Chapter 010

Chapter 10: Second Bloom

Irene thought it was absurd that Yu Sheng could live in an Otherworld for a long time without knowing it, but Yu Sheng felt the entire world was absurd.

Hiding in a corner of the ruined temple, Yu Sheng spoke lazily to Irene in his head: “By what you said, there are Otherworlds everywhere in this world, right?” He rubbed his neck and added: “Most people just can’t reach them, because they can’t observe them?”

Irene answered after a beat: “That is close, but if you ask whether the whole ‘world’ is like that, I’m not really sure. The world is huge, you know. At least within Boundary City, the chance that an Otherworld appears is very high, so people call this place the Borderland or something like that. I’m fuzzy on the details. I stayed inside a painting for too long, and my head is a little foggy.”

Yu Sheng lifted a brow at the name Borderland, feeling like he had heard it before. Then he caught another key point in her words. She had stressed “within Boundary City.” So this massive city that felt like it had no edge actually had an outside.

He hesitated for two or three seconds, then could not hold back: “What’s ‘outside’ Boundary City?”

Irene sounded uncertain as she replied: “Outside Boundary City? Maybe more cities, or maybe the sea?” She paused and sighed: “I don’t remember. I really have been trapped in this painting too long. I only remember bits about this city.”

She stopped, then asked with confusion: “You don’t know? You never left Boundary City either?”

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched and he went silent. [How would I know?] He had only been here two months. Forget outside Boundary City, he had not even figured out the bus routes four blocks from his home. He stayed quiet, deciding not to share that secret. For now, he did not want a Cursed Portrait he had barely met to know.

He tossed out a casual excuse to move on: “I haven’t gone out. I like staying in anyway, so let’s drop it.” He switched topics as he glanced at the doorway: “Let’s solve my problem first. How do I get out of this so called Otherworld? Also, you can exit an Otherworld, right?”

Irene thought for a while, as if sorting through memories scrambled by the long seal. After a long pause, she answered: “There are many kinds of Otherworlds. Sometimes it’s just a house that isn’t on any map. Sometimes it’s an extra stop that appears on a bus line. Sometimes it’s even a Forest, a country you can enter by pushing open a wardrobe and stepping through The Door. In short, smaller Otherworlds usually have a fixed, clear exit, or you can return by following certain rules. The bigger the Otherworld, the more complicated it gets.”

She paused again, then added in a dim tone: “I don’t remember the specifics. There should be a full system to classify Otherworlds, plus ‘depth’ levels and ‘danger’ ratings, but I truly, after so long in the painting, can’t recall.”

Her voice fell low, like she was a little sad.

Yu Sheng wanted to tease her and say this Doll had talked a lot and remembered nothing useful, but when he heard her last whisper, he shut his mouth. He did not spar with Irene like before. She was already trying hard to help. She had just been sealed too long.

He shook his head and looked out over the Valley beyond the ruined temple: “Let’s search and we’ll find an exit.” He looked at the scale of the place and said under his breath: “It’s not small. I can see two mountains and woods in the distance. Leaving may not be easy.”

Irene hummed and offered a plan: “Start near your Initial Drop Point, the spot where you first entered after falling into this Otherworld. Walk around and look for something that doesn’t fit the environment, the kind of thing you can tell at one glance shouldn’t be there. Exits for most Otherworlds show up around that. If you don’t see one, find a high place and see if you can spot a mirror like glint, or listen for a steady wind.”

She warned him before he could answer: “Even if you find something like that, don’t rush in. It could be a trap leading to a deeper layer. I can’t explain clearly. You will have to rely on your senses.”

Yu Sheng blinked and asked with doubt: “Senses?”

Irene chose her words and spoke softly: “Strictly speaking, it needs inspiration, a kind of spiritual intuition. Trained Investigators learn to feel it. I know you have no training, but there’s no other way. You will have to push through.”

She tried to comfort him as she went on: “Don’t worry too much. All intelligent beings have spirituality. Even untrained people have it, it’s just not awakened. If you stay careful, you will feel those warnings and omens from your core self. If you face something you truly can’t judge, tell me. I will try my best to help.”

Yu Sheng agreed and eased out of his hiding spot, moving with care toward the temple Door. That uneasy feeling of being watched and that heavy sense of Hunger still wrapped around him, like it had soaked into the air and become part of the whole Valley. Even so, he forced himself to step out. From what Irene had told him, he had to find an “exit” as fast as possible. Hiding in a corner would not make The Door open by itself.

At the same time, to ease his nerves, he kept chatting with Irene.

He asked as he walked: “You said the place I live in is an Otherworld. How did you know? I never felt anything wrong with my home.”

Irene answered simply: “I can feel it. That same inspiration I mentioned. I can sense something off about that building. On the surface it looks normal, though. I don’t know why.”

Yu Sheng shook his head and muttered: “So it’s that feeling again. By your logic, every time I go home and enter The Door I walk into an Otherworld, and with a simple Door Opening I leave the Otherworld. My place sounds like a safe, easy going Otherworld.”

Two or three seconds ticked by before Irene spoke in a quiet voice: “Door Opening doesn’t always take you where you want to go, does it?”

Yu Sheng’s face froze. He remembered why he had gotten trapped here. He thought he finally knew what was wrong with his “home.” The fact that he had lived safely in that Big Manor for two whole months felt like a miracle.

Talking, he made it back to the Open Ground in front of the temple, the spot where he had first landed inside this Otherworld. He circled the Open Ground with care: “There’s nothing here.” He checked twice more and confirmed there was no “out of place key item” like Irene had described. “Looks like it really won’t be that easy.”

Irene sighed in his mind: “As expected. Try walking toward the edge. Remember, don’t touch anything that glows, or anything that suddenly moves in front of you. Also, unless you have no choice, don’t eat or drink anything from the Otherworld.”

Yu Sheng nodded and glanced up at the murky sky that looked covered by a dirty curtain: “Got it. Would waiting for daylight make searching easier? Being outdoors at night feels creepy.”

Irene answered at once: “Otherworlds often go against common sense. Daytime is not necessarily safer. It might not even exist here. I suggest you find an exit quickly. If you drag this out, something could change on your side.”

Yu Sheng clicked his tongue and walked farther out with no better option.

The moment he stepped outside the temple boundary, a sound came to his ear. At first, it was a faint, blurry breath. He looked toward the sound and saw a slow puff of white mist spreading in the air, as if an invisible Behemoth had just let out a long sigh.

He had heard a sound, so the Behemoth’s breath formed. He had seen the white mist, so the Behemoth’s presence began to take shape.

A black shadow rose in the air, almost three times Yu Sheng’s size, solidifying in front of him with heavy, dragging breaths. Now he saw the Behemoth’s outline, and in that instant, the Behemoth existed.

Yu Sheng’s chest tightened. A huge wave of danger crushed down on him, heavier than the pressure he had felt from that frog in the rain. As his heart knotted, the shadow hardened.

It was a thing he had never seen before. Was it a bear, a lion, an eagle, or a tiger bound with a snake? Countless savage, twisted limbs that looked both wrong and familiar were glued to a giant ugly ball of meat, like a bunch of fierce beasts had been melted in a pot, stirred together, then spilled out in one lump. This revolting horror held up its bulk with swollen limbs of all sizes and shapes and looked down on Yu Sheng. In those messy layered eyes, there was only Hunger.

Yu Sheng lifted his head and met the Behemoth’s gaze. The Behemoth did not hesitate. It lunged. At the last second, Yu Sheng ducked low and slid by one of its blood filled maws. He dodged that bite and fell into its other wide open mouth.

The teeth snapped shut with cruel force. Half of Yu Sheng’s body was torn apart at once. Pain should have been blinding, but it felt distant and numb. The world slowed. He saw snake like limbs stretch from behind the Behemoth, another giant mouth biting down on him and tearing what remained below his chest. He saw his own heart.

The heart beat slowly, then vanished deep inside the snake’s throat.

Yu Sheng forced out one last curse through his throat: “Screw your eldest master.”

He knew he was about to die again, but he refused to go down easy. With the last muscles he could still move, he twisted his neck and bit down as hard as he could on whatever was beside him. He had no idea which part of the Behemoth it was, and he did not know if biting would help. He only knew his teeth sank into it.

If he had to die, he would tear off a piece of meat.

He used up all his strength right there. He bit the Behemoth like a madman, and the Behemoth bit him. Blood and flesh, claws and teeth, food and feeder, all mixed into one mess.

Before his mind fell into darkness, one last thought squeezed out. He whispered to Irene far away: “Irene.”

She answered in surprise: “Huh?”

He told her with a strange calm: “Nothing. I’m hanging up now.”

Irene froze for a second, not catching on. Then Yu Sheng hung up.