Chapter 53: The Grand Feast

With a mode of "perception" he could not yet fully comprehend, Yu Sheng felt a connection established between himself and this valley; his consciousness surged between the rocks and soil, traversed the depths of the writhing, undulating forest, submerged the water and wind here, and then, through countless deformed, twisted eyes, observed the sky above the valley.

That massive eye, large enough to cover the entire sky, gazed calmly and indifferently upon the earth, unchanged from beginning to end, as if a transcendent observer watching things in a petri dish.

But Yu Sheng could feel that the eye had noticed him—the instant he established a connection with the valley, the eye's gaze had landed precisely on his "body."

The eye was confused, curious; though it displayed no emotion or "change in gaze," Yu Sheng almost directly "read" these thoughts—some vast "thought" trembled in this space, its every notion stirring up towering waves here; yet ordinary people could not perceive these echoes reverberating in the Otherworld, and even Yu Sheng, borrowing the perception of the entire Otherworld, only vaguely sensed that there was mental activity behind that eyeball.

But strangely, Yu Sheng felt no hostility at all from that eye—nor any goodwill.

Then, after a while, he found the eye's focal point had shifted away from himself; or rather, it no longer gazed upon the entire valley, but focused its sight on some place within the valley.

The eyeball slowly swept across the earth, seemingly tracking, searching for something.

And Yu Sheng's consciousness gradually spread out; in the following minutes, he gradually understood something...

The entire valley began to move; some eerie, terrifying "vitality" turned this whole Otherworld into a hungry living creature.

Li Lin watched helplessly as rows of sharp teeth sprouted on the distant ridge, with terrifying tearing trenches between the teeth; those rows of fangs rolled and undulated like waves, emitting thunderous roars from their depths.

He also saw the entire forest on the other side of the valley come alive; black tentacles replaced the trees there, spreading along the stone beach at the valley bottom, engulfing everything in their path like a swarm of predatory insects surging forth.

And all of this, under the cold gaze of that massive eyeball in the sky, was eerie and terrifying, like a nightmare.

Little Red Riding Hood's wolf pack howled around them, constantly biting off and forcing back the tentacles, eye stalks, and tongues growing from the soil; yet no matter how hard the wolves tried, their foothold continued to shrink.

The young Special Agent couldn't help feeling desperate; he turned to look ahead and saw the girl with a huge bundle of tails hugging a doll, running at the very front; she bent her waist, and even while holding something, her movements while running were incredibly agile and swift, like a nimble wild beast from the mountains—while he, as a human, was about to be unable to catch up with that "beast."

But just then, Hu Li finally slowed her pace.

She carried Erin (and Erin's cleaver) to a depression at the foot of the mountain, then stood on a large rock, stretching her neck to look around; the fluffy big ears on the fox-girl's head trembled slightly in the wind, as if capturing every rustle of wind and grass, and then she sniffed hard, finally fixing her gaze on a certain direction.

"This way! The entrance is here!"

Before her words ended, she had already jumped down to the ground holding Erin; others, seeing this, hurriedly followed, running toward the mountain wall with her, and saw the cave mouth that could barely accommodate two people passing through.

"It's very spacious inside!"

Hu Li shouted back to the others, then already darted into the cave ahead of everyone.

Deep blue fox spirit flames ignited out of thin air, floating up from the tip of Hu Li's tail to mid-air, illuminating the scene inside the cave.

This looked like just an ordinary primitive cave, seemingly originally part of the mountain body; parts of the walls bore traces of artificial excavation and widening, and in the cave corner, some crude, rough tools could still be seen, obviously indicating someone had lived there for a time.

Xu Jiali took a palm-sized black device from her waist, cautiously scanned the cave once, and spoke in a low voice: "No toxicity, material structure is stable, no signs of erosion."

Little Red Riding Hood waved her hand, placing a few wolves near the cave entrance; the other wolf shadows returned to her side, gradually merging into the shadows beneath her feet.

Hu Li carefully carried Erin to a stone platform near the cave entrance, set the small doll down, and wore a somewhat worried expression on her face.

"You... are you okay?"

She raised her hand, pointing at Erin's broken arm and the right leg that was not in good condition.

Just by looking at her appearance, Erin's current state was simply horrific—second only to the benefactor who had just died with eyes unsealed.

The fox-girl obviously did not understand the situation of "living dolls" very well.

"It's fine; this body was temporary to begin with, some parts aren't sturdy," Erin was quite open-minded, comforting Hu Li at this moment, "Don't worry, Yu Sheng will fix me when we get back—this body was made by him; hmm, although his craftsmanship... is just passable."

The fox-girl's eyes widened slightly: "Sounds like the benefactor is very powerful?"

"... Probably?" Erin sounded a bit hesitant when saying this, "Sometimes I even feel he isn't human; he has a bunch of strange abilities and ideas..."

Before she finished speaking, the doll-girl seemed to sense something, suddenly looked up, and gazed toward the cave entrance.

Looking out from this position, the scene outside the cave mouth was almost invisible.

"What's wrong?" Hu Li asked curiously.

"You... carry me to take a look outside? Just at the cave entrance is fine," Erin spoke hesitantly, "I can't see the situation outside at all from here; I feel uneasy."

Hu Li was somewhat puzzled but didn't think much of it; she reached out, picked up Erin, and carefully brought her near the cave entrance.

Erin stretched her neck from Hu Li's arms and boldly looked up at the sky.

That massive eye still floated above the valley; that magnificent eyeball seemed like a pupil structure appearing in the sky itself, captivating the soul.

"I have a feeling... this eye has been watching this way since a while ago," Erin quickly pulled her neck back, muttering with a tense expression, "Why hasn't Yu Sheng come back yet..." Hu Li paused, looking down at the small doll in her arms: "The benefactor will be fine, right?"

"He's definitely fine," Erin lowered her voice, glanced back at the three "temporary comrades" inside the cave, and whispered to Hu Li, "Don't mention Yu Sheng's 'death' to them later; by now they should have already forgotten the relevant events."

Hu Li tilted her head, her fluffy big ears twitching twice; it was unclear whether she understood or not.

Li Lin curiously looked up at the fox and the doll hiding near the cave entrance; he frowned slightly; whether it was an illusion or not, he felt that during the process of running wildly with those two to get here, he had somehow ignored something, that one very important thing had unconsciously vanished from his mind.

He looked at the nearby Xu Jiali and Little Red Riding Hood but saw no abnormality on their faces.

Xu Jiali was currently searching and investigating the situation cautiously deep within the cave, while Little Red Riding Hood sat with her arms crossed on a stone bench, her eyes fixed on the shadow wolves standing guard near the cave entrance.

Her red coat had been damaged in the previous forest battle; one sleeve was torn to shreds, and now her entire right arm was exposed; that arm was now covered in fine blood-red patterns, as if the flesh and blood had once been torn apart and now merely barely reassembled and adhered into its original form.

The deep blue fox fire burned quietly in the upper part of the cave, casting Little Red Riding Hood's shadow on the ground; that shadow swayed unsteadily, and occasionally for an instant would abruptly twist and deform, becoming like those wolves that had drilled out of the shadows.

The howling strange sounds in the valley continued unceasingly from outside, making the silence inside the cave seem even more oppressive and heavy.

Li Lin stood up and walked toward Hu Li and Erin guarding the cave entrance—he felt that at this point, he should at least introduce himself.

But just as he reached the halfway point, a strange sound made him suddenly stop in his tracks.

!.

It was an irregular grinding sound, as if sharp teeth were colliding, producing noise during friction.

And immediately following, his spiritual intuition jumped violently.

Xu Jiali, who was checking deep inside the cave, and Little Red Riding Hood, who was sitting on the stone bench trying to calm her state, also instinctively looked up.

The "aura" in the valley changed.

After another two or three seconds, the outside of the cave suddenly fell silent, so quiet as if the entire world had plunged into a dead silence.

But this silence lasted only a moment; then strange grinding sounds and whimpering sounds different from the previous chaotic roars came from outside again; these sounds entered everyone's ears and became clearer and clearer, and louder and louder...

The fox sitting on the ground near the cave entrance instantly stood up, looking outside with tension and unease; Erin also struggled to support Hu Li's arm with her broken arm, wanting to confirm the situation outside the cave—and just then, the doll-girl heard Yu Sheng's voice—"Erin."

"Yu Sheng?!" Erin was startled in her heart and hurriedly responded, "You're alive? Where are you now? Can you sense my location? Hurry and open the door to come over! We found a safe hiding place; it's unsafe outside now; the valley has a huge problem..."

However, before she could finish, the voice transmitting from her mind interrupted her following words: "Erin, don't panic—it will be over soon."

Eileen paused, stunned: "…Ah?"

The strange friction sounds coming from the valley grew denser than before.

Yu Sheng's voice continued to rise from within Eileen's heart: "Eileen, do you remember what happened when we contacted Hu Li through the dream realm earlier, trying to use her perception to find the 'frequency' of this valley?"

Eileen certainly remembered.

"You directly contacted the entity of 'Hunger' back then; it took root in your mind!" the doll girl said rapidly, "W-what's wrong?! Did something happen now?! Are you not going to make it?"

The strange friction sounds in the valley grew denser and denser, seeming to fill the entire alien realm; the unsettling noise echoed through the cave, making everyone's nerves gradually tighten.

Yet deep within Eileen's heart, Yu Sheng's voice was calmer than ever.

"Don't worry, Eileen, I'm fine; I just discovered something—"

Eileen slowly widened her eyes; she seemed to be gradually distinguishing what the friction sounds echoing in the valley were.

"Hunger did not take root in my mind."

She heard Yu Sheng's voice coming from within her own heart.

She heard Yu Sheng's voice coming from the entire valley.

"Rather, I have taken root in its depths."

She finally heard clearly—it was the sound of chewing, echoing throughout the entire valley.

The sublime feast has begun.

The entity-Hunger, which had been lurking in this alien realm, began to devour itself.

Recommend a book: "Anomaly Containment: I Am the Lucky One in the Cage," by Yigen Chuxu (listen to that name). SCP theme, still a seedling; if you like this genre, go check it out.

(End of chapter)