Chapter 32: The Blood Test
Irene’s voice wasn’t just harsh; it was piercing, loud enough to make Yu Sheng’s head buzz. He couldn’t help but wonder how on earth someone could scream so loudly through a painting—was the canvas secretly an amplifier?
“Don’t ask me for an explanation,” Yu Sheng sighed, rubbing his ears and giving Irene a helpless look. “Honestly, I have no idea how it works. What I do know is that I can open a ‘Door,’ and these Doors can lead to all sorts of places. Sometimes to the Otherworld, sometimes to… some faraway place like what you just saw. I still can’t be sure whether it’s another dimension, a distant planet, or a parallel timeline.”
He paused thoughtfully, then continued, “Maybe I should try talking to the people on the other side? Though that elf woman didn’t exactly look thrilled to chat…”
Irene’s expression was frozen, half-dazed by Yu Sheng’s rambling before finally responding, “What about the conditions? Like, when can you open a Door?”
“Still not sure,” Yu Sheng replied, his tone thoughtful as he tried to piece together his understanding. “It feels like I can open one at any time. As for how, it seems there are two ways. One is to open an ordinary, existing Door—those are easy, sometimes it happens without me even noticing, and suddenly the Door leads somewhere else. The other way is like what you just saw—”
He raised his hand in the air, mimicking the gesture of pulling open an invisible Door.
“A Door created out of thin air. It takes more effort, concentration, and imagination. If I lose focus during the process, the Door might vanish. But at least it’s safer—I don’t accidentally walk straight into the Otherworld.”
Irene’s crimson eyes followed his hand movements, her gaze shifting back and forth as she struggled to digest his words before finally blurting out, “…Are you even human?”
Yu Sheng bristled immediately. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve got some nerve to say that,” Irene shot back, her tone dripping with mockery. She then mimicked his earlier tone with startling accuracy, “‘If I’m not human, are you?’”
Turning to face him fully, her gaze pierced straight through him. “Some humans can harness supernatural powers, but I’ve never seen anything quite like yours.”
“Maybe you’ve seen it and just forgot?” Yu Sheng quipped, deliberately keeping his tone nonchalant. “Your memory isn’t exactly reliable.”
Irene froze, her face scrunching up with confusion. “…Oh. Right?”
Yu Sheng found himself caught off guard by her unexpected honesty—he’d just wanted to banter a bit, not actually make her doubt herself. Trying to cover his awkwardness, he cleared his throat and steered the conversation back on track.
“So, it seems that falling into that Valley wasn’t caused by the house’s weird nature but by me accidentally opening a Door at that moment. In theory, if I can reproduce what I did, I should be able to return to that Otherworld.”
Discussing serious matters snapped Irene back to focus. “Can you control this power?”
“…Half-controlled, maybe,” Yu Sheng admitted hesitantly. “I can mostly decide whether to open a passage to ‘elsewhere’ or just use a normal Door. But I can’t determine the destination—sometimes it might even drop me into a volcano. Still… I did figure out one thing just now.”
“What’s that?” Irene asked, leaning forward in curiosity.
“The passages can be replicated. Under specific conditions, I can open the same Door to the same place twice. Like that elf woman—you saw her earlier. That was my second encounter with her.”
Irene blinked, then snorted. “Ah, no wonder she looked so pissed.”
Yu Sheng looked a bit embarrassed. “I’m still not sure how it works, but I’ve started to memorize the ‘feeling’ from those moments. If I train enough, I might be able to stabilize and repeatedly open the same ‘big Doors’ I’ve already accessed. The real problem is… when I first fell into that Valley, I wasn’t prepared, and I’ve forgotten most of how it felt. Reproducing that path is going to be a challenge.”
“At least you have a plan now,” Irene chimed in with unexpected optimism. “Honestly, I thought your idea of saving that Foxy girl was a total pipe dream, but it’s starting to look pretty doable, right?”
Yu Sheng stared at the painting, surprised at the sudden supportive tone. Irene, clearly uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze, shifted in her frame. “What’re you staring at? I already told you—a guy and a picture can’t…”
Before she could finish, Yu Sheng cut in with a wry smile, “It’s just… this is the first time I’ve heard you say something nice. I always thought your mouth was only capable of spewing garbage.”
Irene fell silent, and although her next string of curses was just as colorful as always, Yu Sheng found himself in high spirits. Even her harsh voice sounded like background music to his brightening mood.
Yu Sheng looked at his hands, waving them through the air as he got up from the dining table. He began pacing around the dining hall with an energetic spirit. Irene, noticing his sudden burst of activity, stopped her verbose, flowery chatter and followed his movements with her eyes.
“You’re not thinking of… um, ‘training’ right now, are you?” she asked cautiously.
Yu Sheng shrugged nonchalantly. “Better early than late. I’ve been sleeping all day, so I’m wide awake now,” he said matter-of-factly. “Besides, this exercise doesn’t take up much space.”
Irene gave him a wary look. “Just don’t go opening a Door again and summon some fireball-hurling spirit to blow the place up. I don’t want you splattering me with blood again.”
Her jab hit the mark, making Yu Sheng smirk. He waved a hand dismissively, his gaze falling on the Door to the adjacent kitchen.
Opening a Door out of thin air required a considerable amount of energy, and for practice purposes, it was more practical to use an ‘EntityDoor,’ which consumed far less power. However, before he could proceed, a thought struck him.
“What was that you said earlier?” he asked, glancing back at the Doll on the table.
Irene thought for a moment. “…Telling you not to go crazy with the Door? Or about the fireball spirit?”
“No, no, the other one,” Yu Sheng corrected, his brow furrowing slightly.
Irene’s mouth twitched. “Oh, you mean the part where I said I don’t want you splattering me with blood?”
“Exactly,” Yu Sheng grinned and picked up a small fruit knife from the table. “I want to test something first—my blood.”
The Doll stiffened, hugging her teddy bear tightly as she leapt from the chair. “What are you doing?! I was just joking! No need to get all stabby about it! I swear I’m not that easily provoked! Put that down! You might as well just scratch the canvas, and I’ll probably fall apart!”
Yu Sheng frowned, annoyed at her panicked rambling. “Relax, I’m not going to cut you,” he muttered. He pressed the knife against his finger but reconsidered and moved it to the back of his hand. Gritting his teeth, he made a quick, shallow cut. The pain wasn’t as bad as he expected.
Irene stared in stunned silence as blood trickled from the wound. Yu Sheng moved his bleeding hand closer to her, causing her to retreat instinctively. “What are you doing?! You’re not seriously trying some blood-binding nonsense from a fantasy novel, are you? I’ve told you to read less of that stuff!”
“First of all, I write novels, even if I’m not that successful,” Yu Sheng retorted, giving her an unimpressed look. “Secondly, this has nothing to do with blood-binding rituals. I just have a theory I want to test. Back in the Valley, when Foxy came into contact with my blood, strange things started happening to both of us. I want to see if something similar occurs with you.”
Yu Sheng was referring to the incident where Foxy had licked his blood and subsequently gained the ability to sense his ‘death,’ while he could also perceive parts of her thoughts and memories. He suspected that even the silver-haired Demon Fox projection in his dream world was linked to this ‘blood connection.’
Hearing his explanation, Irene hesitated, her nervousness giving way to reluctant cooperation. While she didn’t fully trust Yu Sheng’s reasoning, it wasn’t like she could run away—being trapped in the Painting left her with no real choice. After all, aside from her loud complaints, she couldn’t do much else, and Yu Sheng had long since gotten used to her outbursts.
Still, Irene wasn’t exactly the best ‘test subject’ given her unique condition. Yu Sheng couldn’t be sure if his blood would affect Irene herself or just the cursed Painting that acted as her vessel. He smeared his blood on the painting frame and allowed a few drops to fall onto the canvas. Despite his efforts, there was no sign of the Painting absorbing the blood, unlike what happened with Foxy.
After a long moment of silence, Yu Sheng asked hesitantly, “Feel anything?”
Irene thought for a moment. “…Warm at first, but it’s cooling down now.”
Yu Sheng sighed. “Guess that means it didn’t work.”