Chapter 32: The Test of Blood
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Not only was Irene an expert in throwing the most colorful insults, but her shrill screams could make anyone’s head buzz for hours.
Yu Sheng couldn’t help but wonder how she managed to make such a racket through an oil painting. Was the entire canvas acting like a speaker, amplifying her every word?
“Don’t ask me about the mechanics,” Yu Sheng muttered, rubbing his ears as he shrugged helplessly at Irene. “I don’t really know how it works myself. All I know is that I can open these ‘doors,’ and those doors can lead to all sorts of places. Sometimes, it could be an entirely different world, or just some distant place… like what you saw. It could be another world, another planet, or a parallel universe—who knows?”
He paused, considering for a moment. “Maybe we should just ask the people on the other side? Although, that elf girl didn’t seem too thrilled just now…”
Irene stood there, half-dazed. It took her a second to react after Yu Sheng’s rambling. Finally, after some thought, she spoke up. “So, what about activation? I mean, what’s the condition for opening one of these doors?”
“Not entirely sure,” Yu Sheng said, scratching his head. “I feel like I can open one pretty much whenever I want.” He thought for a moment and then added, “There seem to be two ways. One is by opening an actual, ordinary door in real life. That one’s easy; sometimes I don’t even notice I’ve done anything, and boom—the door leads to somewhere else. The second way is what you just saw…”
As he spoke, Yu Sheng raised his hand, mimicking the action of pulling open an invisible door in mid-air.
“Creating a door out of thin air. It’s a lot harder, though. I need to concentrate to picture it, and it takes effort. If I lose focus, the door might just vanish. But the good thing is that I don’t accidentally walk into a strange world every time I open some random door.”
Irene’s red eyes followed his arm as he moved, back and forth, before she broke the silence. “Are you… human?”
Yu Sheng looked offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You still have the nerve to say that line?” Irene muttered, as if trying to recall something. Then, imitating Yu Sheng’s tone, she said, “If I’m not human, then are you?”
She straightened up, staring right into his eyes. “Some humans have powers, sure. But I’ve never seen anything like you.”
Yu Sheng scowled, crossing his arms. “Maybe you have, and you just forgot. Your memory isn’t exactly the most reliable.”
Irene blinked, surprised. “…That’s… true?”
Yu Sheng was the one caught off guard this time. He was just trying to be contrary, playing around with this doll, and he didn’t expect Irene to be so aware of her own flaws. And she admitted it.
He coughed awkwardly and steered the conversation back on track. “So it looks like when I ended up in that valley, it wasn’t because of this house’s weirdness. It’s because I opened a passage myself when I opened that door. If I can do it again, I should be able to return to that Otherworld.”
Hearing this, Irene’s face grew serious. “Is this power something you can control?”
“…More or less,” Yu Sheng said, though he sounded uncertain. He explained further, “I can control when to open a passage and when a door is just a normal one. But I can’t control exactly where it leads. There’s a chance it might open right into a volcano. But one thing I’ve just confirmed…”
Irene leaned in, curious. “What is it?”
“The passages can be recreated,” Yu Sheng said, his eyes gleaming. “If the right conditions are met, I can open the door to the same place twice. Like that elf—we’ve met twice now.”
“Oh, no wonder she looked so mad,” Irene said with a smirk.
Yu Sheng looked embarrassed. “I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but I remember that feeling. I think if I practice enough, I could get better at opening doors to places I’ve already been. The problem is, when I first ended up in that valley, I wasn’t prepared. I’ve mostly forgotten the feeling, so it’s hard to recreate it.”
“But at least you’ve got a lead now, right?” Irene said quickly, trying to be supportive. “I used to think your plan to save that fox was just wishful thinking, but now it actually sounds possible.”
Yu Sheng gave her a surprised look. Irene shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “What are you staring at me for? I’ve told you before—there’s no way anything’s gonna happen between you and a paper doll.”
Before she could finish her usual snark, Yu Sheng cut her off. “Wow, that’s the first nice thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth. I always thought you were full of insults. Who knew you could be encouraging?”
Irene was momentarily stunned into silence.
She could curse up a storm, but right now, Yu Sheng was in such a good mood that even her sharp tongue felt like background noise.
He looked at his hands, waving them in the air. Rising from his seat, he began pacing, looking energized.
Watching him, Irene paused her barrage of insults, her eyes tracking his movement. “You’re not seriously going to start… training now, are you?”
“Why not? No time like the present,” Yu Sheng replied, shrugging. “Besides, I slept all day. I’m full of energy. And this doesn’t take up much space.”
“Just be careful,” Irene sighed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “If you run into that elf again, she might throw a fireball your way—and you’ll splatter blood on me again.”
Now that was the kind of banter he was used to.
Yu Sheng waved her off dismissively, setting his sights on the kitchen door nearby.
Opening a door out of thin air took a lot of energy, so it made sense to practice on a real door that didn’t drain him as much.
But before he began, another idea popped into his mind.
“What did you just say?” He turned to Irene, who was lounging in the painting.
She thought for a second. “I told you to be careful? So that elf doesn’t throw a fireball at you?”
“No, the more annoying part.”
Her lips twitched. “Don’t splatter me with blood.”
“Exactly. I want to test something first,” Yu Sheng said, a grin forming as he picked up a small fruit knife lying on the table. “My blood.”
Irene’s eyes widened in alarm. Hugging her teddy bear, she jumped up from her chair. “Hey, what are you doing?! That was just a figure of speech! You don’t have to be all dramatic! I’m warning you, don’t mess around with me. Put that knife down—what if you scratch the canvas? Who knows what’ll happen to me?”
When Irene panicked, she tended to ramble. Yu Sheng frowned, looking slightly annoyed. “Why are you so nervous? I’m not going to cut you.”
Before he finished speaking, he had already pressed the knife against his finger—but after a moment’s thought, he switched to the back of his hand. Taking a deep breath, he made a quick slice.
It didn’t hurt as much as he expected.
Irene watched in shock. As Yu Sheng moved his bleeding hand towards her, she backed away hurriedly. “What are you doing? Wait… you don’t really believe in those ‘blood pact’ things from novels, do you? I told you to stop reading that junk!”
“First of all, I’m a novelist—even if I’m not famous—so I take offense to that. Second, this isn’t about a blood pact.” Yu Sheng shot her a look, noticing the horror in her painted face. “I want to test a theory. When I was in that valley, Foxy touched my blood, and something happened. I want to see if something similar happens with you.”
He was referring to how Foxy, after touching his blood, had somehow gained the ability to sense his presence, and he could even feel some of her thoughts and memories. He also suspected that the silver-white fox he’d seen in his dreams was connected to this ‘blood bond.’
Irene hesitated, noticing his serious expression. She didn’t fully understand, but she eventually quieted down. Though she seemed reluctant (mostly because she didn’t trust Yu Sheng’s methods), she adopted a cooperative attitude.
Of course, her cooperation was mainly because she couldn’t run away. Stuck in an oil painting, there wasn’t much she could do besides hurl insults—and Yu Sheng was used to those by now…
But in all honesty, Irene wasn’t exactly the ideal ‘test subject.’
Her situation was… unique.
Yu Sheng found it hard to tell if his blood was touching Irene herself or just the oil painting. He smeared some on the frame, and before his wound closed, he let a few drops fall onto the canvas. But nothing happened. Unlike with Foxy, the painting didn’t absorb the blood.
Irene looked up at him. From within the painting, it was hard to tell her exact perspective, but she clearly felt the blood touch her.
And that was all.
The oil painting didn’t respond to his blood like Foxy had.
“Do you feel anything?” Yu Sheng asked, unsure.
Irene thought for a moment before answering. “It was warm? But now it’s cold.”
“So it didn’t work,” Yu Sheng sighed.