Chapter 32: The Blood Test

Ailin didn't just insult people badly—when she screamed, the noise made your skull buzz.

Yu Sheng even wondered how this thing could make so much noise through a single oil painting—was the whole canvas acting like a speaker?

"Don't ask me how it works—I don't even know how it works myself," Yu Sheng said, rubbing his ear with a sigh, holding out his hands to Ailin. "All I can confirm is that I can open 'doors,' and these doors lead to all kinds of places—either other realms, or somewhere like the one you just saw. But right now, we can't tell if it's another world, another planet, or a parallel timeline or something like that."

He paused, then added, "Maybe I should ask the person on the other side? But that elf woman just now didn't look like she was in a good mood…"

Ailin was half-dazed, only snapping out of it after Yu Sheng rambled on for a while. After thinking it over, she finally spoke: "Then… what about the conditions? Like, under what circumstances can you open the door?"

"Still not sure," Yu Sheng said, thinking back on his own sensations and laying it out plainly. "I feel like I could open it anytime. As for the method, there seem to be two: one is opening an actual, ordinary door already present in reality—this is effortless, sometimes I don't even realize I've done it, and the door just opens straight to 'somewhere else.' The second is like what you just saw—"

As he spoke, Yu Sheng raised his hand in the air, miming the motion of pulling open a door.

"A door created out of thin air is harder—it requires focus to sense and imagine it, and if you lose concentration during the process, the door might vanish suddenly. But the upside is you won't accidentally walk through into another realm."

Ailin stared at Yu Sheng with blood-red eyes, her gaze tracking his arm as it moved back and forth several times. After a long silence, she blurted out: "... Are you even human?"

Yu Sheng immediately bristled: "What kind of thing is that to say?"

"At this point, how can you still say that? That line—you told me not long ago," Ailin muttered, recalling, then mimicking Yu Sheng's tone and expression precisely: "—Aren't you human, then?"

She turned her body straight, staring directly into Yu Sheng's eyes.

"Some humans can master supernatural powers, but I've never seen anyone like you."

"Maybe you've seen it before and just forgot?" Yu Sheng stubbornly retorted. "Your brain isn't exactly reliable."

Ailin blinked: "... Huh. Right. I guess?"

Now it was Yu Sheng's turn to feel awkward. He'd just been stubborn, habitually bickering with this doll—but he never expected Ailin had such clear self-awareness. Her first reaction was to accept it… she accepted it…

But he quickly adjusted his expression, clearing his throat twice to steer the conversation back: "So it seems now that my falling into that valley had nothing to do with this house's strange properties—it was the moment I opened the door that created the passage. So theoretically, if I can replicate that exact action, I can return to that other realm."

When it came to serious matters, Ailin's expression turned serious too: "Is this ability controllable?"

"... Partially controllable," Yu Sheng said uncertainly, then explained. "I can now mostly control when to open a passage to 'somewhere else' versus when to open a normal door. But where exactly it leads is completely unpredictable—even possible I might open a door and fall straight into a volcano. But… I just confirmed one thing."

Ailin asked quickly: "What thing?"

"The passage can be replicated. Under specific conditions, opening the door twice can lead to the same place," Yu Sheng said. "Like the elf you just saw—I've met her twice now."

Ailin: "... Oh. That explains her reaction just now."

Yu Sheng looked embarrassed: "I'm not sure how it happens, but I vaguely remember that 'feeling.' I think with more attempts and training, I could stabilize opening doors I've passed through once. But the biggest problem now is… when I first entered that valley, I had zero preparation, and I've almost forgotten the sensation of opening the door—making it extremely hard to replicate that passage."

"But at least now you finally have a direction, right?" Ailin immediately comforted him. "I used to think your plan to rush back and save that fox was pure fantasy. Now it's become a feasible plan, isn't it? Isn't it?"

Yu Sheng stared at the doll inside the painting with a surprised look, making her squirm uncomfortably in her chair: "Why are you staring at me? I already told you—you and a paper cutout won't—"

Before she could finish her nonsense, Yu Sheng interrupted: "I've never heard you say anything nice before—I always thought you only knew how to spit garbage. Didn't expect you could offer comfort."

Ailin: "..."

Ailin could curse like a sailor.

But Yu Sheng's mood was now excellent—even Ailin's cursing felt like background music to his life.

He stared at his hands, waved them in the air, rose from the table, and paced around the dining room, radiating energy.

Seeing this, Ailin fell silent, her eyes following his movements: "You're not seriously going to start… uh, 'training,' now, are you?"

"Better sooner than later. I slept all day, so I'm wide awake," Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly. "This practice doesn't take up space." "Just be careful—if you open another door and that elf fires a fireball at you again, don't splatter me with blood."

That trash talk was spot-on.

Yu Sheng waved it off, his gaze landing on the kitchen door beside him.

Opening a door out of thin air required extra energy—so for practice, using an actual physical door was far more suitable.

But before he began, Yu Sheng suddenly remembered something.

"What did you just say?" he turned back, looking at the doll in the painting.

Ailin thought: "... Take it easy? So the elf doesn't blast you with a fireball?"

"I meant the nastier one."

Ailin's lip twitched: "Don't splatter me with blood!"

"Yes—that one. I want to test this first," Yu Sheng grinned, walking over to the table, picking up a small fruit knife. "My blood."

!.

Ailin visibly startled, clutching her toy bear and leaping off her chair: "What are you doing! I was just joking—do you really need a knife?! I warn you, I'm not easy to provoke—you don't even need a knife! Put it down! If you scratch the canvas, I might crack right through—"

The doll erupted into a rapid-fire stream of babble. Yu Sheng frowned: "Why are you panicking? I didn't say I was going to cut you."

Before he finished speaking, he pressed the knife against his finger—but hesitated, then switched to his forearm. He gritted his teeth, shut his eyes, and sliced—pfft—a clean cut.

It didn't even hurt much.

Ailin stared, dumbfounded, as Yu Sheng held his bleeding hand toward her, backing away frantically: "What are you doing?! Wait… you're not actually believing that 'blood oath' nonsense from novels, are you? I told you to read less—"

"First," Yu Sheng glanced at the terrified doll, "I'm a novelist. Sure, I'm not doing well, but I take offense at your criticism of novels. Second, this has nothing to do with blood oaths. I'm just testing a hypothesis—when the fox touched my blood, both of us changed. I want to see if something similar happens to you."

Yu Sheng referred to how the fox had suddenly gained the ability to sense his "death," and how he himself began perceiving fragments of her thoughts and memories. He also suspected the silver fox's projection in his dream world was tied to this "blood connection."

Ailin froze slightly upon hearing this, then sensed his seriousness. Though she didn't understand the details, she gradually fell quiet. Even though she still looked reluctant (mainly distrusting his suspicious procedure), she cooperated.

Of course, the main reason she cooperated was because she couldn't run—trapped inside the painting, she could do nothing but scream. And now Yu Sheng had basically grown used to her screaming…

But honestly, Ailin wasn't a suitable "test subject."

After all, her "constitution" was unusual.

Yu Sheng couldn't tell whether his blood was affecting Ailin herself, or merely the oil painting that served as the sealing medium—he smeared blood on the frame, then squeezed more onto the canvas while the wound was still open. But no matter what he did, he couldn't replicate the fox's case and let his blood directly touch the doll's body inside the painting.

Ailin looked up, though it was unclear how her vision worked inside the painting—yet she clearly sensed the blood's contact.

But that was all.

The painting didn't "absorb" Yu Sheng's blood like the fox had licked it up.

"Any sensation?" Yu Sheng waited a long while before asking uncertainly.

Ailin thought: "... Warm? But now it's cold."

Yu Sheng: "... Then it's useless."

(End of this chapter)