Chapter 33: Delayed Effect?

Yu Sheng thought that his blood apparently couldn't affect Erin—perhaps because the oil painting serving as the sealing medium blocked the blood's penetration, or perhaps because Erin, as a doll, was inherently unaffected by that blood, or more likely... Hu Li, who was affected, was the special case.

After waiting a long time with nothing happening, Erin in the painting lost patience; she looked up at the top of the frame and mumbled, "Then just wipe the blood off. After all, this is where I live; having so much blood on it is so unlucky..."

Yu Sheng: "... You're a weird doll sealed inside an oil painting and you still have the mind to complain about this! Just you standing here is already unlucky enough!"

Erin became dissatisfied upon hearing this: "Who said I'm unlucky? I'm so good-looking, how could I be unlucky? Some people even line a whole wall with plastic figurines in their rooms; you lean against a wall and stick a painting of a pretty Miss on it and you still think it's unlucky?!"

Yu Sheng listened, stunned, unable to figure out how this guy could summarize such a string of content into one sentence.

Nevertheless, he waved his hand, muttering "How can this be the same?" while getting up to grab a wet wipe, preparing to wipe the blood off the frame.

It wouldn't wipe off.

Yu Sheng paused, seeing the wet wipe had no effect after passing over it; he rubbed harder against the frame (not daring to scrub the canvas part too hard for fear of damaging it), yet the bloodstain on it remained completely unmoved.

But compared to the bloodstain on the frame that wouldn't wipe off, Yu Sheng noticed the situation on the wet wipe even more—not even a single red mark.

Even if the bloodstain was hard to remove, it couldn't possibly be like this!

Erin couldn't see the condition of the wet wipe; she just looked up at Yu Sheng suddenly freezing, instantly feeling uneasy: "Uh, what happened?"

"It won't wipe off," Yu Sheng said blankly, looking at the bloodstains that seemed to have become part of the frame itself, "It didn't soak in, but rather... it's just like the frame's original color."

Erin did not respond.

Yu Sheng lowered his head in confusion, seeing the doll in the painting staring blankly at him, as if her head had suddenly been disconnected; another two or three seconds passed before Erin's expression gradually shifted from blankness to terror, as if suddenly recalling something; she suddenly raised a finger pointing at Yu Sheng and let out a scream: "Ahhh Yu Sheng you you die die die die..."

Yu Sheng froze for a second, then immediately understood what happened; seeing Erin still screaming, he calmly sat down on the opposite chair: "Don't say 'die' so many times, it's unlucky—even though the actual number of times is indeed a bit high."

Erin stopped abruptly, glanced at Yu Sheng, then continued screaming.

Yu Sheng had to get up to try and calm down this terrified doll—she was far less calm than that fox.

However, verbal comfort obviously had limited effect; he didn't know if it was because the impact brought by the delayed effect of the blood was simply too fierce, but she appeared exceptionally agitated.

Fortunately, Yu Sheng suddenly had a flash of dark inspiration and came up with a solution.

The next second, he grabbed Erin's oil painting, shook and swung it vigorously in the air, finally spinning it and throwing it into mid-air, caught it, spun it twice more, and placed it back on the table.

He watched the Young Lady doll struggle hard to climb onto that chair covered with a red velvet blanket.

Erin stopped screaming.

Erin cursed very badly.

But this time, Yu Sheng was quite experienced in comforting her—he finally got the doll to calm down, then, amidst Erin's lingering angry muttering, clarified exactly what the situation was.

At the same time, he finally confirmed that his blood was also effective on the sealed Erin; although it appeared the blood only acted on the oil painting frame, for some reason, Erin was indeed affected by it and experienced the same thing as Hu Li: she recalled the "event" of Yu Sheng's death that she had witnessed.

However, up to now, Yu Sheng had not perceived Erin's "thoughts" and "memories" as he did when he was with Hu Li before.

He looked up at the still-angry doll and didn't dare mention that he actually suspected she lacked both of those things...

Erin was still puffed up with anger, but regardless, the impact of Yu Sheng's "Return of the Dead" on her was ultimately greater than the previous "roller coaster," so her focus remained on Yu Sheng's "resurrection."

"You say... this isn't the first time?" She stared at Yu Sheng, her tone still filled with disbelief.

"Yes, in fact, it started before I met you," Yu Sheng thought for a moment, recalling that frog in the rain, "But don't ask me the principle; just like that door a moment ago, I only know such a thing exists, but I don't know how it works..."

"Are there any side effects or costs?" Erin asked immediately. "Currently... none found," Yu Sheng hesitated slightly and said cautiously; on this matter, he put aside his indifferent attitude, "Including physical and mental, no problems found."

Erin continued to stare tightly at Yu Sheng's eyes: "Then we still need to avoid this kind of 'resurrection' as much as possible in the future."

Yu Sheng sighed helplessly: "Of course I know."

"Side effects might be in the distant future, and the cost might be in a way you can't imagine," Erin seemed afraid Yu Sheng hadn't truly understood this warning, so she explained tirelessly, "All things in the world tend towards balance; things exceeding reason and order will always encounter a 'counterattack' brought by reason and order, and dying then coming back to life... is truly the most absurd situation among all supra-rational events; although you say no problems were found, I don't quite believe it."

Speaking to this point, she paused, then explained with a serious face: "It's not that I don't believe you; I just don't believe the 'appearance' of this matter."

"I understand, I understand," Yu Sheng nodded very seriously, but immediately spread his hands quite helplessly, "But then again, do you think any of the times I died were voluntary?"

Erin: "... Oh yeah."

"I just have a good mindset; after all, there's no choice; in that situation in the valley, I could only maintain a good mindset," Yu Sheng sighed, "I understand your worry, rest assured, I have my own measure."

Erin stared at him for a long while again, finally withdrawing her gaze with a mumble: "Fine, just remember it... I'm still waiting for you to get me a body."

Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.

One had to admit, this doll's ability to accept things was truly strong; such an absurd matter, she still accepted it so easily in the end...

!.

Erin suddenly looked up again with an expression of holding back nothing: "Hey, wait, I'm really weirded out, are you even human? Are you really sure you were born to parents and grew up eating human food? Can't you recall if there was anything... during your childhood?"

Yu Sheng: "..."

He withdrew his thoughts; this doll's ability to accept things didn't seem that strong after all.

After perfunctorily brushing it off with a few words, Yu Sheng didn't mind the doll's subsequent muttering; after testing the "blood" matter, he still remembered his original plan.

Continue familiarizing himself with the "Opening Doors" ability and its characteristics, finding a way to reproduce the passage and accurately locate the "landing point."

Until he could open that door leading to the valley.

To bring food to Hu Li.

Erin finally gradually quieted down; she watched Yu Sheng grasp the kitchen door handle, hesitated repeatedly, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Even if you really find the 'door' back to that valley, have you thought about how to deal with the 'Hunger' afterwards?"

Yu Sheng slowly turned the handle, sensing the subtle feeling coming from the depths of the so-called "spiritual intuition," and slowly spoke: "Take one step at a time."

"Doesn't that mean you haven't thought it through at all!?" Without turning around, he could know Erin must have widened her eyes again, "Then are you going to deliver food to Hu Li or to that monster?!"

"I mean, if we can fight that monster, we fight; being able to temporarily eliminate the physical manifestation of the 'Hunger' is good, which has a high probability of helping Hu Li break free from the Hunger's influence; if we can't fight, then find a way to bring Hu Li out through the 'door,' but this has side effects; Hu Li might still be targeted by the 'Hunger'; if the second method still doesn't work, then at least send some food in to make Hu Li feel better; anyway, as long as we have a stable means of opening doors, everything can be planned for the long term."

"What I mean by taking one step at a time is to choose one of these three plans depending on the situation then, but specifically how to deal with that 'entity'... I really have no idea right now."

"Alright, you've planned to this extent, so that's fine," Erin sounded relieved, "As long as you don't just rush in blindly to deliver food to that monster."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and still didn't say the sentence "After eating me, the monster's mouth and stomach won't match up," because once that sentence was spoken, he didn't know how much more the doll would chatter...

Turning this trivial thought over in his mind, he slowly pulled open the kitchen door.

An endless darkness came into view; dim stars twinkled in the distant darkness; besides that... there seemed to be nothing outside the door.

Yu Sheng looked confusedly at the empty scene opposite the door; a moment later, he suddenly realized, and slammed the door shut with a bang.

"Shocked, it's f***ing outer space!"

(End of this chapter)