Chapter 44: Engulfed
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
An old, black picture frame drifted quietly through the dim and misty dream world. Inside it was the image of a doll-like girl, staring out with a terribly confused expression. She looked as though she couldn’t believe what was happening around her.
“I don’t understand this at all!” complained Irene, her tiny figure pacing in a tight circle inside the picture frame. “I’ve already broken free from this thing’s control—I even got my own body back in the real world! I could put up with carrying this painting around like an extra suitcase out there, but now I’m still stuck with it here in the dream world. Theoretically, shouldn’t I be freer here?”
Raising her head, she fixed her gaze on Yu Sheng, who hovered outside the frame.
“You think I know the answer? Who am I supposed to ask?” Yu Sheng threw up his hands, looking just as helpless as she felt. “I honestly thought you’d be able to move around more freely in the dream world. I was hoping to finally see you at a proper height—about five foot six, wasn’t it? But here you are, still as flat as a painting.”
Irene looked thoroughly annoyed. She was far too frustrated even to trade insults with Yu Sheng. After stomping around the little chair inside the painting countless times, she gave up and plopped down with a grumpy sigh. She grabbed a fluffy teddy bear that had been lying around and squeezed it, as if it might somehow relieve her tension.
“Well, I’m stuck with this guy again…” she muttered darkly. “But I suppose it’s not so bad. At least in the real world I can move on my own. The dream world isn’t that important—no, not important at all.”
Yu Sheng tilted his head and spoke sincerely, “Sometimes I really envy your ability to stay so cheerful.”
Irene immediately bared her teeth in mock ferocity, but even now, whether in reality or dreams, she never looked truly frightening. Her attempts at looking fierce always failed to impress.
Yu Sheng drifted closer, circling around the floating painting, and approached the enormous silver fox sleeping nearby. The fox rested quietly, its fur shimmering in soft, silvery waves.
“So,” he began, eyeing the fox’s great tail, “what’s next? Do we do what we did before? I sit on her tail, and then we both sink into her dream together?”
“Exactly as before,” Irene replied. Her voice sounded a bit more serious now, floating beside him in the painting. “But this time, the link will be more direct. I’ll try to keep her consciousness closer to waking, so it’ll be easier for you to communicate with her and sense what’s around her. At the same time, though, ‘Hunger’ is bound to notice you. It’ll come after you. Once it does, I won’t be able to help from in here. Any fight that happens in the realm of thoughts and dreams is going to be up to you.”
Irene paused for a moment, as if trying to find something comforting to say. At last, she added softly, “But I can be your last line of defense. If I feel that your mind is becoming unstable, I’ll pull you out. I’ll do it forcefully, just as before. It’ll feel horrible, like being yanked awake from a nightmare, so you’d better be ready.”
Yu Sheng drew a slow breath. The memory of that abrupt awakening still made him uneasy, but he nodded firmly. “I’d rather not go through that again, but I understand. Let’s just get started.”
He found a small hollow in the base of the fox’s large, fluffy tail and settled himself there. Then he reached out to catch Irene as she hopped down, picture frame and all, to join him. With one person and one painting leaning gently against that soft, furry tail, they sank once more into the haze of the dream world.
This time, the descent felt even smoother and quicker, perhaps because they had done it before. Yu Sheng barely had time to feel dizzy before his vision sharpened, and he found himself looking at the fox girl again.
Now, he saw her crouched in some sort of rubble, gazing blankly at a scene before her. Yu Sheng’s point of view slipped to a spot behind the fox girl, allowing him to follow her line of sight.
What he saw was a colossal wreck. It reminded him of the remains of a massive aircraft that had crashed long ago. Twisted metal beams and shattered decks hinted at what might once have been a grand ship of the skies. Now only the broken skeleton remained, with faint, shimmering motes drifting like lost souls through the debris.
This enormous wreck had slammed into the base of a mountain, its frame melted and fused into the rock. It was all one twisted mass now. Even a single glance was enough to imagine just how terrible the impact had been.
If there had been ordinary people aboard, they certainly wouldn’t have survived.
Yu Sheng stared at the wreckage, stunned, but he reminded himself that he had a task. He spoke softly to the fox girl, careful not to startle her, “Foxy.”
The fox girl’s ears twitched at once, and she jumped to her feet. Her eyes darted about, searching for where the voice had come from. Unable to see him, she finally asked in a hesitant whisper, “…Benefactor?”
“It’s me,” Yu Sheng said gently. “Don’t bother looking around—I’m speaking directly into your mind.”
“Benefactor! It’s really you!” Foxy’s face lit up, though she still looked about nervously. “I thought I only imagined your voice the last time! What is this place, Benefactor? I was daydreaming in the valley, and suddenly I ended up here… This is a dream, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s a dream,” Yu Sheng replied quickly. “I used a special method to guide your dream so I could talk to you. I don’t have time to explain everything in detail. Foxy, listen to me: I’ve come to save you. To do that, I need to open a certain door, and I need your help. The question is, do you trust me?”
“Save… me?” Foxy looked bewildered. Then, all at once, her eyes went wide with alarm. She shook her head urgently. “No! Don’t come here! You barely escaped last time. The valley is too dangerous—once anyone enters, it’s almost impossible to get out again! You mustn’t come back, Benefactor!”
Yu Sheng raised his voice slightly to calm her, “I know the valley is dangerous, but I have a plan now. Listen carefully. I’ve figured out how to enter and leave safely. I just need you to help me open that door. Don’t worry about the creature. I can handle it. I’m stronger now, and I’ve got a helper by my side. She’s… well, she’s pretty strong too.”
He tried to sound as reassuring as possible, giving Foxy time to absorb what he’d said. The fox girl still looked puzzled, as though her mind was moving more slowly here in the dream world. At last, she blinked and asked, “So… my Benefactor is… actually an immortal?”
Yu Sheng blinked in surprise. He had no idea how Foxy’s thoughts had arrived at that conclusion, but if it helped her trust him, he wouldn’t argue.
“Right,” he said, trying to sound confident, “a very powerful immortal.”
The fox girl’s face softened, and she gave him a trusting smile.
“Benefactor, what should I do to help?”
“You don’t have to do much,” Yu Sheng said. “Just stay calm and pay attention to your surroundings. You might feel someone watching with your own eyes—that’ll be me. All you need to do is allow it and try to sense what’s around you.”
“Alright,” said Foxy simply.
Yu Sheng felt relieved. That had been easier than he’d expected. Now it was time for the next challenge.
“Irene,” he called silently, focusing inward, “let’s begin.”
In the very next instant, Yu Sheng felt a strange tug, something like being gently pulled forward. His senses blurred for a moment.
A new connection formed inside his mind. Unlike the weaker link they’d had before—something formed by blood—this bond felt rougher and stronger. It was as if part of his own consciousness seeped out of his head and into another set of eyes, ears, and senses. The sensations came through blurry at first, as if delayed, but he could feel what Foxy felt, and sense what surrounded her.
It was cold. There was rot, decay, and the faint scent of something long dead. The wind hissed quietly through dark and twisted trees.
Night stretched on, endless and heavy. Hunger prowled through it like a living thing.
Foxy stood among the black trunks, her eyes open wide. She tried her best to look around, doing exactly as Yu Sheng had asked, even if she wasn’t sure how it worked. She couldn’t see her Benefactor physically, but she trusted him without question.
When she felt that strange connection—that subtle presence—she jumped a little, startled. But the feeling held no malice. Foxy had lived in danger long enough to sense evil in a heartbeat, and this was not evil. If anything, it felt slightly comforting, as if her stomach were not quite as empty as before.
…
For Yu Sheng, the moment he touched that raging darkness—felt the raw, monstrous Hunger slinking through the woods—he was nearly overwhelmed. It struck him like a colossal black wave, an avalanche of shadow that broke over his mind without mercy. Hunger and madness were alive here, wrapping around his senses until he could barely breathe.
He tried to call out Irene’s name, but it was too late. In the final heartbeat of clarity, he forced himself to memorize the valley’s “features” as they appeared in Foxy’s mind. He tried to fix the image in place before the swirling black tide swallowed him whole.
Yet somehow, deep inside the darkness, Yu Sheng discovered that he was still conscious. He felt the awful pangs of Hunger raking across his very soul. In his mind’s eye, he saw himself wither and die, devoured in an instant, yet his perspective remained oddly distant, as if he were an onlooker to his own destruction.
Then, just as suddenly, Hunger retreated. The moment passed, and Yu Sheng felt himself alive again. He opened his eyes—or something like eyes—inside that smothering darkness, unsure if he had truly “died” or if it had been some horrific illusion.
Time and space seemed meaningless here. He drifted without direction, feeling nothing but the suffocating blackness. And the entire darkness seemed to be watching him. Not just one pair of eyes—no, it felt like countless eyes, as if the very shadows and chaos were gazing upon him.
He was smaller than a speck of dust, a tiny scrap of existence lost in a sea of endless hunger and scrutiny. The weight of it pressed on him without end.
Eventually, after what might have been a second or a century, Yu Sheng glimpsed something flickering deep in that darkness. It was a vast, shifting shape, something like a giant shadow moving far away.