Chapter 87: The Snow Accumulated in the Room

The biggest commotion in No. 66 Wutong Road usually came from Yu Sheng's sudden rage and the little doll's screaming and scratching—now there was also the sound of a fox girl sitting nearby, crunching chips as she watched the show.

After more than ten minutes, Yu Sheng successfully subdued and punished the little doll, who had been jumping around and trying to bite him, then hung her on the clothesline outside the living room balcony.

"Yu Sheng, you bastard! Put me down!" Eileen kicked wildly in midair, her sleeves pierced by the clothesline, hanging her upside-down from behind so she swung like a salted fish drying in the wind. "Temporary ban! Just a temporary ban! Twelve hours—that's it! Your account's still salvageable! You're not seriously gonna leave me hanging for twelve hours—don't you feel any guilt? At least give me a more comfortable position to hang in!"

"You'd just wiggle free if I used clips," Yu Sheng said, glancing sideways at the doll hanging from the clothesline as he sat on the sofa. "I'm hanging you here to teach you a lesson—don't mess with my stuff. Don't worry, I'll take you down before dinner—but next time, I'll hang you in the basement."

Upon hearing this, the little doll immediately erupted in loud protests, displaying her indomitable spirit and resistance against violent coercion: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Put me down, put me down…"

Her so-called resistance spirit was actually no spirit at all; despite being terrible at games, foul-mouthed, short-tempered, and forgetful, she surrendered faster than anyone.

Yu Sheng ignored her entirely, treating her noise as background sound.

Hu Li cautiously approached, still holding a bag of chips. She glanced at the doll hanging on the clothesline, then at Yu Sheng, hesitated two or three seconds, then whispered: "Master, Eileen really seems to have realized her mistake—can you please take her down?"

As she spoke, she extended the bag of chips toward him: "Eat something, then you won't be angry anymore."

Yu Sheng grabbed a few chips and tossed them into his mouth, glanced at Eileen, then casually turned on the TV.

The little doll instantly fell silent, fixing her gaze intently on the screen.

"See? She just makes a big fuss—when no one pays attention, she's nothing," Yu Sheng sighed, speaking with the wisdom of experience to Hu Li. "That's just how a stubborn brat is."

"Oh." Hu Li nodded slowly, clearly not understanding what "stubborn brat" meant.

At that moment, a loud "Bang!" suddenly came from upstairs, snapping everyone's attention.

Eileen, still hanging on the clothesline, immediately lifted her head and looked upward through the floor: "Hey, Yu Sheng, what fell upstairs? Was it the ladder by the attic corner?"

Yu Sheng rose from the sofa, frowning as he stared toward the second floor.

"... No, the sound came from the end of the second-floor hallway," he murmured suddenly. "We need to go up and check."

Hu Li instantly stood up, her tail whipping out with a "whirr": "I'm coming with you!"

"Also put me down! I'm coming too!" Eileen shouted immediately. "I heard that sound too—it's weird. If something happens, I need to protect you guys!"

"Who's protecting who is still up for debate," Yu Sheng muttered, but he still walked over, removed the clothesline from the rack, and turned it upside-down so the doll slid off onto the floor. "This time I'll let it go—but next time, I'm hanging you in the basement."

Eileen stumbled twice on the floor, steadied herself, scowled, and adjusted her clothes, then stuck out her tongue at Yu Sheng.

A look that said: "I surrender fast, but I'll do it again—and right now, I'll jump up and show you."

Yu Sheng didn't care. He stretched his limbs, gave Hu Li a glance, then stepped forward toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

On the second floor, he headed straight to the end of the hallway, stopping before the door of the room that had once held Eileen's oil painting.

The door was tightly shut, the room silent, seemingly normal.

But Yu Sheng was now certain—the loud "thud" he'd heard had come from this room.

He remembered that since the last time he opened it, this room had changed from an empty space into an ordinary room with basic furnishings. The only thing in it that could have made a heavy object hit the floor was the mirror on the wall—but it had been firmly fixed; he'd once pulled with all his strength and couldn't budge it.

Besides, if the mirror had fallen, there should've been the sound of shattering glass.

Yu Sheng stepped forward, grasped the strange handle beside the door hinge, and turned it quietly.

"Don't open it yet," Eileen whispered, spreading her arms as thin strands of black "webbing" extended from her fingertips, creeping slowly under the door crack into the room. "I'll scout first."

Seeing this, Hu Li plucked one of her ears with a "pop," pressed the furry fox ear against the door, and moved it slowly like a stethoscope, her face utterly serious.

Yu Sheng couldn't help muttering: "Seriously, can't you two act normally?"

"I'm acting perfectly normally!" Eileen replied inwardly. "That stupid fox is the abnormal one."

"Master," the fox girl whispered, breaking the silence as she pressed her ear back onto her head, "there's no movement inside."

"I also didn't sense any abnormal energy," Eileen said, retracting her black threads. "Open the door."

Yu Sheng nodded and slowly pushed the door open a crack.

He himself felt this whole scene was overblown—after all, this was his home. Just because of a sound from upstairs, three people were standing at the door like they were facing a deadly threat, checking and guarding—this was strange. But he also knew this caution was unavoidable.

After all, No. 66 Wutong Road was an exotic place, and this room at the end of the second-floor hallway had been odd from the start.

The door opened, and a lingering chill rushed out.

The strange cold air made Yu Sheng shiver, and his alertness spiked instantly.

Why was there such cold air inside? It felt like... wind blowing from a snowy mountain, carrying the scent of ice and snow!

But when the door opened fully, he found the room... was still just an ordinary room.

A simple bed, chairs, a mirror on the wall, worn flooring, faded wallpaper with peeling corners, and plain curtains.

Everything was unchanged—no invaders from another world, no gaping hole leading to another dimension.

Yet Yu Sheng didn't lower his guard. He moved slowly into the room, carefully observing his surroundings.

Eileen followed, curiously scanning the room that was theoretically "hers."

The little doll suddenly noticed something: "Hey! Yu Sheng, look at the base of the wall! Near the door!"

Yu Sheng immediately turned to follow Eileen's pointing finger.

He saw small piles of white powder near the floor along both sides of the door, along with a few faint water stains slowly fading on the floor.

"... Snow?" Yu Sheng leaned closer, incredulous—the white piles were snow, and due to the room's warmth, it was rapidly melting into water stains.

Eileen stared blankly: "... It's snowing inside the house? That's that weird?"

"The shape of the snow accumulation suggests it was blown against the walls by strong wind," Yu Sheng frowned, studying the snow patches still clinging to the walls, his confusion deepening.

Hu Li crouched beside the wall, pressing her nose against it and sniffing intently.

"Living creature's scent," the fox girl said seriously. "This snow came from a place with living beings."

Eileen gasped: "You can tell that by smell?!"

Hu Li looked proud: "Foxes have excellent noses."

"That's even better than a dog's nose..." Eileen muttered in awe.

At that moment, Yu Sheng's peripheral vision caught something.

He walked to the nearby table, bent down, and picked up a small, black, palm-sized metal object from the floor beneath it.

It was an unidentified metal part, resembling a valve manifold for connecting multiple pipes—several threaded openings, hollow inside, light to hold, yet surprisingly sturdy.

Erin also walked over from the side, and upon seeing the strange device in Yu Sheng's hand, she froze for a moment: "Uh... I guess this thing wasn't originally in this room, right?"

"Of course not," Yu Sheng shook his head. "Just as it doesn't snow inside a room, there couldn't possibly have been such a... strange part that looks like it was dismantled from some kind of machine here originally."

While speaking, he cautiously approached the mirror directly facing the door once more.

The mirror reflected the scene within the room.

But suddenly, he furrowed his brows.

Because deep within the seemingly normal room image, another scene was faintly visible superimposed inside the mirror—it appeared to be a cave; the cave was not large, and beyond its entrance, heavy snow was falling.

(End of Chapter)