A simple black oil painting frame floated in the dimly lit dream world, the doll-like girl sealed within the painting wearing a puzzled expression over the current situation.
"This shouldn’t be happening! I’ve broken free from this thing’s control, and in the real world, I even have a body!" Erin paced around inside the painting, "I could accept having to carry this painting with me in the 'outside' world, as if it were just extra luggage. But why is it worse here in the dream world... theoretically entering a dream should grant more freedom, right?"
She looked up intently at Yu Sheng.
“Ask me? Who should I ask? I thought you should have more freedom upon entering a dream too,” Yu Sheng shrugged, “I wanted to see what you looked like at one meter sixty-seven, but you’re still just a paper doll.”
Erin seemed quite irritated, losing interest in bickering with Yu Sheng.
After circling around the chair in the painting countless times, she finally resigned herself to sitting back down in it, grabbing the fluffy teddy bear nearby and giving it a fierce squeeze.
"Now I'm stuck with this guy again... But well, at least I have gained some freedom in the real world. The dream world isn’t that important, hmm, not that important."
“... Sometimes I envy your optimism,” Yu Sheng remarked sincerely.
Erin bared her teeth at him, but whether in reality or in a dream, her growls had never held much menace.
Yu Sheng walked around the floating painting and found himself in front of the sleeping silver fox.
"What’s next? Do we do it like last time, where I lie on her tail? Then we both 'sink' down together?"
“Still like last time, but this time, the connection will be more ‘direct.’ I’ll find a way to keep Hu Li's consciousness close to awake, so you can communicate with her and feel her surroundings better,” Erin explained as she floated beside Yu Sheng, “But at the same time, ‘hunger’ will also take notice of you. It will come looking for you... What happens afterward, I can’t help you with. Contact and conflicts on a conscious level have to be handled by you alone.”
She paused for a moment, as if to reassure Yu Sheng, and then added, “But I can act as a last insurance. If I sense your mental state destabilizing, I will forcibly pull you out, just like last time when you woke up painfully. You’d better be prepared for that.”
“... Honestly, I really don’t want to go through that again,” Yu Sheng sighed, but soon nodded, his determination unchanged, “Alright, let’s get started.”
He found a comfortable dip between Hu Li's large tail, then caught Erin as she jumped down from mid-air.
Together, a person and a painting leaned against the fox's tail, sinking further into the dim dream world once more.
Unbeknownst to Yu Sheng, having established a connection last time made this second sinking process even faster and smoother than he had imagined.
He barely felt a moment of disorientation before his vision steadied, revealing the figure of the fox girl.
She was quietly crouching among the rubble, staring blankly at something ahead.
Yu Sheng positioned himself behind Hu Li, following her gaze forward—
He saw a massive wreckage, resembling the aftermath of a giant flying vehicle crash.
Twisted metal skeletons and broken decks still hinted at its former grandeur, and flickering light resembling lingering spiritual energy drifted slowly among the shattered remains.
The whole wreck was sprawled at the foot of a mountain, nearly engulfed and fused into it after collapsing and melting the surrounding rock.
Even just a glance made it clear how incredible that collision must have been back then.
If the passengers were just ordinary humans, it was likely that no one survived.
Yu Sheng stared at the crash site in shock but did not forget his purpose.
He approached the fox girl and softly said, “Hu Li.”
Hearing his voice made Hu Li’s ears spring up, and she jumped up, scanning her surroundings as if searching for the source of the sound.
After a moment of fruitless searching, she hesitated and answered, “... My benefactor?”
“It’s me, don’t look around. I’m directly connecting with your consciousness.”
“My benefactor! You’re really here! I thought... I misheard last time... My benefactor? What’s going on?” Joy shone on Hu Li’s face, yet she instinctively continued searching around, “I was dazing in the valley, and suddenly... found myself here. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?”
“Yes, I... took some measures to forcibly guide your dream. That’s the only way I could connect with you— but this isn’t the time for details,” Yu Sheng said quickly, “Listen, Hu Li, I’m here to rescue you, and to do this, I need to open a special door. It requires your cooperation— do you trust me?”
“Come, rescue me?” Hu Li paused, then suddenly realized and shook her head vigorously, “No, don’t come! My benefactor, it was so hard for you to get out. This valley is very strange, once you enter it, it’s hard to get out! You mustn’t come! Absolutely don’t…”
Yu Sheng interrupted the somewhat panicked girl, “I have a way! Hu Li, listen to me, I have found a stable method to enter and exit that valley. All I need you to do is help me open that door; don’t worry about that monster, I can handle it— understand? I’m quite capable, and this time, I also have help, they’re also... um, very capable.”
Yu Sheng tried to soothe Hu Li, wanting her to feel reassured.
However, a hint of confusion appeared on her face.
She struggled to keep up with Yu Sheng's words, and after some time, unsure of how much she understood, she finally asked, “So, my benefactor is also an immortal?”
Yu Sheng was completely baffled as to how her thoughts had jumped to this conclusion.
But he could be.
“A very powerful immortal.” He made an effort to sound reliable.
Immediately, the fox girl smiled brightly.
“My benefactor, what do you need me to do?”
“You don’t need to do anything, just focus on sensing your surroundings. You’ll feel someone peeking into your heart and even someone looking through your eyes at the world around you—don’t resist; that’s me.”
“Okay.”
Yu Sheng relaxed slightly.
Dealing with Hu Li was easier than he had imagined.
Now, he only needed to face the second problem.
“Erin,” he whispered in his heart, “Let’s begin.”
In the next moment, accompanied by a brief disorientation, Yu Sheng felt an indescribable... pull.
A completely new “connection” appeared, one established between him and Hu Li.
Unlike the subtle ties built through blood before, this new bond felt significantly stronger and... rougher.
A portion of his consciousness detached from control, merging with a series of new perceptions, as if his nerves suddenly connected to an entire set of additional limbs.
Although the sensations he received were somewhat vague and delayed, he began to feel the aura surrounding Hu Li.
Coldness, decay, the foul stench of withering life.
The wind stirred in the valley, rustling through the dark forest.
The night was eternal, the hunger everlasting.
The fox girl stood in the woods, wide-eyed, earnestly scanning her surroundings.
She didn’t understand what her benefactor was doing, nor did she know whether observing her surroundings like this was correct.
She just tried to follow her own understanding and attempt to complete Yu Sheng's request.
Then, she sensed the “connection” mentioned by her benefactor.
Startled, but she felt no malice.
Hu Li had always been able to keenly sense even the faintest hint of hostility, but this time, no ill will reached her.
She felt a bit of relief, even... her hunger didn't seem as overwhelming now.
...
As that overwhelming hunger and the suppressed frenzy deep within it surged toward him, Yu Sheng felt as if he was struck by a gigantic wave—like a mountain collapsing in the pitch black night, hunger and chaos were palpable, massive shadows, and as if solid darkness, they almost instantly drowned out every inch of his perception.
Yu Sheng hadn’t even had a moment to call out Erin's name; at the crucial moment, he desperately remembered the “characteristics” of the valley shared by Hu Li, growing completely engulfed by the chaotic black tide.
Yet deep within that black tide, he found himself still conscious.
Hunger gnawed at his soul, causing it to wither away; Yu Sheng watched as “he” was devoured in an instant, his perspective feeling like that of a distant, apathetic onlooker.
As hunger receded, the withered soul awakened once again.
Yu Sheng opened his eyes in the darkness, momentarily uncertain if he had experienced another “death” or if it was merely the fleeting illusion of being swallowed.
He wandered in the depths of darkness, feeling neither the passage of time nor the boundaries of space, even unsure if he was truly moving.
All he sensed was... a gaze that remained on him at all times.
Not just one gaze, but the entirety of this dark chaos was part of that gaze.
He felt like a tiny speck of dust, only the size of a pinhead, being observed and swallowed by the endless hunger.
After an uncertain amount of time, he finally caught a glimpse within the depths of that darkness... something massive, swaying, either a body or a shadow.
(End of Chapter)