Chapter 44: Swallowed

The antique black oil painting frame floated in the dark, gloomy dream world, and the doll girl sealed inside the painting was completely baffled by the current situation.

“This shouldn’t be happening! I’ve already broken free from that thing’s control, and I even have a body in the real world!” Ailin paced in circles within the painting. “When I was ‘outside,’ I had to carry this painting around, and I accepted it as just an extra piece of luggage, but now, in the dream world, it’s even worse… Theoretically, after entering a dream, shouldn’t I be freer?”

She lifted her head and stared straight at Yu Sheng.

“You’re asking me? I have no idea either. I also thought you’d be freer after entering the dream,” Yu Sheng spread his hands. “I was even curious to see what you looked like at one meter sixty-seven, but you’re still just a paper cutout.”

Ailin seemed very irritable, losing even the interest to bicker with Yu Sheng. After pacing around the chair in the painting who-knows-how-many times, she finally resignedly sat back down, grabbed the furry teddy bear, and kneaded it violently in her arms.

“Now I’m locked up with this thing again… but, well, at least I have the ability to move freely in the real world. The dream world isn’t that important. Yeah, not that important.”

“…I do envy your optimism sometimes,” Yu Sheng remarked sincerely.

Ailin immediately bared her teeth at him, but whether in reality or in the dream, these threatening gestures of hers never carried much intimidation.

Yu Sheng stepped around the floating painting and came before the sleeping silver fox.

“What now? Same as last time—I lie down on her tail, and then we both ‘sink’ down together?”

“Same as last time, but this time the connection will be more ‘direct.’ I’ll try to keep Hu Li’s consciousness close to waking, so you can communicate with her more easily, and then perceive her surroundings later,” Ailin said, floating to Yu Sheng’s side. “But at the same time, ‘Hunger’ will notice you and come looking for you… After that, I won’t be able to help you. You’ll have to handle the conscious-level contact and struggle on your own.”

Having said that, she paused, as if to reassure Yu Sheng, and added, “But I can act as a final safety net. Once I sense that your mind is becoming severely unstable, I’ll forcibly ‘pull’ you out. It’ll be as unpleasant as that sudden awakening last time, so you’d better be mentally prepared.”

“…Honestly, I really don’t want to go through that again,” Yu Sheng sighed, but he quickly nodded, his earlier resolve unshaken. “Alright, let’s begin.”

Once again, he found a stable hollow among Hu Li’s large tails, then caught Ailin, who jumped down from midair. Man and painting, leaning against the fox tails, began to sink downward again in the drowsy dream.

Whether because of the existing connection from last time or not, this second descent was much faster and smoother than Yu Sheng had imagined. He only felt a brief blur before his vision stabilized, and he saw the silhouette of the fox-girl.

She was quietly crouching among scattered rubble, staring blankly at something ahead.

Yu Sheng’s perspective came behind Hu Li, and he followed her gaze to look forward—

He saw a huge wreck, like the remains of some large flying vehicle after a crash. Among the twisted metal frame and fractured deck, he could still vaguely discern its former grandeur. And faint lights, like lingering spiritual energy, drifted slowly among the shattered remains.

The whole wreck had fallen at the foot of a mountain. The melted and collapsed rock had nearly swallowed it, merging it into part of the mountain. Even at a glance, one could tell what a terrifying impact it had been back then.

If ordinary humans had been aboard, there probably wouldn’t have been any survivors.

Yu Sheng startled at the crash site, but he didn’t forget his original purpose. He approached the fox-girl and spoke softly to avoid startling her: “Hu Li.”

Hu Li’s ears instantly perked up, and she abruptly stood up and looked around, as if trying to see the source of the voice. After failing to find anything, she replied hesitantly, “…Benefactor?”

“It’s me. Don’t look for me; I’m contacting your consciousness directly.”

“Benefactor! It really is you! I thought last time I misheard… Benefactor? How is this happening?” Hu Li’s face showed surprise, and she still subconsciously searched the surroundings with her eyes. “I, I was dazing in the valley, but suddenly I ended up in this place. Am I, dreaming? Is it a dream?”

“Yes, I… used some methods to forcibly guide your dream. Only under these circumstances can I contact you—but there’s no time to explain the details now,” Yu Sheng said rapidly. “Listen, Hu Li, I’m going to rescue you. To do that, I need to open a special door, and I need your cooperation—do you trust me?”

“Come, rescue me?” Hu Li was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reacted and immediately shook her head. “Don’t, don’t come. Benefactor, you barely got out. This valley is strange—once in, it’s hard to escape! You, don’t come! Please don’t…”

Yu Sheng interrupted the panicked girl: “I have a way! Hu Li, listen, I have a way. I’ve already found a method to stably enter and leave that valley. I just need you to cooperate to open that door. Don’t worry about that monster—I can handle it. Understand? I’m very strong, and I’ve found a helper this time, who is also… um, strong.”

Yu Sheng tried to calm Hu Li down, making her feel at ease. But Hu Li’s face showed a hint of confusion. Her thoughts were sluggish, as if she could barely keep up with Yu Sheng’s words. After a long while, not knowing how much she had understood, she asked in doubt: “So, Benefactor is also an immortal?”

Yu Sheng had no idea how Hu Li’s mind had jumped to that conclusion.

But he could be.

“A very powerful immortal,” he said, striving to make his voice sound reliable.

Then the fox-girl smiled.

“Benefactor, what do you want me to do?”

“You don’t need to do anything. Just focus on sensing your surroundings from now on. You’ll feel someone peering into your heart, even feel someone looking around through your eyes—don’t resist. That’s me.”

“Mm, okay.”

Yu Sheng breathed a slight sigh of relief. Negotiating with Hu Li had been easier than expected. Now he only had to face the second problem.

“Ailin,” he called softly in his mind. “Let’s begin.”

The next second, with a slight dizziness, Yu Sheng sensed an indescribable… pull.

A new “connection” emerged, established between him and Hu Li. Unlike the obscure bond formed through blood before, he could clearly feel that this newly established connection was stronger, and also… rougher.

Part of his consciousness broke free from control, merging into a whole new set of perceptions. It was as if nerves had suddenly connected to an entire set of extra limbs. Although the sensations coming through were a bit blurry and sluggish, he still began to feel the aura around Hu Li.

Cold, rotten, carrying the stench of universal decay. The wind stirred in the valley, blowing through the dark woods.

Eternal night, perpetual hunger.

The fox-girl stood in the woods, eyes wide open, trying her best to look around.

She didn’t really understand what Benefactor was doing, nor did she know if just staring at the surroundings like this was the right thing to do. She only followed her own understanding, trying to carry out Yu Sheng’s instructions.

Then, she felt that “connection” Benefactor had mentioned.

She was startled, but she sensed no malice.

Hu Li had always been able to keenly detect even the slightest malice, but this time, no malice came through.

She only felt a little at ease, and even… her stomach didn’t seem so empty anymore.

…

At the moment when the overwhelming hunger and the mad tide hidden deep within it surged toward him, Yu Sheng felt as if a massive wave was crashing down on him—a collapsing mountain in the pitch-dark night. Hunger and madness were almost tangible, like a vast shadow, like solidified darkness, instantly drowning every inch of his perception.

Yu Sheng didn’t even have time to call Ailin’s name. In the nick of time, he only tried his best to remember the “characteristics” of the valley transmitted through Hu Li, and then he was completely swallowed by the chaotic black tide.

But deep within the black tide, he found that he was still conscious.

Hunger gnawed at his soul, and his soul withered and died. Yu Sheng watched “himself” being devoured in the blink of an eye from a detached bystander’s perspective in the dark tide.

The hunger receded, and the withered, dead soul woke once more. Yu Sheng opened his eyes in the darkness, unsure for a moment whether he had experienced another “death” or had only had the illusion of being swallowed.

He drifted in the depths of darkness, unable to feel the passage of time or the end of space, unsure even if he was truly moving.

He could only feel… that a gaze was always fixed on him.

Not a single gaze, but this entire dark chaos was part of that gaze.

He was like a speck of dust, so small it was no bigger than a needlepoint, watched and drowned by the boundless hungry eyes.

Then, after who knows how long, he finally glimpsed in the depths of darkness… floating massive limbs, or shadows.