Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Awakening

It wasn’t over.

Almost the moment Foxy said it, Yu Sheng understood what she meant.

Chaotic howls rose and fell from the dense forest. A terrifying, hollow wind echoed through the valley. The sinister presence that filled the otherworld hadn’t eased with the death of the flesh behemoth. It surged—several times stronger. Malice pressed in from every direction, heavy enough to suffocate, along with the prickling certainty of being watched—as if something had finally awakened and was waking angry.

“What is it?” Yu Sheng demanded, turning to Foxy. She looked like she knew something, even if she couldn’t name it.

“I don’t know, but it’s appeared before,” Foxy whispered, fear sharpening her words as she edged behind him. “The day the immortal died, it was like this. Something woke up. The immortal took the others out, and they never came back. Later… we only found the bodies.”

Her voice cracked. She lowered her head, trembling. “My dad… my mom… they hid me in a cave and wouldn’t let me look outside. I didn’t know what it was. When I crawled out, everyone was already dead…”

The pieces clicked together in Yu Sheng’s mind, fast and ugly.

The truly terrifying thing in this valley wasn’t the flesh behemoth.

Or rather, it wasn’t only that. Something stronger had been sleeping in the dark, and from the moment he and Irene entered the valley, it had been waking—slowly, steadily, inevitably.

Yu Sheng clenched his jaw, made a decision, and sprinted to Irene.

“We can’t keep fighting,” he said, rapid and low. “There’s something worse in this valley. Plan two—retreat. I’ll open the door. How are you? Can you still move?”

Irene tried to push herself up. The instant she put force into it, a light crack sounded. Both arms snapped at the elbows. The broken pieces fell and shattered on the ground.

“No. And my legs are damaged too. If I force myself up, they’ll probably break as well,” Little Doll said gloomily, lifting her arm stumps. “I told you this thing you made isn’t sturdy… You mixed sand into the clay, didn’t you…”

Yu Sheng flinched at the sight of her arms breaking. He’d never dealt with a living doll before; he had no idea how serious it was. But the moment he heard her complaining, he exhaled. “You can fix it, right?”

Irene nodded. “Yes. But we have to go back.”

“Good.” Yu Sheng let out a breath. Irene couldn’t stand on her own now. He unhooked the frame from Little Doll’s back, adjusted the straps, and slung it over his own shoulders. Then he lifted Irene and settled her on his left arm.

She protested in a way that was more embarrassed than angry, but an armless doll couldn’t look intimidating. In the end, she went quiet and sat stiffly, letting him carry her.

With his free hand, Yu Sheng reached into the air. After a brief moment of focus, a door made of drifting, phantom light appeared at his fingertips.

The three strangers not far away stared the instant they saw it. One of them—the black-haired young man—looked oddly familiar under the firelight. But Yu Sheng couldn’t spare the thought. Once he felt the passage stabilize, he yanked the phantom door open.

On the other side was the living room of Wu Tong Road 66.

“The safe passage is here,” Yu Sheng said quickly. “Everyone, move! Before those things regenerate!”

He looked at Foxy, who stood nearby, tense and hesitant. “Foxy, you first. Don’t be afraid. On the other side is safe.”

Then he turned to the three newcomers. “You three—I don’t know who you are, but thanks for the help just now. Come with me.”

With Yu Sheng’s urging, Foxy finally forced herself forward. She stepped toward Phantom Door.

Just as her hand was about to touch the passage, an eerie whistling cut through the night. In the next heartbeat, a gust struck Yu Sheng from behind.

Information flooded his mind from nowhere—multiple gazes locking onto the ruined temple from distant points in the sky and deep within the valley, a chaotic, icy touch, and the sick joy of an imminent meal.

Yu Sheng whirled around.

At the edge of the ruins, a flesh behemoth had appeared without anyone noticing. Its middle split open, and an arrow-like tongue shot out.

It punched through Yu Sheng’s chest in the blink of an eye.

He had just enough time to shove Irene away. He couldn’t dodge. The strike pierced his heart.

Did it regenerate already? That fast? Or… was this another one?

The questions flashed through his mind as his consciousness dropped into darkness.

He heard Foxy’s terrified cry. Irene’s scream. The wolves howling.

Phantom Door flickered twice and vanished. Yu Sheng’s body fell backward. In his tilted, darkening view, layered shadows rose at the edge of the ruins. In every trembling shadow, more monsters made of piled flesh were forming.

Countless greedy mouths opened across the valley. Feeding tentacles writhed in the woods. Distant peaks bristled with fangs. And the sky…

The sky was tearing open from the edge, a thin slit spreading wider.

“Benefactor!” Foxy was the first to throw herself forward, collapsing beside Yu Sheng. She’d seen him resurrect before, but panic hit faster than memory. “You… you… how are you…?”

“How else? He’s obviously dead!” Irene snapped, loud as always. Little Doll tumbled to the ground and scooted toward Foxy with effort. “You’ve seen this too. Calm down!”

Foxy froze. The fog in her mind cleared just enough for the truth to land. She stared at Yu Sheng’s corpse, then squeezed her eyes shut like she could force herself to feel the right thing.

She looked like she wanted to cry, but she knew she didn’t have to. The mood felt wrong if she didn’t. Crying felt worse—like it would disrespect her benefactor.

Li Lin, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. His whole body tensed as he watched the flesh behemoth nearby. He kept his eyes on it while trying to steady his voice. “I’m sorry, but the dead can’t come back to life. Right now, we have to deal with—”

He cut off as the miserable-looking doll snapped, “It’s fine. He’ll be alive again in a while. We just need to hold out twenty or thirty minutes until he comes back and opens the door. Fox, help me up, and don’t forget the painting on the ground.”

Foxy moved on instinct. She hurriedly pulled the oil painting frame out from under Yu Sheng’s body, then hugged the immobile Irene to her chest.

Li Lin’s group watched, stunned. They couldn’t understand the doll’s reaction at all. For a heartbeat, they even wondered if grief had broken her.

Then the valley reminded them how little their feelings mattered.

Howls rose again from the darkness around the ruined temple—too many, too close. A presence pressed down without end. Even Xu Jiali, battle-hardened as he was, went rigid as the situation came into focus.

Hideous monsters made of piled flesh were forming one after another in the dark.

“Holy shit,” Li Lin blurted. “How are there so many?! Didn’t the report say the hunger entities only generate one at a time?!”

Xu Jiali lifted his head slowly. He swallowed hard before he spoke. “What if this valley has already been parasitized by an angel…”

“What do you mea—” Li Lin started, then followed Xu Jiali’s gaze.

He saw it.

The valley writhed under the night.

Sharp, tooth-like structures surfaced along the outline of the distant mountains.

But worse than that was the sky.

The otherworld sky, always locked in chaotic night like a thick curtain, split open. A thin seam appeared, and faint light leaked through—and with it came the truth behind the “curtain.”

It wasn’t a curtain. It wasn’t dark clouds.

It was an eyelid.

A single closed eye had covered the entire otherworld, creating its eternal night.

Now it opened.

The eyeball stared down coldly at everything below. Its hollow pupil was filled with chaotic lines and flickering light, as if it were studying the prey in the valley. That stray light drove back some of the permanent darkness. “Light” descended, and with it came endless terror.

The wind snapped Li Lin out of his stunned fear. He heard someone murmur beside him.

It was Xu Jiali. The veteran deep diver, with more than ten years of service, spoke the name like a curse.

“Dark angels…”