Chapter 109: Construction

This was a pleasant big shopping spree, especially after Yu Sheng discovered that many things were cheaper than he had imagined.

Now, for who knows how many times, he was "storing" goods. Yu Sheng, accompanied by his two sidekicks, went to an unnoticed corner and let Hu Lizheng manifest her tail, stuffing the newly bought chicks into it.

Watching Hu Lizheng, her eyes flashing with Jin Guang, grab the chicks one by one and stuff them into her tail, Yu Sheng felt a subtle unease in his heart. Meanwhile, Erin, who was temporarily perched on his arm, was already too exhausted to comment: "You actually bought them... You really plan to raise chickens in the valley!"

"Why not? Such a huge place, no need to worry about them getting lost or snatched by wild dogs or anything. Scatter them all over the mountains and fields, free-range chickens!" Yu Sheng couldn't help but envision a bright future. "Let me tell you, I didn't manage to buy piglets, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, you'd want to raise free-range pigs, right? You're thinking quite far ahead, but you're going to scatter out such tiny chicks to raise?" Erin sighed. "Moreover, that place has only just started growing grass; are you sure you can raise animals there?"

"... So this is just future planning. For now, we'll raise the chickens in cages," Yu Sheng said, scratching his head a bit awkwardly. "I'll spend some time researching how to accelerate the ecological environment in the valley, and meanwhile, find a couple of books to learn about growing vegetables and raising chickens and such."

Erin paused: "... So you don't know how to do any of this at all?!"

Yu Sheng wore a serious expression, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world: "Obviously, do I look like someone who knows how to do this from my current state? I just have rich theoretical knowledge and imaginative experience!"

"Then why are you so enthusiastic?" Erin's tone was exceptionally helpless. "Looking at how hard you're planning, I thought you were an expert in this field, acting as if you were going to turn that Night Valley into a foreign-style agritainment resort."

"You don't understand," Yu Sheng said with an air of profound mystery, glancing at the small doll slumped on his arm. "Farming is the soul."

"I don't understand, after all, dolls don't need to eat," Erin said, rolling her eyes secretly since no one was around. "The Ancestor of Dolls never taught us anything about this. When the sisters shared their experiences remotely, I never heard of any doll studying farming."

"So I'm saying your education system, graduating from kindergarten via prenatal correspondence courses, is unreliable..."

"I'll take a bite out of your skull! Is that how you describe a lady!?"

By this time, Hu Lizheng had stuffed the last chick into her tail. She looked up at Erin and Yu Sheng, who were bickering as usual, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously spoke: "Benefactor, can I raise them?"

Hearing this, Yu Sheng was stunned: "Do you know how?"

Hu Lizheng nodded vigorously: "I do! The school taught us!"

Yu Sheng felt something was a bit off, but seeing the fox girl's eyes shining with excitement, he quickly nodded: "Then I'll leave it to you."

Erin was immediately shocked: "... You're letting a fox raise chickens?!"

Yu Sheng finally realized what was wrong and quickly reminded the great demon fox before him: "Eat them after they've grown up!"

By this time, Hu Lizheng was so happy her eyes had narrowed into slits. Whether she heard or understood the words didn't matter; she just nodded happily again and again: "Mm-hmm~"

At that moment, Yu Sheng felt he might never see the sight of this batch of chicks growing up and running freely in the valley...

All he hoped now was that when Hu Lizheng ate them, she would remember to at least cook them thoroughly.

"We've finished buying things, so we won't go to the building materials market," Yu Sheng said, glancing at the shopping list he had prepared before leaving. After confirming nothing was missing, he let out a long sigh, then looked down at the doll perched on his arm. "What about you? How is the condition of the body back home?"

"It's fine. We've run this far, and there's not even a sign of 'disconnection'," Erin replied immediately. "I'm trying to make the body over there walk around the room."

As she spoke, she moved slightly, propping herself up from Yu Sheng's arm and exercising her limbs in small movements. "At this distance, the control over each body hasn't changed much. The proficiency in controlling them separately has improved slightly, and we can basically adapt to and distinguish between two simultaneous fields of vision. However, here, I still can't fully stretch my legs; further testing will have to wait until we reach that valley."

"Alright, then let's go home first, pack things up, and then head to the valley."

"How are we going back? Take a taxi?" Erin looked up, her tone somewhat subtle. "This time, we probably won't 'happen to meet' a Special Bureau ride again, right?"

A smile appeared on Yu Sheng's face: "Going back is naturally 'Opening the Door'—you two wait a moment, I'll notify the Special Bureau."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, but as soon as he unlocked it, he raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

"The Border Communication app popped up a software update notification," he said, instinctively tapping the confirm button. "What could this thing possibly update... and it's done?"

The software update completed almost instantly. Yu Sheng even almost suspected the phone was malfunctioning. Then he saw "Border Communication" automatically restart and enter the main interface.

"This doesn't look like there's any change... huh?"

Before Yu Sheng could finish his muttering, he suddenly noticed a new button in the bottom right corner of the Border Communication main interface.

Erin immediately leaned over curiously: "What, what, what? Let me see, let me see, what was updated?"

Yu Sheng pointed at the button with a blank expression.

"...'One-Click Door Opening' notification?" The little doll paused, looking up at Yu Sheng. "A special update prepared just for you?"

"Anyway, I guess no one else's Border Communication has this function," Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. "Looks like the phone call to Bai Liqing at midnight last night had quite an impact."

While speaking, he casually pressed the one-click notification function, then turned to open the gate leading to 66 Wutong Road.

After returning home, he first had Hu Lizheng dump out the large pile of things from her tail, sorting them by category. He put rice, flour, oil, and other staples into the kitchen, then carried Erin upstairs to the bedroom to check on her condition.

To be honest, even he felt that the whole sentence he just said sounded like a grammatical error.

Erin was pacing in circles on the master bedroom floor, looking like she was having quite a good time.

There was no trace of the instability from earlier in the morning when both bodies were awake and she couldn't even stand steadily.

"I think I'm almost finding the trick to controlling two bodies simultaneously," both Einrs said in unison (the one on the shoulder and the one on the floor). "And I feel there might be an even simpler method than direct control. The shell acting as the 'secondary body' seems to run without needing too direct or detailed instructions. Look—"

As she spoke, the Erin pacing on the floor suddenly stopped. Her expression became extremely vacant, but this seemingly "disconnected" doll didn't fall down immediately. Instead, after a moment of vacancy, she staggered forward toward Yu Sheng.

"Okay, okay, I get it, but this is a bit creepy." Seeing the red-eyed doll, looking like a cursed doll, approach him with stiff, staggering steps, Yu Sheng's mind instantly flashed with several movies. He quickly waved his hands to make her return to normal, then bent down to pick up the little doll from the floor and placed her on his shoulder as well.

Carrying an Erin on each shoulder, he went downstairs. As soon as he reached the living room, he saw Hu Lizheng lying by the dining table. The girl wore a goofy smile, and two chicks were pecking at a handful of millet on the table in front of her, appearing completely unaware of any danger.

The demon fox girl was even chatting with the chicks: "Eat more, grow up quickly, I have big plans for you... Bai Qie, Salt-Baked."

Yu Sheng took a moment to figure out what was going on, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead: "You named them?"

Hu Lizheng happily narrowed her eyes: "Yes~"

"... Alright, as long as you're happy," Yu Sheng's face twitched. "Bring your Bai Qie and Salt-Baked, and let's go to the valley."

"Hey!"

Just as Yu Sheng had predicted, it was still daytime in the valley.

The clear sky with thin clouds covered the vast valley floor. Bright daylight outlined the rugged contours of the distant Gaoshan, with no sign of dimming whatsoever.

By now, Yu Sheng had entered this valley at different times of the day. He could basically confirm that there was truly no day-night cycle here.

The valley always maintained this state of bright sunshine and comfortable temperature.

This had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that such an environment was indeed quite comfortable, at least better than the previous situation of eternal night, biting cold winds everywhere, and an air filled with the stench of decay.

The disadvantage was that he strongly doubted whether such an environment could still successfully complete his "Great Vegetable-Growing Project."

After all, plants also need a day-night cycle to grow normally.

However, these were things to be verified later. As for the current stage, Yu Sheng still needed to clear a piece of land first—along with cleaning up that troublesome ruined temple, which would probably not take long.

Considering that he might be active in this valley frequently in the future, he planned to first roughly tidy up a "camp" here, and then bring Eileen to complete the scheduled "test" items.

That ruined temple ruin had gone through a "feast," and now there was basically nothing left. The shattered broken bricks and tiles were mixed into the pitted mud, serving no purpose other than affecting his farming.

Under Yu Sheng's influence, the earth began to gradually "awaken."

The mud writhed, swallowing the bricks and tiles, breaking them down, burying them. Stones of all sizes were pushed together and stacked at the edge of the open ground. A flat piece of land formed beneath Yu Sheng's feet and began slowly extending outward, sketching out the embryonic shape of the plot.

He stood at the edge of the open ground, carefully feeling the connection between himself and this valley, feeling the wonderful process of the mud, stones, even the air and water here all being shaped according to his wishes, and gradually immersing himself in it.

Unconsciously, he felt that his "control" over this place... seemed to have taken another step forward.

(End of this chapter)