Chapter 10 – The Flower Blooms Twice

Eileen found it absurd that Yu Sheng could have lived long-term inside an “Otherworld” without even knowing it — but then, Yu Sheng found this entire world absurd.

“So according to what you said, this world is full of ‘Otherworlds’, right?” Hiding in the corner of a ruined temple, Yu Sheng idly chatted with Eileen in his mind. “It’s just that most people can’t come into contact with them? Because they can’t perceive them?”

“More or less, but as for whether the entire ‘World’ is like that everywhere… I’m honestly not too sure either,” Eileen said. “After all, the world is a big place, isn’t it? But at the very least, within the boundaries of ‘Boundary City’… the probability of Otherworlds appearing is very high, so this place seems to also be called a ‘Borderland’ or something like that… The specifics, I’m not sure about either. I’ve been stuck in that painting for so long, my head’s a little muddled.”

“Borderland?” Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, feeling like the name had a strange sense of déjà vu, but then he immediately noticed another piece of information hidden in what Eileen had just said —

She had specifically emphasized “within the boundaries of Boundary City” — so this enormous city, which seemed to stretch on without end, actually had an “outside”!

He hesitated for two or three seconds, but ultimately couldn’t hold back: “What’s… ‘outside’ Boundary City?”

“Outside Boundary City? Maybe more cities? Or maybe… the sea or something?” Eileen’s answer was vague and uncertain. “I can’t remember anymore. I really have been inside this painting for far too long. I only remember bits and pieces of things within this city…”

She trailed off abruptly, then asked with a hint of puzzlement: “Don’t you know? Have you never left Boundary City either?”

Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched, and he immediately fell silent.

How would he know! He’d only been in this place for two months — never mind what was outside Boundary City, he hadn’t even figured out the bus routes more than four blocks from his own home yet!

But after a long silence, he decided not to bring it up. This little secret about himself — he wasn’t ready to share it with a “cursed portrait” he’d only just met.

“I’ve never gone out. I’m something of a homebody… Anyway, let’s not talk about that,” he said, brushing it off, and steered the conversation elsewhere. “Let’s focus on figuring out how to deal with my current problem. How do I get out of this so-called ‘Otherworld’? Actually… it is possible to get out of an Otherworld, right?”

The Eileen on the other end thought for a moment, seemingly sorting through her memories that had become muddled and blurred from years of being sealed away. After a long pause, she responded: “Otherworlds… come in many kinds. Sometimes it might just be a house that doesn’t appear on any map, sometimes a station that shouldn’t exist on a bus route, sometimes even a forest — a kingdom you can walk into just by opening a wardrobe door. Generally speaking, smaller Otherworlds have relatively fixed and obvious exits, or you can return to Reality by following specific rules. But the larger the Otherworld, the more complicated the situation becomes.”

She paused, then continued: “The more specific details I honestly can’t recall very clearly. Otherworlds are supposed to have a complete classification system, and there’s also some kind of ‘depth’ scale and ‘danger level’ rating, but I really… I’ve been in this painting for too long…”

Her voice gradually grew quieter, and she sounded somewhat dejected.

Yu Sheng had been about to make a sarcastic remark — thinking to himself that this person had rattled on at length without retaining a single useful piece of information — but hearing her final quiet murmur, he closed his mouth and didn’t banter with Eileen the way he usually would.

She was already trying her best to help. She had simply been sealed away for too long.

“Let’s just look around. There’s bound to be an exit somewhere,” Yu Sheng shook his head, looking up at the mountain valley outside the ruined temple. “This place doesn’t look small to me. Just from what I can see, there are mountains on both sides and a forest in the distance. Based on what you’ve said, getting out… might not be so easy.”

“Mm,” Eileen replied. “You can start by looking around the area near your ‘original landing point’ — where you first entered the Otherworld. Look for anything that seems out of place with the surrounding environment. Something that you instinctively feel shouldn’t be there. An Otherworld’s exit is usually somewhere nearby. And if there’s nothing around there, find a higher vantage point and see if you can spot a mirror-like reflection or hear a constant, unceasing wind…”

“However, even if you find something like that, don’t rashly go and touch it. It could also be a trap leading to a ‘deeper layer’. The specifics… I can’t explain clearly. You’ll have to rely on your instincts.”

“Instincts?” Yu Sheng couldn’t help but ask.

“… Yes. Strictly speaking, what’s actually needed is ‘inspiration’ — a kind of spiritual intuition. Trained investigators master this method of perception. I know you haven’t trained in it, but there’s nothing else to be done right now. You’ll just have to push through.”

“But don’t worry too much. Spiritual sense exists within all intelligent beings. Even an ordinary untrained person has it — it just hasn’t been awakened. If you’re careful enough, you’ll be able to feel that kind of warning and premonition that comes from the very core of your being. And if you really encounter something you can’t judge on your own, tell me. I’ll… do my best to help.”

Yu Sheng agreed, and slowly stepped out from the corner where he had been hiding, cautiously making his way toward the door of the ruined temple. That unsettling sense of being “watched” and that feeling of “hunger” still surrounded him, so pervasive they seemed to have seeped into the very air, becoming part of the entire valley — but he pushed forward anyway.

Because based on the information Eileen had provided, he needed to find an “exit” as quickly as possible to leave this place. Sitting in a corner wasn’t going to make a door appear in front of him on its own.

And at the same time, perhaps to ease his nerves, he kept up a meandering conversation with Eileen.

“You said the place I’ve been living in is an ‘Otherworld’. How did you determine that? I never noticed anything wrong with my home…”

“I could feel it,” Eileen replied. “That ‘inspiration’ I mentioned. I can clearly sense that something is off about that building — of course, on the surface it all looks perfectly normal… Why that is, I couldn’t say.”

“Instincts again…” Yu Sheng shook his head. “So by what you’re saying, every time I went home and stepped through the door, I was walking into an Otherworld, and every time I opened the door to leave, I was exiting one? My home really is a ‘nice Otherworld’ — a perfectly safe, harmless, come-and-go-as-you-please kind of place.”

After two or three seconds, Eileen spoke quietly: “… Opening the door to leave doesn’t necessarily mean you arrive where you intend to go, does it?”

Yu Sheng’s expression stiffened for a moment as he recalled exactly why he’d ended up stuck in this place.

He thought he now understood what was wrong with his “home”.

Thinking about it that way, the fact that he had lived in that big house safely and soundly for two whole months was itself something of a miracle.

As they spoke, he had already returned to the open space in front of the ruined temple — the “landing point” where he had first entered this Otherworld. “Nothing here,” Yu Sheng said, having carefully inspected the area around the open space and confirmed there was no “jarring key item” of the kind Eileen had described. “Seems like it was never going to be that easy.”

“Indeed. Not entirely unexpected,” Eileen sighed. “Then try walking outward, but keep in mind: do not touch anything that’s glowing or that suddenly starts moving in front of you. Also, unless absolutely necessary, don’t eat or drink anything you find in an Otherworld…”

“I know… By the way, would it be better to search during the day?” Yu Sheng said, glancing up at the sky above, which seemed perpetually draped in a murky, turbid veil. “Moving around outdoors at night always feels so eerie.”

“Otherworlds tend to defy common sense. Daytime isn’t necessarily safer, and there might not even be a daytime at all,” Eileen said immediately. “I’d still recommend you find the exit as soon as possible. The longer you drag it out, the more things might change on your end.”

Yu Sheng pursed his lips and had no choice but to head further out.

And the very instant he stepped beyond the boundaries of the ruined temple, a sound reached his ears.

At first, it seemed like nothing more than a faint, indistinct breath.

Yu Sheng instinctively looked in the direction the sound came from, and saw a wisp of white mist slowly dispersing in the air — as though some invisible giant beast had just exhaled a breath of foul air.

He had heard the sound, and so the breath of the beast came into being.

He had seen the white mist, and so the beast’s existence began to be confirmed.

Black figures materialized in the air — a shadow nearly three times the size of Yu Sheng was slowly taking shape in front of him, accompanied by a heavy, rumbling breath.

Now he could see the silhouette of the beast — and the beast existed.

Yu Sheng’s heart clenched in an instant. An enormous sense of crisis crashed down on him like a wave, heavier even than the sense of oppression that frog in the rain had once given him.

And in the very moment he felt that tightening in his chest, the black figure solidified.

It was something Yu Sheng had never seen before — a bear? A lion? An eagle? A tiger and a snake? Countless hideous, grotesque, and half-recognizable limbs were piled upon that massive, ugly mass of flesh, as though many fierce beasts had been melted down together in a great cauldron and then kneaded into one before crawling out — this nauseating, terrifying thing propped up its enormous body on its swollen limbs of varying shapes and sizes, looming over Yu Sheng, and within those chaotically layered eyes… burned nothing but hunger.

Yu Sheng slowly raised his head and met the beast’s gaze.

The beast lunged at him without the slightest hesitation — at the most critical moment, Yu Sheng suddenly dropped low, narrowly dodging past one of the beast’s enormous, gaping maws.

Then he fell directly into another one of its great mouths.

Vicious fangs snapped shut. The lower half of Yu Sheng’s body was torn apart in an instant, yet in that moment, the searing pain seemed to transform into a distant, numb hallucination. He felt as though everything before his eyes had slowed down. He saw a serpentine limb extending from behind the beast, and yet another giant mouth clamping down on him, tearing at what remained of him below his chest — and once again, he saw his own heart.

His heart beat slowly, then vanished into the depths of the serpent’s maw.

“Go f*** yourself!”

Yu Sheng forced one last furious curse up through his throat. He knew he was about to die again, but he felt he couldn’t just let it end like this.

While the last bit of muscle in his body could still contract, he exerted every ounce of strength he had left, twisted his head, and bit down on whatever was beside him — he didn’t know which part of the beast it was, and he didn’t know what good biting it would do. He only knew he had sunk his teeth into the other side.

Even in death, he would at least tear off a chunk of flesh.

Yu Sheng spent every last bit of his strength in that moment — savagely tearing at the beast, while the beast tore back at him. Blood and flesh, claws and fangs, food and the feeder…

Before his thoughts plunged entirely into darkness, one last idea squeezed its way into Yu Sheng’s mind. He called out softly to Eileen, who was somewhere far away: “Eileen…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. I’m logging off for now.”

Eileen was taken aback, and for a moment didn’t register what he meant.

Then Yu Sheng logged off.

(End of Chapter)