Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Construction

It was a happy shopping spree, especially when Yu Sheng found many things were cheaper than he thought.

For the who-knows-which time, he headed to a hidden corner with his two sidekicks. He had Foxy show her tail, then stuffed the newly bought chicks inside.

Watching Foxy grab chick after chick with shining eyes and slip them into her tail, Yu Sheng felt a bit mixed. Irene, lying limp on his arm, had no strength left to complain: “You actually bought them. You really plan to raise chickens in the Valley.”

“Why not? That place is huge. I don’t have to worry about losing them or wild dogs. I can scatter them through the hills. Free-range chickens,” Yu Sheng said, already dreaming of a bright future. “I’m only sad I didn’t find piglets. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise you’d raise free-range pigs too, right? You’re thinking way too far ahead. These chicks are tiny. You’re just going to scatter them?” Irene sighed. “And the grass there only just started growing. Are you sure animals can live there?”

“That’s for later. For now we’ll keep the chicks in a coop,” Yu Sheng said, scratching his hair a bit awkwardly. “I’ll study how to speed up the Valley’s ecology, and I’ll grab a few books on gardening and raising chickens.”

Irene blinked: “So you actually don’t know how.”

Yu Sheng put on a face of pure reason: “Of course not. Do I look like I know how? What I have are rich theories and imagination.”

“And you’re still this excited,” Irene said, very helpless. “Seeing you plan so hard, I thought you were a pro. You looked ready to turn Night Valley into an Otherworld farmhouse.”

“You don’t understand,” Yu Sheng said, giving the droopy-eyed red doll on his arm a deep look. “Farming is the soul.”

“I don’t understand. Dolls don’t need food,” Irene said, glancing around before secretly rolling her eyes. “The Progenitor of Dolls never taught us this. When the sisters share what they learn, I’ve never heard of a doll studying farming.”

“That’s why your prenatal education with a mail-in kindergarten diploma just isn’t reliable.”

“I will bite your head. Who says that about a lady?!”

By then Foxy had tucked the last chick into her tail. She looked up at the bickering Irene and Yu Sheng, then spoke carefully: “Benefactor, can I raise them?”

Yu Sheng paused: “Do you know how?”

Foxy nodded fast: “I do! We learned at school!”

Something felt strange, but seeing the fox miss’s shining eyes, he nodded: “I’ll leave it to you.”

Irene was stunned: “You’re letting a fox raise chickens?”

Yu Sheng finally realized what was off and quickly warned the big demon fox in front of him: “Raise them first, then eat.”

Foxy was so happy her eyes turned into slits. Who knew if she heard the warning. She just kept nodding: “Mm-hmm.”

Right then, Yu Sheng felt he might never see these chicks grow up to run free in the Valley. [Please, at least cook them first.]

“We got everything. Let’s skip the building materials market for now,” Yu Sheng said, checking his shopping list one more time. He relaxed after making sure nothing was missing, then looked at the doll on his arm. “What about you? How’s the body we left at home?”

“Good. We ran far, but there’s no sign of any ‘disconnection,’” Irene answered at once. “I’m trying to make that body stroll around the room.”

She pushed herself up a little on Yu Sheng’s arm and did small movements with her hands and feet: “At this distance, controlling both bodies feels about the same, and my skill went up a bit. I can handle two views at once. But I still can’t go all out here. We need to do the deeper tests in the Valley.”

“Alright, let’s go home first. We’ll sort the stuff, then head to the Valley.”

“How do we get home? A taxi?” Irene lifted her head, her tone a bit dry. “We won’t ‘happen’ to catch a Special Affairs Bureau ride again, right?”

A smile tugged at Yu Sheng’s lips: “We’re going back by Door Opening. You two wait a second while I notify the Special Affairs Bureau.”

He took out his phone. As soon as he unlocked it, his eyebrows rose.

“Border Comms popped up a software update,” he said, tapping confirm without thinking. “What could it even update… Done already?”

The update finished almost at once. Yu Sheng wondered if his phone was acting up. Border Comms restarted and opened to the home screen.

“This looks the same as before… huh?”

Halfway through his mutter, he saw a new button on the bottom right of the home screen.

Irene leaned in at once: “What is it, what is it? Show me. What changed?”

Yu Sheng pointed at the button, face blank.

“‘Door Opening one-click report’?” the little doll said, stunned as she looked up at him. “A special update made just for you?”

“I bet no one else has this function,” Yu Sheng said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Looks like that midnight call to Bai Li Qing made an impression.”

He pressed the one-click report, then turned and opened the Door to 66 Wutong Road.

Back home, he had Foxy pour out the mountain of goods from her tail. He sorted everything by type, put the rice, flour, oil, and grain in the kitchen, then hoisted Irene and went upstairs to check on Irene’s situation in the bedroom.

To be honest, even he felt that sentence sounded like a grammar mistake. [Carry Irene to go see Irene.]

Irene was pacing in circles on the bedroom floor, looking pretty happy.

Nothing like the morning, when both bodies woke at once and she could barely stand.

“I think I’m close to finding the trick to controlling two bodies at the same time,” both Irenes said in unison, the one on his shoulder and the one on the floor. “And there might be a way even simpler than direct control. The ‘secondary body’ doesn’t need such detailed orders to run. Watch.”

The Irene on the floor suddenly stopped. Her face went blank. But the “disconnected” doll didn’t topple. After a moment of emptiness, she wobbled and kept walking toward Yu Sheng.

“Okay, okay, I get it, but that’s creepy.” Yu Sheng waved fast for her to act normal. The red-eyed doll shuffling like a cursed toy made a bunch of horror movies pop into his mind. He bent down, picked up the little doll from the floor, and put her on his other shoulder.

With an Irene on each shoulder, he went downstairs. In the living room, Foxy lay by the table with a goofy smile. Two chicks pecked at millet on the tabletop in front of her, with zero sense of danger.

The Fox Maiden was chatting with them: “Eat more, grow fast. I have big plans for you two… Bai Qie, Yan Ju.”

Yu Sheng needed a second to catch on. Cold sweat broke out at once: “Are those their names?”

Foxy’s eyes curved in delight: “Yes.”

“Fine. As long as you’re happy,” Yu Sheng said, mouth twitching. “Bring Bai Qie and Yan Ju. We’re going to the Valley.”

“Okay!”

As Yu Sheng expected, it was still daytime in the Valley.

A clear sky with thin clouds covered the wide basin. Bright light traced the jagged outline of the far mountains. Nothing dimmed at all.

By now, Yu Sheng had entered the Valley at many different times each day. He was almost sure there was no day-night cycle here.

The Valley stayed sunny and mild forever.

This had good points and bad points.

The good was the comfort. It beat the former state, when it was always night, cold wind cut through, and rot stank in the air.

The bad was his doubt about farming. Would plants still grow well without a normal switch between day and night?

That was for later testing. Right now, Yu Sheng needed to clear a plot of land and clean up the ruined temple that was in the way. That shouldn’t take long.

Since he might be active here often, he planned to rough out a small camp first. After that, he and Irene would do the planned tests.

After the “feast,” little was left of the ruined temple. Broken bricks and rubble mixed with the bumpy soil, doing nothing but blocking his field.

Under Yu Sheng’s influence, the earth started to wake.

The soil stirred, swallowing, breaking down, and burying the bricks. Stones were pushed and stacked together at the edge of the open ground. A flat stretch of land formed under Yu Sheng’s feet and slowly spread outward, sketching the shape of a field.

He stood at the edge of the open ground, carefully feeling his link with the Valley. The soil, the stones, even the air and the water moved according to his will. He sank into that wonder.

Before he knew it, he felt that his control over this place had stepped forward again.