Chapter 32: The Blood Test

Not only did Eileen have a foul mouth, but when she screamed, it really made your head buzz. Yu Sheng couldn't help but wonder how she could make such a racket through an oil painting—was the whole canvas acting as an amplifier?

"Don't ask me how it works—I don't even know the principle myself," Yu Sheng said, digging in his ear with one hand while helplessly spreading the other toward Eileen. "What I can confirm for now is that I can open 'doors,' and these doors can lead to all kinds of places—either other realms or, as you just saw... somewhere far away. Of course, I can't yet confirm whether it's another world, another planet, or some parallel dimension or whatever."

He paused, then continued, "Maybe I should ask the people on the other side of the door what's going on? But that female elf just now didn't seem to be in a good mood..."

Eileen was half-dazed. Only after listening to Yu Sheng's long ramble did she come to her senses. After a moment of thought, she said, "Then... what about the conditions for it to work? Like, under what circumstances can you open the door?"

"I'm not sure yet. I feel like I can open it anytime," Yu Sheng said after thinking, speaking honestly based on his current feelings. "As for how to open the door, it seems there are two ways. One is to directly open an existing, ordinary door in reality—that's very easy. Sometimes I don't even realize what I've done, and the door simply leads to 'somewhere else.' The second way is what you just saw—"

As he spoke, Yu Sheng raised his hand in the air and mimed the motion of pulling open a door. "A door created out of thin air—that takes more effort. It requires intense concentration to sense and visualize. And if you lose focus during the process, the door might suddenly vanish. But the advantage is that you won't accidentally push open a door and end up in another realm."

Eileen stared at Yu Sheng's motion with her crimson eyes, her gaze following his arm back and forth several times. After a long silence, she finally broke it: "...Are you even human?"

Yu Sheng was immediately a bit disgruntled. "What kind of question is that!"

"And after everything, you still dare to say that line? The one you said to me not long ago?" Eileen muttered while recalling, then imitated Yu Sheng's tone and mannerism from back then, striking a pose as she spoke: "'I'm not human—are you?'"

She straightened up and stared straight into Yu Sheng's eyes. "Some humans can master supernatural powers, but I've never seen anything like what you've got."

"Maybe you've seen it but forgot?" Yu Sheng stubbornly insisted. "Your memory isn't exactly reliable."

Eileen was taken aback. "...S-so, yeah?"

This time it was Yu Sheng's turn to be a bit embarrassed. He had just been stubborn for the sake of arguing and habitually bantering with this doll. He never expected that Eileen had such clear self-awareness that her first reaction was to admit it... She actually admitted it...

But he quickly adjusted his expression, cleared his throat twice, and brought the topic back. "So it seems that my falling into that valley back then had nothing to do with the strange properties of this house. It should have been a passage I opened myself the moment I opened a door. So, theoretically, as long as I can replicate the operation from back then, I can return to that other realm."

When the conversation turned serious, Eileen's expression also grew grave. "Is this ability controllable?"

"...Half controllable," Yu Sheng said uncertainly, then explained, "I can basically control when to open a passage to 'somewhere else' and when to push open a normal door. But exactly where it leads is completely uncertain. I can't even rule out that opening a door might drop me straight into a volcano. However... there is one thing I've just confirmed."

Eileen quickly asked, "What is it?"

"The passages really can be replicated. Under certain circumstances, opening the door twice can lead to the same place," Yu Sheng said. "Like the elf you just saw—that was already our second meeting."

Eileen: "...Oh, no wonder she reacted like that."

Yu Sheng looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm not sure how it happens, but I vaguely remember that 'feeling.' I think if I practice and train more, I should be able to stabilize the openings to those 'doors' I've already connected to. But the biggest problem right now is... when I first fell into that valley, I was completely unprepared. I've pretty much forgotten the sensation of opening the door at that time. That makes it very difficult to replicate that passage."

"But at least you finally have a direction, right?" Eileen immediately comforted him. "I used to think that you wanting to go back and save that fox was pure fantasy. But now it's become a feasible plan, hasn't it? Right, right?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng looked at the doll in the painting with a somewhat surprised expression, scanning her up and down. The gaze made her shrink back in her chair awkwardly. "What are you looking at me for? I told you, you and that 2D character will never—"

This time, Yu Sheng didn't wait for her to finish her nonsense. He interrupted, "This is the first time I've heard a few nice words from you. I used to think you only ever spewed garbage. I never imagined you knew how to comfort people."

Eileen: "..."

Eileen's curses were truly foul.

But Yu Sheng's mood was now excellent. Even Eileen's curses could be taken as background music in his life.

He looked at his own hands, waved them in the air, got up from the dining table, and paced back and forth in the dining room, looking full of energy.

Seeing this, Eileen stopped her flowery language and followed Yu Sheng's movements with her gaze. "You're not going to start... uh, 'training' right now, are you?"

"Better sooner than later. Besides, I slept all day, so I'm full of energy now," Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly. "This practice doesn't take up much space."

"Then take it easy. If you open the door and see that elf again, she might blast a giant fireball at you—and then you'll splash blood all over me again."

That kind of trash talk was just right.

Yu Sheng waved his hand dismissively, and his gaze fell on the kitchen door nearby.

Opening a door out of thin air required extra energy consumption. For practice, it was naturally more suitable to use a "physical door" that consumed less.

But before that, Yu Sheng suddenly thought of something.

"What did you just say?" He turned around and looked at the doll in the painting on the dining table.

Eileen thought for a moment. "...Telling you to take it easy? To prevent that elf from blasting a giant fireball at you?"

"I meant the more infuriating line."

Eileen's mouth twitched. "Don't splash blood all over me!"

"Yes, that one. I want to test that first," Yu Sheng said with a grin, walking over to the dining table. He reached out and picked up a small fruit knife lying on the table. "My blood."

Eileen was visibly startled, jumping up from her chair while clutching the toy bear. "Hey, what are you doing! I just said it casually, you don't need to pull a knife! I warn you, I'm very easy to get along with! You don't need to use the knife! Put that thing down! If you scratch the canvas, I might split open..."

This doll started babbling a long string of nonsense when she panicked. Yu Sheng frowned. "What are you nervous about? I never said I was going to cut you."

Before the words had even died away, he pressed the small knife against his finger—but after a moment's hesitation, he switched to the back of his hand. Then, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, he made a cut with a *puchi*. It wasn't even very painful.

Eileen stared in shock at the scene. As Yu Sheng brought his bleeding hand closer to her, she kept backing away, exclaiming, "What are you doing! Wait... Don't tell me you believe in that blood-identification master thing from novels? I told you to read less of that stuff..."

"First of all, I'm a novelist myself. Even though I'm not doing well, I take issue with you having a problem with novels," Yu Sheng said, glancing at the terrified doll in the painting. "Second, this has nothing to do with blood identification or master bonding. I just want to test some conjectures. Back in that valley, Hu Li came into contact with my blood, and after that, both she and I underwent some changes. I want to see if something similar will happen with you."

Yu Sheng was referring to how, after coming into contact with his blood, Hu Li had suddenly become able to perceive his "death," and how he could sense parts of Hu Li's thoughts and memories. He also suspected that the appearance of the silver-white fox projection in his dream world was related to this "blood connection."

Upon hearing Yu Sheng's words, Eileen was briefly stunned. Then she sensed his seriousness. Although she didn't understand the specifics, she gradually calmed down. Even though she still looked rather reluctant (mainly because she didn't trust Yu Sheng's dubious methodology), she adopted a cooperative attitude.

Of course, the main reason she cooperated was that she couldn't escape. Sealed inside the oil painting, normally all she could do was shout loudly. And now Yu Sheng had basically gotten used to her shouting...

But to be honest, Eileen wasn't a suitable "testing partner." After all, her "constitution" was a bit special.

It was hard for Yu Sheng to determine whether his blood was being applied to Eileen herself or to the oil painting that served as a sealing medium. He smeared his blood on the frame, and while the wound was still fresh, squeezed a few drops onto the canvas. But no matter what he did, he couldn't get his blood to directly touch the doll body inside the painting the way it had with Hu Li.

Eileen looked up. It was unclear what her exact perspective was within the painting—but she clearly sensed the contact of the blood.

But that was all. The oil painting did not "absorb" Yu Sheng's blood the way Hu Li had licked up the blood back then.

"Do you feel anything?" Yu Sheng waited for a while before asking uncertainly.

Eileen thought about it. "...It felt warm? But now it's cold."

Yu Sheng: "...Looks like it didn't work."

(End of Chapter)