Chapter 145

Chapter 145: New Theories and Guesses

When Yu Sheng voiced his doubt, Irene looked confused.

Yu Sheng said: “If the Black Forest is a pure consciousness space, how did I carry out the wolf’s body? Wolf Granny’s body is still stored in Foxy’s tail, right? And Little Red Riding Hood said some anomaly-type Otherworlds can not only trap a person’s mind, but even move their body into those story-built or emotion-built spaces. So I think the boundary between mind and matter in the Otherworld isn’t that clear. We can’t open a Door into the Black Forest from the outside for some other reason.”

Irene listened with a blank face and said: “Is, is that so?”

She turned and saw Foxy still calm, then blurted out: “Hey, silly fox, you even understand that?”

Foxy answered evenly: “I do.”

Irene sputtered: “Really?!”

Foxy nodded and said: “From void to solid, and from solid to void. All things are connected at the base scale. There is no true line between consciousness and matter. Immortals say the whole world is like a set of complex waves. What people call void and solid are just different waveforms at different frequencies. The Skyfolk call this information unity. The Immortals call it the return of all things.”

Irene stared, listening like it was a foreign language, then finally blurted: “What does that even mean? Which Immortal taught you that?”

The fox maiden answered with a straight face: “The Immortal of Compulsory Education.”

Irene turned to Yu Sheng and asked: “Did you understand that?”

Yu Sheng hesitated and said: “I think I did, but I’ve never heard that theory before.” He looked at Foxy with growing curiosity. [What is her homeland even like? She didn’t finish primary school, yet they teach this? What do their middle school exams test, building a jump drive by hand?]

He set those questions aside and returned to the Black Forest, now thinking with Foxy’s so-called knowledge in mind. He slowly raised his hand, grasped the handle in the air, and the Phantom Door reappeared. He began to open it again, very, very slowly, as if to feel every instant from the first crack to the collapse. He poured all his focus into the act of Door Opening.

At one fleeting moment, he felt he had touched the breath of the Black Forest. It seemed the channel had formed. His link with the evil wolf suddenly strengthened, and it felt like in the next second the Door would take shape as usual.

But then the fresh links shifted out of true. The Black Forest seemed to rush away, the channel snapped, and the heavy dizziness slammed into him again.

“Dislocation?”

The question flashed in his mind. He swayed but did not fall. By now he was getting used to being dizzy.

Irene watched the fading shards in the air and said: “Ah, the Door collapsed again.” She looked back at Yu Sheng’s unfocused eyes and added: “You okay? Maybe call it a day. I’m afraid you’ll bring up last night’s dinner.”

Yu Sheng said: “I’m fine.” His face took on a thoughtful look. He worked through it for a while, then looked up and said: “I think I get it. The mistake is in positioning.”

Irene frowned and asked: “Positioning? You mean coordinates?”

Yu Sheng nodded and said: “Coordinates, right. That’s it.” His eyes fell on Irene. “Wait, Irene, how did you fix the Black Forest’s ‘location’ and send my and Little Red Riding Hood’s minds inside?”

Irene hadn’t expected the question to land on her, but she answered quickly as she said: “That’s easy. I slip into dreams. I’m born with the ability to enter dreams. It’s like a reflex.”

Yu Sheng snapped his fingers and said: “Exactly. Entering dreams. I missed that when I was setting the coordinates.” He scooped Irene up and said excitedly: “You really are amazing.”

The little doll went blank for a second, then puffed up with pride at the praise as she said: “Of course. I’m a doll from Alice’s Little House. I’ve got big skills. But what do you mean?”

Yu Sheng set her on his forearm so they were eye level and said: “When I set a frequency for Door Opening, I calibrate by spacetime structure. That’s all I can use. But to enter the Black Forest, I have to fix its coordinates on the dream layer, because it doesn’t have a fixed place in spacetime. Do you get it? Dreams drift outside reality.

“The Door collapsed not because it cannot be opened from this side, but because at the instant I opened it, the Black Forest’s location had already changed.”

Seeing Irene still a bit lost, he explained patiently as he said: “Still confused? Think of the Black Forest as a train moving along a track, and the real world as solid ground. When I open a Door to leave the Black Forest, it’s like jumping from the train down to the ground. No matter what, I land on the ground. But opening a Door from the outside into the Black Forest is like trying to jump from the ground into a fast train through its door. The moment you jump, the train has already moved.

“This is only to make it easy to picture. The real case is more complicated. In the real world, jumping off a moving train still causes a shift, but when my Door points to the real world it corrects that shift. It just doesn’t work the other way.”

Irene flapped her hands and cut him off as she said: “Okay, I get it. So how do you fix it? When you open a Door you can only set spacetime coordinates, but the Black Forest has no spacetime coordinates. You can’t set a dream’s location.”

Yu Sheng looked at the doll with bright eyes and said: “I can’t. You can.”

Irene blinked and said: “Huh?”

Yu Sheng said with full seriousness: “I’ll open the Door. You do the guiding. Use your magic, the amazing power Alice’s Little House gave you.”

Irene’s vines almost tangled as she said: “Is that safe? I mean, of course the power from Alice’s Little House is safe. I’m asking about your plan. Don’t open a Door and erase yourself.”

Yu Sheng said: “We’ll try and see.”

Irene fell silent for a beat, then asked with a frown: “Why are you so set on opening a Door into the Black Forest from the outside anyway? I can use dream power to send you in.”

Yu Sheng said: “You can only send my mind. And it won’t be only the Black Forest. There’s also Cinderella’s ball and Rapunzel’s tower later. Being able to open a Door will be more convenient. Besides…” He glanced at Foxy and lowered his voice as he said: “I still want to watch the Cyber Fox Immortal beat up children’s literature.”

Irene blurted: “You’re sick.”

Yu Sheng said: “Just say if you want to watch.”

Irene answered at once: “I do.”

Yu Sheng said: “Then it’s settled. We try.”

Irene said: “Okay.”

She gave in quickly. From the start she had guessed it would go this way, not only because the idea of a Cyber Fox Immortal bullying children’s literature was strong, but also because she knew Yu Sheng. His brand of stubbornness was not like other people’s. When a wild idea opened in his mind, he had to try it. That stubbornness, like his curiosity, was pure and powerful, like a child.

It was fine. Jokes aside, she liked keeping him company in his mischief.

Irene climbed onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder and gave serious instructions as she said: “In a moment, summon the Door, but don’t open it. Hold it there and relax your mind. I’ll guide your mind. It’s similar to how I guide you into dreams, but this time you’ll stay awake. In the final step I will take over part of your spiritual intuition. Only then can I affect your Door. Is that okay?”

She emphasized her warning as she said: “You must cooperate and trust me completely. If not, we will both take a shock like a rude awakening. I won’t throw up, but you’ve already been dizzy so many times that this time you’ll definitely lose last night’s dinner.”

Yu Sheng nodded again and again and said: “Got it. Let’s begin.”

Irene studied him for a moment, then let out a soft breath. She bent down and gently held his head as she said: “Now, let our minds become one.”