Chapter 106

Chapter 106: Research and Tests

[Grandpa Yu has put up with too much.]

Especially after Irene threw herself on the floor again. Even though Yu Sheng didn’t actually have an eldest master, he still thought: [If this little doll keeps making a fuss, I’ll conjure an eldest master from thin air and let Irene take my head.]

Luckily, the little doll’s temper came and went fast. More important, after a short spell of panic, she and Yu Sheng suddenly realized a detail they had both missed: “This new body… when it woke up in the attic, wasn’t it more than five meters away from the painting?” said Irene, the main body, as she stared dumbly at the second body that Yu Sheng had set on the bed. The new body also lowered its head to look at itself. The two bodies spoke at the same time, like an echo.

Yu Sheng reacted a second later: “Oh man! Right! It woke up up in the attic… it broke the painting’s distance limit!”

They stared at each other for a long moment, though you could say it was three people staring. At last Yu Sheng spoke, a little unsure: “So maybe this isn’t a bad thing…?”

“Having one more body isn’t bad at all. The biggest problem is that I get dizzy,” said Irene as her eyes bulged, then she changed direction fast: “But really, maybe I can beat the dizziness with practice. If I can adapt, that would be great. The huge thing is that this body can leave the painting’s five meter limit… Yu Sheng, how did you do it?”

“I don’t know. If you ask how I made it, I can explain that. But the principle behind it? You know more alchemy than I do,” said Yu Sheng as he scratched his hair. “I just wanted to practice before you transfer into the new body in a few months. That way you won’t call my doll ugly again. I followed the alchemy steps you taught me. Somehow it really came to life. Even without you working with me, it became a usable shell. I was about to call you up to look. The second I called your name, its hair started growing…”

“Wait!” Irene cut him off. Both dolls lifted their heads to look at him with suspicion. “You said… the change happened right after you called my name?”

“Yes,” said Yu Sheng, then he realized something: “You mean that’s why you slipped into the second shell?”

“It’s only a possibility. Names have power. When you make a blank doll shell, it’s just an object. But if you, the maker, speak my name during the rite, you ‘give’ that object meaning,” said Irene, thinking it through, then shaking her head.

“But that’s very advanced alchemy, tied to specific rites or even specific times and places. The target item wouldn’t be a clay figure from beginner practice. With the tea powder and rose oil you used as the medium, how could it have such a strong effect? Not to mention, at the price you paid, I doubt the rose oil even had any real rose in it.”

“Maybe because of my blood?” Yu Sheng reminded her carefully. “I bled a lot this time.”

“…?”

Irene went blank for a moment, then snapped back: “That actually works?”

“I don’t know,” said Yu Sheng, spreading his hands. “I just wanted to study what’s up with my blood. After studying, I have even more questions. But I did find a new trait.”

They stared at each other again, then started analyzing Irene’s second body.

After all, this body broke the painting’s five meter limit, which mattered a lot to Irene.

“Is there anything different between this new body and your main shell?” asked Yu Sheng as he looked at the two dolls on the bed. [This feels weird, especially knowing both dolls are the same Irene.]

“Hmm… this shell feels stiffer and slower,” said Irene as she checked carefully. “The senses are especially dull and numb. Touch is about half as strong. Hearing and sight are fine. Hot and cold… I can barely sense either. Pain is very weak.”

As she spoke, her second body pinched its own cheek.

“Also, when I move this shell, there’s a constant feeling of being not real, not immersed. It’s like using a super realistic device to control a virtual character. No matter how realistic, you still know you are ‘controlling’ it, not truly being it.”

Yu Sheng frowned a little.

The two Irenes on the bed looked at him with hopeful eyes together.

They looked almost identical, but it was still easy to tell them apart. One Irene always carried the painting on her back. The other had a duller gaze and stiffer expressions.

Looking at them, especially the one with the painting, Yu Sheng thought of something. He stepped forward and lifted the painting off Irene’s back.

“I- what are you doing…” said Irene.

“I have an idea. Let me test it,” said Yu Sheng, serious. The little doll was nervous, but she nodded and stayed still.

Yu Sheng hung the painting on the new body.

“How about now? How does it feel?” he asked, watching both dolls.

Irene froze for a beat. Both froze. Then both bodies spoke together: “Oh man! That feeling swapped!”

The doll with the painting pointed at the other: “This body now feels stiff and slow.”

“Just as I guessed,” said Yu Sheng with a breath of relief. Then he gave his conclusion, very firm: “Whichever body has the painting is the main one. So to put it simply, the painting is the true body.”

Irene’s face turned subtle, like someone who broke out of prison but the cell kept chasing her. [So I’m still being followed by my cage.]

Yu Sheng quickly thought of more. “We need a series of tests. For example, what happens if both bodies go beyond five meters from the painting. Also, when the main body carries the painting, how far can the secondary body move freely. Most important, how to help you adapt to having two shells. If you really can’t, we need a way to temporarily ‘disconnect’ one shell,” he said, rubbing his chin. “We should get Foxy to help.”

“I’ll go wake her up!” said both dolls at once as they hopped off the bed. “With all this noise at home, she still didn’t… whoa!”

Irene forgot that she was controlling two bodies at once and didn’t have enough threads. After two steps, both bodies lost balance and toppled head first off the bed. Luckily, Yu Sheng was quick. He grabbed both by the ankles and held them upside down.

Both dolls pressed their skirts with their hands, very embarrassed, and looked at Yu Sheng: “You go call her. I need to be dizzy a while longer.”

Yu Sheng sighed, set both Irenes back on the bed, left the room, and knocked on the door across the hall: “Foxy! You awake? Come help!”

He knocked three times before a flustered reply came from inside. A moment later, Foxy pushed the door open in a nightgown, hair uncombed, eyes still sleepy.

“I overslept,” she said as soon as the door opened, lowering her head like she had done something wrong. “I stayed up too late last night.”

“It’s fine. That’s on me,” said Yu Sheng, waving his hand. He knew Foxy had worked the hardest in the museum yesterday. Sleeping in made sense. “Something came up. Come take a look.”

Foxy followed him into the master bedroom, confused. Then she saw two Irenes sitting side by side on the bed, staring at the doorway like P1 and P2 in a game.

Foxy froze at the door. After a long daze, she rubbed her eyes hard. When she looked again, there was still double vision.

“This is bad, benefactor! I must be sleep-crazy,” she said in panic as she looked at Yu Sheng. “Irene turned into two!”

“Stop rubbing. If you rub twice more, you’ll see four of her,” said Yu Sheng as he stopped her hands, then coughed, a little embarrassed. “There was a small accident. Irene does have two bodies now. You’re not seeing things.”

Foxy stared with her mouth open. After a moment she seemed to understand, her face full of respect: “So you’re training a body-outside-the-body art. I didn’t expect you to be an immortal, Irene.”

“Immortal my foot. Don’t talk nonsense. Yu Sheng pinched me a second body,” said Irene, raising her voice. “I was sleeping, and when I woke up I almost fainted.”

“Let’s not argue,” said Yu Sheng as he took the painting off Irene’s back and handed it to Foxy. “You, take this painting to the attic.”