Chapter 60: Foxy’s New Home
Irene lowered her gaze to her fully restored right leg, cautiously rotating the joint from side to side before carefully slipping on her socks. Supporting herself with Yu Sheng’s hand, she slowly rose to her feet.
“Are… are both legs the same length?” The little doll looked up at Yu Sheng with wide, earnest eyes. “I didn’t guide the remolding this time. I just did a bit of spirit infusion and merging. Could you check for me…”
Yu Sheng rolled his eyes. “Of course they’re the same length. I just fixed the surface. I didn’t cut it off and reassemble it.”
Irene let out a sigh of relief, taking a few tentative steps on the table with her short legs before breaking into a smile. “I can run around again! Not bad, Yu Sheng. Maybe you’ve got a knack for making dolls.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” Yu Sh/ng replied nonchalantly, watching as Irene, now regaining her mobility, shouldered her painting frame and, with a few agile hops, jumped from the table to an empty chair, then down to the floor. She began racing around the attic with gleeful abandon.
Previously, Irene’s chaotic scurrying had always left Yu Sheng feeling irritable—especially with her tendency to knock things over, leaving the place a mess. Yet this time, watching her dash around wildly, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of accomplishment swelling in his chest.
“A knack for making dolls…” Yu Sheng murmured, glancing down at the spatula in his hand and the nearly depleted can of filler. He wasn’t sure whether Irene’s words were genuine praise or just flattery.
He couldn’t quite determine whether he had a talent for crafting dolls, but his mind wandered to the two pieces of lotus root he had inadvertently imbued with spirit energy earlier—somehow successfully.
It seemed Irene had already forgotten about that incident.
Just then, the sound of footsteps on the staircase interrupted Yu Sheng’s thoughts and Irene’s wild antics. Turning his head, he saw a pair of fluffy white ears peeking from the stairwell, followed by Foxy’s anxious yet curious face.
The Demon Fox Maiden was clad in oversized pajamas, her silver-white hair still damp. She had probably tracked them here by scent. Upon seeing both Yu Sheng and Irene, her face brightened with a joyful smile.
“Ah! Benefactor! Irene! You’re both here!”
Then she noticed Irene’s restored limbs, her eyes widening in astonishment. “Irene, your hands… they’re back?”
“Yu Sheng fixed them!” Irene raised both hands happily, giving a little jump. “And my legs too!”
“Benefactor, your celestial arts are truly impressive,” Foxy exclaimed, awe evident in her expression as she looked at Irene, now fully restored. Turning back to Yu Sheng, her eyes held a hint of reverence. “Master of the Underworld Path, capable of body reconstruction and even puppet crafting.”
Yu Sheng pondered for a moment—Foxy must have mistaken his Door ability for the so-called Underworld Path. Moreover, it seemed she thought Irene was his handcrafted puppet doll.
Irene, catching on to Foxy’s comment, immediately erupted in fury. “Puppet? Who are you calling a puppet?! I’m a living doll from Alice’s Little House—blessed and alive! You wild fox, don’t speak nonsense!”
Foxy, taken aback by the outburst, lowered her head. “Oh… I didn’t know. I won’t say it again.”
Irene froze mid-tantrum, utterly bewildered. She was used to bickering with Yu Sheng, but it was the first time she’d encountered someone who just meekly accepted her yelling. Her mind went blank, leaving her standing there, dumbfounded.
Then Yu Sheng noticed something peculiar.
His gaze shifted behind Foxy, a hint of confusion crossing his face. “…Where’s your tail?”
Irene, only just realizing it herself, looked around and confirmed that Foxy’s tail was nowhere in sight.
“I retracted it,” Foxy explained cheerfully, shifting her stance slightly. Suddenly, with a sound like a sword being unsheathed, her tails exploded outwards in a dazzling display—fluffy, voluminous, and gleaming. “The Door is narrow, and my tails kept bumping into things, so I pulled them in.”
Standing beside her, Irene let out a startled cry as the massive burst of tails sent her flying, tumbling across the floor for several meters.
Foxy gasped and hurried over to haul the swearing, dirt-smudged doll back to her feet.
Yu Sheng couldn’t help but snicker. His first reaction was relief. “I almost thought you shot your tails off like projectiles…”
Then, a peculiar thought surfaced. “…Why did your tails come out with a ‘whoosh’ sound?”
Foxy considered this seriously. “It could also be a ‘boom’.”
Irene, who had just been pulled upright and was preparing for another round of yelling, froze again, staring at Foxy in disbelief. “…You make the sound effects yourself?!”
“Foxes always make a sound when their tails emerge. It’s to warn those around to be cautious,” Foxy explained matter-of-factly, her speech much smoother than when they had first met, though still punctuated with the occasional odd pause. “But you… didn’t dodge.”
Irene burst out furiously, “How am I supposed to know these weird ‘rules’?! Just where did you find this Fox?!”
Foxy thought hard, her ears drooping as she shook her head in frustration. “I… don’t remember.”
This time, it was Irene’s turn to freeze up. The little doll awkwardly turned her head to the side. “Don’t take it so seriously! I was just saying it offhand…”
Yu Sheng approached Foxy, his expression thoughtful as he spoke with gentle seriousness, “Don’t be too disheartened. It doesn’t mean you can’t go back. Who knows? You might find your home someday.”
Foxy’s ears perked up, hope glimmering in her eyes. “Benefactor’s Netherway… can it take me home?”
“His Door can lead anywhere,” Irene interjected with a cocky stance, hands on her hips as if it was her own skill. “Sometimes it even opens right into someone’s Alchemy Furnace. Who knows? Maybe one day it’ll open right to your homeland.”
As she finished speaking, a thought struck her, and she turned to Yu Sheng. “Hey, why don’t we check out that Alchemy Furnace from last time? There were Immortals there, right? Maybe it’s where Foxy’s from—or at least someone might have heard of a place like hers. After all, it felt like they came from the same system…”
Yu Sheng’s face showed a trace of unease. “Given what happened last time… they might attack us on sight.”
“Yeah, true. If I were on the other side of that Door, I’d want to kill you too.”
Foxy watched the exchange between Yu Sheng and Irene, her gaze darting back and forth, utterly bewildered. Sensing her confusion, Yu Sheng cleared his throat and spoke stiffly, “We’re discussing who to ask about your origins. Don’t worry, I’ll help you find out slowly.”
“Benefactor, you don’t need to trouble yourself too much,” Foxy replied, shaking her head lightly. “If I find my home, that’s good. If not, it’s alright too. I can’t remember what it looked like, and even if I go back… there wouldn’t be anyone I know.”
While saying this, she rummaged through her fluffy tail and pulled out two sharp canines, her face softening with a comforting smile.
“I’ve already found my Father and Mother… It’s fine if I don’t go back.”
Yu Sheng let out a small breath of relief and nodded to the Demon Fox Maiden. “It’s good that you think that way. So, what are your plans from now on? Have you thought about your future?”
A trace of hesitation flashed across Foxy’s face as she stared blankly for a long moment before slowly shaking her head. “I… don’t know,” she whispered, her tone as timid as a young beast taking its first steps out of the den. “It’s my first time leaving that Valley. This place is nice, but everything here is so strange. I… don’t understand, and I don’t even know how to find food. Mother said Foxes should never forget kindness, but I don’t know how I can help Benefactor.”
Her words were a bit jumbled, but Yu Sheng understood perfectly. He chuckled softly, trying to reassure the uneasy Fox Girl.
“Then just stay here from now on. I’ve got an empty room and plenty of food—no need to worry about going hungry. As for what you can do… just help me fight, for now.”
Yu Sheng thought carefully. He wasn’t entirely sure what abilities this Demon Fox possessed. Although it was said that Demon Foxes could change fate through gratitude, it didn’t seem likely she’d be able to program in C language or create illustrations and presentations. However, her Sonic Headbutt and that tail-launching move were undeniably impressive. When dealing with the Otherworld in the future, she would definitely be a valuable high-end combat asset—perfect for charging in while Irene handled crowd control. That way, he could comfortably cheer from the sidelines.
Foxy, however, looked puzzled. “Fight?”
Yu Sheng explained calmly, “In the future, we’ll be encountering more Otherworlds—like that Valley you came from. This world has countless ‘Abnormal Spaces’ hiding all kinds of Dangerous Entities. Some might be trapped like you, while others might seek our help for various reasons. And I myself… still have reasons to deal with these Otherworlds and Entities. In short, I need allies.”
Foxy listened carefully but grew a bit anxious. “Then… will I get trapped again?”
Yu Sheng was momentarily taken aback, but Foxy’s unexpectedly genuine reaction brought a smile to his face. “Did you forget about my ‘Netherway’?”
Foxy froze for a second before breaking into a smile. With a cheerful nod, she declared, “Alright! I’ll help Benefactor—fight!”