Chapter 37: The First Step in Preparing a Body

Hearing Young Lady Erin's request, Yu Sheng was somewhat surprised; he did not know why the other party would raise this matter so solemnly at this time.

Regarding the matter of crafting a body for the doll in the painting, they had indeed discussed it more than once before, but never settled on it; on one hand, Yu Sheng and Young Lady Erin still lacked trust and understanding of each other, and on the other hand, there were simply too many chaotic things happening now, and Yu Sheng had no time to consider Young Lady Erin's body problem.

But now, seeing the extremely solemn expression on the Young Lady doll's face, Yu Sheng realized she was not bringing this up on a whim or out of momentary willfulness.

He looked at Young Lady Erin with a questioning gaze.

"I want to go with you," Young Lady Erin's answer was also very simple, "Just consider it having an extra pair of hands."

"Are you sure?" Yu Sheng's expression was somewhat subtle, "Of course, I'm not doubting your strength..."

"Listen," Young Lady Erin interrupted Yu Sheng; she leaned close to the edge of the frame, her face occupying almost two-thirds of the picture area, her tone unusually serious, "I'm not joking with you—although I don't know exactly how you plan to deal with that 'Entity', judging by the fact that you managed to bring back 'local specialties' from them, you must have some ability; as for what specific ability, I won't ask, but you must know that when dealing with the Otherworld, just being 'capable of fighting' is not enough, at least not enough when dealing with tricky Entities like 'Hunger'."

As she spoke, she stepped back slightly: "Make me a body, let me regain some ability to move freely; rough is fine, as long as I can break free from the bondage of this damn oil painting, I can do much more; although I can't restore my full strength, I am definitely much stronger than ordinary investigators or so-called Spirit World Detectives and Otherworld Hunters; even if I've forgotten much knowledge, I still have the instincts of a Living Doll."

Yu Sheng stared fixedly at Young Lady Erin, and Young Lady Erin also gazed at Yu Sheng with scarlet eyes.

"I can help you, Yu Sheng," Young Lady Erin said very seriously, "When we went to Hu Li's dream, we already cooperated once."

This time, Yu Sheng thought longer than ever before, and then he had to admit Young Lady Erin's reasoning.

His mind was entirely focused on returning to that valley to eliminate the 'Entity-Hunger' there, but he also knew the probability of rushing in alone to destroy that monster was indeed not high—of course, he feared no death, and had gradually become stronger during the process of devouring the 'Entity-Hunger', but this enhancement obviously had an upper limit, and 'Hunger'... was not easy to eliminate.

Relying on constant deaths to 'kite' and exhaust that monster might be a method, but this was obviously the worst option; if there could really be a helper who was quite capable of fighting and knew some supernatural powers, that would definitely be good.

All that was needed was to give Young Lady Erin some trust and release her from this painting.

And this trust had been established long ago when they fell together into Hu Li's dream and then woke up from the dream to meet and vomit on each other.

"Looks like I have to go to the city center," Yu Sheng sighed lightly, leaning back in his chair, "Materials like clay and wigs have to be bought at specialized craft stores; there aren't any in this old district."

The doll girl in the oil painting blinked, and after realizing what had happened, immediately showed a look of delight: "You... you agreed?!"

"If you don't have high requirements for body quality and trust my craftsmanship," Yu Sheng waved his hand, "I can give it a try."

"Requirements aren't high, just needs to look like a person; I can reshape it myself—as long as you don't make mistakes during the 'Alchemy' phase," Young Lady Erin hurriedly spoke, as if fearing Yu Sheng would change his mind if she spoke too late; after finishing, she pondered for a moment, turned her face slightly with a somewhat subtle expression, "And... and if you really can't buy suitable materials..."

Yu Sheng looked curious: "What if I really can't buy suitable materials?"

"... You can use dough."

Yu Sheng was stunned for two or three seconds, finally showing the most shocked expression since he met Young Lady Erin: "Huh?!"

Young Lady Erin explained in a low voice: "Materials are just a medium; what truly takes effect is the Alchemy part, your blood and my soul..."

Yu Sheng was completely dazed: "Hey, wait... I know settling for less, but this is way too low-quality?!"

Young Lady Erin thought for a moment, decided to show Yu Sheng a harmless, innocent smile to pass the test by being cute.

She passed.

But Yu Sheng still decided to go out to buy things.

"I'll still go buy some proper clay; the amount needed to mold a body for you should be quite a lot, better not waste food, and I have some other things to buy," Yu Sheng sighed, standing up while speaking casually, "You just stay home and watch TV quietly; if anything happens, call me remotely—if the TV freezes again, just wait for me to return."

Speaking thus, he picked up the remote to turn on the TV for Young Lady Erin; Young Lady Erin inside the frame nodded obediently: "Oh... then come back quickly." Yu Sheng made a sound of agreement, put on his jacket, and stepped toward the entrance.

Gripping the door handle, his first move was to steady his mind; only after confirming that no volcano crater, meteor shower, sulfur lake, light-sword-wielding little green men, or fully mechanical-modified elf big sisters would appear outside the door did he take a deep breath, push the door open, and smoothly walk onto the old street of Wutong Road.

Yu Sheng suddenly felt this matter was quite interesting.

It was very easy for him to go to the end of the world (leaving aside whether he could return or die outside), but pushing the door open to walk onto the street was actually much more difficult for him now...

Walking toward the bus stop, Yu Sheng casually glanced around again.

He didn't know since when his mindset while walking in this huge and unfamiliar city had undergone a slight change; the depression and unease from the past few days had quietly faded; walking on this street that couldn't be considered his 'hometown', besides peace, he felt a hint of... excitement and expectation in his heart.

Even that sky, bright to the point of being dazzling, now looked like a sunny, cheerful color that lifted one's mood.

There were vendors selling things at the intersection, scattered pedestrians passing by, children who had caused some unknown trouble shouting and running past the street side, with adults chasing behind them, running and cursing all the way.

Yu Sheng thought, would there be those 'professionals' Young Lady Erin mentioned among them? Those people protecting this city in the shadows, fighting against the Otherworld, had anyone noticed some small 'oddities' hidden in this peaceful and harmonious old district?

He even let his mind wander, starting to speculate which pedestrians on the roadside looked unfamiliar, which ones looked like plainclothes officers, and which ones looked like Spirit World Detectives and Investigators.

The uncle selling pancakes and egg rolls at the intersection looked a bit like one, but he changed to a craft skill that was very poor today; the aunt hanging clothes on the balcony opposite was also possible, he had never seen her before; would the bear-child who ran past shouting just now be one? Young Lady Erin said Spirit World Detectives also have 'tricks' to change their appearance, which are very magical...

Anyway, that mental guy squatting on the ground in a tank top with dyed yellow hair and playing phone audio out loud next to him definitely wasn't one; he looked way too unlike it.

!.

Yu Sheng hummed a little tune, passing through the old street, and brushed past Li Lin, who was wearing a tank top, had dyed yellow hair (a wig), was playing phone audio out loud, and squatting on the ground.

After a while, Xu Jiali (male), nearly two meters tall, wandered onto the street, looked down at Li Lin who was keeping watch, then squatted down, lit a cigarette, and squatted together with the other party like a mental guy.

"Is this outfit of yours reliable?" Xu Jiali asked.

"Very reliable," Li Lin said casually, "I always dressed like this for field surveillance before; those pancake-and-egg-roll colleagues of mine got exposed, but I didn't—I even have a two-dimensional battle suit; that one has even higher concealment; once I pinned down a border smuggler, and he still didn't believe a two-dimensional character was a Special Operations Bureau agent."

The big man listened, completely baffled: "What is a two-dimensional battle suit? Sounds like a force-field type powered armor? Didn't you guys ban that stuff in the Borderlands?"

"... I can't explain it to you," Li Lin looked disgusted, shifted to the side, "Stay away from me; your bulk is too big, don't expose me."

"Impossible; my aura clearly looks even more like an unemployed bum than yours," the big man pouted, "As for you, you haven't found anything all morning, right? Honestly, I suspect that even if there really is something hidden in this place, it's unlikely to be a 'person'; it's probably some weird Entity or Otherworld erosion point or something like that, which fits the clues you've found here so far better—damn it, there was such a huge commotion in Border City last night, I don't know how the Bureau is doing now; we two still have to sit here like idiots watching some unknown thing..."

Li Lin was too lazy to pay attention to this big man, took out a large power bank and pressed it against his phone, then chose to turn the phone's speaker volume up even higher.

And two or three hours later, Yu Sheng had already bought everything he wanted in the shopping mall in the city district.

Now, dragging big and small bags, he arrived at a place with no people and began to ponder.

He bought quite a lot of things—the weight wasn't a problem for him now, but carrying them all the way and squeezing onto a bus to return would still be troublesome.

So, he had a bold idea.

He felt this was very worth trying.

Yu Sheng raised his head, confirmed once again that no one nearby was paying attention, then silently reached out his hand toward the air beside him—a door formed in his hand.

Three seconds later, deep within a hidden 'depth' in the heart of Border City, countless agents, clerks, team leaders, and their Director Bai Liqing, who had been working overtime until their consciousness was blurred, shot up from their chairs amidst the suddenly ringing alarm...

Yu Sheng carried several large plastic bags home.

(End of this chapter)