Chapter 51: Awakening
It wasn’t over yet.
Almost the instant Foxy’s words fell, Yu Sheng understood what she meant by “it’s not over yet.”
He heard the chaotic howls rising from the Dense Forest, accompanied by a terrifying and hollow wind reverberating through the Valley. The eerie and sinister atmosphere that had suffused the entire Otherworld did not subside with the death of that flesh monster; instead, it grew several times stronger. A heavy, almost stagnant malevolence and the sense of being watched surged from all directions, as if something had been awakened—and it was plunging into madness.
“What the hell is that?!” Yu Sheng glanced at the Demon-Fox Maiden, who seemed to know something, and quickly asked.
“I don’t know, but… it has appeared before,” Foxy replied, her face filled with fearful uncertainty as she hid behind Yu Sheng. “When the Immortal died that day… it was like this. Something woke up. The Immortal took the remaining people outside… but never came back. Later, we only found corpses…”
The Demon-Fox Maiden’s body trembled slightly, her head lowered. “Father and Mother… hid me in a cave, told me not to look outside. I didn’t know what it was. When I crawled out… everyone was already dead…”
From Foxy’s fragmented and chaotic recount, Yu Sheng quickly pieced together the situation.
The true terror lurking in this Valley was not the flesh monster!
Or rather, it was not just the flesh monster—some far more powerful entity lay dormant in the dark depths. From the moment he and Irene stepped into this Valley, that thing had been slowly awakening.
Yu Sheng gritted his teeth and, after a swift assessment, rushed toward Irene, who was not far away.
“We can’t keep fighting,” Yu Sheng said quickly. “There’s something even more wicked than that door in this Valley—we’ll go with the second plan: retreat first. I’ll open the door. Are you still able to move?”
Irene tried to push herself up from the ground, but the moment she exerted force, a faint crack sounded. Her arms broke off at the elbows, the detached parts falling to the ground and shattering.
“No, and my legs are damaged too. Forcing myself to stand might break them as well,” the little doll said, raising her arms in frustration. “I told you, this thing you made isn’t sturdy… Did you mix sand into the clay or something?”
To be honest, seeing Irene’s arms snap off startled Yu Sheng. He had never dealt with a living doll before and didn’t know how severe the situation was. However, hearing Irene complain unexpectedly put his mind at ease. “So, you can still be fixed?”
Irene nodded. “Yes, but we’ll definitely need to go back.”
Relieved, Yu Sheng adjusted the oil painting frame from Irene’s back, strapped it securely, and then lifted her, letting her sit on his left arm.
Though Irene protested a little, seemingly embarrassed by the undignified posture, a doll with broken arms lacked any intimidation, so she eventually settled down, obediently resting on Yu Sheng’s arm.
Yu Sheng stretched out his free right hand, concentrating briefly. A phantom door, shimmering with ethereal light, appeared at the tip of his hand. He noticed three unfamiliar figures in the distance, one of whom—a young man—looked oddly familiar. They all gave him strange looks as soon as he opened the door, but Yu Sheng couldn’t spare the time to think about it. After confirming the passage was established, he pulled the illusory door open.
Beyond the door lay the living room of Wutong Road No. 66.
“The safe passage is here! Everyone, evacuate!” Yu Sheng shouted urgently. “Before that monster regenerates!”
He looked at the hesitant Demon-Fox Maiden standing nearby. “Foxy, you first—don’t be afraid. On the other side of the door is a safe place.”
He then glanced at Li Lin and his two companions. “You three—I don’t know who you are, but thanks for the help earlier. Come with me when we go.”
Encouraged by Yu Sheng, Foxy finally mustered the courage to move forward and stepped toward the phantom door. However, just as she was about to make contact with the portal, a strange whistling sound suddenly came from nearby. In the next instant, Yu Sheng felt a violent gust strike from behind!
Countless fragments of foreign information flooded his mind—a multitude of eyes focusing on the ruined temple, perspectives stretching from distant skies and the Valley’s depths, chaotic and cold sensations, and… the ecstatic anticipation of a meal.
Yu Sheng spun around abruptly, only to see a flesh monster emerging from the darkness at the edge of the ruins. The grotesque beast split open at its center, and a long, arrow-like tongue shot out, piercing straight through his chest.
He barely managed to shove Irene aside before the tongue impaled his heart, leaving him no time to dodge. Darkness swallowed his consciousness as several questions flashed through his mind:
Had the monster regenerated so quickly? Or… was it a different one?
Before his thoughts faded completely, he heard Foxy’s terrified screams, Irene’s panicked cries, and the howls of the wolf pack.
The Phantom Door flickered twice in mid-air before dissipating swiftly, and Yu Sheng’s body fell backward. In his dimming, skewed vision, he saw shadows unfurling like layered veils at the edge of the ruins. Within each trembling shadow, blood-fused flesh monsters were slowly forming, countless ravenous mouths opening throughout the Valley. In the distant woods, countless tendrils were crawling hungrily, while far-off peaks bristled with sharp fangs. The sky itself… was slowly splitting from the edges.
“Benefactor!!” Foxy was the first to rush forward, throwing herself at Yu Sheng’s side. Even though she had witnessed his Resurrection before, her muddled mind couldn’t process it this time. Seeing him fall, her first reaction was sheer panic. “You… you… what happened…”
“How does it look? Obviously dead!” Irene’s loud and harsh voice cut off the Demon Fox Maiden’s cries. The little doll fell to the ground, struggling to move its body. “It’s not the first time you’ve seen it. Calm down!”
Foxy was stunned for a moment, her chaotic thoughts gradually piecing together, and she stared blankly at Yu Sheng’s corpse. The Demon Fox Maiden’s face scrunched up in conflicted agony, torn between wanting to cry and knowing that it wasn’t necessary. Not crying felt wrong, but crying felt even more inappropriate—yet the atmosphere almost demanded it.
Meanwhile, Li Lin had no idea what to make of the situation. Seeing the grotesque flesh monster in the distance, his body tensed immediately. He remained on high alert for the creature’s next move while comforting the fallen doll and the nearby Demon Fox.
“Sorry, but the dead can’t come back to life—we need to handle…”
Before he could finish, the ragged little doll muttered back, “Don’t worry, he’ll be back in twenty to thirty minutes. But we need to hold out until then. Fox, help me up. And don’t forget the oil painting on the ground.”
Hearing this, Foxy hurriedly scrambled to pull the Oil Painting Frame out from beneath Yu Sheng’s body, then gathered the immobilized Irene in her arms.
Li Lin and the others stared in disbelief at the bizarre display, wondering if the doll was simply overwhelmed by grief. Yet there was no time to dwell on such thoughts.
Chaotic roars erupted from the darkness around the ruined temple, waves of madness sweeping through the air. Even the battle-hardened Xu Jiali stiffened at the horrifying sight unfolding around them.
Flesh monsters, grotesque masses of writhing flesh, were emerging one after another from the shadows, their deafening howls filling the entire Valley.
“Holy—!” Li Lin couldn’t help but exclaim. “How are there so many?! The reports said that a Hunger Entity only appears one at a time!”
Xu Jiali slowly raised his head, swallowing hard before breaking the silence. “What if the Valley itself has been parasitized by an ‘Angel’…?”
“What do you mean…?” Li Lin instinctively asked, but then noticed where Xu Jiali was looking.
He saw it—the Valley was slowly pulsating in the darkness, sharp, jagged structures forming along the distant mountains.
But more terrifying than that was the sky itself—it had opened.
Like a thick curtain of eternal night, the sky in the Otherworld was changing. One of its edges had cracked open, and within that narrow slit, faint light gleamed, revealing the truth behind the shroud.
It wasn’t a shroud, nor was it a cloud—it was an eyelid.
A colossal eye, closed for an eternity, had covered the entire sky of the Otherworld, creating the perpetual night. Now, it had opened, its cold, hollow pupil staring down at everything below. Chaotic lines and flickering light filled its void, as if meticulously scrutinizing the prey in the Valley. The eerie glow spilled out, slightly dispelling the Otherworld’s endless night—the descent of “Light” brought forth unimaginable terror.
A howling, icy wind broke Li Lin from his terror-induced stupor, and he heard the murmuring of Xu Jiali beside him—soft, almost breathless.
“Dark Angels…”