Ah, the familiar darkness, the familiar weight pressing down, and the familiar feeling of consciousness sinking deeper and deeper.
Yu Sheng’s thoughts were adrift in a vast sea of chaos, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of helplessness and fatigue.
He had braced himself for many trials before leaving that strange land, even contemplated the possibility of “dying” more than once.
He had guessed the beginning and the end, but he never anticipated the journey in between—during this endless drifting in the dark, he couldn’t help but recall the last scene he saw before losing consciousness.
He remembered the fleeting moment of those golden-red pupils that had reflected in his eyes, the mesmerizing fox tails blooming like fireworks in the night... and that subsonic headbutt.
So who was that girl that had knocked him dead? Where did she come from? And why did she appear in that strange land?
Moreover, what had happened to him during the battle with that monster? That sudden surge of strength, agility, and… that overwhelming impulse of hunger.
What had truly transpired within him?
Yu Sheng’s thoughts swirled chaotically in his mind like a vortex.
Freed from the confines of his physical body, these uncontrolled thoughts took shape into various bizarre illusions before his very “eyes,” mixed with many memories rising from the depths—he saw that monster composed of countless limbs, the girl with fox ears and tails who had suddenly emerged, but in the blink of an eye, he also saw a painting where Erin lay scattered across the chairs, her doll-like limbs connected by spiderweb threads, with a strange shadow looming dimly in the depths of the picture...
Suddenly, Erin disappeared again, and new images emerged deep within Yu Sheng's memories—crimson clouds and the sky, sunlight flowing like water, bathing the familiar old streets and alleyways.
Oh, that was the place where Yu Sheng was born and raised, his familiar “Boundary City,” an inconspicuous coastal town.
It had been two months since he left there... but for some reason, when the images from his memory surfaced, he felt as if they belonged to someone else’s past, a long time ago, cold and distant, displayed before him.
All the images faded away, leaving only the gentle darkness surrounding him.
Yu Sheng felt his mind gradually clear.
After a moment’s hesitation, he tried calling from the depths of his heart: “Erin.”
In the darkness, there was no reply.
It seemed that in this state of “death,” the connection between him and Erin had been severed.
Soon after, Yu Sheng attempted to shift his “gaze,” searching for other objects in this darkness and confirming whether his limbs existed.
He saw nothing; this place was utterly empty, and he appeared to be a drifting “thought” without any physical form.
Yu Sheng silently tried more things.
During his previous two experiences of “death,” he had no knowledge or clarity, almost returning to the “human world” in a muddled state.
But this time, he consciously began to perceive the process, experimenting with various conjectures.
He understood that he had been lost and confused for a long time; the strangers and bizarre phenomena of this world, the mysteries surrounding himself, the cycle of death and rebirth... so many incomprehensible things piled together left him feeling utterly bewildered.
But since Erin had revealed to him the concept of the “strange land,” he now had a goal—he wanted to return, to get back to the “normal” side.
When the openings to the strange land occasionally appeared to people, they crossed the boundary of reason, reaching another side beyond normality.
This process could be as simple as taking the wrong stop while riding, misstepping when going downstairs, misreading a word while flipping a page, or... opening an incorrect door.
But regardless of how it happened, the key point was that this process was not irreversible.
According to the information Erin had shared, people in this world were studying the strange land, summarizing its laws, and even experts dedicated to solving its problems existed.
Furthermore, even regular people had opportunities to return after falling into the strange land.
The valley veiled in darkness was a strange land, and the house he resided in at 66 Wutong Road was another strange land.
Yet, Yu Sheng felt that his initial encounter with the strange land might have occurred even earlier—when he had opened his front door two months ago, perhaps he had already fallen into a strange land centered around himself, named “Boundary City.”
Now, he needed to explore as much as possible, to understand these oddities and gather knowledge related to the strange land, then… leave this unfitting world.
With that, he opened his eyes.
The cold night breeze blew through the gaping hole in the wall, and beyond the collapsed roof lay a murky sky.
He sat in a corner of the ruined temple, but he didn’t rise immediately.
Instead, he remained still in the position of waking, carefully sensing everything around him while trying to grasp the quickly fleeing memories and impressions in his mind.
He attempted to recall the feeling of awakening, understanding the boundary separating him from the “real world” within the darkness.
He felt this could be the key to understanding his “death and rebirth” process.
At the very least, it would bring him a step closer to the truth behind these mysteries.
Vaguely, he began to remember certain images from that fleeting moment before he awoke—he recalled himself rising from the darkness, crossing a hazy boundary, then descending toward reality… but what happened afterward? What transpired in the brief moment between “descending towards reality” and “opening his eyes”?
He seemed to glimpse several fleeting images—quickly, and vaguely—but some of the clearer images included a small path near his home, the gate of 66 Wutong Road, and… this corner deep within the ruined temple.
Yu Sheng’s eyelids drooped slightly as thoughts began to settle in his mind.
He had some guesses forming, which he temporarily set aside before gently exhaling and starting to move his hands and feet slowly.
This body felt pure and robust; he could even sense the powerful energy flowing through his veins.
He heard clearly, saw far, and his limbs were full of strength—even though not long ago, he had been left limbless below the neck by a subsonic headbutt, he now felt more alive than ever.
He rose from the corner, ready to call out for Erin.
But just as he was about to, he froze in place.
Because he heard rustling noises coming from outside the wall.
Upon hearing this sound, Yu Sheng's first thought was—had that oddly intriguing monster chased him into the ruined temple?!
Yet soon, he sensed something was off, for that monster’s movements were always thunderous, not cautious like this.
Taking a gentle breath, he approached the gaping hole in the wall while peering outside.
The night was deep, but his eyes were clear.
He saw a girl carefully walking among the ruins of the temple.
The girl wore a tattered robe that seemed to have once been splendid, now reduced to dirty rags.
Her long, unkempt white hair obscured much of her face, but above her head… were a pair of pointed fox ears.
However, more than those furry ears, Yu Sheng’s gaze fell on the tails behind the girl—fox tails, more than one, but from his vantage point, it was hard to count how many tails there were—besides, the girl looked so disheveled that he even wondered if it was just one large tail, tangled from neglect...
By now, Yu Sheng recognized her without a doubt.
It was the one who had given him that subsonic headbutt.
But it seemed she hadn’t noticed Yu Sheng nearby; she was cautiously wandering through the ruins, pausing occasionally as if to sniff the air, perhaps searching for something.
After a while, her eyes lit up as if she had found something, and she hurriedly ran in a certain direction.
The sound of a plastic bag crinkling reached Yu Sheng’s ears.
His eyes widened.
That was the bag of kitchen waste he had brought with him when he was “thrown” into this valley, carelessly discarded amongst the ruins.
Inside it were scraps of vegetable leaves, eggshells from dinner, and leftovers he'd cleaned from the fridge.
He leaned against the wall, observing the joy yet clumsiness of the girl with the fox tails as she tore at the plastic bag, accidentally spilling its contents.
He then watched as she unhesitatingly grabbed a lump of leftover food and stuffed it into her mouth—
As if she hadn’t eaten for many, many years.
Suddenly, Yu Sheng felt a choking sensation.
He didn’t know why, but he felt terrible.
He thought… no one should be left to starve like that.
Even if she didn’t seem much like a “human.”
Even if she had once given him that headbutt—she had only intended to save him then.
Just then, the girl seemed to sense the presence of “living beings” in the ruined temple.
She crouched on the ground, a piece of wilted vegetable leaf clenched in her mouth, turning her head in shock and apprehension.
Yu Sheng stood at the collapsed corner of the temple, locking eyes with her across the ruins.
(End of Chapter)