Irene’s face flushed slightly as she stammered, “I… I don’t have any money, but I’ve been helping you learn about the Otherworld! That counts as being a consultant, doesn’t it?”
Yu Sheng smirked. “This consultant’s memory isn’t all that great, is it? You can’t even be sure if what you say is reliable. If I hired you, I’d need another consultant to advise you.”
Irene’s face reddened even more, but she couldn’t find a retort. She lowered her head, sulking. However, after brooding for just three seconds, she perked up. “Well, once you get me out of here—no matter how you do it—I’ll work to pay you back. Since you’ll be dealing with the Otherworld, I can help you! I can fight for you—that’s got to be useful, right?”
Yu Sheng hadn’t really thought about it. He hadn’t seriously considered what would happen if Irene actually came out of the painting one day. He raised an eyebrow. “You? Really?”
“Hey, don’t underestimate me! I’m Irene, one of Alice’s dolls!” Irene put her hands on her hips and stood up from her chair, looking very pleased with herself. “Living dolls are blessed! In the Otherworld, I’m much stronger than those so-called investigators or spirit detectives…”
Yu Sheng gave her a sidelong look. “And yet you got yourself sealed into a painting, didn’t you?”
Irene’s eyes widened, her mouth opening and closing in shock. “You… you… Just wait until I get out! Don’t you dare turn away from me!”
Yu Sheng chuckled, waving his hand dismissively as he turned away. “Alright, alright, I believe you.”
In truth, he had never taken Irene’s boasts seriously. She was stuck in that painting, after all. She might be staying in his house, but she didn’t eat his food or take up much space. The painting didn’t even occupy half a square meter on the floor, and hanging it on the wall was no trouble. Besides watching TV, Irene hardly used any resources, and talking with her was sometimes entertaining. She also gave him a lot of information about the Otherworld.
Her talk of working off debts or becoming his sidekick after escaping the painting? He took it as a sincere offer but didn’t hold her to it.
The TV screen flickered back on, and Yu Sheng picked up the remote, flipping through channels until he found a cheesy soap opera. Irene didn’t seem to mind what was on; she wasn’t picky. To her, even the most mundane show was better than the boredom of staring at wallpaper.
Just then, Yu Sheng glanced at the screen and a thought struck him—something he hadn’t considered before.
“Irene,” he called, turning to the doll in the painting.
“Yes?”
“You’ve been sealed in that painting for a long time, right?”
“Yes, a very, very long time. I can’t even remember when I got in…”
“Then how do you know so much about modern things?” Yu Sheng asked, his gaze serious. “You even know about voice-controlled smart TVs.”
There was a discrepancy here, a small crack in her story.
But maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal. There could be many explanations—maybe she learned about the world by observing people’s dreams, or maybe before she ended up in his home, she had been hung up in other places and learned things there. Yu Sheng thought she’d probably give one of these explanations.
But instead, Irene blinked. “Huh?”
She seemed completely taken aback, as if she hadn’t realized this inconsistency until just now. After a long, blank stare, she slowly turned her head. “I… don’t know why.”
“You don’t know why?” Yu Sheng frowned.
“Really… I’ve been trapped in this painting for a very long time, maybe even decades. But… somehow I just know things about the world now, even though I don’t know how I know them…” Irene’s voice grew quieter as she spoke, and eventually, she seemed to start doubting herself, hesitating and struggling to continue.
Yu Sheng watched her carefully, trying to spot any hint of deceit.
“Do you remember how you got trapped in the painting? Or what happened before that?” he asked.
“I… I remember it was a curse,” Irene replied, uncertain. “The painting is some sort of entity. I was supposed to deal with it, but I ended up getting trapped inside. But everything else is blurry. Before that…”
Irene fell silent, her thoughts tangled. She struggled to remember, her gaze distant. After an unknown length of time, she murmured softly, “I’m Irene from Alice’s Little House, one of Alice’s dolls…” She looked up, her face filled with unease. “Yu Sheng, that’s all I remember.”
Yu Sheng frowned deeply. Countless thoughts ran through his mind, ranging from eerie theories to conspiracies and even the absurd—but nothing seemed quite right. He simply had no evidence or clues to piece together Irene’s mystery.
Irene looked uneasy, hugging her teddy bear tightly until its plush form was deformed. “Is… is my mind broken?” she asked, her voice soft.
Yu Sheng dismissed the wild conspiracy theories swirling in his head. Then, looking at Irene, he found himself entertaining the more humorous explanations.
“Don’t force yourself to remember if you can’t,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Maybe being trapped for so long has made your memories foggy.”
“R-really?” Irene hesitated, then nodded, seeming somewhat relieved.
Yu Sheng was puzzled. Why was she relieved to find out her memory might be faulty? Didn’t that mean her mind really was broken? Did anything I said actually comfort her?
He was momentarily confused but had to admit that Irene’s reaction did ease some of his doubts. If she’d given him a perfect explanation for her modern knowledge, he might’ve been even more suspicious. Her genuine confusion made her seem more transparent.
He shook his head and, while heading toward the stairs, said casually, “Stay downstairs and watch TV. I’m going up to get some sleep.”
Irene waved. “Alright, off you go.”
Yu Sheng climbed the stairs, the exhaustion from his time in that night-shrouded valley weighing on him. He yawned as he made his way to his bedroom. He was tired—a good meal had made his drowsiness even worse. It was definitely time for rest.
But as he reached his bedroom door, he paused, his gaze drifting to the end of the hallway.
There, standing quietly at the far end, was the door that had once been sealed by some unknown force.
The room at the end of the hallway—the room where he had first found Irene.
Yu Sheng frowned slightly, curiosity gnawing at him. He walked toward the door.
When he reached it, he noticed the door handle was on the opposite side from where it had originally been. The hinges and handle had swapped places, now matching the configuration he had found to open it.
After a moment’s hesitation, he grasped the handle and turned it.
With a soft click, the door—once impossible to open—swung open easily.
He pushed it wide, and the scene inside unfolded before him.
The room was simple and ordinary. To the left of the door, against the wall, stood a small bed and a bedside table. On the right were a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair. The old wooden floorboards looked faded, and the walls were covered in light blue wallpaper.
Above the desk, a window let sunlight stream in, filling the room with a warm glow.
And on the wall directly opposite the door, where Irene’s painting used to hang, there was now a mirror.
In the mirror, Yu Sheng saw his own increasingly astonished expression.