Chapter 11: Three Times Is the Limit

In the final second when death descended, Yu Sheng felt an boundless, incredibly heavy, almost tangible darkness, as if it were some kind of viscous fluid.

He felt his consciousness rapidly dissipating; he knew the shell supporting this consciousness was quickly losing its vitality amidst the gruesome injuries—with physiological functions ceasing, the thoughts carried by the body also sank and scattered, which was the natural order.

Yet on the edge of consciousness dissolving, a force, or rather a powerful... "thought," a strange obsession, seemed to tightly bind Yu Sheng's mind; in his daze, he recalled the frog that had devoured his heart and his previous "resurrection."

What exactly happened then? What happened to him? Why was he alive?

These questions turned into an obsession, forcing his consciousness to stubbornly hold on at the edge of that endless darkness; even though it was tottering, it never completely sank, and he really wanted to know... what exactly happened, how did he "come back" after death?

The darkness crushed down, its viscous texture gradually becoming cold and rough; he felt as if he were being covered by thick layers of soil, and under this heavy pressure, his soul gradually struggled to breathe... but suddenly, this heavy pressure vanished.

In a moment of sudden realization, a thought suddenly arose in his wavering consciousness—

In his death, death died before him.

Yu Sheng's death died, so the dead Yu Sheng once again returned from that boundless darkness toward the realm of the living—he felt his "body" suddenly become light and began accelerating away from that endless darkness.

In this process, he vaguely saw something on the surface of that darkness; it seemed he was rapidly skimming over some "surface," but he had no time to clearly see that scene before he suddenly opened his eyes.

Cold night wind blew through the large hole in the wall; outside the collapsed half of the roof was a chaotic, filthy sky, and deep in the night, the hollow wind howled through the valley.

Yu Sheng sat in the corner of the ruined temple, feeling his mind muddled; this feeling was very familiar to him—just a short while ago, he had just experienced it once.

But this time, he recovered faster; in almost just a few breaths, he recalled everything, including the feeling of being buried by darkness.

After adjusting his breath, Yu Sheng slowly stood up.

He felt all his joints gradually waking from stiffness, as if a newly born body was rapidly learning how to "live"; strength quickly filled him, his mind gradually cleared, and only then did he look outside the ruined temple, at the place where he had previously been covered in blood.

That place was now empty; that giant beast seemed to have left... or perhaps it was just hiding, just like before.

After a moment of silence, Yu Sheng tentatively spoke in his mind: "... Eileen."

Almost the instant his words fell, Eileen's loud and boisterous voice exploded in his heart: "Yu Sheng! Wow, are you okay!?"

Then she began to chatter rapidly: "Just now you suddenly stopped responding; no matter how I called, there was no reaction, and I couldn't even feel where your consciousness was; I thought you died! You scared me to death; if you died, no one would come to fix the TV—really, are you okay?"

The muscles on Yu Sheng's face twitched instantly: "So you were just worried no one would come home to fix the TV, right?"

Eileen thought for a moment: "... Well, not exactly; I was also afraid you really died..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

She actually hesitated!

After struggling to calm his mood, Yu Sheng finally gritted his back teeth to make his voice sound calm and peaceful: "What if I told you I really died just now?"

Eileen didn't believe it at all: "Stop joking; you sound full of life right now..."

"... Right, I was just joking with you," hearing Eileen's reaction, Yu Sheng casually changed the subject; then he fell silent for a moment before speaking somewhat abruptly, "How long has it been?"

"Huh? How long has what been?"

"From when I told you I was hanging up until now, how much time has passed?"

"Uh... from my position, I can't see the clock in the living room... I estimate about half an hour? It might not be accurate; I've been sealed in this painting for many years, so my perception of time is a bit dull, but looking at the sky outside, nothing has changed; at least a night hasn't passed; it's not dawn yet..."

Yu Sheng: "... Isn't that a bit too inaccurate? Do you know how big the difference is between half an hour and a whole night?!"

Eileen fell silent for a moment, but immediately a harsh, low laugh came from her side.

Eileen instantly explained: "It wasn't me! It's that bear!"

Yu Sheng waved his hand, exhausted in body and mind: "I know."

Eileen sounded quite happy: "Ah, you finally willing to believe me..."

Yu Sheng was already too lazy to deal with this sealed doll; he didn't have the heart to tell the other party that he didn't believe her explanation, but rather felt that if she really wanted to get beaten, she didn't even need to laugh; her words alone were enough to provoke a beating.

Facts proved that in the face of Eileen's sharp tongue, that bear's sneering smile at most only served to add fuel to the fire... with useless thoughts turning in his mind, Yu Sheng walked out of the ruined temple again.

Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt his strength was even better than before he "died" just now; his steps were light, his movements powerful, and even his eyes... seemed to have improved a bit.

He seemed to be adapting here, adapting to the darkness here, the rugged ruins here, and the malice and hungry gazes everywhere here.

He walked toward the open space in front of the ruined temple, toward the Lin Zi across the open space, toward the deeper parts of this "Otherworld."

He knew he might die again, perhaps even in the next step, the next second.

"Yu Sheng," Eileen's voice rang in his mind again, "were you really okay just now?"

"I'm fine; just suffered a little injury, it's all better now."

"Well, how about you stay put for now, or find a safe place to hide? I'll try to recall; maybe I've encountered that 'valley' you mentioned before..."

"Then you just keep recalling; I'll continue wandering around here," Yu Sheng said casually.

"Huh? That might be a bit dangerous..."

"Eileen," Yu Sheng directly interrupted the other party; he had already reached the open space; at this moment, he deeply inhaled the cold and strangely fishy air of the valley, looked at the shadowy, gloomy dense forest in the distance, and suddenly smiled, pulling at the corners of his mouth, "Do you know? These past few days, I've been living in a daze."

!.

Eileen obviously couldn't quite follow Yu Sheng's train of thought: "Uh... ah, should I know that..."

Yu Sheng didn't care about Eileen's reaction, just spoke on his own: "... I just heard you mention 'Otherworld' and some incidents of people accidentally entering the Otherworld; do you know what my reaction was?"

"What reaction?"

"Happy."

"Huh?"

"Happy, I'm very happy," Yu Sheng stood in the night, unable to suppress his laughter, "You say, some people accidentally open the wrong door, or just in a very low-probability situation, step on the wrong floor at a certain time, and fall into the ghost place called 'Otherworld,' right? And you also said that people who fall into the Otherworld, if they are lucky enough to find the rules of the Otherworld, actually still have a chance to go back..."

"I did say that..." Eileen said hesitantly, "But this really depends on luck; professional investigators are fine, but ordinary people without training basically die as soon as they fall into the Otherworld..."

Yu Sheng murmured softly: "It's fine; keep dying and you'll figure it out..."

Eileen: "... What?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly found something to do," Yu Sheng let out a light sigh, as if to spit out all the turbid air he had been holding back in this world for the past two months in a confused state, "Let's start from here; it might take more time, but I can definitely get out of this place."

"Although I don't know what your situation is over there, it feels like you're... excited?" Eileen said hesitantly, "Well, at least it's a good thing, right? Go for it? Try not to die... still waiting for you to come back and fix the TV... and find me a body or something..."

"Okay, when I get back, I'll try to solve the body problem for you," Yu Sheng said casually, "I've dealt with some sculpture and modeling stuff before; trying should work."

This time Eileen was truly delighted: "Huh? You have experience as a doll maker?! Why didn't you say so earlier? How good is your craftsmanship? What level of dolls or models can you make?"

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then spoke plainly: "It's about the same as watching a master mold clay from online videos, then having your brain tell your hands that you've got it down, only for your hands to not believe it."

Two seconds later, Erin was cursing in the most foul terms.

But Yu Sheng felt his mood relax completely; a certain sense of ease, whether right or wrong even he didn't know, spurred his confidence. He walked forward, then lifted his head again into the night, trying to look toward Gaoshan on one side.

A flesh-and-blood beast, several meters tall and seemingly fused from countless twisted limbs of ferocious beasts, stared at him from the roadside.

Yu Sheng stopped, thought for a moment, and called out in his mind to the painted doll cursing in the street: "Erin."

"What is it?"

"... Nothing. I have to hang up again."

"Huh?"

(End of this chapter)