Chapter 049

Chapter 49: Door Opening Kill (not a typo)

The wind in the Valley grew restless.

Yu Sheng did not know what had happened, but he could feel the mood that filled the whole Otherworld changing. It was hard to put into words. If he had to, he would say this:

He felt the entire Valley slowly “come alive.”

Far woods woke. Mountains woke. The ground woke. Even the dark sky above gave off a prickling, icy gaze filled with the desire of Hunger.

He noticed Foxy trembling beside him. The Fox Maiden clutched the food tight, fear rising on her face. She lifted her head to the black night and shuffled step by step closer behind Yu Sheng, whispering the same words over and over. When she got close enough, he finally heard them clearly:

“When the Immortal died, it was like this… when the Immortal died, it was like this…”

Irene spoke fast, the little Doll tense with both arms around her kitchen knife: “What is happening now? Do you know something?”

But Foxy did not answer. She seemed to slip into a fog again, repeating that one line.

Soon Irene and Yu Sheng had no time to worry about Foxy’s state.

Yu Sheng felt a familiar presence nearby. In the corner of his eye, an Entity condensed at the edge of the ruined temple’s shadows. Bulging, swollen meat layered and bred upon itself. Limbs like parts cut from many different creatures pushed out from the lump. Dozens of hungry eyes opened along its skin. Between the eyes, fangs and tearing maws appeared and vanished as it rumbled a muddy growl.

The Hunger Entity had finally come near its prey.

Irene blurted, “Whoa! That thing is so ugly!”

Yu Sheng said, “Watch for sneak attacks. Its limbs can reshape, and it can sprout tentacles and a tail from inside. Foxy, just protect yourself. You’re already deeply corrupted by it. You can’t fight.”

Foxy was still wrong in the head. Even after the monster appeared, she stared at the sky in terror. When she heard Yu Sheng, she still nodded blankly, scooped scattered food from the ground, and backed away, but not too far, as if she feared something would happen to him.

Irene whispered, “What’s your plan? Don’t tell me you’ll charge in empty-handed and punch it. You didn’t bring a weapon, and at least I’ve got a kitchen knife.”

Yu Sheng knew he had not brought a weapon. He had already tried before. Most of the monster’s body was harder than stone. Even with an axe, you could only hack off a small patch of softer flesh, which barely mattered. From the start, he never planned on a “weapon.” For an ordinary person with zero combat training, even a giant blade would most likely cut himself first.

He had prepared a different kind of harm.

He said, “Same plan we discussed at home. You lock down its movement with your threads. I’ll rush in and tear it open a bit. If I mess up, take Foxy and run right away. Don’t worry about me. Foxy has ways to survive under that thing, and Hunger won’t chase you on its own.”

Irene froze for a beat and said, “Okay, then what?”

Yu Sheng said, “When I come back to life, we regroup and try again. This thing will die at some point.”

Irene muttered, “You are so stubborn. We agreed not to treat ‘revival’ like a basic move.”

Yu Sheng said, “I’ll try not to.” He frowned as the monster still didn’t attack. “Why isn’t it coming at us?”

Irene had the same worry: “It feels like it’s stalling on purpose, like it’s waiting for something. Does it already understand strategy?”

Yu Sheng said, “Then we can’t let it wait. Go first!”

He charged straight at the monster. At the same time, Irene flipped off his shoulder and reached out her right hand. The moment she landed, the Doll’s eyes went pure black. Countless fine, cold, black filaments poured from her hand. They spread like a fast-growing Spiderweb, racing through the space.

Every strand of Spider Silk avoided Yu Sheng’s path. He accelerated inside the web, his strengthened body trailing a ghostly blur as he leaped for the snarling Flesh Behemoth.

The monster finally moved. Even though the prey’s charge surprised it, it still struck back at once. A brutal claw rose high from the Behemoth’s back and smashed down across the route Yu Sheng had to take.

In that instant, Yu Sheng felt the strange “prediction” again.

He sensed which muscles on the monster were tightening. He felt its urge to attack and the true focus of its gaze. He “saw” a tentacle lashing out from behind the claw to cut off all of his next escapes. [I can feel where it will strike.] [This is not Spiritual Intuition.] [It’s almost like a first-person view.]

All these thoughts flashed by as Yu Sheng crossed the last few meters. The Behemoth’s claw fell.

Yu Sheng did not dodge. In his side vision, the Silk sweeping in behind him closed in midair. The next moment, countless black lines wrapped the monster’s limbs and, like a ghost that pierced bone, crisscrossed through its claws, tentacles, and gaping mouths.

Cold. Numb. Sluggish. Even his thoughts felt stabbed full of holes. His soul felt wrapped tight in a freezing Spiderweb.

A wave of bad feelings drowned him. For a heartbeat, Yu Sheng saw Illusion Arts: himself trapped in a web, Spider Silk wrapped and even speared through his limbs, and on the web’s edge, a red-eyed shadow watching from the dark, crawling closer in a twisted shape. [Wake up.]

Irene’s shout cut through his head: “Yu Sheng! Don’t zone out! I’m about to lose it!”

He snapped back. The Flesh Behemoth hung in a strange pose at the center of the Black Threads. The strands had gone tight, and looked ready to snap any second.

There was no time to wonder about the Illusion Arts he had just felt. Yu Sheng lunged to the monster’s side, grabbed a line of Black Threads with one hand, reached into the air with the other, focused with all his will, and slowly pulled.

A door appeared: The Door shimmered into being, its surface flowing with phantom light.

Opening The Door out of thin air took more time and effort than opening an Entity Door. Yu Sheng needed a relatively stable moment to focus. Watching the monster’s trembling limbs and the Black Spider Silk that was already fraying, even a few seconds felt like a lifetime. [And lately, my lifetimes haven’t been long.]

With a soft sound, The Door finally swung wide.

It was larger than any he had opened before, big enough to throw the entire monster through.

Blazing firelight burst out, lighting a broad area around it.

On the far side of The Door, an endless lake of rolling lava churned.

Yu Sheng had found this “surprise” during many Door Opening tests. He did not know where it was. He only knew there was an ocean of molten rock and gushing flame, like a view from hell.

The Hunger Entity was powerful, but most of its threat came from mental pollution and its rule-like power of Hunger. As for its manifested body, compared to a rule, it was not so tough.

It could be cooked.

If it would not cook, use more fire.

Yu Sheng shouted, “Throw it in!”

Irene answered, “Got it!”