Chapter 043

Chapter 43: Irene’s Plan

Irene did have many strange abilities. Yu Sheng had seen that when he followed the Doll down into Foxy’s dream. Still, to be honest, this unlucky Doll messed up so much in daily life that people often forgot how strong she could be.

“Now there’s one thing left, the key part,” Yu Sheng said seriously on the sofa to the small Doll beside him. “We have to recreate the Door to Otherworld Valley.”

“You still plan to brute force it?” Irene asked. “Trying every ‘frequency’ you think is close, one by one?”

Yu Sheng sighed. “That’s all I’ve got. The first time I reached the Valley, I hadn’t really mastered Door Opening. I missed too many details.”

Irene turned to him and seemed to think hard. After a moment she said, careful and slow, “I do have an idea.”

Yu Sheng leaned forward. “You have a way?”

“Not sure it will work. I don’t understand how your Door Opening actually works, and I don’t get what you mean by ‘frequency,’” Irene said as she scooted around on the sofa cushion. “But from how I see it, you need something that helps you lock on to the place you want. Like a feature you can aim at, or some kind of navigation signal.”

“That’s… a fair way to put it,” Yu Sheng admitted, unsure. “I don’t fully understand it either. I figured it out by feel. The moment I open The Door, the place on the other side is random. But if I can remember a certain feature from the other side clearly enough, the path collapses into one route. Something like that.”

“So if we can leave a navigation point with Foxy, you could reproduce the passage?”

“Probably,” Yu Sheng said, then frowned. “But where do we get such a navigation point? Our problem is we can’t reach the Valley. If we could leave a point over there, we wouldn’t have this problem.”

“From the dream,” Irene said.

Yu Sheng blinked, then started to understand.

She explained, “When we sank into Foxy’s dream last time, I made a weak link with her. If we push that link further, I might connect to her senses. If I pull you in, you could feel the Valley through Foxy’s senses. Wouldn’t that count as a navigation point?”

Yu Sheng listened, stunned. The more he heard, the more this wild plan sounded… possible.

“There are two hard parts,” Irene went on. “First, Foxy has to cooperate. She has to be willing to open her mind to you. That should be fine if you explain it. She trusts you. The second part is more dangerous.”

Yu Sheng didn’t interrupt. He signaled her to continue.

“For the second, Foxy’s mind no longer holds only herself,” Irene said, face turning serious as she met his eyes. “Entity-Hunger has sunk into the base of her mind. Once you connect deeply to Foxy, you’ll connect to Entity-Hunger too. I don’t know what will happen. In theory, short contact should be something you can withstand. But I’m afraid the power of Hunger may Take Root inside you. When we reach the Valley and face that monster, the part that Took Root could erupt at any moment.”

Yu Sheng fell into deep thought.

Seeing him go quiet, Irene hopped up, hands on her hips, still not as tall as Yu Sheng sitting down. “Don’t even think about dying first to see if that clears the influence. I’m telling you, that habit is dangerous. If you die and come back and still can’t shake it, you’re in real trouble.”

Yu Sheng shifted, a bit embarrassed. “I didn’t say that.”

“I can tell,” she said.

Yu Sheng was silent. [Why is this Doll’s intuition so sharp right when she’s usually so slow!]

“I get it, I get it. I’ll put the ‘die first’ idea at the back in any case,” he said, feeling awkward under her crimson stare. He raised his hands in surrender, then dragged the talk back on track. “But I still want to try your plan. The risk of direct contact with Entity-Hunger is real, but I think it’s worth it.”

Irene watched him with those red eyes for a few more seconds, then said, “Alright. You really want to save that Fox, and she can’t wait any longer. We’ll go with this plan.”

Yu Sheng suddenly remembered one more thing: “But there’s a problem.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t be sure I’ll dream the dream with Foxy in it,” he said, hands open. “Last night I didn’t even dream. I don’t know how to control my dreams.”

Irene smiled with a smug look. “But I can,” she said, proudly folding her arms and standing on the sofa (66.6 cm). “You just sleep and leave the rest to me. Without the Painting’s seal, I’m scary strong now. I even scare my-”

Before she finished, Yu Sheng shifted on the sofa. The cushion sank, Irene wobbled, squeaked, and toppled off. The Oil Painting Frame wedged between the sofa and coffee table, leaving her hanging under it.

The Doll dangled below the frame, flailing like she might fly up and bite someone. She swore up a storm.

Yu Sheng lifted the frame with one hand. “Looks like that ‘seal’ still has you pretty restrained.”

“If you keep laughing… if you laugh one more time I won’t help,” Irene yelled, her arms stuck in the straps so that when he lifted the frame she hung there like a cross. “Put me down! Put me… ah, my arm joint is stuck! Turn it back for me!”

Yu Sheng sighed, plucked her off the frame, and started easing the jammed joint back while enduring her loud complaints.

Late at night, Yu Sheng was ready for bed. Irene was still racing over his mattress like a little rocket.

“Can’t you be quiet now?” he asked from the pillow, helpless. “I’m trying to sleep.”

“Your bed is huge!” Irene bounced to the headboard, hopped onto the nightstand, grabbed the lamp, and shook it, clearly not listening. “Hey, this lamp is shorter than me! Yu Sheng, look! This lamp is shorter than me!”

“I’ll buy a night light that’s even shorter,” Yu Sheng said, rolling his eyes as he lifted her off the lamp. “Did you forget what we’re doing? Keep this up and I’m locking you in the closet.”

She finally calmed down and gave a sheepish grin. “I’m just a little excited. Fine, fine, sleep. I won’t mess around.”

“Turn off the light,” Yu Sheng sighed, exhausted.

“Too high,” the Doll said, righteously.

“Move a chair.”

“Oh.”

The world finally went quiet.

Yu Sheng exhaled long and slow. In the dark bedroom he enjoyed a moment of Clear Tranquility and tried to settle into sleep.

He turned his head and saw two glowing red eyes at the edge of the bed, staring at him.

Irene clung to the mattress like a koala and stared straight at him.

“You know this makes it harder to sleep,” Yu Sheng said, resigned. “Why did you have to come to my room? You stayed on the first floor before and still entered my dream. Do you really have to follow me?”

“Closer means better signal,” the Doll said, as serious as if it were true.

At least she got his point. She hopped down and sat on a chair nearby.

Yu Sheng sighed again.

He knew Irene was still watching him. [She’s not leaving tonight.] He tried to ignore the crimson gaze, cleared his mind, and waited for sleep.

He had no idea how long he tossed and turned. Maybe an hour, maybe longer.

At last, when the weariness piled up, he drifted into a misty darkness.

Dream Descent began. In the haze of the dream, he heard Irene’s soft voice: “You finally fell asleep. Come, this way.”

Yu Sheng turned toward the voice. The mist thinned, and light and shadow came into view.

He saw the dim plain again. A heavy sky pressed down on the land. Low nameless hills lay far away. The silver-white Demon Fox still slept in the open.

He walked forward, then noticed the “guide” floating at his side.

It was Irene, guiding his dream.

Yu Sheng stopped and stared at the Painting hanging in midair.

The Irene in the Painting stared back at him.

“Why do I feel like the Painting is your real body?” Yu Sheng said.

Irene looked down at herself, then around the dream. At last she realized what happened.

“Wait, why am I back inside the Painting again?!”