Chapter 044

Chapter 44: Engulfed

A plain black oil painting frame floated in the dim dream world, and the doll girl sealed inside the painting had a head full of questions.

Irene paced in circles inside the painting and grumbled: “This makes no sense! I already broke free of this thing’s control, and I even have a body in the real world now! When I’m ‘outside’ I have to carry the painting around, fine, I can treat it like extra luggage, but why is it worse in the dream world? In theory, once I fall asleep I should be more free, right?”

She lifted her head and stared straight at Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng spread his hands and said: “How should I know? I also thought you’d be freer after you entered the dream. I even wanted to see what you look like at about one meter sixty seven, but you’re still a paper person.”

Irene looked truly annoyed and not in the mood to bicker. After circling the chair inside the painting who knows how many times, she gave in, sat back down, and grabbed the fluffy teddy bear, mashing it hard in her arms.

She muttered to herself, sounding resigned: “Now I’m locked up with this guy again… but it’s fine, at least I can move freely in the real world. The dream world isn’t that important. Yeah, not that important.”

Yu Sheng sighed from the heart and said: “Sometimes I really envy your optimism.”

Irene bared her teeth at him, but whether in reality or in dreams, her snarling had never scared anyone.

Yu Sheng stepped past the painting floating in the air and walked to the sleeping silver fox.

He asked in a low voice: “What next? Same as last time, I lie on her tails, then the two of us ‘sink’ together?”

Irene floated to his side and answered: “Same as last time, but this time the link will be more direct. I’ll try to keep Foxy’s awareness near awake so you can talk with her and sense what’s around her after that. At the same time, Hunger will notice you and come for you. What happens after that, I can’t help you with. Contact and struggle on the mental level are up to you.”

She paused, then added to calm him: “But I can be the last safety line. If I sense your mind getting wildly unstable, I’ll forcefully yank you out. It’ll feel as awful as that snap-awake last time. Be ready for it.”

Yu Sheng winced and said: “Honestly, I don’t want to do that again,” then he nodded right away, his resolve unchanged: “All right, let’s start.”

He found a snug hollow between Foxy’s big tails, then caught Irene as she hopped down from midair. One person and one painting rested against the fox tails and sank again through the heavy dream.

Maybe because of the link from last time, the second descent was faster and smoother than Yu Sheng expected. He almost just blinked, and when his view steadied, he already saw the Fox Maiden.

She was crouched among broken stones, staring blankly at something ahead.

Yu Sheng’s view settled behind Foxy. He followed her gaze forward and saw the huge wreck of something, like a large flying machine after a crash. Twisted metal ribs and broken decks still showed a hint of their grand shape. Faint light drifted among the shattered pieces, like a spirit that refused to fade.

The whole wreck had fallen at the foot of the mountain. The collapsed and then melted rock had nearly swallowed it, fusing it into the mountain itself. One look told how shocking the impact had been.

If the passengers back then had been ordinary humans, there would likely be no survivors at all.

Yu Sheng stared at the crash site in shock, but he did not forget his purpose. He moved closer to the Fox Maiden and spoke softly so he would not startle her: “Foxy.”

Foxy’s ears sprang up at once. She jumped to her feet and looked all around, as if trying to find where the voice came from. When she could not, she answered, unsure: “…benefactor?”

Yu Sheng said in a steady tone: “It’s me. Don’t look around. I’m linking with your mind directly.”

Foxy’s face lit with surprise as she still searched out of habit, then she hurried out: “Benefactor! You’re really here! I thought I misheard last time… benefactor? What is going on? I was spacing out in the Valley, then suddenly I came to this place. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?”

Yu Sheng spoke quickly: “Yes. I used a method on my end to guide your dream. Only like this can I contact you. But now isn’t the time for details. Listen, Foxy, I’m going to save you. To do that, I need to open a special Door, and I need your help. Do you trust me?”

Foxy froze for a second, then realized what he meant and shook her head fast, pleading: “Don’t come to save me. Benefactor, you finally got out. The Valley is strange. Once you come in, it’s hard to escape. You must not come. Please don’t…”

Yu Sheng cut off the flustered girl and said: “I have a way. Foxy, listen, I really have a way. I’ve found a stable method to go in and out of the Valley. I only need you to help open the Door. Don’t worry about that monster. I can handle it. Got it? I’m very strong, and this time I brought help who is also… well, strong.”

He tried to calm her and make her relax. But confusion crept over Foxy’s face. Her thoughts were slow. It took effort for her to follow him. After a while, and not sure how much she understood, she asked in doubt: “So, benefactor, you are also an immortal?”

Yu Sheng had no idea how her thoughts jumped there. [But I can be.]

He made his voice sound reliable and said: “A very powerful immortal.”

The Fox Maiden smiled.

She asked seriously: “Benefactor, what do you need me to do?”

Yu Sheng said: “You don’t need to do much. Just focus on sensing what’s around you. You will feel someone peeking at your heart and even someone seeing through your eyes. Do not resist. That will be me.”

Foxy nodded and said: “Okay.”

Yu Sheng loosened a little inside. Talking with Foxy was even easier than he had hoped. Next, he only had to face the second problem.

He called in his mind: “Irene, start.”

In the next second, with a small sway in his senses, Yu Sheng felt an indescribable pull.

A brand new link formed between him and Foxy. Unlike the hidden bond built by blood before, this new connection felt stronger and more rough. Part of his awareness slipped from his control and fused into a whole new set of senses. It was like his nerves had plugged into extra limbs. Even though the incoming signals were a bit blurry and slow, he still began to feel what lay around Foxy.

Cold. Rot. A smell of decay that said everything was dying. Wind churned through the Valley and blew across a dark forest.

Night was eternal. Hunger endured.

The Fox Maiden stood in the trees, eyes wide as she tried her best to look around.

She did not really understand what her benefactor was doing, and she did not know if just staring hard was the right way. She only followed her own understanding and tried to do what Yu Sheng told her.

Then she felt the “link” that benefactor had mentioned.

She flinched, but she did not feel any malice.

Foxy had always been keen at sensing even the smallest trace of ill will, but this time none came.

Instead she felt a little more at peace, and even her stomach did not feel as empty.

When the tidal sense of Hunger and the wave of madness pressed deep inside Hunger rolled toward him, Yu Sheng felt like a giant wave smashed down on him. It was like a mountain falling in the pitch black night. Hunger and frenzy became solid shadow and congealed darkness that flooded every inch of his senses almost at once.

He did not even have time to call Irene’s name. At the last instant he forced himself to hold on to the “features” of the Valley he had learned from Foxy, and then the raging black tide swallowed him whole.

Yet in the depths of that tide, he found he was still clear.

Hunger gnawed his soul, and his soul withered and died. In the dark flood, Yu Sheng watched “himself” get swallowed in a blink, and his point of view felt like that of a cold bystander.

Hunger ebbed. The withered soul woke again. Yu Sheng opened his eyes in the dark. For a moment he was not sure if he had died again or if it had only been a momentary illusion of being eaten.

He drifted in the depths. He could not feel time pass. He could not feel the end of space or the edges of The End Web. He was not sure he was moving at all.

He could only feel one thing. A gaze was always on him.

Not a single gaze. The whole dark chaos was part of that gaze.

He was a speck as small as a needle point, drowned and watched by the boundless sight of Hunger.

After who knew how long, he finally glimpsed deep in the dark something like vast floating limbs, or shadows.