As the final second of death approached, Yu Sheng felt an immense, boundless weight, as if he were being engulfed by a tangible and viscous "darkness."
His consciousness was rapidly fading, and he knew that the body, which supported this consciousness, was quickly losing its vitality due to the severe injuries it had sustained.
With bodily functions coming to a halt, the thoughts carried by his physical form, too, began to drown and disappear—this was the law of nature.
Yet, on the verge of losing his awareness, a surge of power—or perhaps a potent "thought"—an unusual fixation, seemed to clutch firmly at Yu Sheng’s mind.
In his dazed state, he recalled the frog that had devoured his heart and thought back to his last "resurrection."
What had really happened at that time? What had occurred to him? Why was he alive?
These questions transformed into an obsession, pushing his consciousness to cling on to the edge of that endless darkness.
Even when teetering on the brink, he refused to be fully consumed.
He truly wanted to know what had happened, how he had returned after death.
The darkness pressed down upon him, its viscous texture growing cold and rough.
He felt as if he were being buried under layers of thick soil, and his soul was struggling to breathe beneath this oppressive weight.
But suddenly, the heavy pressure vanished.
In a moment of sudden clarity, a thought rose in his wavering consciousness—
In his death, death had already died before him.
The Yu Sheng of death had perished; thus, the Yu Sheng of death returned once more from that vast darkness toward the realm of the living.
He felt his “body” suddenly become lighter, and he began to accelerate away from that endless blackness.
During this process, he vaguely perceived that the surface of the darkness seemed to harbor something; he was perhaps racing over some "surface," yet he had no time to clearly see it before he abruptly opened his eyes.
The cold night wind blew through a gaping hole in the wall.
Outside the half-collapsed roof lay a chaotic and murky sky; further within the depths of the night, the hollow winds of the valley howled.
Yu Sheng sat in the corner of the broken temple, his mind a muddle.
This feeling was familiar—he had just experienced it not long ago.
But this time, he regained his senses more quickly.
Almost within a few breaths, he remembered everything, including that feeling of being buried in darkness.
After adjusting his breath, Yu Sheng slowly rose to his feet.
He felt his joints gradually waking from stiffness, as if a newly born body was swiftly learning how to "live."
His strength surged back, his mind gradually cleared, and then he looked outside the broken temple at the place where he had bled profusely.
That place was now empty; the great beast seemed to have left… or perhaps just hidden away, like before.
After a moment of silence, Yu Sheng tentatively opened his mouth in his mind: "Ai Lin."
Almost the instant his words faded, Ai Lin's chattering voice exploded in his heart: "Yu Sheng! What the hell, are you okay!?"
Then she began to chatter away: "You suddenly stopped responding! No matter how I called, you didn’t react! I even couldn’t sense your consciousness anywhere! I thought you died! You scared me! If you died, no one would come to fix the TV—are you really okay!?"
Yu Sheng’s facial muscles twitched involuntarily: "What? You were just worried that no one would come home to fix the TV?"
Ai Lin pondered for a moment: "Well… that's not entirely it. I was also a bit scared that you actually died…"
Yu Sheng: "…"
She surprisingly hesitated a bit!
Efforting to calm himself, Yu Sheng finally gritted his teeth to make his voice sound stable: "What if I told you I really died just now?"
Ai Lin completely didn’t believe him: "Stop messing around! You sound lively and energetic now…"
"…Right. I was just joking with you," Yu Sheng calmly changed the subject, then he fell silent for a moment before speaking abruptly, "How long has it been?"
"Huh? How long has it been?"
"From when I told you I was gone until now, how much time has passed?"
"Uh… I can’t see the clock from my position… I estimate it might be about half an hour? Not exactly sure; I’ve been sealed in this painting for many years, so my sense of time is a bit dull. But looking outside, the sky hasn’t changed much, at least not a night has passed, and it’s still dark…"
Yu Sheng: "…Isn’t that a bit too inaccurate? You know half an hour and a night are worlds apart?!"
Ai Lin fell silent for a moment but then a shrill yet soft ridicule came from her end.
Ai Lin immediately explained: "It’s not me! It’s that bear!"
Yu Sheng, exhausted in both body and mind, waved his hand: "I know."
Ai Lin sounded quite happy: "Ah, you finally believe me…"
Yu Sheng was too tired to deal with the sealed person, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he hadn’t so much believed her words as thought—if she truly wanted to ask for a beating, she didn’t even need to be cheerful; just speaking was enough to warrant that.
It turned out that faced with Ai Lin's reckless mouth, the bear's mockery only served to add fuel to the fire… With useless thoughts swirling through his mind, Yu Sheng stepped out of the broken temple again.
He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he felt even more energetic than before he had died; his steps felt light, his movements strong, and even his gaze seemed to have improved a bit.
It felt as if he was adapting to this place, the darkness, the rugged ruins, and the malevolence and hungry gazes lurking everywhere.
He walked toward the empty ground before the broken temple, toward the woods across from the open space, heading deeper into this "otherworld."
He knew he might still die, perhaps at the next step, the next second.
"Yu Sheng," Ai Lin's voice echoed in his mind again, "Are you really okay just now?"
"I'm fine, just a little scratch. I'm all good now."
"Well, maybe you should stay put or find a safe place to hide. I’ll try to remember; perhaps I’ve encountered that 'valley' before…"
"Just remember while I keep looking around here," Yu Sheng casually replied.
"Huh? That might be a little dange…"
"Ai Lin," Yu Sheng directly interrupted her.
Now he had stepped onto the open ground, taking a deep breath of the chilly, oddly fishy air from the valley, looking at the shadowy, foreboding trees in the distance.
He suddenly cracked a smile, "You know, these days I’ve been muddling through without any clarity."
Ai Lin evidently couldn’t keep up with his thoughts: "Uh… ah, am I supposed to know…"
Yu Sheng, however, paid no mind to Ai Lin's reaction and continued, "…I just heard you mention ‘otherworld’ and some incidents of entering it. You know what my reaction was?"
"What reaction?"
"Happy."
"Huh?"
"Happy! I was really happy," as he stood in the darkness, he couldn’t suppress his laughter, "You said some people carelessly opened the wrong door, or just stepped on a wrong floor tile in some exceedingly unlikely moment, thus falling into this place known as the ‘otherworld’, right? And you also said that those who fall into the otherworld, if they’re lucky enough to grasp its patterns, still have a chance to go back…"
"I did say that…" Ai Lin said hesitantly, "But that really depends on luck. Professional investigators do fine; ordinary people generally just die after falling in without training…"
Yu Sheng murmured softly: "It’s fine; dying through it will yield results…"
Ai Lin: "…What?"
"Nothing. I just suddenly found something to do," Yu Sheng let out a gentle breath, as if he wanted to expel all the turbid air he had hoarded over the past two months in this world, "Let’s start here; it might take more time, but I’m sure I can get out of this place."
"Although I don’t know what your situation is like, it feels like… you’re getting energized?" Ai Lin said hesitantly, "That’s a good thing, right? Good luck? Just try not to die… I’m still waiting for you to come back and fix the TV… and also find me a body or something…"
"Alright, when I get back, I’ll think of a way to solve your body issue," Yu Sheng casually said, "I’ve had some exposure to sculptures and models before; it should work out."
This time Ai Lin was genuinely thrilled: "Ah? You have experience as a doll maker?! Why didn’t you mention it earlier! What’s your skill level? What kind of dolls or models can you make?"
Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then answered candidly: "About as good as following online videos to watch experts mold clay, after which my brain tells my hands that I can do it, but my hands don’t believe it."
Two seconds later, Ai Lin was cursing mercilessly.
But Yu Sheng completely relaxed, a strange sense of ease he couldn’t understand sparked his confidence, and he stepped forward, raising his head in the night to look at the towering mountain to the side.
By the side of the road stood a massive, mutilated beast, its body seeming to be composed of twisting, savage legs fused together, staring at him.
Yu Sheng halted, thought for a moment, and called out to the shouting figure in the painting: "Ai Lin."
"What is it?"
"…Nothing much. I have to go down again."
"Huh?"
(End of the Chapter)