Chapter 10: Flowers Bloom Twice

Erin thought it was absurd that Yu Sheng could live for a long time in a "Otherworld" without realizing it—but Yu Sheng thought the entire world was absurd.

"According to what you say, this world is full of 'Otherworlds', right?" Hiding in the corner of the ruined temple, Yu Sheng chatted intermittently with Erin in his mind, "It's just that most people can't access them? Because they can't observe them?"

"More or less, but whether the entire 'world' is like that... actually, I'm not too clear either," Erin said, "After all, the world is so big, right? But at least within the scope of the 'Boundary City'... the probability of an Otherworld appearing is very high, so this place seems to be called something like the 'Borderland'... I'm not clear on the specifics; I've been stuck in the painting for too long, and my brain is a bit muddled."

"Borderland?" Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, feeling that the term sounded strangely familiar, but immediately he noticed another piece of information revealed in Erin's previous words—

She had specifically emphasized "within the scope of the Boundary City"—so, this vast city that seemed to have no boundaries actually had an "outside"!

He hesitated for two or three seconds, but still couldn't help speaking up: "Outside the Boundary City... what's there?"

"Outside the Boundary City? Maybe more cities? Or maybe... the sea or something?" Erin's answer was vague, "I don't remember anymore; I really have been stuck in this painting for too long. I only remember a few things about this city..."

Saying this, she suddenly stopped, then asked with some confusion, "You don't know? You haven't left the Boundary City either?"

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched, and he immediately fell silent.

How would he know! He had only been in this place for two months—let alone the outside of the Boundary City, he hadn't even figured out the bus routes beyond his own neighborhood's four blocks!

But after a long silence, he decided not to mention it—about this little secret of his, he didn't want a "Cursed Painting" he had just met recently to know yet.

"I haven't gone out; I'm quite a homebody... never mind, let's not talk about that for now," he casually brushed it off and shifted the topic, "Let's first figure out how to solve the trouble here; how can I get out of this so-called 'Otherworld'? By the way... is it possible to get out of an Otherworld?"

On the other side, Erin pondered for a while, seemingly organizing her memories, which were chaotic and blurred due to the long-term sealing, and only after a long time did a response come through: "Otherworlds... there are many kinds. Sometimes it might just be a house that doesn't exist on any map; sometimes it might be an extra stop on a bus route; sometimes it might even be a forest, a kingdom you can walk into just by opening a closet door—basically, smaller Otherworlds have relatively fixed and obvious exits, or you can return to reality by following specific rules, but the larger the Otherworld, the more complex the situation."

Stopping here for a moment, she continued, "I actually can't recall the specifics too clearly; Otherworlds should have a complete classification system, and there's also some kind of 'Depth' classification and 'Danger Level' standard, but I really... have been stuck in this painting for too long..."

Her voice gradually lowered, sounding somewhat disappointed.

Yu Sheng originally wanted to retort a couple of times, thinking that this doll chattered a lot but remembered none of the useful information, but after hearing her final whisper, he closed his mouth and didn't argue with Erin as before.

She had already tried very hard to help—she had just been sealed for too long.

"Let's look around; we'll find an exit eventually," Yu Sheng shook his head, looking up at the valley outside the ruined temple, "The scale of this place seems quite large; at least within sight, there are mountains on both sides and the Lin Zi in the distance. According to what you said, leaving... might not be that easy."

"Mm," Erin hummed, "You can first walk around the 'original landing point' after you entered the Otherworld, look for anything that doesn't fit the surrounding environment, something you immediately feel shouldn't be there. Generally, the exit of an Otherworld will be nearby. If there's nothing nearby, find a higher place and see if you can see a mirror-like reflection or hear a continuous wind sound..."

"However, even if you discover something similar, don't rashly go over and touch it; that could also be a trap leading to a 'deeper layer'. As for specifics... I can't explain clearly either; you have to rely on your feeling."

"Feeling?" Yu Sheng couldn't help speaking up.

"... Yes, strictly speaking, what it actually requires is 'Inspiration', a spiritual intuition. Investigator-trained personnel master this perception method—I know you haven't been trained in this, but there's no other way now; you just have to bite the bullet and go ahead."

"But don't worry too much; spirituality exists in all intelligent beings; even ordinary people without training have it, it's just not triggered. If you are careful, you will feel that kind of warning and omen originating from your own essence—if you really encounter something you can't judge, tell me; I... will try my best to help."

Yu Sheng agreed, slowly walking out from the corner where he had been hiding, cautiously heading toward the main door of the ruined temple—that unsettling "sense of being watched" and "hunger" still surrounded him, even seeming to have soaked into the surrounding air, becoming part of this entire valley, but he still forced himself to step out.

Because according to the information Erin provided, he must find an "exit" as soon as possible to leave this place—waiting in the corner wouldn't make a door open in front of him.

Meanwhile, probably to relieve his inner tension, he was still chatting intermittently with Erin.

"You say the place I've always lived in is an 'Otherworld'; how did you judge that? I didn't feel anything wrong with my home..."

"I can feel it," Erin replied, "It's that 'Inspiration' I mentioned; I can clearly feel something wrong with this building—of course, on the surface it does look quite normal... I don't know why that is."

"It's feeling again..." Yu Sheng shook his head, "Then according to what you say, every day when I go home and enter the door, I'm walking into an Otherworld, and when I open the door and go out, I'm leaving the Otherworld, right? Then my home is really a 'good Otherworld' that comes and goes freely and harms no one."

After two or three seconds, Erin spoke softly, "... Going out through the door doesn't necessarily mean arriving where you want to go, does it?"

Yu Sheng's expression instantly stiffened, recalling why he had been so unlucky as to be trapped in this place.

He seemed to know exactly what was wrong with his "home".

Thinking this way, he actually lived safely and soundly in that big house for two months; that itself was a miracle!

While speaking, he had already returned to the open ground in front of the ruined temple, which was the "landing point" where he originally entered this "Otherworld". "I found nothing here," Yu Sheng carefully checked the area around the open ground, confirming he hadn't found the "key item of dissonance" Erin described, "It seems it really isn't that easy."

"Yes, that's to be expected," Erin sighed, "Then try walking outwards first, but remember, absolutely do not touch anything that is glowing or suddenly moves in front of your eyes. Also, unless absolutely necessary, do not eat or drink anything in the Otherworld..."

"I know... By the way, would it be better to search when it's daytime?" Yu Sheng said, looking up at the sky above, which seemed to be forever covered by a layer of murky curtain, "Moving around in the wild at night always feels eerie."

"Otherworlds are often counter-intuitive; daytime isn't necessarily safer, even... there might not even be daytime," Erin immediately said, "I still suggest you find the exit as soon as possible; if you drag it out too long, something might change over on your side."

Yu Sheng pouted, having no choice but to walk helplessly toward the distance.

And just at the moment he stepped out of the ruined temple's range, a sound came to his ears...

At first, it seemed to be just a faint, blurred breathing sound.

Yu Sheng instinctively looked in the direction the sound came from, and just then saw a white mist slowly dissipating in the air, as if some invisible giant beast had just exhaled a cloud of foul breath.

He heard the sound, so the giant beast's breath was generated.

He saw that white mist, so the existence of the giant beast began to be confirmed.

!.

A black shadow emerged in the air, a shadow almost three times the size of Yu Sheng, slowly taking shape before him, accompanied by heavy breathing sounds.

Now, he saw the outline of the giant beast—the giant beast existed.

Yu Sheng's heart instantly tightened; an immense sense of crisis crushed down upon him, heavier than the oppression brought by that frog in the rain!

And at the very moment he felt his heart tighten, that black shadow solidified.

It was something Yu Sheng had never seen before—bear? Lion? Eagle? Or tiger and snake? Countless grotesque and bizarre yet vaguely recognizable limbs were piled onto that huge and ugly meatball, as if many fierce beasts had been forcibly melted in a large pot and then mixed together into a mass that ran out from inside; this nauseating and terrifying thing supported its massive body with its swollen limbs of various sizes and shapes, looking down at Yu Sheng, and in those haphazardly layered eyes... hunger filled them.

Yu Sheng slowly raised his head, meeting the giant beast's gaze.

The giant beast lunged down without hesitation—at the critical moment, Yu Sheng suddenly lowered his body, narrowly dodging past one of the giant beast's huge blood-filled mouths.

Then he fell into its other giant mouth.

Sharp teeth fiercely closed; more than half of Yu Sheng's body was instantly torn apart, yet at this moment, the intense pain seemed to turn into a distant numb illusion; he felt everything before his eyes slow down; he saw snake-like limbs extending from behind the giant beast, and another huge mouth biting into him, tearing at the remaining part below his chest—he saw his own heart again.

The heart beat slowly, then disappeared into the depths of the snake's mouth.

"F*** your grandmother!"

Yu Sheng squeezed out a final curse from his throat; he knew he was about to die again, but he felt he couldn't just let it end like this.

When the last bit of muscle in his body could still contract, he turned his head with all his might and bit down on something beside him—he didn't know which part of the giant beast this was, he didn't know what good biting this would do, he just knew he had bitten into the opponent.

Even at the point of death, at least tear off a piece of flesh.

Yu Sheng used all his strength in this moment; he fiercely tore at the giant beast, and the giant beast tore at him; blood and flesh, claws and teeth, food and eater...

Before his thoughts completely plunged into darkness, the last thought squeezed out in Yu Sheng's mind—he spoke softly to Erin, who was far away somewhere unknown, "Erin..."

"Ah?"

"Nothing much, I'll hang up first."

Irene was stunned for a moment, unable to react immediately.

Then Yu Sheng hung up.

(End of this chapter)